Thrall Aboard

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

Hey, quick question for all you fantasy readers out there. Do you ever get tired of every book being about saving the whole world from some doom lord perched on a distant lava mountain? Like, sometimes you just kind of want to curl up in a fantasy world without feeling like you're rolling initiative on every single page. But that sounds like you, you might want to give this one a try. It's a book called The Inside Shop by Gilhass. Wait, my copy says Inside Shop. Yeah, that's what I said. But it sounds like you're saying inside shop. Oh, okay. Nope. I get it.

I get the confusion. It's in-side shop. Like, uh, like besides an in. You know, uh, in spelled I-N-N. You know, like a tavern. Cozy beds, bad ale, the whole deal. Inside meaning it's next to the inn. There's a whole thing. So, yeah, the inn side shop. It's a cozy lit RPG about a 14-year-old tinker named Ren, who runs a the shop at the crossroads. The shop literally levels up. Customers come through to stock up at the local dungeon and Wren, the shopkeeper, is just trying to get through his day without blowing something up. It's low stakes, cozy, funny, and it scratches that I just want to hang out in a fantasy world age.

You can grab the inside shop on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.com. You can read it on Kindle Unlimited, and the audio book drops this march on Audible. So, if you want something that feels like taking a long rest instead of fighting another world ending boss. Check out the inside shop by Gil Hess. That's Gill with 1L. Hey, everybody, Jasper here. Welcome back to Frostborn, Arc 6 of Dungeons and Randomness. First, quick reminder, until December 31st, 2025, we're looking for new friends just like you to round out our cast. That's right. Dungeons and Randomness is having a proper casting call, and we want you to be in touch.

Details are on our Discord, and, and a link is in our episode description. There's actually a short announcement about it in the main feed if you scroll back a couple of episodes. Go check it out. Next up, if you're looking for a good place to start with DNR or with Frostborn itself, good news. There's a full recap of episodes 1 through 20 in our feed. It takes 40 hours of the Frostborn story and boils it down to a single hour. No small feet, but totally worth it. Scroll down in the feed right after episode 20 and you'll find it. And please, if you love what we do here, share that with a friend. and help us spread the word about DNR.

Lastly, reminder that D&R uses level-up advanced fifth edition from EN publishing as our gaming system. It springboards off of Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition and makes our storytelling even richer. Code D-A-N-D-R gets you a discount. All right, catching up with the Frostborn Group. After the random werewolf attack from our hitchhiker friend, side note, no more hitchhikers, we settled back into Esther Holt pretty quickly. Estherhold itself was anything but settled, however, as the tension between the paladin factions was palpable and evidently just a day or so before we returned, a vampire had been attacked and killed right there in the city.

And that opens up a potential can of worms, politically speaking. On top of that, we needed to find the kids we'd left behind when we went into the mountains, and all signs started pointing towards something terrible happening. As we traced their trail, we met Thane Silver Fox, a slight little. full of himself monster hunter. Never fear, though, we found the kids happily carousing in Bonzo's dark, Ruby's favorite restaurant in the vampiric gloaming quarter of the city. Problem is, our good buddy chet looked far more pale than usual, and in the vampire district, that typically means one thing.

And you just know loggerns ready to grab his ear and tell it like it is. Today, the kids spill the beans on what they've been up to. Ruby overeats, obviously, and eventually, everyone gets a bit of grace, at least for now. Take it away, Jason Massey. I'm sorry. Let's do that thing where we go around the table and introduce ourselves. I'm Jason. I'm the dungeon master. Go around the table. Start with Susan. Hi, I'm Susan. My pronouns are she heard. I'll be playing nice year, right? The Elven Roog. And Ian. Hey, I'm Ian. My pronouns are he, him, any, and I'm playing chimera, the Teeflein Warlock.

And Jameson. Oh, hey, I'm Jameson. I'm... Lager and Cry. I play the... I play the guy, you know... A long guy. He's a dwarf and Marshall. They call him Big Steak and Cheese. You've got a chicken cheese. You've got a chicken cheese. It's... It's a regional thing. It's one of us. These days, one of us just like, wait, what happened to my brain? I think the closer we get to the end of the year. It's the holidays, man, and he just moved. The man just moved such a far distance. In two weeks, we're going to start a recording, and I'm just going to a thousand yards stare for the first time.

And somehow you could hear it. It's like you could hear the slow zoom on your face. The helicopter is in the backer. And last and certainly not least, Jasper. Hi, I'm Jasper. He, him, I am playing. Now you psyched me out. Jameson, I play Ruby Pedigrew, the Half-Hourgir-Slinger adept. What I'm learning is no more taking off for holidays. Okay. First, can we just address? Hey, let's just start a new call real quick. Okay. Let's do that thing. We're all like, what just happened? I think that was great. You should do that more often. That was very funny. Just bring a show on you.

Yeah. That was amazing. Let's do that more. Next time we hang out in person, you should do that. Just be like, wait, what? He's just developed a pick now. It's just a number of. Yeah, it's just we're sitting in the bar at DragonCon. It's like, ah, shit, he's like, oh, shit, he's. He's having an episode. Like, literally, he's having an episode. He's a podcaster. It's fine. It's not a true. Don't worry. For those of you listening, so we're doing behind, like we talk for like half an hour or more and we do behind the scene and stuff. And we just chat and make sure that the calls, you know, going okay in terms of all the technology.

Nobody's losing their, you have to restart their router or something like that. If that happens, it's fine. But in any case, Jason said, ah, let's start a new call. Stop the call. We all jump into the call. And he immediately, let's do that. What? And to this day, it's a, it's a Pavlovian type weird reaction. If you do the, I hold my breath so I don't make any noise because I don't want to talk into my phone. And I sit up straight. Yeah, I sit up straight. And then evidently, one of us or all of us lose the ability. to know what we're supposed to say next and panic.

Or at least that's what happens most of the time for me. Apparently, I black out and I'm able to do it. I don't know. Anyway, here we are. Back to DNR. This requires more study. I need more data, but like I will start doing that in the middle of calls from now on. And I'm going to, I'm going to see the effects. I'm in the middle of a recording. Like, we've already started the episode. Yeah. And do it for beat for beat. Exactly the same. Just like that. Well, enough fun. We're in Bonzo's Dark. We're back in Esther Holt. You ran into a monster hunter on your travels.

You got the skinny on what exactly is happening within the city. You found the kids. They are in Bonzo's Dark. Chet looks to be a bit paler than usual. Now, before we jump to any conclusions, you've had a few weeks to think about this, and I'm sure colder heads will prevail. But what is everyone thinking in this moment? So you've been on the road for, you know, a couple of days, basically. Like, it's been like 36 hours-ish. There's a werewolf attack, your car's all beat up. You're looking all over the city. There's a point where you think they might be dead, maybe, or injured.

And you finally find them and they're just kind of having a good old time. Is that better or worse, I guess, is my question. Yeah. Like, would you rather see them safe and having a good time? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or like, oh, thank God, thank God, you're here, like that type of thing, I guess. I mean, it's definitely. one of those things were like, I'm glad you're fine. We get a talk. Like, now that I know you're okay, now you're in trouble. But I don't know. I mean, Loggerne's also not about to make a scene. He's not about to like drag them by their ears off of the dance floor or something, you know.

So I think there's a moment of just kind of like, we all kind of stop short when we see them. And then exchange a look with one another. And Lager just sort of heaves a big sign. He goes, well, I guess we're getting a table. I'll get a booth. Ruby rolls her eyes if she sees them. Like once, you know, come here, like, pats are on the shoulder and points. God damn. I'm getting a booth. That's it. And she will. And, you know, she's not pissed or anything. But it's just what a roller coaster. All of this has been for the last three days, 24 hours, few hours. So she's just going to want to just sit and get a couple of appetizers.

At least your bonzo? That's the thing. She'll be just, she's going to tune it out and get like a fancy drink. What's your go-to appetizer? She likes the harpy knuckles. The harpy knuckles is spicy, like super spicy, probably so spicy that no one else at the table could handle even being near them except logger. would notice that they're spicy. I'm guessing. I don't know how it would be. It's a count as poison, basically. Yeah, it's like it. What is it? Hot ones? Is that the show with the guy with the... Yeah, it's one of the upper, the last couple of, uh, she just like super spicy.

And a super sweet drink, like super sweet. Like super sweet. Like, like half grenadine. Half simple syrup. Yeah, yeah. Just like, oh, God. It's like, how did you get this to be so sweet? So the huge, right? There's, obviously, there's kind of loud music playing because there's sort of a live band going on right now. Not that there's like, you know, oh, we have the jukebox playing. But usually it's kind of like one of those pre-done roles of like organ music that they're rocking. But they're kind of having a party in the corner. And I'm going to roll really quickly just to like, just to see.

I rolled a three. So they're not going to notice you at all. And we taught them well. Well, it's also. It's also. They have been waiting two weeks. So, you know, like... They've moved on with their lives, basically. I don't know about that. Two weeks for these kids is like two years. Like, they're like, they're gone forever. They died within the first few hours. So you get yourself a booth. You got, you got... You got spicy food, sweet drinks, and maybe some edible food. Uh, and... What's the battle plan here? I guess? Like, what... It feels to me like there's there is that moment where everybody just kind of sits at the table and just like the shwarmus scene, right?

Everybody just kind of decompresses for a second. Yeah. And just like, oh. Kind of exchange his looks. Um, we've been here five minutes logger and is already on his third beer. So. Like he orders them two at a time. It's like, bring me two. And then when you get back, bring me two. more. And they always come with silly straws. Yeah. And he's like, I told you to stop. Like, they throw them on the table. Just I don't put anything else in it. Just there's. Honestly, there's, okay, the lady that works here waited on you last time. Know your disposition and knows everybody else is enjoying themselves.

So what she would probably do is slip you gradually a longer and longer straw each time. Like each, it's just a little bit wackier each time. Like, I think Monzo is a place where it's like, no, no, no, the really wacky straws. Give me what, like, they have several boxes of, you know. Of course. So I'm like this place who drinks beer with his straw. God. You say that all that. Look up in Ruby's quite literally drinking a beer out of course. Just a good. Yeah. We've attached all. all the silly straws. Logrin has disposed of it. Yeah. Drinking out of Logren's cup from across the table.

Right. I want fan art. Now, someone, please. There was some gorgeous fan art. The Discord. That's true. Yeah, that was very good. Who is that screen name? I forgot the screen name, but like, please, they deserve a shout out. Holy shit. Good job. Or sure. There was Reno's and then there was... We're getting there. Maliloki. Maliloki. Thank you. Seriously. Okay. That was a good session, guys. That was... That was great. Ruby is, just for the record, her demeanor right now. She's exhausted. She's... Sure. I've said this to you before we even started playing tonight, but Ruby is...

She's got a lot on her mind. She's got the gear heart has broken and she's wanting to fix that up. So that's tugging at her. She's really worried about Chimera. She's worried about Lagerie. She's worried about the kids. She's worried about this whole plan of Lagerins that they're they take two steps forward and one step back. And sometimes it's 10 steps back and whatever. Nithera is acting distant and maybe a little bit kind of off kilter. That's throwing her off because the more she sees that happen. And she's wondering, well, what's going on? Her mental load is full.

Like she's just, she's doing the thousand foot stair or a thousand yards stair just like eating Harpy Knuckles, drinking drinks. And it's probably just thinking they'll take care of it. Loggerna, he's got it. He's got it. Yeah. She's just kind of done. Nifea also has a thousand yards here. She probably has a glass of wine. And I imagine I can see this cup. It's basically has an inlaid like it looks like blood's dripping every time you lift it up. Like you know the blood dripping. She's just holding it up in front of her and then she'll take a sip and then just staring off as a middle distance, not really like connecting with anybody at the table or anybody in the room just kind of like looking off into the distance.

I think chimera is because he's exhausted too. It's been like he has the exact same exhausted feelings as everyone here. But rather than a thousand yards stare, I think he is watching the kids because it feels really good to him to see them like happy and like living their lives and just like being in the moment and like because that's where he loves to be. And so like to see that vicariously just he's got a lot on his mind and he knows that Everyone around him has got a lot on their minds, but like, he's just watching them. And it kind of makes him feel a little better.

I think maybe he'll, like, call the server over and ask them to order or order something for the kids, like to be brought to them on the dance floor when the song ends or something like that. A round of drinks or like cheesy fries or something like something good. and yummy so that they'll have it and to let the server know like to point at our table when it comes out and they're going to dancing so that's nice can I get get can I get never done this before so get everybody give me a wisdom saving throw please it's not a bad thing it's it's a I want to see something thing Hmm. Mm-hmm.

Woo. Wow. Oh. I had it. Okay. Tracks a little bit. So Ruby 9, chimera 27, Logron 22, and Nythera 19. I think this tracks. Yep. Because I feel like Ruby was already burnt out before leaving the mountain and then driving anyone who drives across country through the snow. Like, that's, that's a lot. And your car's beat up, this thing you worked really, really hard on. I've put together whole Warhammer armies, and Luna just knocks over a table. And, oh, that wing shattered, that's the thing. I know that feeling. That's a terrible feeling. Yeah. It weighs out. No amount of glue.

Yeah, because I know it broke. Like, even if I can make it look like, you know. Yeah. So, I feel like while you guys are sitting there, you are going to have a moment where you're just kind of like, I'm done. Like just, just not not in an angry way, not in a I quit way. You're just like, I'm done caring for today. Like I'm just going to enjoy this. And what I want to do is I want to have a role after you. your next long rest because I want to see something. You're going to get kind of a weird benefit from that. Have you ever played a darkest dungeon? Something.

Okay. Never to the end. Never to the end. I don't think there is an end. They made it too. I'm still not sure there's this fucking ending to that. So darkest dungeon is very eldritch horror. It's dark fantasy. And it's not about the things that are trying to kill you. It's about the grind. It is every step you take, every, every door you open, every enemy you run into, it's just meant to kind of pulverize your will a little bit over time. And eventually your characters have this moment. They break. And either they have a moment of pure insanity or this moment of clarity and almost in defiance of their will breaking.

They have to, you know, soldier on. So I want to do something kind of nice, like, Sometimes after, like, Dragon Con week, I will feel like a huge weight has lifted off my shoulders. And we're driving home and I'm like, oh, my God, I want to do this, this, and this. And sometimes I'm dead. Like, I just drive in silence for 14 hours. So we're going to roll for something the next day. But these kids are going to get, they're going to get served everything. The music's going to die down a bit. And the server's like pointing over. to you guys. Yep. I imagine chimeras like waving.

And you're going to get three very different reactions. Or in Vetti are going to be overjoyed to see you. Almost like they thought you were dead. Baz is going to be pretty nonplussed. You know, and chat's going to look trepidious. And chat's going to look trepidious. You don't look. happy. I think you saw the picture of Brie earlier. That's what I'm picturing. I'm picturing just like just you're not angry or whatever it's like their spirit is broken. That's what it looks like. So they're you know or and Vetti could run right over throw their throw their arms around whoever is on the outside of the booth.

For some reason I imagine Ruby. Naira feels like an inside sitter. No, Niter has to get out as soon as possible. I see that guy because I feel like. Ruby would have gotten in the booth first and right in the middle. Yeah. Like, let everybody go around her. Yeah. Nifer has to escape as quickly as possible. She could be locked in. That's fair. Okay. I think that's an established thing too. It's like no way. Always aisle. We need her aisle. Yeah. Yeah, you're definitely going to get big hugs. Paz is just going to walk over. Kind of put his hand on Logrin's shoulder. Yeah.

Lauren was focused on taking the straw out of his beer and didn't see him. Just gonna give like a little wave. So Betty would be the first to speak up. What happened? We thought you guys died. Same. Is it three days? You should see the other guy. I give a pointed look to chimera. Yeah, and he's like, a lot went on and we'll tell you all about it. We did come back with something fun, though, and you're going to want to see it. Are you? Okay. Has chimera changed or done anything to, like, your coat was kind of shredded. you're, you know what I mean? Like you look, if you were in action figured, you'd be battle damaged Kymyra, right?

Yeah, like, I think we went to the hotel so like he would have freshened out before. Yeah, I thought so. Okay. Put on a new shirt at least. So I think he still has the scar or something, but he would have put on some clothes that aren't like ripped apart by a werewolf. That's good. Okay. Even Bonzos has a dress code. It's real. Your eyes are still going to have. Like, for the most part, all the demon stuff has has calmed down. But you still got like a fleck of that in your eyes. And Orr's going to kind of like lean over and like get real close to your face.

Hmm. You okay? Yeah, I'm good. Never better. Why do you ask? It's just a... I mean... You're pulling it off, but I mean... Thank you. I didn't know if it was your friend or not. It is a little bit. Did you know we got attacked by a werewolf? Well, I got attacked by a werewolf. Hmm. Well, I did. Well, you know. Not just him. I do too, but I'll let him have it. You didn't get ragdolls. Which is like, yeah. It grabbed your hair. I think it ripped me apart. I think it pushed me out of the way. Yeah, it was disrespectful at most. Like that. I got a lot of really good hits on it.

That's true. She is actually going to like forcefully like hit you in the chest. Shut up. Ouch. So smell a little sore. Please be careful. She'll like, oh, God, I'm sorry, but like, that's super fucking cool. Where is it? Did you kill it? Well, yeah. Well, I gave it a good blast in Night Ther. I gave it a few good steps, but it did get away. So it is still out there. Though, I imagine it's probably bleeding out in the snow, poetic. Ruby will laugh. And she hasn't been paying attention. She's going to start chuckling and she's going to try and and say its head was on fire when it ran away.

And I just produce a little flame in my hand. She'll be like that's kind of awesome. Like after all this is said and done and after everything was so terrible, she's trying to find some sort of humor in and all. The server by the way, when you do that, it'd be like, just kind of a, it's like, bip-b-b-b-b-b. This is fire code. Sorry. We've heard stories. Yes, but we've had a lot happen. And look, I know, I know we were gone for longer than we thought. Things got complicated. I'm sure you understand. You must have had an incredible time. We came to the place where you were.

There was some kind of ruckus that happened there. What went on? And... I imagine this entire time. Lagerin's expression does not change. He's just staring. Not even at anybody. He's just like... He's not so zoned out that he looks like he's not paying attention. But he's very much in like focused on his glass in front of him and just kind of looking from one person and the next is people converse, but he's not. He hasn't taken an active role in the conversation at all. They're going to get quiet because now it's like, oh, what happened to you? Because there's an elephant in the room.

So, like, Orin and Vetti are going to kind of look at each other, and they're both kind of like, boom. Cool. Like, they're trying to, like, force each other to, like, and vetti eventually. Well, things got a little complicated. We did exactly what you said. To the letter. We did what you said. And then a week went by. And... And... Um... I don't know if you know it, but the city is real tense right now. Um There's no real easy way to say this, but Chet died at a certain point, kind of like, it's... Nighttheir out into her glass is going to go, not surprising.

And Ruby will say immediately, not the first time either. So chat's not saying anything, but because he's kind of, he doesn't want to disappoint you guys. So like, there is a, and he's, he's been kind of looking down the whole time. And if he hears the not surprised, like, he's going to like, hey, like, okay, hold on. And he's going to go to speak and and vetty's like, shut up. Just stop. Stop talking. Don't. Don't. Don't. Don't help. You'd be very proud of him. Oh, okay. I mean, he survived, so good on you, Chet. Is that why the complexion? I'm assuming it comes with a pair of fangs.

I would assume that it would have been a woman, but... Was this because you needed to come back? He's gonna... So... Okay, so... Let me explain what happened. And then we can get into that. Because it's a little more complicated than that. I like complicated. And stories. Go on. You all want chairs. You all want chairs. They're just going to like squeeze into the booth over. Good on in. Just like push in. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Very much set for like five people. And now it's like, yeah. Yeah. Shuttle stand. But like everyone else is like, you know, kind of shove over.

All right. So someone tried to attack us when we were staying at that place and I don't know if that guy owed money or something, but he started acting real weird. He got attacked and tried to save him, but he kind of got stabbed through the heart. And I think... Look, I've watched. I've watched. you guys fight. This person looked like they really knew what they were doing. Like, this was an assassin. Like, they really, they, we didn't hear them coming. We, like, they attacked him in his bed. We saw the blood. So. Who was it? Did you get any good look at him when he was there? covered head to toe.

Wasn't even wearing armor from what we could see. Any attack the man you were staying with or you just happened to be in the way? It looked like they were going for him specifically. Like, didn't want to deal with us. So when Chet kind of got in the way to stop him, he had already stabbed him twice. The guards ended up taking that guy away. and we took jet to... Well, we tried going to a cleric, but... They're real weird in this town. There's like a weird divide. And I guess we went to the wrong cleric. Yeah, it's weird. And they didn't want to help us, and we were just kind of running out of options, and...

We'd kind of met a really nice vampire a couple of days previous, and they offered to help us, and they offered to help us out. And... Chet's kind of a thrall. Like, not a full vampire, but, like, not dead either. And we're kind of in a holding pattern. We're hoping you'd get back so we can kind of figure out what to do next. But, um... You don't happen to have any... Experience with this and, like, kind of pointing at Chet. Well, look at next here. You probably don't want my experience with that. But resourceful and you did what you needed to do. I mean, y'all could have done worse.

She's going to look at Logrin. She's trying to pull him in to this. conversation at this point. But she will make that point. I mean, frankly, it sounds like y'all did pretty good. I'm impressed. And Nigeria's going to look to chat and be like, you are okay now, though, right? Getting stops with a heart doesn't sound fun. He was honestly expecting you to make fun of him. So he's kind of like, He's kind of like leaning on the table now, like engaging in conversations. Like, oh my God, they're not going to yell at me. Okay, great. Okay. I'm not exactly sure what comes next because I have to decide whether I want to die or become a vampire, basically, because I can't stay this way forever because I guess it kind of gets worse over time.

So they offer to let me. me live here, but I don't... I don't know if I want to be 17 forever. That doesn't sound great. It's not the worst. You could do worse, frankly. I don't know. I'm talking out of my ass. She's going to get... She's going to order another drink. From my experience, there's nothing that you can do that can't be undone. But sometimes... you find yourself standing where you are now and you look back at the person you were back then and think maybe I don't want to be that person again. Who knows? These people have been real nice. I just...

I don't know if I want to be one of them, you know? You know? It... I think someone's haunting them. They found one of their own, one of their oldest members. Dead. Just dead. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We heard all about it or we heard something about it or we tried to find out about it. But stuff was happening. Exactly. This place just like changed over and away. Like maybe it was three weeks. I was going to say overnight. But whatever, it just feels like a different place when we left. But yeah, I don't know. It doesn't feel safe. You know, they're not even allowed to, like, go investigate?

They're not allowed to be a part of it. So because it happened in the main city, they're not, they can't even go looking for the person who killed one of their own. It's just, it's bullshit, man. What about your friend? She'll look at Nathira. What about your friend? Maybe he knows something. I think there just looks at her glass and I don't think he could help and just kind of zones out Ruby won't think anything of that she would just be like okay well whatever that's that's nice there's thing be mysterious Yeah like go for whatever Yeah I need to do it.

I need to do it a roll here. One sec. No one has secrets from me. Well, Camir is a very insightful person. I don't think these things. You're used to lying. Yeah, exactly. Because he's looking for... Oh. He is... I don't know, 12. Mm. Mm. One second. Here. Yeah. Yeah. That might be. Yeah. Good. Good. 12 against a 19, let's say. Yeah. This just tracks for Nithera truly being this way sometimes and it's like fine, whatever. She just doesn't want to. She's closed up. Whatever. So you're a character that's used to lying and Nitha is a character who's used to being secretive.

So with a 12, you're probably like, there's something there, but like nothing particular that would be... Nothing I could pick at. Yeah, it could just be like, oh, she had a weird one night stand with that guy. Yeah. Maybe it didn't go well. Maybe he didn't go right there. That's what I was thinking. Oh, maybe. He's into balloon animals. Like it's, you know. That would be cool. But expectation. I didn't quite get mad. Turns out age doesn't equal experience. I don't know. It's a. It turns out. God, that, yeah, that sucks. That's awful. the more I learn about this city, the less...

I like it, unfortunately, because I really like the gloaming quarter. But, chat, to what's going on with you, we fix Dora, we can fix you two, too, okay? How much time do we have? Well... I mean, it's supposed to be okay for like a month, but then it, you know. You're good. You're good. We got a lot to deal with. So we might need to put that on the back button just for a second. But take a number. Seriously. We are going to get it. We're going to close that loop. So don't worry. Oras is kind of like lean over. It's like, are you talking about like your guy? Like giving it to him.

That's, well, that's not. That's not. not an option. But there's an option in there. Speaking of, what would really help me with that is, were you able to round up any contacts or anything? Any people, any people interested in that may be taking on a patron? The perspective. Oh. Yeah. Yeah? All right. Yeah. I got like six people. Excellent. Excellent. I want to pick your brain about that later. It was easy. It's super easy. It usually is. There's a lot of people that want this kind of thing. And they're easier to spot. And you're good at this. Did you do this like a whole community of like vampire simps?

Like all they want to do is be turned because like they don't get like it's a huge commitment. So like they're just... Oh yeah. I've done. my fair share of role play in that kind of thing. So yeah. I will. Weird, man. Seriously. Like, they'll bite each other to make it look like they've been bitten before. It's weird shit. Well, let's hold the judgment. But as long as they're not hurting anyone. Pulls up your collar a little. Yeah. It's just like, all right. Okay. And looking over at Nithera, like maybe that's what happened. I don't know. We just... Hey, folks, Jasper here.

Hey, folks, Jasper here. Sorry to interrupt everything. Listen, we want to connect with you. If you like what we do here, please consider joining our community on our Discord server. And if you want even more, please think about joining the DNR, Patreon at patreon.com slash D-A-N-D-R. There, you'll get behind-the-scenes looks, bonus games, Patreon groups with Jason and Bree at higher tiers, and so much more. There's even some big surprises coming down the path. Links to our Discord and Patreon in the show description. Now, just a couple of words from our sponsors, and then back to the show.

So Lagrin's been sitting here. All right. I just, I wanted to give you the opportunity to. Yeah, no, that's my point. So I wanted to give you the opportunity to go, excuse me, and come on in. But like. No, I mean, Lager and honestly, like, he is a tired, B. got other shit to think about C, like, 50% of trying to find these kids was just to make sure that they're okay. And they are. So he is happy knowing that. And he's going to continue to just be mad about the condition of the beer they keep bringing him. Okay. At one point, the cup is a straw. Like, you know, the one that comes out the bottom.

He can't, like, take it out. I think it was one of those, like, long cups that you have to. Yeah. Yeah. Chuck up. Yeah. No, no, he's, he's like, I was going to say he doesn't look grumpy, but he's loggard. So he always looks grumpy, but he doesn't look like he's mad at anybody. He's just there, you know. So he's not like glowering at anybody or like anything like that, but he's kind of just fine with things happening around him for the moment. Um, that he's almost vibrating, just waiting to hear. So what happened? What you guys do? What did we not do? I mean, we, all right, so we left you, we went into the mountains or started to, and then we started to, and then we started hearing about that there was some stuff going on with the door guard that was going to maybe make it be a little bit more of a problem.

And then so we got to the Dorgar. Oh, fell into the Faye Wild. Yeah. It was Faye Wild. I forgot about the Faye Wild. Oh, how long were you there? I can't even remember. Minutes. And I really want to go back. It does sound cool. Anyway, so we found the Faye Wild. Did we ended up killing the king of the Dorgar? And then we ended up staying at the door guard. The Minotaur we were with killed. We did. didn't. It's very important to say we didn't kill him. That's right. This is not an admission of guilt. It's written hairs. I mean, anyway, so we were there for a little while they were just trying to clean up all the mess and all that kind of stuff.

But it turns out we didn't really do anything bad because he was the one who actually had some problems. But what we ended up doing is we've actually did and she'll sort of elbow loggered. We got what we were going to get, which was some really important stuff for the stuff that we needed to be able to do. But the whole thing was is that it's really heavy. So Kamera mentioned that there's something you're going to want to see, and I cannot wait to show you, but you've got to give me a couple days. She'll just end it there. It's amazing, and I don't want to spoil anything.

I will let Ruby do that. But she came. The way her mind works is incredible. And the devotion that she had to the thing that she made, there's nothing else like it. That's all I can say. There is literally nothing else like it in the entire world. Ruby be blushing, but she'll also, she'll start patting Logren's shoulder as well as you're saying, that she's shaking her head. She can't take all the credit. She's like, I mean, I was the monkey, you know, within the gears, but, you know, Lagrin oversaw all that. And also, I had a lot of Durgar buddies. Like, I couldn't do all that on my own.

No. Hey, Ruby, you made something amazing. And she's going to like push down your bowl and that a little bit. You did amazing. She'll take a big drink. Well, um, after the first week, we, uh, we were getting worried, but we just figured, if what was happening to you guys without us is anything like what happened on the way here, you were probably just in trouble. You didn't have backup. So we have a surprise for you, too. We kind of arranged a few things in the city, and we think we have some contacts for you to meet. What kind of contacts? So. First words he said.

Sometimes, please. How mad am I going to say? be. Right. And that's the... I mean, he's a literal clown, but hear me out. Yeah. Mr. is a very serious man. I want you to take this seriously because this is a business meeting. And so she'll kind of... Vetti's going to kind of like straighten up because it's the first thing you've shown interest in. And now it's like, okay, I have to pitch this. I have to make this. So there's a couple of, there's a couple of people that we thought might be able to help you. So without telling them what you're trying to accomplish, we kind of, we've been helping them with some things.

And in exchange, they want to meet with you if you'd be interested. And we think they'd be. pretty valuable. I didn't understand a word of that. Valuable how? Well, okay. So the thing you're trying to do with with Stone Sunder is like a big deal, right? And you're going to need bodies. But like, skilled bodies, people who know how to fight, right? Just in case. Like, we get you don't want to want to. a fight, but like, let's just say, right? They have a whole army. So it'd be good to have people on your side that, you know, as she's pitching this, she's getting less and less, like, confident.

Like, this was a great idea and then it's wilting in front of you as she's. There's a big group of vampires that want to get out of here. And they're kind of looking for a place that they can bring out where they wouldn't be quarantined. They're kind of looked down upon here. They're in the city, but not really. They're like, they're like a tale. They're here, but they don't get a vote. They can't investigate the murder of one of their own people. They, you know, they've been nothing but helpful. It's just, you know, they're kind of getting a bad deal. But every time the city's in danger, they call on them to like, help out with a for. fight.

Nithere is going to give a logger in a look and then just like, like, if she was wearing glasses, be over the room of her glasses like I'm doing, but it's like living in a mountain, they wouldn't have to worry about sunlight. I mean, that part sounds fine. I just don't want anybody to have to have to fight. If it came down to it, fine. but the whole idea well you know the idea anyway great I mean I don't know what to do with them I don't know what to do with vampires right now and he kind of gives a little bit of a glance at chat I don't know what to do with vampires he'd be quick to say it's like I'm not a vampire like it's not like like right but he doesn't like the word thrall That's like a...

It's not a great term. Like, it's... Because technically he's tied to the person who hired him, but like, they haven't completed the schick yet. So it's just kind of... He's a little Winfield. Yeah. Right now. A little limbo. Vampiret. He's a vamporet. Yeah. He's going to like that less on thrall. Yeah. Yeah. He's going to... Vamparito. Well, that just sounds delicious. Actually, could we get two more? Vaporitos? Yeah, yeah. Good call. Very good call, Ruby. Extra sauce. You don't get an option. It comes with extra sauce. Like you just, yeah. Yeah. So now that you haven't, you haven't shot down the pitch directly.

The pitch directly. Vetti's kind of got a second win. Well, okay. They have great senses of hearing. They can hear heartbeats and stuff. So, you know, like, if you said there's like a stealth part of the mission, they might be able to help out. I mean, who sneaks better than a vampire? Except the guy who tried. You can't. You point at night here. Yeah. We all play in that. Yeah. Yeah. And she would even be like, well, yeah, the guy who killed Chet. But like, other than that, you know, yeah. that. Well, the guy who killed Jake could have been a... Whoa. Never mind.

Like, she'll... She'll... Like... Yeah. No. No. No. No. Read the freaking room. Oh. Yeah. So, Ogrind will just kind of put his hands and be like, I mean, less than there might be a way to make it work. If we succeed, there's a place, but... I can't promise a job right now. But I'll meet him. I'm going to say no. That's fine. We just thought. thought, you know, it might help. It might. We also made 15,000 gold. Silence. Ruby just leans back in the... Like, like... What? Do I want to ask? It's a long story, but I think. think you'd like to hear it tomorrow? Like she's reading, she's reading the pure, you know how children can see exhaustion, but not understand it completely?

Like, it's gotten to the point where it's like, okay, I'm, I'm pressing my luck. So let's. And he's like, I do want to hear it, but tomorrow sounds great. I think we all need some rest. Oh, and I over eight. to get I over 8 so much. Yeah, I know. You got to stop. You're really going to stop doing that. I can't. I'll be right back. I'll be right back. There are people stab at each other into this city. You can't be that full. You're going to puke over somebody. I'm going to. She's going to actually ask him to move out of the way because she's going to get up. And now, yeah.

And now there's six of us in the booth. So like Loggerne has to like shove the person next to him. Scoot. Scoot. Um. So he'll look at ORA and be like, did he get any leads? And she's, for a second, it's like, leads? Oh. Yeah. Do you want to hear about that tomorrow, too? Or is this like a tonight thing? I just want to know you got him. I got you. Okay. And he visibly brightens. Like, he's in a much better. better mood almost at me. Like after she, she cut up, it's like, oh, yeah, that thing. I got you. Like, she's real confident. Like, bro, not confident. He's like, did you get any leads?

And she doesn't know what he's talking about where he's, he's about to get like, oh, come on, like big mad. And then she's like, yeah. And he's like, oh, okay, great. Well, then we're fine. All right. I'll see you guys tomorrow. Then. Bye. All right. All right. Nice. Just. So he will. he will kind of as ruby's shuffling off towards the restroom he'll kind of like sigh as he as he something occurs to him and he goes do you guys have a place to stay like where are you staying now the last place got stabbed uh yeah do you have a place to stay you could stay with us no we're back in the really nice hotel i'm just making sure you guys are all right Oh, I have...

We're fine. There's a huge church down the way, and we've been staying with them. It's nicer than the hotel. And she's just going to, like, hold up her hands. It's like, you know... All right, I'm not moving our stuff again. We're going to go back to the hotel. But where are we going to... Hey, chat, can we meet you in the morning? Are you going to be like sleepy now? Oh, yeah. How does that work? Already, he's like, yeah, I'm fine to go out in the daytime. It's just bright. That's all. Some day walkers. I might wear a hood or something. Yeah. Some sunscreen. Sunskirts.

Do we know the church that they're referring to? Is it that obvious? Is it like Notre Dame type thing where you're like, I know where that is? It's obvious. Big-ass gothic church in the, yeah. If we hard cut it's like, bha-b-b-da-d-h. It'd be like, yeah, it'd be very obvious. There's always a storm right around the church, but no further. Is it in the gloaming district? The church is they're talking about? Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. So it's not like it's not like a part of the weird feuding religions. No, they got their own thing going on. Okay. You know. As you can imagine, there's a lot of options about what they should do and everyone's kind of pitching their own like, you know, well, there's got to be something better than this and everyone's kind of pitching different things.

So, you know. About this time, Ruby is going to come back and stand. You know, waiting for everybody to get like, you know, she's just waiting. She's just waiting. We just got back in the booth. Yeah. All right. And right behind her is like, within, you know, 20 feet is going to be the waitstaff with a big tray. And she has these ice creams, little just bowls of ice cream for it. Basically, she got one for everybody. And it's basically vanilla ice cream more or less or something similar to that. Sure. You know, icy, ice thing. But it's got... Ice isn't a problem to find.

It's fine. Yeah, I imagine. That's true. It's just world. That it has... Refrigeration. It's fine. But this is a signature thing at the Bonzo's dark. It's got two puncture. sure points where, you know, like some sort of like jam, like, raspberry stuff. It looks like fangs have bitten into it. It's like a fang, right? It's really cutesy. But everybody gets one, including Logran. And when she gets into the middle of it and everybody lets her back in and she sits down and everybody gets back in, she's going to pat Logren on the shoulder. She already took care of the bill.

With what? Ruby with what? It's fine. Ruy. It's taken care of. Pat and his pat. Yeah. 100% came from Logrin. Yeah. Toss his cow coin pouch back to him. Vetti. None of the other kids would do this. Fetti is going to take out a big sack full of gold. It's like I can take it like holding it in the air. Like, I have lots of money. We can take it. Like it's hard. We can. Zip it. Just quietly like, like grab her hand. Yeah. Or would definitely be like grab it. It's like, no, no, no, no, no, I'll talk. No, I'll tell you later why. But don't. Don't. Don't do that. It's just not done.

It's just not done. Honestly, it's amazing. One of them died. Uh, can I have perception check to see if anybody noticed that? Absolutely, you can. Anyone trained in perception. Give me. I have a passive perception of 18. You have a really high passive perception. Does that count? Yeah. I get an 11. That beats my passive perception by one. That's what I figured you should roll. We need a little bit of chance on that one. I think maybe I'll take my passive. Yeah. So Ruby 16. Logger in 11, Ruby 16, came here in 19. and Nythira 18? You said? Damn. That's... Holy shit. So, okay, that's your passive.

My God. Okay. So you're going to look around and a couple of the vampires know these kids. And that's the point in the conversation where, like, Vetti's voice goes up because she's really excited that she can pay for you guys. But, like, is very loud. And you're going to notice a couple of the vampires just like, jean, God. Like, more like... How are you not dead? Like, that is not street smart, man. Like, that is, like, they have spent like the last couple of weeks kind of get, but you're kind of getting the sense that they just came into this money. Like that, whatever they did, this is recent.

And Or is going to start like pushing. It's like, okay, we're going to go. Where do you guys want to meet tomorrow? So, Lagerna will exchange a look with Ruby because he's thinking that we might, want to show off the thing, but she wanted time with it. But we'll come to you. We'll come to the church. After breakfast. Okay. All right. Well, um... All right. See you guys tomorrow then. Thanks. I'm glad you're safe. Glad you're alive. Yeah. Well, you know, thanks for not yelling. Because I know that that's kind of your default. But, you know, like you're all. probably too tired to yell.

So that's great. You know, bye. I can find it if you want. Which one of them said that? Like, well, I'll be like for a minute. Hey, I'll be rested tomorrow. I'll still be mad. Like, you don't even know. I would take a lozenge. I've seen me do it. You have a dwarven. mom. You should be. Ruby has moved on to eating whatever part of Lagerin's ice cream that he hasn't touched yet. He put the ice cream in his beer. Oh, one. He's like finally. I think they just ruined. He's like a mash and it down. Actually, I've had a beer float before. Not terrible. Yeah. It depends on the beer.

Yeah. It depends on the beer. It depends on the beer. Yeah. Got like an IPA. I can't imagine that's real good. Oh, yeah. Like Guinness? Oh. It's good for that because it's like a fixer. I don't know anything about beer. Okay. Sorry. I'm four years over and I'm still too much of a beer nerd to let that go. Oh, it's okay. It is super thin. It is not a heavy beer at all. It's just dark. Okay. That's all. That's got good PR. That's the thing. It's not. It's not like. It's not trogenated, which gives it the really kind of creamy foam. which makes it look thicker, but it's a very light beer.

So you can't see this. You can't see this. He's actually standing up. And he's like, weird. And he's shaking. He's waving a switchblade around. It's. He would have broken a glass and held it up to the camera. And like that hits progress. That's really good. All right. Now I have to explain this. I flew off the handle. I used to be a tour guide at a brewery. And I would get people all the time who weren't beer drinkers. do like, I just don't really like the heavy stuff. Like, motherfucker, that is the lightest beer you could have used as an example. Like, it was just constant.

It was all the time. So anyway, that's, apparently, that's a trigger for me. We find those sometimes. No, I mean, people have those houses, man. You know, how many times have I yelled at Ryan? Like, it's, you know, it's, you know. I got a little upset earlier, a chopped cheese and steak and steak and cheese. Like, it's like, oh, we're going to get a steak and cheese. It's like, what? You mean a cheese steak? Like, we already had a word for that. Why are you modifying shit? Like, you know, we all just have little. Jason used to be a docent at a cheese steak museum.

So he, yeah. No, I'm just a fatty. And I'm friends. A docent to wear a words in that tour guy. I never got to get a docent. Man. That's a $5 word. That's a Brooklyn word. That's a Brooklyn word. That's a, you got a button. I haven't eaten in 30 years. I don't own a TV. That's one of the. I love. I love you. I love you. I love this. This is correct. It's right. I deserve all of it. I didn't do anything and I still deserve it all. You're such a nice man. Well, shit. Give me a long rest and And we're adjourning for the night. It is, well, okay. Before we take over, is there anything you want to do?

Did you want to head back to the Gearheart and fiddle around with her? Or is that a morning thing? Like you take the thing off, look at it in the daylight. This is late night. I think they're realizing how exhausted they are. Ruby just overate again, which is kind of on purpose so that she can just crash. I think she's trying to get her head out of things like the Gearheart so that she can think fresh tomorrow. So I don't know what the plan would be. but I think she'd probably chit-chat with Logrin about it and say, like, whenever I can, I want some time with it.

You know, tell me what you need me to do, but when I have to down time. You don't have to be there tomorrow if we're going to go meet with them. You can stay and work on the car. Are you sure? I feel like I don't want to need. I don't want to. You sure? Nothing's going to happen. Those kids are safe. I'm glad they're safe. I didn't want anything to happen to them. But now that they're safe. safe. I feel like I can focus on something else. I think she would truly be excited to be able to go get super down time with the Gearheart. Yeah. We didn't talk about it, but I'm imagining that we're still in the same two and two configuration in the room like Nathira and Lagerin and Camara and Ruby.

And... Why fix when ain't broken? Right. So I'm just curious before we progress to the next day, like, Nithera's demeanor. once it's just the two of us in that room. Still standoffish and there's actually going to be a moment probably where she's cleaning her blades like she usually does and probably runs a wet stone along them and she just all of a sudden while you're maybe even like taking off your armor out of nowhere, she's going to say. Sarah was the one who was killed. The man I slept with. Not even looking at him. Still sharpening her blade. Oh, that's off putting.

How do you know that? I am. Sorry, in my head, Logger was getting ready to take a bath, so he like pulls his pants by I don't know that. Wrong vibe. Yeah. Yeah, she got you off guard. It wasn't like, wasn't prompted at all. Yeah, like, oh, we're having this to talk. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I ever heard it. And they're not investigating it. And he was murdered in cold blood. Sharpening. Schink. In his eyes, like he, he's looking at her, and then he looks at the blade. And then he looks back at her. You want to do something about it? And she'll stop for a moment of like, mid-swipe, look at the blade, kind of like catch its reflection.

I think I do. What do you need for me? Or us. And she's a moment longer looking at the blade and then like, the rage slips for a moment and she'll stab it into the table. and then look up with him. No one's investigating murder in the middle of a street. Just because he's other. I'm from Aubrey. I get that. Not saying I agree with it. Don't pick up the knife. Not saying I agree with it. But I get it. It's not right. Is this a youth thing? Or is this? a team thing. And she's going to like breathe out, take a moment. I think we. And she's going to look up to the loggerne.

We should investigate if you're willing to help. Of course. he will cross the room. He is wearing pants, but he's not wearing a shirt. This is, this is, Loggerne was not ready for this conversation, but he's here. He'll cross the room, and he just kind of like, when he gets to arm's length with Nithere, he pauses for again, again for a second, and then he just puts a hand on our shoulder. and he waits for her to look at him. She'll look up. You let me know if there's anything else. Beyond investigating. If you need something. If you need time, if you need...

Anything. And she's going to shake her head a little bit and then like look up like into the distance. It was one night, but it's wrong. And then she's going to look back to Logrin. No one is investigating a murder that happened in the middle of the street and no one even cares. Well, you do. Which means I do. So that's two. And she's going to put her hand on his hand. Thanks. I thank you. First, I'm taking a bath, though, and he'll... Yeah, this is a weird conversation to have with you half-dressed. You're welcome. She's going to smite. Thanks. And then go back to sharpening her blades.

More calmly, less rage-filled. There's a little rage. There's always little rage. There's always a little rage. I mean, yeah. In Ruby and Chimer's room, What's the vibe at the end of, I mean, beyond the overeating regret. Yeah, she's used to that, though. That's not a bad feeling. That's a good feeling. I don't know. That's a good question. I think. What do you think? Yeah, would they be chit-chatting or would they be sort of just winding down quietly? I kind of pictured that, and please correct me, I kind of pictured that Ruby was sort of like taking that quiet wind down.

Like I've put out so much energy in the last couple of days. Like I just need to, I just need to center and like re-collaborate or reconnect my nervous system basically. And I think chimera like gets that. And now it's his time to take care of. Ruby. Like Ruby was there when he was freaking out with the drug stuff, you know. So now it's time for Kimira to take care of her. And that means just like being quiet, making sure she has space. And, you know, like being present. And I think that's what he's doing. That feels right. I think the first thing that would happen whenever they got into the room is that she would go straight over to whatever knob she has to turn and fill up that bathtub.

So they like, and I think I might have said this last time, but I imagine that the, the faucet, the water comes from the ceiling. Like it's just fancy, right? It comes right. It fills up. Oh, one of those rain. I would kill to have one of those. And so she's just, she's going to tackle that. And I mean, I'm sure they would, it wouldn't be no words. It's not like they're not talking by any means. But I think she'd be like, that okay, you mind? Like, you know, I'll get you just. Thank you. Thank you. I think at some point, though, if she's in the tub, I know that Camara has said, oh, can I come in before?

But I feel like he would probably have stayed away, just give her some space. She's in there. She's kind of gerald, you know, in in the tub, kind of like just head back, arms on the side. There's just probably candles or just a little bit of low light in the room. Camero, I don't know, maybe there's books in there. Maybe Camer's reading. or who knows. Just hanging out. You're pretending. It's upside. It's a book upside down book. I think with a lot of silence, at some point, she would just say, loud enough for him to hear, no matter where he was in there.

Are you okay? Are you okay? You know, Ruby, I kind of live moment to moment. And I don't dwell too much on stuff that happened. And I don't really have a lot of expectation for stuff in the future. So right now, I'm okay. She would let that sit for quite a long time, I think. Are y'all okay? Huh. I think. I think things have been... uneven for a little too long. And I want to see if I can level the playing field, just a little bit. Just a little bit. If you need any help, ever, level any help ever, level a little bit. in that field. Just let me know. Yeah. I will.

I will need help. She would... There's not a whole lot of back and forth here being said out loud, but I think a lot of stuff not being said. And you just hear, you know, bloop, bloop. She probably is playing with bubbles and drip, drip, drip, drips off of her fingertips. I think she would let it go at that point. I think she's genuinely, she knows that chimera lives in the moment. And I think she genuinely wants to know if he's okay right now. And the subtext here is that I think she knows that there are people outside. of chimera that can help him think about that future or that past because he can't or doesn't.

That's all she wants him to know. There's something to be said for being comfortable enough with a person that when you're having a day like that. Like example, Dragon Con is always a big stressful thing. And the night after the live show, me and Brie are done. And we'll take turns getting to shower and then we'll just lay in bed and watch friends. Neither of us really like friends, but it's a wordless, like, everything's fine type of thing. And there's something to be said for that, that comfortable silence. Like, you know what I mean? Like, it's... It's just...

Yeah. Yep. Yeah, you can just be a presence for someone sometimes. And that's, yeah. I think that's a good time for us to stop for the night. And I know we're stopping early. And this is going to be a shorter episode. But we're about to get into a lot. Our next episode, which is Wednesday we're recording. We just lock that down. I'm going to hit you guys with a lot of stuff. Not like, hit you guys. But like, there's going to be a lot of. stuff that you're going to have to decide what to do, what to bite on. So it's going to feel like a real busy city episode.

Like there's going to be stuff. I thought tonight it would be nice to unwind. And then, yeah, this felt restorative very much like what everybody else is dealing with. So this is good. All right, bye. All right. Bye.