EE-2-10 - The Withered Wood

SUMMARY

Our adventures sit down at Lifts Rest, once again, to discuss the Blackguard’s proposal. Rem has already received payment for the information they were able to bring, but they need to decide if they will involve themselves further in eliminating Grimfang.

Having decided to finish the job, Rem informs Ulyean that they will prepare to help the Blackguard kill Grimfang. They set off the next day, accompanied by 5 members of the dwarven elite guards. After a hard day’s ride, they near the point they will enter the forest from one last time. It is at this time, that they hear a gasping snarl come from the woods.

SHOW SPONSORS

This episode is brought to you by Gabe and Jeff, over at Inter-Party Conflict, Chaiikaii, Fred on Fyre, Evora Dawn, and Dungeons and Randomness. If you'd like to join them in supporting the show, consider joining our Patreon.

SHOUT OUTS

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CAST

Damian - The DM

Chris - Rem

Christa - Ariel

Chantalle - Kenina

Caitlin - Tempest

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MUSIC

A huge thank you to all of the musicians who allow us to use their work. If you are interested in learning about them, check out our Music Page.

Fimbulwinter – Vindsvept (Intro)

[Dwarf Temple] Hear Us All-Father – ThatBeatMusic (1:53)

Syrinscape (3:59)

Undertow – Scott Buckley (7:23)

Syrinscape (11:33)

Norour – Serpent Sound Studios (14:09)

Syrinscape (18:00)

Medieval Library – Tabletop Audio (18:52)

Syrinscape (21:05)

Moutain Village – Michael Ghelfi (26:43)

Blacksmith Shoppe – Tabletop Audio (27:07)

Opium – Incompetech (32:46)

Blacksmith Shoppe – Tabletop Audio (38:32)

Sunset at Glengorm – Incompetech (41:53)

Vindsvept – Sleeper (46:59)

Tranquility – Incompetech (48:34)

[Grasslands] Vast Grasslands in Night – Andrii Mardanov [BB] (51:09)

Ephemera – Scott Buckley (52:58)

Trail of Tears – Derek & Brandon Fiechter (54:52)

[Travel by Horseback] Horseback on Dirt – Run – WildDog Productions [BB] (55:04)

[Travel by Horseback] Horseback on Dirt – Sprint – WildDog Productions [BB] (55:22)

Percussion Loop #17 (Version 2) – AndySV (56:32)

[Dwarf Language] Female Dwarf Rallies – Nicky Baker [BB] (59:49)

Last Stand – Vindsvept (Outro)

Syrinscape

Portions of our background audio is courtesy of Syrinscape. They have a great mixer that we run through our set up while we record to help build the scene during our sessions. If you’re interested in trying out Syrinscape for yourself, they have provided us with a link to a 30 day free trial. These sections all have Syrinscape running in the background:

Opening Scene Setting – 3:59

Party Alone in the Inn – 11:33

Rem’s Departure – 18:00

Party Without Rem – 21:05

Bellows at the Smithy – 31:20

Smithy Noises Under Conversation – 32:12

Blacksmiths Area – 45:53

Battle Bards

Thank you to BattleBards for opening up their songs and sound effects library for use in the show. You can sign up for your own BattleBards account here which will automatically add our coupon code to your account. Or you can use the coupon code Erylia for 15% off when you subscribe to BattleBards Prime!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

This episode of Adventures in Aurelia is brought to you by Gabe and Jeff from Interparty Conflict, Chai Kai, Fred on Fire, Evoridon, Zach B, and Dungeons in Randomness on Patreon. You can join them in supporting the show at patreon.com slash adventures in Aurelia. A podcast where five friends sit around the table and record themselves playing Dungeons and Dragons.

SPEAKER_09 0:41

I'm Krista and I play as Ariel, who's an Asmar Divine Soul Sorceress.

SPEAKER_04 0:46

I'm Chris and I play as Rim, human paladin.

SPEAKER_05 0:50

I'm Chantel and I play Kanina, a tiefling sorcerer.

SPEAKER_07 0:54

I'm Caitlin, I play Templis, a Water Genasi Ranger.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

And I'm Damien, I'm the DM. This episode, we'd like to give a shout-out to our Discord server. Um, we've got people able to listen live while we record in our Discord now. And really, over the last about two months, I'd say our our Discord server is really starting to grow and take off a little bit. We've been growing our own little community of gamers and fellow like-minded people, mostly through uh a little bit of streaming that me, Caitlin, and Chantel have been doing every week. Um picking up a lot of people from the depth community, but also some other people have chosen to join us in our Discord, and it's been fun to like actually start interacting with people that are either A interested in the show and B just interested in gaming with us. Um, you can join our Discord at adventuresinarillia.com slash discord. We'd like to thank Battlebards.com for allowing us to use their songs and sound effects in our production. If you would like to bring the sounds from the world of Aurelia to your home games, sign up for Battlebards Prime. Your Battle Bards Prime subscription will give you access to stream all songs from their catalog, as well as a 20% discount on all purchases. Use the coupon code Aurelia, that's E-R-Y-L-I-A, when signing up to get 15% off the cost of your subscription. So, the rumors, what happened last time?

SPEAKER_09 2:36

We went back to borrowbeard and chatted with him. We met a druid. Yeah, we discovered a cabin in the woods that had a druid and a pixie.

SPEAKER_05 2:47

Uh we got a free healing potion from the pixie that was uh not exactly uh given to us voluntarily by said druid.

SPEAKER_09 2:56

I don't really consider it a free healing potion since we're not going to use it. Well depends.

SPEAKER_05 3:01

We've determined to give it back, but uh we'll really uh we'll see what happens, I suppose. But yes, after we had met the druid, got the potion from the pixie, we camped out from the night, did our usual watches, nothing much happened, and I believe we made our way back to Starin.

SPEAKER_01 3:17

And once you guys reached the village of Starin, uh, what happened?

SPEAKER_09 3:20

When Rem was off talking, Nina and the rest of us. Well, Nina attempted to try to get a stable for the horses, but yeah.

SPEAKER_04 3:30

And then Rim went and talked to Ulian, the captain of the guard, about what they'd discovered. Uh, Ulian gave him a sack full of money which has yet to be counted, and asked him if he wanted to help the guard take out this camp. Rim said he would not make any choices without speaking to the rest of the party and headed over to the inn top.

SPEAKER_09 3:53

We left off where we were heading in to get a bite to eat and chat about the stuff that Rem discussed.

SPEAKER_01 4:07

Okay, so we pick up this episode with the party of adventurers walking into Lyft's Rest. Following Lydia Stonewell, the mayor of the village of Sterin. It is early afternoon on the 29th of Bellanus. You guys walk into Lyft's Rest, and it's, I mean, this isn't a very bustling village to begin with, but there is no one inside the I guess inn other than the innkeeper. Who I don't remember if you guys ever introduced yourselves with him.

SPEAKER_05 4:51

A Milo, a Milo, something like that.

SPEAKER_01 4:53

Amilo, Amilo Taskmaster is standing behind the counter, polishing a mug in the most stereotypical bartender fashion possible.

SPEAKER_05 5:04

Entering the uh cavern again. Uh, Canina will go ahead and cheerfully greet him. And just be like, hello, Amilo. We have uh we've come back.

SPEAKER_03 5:15

Ah, so I see. Uh, what brings you back? I thought you guys were gone for good pretty much.

SPEAKER_05 5:22

Uh, we decided to uh do a little scouting in the area, so we're uh we've come back to discuss some things.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

I see that's probably why you're with Miss Lydia right now.

SPEAKER_05 5:31

Yeah, we have some some things to discuss.

SPEAKER_01 5:33

Alright, well, uh, you know, I'll be listening, but I'll act like I'm not.

SPEAKER_05 5:38

Can we go ahead and uh get some food and drinks started, please?

SPEAKER_01 5:42

Oh sure, I'll just I'll get a plate of meats and cheeses and some breads together. Uh, would anyone like some ale, some mead? Is there any anything I could get ya? Like specifically.

SPEAKER_09 5:52

Honey juice, please.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

Yeah, okay, uh meat. I know that's not I remember this from like three days ago, but I remember I gotta cut her off before she gets too far. So I'll be getting you guys oh yeah, anyone else want to drink?

SPEAKER_07 6:07

I will as well.

SPEAKER_01 6:08

Alright, uh uh one one meat, a couple uh three ales, three ales.

SPEAKER_03 6:12

Lydia, uh Lydia, what what can I get for you? Oh, uh, I I could use an ale myself too.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

Uh I don't know how long we'll be here for, but yeah, I'll take I'll take something to sip on while we chat. And uh make sure you get a pitcher of water just in case anyone needs it too. Ah, of course, Miss Nydia. I'll get all that ready for all of you. Uh I know you're good for it. You can pay me before you leave. And he starts getting to work behind the bar.

SPEAKER_05 6:42

Thank you. Yeah, can you know make sure we uh get a table and you know, if there's uh not enough chairs or whatnot, or she'll drag some over. Get us all settled in.

SPEAKER_01 6:51

Yeah, you guys probably probably go back to this because there's no one here, you probably go back to the same larger round table that you guys were at before. It has six chairs around it, so it fits the group pretty well. Perfect. And uh Lydia takes a seat over at one just she pulls out one of the chairs, probably one closest to the door, and uh kind of sits down, folds her arms in front of her, and looks kind of around the party as you all as you all sit. So, uh what's it what's it that's uh brought y'all back?

SPEAKER_05 7:24

Uh well, I believe we were uh doing a bit of scouting for the captain of the Black Guard, and uh I think Rem just went ahead and met with him as we were kind of getting settled back in town, so Yeah, we've uh decided to go ahead and come back to report our findings and possibly see what else we can do about the matter. Uh we were going to head back to Riven eventually and head through Port Norsaw on the way, see if we can get our our boat back, but we have some things we want to take care of before we head back.

SPEAKER_01 7:57

Ah, so yeah, hey, I mean you guys found Grimfang then, yes?

SPEAKER_05 8:02

Um, we found an encampment of knolls and we had uh quite a few encounters with them. They uh uh we took care of a few, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_01 8:09

Ah, so you you didn't uh take care of him yourself, but yeah, you were able to give give Ulian uh give Ulian some information.

SPEAKER_05 8:17

Yeah, as far as uh I know from what uh Rem was gonna go do, we decided to s uh reveal our findings. We found an encampment, uh came across several uh wagons and such in the area from probably from things that have been stolen along the road. But uh we won't know more until we can get a bigger party together, and we didn't feel like we were well equipped enough to go by ourselves. So and we did agree just to go scouting initially. Killed a handful of the fuckers too. Yeah, no, they definitely jumped up on us.

SPEAKER_01 8:49

I'm I'm glad that uh that you're all safe if you did encounter them unexpectedly, and I'm glad to hear that you guys were able to find some information and uh and help Ulian kind of figure out what's going on. And at this point she looks over to Ram. So yeah, you went and talked to Ulian? Yeah. And uh what what did he have to say? What'd you have to say?

SPEAKER_04 9:13

Let him know that we uh we'd scouted her out in the forest. Uh we'd seen what was possibly an encampment. Uh looked to be relatively large, cleared out section of forest, and we were headed back this way to uh inform the Blackguard of what we found.

SPEAKER_05 9:32

And we did leave uh a bunch of markers and such. Tempest was uh super smart in us leaving a path to get back there that we could easily uh scout out again.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

So, uh is Ulian gonna take the Blackguard in and go do something about it? Are you guys uh are you guys going in with him?

SPEAKER_04 9:52

Uh he seemed like he was setting up something.

SPEAKER_05 9:54

Oh yeah?

SPEAKER_04 9:55

So he said that we're gonna go ahead and he was planning on going in and clearing it out.

SPEAKER_05 10:01

Yeah, so I guess if they're going to go uh take care of it somewhat, then that sounds like a plan. Sounds like we've given them some good information.

SPEAKER_04 10:10

Yeah, he was unaware of the encampment that we saw.

SPEAKER_01 10:13

At this point, Amylo comes over with your guys' round of drinks, and uh Lydia takes uh takes a pretty hearty gulp out of it, and uh kinda stands up from the table and goes, Well, uh, it sounds like I gotta go talk to Ulian and uh see what he's gonna do about it since you kinda you you kinda passed it off to him, and he's he's informed and he's got the manpower, possibly, to do something about it. I uh I do appreciate everything that all of you guys have done. Yeah, I know you've risked a lot to get out there. You you said that you were attacked even while you were out in the woods. And uh I'm glad that I'm glad that you guys were able to hold your own and come back safely.

SPEAKER_04 11:10

That they should have safer travel soon.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

Uh that's uh that's a good thing to hear. Uh oh, hopefully uh Ulian will do a do a little pass on his own and and clear the road for good. And uh she kinda gives a just kind of a a brief stout vow to the whole group. Uh takes another gulp of her ale, sets it down, and walks away. Rem will kind of watch her leave. You you guys uh you guys hear she gets to the door. Hey, I know you're the mayor, but you're gonna pay for that, right? She kind of stops, turns. You guys see her uh walk over to Amelo at the bar, drop a few silver on the on the countertop, and walk out of the door.

SPEAKER_04 11:55

So as she walks out, Rim is just gonna follow her with her's eyes until she leaves.

SPEAKER_05 11:59

Canina will go ahead and call out, you know. Have a good afternoon. Ariel's drinking her honey juice.

SPEAKER_04 12:06

Uh once she's out, uh Rim will kind of look at everybody at the table and pull out the the bag of money that was uh given to him, and he'll open it and he'll just pour it out on the table. So everybody can see it because he wants to be fair.

SPEAKER_05 12:19

Whoa! What's that?

SPEAKER_04 12:21

This is the payment for the scouting trip.

SPEAKER_05 12:23

Oh yeah, I forgot about that.

SPEAKER_04 12:26

So he's gonna start kind of piling it up and counting it. But he's doing it in front of everybody, so he doesn't cheap enough.

SPEAKER_01 12:34

On to the table, Rem pours out twelve platinum and thirty gold pieces. To make the math simple for you guys, Rem was given a purse of 150 gold.

SPEAKER_04 12:48

How much is the the drinks and food?

SPEAKER_01 12:51

We'll say that all together with the food and everything. If you if you'd like, okay, if you like to make things easy, it's it's a gold a person.

SPEAKER_04 12:59

A gold a person. Uh Rim is gonna take four gold out of the pile and set that aside to pay for the food and drinks. He's then gonna pass out three platinum and seven gold to all of you, and he'll take six three platinum and six gold for himself. Five gold for himself. He's gonna say this was the payment given to us.

SPEAKER_07 13:19

Yeah, wow, that's that's a lot of gold and platinum. I think Tempest would be looking around. Just like, geez, do you really want to do that in front of the I guess there's no one in here, but but what if Amala was gonna steal it?

SPEAKER_03 13:34

Oh, I see what you're doing. That's fine. You're adventurer types, you do what you do. You keep me in business.

SPEAKER_04 13:42

Well, that's the thing. Like I said, there's a one small pile of four gold that's lit to his end of the table. So he's included.

SPEAKER_05 13:49

I don't think I've ever seen this much money in one place. Like, I don't know if I've really handled that much platinum before. I don't think I've really had some myself.

SPEAKER_01 13:59

I had more money than this on me.

SPEAKER_05 14:01

I didn't.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

That's because Ram hasn't spent like a dime.

SPEAKER_05 14:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 14:06

You you've been saving this is uh this is for a a job we agreed to do and we finished it. I was offered more if we would like to join the Black Guard in possibly clearing out the camp. I did not want to invest any of you or volunteer any of you. So I told him that I would come here and speak with all of you. If you wish to do this, I am more than happy to return and tell him we will. You believe that this is not something you wish to do, I would speak up now. I'm not forcing anybody to do anything they don't want to do.

SPEAKER_05 14:49

Well, especially with uh how well we handled the knolls in the forest, I think having some backup would be a good idea. I would I'd feel pretty confident if we wanted to.

SPEAKER_04 14:59

Yes, of course. But make no mistake that what we found in the in the woods was a scouting party may not be their best.

SPEAKER_05 15:05

Yes, I'm aware. But uh I don't know. What what do you guys think? I think it sounds like a great idea. Ariel?

SPEAKER_09 15:13

So Ariel is just chugging her honey juice and not really paying attention to the conversation, didn't really notice the money. Like he heard it, but it wasn't something on her mind.

SPEAKER_04 15:37

Iron grip of intervention.

SPEAKER_05 15:39

And then she'll like look at you, be like, oh, what? No, Ariel, we're we're discussing if we want to uh stay and help the black guard fight off Grimfang and kind of help the situation here, or if we want to head back to Riven at this point. And we'll be going through, you know, Port Norsaal and the roads and whatnot, so. Uh I'm up for wherever you guys are going. Are you sure? Because I know you were kind of uh wanting to go back to Riven for a bit there, so. I think we have a few more days though. They did say to give them Yeah, they did have uh quite a bit of research to do, but we've also been away for a bit. But I do think that this is a good opportunity for us to uh really make a difference here because, you know, we're part of the Adventurers Guild, and I think now that we have uh some backup, it's not just us. I think we it'll it'll go a little better if we maybe handle the situation. And think think how proud the Adventurers Guild will be when we uh tell them that we've defeated this foe that's been plaguing this region.

SPEAKER_09 16:33

I guess that's true. Yeah, I'm I'm good with whatever you guys want to do. I think that we still have time before they needed us.

SPEAKER_05 16:42

Yeah, as long as we we just saw I just want to make sure, because like this is going to be dangerous, and we've been through dangerous things before, but we just want to make sure that uh you're you're fine with this as well, because I know you're really into your honey juice there.

SPEAKER_04 16:56

He's like uh-uh.

SPEAKER_09 16:58

I think she is just pretty happy right now, so she's gonna just be like, Yeah, let's do it.

SPEAKER_04 17:04

So having hearing everybody kind of agreeing, Rem's gonna be like, Well, if you all agree that we're going to be helping, I will return to Ulian and let him know that you all wish to help him in this endeavor.

SPEAKER_05 17:17

I mean I mean, we've all kind of said our part, but what about you, Rem? I know you kind of brought this up uh with the group to see what we said, but I don't know, do you think it's worth the risk that we'd be taking?

SPEAKER_04 17:27

I believe that uh helping the countryside rid themselves of bandits is always a good endeavor. But I would never voluntee you to do anything.

SPEAKER_05 17:37

Yes. Well, thank you for sharing with us this with us. It's good to go over these things as a group, because we all certainly have our own ideals and ideas of what we want to risk for this kind of thing, so.

SPEAKER_04 17:50

Yeah. I do know that this wasn't our original mission, so.

SPEAKER_05 17:53

Yeah, we did kind of uh discover some problems on the way out here, but it's a good thing. We are part of the Adventures Guild, so we want to make sure that we're helping where we can.

SPEAKER_04 18:02

Rim will push away from the table. I'll be back. Gonna wander out to go tell Ulian.

SPEAKER_05 18:08

Oh. Where are you going, Ren?

SPEAKER_04 18:10

To go tell Ulian.

SPEAKER_09 18:12

Well, do you think we should all go with you?

SPEAKER_04 18:14

I'm just telling him we're gonna join him. I'm sure he has planning and stuff that he needs to do on his end, and then he'll let us know when we're closer to being ready.

SPEAKER_05 18:21

Yes, I I was just gonna say that um if you're gonna go tell him, did did we want to sleep here for the night? Because if they're gonna I'm guessing they wouldn't head out until we're gonna go. I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 18:28

I'll have to speak with Ulian and see what he believes. He may want to head out immediately, he may tell us we have a few days. Alright, well I'll be back shortly, just just across the street. Gonna wander out.

SPEAKER_05 18:40

Did you want to go with him, Nina? Yeah, it's fine. I'll just wait here with you guys then. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 18:44

Oh Remo, head over. So Rem makes his way over to the Blackguard's building, knocks on the door, and uh Ulian looks out, sees him, and then opens the door. I uh I didn't expect you back so soon.

SPEAKER_04 19:05

I spoke with the others. They're in agreement. We'll help you.

SPEAKER_00 19:09

You'll help us?

SPEAKER_04 19:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

Um when can you be ready?

SPEAKER_04 19:14

When do you need us to be ready?

SPEAKER_01 19:15

Can you be ready by morning?

SPEAKER_04 19:18

We can do that.

SPEAKER_01 19:19

Okay. I'll have five of my men go with ya.

SPEAKER_04 19:22

You're not joining us?

SPEAKER_01 19:23

I'm the captain here.

SPEAKER_04 19:24

I don't understand that. Are you not leading your men into this?

SPEAKER_01 19:27

No. You are. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 19:31

Tomorrow morning.

SPEAKER_01 19:33

Uh y you seem uh kind of concerned at my not wishing to join ya. But someone's gotta be here to train these men. I've I've served my time on the field at this point. The armor, I mean it's functional, but it's mostly just here in case I need to defend the village itself. They're good men, I promise.

SPEAKER_04 19:55

Alright. Well, uh, we'll be ready in the morning. Do you want to stun? Shortly after dawn.

SPEAKER_01 20:01

As soon as you can. A little before dawn would be best, so you guys can set out and uh make the most of your day's travel. Based on based on the he kinda imagine the conversation sort of drifted over to the map just as he's talking to you about this. And he's looking down at the at the map with the uh overlaid sheet from where you had helped triangulate everything, and he goes, uh, by my count you guys should be able to get there about a day if you if you set out hard. Um, especially if you leave the cart behind for the day. I'll make sure that all you have horses of your own. Uh maybe there's there's a handful of you, so maybe maybe two horses, you guys can double up, they'll be able to take you. I think you can do it in a day.

SPEAKER_04 20:48

Alright. We'll be up before dawn.

SPEAKER_01 20:51

And he kinda holds a holds a hand out to you. Remember, shake it. And he goes for that big ol' hearty arm c forearm clasp, and it's like, I appreciate what you and yours are doing for us. Uh finding the information and now going to take care of the problem. Yeah. I'll be ready. And uh as as uh Rem is gone, we pan back over to Lyft's Lyft's rest. And uh Amylo kinda looks over to the group, looks at the the door that he he heard it close behind Rem. Where'd he go?

SPEAKER_08 21:26

Oh, he'll be he'll be right back.

SPEAKER_01 21:28

He didn't drop you with the bill, did he?

SPEAKER_08 21:30

No, he'll be right back.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

Okay, it's uh it's kinda interesting. It sometimes it seems like you guys are inseparable, sometimes one of you just kinda goes off on their own for a little bit. But I I don't know. I'm just the bartender. I have no idea what's going on here. Would you guys fancy another round of drinks?

SPEAKER_05 21:49

I think I'm good for now, and uh I I think Ariel's probably good too.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

Oh yeah, she's on she's on water now.

SPEAKER_05 21:58

I think I'm good too. And it's still pretty early afternoon. If we really want to do some drinking, we'll go do it later in the evening.

SPEAKER_01 22:05

Yeah, I mean, you know, people of all sorts of lifestyles come in here. I don't really pay attention to what what time of day it is.

SPEAKER_04 22:14

So, I'm guessing at this point, because it's not very far, very long, Rim will wander back in.

SPEAKER_07 22:20

So, how'd it go?

SPEAKER_04 22:21

We're expected before dawn.

SPEAKER_07 22:24

Oh. Tomorrow?

SPEAKER_04 22:26

Tomorrow.

SPEAKER_05 22:26

Alrighty then.

SPEAKER_04 22:28

So I will uh let you guys decide how you want to spend this afternoon and evening. But remember, I will be waking you all early.

SPEAKER_05 22:36

Oh, you won't have to wake me up. I'll make sure.

SPEAKER_04 22:38

Probably not. But for those that like to sleep, he's gonna side glance at Tempest. Side glance at the drunk area. I will be waking you up early.

SPEAKER_05 22:50

Um, yeah, so I guess I have uh someone I want to go see for this afternoon, and then I'll probably turn in early, uh, once it hits evening and we've had dinner and whatnot, so that we can get up bright and early. Because I want to make sure to get my morning exercise in, warm-up for the day. But uh yeah, I suppose do we want to stay here for the night then, I'm guessing?

SPEAKER_04 23:09

Most likely.

SPEAKER_05 23:10

Yeah, alright. So she'll go ahead and call out to Amylo and just be like, uh yeah, looks like we're gonna be staying here for the for the evening as well. Uh so can we get the same kind of room set up we had last time, please?

SPEAKER_01 23:20

You'd like uh two rooms again?

SPEAKER_05 23:22

Yeah, I think that worked out pretty well.

SPEAKER_01 23:24

Yeah, I can uh, you know, I've I've only got like one room taken right now, so I can go ahead and uh and hook you guys up with two rooms uh right next to each other.

SPEAKER_05 23:32

Yeah, that sounds good.

SPEAKER_01 23:34

Alrighty. Uh that's gonna be an extra couple uh extra couple of gold for the night.

SPEAKER_05 23:40

Yep, we'll do. And uh I suppose Kenyna will go ahead and fork over uh the gold for the rooms then.

SPEAKER_01 23:46

So, um, paying for everything for now, pre-booking the rooms. Whoever had gone up to deliver the gold to Amilo gets handed two room keys, and uh he's just told, uh, you guys are room one and two, uh they're down the hallway, take a left, and then they're the back two on the right.

SPEAKER_05 24:07

Okay, sounds good. And Canino, probably having brought up the issue, will have taken the room keys and go back to our table for now.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

So the party basically has uh an afternoon and evening to take care of anything. Is there anything anyone would like to do before we move on? Go ahead and raise hands instead of talking over each other. Chris, what would you like to do? Just give me the brief overview.

SPEAKER_04 24:35

Rim's gonna basically take the the drawing that he made of the camp and the location, kind of draw himself a bigger map with possible ideas of how to assault it.

SPEAKER_01 24:45

Okay. Kanina, what would you like to do?

SPEAKER_05 24:48

Kanina would like to go visit Ulal Hammerfall to retrieve the sword that he had initially wanted us to kill Grimfang with.

SPEAKER_01 24:56

And Tempest, what would you like to do?

SPEAKER_07 24:58

Go with Nina. That was gonna be my and then also possibly because you brought it up, sell the Venice and Jerky.

SPEAKER_01 25:07

Alright. Um I mean, Rems is really simple, so we'll just start with Rem basically getting uh probably going through his pack, pulling out some just a bigger piece of paper. Yeah, some parchment and uh starts.

SPEAKER_04 25:21

Like it's kind of a rough sketch because you know he he saw it from an angle, but he's kind of guessing what it would look like from above, drawing out where he thinks patrols might go, where he thinks guards might be, you know, things like that, and kind of drawing like where he would like to or how different possible setups for an assault of the camp.

SPEAKER_01 25:42

Okay. And then while Rem kind of sets out to do this, probably taking the same table you guys were at, because it's it's a fairly large table.

SPEAKER_04 25:49

You can use a gold piece in each corner of the of the piece of paper to hold it down.

SPEAKER_01 25:54

Rem kind of starts getting his his stuff laid out. And we'll just go with Kanina.

SPEAKER_05 26:02

So uh here's the room keys, guys, and looks like uh you're getting set up to consult your map, Rem, so I think I'm gonna go ahead and go talk to uh the Smith in the area. He had that very nice sword that we saw last time that I'm very interested in now that we've decided that we're going to uh take care of the whole Grimfang problem.

SPEAKER_04 26:20

Alright.

SPEAKER_05 26:21

Like, anyone wanna come with?

SPEAKER_09 26:23

I'll go with. Well, since you took away my honey juice, I guess I'll go with you too.

SPEAKER_05 26:27

So Canina will go ahead and, you know, chug back the last of her ale, use it to help uh pin down a corner of the map and start leaving Goosey Oolal Hammerfall.

SPEAKER_01 26:38

Alright, you uh since we'll just go ahead and say it's it's around three as everything's been taken care of. Since it's only mid-afternoon, you guys can hear the the sounds of the people around the the town or the village. Uh there's not a lot of people in the village. It's a pretty small village tucked away at the bottom of a mountain, and most of the larger population either lives up inside Sterengeld or in the surrounding farm and country lands. But there are a few craftsmen there, and you can hear Ulal over at his smithy. It's actually really close to Lisrest, and he's pounding away at what looks like a horseshoe.

SPEAKER_05 27:25

So Nina, having uh spotted him, will kind of trot over a little bit faster than she was. Seeing that he's right there and so close, she'll go ahead and call out, Ulal! Hello!

SPEAKER_00 27:36

Uh, hi. Uh, you guys came back.

SPEAKER_05 27:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:40

I figured you'd be long gone by now.

SPEAKER_05 27:43

Oh, we were on our way out, but decided to do some uh scouting for uh Ulian.

SPEAKER_00 27:48

Yeah, I remember you leaving and saying that you were gonna do some scouting.

unknown 27:51

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_05 27:52

We've talked things over with him, and we decided as a party that we're gonna go out and hunt down the knolls that are causing problems in the area. Specifically Grimfang, as uh you've kind of told us about, so.

SPEAKER_00 28:05

Uh, when I uh when I brought it up, I think that was just yesterday.

SPEAKER_02 28:09

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 28:09

It seemed like you guys weren't interested in in getting involved in any sort of actual conflict with him. Just scouting. What's changed?

SPEAKER_05 28:18

Uh, we decided that uh after having encountered some of the gnolls in the forest and talking these over with the group, we did enough scouting to kind of get an idea of the area and what we're be what we'll be facing, so I think uh especially with Captain Oulian's help, we'll uh have a good chance about taking care of the problem.

SPEAKER_00 28:38

Ulian's help?

SPEAKER_05 28:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 28:40

Wait. What uh what convinced him to actually do something about this?

SPEAKER_05 28:47

Uh probably I don't know. It's probably because we found some solid evidence about the uh encampment out in the uh forest. Like we actually left a trail and whatnot, so it's easier enough for us to get back to. As long as we go there shortly, then they shouldn't move anytime soon because they have a fairly big encampment.

SPEAKER_00 29:05

Well, I'll be happy to hear that this is uh finally gonna be taken care of. You know, uh the the knulls attacking people along the the short road have made it a little harder for me to sell any wares out in Port Norsaul. It's not great for business only being uh stuck so local.

SPEAKER_05 29:26

And that's such a shame, especially with your great craftsmanship.

SPEAKER_01 29:30

He blushes a little bit at that. My great craftsmanship, you say.

SPEAKER_05 29:35

Indeed, and speaking of which, uh, I do remember that sword that you had uh mentioned to us that you'd be quite proud if Grimfane was taken care of with it, and that we that was uh that was me.

SPEAKER_01 29:48

That's my sword.

SPEAKER_05 29:49

Is that sword still here? Nobody's taken it in the couple days we've been gone.

SPEAKER_00 29:53

No, I haven't uh haven't heard of anyone going to actually attack Grimfang until just now.

SPEAKER_05 30:00

Well, since we've uh decided uh as part of the Adventures Guild and since we'll be having support and we know what we're getting into, I think it'll be uh a good idea for us to possibly take that sword along, and I can guarantee you I'll try my best to use that sword to uh slay Grimfang.

SPEAKER_01 30:17

Now, now just for like, you know, the sake of of continuity and everything. What the hell are Ariel and Tempest doing while this is going on?

SPEAKER_09 30:27

It's just Nina sitting there talking and we're just Does does he have like stuff set up like for sale or that people can touch?

SPEAKER_01 30:36

Yeah, um the way I picture his his forge being set up is basically a smaller craftsman like this in such a small village, he lives next to his his work. So out in the front area, you've got his his forge, his anvil, and I imagine that what would basically serve as like his the front wall next to his door has a bunch of pegs in it that he has uh a couple tools hung up on. He's got some horseshoes, uh various implements that would be necessary, like a bin with uh nails and stuff. So there's kind of a display area over by the front. It kind of serves as a shop front to him. And he's off on the opposite side of his little encropment. Um, working and talking to Kanina at this point.

SPEAKER_09 31:28

Then Ariel's probably just browsing and looking at stuff.

SPEAKER_01 31:32

What's Tempest doing?

SPEAKER_07 31:33

Standing behind Mina.

SPEAKER_01 31:35

Okay, so Tempest is being the stoic stand behind.

SPEAKER_06 31:40

Moral support.

SPEAKER_01 31:42

As Kanina and Ulol are talking, Ariel notices the tools and other things up along the wall and and walks over to it. Is there anything in particular she's looking for? Or is she just there to browse and touch things?

SPEAKER_09 32:00

She's there. I don't think I can really use anything.

SPEAKER_01 32:04

Probably not. It's not stopping me. I'm just since you brought it up, I'm just making sure there's not somewhere that you're going with it.

SPEAKER_09 32:10

Nope, she's just looking and touching and passing time while they talk.

SPEAKER_01 32:15

Kanina tells Ulal that that they're going to kill Grim Fang, and it would be nice if they could use the sword, and he kinda stops the work that he's been doing and looks up at her and. Ah, so the uh the sword is uh something you're interested in now.

SPEAKER_05 32:34

Yes, I'm not uh particularly proficient with swords myself, but I can uh I can I think I can get a few hits in if we uh should encounter him.

SPEAKER_00 32:41

Does it make any difference if uh I can't give it to you for free anymore?

SPEAKER_05 32:46

Uh why would it not be free anymore?

SPEAKER_00 32:49

The Well, you turned me down the first time.

SPEAKER_05 32:52

Well, we did turn you down the first time, but that's only because we uh we weren't sure if we were going to encounter anything yet. We did our scouting and we know what we're getting into, so.

SPEAKER_00 33:00

And I'm just saying, what if it was only free for uh doing it out of your kindness and loyalty? But now that uh things have changed, what if things have changed here too?

SPEAKER_05 33:13

Hmm. But I mean we are gonna be uh essentially ensuring the future survival of your uh business here. You'll be uh traveling roads a lot safer, and we'll be doing a great service to the entire community.

SPEAKER_01 33:30

Why doesn't Kana go ahead and roll a persuasion check?

SPEAKER_05 33:33

Mm-hmm. Here we go. 17.

SPEAKER_00 33:37

Aye, you would. But as I said, I've put a lot of time and work into this.

SPEAKER_05 33:43

Hmm. And I certainly appreciate that. We noticed last time how uh how fine of a sword it was, and I'd definitely be honored to be able to use it in combat. And otherwise, you know, uh I'm not sure if it would uh see much more use as great as slaying uh creature as big as Grimfang and whatnot, so. Can Ariel hear the conversation from where she's standing?

SPEAKER_01 34:10

Yes, but at this point, Ulal turns and uh walks into his little house area, and he kind of takes a half step as he notices Ariel, like, with her hand up on the wall, probably holding a pickaxe or something. He's like, You know you gotta pay for that, right?

SPEAKER_09 34:32

Hey, you know, Nina, we maybe he would be willing to part with it just for our adventure, and then upon killing Grimfang, we can give it back to him, and then he would have a story behind it that it killed Grimfang and he could sell it for more. Or reward you with it up uh, you know, at that point. If we decide to come back this way before going back to Port Norsaal.

SPEAKER_05 34:56

Yeah, I was gonna ask him if uh that was something he wanted, if he would prefer it back or not, but uh we'll see then so has he just left the conversation at this point then?

SPEAKER_01 35:06

Or he's walked inside. You hear him uh shuffling around a little bit inside. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 35:11

Does it look like he's going for the sword?

SPEAKER_01 35:13

Or is he just shuffling? Are you peering inside his house?

SPEAKER_05 35:16

Yes. Or in in his house?

SPEAKER_01 35:18

Yeah, like a he lives connected to his workshop.

SPEAKER_05 35:21

Okay. Huh. Uh do I see the sword in the workshop?

SPEAKER_01 35:26

It's not in the uh public display.

SPEAKER_05 35:30

Okay, so um she'll wait a couple minutes to or whatever however long it takes for him to come back, and she'll, you know, talk to Ariel.

SPEAKER_01 35:38

Meanwhile, it's like He comes out, and I believe I had I'd say before, you know, he's got a little bit of a limp, and uh he he comes kinda with uh that little lean step carrying the sword that uh you guys had seen just a couple days prior. And he kinda he he's looking down at it in admiration. Kinda not quite presenting, but holds it like out in front, uh displaying it to you. But it's pretty clear from his body language that it's not just for you to take at this moment.

SPEAKER_05 36:12

I guess Kenya's gonna go ahead and try to keep somewhat convincing him that uh the previous deal is a good deal.

SPEAKER_01 36:20

He's looking down and goes, It is a fine sword, you know. A lot of time and uh blood and sweat went into this thing.

SPEAKER_05 36:29

That's true, but uh, what use of a sword is unless it sees some action?

SPEAKER_01 36:33

And uh he grabs the the scabbard in one hand, grabs the hilt in the other, and draws it. I think this is the first time you would have seen the blade and it catches the sun in a way that just makes it gleam.

SPEAKER_05 36:46

It is a very fine sword, and especially seeing it out in the light like this, it's quite impressive. But uh it would certainly more impressive if it had some heroic stories tied to it, don't you think?

SPEAKER_00 36:57

I it would. And it would uh help put put the name of uh Ulol on the map.

SPEAKER_05 37:03

And I assure you, if I am able to use it in combat, uh definitely spread the notoriety of your craftsmanship round.

SPEAKER_01 37:11

He sheathes it and it makes a very satisfying sh as it as it locks into place. Will you give me 75 gold for it?

SPEAKER_05 37:21

I mean, that is uh quite a bit less than you had uh offered if we were to buy it earlier, but the gold wouldn't even cover my materials, let alone the time that I've spent working on it. Uh yeah, she'll go ahead and think it over for a second.

SPEAKER_01 37:37

Cause there's a a bit of a pause here. What's Tempest thinking, even if she's not saying anything?

SPEAKER_07 37:43

I mean, it's still like 75 is a lot of gold. But this is a really nice sword. But originally he offered it to us for free, but he stood him up, so he's not. So she'd probably like tug Nina away so that we could like the three of us talk about it. Because, like, the three of us splitting the 75 gold would make it a lot more reasonable. And then maybe we can settle it again later. Yeah, so I would like sort of tug Nina away and turn to Ulol and just just give us one second, please.

SPEAKER_01 38:25

Shuffle over to Ariel where Ariel's standing here. He pulls the shoe that he was working on back out of the forge. He kind of has the sword, he's slung it up over his shoulder and he gets back to to work on his craft.

SPEAKER_05 38:38

Yeah, so Nina will, you know, kind of uh follow along without too much resistance because she's kind of in thought because she's just like, on one hand, we just got a huge pile of gold. On another hand, you know, she was really hoping that uh the same deal would apply because not much has changed, just the fact that we didn't want to promise to take it if we weren't going to actually kill Grove.

SPEAKER_07 38:59

So, I guess getting Ariel's attention too.

SPEAKER_09 39:03

Oh, she's been listening ever since she had told Nina. I mean, yeah, told Nina about maybe asking to just use it and bring it back.

SPEAKER_05 39:12

Yeah, yeah. If you haven't said anything quite yet, she'll just be like, uh so. What do you guys think? Uh I do think the sword is worth taking. Um, I think it's a really good craftsmanship and whatnot. And I think it would be nice to spread uh word of his craftsmanship around, but I was hoping to uh get it on good faith that we'd use it and you know. Uh I I do have a question.

SPEAKER_09 39:37

Being sorcerers, we don't really use swords very much, so is this something that you're actually wanting to buy to keep, or is this something that you just want to do this for him and so that way for his name?

SPEAKER_05 39:51

Um well it's kind of both. Uh it's a very nice sword, and I really haven't seen anything that's of this high quality in most of our journeys, so I think it's really good. And then, you know, it's nice to promote, you know, master craftsmanship like this, but it's also just a really nice sword, and I may not uh be super proficient in it right now, but maybe I'll pick up some skills.

SPEAKER_09 40:16

Okay. Well, um, because I was thinking since he's not really wanting to part with it for free, um, you've been, you know, teaching me a lot and um have really devoted a lot of time to me, and so I could help you get it if it's something that you're actually wanting to keep.

SPEAKER_07 40:36

So tempest like kind of gesture at her side and be like, you know, I use swords. I I could always help out with paying for it if I got to use it sometimes.

SPEAKER_05 40:51

Yeah, I think that's definitely uh a good idea. You've definitely shown you're more proficient with swords with me, especially with your cool moonlight-looking blade.

SPEAKER_07 40:59

Yeah, this new fancy one would look really cool next to my fancy moonlight one. Um maybe I could even like trade in my other two because I've still got the one that's just plain. And the other one that is also just plain that I swapped out from my moonlight.

SPEAKER_05 41:16

Oh yeah, and then you'd be like, you'd be super fancy with your like double dual wieldings and you would knock off like two gold or something.

SPEAKER_09 41:24

Yeah, I was actually thinking that like, what if you sell a couple of your swords to him?

SPEAKER_05 41:29

Um, yeah, I'd I guess I would hate to burden you guys, but if especially if Tempest is interested in the sword as well, then I'd be certainly willing to split the cost and we could go from there. I don't want to burden you guys though, so as long as you're sure. Let's see what we can do. Okay. Maybe we can try to bargain with him a little bit more and convince him, but I think uh sounds like a plan. We'll go ahead and split from our huddle and going back to him.

SPEAKER_01 41:55

So who's leading the approach now?

SPEAKER_07 41:57

Um, so she'll go back up to him and have like as she's walking over, start pulling out the two regular short swords and present them and be like, would you be willing to knock off a little bit more if we traded these in?

SPEAKER_00 42:20

The way I see things, I'm already knocking quite a bit off for you.

SPEAKER_07 42:24

Just a little bit. Uh, I mean pretty please, they're in good shape.

SPEAKER_00 42:30

That's not not something that I can put my name behind, though, so they're not gonna be worth a whole lot to me.

SPEAKER_01 42:37

I'm not some sort of bond shop.

SPEAKER_07 42:40

You don't have a bargain bin over there that you could resell them for?

SPEAKER_01 42:45

And uh, you know, since uh you're the one asking me now, I guess she's not able to swing the money, huh?

SPEAKER_05 42:51

Well, no, no, I can I can swing the money somewhat. It's just it it is still quite a steep price. There's a reason I turned you down before for the 250 for outright buying it.

SPEAKER_00 43:01

It's just I've knocked quite a bit off a 250, though.

SPEAKER_05 43:04

Yes, that's true, and I do appreciate it. I was just hoping that uh the previous deal would still stand now that uh we can guarantee that we are going to kill Grimfang.

SPEAKER_07 43:13

And as she mentioned earlier, she's not exactly trained with a sword, but I, on the other hand, am So would you like to buy it?

SPEAKER_00 43:22

75 gold.

SPEAKER_07 43:23

We were considering buying it as a party, but I'm asking if you would knock off a little bit more if I traded these in.

SPEAKER_00 43:32

Uh, sorry to say, but I'm not really interested.

SPEAKER_09 43:36

Alright, so um, I guess so. Can can we like take a look at the sword again and maybe let Tempest um touch it, feel it, hold it, see how it weighs in her hand, grab the see how the balance how it balances.

SPEAKER_00 43:52

I can tell you're naive and haven't been fleeced before.

SPEAKER_09 43:56

What's fleeced?

SPEAKER_00 43:57

Oh, you know, had someone say, Hey, can I hold that? Real quick and then fucking book it off.

SPEAKER_09 44:02

Oh, I wouldn't do that, and neither should would she. We're honorable guild members. I've got a guild badge, right? Uh- I flash him my guild badge. We're official guild members. We wouldn't do that to you. But I think it's only fair that, you know, she can actually hold it.

SPEAKER_01 44:20

He kinda takes the the horseshoe that he was working on, quenches it, lays it down on a on a bed of cool coals to to finish tempering, and uh starts making his way back towards the inside of his house. Is the sword still in the shop? No, he had his tongue over his shoulder. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 44:39

Um, well, I I guess if you're really set on that price and you're not willing to bargain with us, then I guess we'll go ahead and take it as is as long as uh we do have some people in our party who can wield it.

SPEAKER_01 44:50

And he uh he stops as uh as you mentioned him holding firm on his price, and he turns around, walks over to you, and uh pulls it off his shoulder, holds it out at Kanina, and says, Just kill the bastard and remember who made it. And he turns around and walks into his shop, closes the door behind him.

SPEAKER_09 45:16

Canina takes the sword, but Ariel doesn't feel good about leaving because he wanted money for it.

SPEAKER_07 45:22

Just leave some gold on the counter.

SPEAKER_05 45:24

I don't know. The way he said that sounded very uh very final though, too. So I don't I don't know.

SPEAKER_07 45:30

We leave the other two swords and and hide some gold. Don't want to just leave it on the counter. Somebody else is gonna walk up and see it.

SPEAKER_09 45:42

Yeah. Before we would leave, Er would be like, we still need to pay him for this. He I feel like he he wanted money. If we just take it, he's steal we're stealing it. And if he's just gonna give it to us, I feel like we should do a kind gesture back.

SPEAKER_01 45:58

Kanina, yes. Go ahead and roll insight.

SPEAKER_05 46:02

That is a 10. Good sir.

SPEAKER_01 46:06

As Kanina feels and understands, Ulal had handed her the sword, gave her a demand, and did not stick around to get any money in return.

SPEAKER_05 46:19

Alright, so yeah, Kanina will go ahead and just be like, I don't know. I think uh I think our convincing got through to him. He gave me the sword, and I feel like he would have sticking sticking around to uh get the money if he wanted the money. And I don't know. Um, we can leave behind a note. If he really wants money, yeah, he he can have a place to reach us. So Kenino'll go ahead and, you know, take out a piece of paper and a pen real quick and scroll down where to reach us at the guild or her name with her big heavy signature. And she'll be like, I'll spread word of your your craftsmanship. If you need to reach us, here's the guild. But yeah, she'll she'll write the notes, uh, leave it in a place you'll easily find it, and then she'll make her way back to the tavern. I mean, if he's really wanting money, we're gonna be there the whole night. He can house until the morning to get us to.

SPEAKER_01 47:04

Okay, so we're gonna go ahead and say it's like five now. And as the party returns to Lyft's rest, um, Rem wouldn't need the entire time that the rest of the party has been gone to finish his map. Is there anything that uh anything extra that he does besides chew on some jerky?

SPEAKER_04 47:27

Nah, if he had finished drawing, the next thing he probably would have done was grab his stuff, go to the room, and stretch out. So he starts getting things ready for nighttime. He intends to be up very early but wants to be fully dressed.

SPEAKER_01 47:39

So it sounds like the party doesn't really have anything that they wish to go through before wrapping up for the the night in game.

SPEAKER_05 47:51

Nope. Nope, I suppose uh Canina will probably keep the sword with her for now unless Tempest wants to carry it on her. But uh, she'll probably go ahead to set up uh a room with Rem like she did before, and let the other two girls sleep with uh sleep in the same room with off time.

SPEAKER_07 48:09

Yeah, Tempest is just gonna try and call it an early night because she does not like getting up early.

SPEAKER_01 48:13

Well, and we can, you know, go ahead and and uh hand wave through the the dinner and everything else if there's nothing that anyone wishes to accomplish with the rest of the night. Nope. However, before we move on to the next day, Kanina. What you get a token of inspiration from the DM. All Ulol wanted was to know that his sword was worth buying. He never intended to get any money from you guys. Alright. Um, the the military man that he is. Already being familiar with this kind of thing, an early outset, even pre-dawn, and Rem would be conditioned to this type of sleep pattern, already knowing how to prepare himself the night before to be able to get up before dawn. Rem wakes up first. Alright, so it is we'll go with uh 5 a.m. on the 30th of Bellanus, and Rem wakes up from his slumber.

SPEAKER_05 49:20

I imagine since Kanina's in the same room with him, that she'd probably be hearing him wake up as well.

SPEAKER_04 49:27

Rim would basically wake up, look over Nina, and be like, You're awake yet?

SPEAKER_05 49:30

Uh yeah. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_04 49:32

Alright. So yeah, Rim, after you know, waking up and speaking briefly with Nina, you will uh just basically go to the next door and give it three sharp raps.

SPEAKER_01 49:43

Ariel and Tempest. Okay, fine. Roll perception with disadvantage. Ariel.

SPEAKER_09 49:53

21.

SPEAKER_01 49:54

Tempest.

SPEAKER_09 49:55

Love it.

SPEAKER_01 49:56

Ariel, you hear a lard rapping at the door.

SPEAKER_09 49:59

She'll get up and go answer the door.

SPEAKER_01 50:04

Rem. The door in front of you opens and it's very dark, but you see the silhouette of what appears to be a naked Ariel standing in front of you.

SPEAKER_04 50:15

Two glowing eyes. Just look at her and be like, get dressed, get Tempest up, we're meeting outside.

SPEAKER_01 50:22

Rem walks back to his room. I imagine to finish getting ready. Ariel, I imagine, wakes up Tempest. If there's any um objections, let me know. I'm not hearing any objections. Everyone gets ready for the day.

SPEAKER_05 50:37

Yeah, Canina will do her usual stretches and exercises and probably pull Ariel once she knows she's, you know, out and ready.

SPEAKER_01 50:44

Um, you guys, I imagine all kind of get your packs and everything together. And uh you guys uh go ahead and everyone roll perception. Ariel. Canina 16. Rem 13 Tempest 14. Canina, you notice the uh the soft sound outside of what sounds like uh horseshoes hitting the ground and up. And you guys make your way outside, I imagine, at that sound. Yes. And out there. Um I imagine the Black Guard would use a couple lanterns, uh hooded lanterns, while it is dark out. And so they're standing out in what is essentially the town, the the village center. Uh lanterns dimmed on horseback, and there are five members of the Black Guard. They're mounted up on three horses. Um, they are all dwarves. This is the Dwarven Black Guard. They are essentially the elite military force of Steringeld. And there are two extra horses. I don't know if Rem would have taken the time to explain to the party what is happening. Nope. But you guys are going to be sharing horses.

SPEAKER_05 52:04

Good, because I don't know how to ride a horse. Me either. Okay, so yeah, Nina will kind of go up to them and just be like, good morning.

SPEAKER_01 52:12

Good morning to you.

SPEAKER_05 52:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 52:18

I'm aware. So, uh, which one of you can all ride a horse?

SPEAKER_05 52:24

Um, I know I can, and Rem should be able to as well, I think. So we we're pretty familiar with horses and whatnot.

SPEAKER_01 52:31

Alright, well, if the two of you can ride your own horses. She looks at uh Ariel and Tempest. You two, doesn't matter if you can't ride on your own, hop on the back of theirs. We leave once you're ready.

SPEAKER_05 52:44

Sounds good. Who wants to ride with me?

SPEAKER_07 52:46

I will.

SPEAKER_09 52:48

And Tempest will hop onto the back of the horse. Sounds good. And Ariel will head over to the horse that I assume Rem is at.

SPEAKER_04 52:57

And we'll help her up onto the back of the horse. And don't nod to the dwarf that was speaking.

SPEAKER_01 53:03

Are y'all ready? Yes.

SPEAKER_05 53:05

Yep, sounds good.

SPEAKER_01 53:07

Okay. One thing that stands out to all of you, these dwarves are almost non-existent in the darkness. The uh even though um two of them that are kind of take-like one in the lead, one at the rear, are holding lanterns, you see that as a dwarf leaves the direct line of the lantern light, they almost fade into complete pitch black. And even with the lantern light shining onto them, instead of reflecting as you would expect, the light almost seems to be absorbed.

SPEAKER_05 53:51

I guess Kenina noticing this, especially with her dark vision, would make a note of, you know, how little light they seem to be uh, you know, reflecting.

SPEAKER_01 54:01

Yeah. With dark vision, I mean you can see them, but the main thing is their armor that you would expect to be reflective almost seems to pull the light in. There's a it's like a dull. It's it's like looking at something on a matte surface instead of something reflective.

SPEAKER_05 54:17

So can you all go ahead, you know, and after perceiving that, be just like, well, that's some uh fancy-looking armor you have there. Doesn't seem to reflect much light.

SPEAKER_01 54:25

Yeah, it's a special to the the Blackguard. It's a special alloy of steel that is made specifically for us up in Stern Guild.

SPEAKER_05 54:34

Oh wow, it's pretty stealthy looking.

unknown 54:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:37

Something that's only entrusted to those of us that that reach this title. And uh with that, the party sets off on their way to, I guess, uh, where they're going to enter the forest at a later date. Though it is very early in the morning, if there were anyone who happened to be awake watching the front gates of the village of Sterin, they would see five horses depart with shadows and dim lanterns atop them. Making their way towards Port North Sall. And to be clear, you guys are riding these horses pretty hard. Um, it becomes clear as you guys keep up that you are trying to do in a day what you guys have been doing in a day and a half. The goal is to make your way to the entry point of the forest before nightfall so that you guys can make camp, sleep, and then head in fresh in the following morning.

SPEAKER_05 55:50

So, yeah, you know, be doing your best to keep up with everybody as we go along.

SPEAKER_01 55:54

Having made such a paste, um, we'll say that you guys are nearing 6, 7 o'clock at night. And you can tell based on your location to the lake that you are nearing the point where you guys had stashed the carton horses before. Everyone, roll me perception. Ariel 19.

SPEAKER_05 56:22

Tannina 18.

SPEAKER_01 56:24

Rem eight. Tempest nine. Ariel and Tanina, and you can tell two of the Blackguard as well. Hear the sound of rapidly snapping twigs, rustling bushes, and branches off to the south in the direction of the knoll camp. And then they hear this strange and charging out from the tree line is a creature running at you, crazed, flailing arms with a spiked club in its hands, shaking in your direction. What kind of uh distance are we talking? We're talking uh a couple hundred feet. Okay. You guys, with the perception that you got look off in its direction, it has a little bit of fur, and as it's running, you see clumps of fur falling off of it. You guys see the bones of its jaw are bare to you. You guys see its arms have absolutely no skin or muscle on them, and there are patches of skin sloughing off as it is charging at your direction.

SPEAKER_05 57:51

Canina will go ahead and like call out the alert to the rest of the group who haven't noticed and just be like, there's something coming this way, and you know, point off.

SPEAKER_01 57:59

All of the black guard, and based on its distance away, all of you are able to dismount. Everyone, roll initiative really quickly. Ariel.

SPEAKER_09 58:16

10.

SPEAKER_01 58:16

Canina 13 Rem 11. Tempest.

SPEAKER_07 58:21

22. Holy Tempest.

SPEAKER_01 58:25

Alright. Tempest, you go first. It is within range. We will just jump straight to that.

SPEAKER_07 58:30

Within range of your bow. Of my bow. Uh, okay, so I will shoot it with my bow. 15 to hit.

SPEAKER_01 58:39

A 15 will hit. This knoll is charging out of the woods. You see that it is clearly coming straight for your group.

SPEAKER_07 58:50

Uh, Tempest, like, we had just hopped off the horses, and she gets in front of the rest of the group and pulls her bow and lets off an arrow, and it manages to find a little fleshy patch that is still remaining on the whatever the hell it is, and does eight damage.

SPEAKER_01 59:13

Eight points of damage. Alright. One of the dwarves gets to go before it. For flavor reasons, we will just say that it is the one that has been leading that got the highest initiative out of the dwarven blackguard. Having dismounted from her horse, she runs out, I guess up to where Tempest was, pretty much, since you had also run out. She is drawing her war hammer, and you hear her screaming something in dwarven with the hammer held high above her head. This thing will get a natural one on it on its dexterity saving throw. And coming almost from the heavens, striking down directly on this knoll is a fiery light, and it bursts into flames, falling in front of you into a pile of ash and bone. As the Dwarven Blackguard casts Sacred Flame. What did she say? I know Dwarven. Um, for those that um they can understand Dwarven, um, she is saying, with the holy light of the forge, I strike you down. And the Nollwitherling is burned into a pile of ash and bone in front of you. And that's where we're gonna end the episode. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Adventures in Aurelia. If you are liking what you hear, consider rating the show and leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or Podchaser. If you know someone who likes fantasy stories and think they might like the show, help them find us by showing them adventuresinarillia.com, where they can listen to episodes, read our blog, and find links to subscribe to the show. We are also available in your favorite podcast apps. If you'd like to support the show, you can donate to us monthly on Patreon at patreon.com slash adventures in Aurelia. One dollar a month gets you access to all of our bonus content and helps us raise the funds needed to improve the show. If you'd like to get in touch with us, you can send an email to feedback at adventuresinarelia.com, or you can join our Discord server at adventuresinarurillia.comslash discord. We'd love to hear from you. Lastly, we'd like to thank the artists who allow us to use their music in our show Kevin McLeod of Incompitech.com, Tabletop Audio, Windswept, Sirenscape, Alexander Nacarata from Serpent Sound Studios, Adrian von Ziegler, Jamie Brace, Derek and Brandon Feichter, and Scott Buckley. You can find links to all of these wonderful artists at adventuresinarylia.com.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:14

Uh Rim went and talked to She came back very next day. Did you see the Lich?

SPEAKER_09 1:02:21

The bitch came back.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:22

I thought she was a dog. Well, at first I thought she said the Lich.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:29

I was like, I hope not stay away. No idea what the fuck I sounded like last time because I wasn't supposed to make another appearance. But old and gruff, that's what I'm going with.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:43

Sounds like every dwarf.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:45

Older and gruffer. Amylo has a much higher canter to his voice.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:51

It's a million. Sound very similar.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:55

Lydia uses a little bit more of her tongue.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:59

I bet she does.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:02

That's what he said.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:03

You guys may not understand when they first come up who each person is, but I have an idea of who they are once I hear them come up in the recording. Roll for arousal.