Beneath Dark Wings | Ep. 35 | Unnatural Law: Part 1
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Welcome to Legends of Evandris. I'm Iris, and you're listening to Beneath Dark Wings. Here's what happened last time. You see, finally, several stone steps carved into the mountain almost out of nowhere. The wind is howling, but then you hear... Jesus.

sound of this horrible guttural howling. What is that? I don't know, but let's kill it and sleep in it. You're uncovering a statue and almost the fervor that you feel to get rid of the snow, you're shoving it off. It's falling thousands of feet down below as you stand on this precipice, completely bathed in the wind. Pazuzu. No! Pazuzu. Pazuzu. Pazuzu. Pazuzu.

Suddenly, you realize you're standing at the top of the mountain. You're absolutely freezing as the wind is howling all around you. You are frigid. You're shaking. You realize now that you are thousands of feet up. Up on the top of the mountain, I just woke up upstairs. Up outside. Why did you go outside? There could be yetis. I felt called, Toa. There's a birdman statue with six eyes at the top. You look around and you realize you're surrounded.

mounting huge, saber-toothed white tigers is a group of heavily armored orcs. You are all standing in a craggier part of these hills and steps as you look up

and you are surrounded by eight massive beasts, white and black fur, huge fangs, slavering moth with razor-sharp teeth, and mounted on each, one with a large flag on her back, are orcs, beautifully armored with that beautiful ghost iron or ghost steel.

that you've gotten accustomed to being in Grond, and the one with the flag looks at all of you as they draw their weapons and point them at you. The one in the center is holding a large spear

in one hand, and on her other, she has a massive golden gauntlet with spikes where each knuckle would be. And she looks down at you and you see that she has a very large nose ring, larger than all the others. Her tendrils on her chin are even longer than all of the others as well, with adorned in jewelry and rings. And she looks at you, not necessarily

gnashing or raving, no rage, but a stern accusatory look. What? I'm going to take one small step behind Toa and cast Mage Armor on myself. Holy mackerel. I seriously think you could probably poke a hole in a mackerel with that. Why would you poke a hole in a mackerel? State your purpose, intruders. Is this your mountain?

This is our land and you don't look like you're from here. In fact, you look like you're from Corovacchia. We have Corovacchian agents and I wouldn't expect... You don't look like I'm from Corovacchia. That's incredibly rude. Yes, that's true. I'm from Siket. How many words are you adding Corovacchia anyway? I'm from Galtagun.

Yeah. Only one of us is from Corvaca. One is enough. State your purpose, each of you, and give me a reason why we shouldn't kill you here. Well, I'll go first. So I'm looking for my dad, and I think in that snowbank over there, man, you guys have some really serious climate issues out here. But for real, I'm trying to get...

Toy. Daddy. Don't move! She kicks her tiger and it takes two massive steps and its mouth is about 12 inches from you as it lets out a low growl. Oh, hey there, but I probably think I'm like a pheasant or something. I'm not, I'm a dwarf. I don't taste very good. I would really appreciate it if I could just take a look at that axe over there. I swear to God. I swear to gosh. Morgan, forgive me. I think that's my defeat. Oh, because he's a thief.

That was a great joke. I didn't get it at first. Yeah, well, you know, it was good. And my name is Capriccio De Sesto. You can call me Caprice. I am assisting our Dwarven friend here. I'm her giant, the heart. Yeah, we're looking for her dad, as she stated. And I think he's last in your mountains. You're not trying to trespass, ma'am, but I'm pretty sure that's his bank. She just keeps an eye on you and then looks at all of the rest of you.

I mean, do we really have to go around the circle? That was a pretty good story. And we're helping. And we don't mean you any harm. And I didn't actually see your name anywhere on the mountain, which is not accusatory. I just didn't see it.

Simple mistake. Do you know where you are? Not really. It's cold as fuck. I just heard my dad came up in these parts and listen, you know, he goes, he goes wandering in the night once he's had a couple kicked back, you know what I'm saying? So I told him, I said, you really need to cover up and put that shit away. And then he just got lost. And so here we are. Yeah. Happens to the best of us. We're all here looking for Hersha's father. That's it. We don't want to cause any trouble. We're not looking for trouble.

She looks at you, and then her eyes narrow. You look Horovakian. I am. Search him.

and immediately the orcs hop off their mount and they walk over to you and you get, Felix is pulled aside. Easy, easy, don't rough me up. And roughly start searching. Easy now, he's a very sensitive boy. I check to make sure that I have his second spare spell book. I presume you still have it unless you dropped it somewhere. No, I just, so I feel that and I'm like, ugh.

And one reaches for your, reaches into your coat and finds the emblem that Zurn gave you. And the other reaches for your dagger. I'm feeling all these hands reach in and I'm trying to stop them from grabbing the dagger. Okay, actually make a sleight of hand check.

and I'll do an investigation check. - Oh, I'm not trying to hide it. - Okay. - I'm like semi resisting and I'm just trying to prevent them from grabbing the dagger. - Okay. - I don't care about the amulet. Do you still want it to be sleight of hand? I'm not trying to hide it. - I would say-- - I'm semi resisting. - Okay, I would say there'll be a contest then. It'll be strength versus athletics or-- - Acrobatics. - Acrobatics, yeah.

19 for acrobatics. 19. And as it reaches down, you actually manage to swap one of the hands away. And it seems as if he's going to resist, but then he looks up and then they pull out the emblem from Zurn and start backing away and one holds it up. And...

And you see that this lead female orc, she's definitely a good foot taller than all of the other ones you can see now. She looks at you and says,

"Korovakian spy, huh? How did you get this? What are you doing here?" "You may have heard, but there is a towering evil demon lord, um, a bold creature, uh, marching towards your city, um, with lots of other beast men and people and other orcs. They've transformed them, I don't know if you've heard, but they intend to kill everyone, everyone you've ever known, and so we were sent by High Admiral Zurn to

help you defend your people. And we're not spies. I'm not disguising the fact that I'm Corvacian. We're here to help. I would like to ask, what would you call a spy? We have a tiefling. Have you looked at the stone-like man? I'm a tabaxi. We have a genossi. She's blue. And this dwarf you can smell for miles around you. We walk straight in here, not undercover. Do we look like spies to you?

We received these because we did Zentra a favor. We helped to fight off an oncoming onslaught. And now we're simply here to find her stinky, probably stinkier father, and potentially to assist you.

And after you say that, they kind of, I would say, make a group persuasion check at this point. - Yeah, proficient. - And Revali kind of pipes up and says, "My name is Revali Freewing," and kind of leans back on Peyton. "And we're here to save all of your lives." - Easy going. - And I would like, Toke, you make that advantage, please. - Ooh.

12. Okay. 14. 14. 14. Persuasion. Persuasion, 14. Oh, 17. 20. Okay. 16. 16. Rich? 12. 12. I think we failed, guys. So, well, I mean, Revali also gets one. Revali's got a joint. I mean, come on. And she stops for a moment and says, You were sent here.

by Zurn to help us with the Hoorn Legion. Yes. Yeah. In addition to looking for her water. And you see one of the orcs, it's another of the female ones, she's completely shaved head, and she steps and she whispers in the ear of this larger one who still has not dismounted. And you see immediately the orc looks around and says,

Lower your weapons. These are the ones that Golden Lotus said would be coming. Although she did only say that there... She only said that there would be six of you. And... Rivali raises his stump. And he says, I think that's because I was probably going to be dead. She probably didn't see me coming. And... You...

You see that they all start to back off. The orc that had grabbed your medallion from Xurn hands it back to you. But the one that you had batted away from the dagger is standing there, and he's looking very upset. Are you serious? They're sent by Xurn. I don't care. I don't care what Golan Lod has said.

They're Korovakian agents! And you see the one on the mount look down at him and say, I know that's the case, but Golden Lotus said that she saw them coming in the Blossoms, that they would help us with the Horned Legion. I don't care what Zentra has done. I don't care what Korovaki has done. Are you saying that you want to

Murder all six, seven, all seven of these high priority targets.

And you see that as this orc who's standing directly above you, and he has his hand on a beautifully crafted sword, not very far from you. And he's looking at you and his head is kind of twitching around. You see a bit of, and Felix, you see this, that his eyes are starting to get like a little bit bloodshot and red.

as he's almost foaming at the mouth. And you... He looks back up at her and says, "Dokkane, you know what happened to my family at the border. All of them killed in artillery strike. They're Khorovakians, all of them. I don't care. I don't care. I'm going to kill them!" And he immediately raises his weapon in a flash

The female orc has leapt off of the tiger and stabbed her spear in and blocked it as it is millimeters from you, Felix. And she parries it, smashes his arm. You hear a loud snap as he yells in pain and blood spurts everywhere as the bone snaps out of his skin. And she reaches out with the gauntlet and grabs him by the neck.

And you hear him, you hear this orc sputter as his eyes are wide with his bestial rage. As this orc allegedly named Dokkani says, "You would betray," or the orc says to this orc named Dokkani, "You would betray our people for these outsiders."

And she looks down at him and says, Baruk, I will do what's good for the clan. Chain him up. And she throws him down and immediately other orcs pin him down, putting a foot on his head as he starts thrashing and they clamp manacles on him and throw him on the back of the tiger. Once he has manacles on, I'm going to go over and I'm going to heal him. Oh. Hmm. I'll do a cure wounds at...

third level. Okay. I'm going to put my hand on him. You have no reason to trust us. And I'm not burdened by your outburst. You have been harmed, your people. You act out of fear. And I do not blame you for that. But I will not watch you suffer. You've suffered enough.

and I will heal him, and then walk away. - How much heals business do you do? - I will tell you in a minute. - He is slumped over the tiger, and you see that they aren't attending to his bones or his boons at all, as he looks at you, and he's even thrashing, and his eyes look at you with this-- - 23. - A 23. As you do that, could you make a perception check for me? - Ooh. - That's almost a good deal for you, but I have to keep that.

Perception, you say? 17. 17. You notice that as he still looks at you, he's struggling. And as you put your paw on his wound and it starts to just magically snap back and heal.

And it closes up and there's still a red patch there, but you see the pain in his eyes start to dissipate a little bit. And he seems confused and he still looks at you with disdain, but he is speechless as he

he just looks down, but as you look down, you see the two tendrils on his chin, and they seem to be a bit shorter than all of the others. As Dokkani, the leader of these orcs, steps to the side after dismounting so swiftly, and puts the spear on her back, and says,

I apologize for that. He will be appropriately disciplined and reeducated.

It's okay. It was a little close, but I'm sure Tola would have saved me. I was very close to saving him. Please don't hurt him. We understand. Like Iris said, it's... Please don't, like... Just forget the whole thing. We're kind of a Brady Bunch around these parts. You know, this isn't the first time we've had weapons drawn on us, but we appreciate your hospitality. Do these Brady Bunch folks oftentimes have weapons drawn on them?

Why, I was referring to us. Yes, but you implied that whatever this Brady Bunch is, it would be...

You said we were like a braidy bunch. Yeah, we're all kind of different. You're the only person who braids their hair. Yes, yes, that's true. Well, I mean, I could teach you guys how to braid your hair. I could teach you how to braid your hair, too. I don't think she cares. I could probably braid my hair. I mean, I'll just kind of try it out just a little bit to keep it out of my face. I'm sorry, we do this all the time. Thanks for helping our friend. Those are some good moves. Yes, I appreciate that you didn't allow Felix to be killed in front of us, though we would have prevented it ourselves.

But I do, and I hope everyone here does understand why he would fear us. Korovakia has done much to our people, and they continue to do so. I imagine he has family and friends. Where we are going? Not anymore. Then I think he has been punished enough. Golden Lotus will decide what will happen to him. It is our way.

You know, maybe after Golden Lotus has decided and we're still safe, we could maybe have a couple of beers and, you know, iron all this out. Our clan has our traditions. She will know what to do.

So Golden Lotus is a person? Like one person? I don't know, she's like a tabaxi. We've been told of this Golden Lotus. Oh, like her name is just Golden Lotus? By the orc that is now half-baked. I knew that there was a tabaxi, but I kind of assumed based on the name it might be like this order of tabaxi or something. No, my name is Iris of the Sands.

Oh, it's like a thing. My name is Capriccio de Sesto. You can call me Caprice. Thank you, Capriccio. This is fun. If it makes any of this better, Kargash helped us get up the mountain. We helped him. I do not know that name. Oh, well, if you happen to see a halfling riding on a goat with a large, what is it, a broadsword? A greatsword. A greatsword. As of a few days ago, he was an orc.

He fell in battle and I reincarnated him and unfortunately he was reincarnated as a halfling but he's still quite fierce so if you see him just know that he was once one of you. He's from Falsal. They were slaughtered by the I think his name was Falsal. Oh maybe. I will make a note of it.

And she pauses for a moment and looks over at Baruk, the orc that she had smashed in, and says, If you let your orcish savagery consume you again, my fist will go straight to your neck.

And he kind of struggles a little bit and then just kind of, after looking down at his arm that's been healed, he just hangs over it dejectedly and does not move. And she extends her mighty gauntleted hand and says, "I am Dokkani Sunfist." And she reaches out for your forearm. I give her like a strong, like full forearm, like, and put my other hand over it and I shake it up this way.

I will be your escort to Mogra Kai. We will have to pause our evacuation of the Outer Kingdom. You are far more high priority. Can't we do both? I mean, there's a serious threat coming. Is there anything we can do to help? There is no time. We don't need protection. I think maybe just if you could guide us, you could send your other non-broken arm friends to go continue the evacuation. We just need someone to vouch on our behalf. Especially you. She looks around.

and thinks and just nods at the other female with the shaved head. And she simply nods back and she lets out a and spins her finger around and says,

"Let's ride out to the next town!" And they all mount up, leaving Baruk behind. And Dokkani, their mounts let out a roar, and they begin to sprint off to, you see, a small town not too far from you. It seems to be a herding community. A great number of yaks and goats and pigs

running around, you can kind of almost smell the wafting manure from where you are. And you see that there's a number of wagons leaving as they begin to go assist in the evacuation. And you see the great wall, the great mighty wall that is before you with a number of gates, these several roads, all on the plains, snaking their way to various entrances with the great gates and, and,

It's not long that you are alone with Dokkani and Baruk, and she looks at all of you and says, "I was told that you would be capable fighters, that you would be able to save us from the Calamity." Absolutely, whatever we can do to help. I think we can. We've done it before, and we're all very skilled at what we do, I would say.

Sure. Yeah, absolutely. 100%. We've taken care of some problems, and we will certainly make our best effort here. You know, and Peyton can help out, too. She's a big girl, but she's real friendly. And I'll tell you what, she can probably haul up to, like, 500, 600 pounds. I don't know. How much can you pull, Peyton? Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

Yeah, yeah, about the baby proper. And you hear Revali, ah, stop, stop! And he, like, rattled around. Oh, easy at it, girl, easy at it. And Revali raises his not-good hand. How is Revali looking? Is he still, like, super crumpled? He's not, he's still, he's rough, but he's not, like, on the verge of death. He's just looking kind of tired and haggard, like he needs his gonk-zonk. And...

And he's got bags under his eyes and he says, "Well, six of us are capable fighters, "but I haven't held anyone back too much yet.

And you see Dokkani mount her tiger again, and she whistles up to the sky, and she raises her metal gauntlet, and you hear a screech as one of the gray hawks that is soaring above you circles around, and...

and begins to fly off. And with that... Apologies, I can't do animal noises. No, I'm not laughing at your animal noises. What are you laughing at? I'm glad I didn't fry the bird. Oh yeah! And with that, it circles around and begins to fly away, and...

She looks at you and says, "Is this the only amount that you have?" "Mommy, I got a few back home, but I would say I haven't brought them back here. It's been some time since I've been home. But yeah, yeah, I would say Pete's probably the only one, but she can hold quite a bit. As soon as we get Revali somewhere safe, then he can, you know, have a nap or two and maybe get knocked back a couple of...

you know, ales or whatnot, we could get her out, we could get her out, do you want to get her out, want to get her out? Yes, the answer to your question is yes, she's the only mount that we have. And her gaze is like, she's like getting tired of listening, and then she snaps her hand at you and says, we'll come into your cart. That would be lovely. And, uh, and, um, Direct all further questions to Felix. I just, like, kind of, like, tip my hat a little and, like, nod.

And with that, she guides you with a bark slumped over the tiger, not needing any kind of lead, just following behind Dokkane. As they begin, as you make your way, you stop at a small farming village and there is a family that gladly gives up Dokkane.

a wagon that they have when they hear that Golden Lotus needs this wagon for the Eternal Blossom. And it looks like they were kind of packing it up and getting ready to get out, but then they start taking it off and just putting saddlebags onto their family yak. And you are all able to hitch up Peyton and all get in this wagon and move a little bit quicker.

Alright, Revali, you're going to have to get in the back. I've got to drive Peyton. Well, it's better to be in the wagon than it is to be on this thing. You call her a thing? You should apologize. You know, she got you down half that mountain. It's not a bad thing to call an ox a thing, and she's also not even an ox-ox. What are you talking about? She's an ox.

And he thinks and just says, I'm getting out of the bath. Isn't a muskox closer to more like a big sheep than an ox? I'm just saying you got some loaded words there, sir, for someone who's taking care of you, but okay. Do you need a hand? Oh. Hersha! Oh my goodness. How could you? Really, do you remember how she reacted to Caprice's gift? This is who she has become.

You're right. What'd you give me? I forgot. And I just go, I'm gonna climb into the back of the cart. Oh my god, he's gonna kill me! I'm gonna climb into the back of the cart after Iris points this out to me, and then I'm just gonna, like, whistle and have Beatrice, like, settle on my shoulders as I begin to, like, flip through my spellbook. You know, Hersha, sometimes words can cut deeper than words.

a beast-plagued minotaur, cleaving your hand off and slicing your face in half. And he just gets off of Peyton and gets in the back next to Felix. Yeah, yeah, sticks and stones, keep her moving. And then I jump on Peyton. Thanks for the ride, Urja. I really like that wagon you're dragging. Oh yeah, it's pretty. Should we have paid those people for that wagon? I feel kind of bad. We kind of just kind of commandeered it.

No, they provided it to us willingly. We're going to save their lives. It is our way. Its property ultimately all belongs to the Eternal Blossom. Our prosperity was brought to us by the Eternal Blossom. So all of the prosperity we have in the end belongs to the Eternal Blossom. It is our way.

We don't intend to get in your way. Then lead the way and we'll follow behind. Yeah, I'll bet. I'll follow for ya. It takes you... I think it was just me. It takes you about two days travel. Oh.

at your pace, going considerably slower than a tiger's at full sprint, being in a wagon, but still moving along far faster than walking. Oh, wait, I gotta grab something real quick, if that's all right. You are no longer under arrest. Excellent. And so I hop off Peyton, I'll go and try and heave an axe out of the snow. Oh, yeah, you had already pulled it out. Oh, okay, I wasn't sure. Who's pulling the wagon? Peyton. Peyton. Oh. This guy.

She's a lady, thank you. This lady. I will say that Revali referred to her as a thing. So I got the... It was all that I found, was just the axe that was in the snow? Yes, there was a bunch of other knacks around, but the only thing from your father's make was the axe. And with that, you all...

It takes you about two days of travel. And we enjoy a long rest. You enjoy a long rest. Two and a half. A small village allows you to stay at their house.

once again, commandeered. It's for the good of the Golden Lotus. - You'll buy some songs for them. - Yeah, and they enjoy it. They feed you. It's a warm meal. It's not much, but it is, it's good to get at least a home-cooked meal. It's not your rations. And,

you are eventually able to make your way, winding, and you see the great mountains to the north and to the east running down in the cruck of... What do you call that? The intersection.

of these mountain ranges, you see a great city built into the mountains, another wall as you make your way through that first

massive wall going into the inner kingdom and you see it looming before you. A massive city built on large peaks of rock with huge ravines and chasms in between connected by huge bridges. Great shingled roofs glittering with gold and

beautiful trees growing out of these tall, towering mountains and peaks. The very, very top of these, lightly snow-capped, but it's not... It does get chillier, but not unbearably so.

as you eventually see Mogra Kai in all of its glory directly in front of you. The wall's not even close to as large as Zentra's, and not nearly as defended, but still a great number of warriors manning it. Some machines of war as well. And all above, you see the hawks soaring above, and the massive gate opens up

for you as one of the many roads that you've shared with evacuees and refugees making their way. And you see that there were a great number of farmers, villagers that had been fleeing the Outer Kingdom. Many villages were overloaded, but relatively hospitable to each other and welcoming each other.

That same kind of very peaceful, reserved nature that you're seeing from a lot of these orcs. Not what you were expecting. As you enter Mograkai, and I'll change the music a bit. Playlist change. How do you spell Mograkai? M-O-G-R-A-K-A-I. Yeah.

Yeah, I'm all fucked up. Mogra Kai. Yes. I think you were saying. Mogra Kai? Okay, that's not too far off. I could really go for a Mogra Kai. Mogra. Mogra Kai. That sounds pretty good. Cobra Kai. Mogra Kai. I had a lot of hair this morning. 52.0. So.

Yeah, when I reincarnate her. As... Please don't. Please don't. Can you just do that? They don't have to do that first, right? Yeah. That would be... That would be hilarious. That would be wild. You'd like walk up to a boss and be like, reincarnate, I hope it's a frog. Does that work? No. Oh. You make a saving throw, you fail, you die, and I reincarnate you. As an O. And you die. You enter...

this city, and it almost feels as if you pass into... It's very large, but as soon as you approach, you get the scent of saffron in the air. The wind runs cool, but not unpleasant, as you see that despite the looming death, destruction, utter horrible evil

of Baphomet and the Horne Legion, there is a peace and tranquility to all of the individuals around. And the city, the guardsmen and the soldiers there are very regimented, orderly. Every motion perfectly in lockstep with the other.

You see great braziers in the middle of all of the squares of the city, going off to various districts. You see a market, a trader's area. You see a great barracks and a military quarter with smoke rising from various buildings. And you see what looks almost like a large temple sitting at the center.

of these peaks connected by these massive bridges. And as you see that the trees rising up have these beautiful petals of pink and gold,

And you see rivers running through and lakes filled with colorful fish. And you see the hawks all around perched on every single building. They ruffle their feathers and look at you a little bit larger than the hawks you're used to, but they're gray feathered and look at you with large black eyes as...

as you make your way and you see the streets being patrolled by more of these saber-toothed white tigers, padding along, incredibly peaceful, mighty and stern, but completely in control of these beastmasters. And occasionally, you almost jump as you turn a corner and you see a massive white-furred horned yeti

And it just looks at you and continues on its way with two or rather four guards on either side of it, not even chained, as it just looks around and controls the city with these forks. These people are badass. And...

and you see that there's a large rookery for all of the Hawks. And as you finally make your way towards this large, mighty structure that looks like a temple or a palace, you're led off to a bridge that is besides the palace, but is much smaller, but far more adorned in gold and glittering gems and jewels.

You see oat bowls, lapis lazuli, sunstones, zionite, sardonyx, and you see it glittering in this, what looks like a shrine of some kind. And as you're all approaching, Dokkani looks at you and says, we finally arrived to Golden Lotus. She will be very eager to see you.

And when you approach her, it is customary to present an offering. Gold coins, gems, magical items. Oh. I'll just spend all my gold. I mean, I have a little, but I need it for research purposes. What does she do with all of that? She takes it as an offering, and it brings good fortune and luck. Ooh. Ooh.

I don't know why I have this item, but it is perfect for this site. Iris, can I borrow something gold and sparkly and not give it back? No, but you can use some of your gold coins to revive her. Oh, okay. What's an appropriate amount here? I never give out my gold. Oh, I've got a lot of gold. Does it have to be a physical thing? Can I, like, play a little jingle? Give her a gold coin.

Did you say jibble or jibble? It is for you to decide. It is our way. I don't want a fan. You must decide what you wish to part with. What you wish to give the eternal blossom. You know, like gift-giving guidelines, like nothing more than $20 kind of thing. Does she want a gift wrap? Yes.

Does she have one of those websites where we can see a list and then it's like an Amazon affiliate link? Yeah, like a registry. Yeah, a registry. There's got to be a registry. I just don't want to be tacky. It's a new town. If your gift is from the heart, that's all it is. While you look through your bags, I will take him. And she reaches out and knees Barak in the... Please let her know.

It's Iris of the Sands' request that he's not harmed any further. And she looks at you and says, I will tell her of your request. And if he has to be punished, then I would just suggest changing his last name to Androll. That seems very, very difficult to live with that kind of a name. She will know what to do.

And with that, she reaches down and grabs him. And even though he is massive, she slings him over her shoulder and carries him in. And as you get closer, you see that she enters these beautiful jade adorned doors covered in gold plates. And the smell of saffron hits you even stronger.

As the door opens and you see kind of this faint glow inside of low, but beautiful and gilded. As the door closes, you see that there, that, that, that bark seems to be struggling a bit more. His eyes are a bit more red and the doors close and you are free to discuss. I,

Iris, are you feeling alright? Yes, why? Well, I've just never heard you say anything like a gift from the heart is all that matters. And we're potentially meeting a new tabaxi who could be absolutely breathtaking. I mean, her name is Golden Lotus. That's true, and look at this palace. I know, and it looks like she's worked very hard to deserve it. So I'm not trying to copy Cat here, but...

But this has to be back to grade school. She really doesn't like it when people say that. Are you trying to be rude? No, no, I'm saying, I was going to ask you what... Why don't you go hang out with your Brady Bunch? I got all of you right here, all accounted for. Well, I guess we'll be taking damage from weapons then. Only the mackerel. I had no idea what you were talking about. What would you suggest, Iris, so that we don't have to... She simply said give her gold. Well, how...

How much are you going to give her? Oh, I'm not giving her any gold. I'm going to give her a climbing belt.

I have one here. It's a climber's kit. A climber's kit includes special pittance, boot pits, gloves, and a harness. You can use the climber's kit as an action to anchor yourself. And when you do, you can get more than 25. But that gift is just a pittance. It is lovely. There are so many things in this gift. Do you really think that's a good idea? Of course I do. How would you feel if someone gave you a climber's pet? Well, it was given to me when I left Siket. And how did you feel about that?

Well, it's been in my packer for a sentence. Have you used it even once? Of course not. I'm a tabaxi. I can climb on my own. I don't think I'm getting through to her. I cannot wait. She's going to love it. She's a tabaxi. She would know what a tabaxi would like. I hope you're right. Think about how many times she's probably just had somebody hand her gold and it's like, oh, that's boring now, but I climb as pack. And she would probably be like, you know what I really need? At least 20 to 50 pittance. Well, I'm sure she can climb too, you know.

But it might be a nice novelty. You know how sometimes you don't really need something? And they're not just pittance. They're special pittance. And they don't scrub your nails. What? When you climb, you have to funk up your nails. Well, that's what I have you here for.

Yeah, I'm not so good at that. But she might appreciate it. All right, if you say so. That's fine. I was just trying to be helpful. I got an idea. It's from the heart. I hope this goes well. I hope that when she sees it, she says, well, I already have one of these. I hope not. I'm going to give her a bread maker.

Oh, that's going to go so well with the idea I had. I'm not going to say it yet. I'll let you go. I'll let you go first. I don't have a bread maker. Well, I'm ready if all of you are. I am very ready. It's not much longer. It's not much longer until the doors open up.

And you see that Dukani still has a bark over his shoulder. And bark, rather than struggling, seems to be incredibly docile now. And he's kind of slumped over. Oh my god, they lobotomized him. And she steps forward and says, this is where we part ways. I am going to deal with his sentence. Which is?

to take him, heal him of his wounds, and bring his tranquility back. I'm appeased. Let's continue. All right. Approved. Hope this isn't the last time we see ya. Siket's stamp of approval. Let's go. So all you a beer, or whatever you enjoy drinking. Sign me. Yes, please. Ask her more questions. I will be here. Okay. I will do what the eternal blossom asks of me. Goodbye. Goodbye.

And she turns and you see as she turns around that Baruk is slung over her shoulder. He seems to be...

In better health, his color looks better, and there's a bit of smile to the corner of his mouth as he looks down, and he just kind of looks back at you, and all of the red that had been in his eyes is gone. And he kind of then slumps back over, and they turn the corner. Do I get any sense of what may have...

change his demeanor in such a relatively short period of time? Has he been trapped in one of those Clockwork Orange rooms, or is he some sort of drug? I would say make an intelligence check at disadvantage.

She used to freak me out with those metal, like, cryovers. I feel you. Intelligence? Just straight up? Nine. Nine. You have no idea. That bar guy seems much more pleasant now for some reason.

Does it make a brave motion? No, she might have calmed his emotions if it hadn't saved you. Oh, that makes sense. That could be a magical effect. Sure, sure. Well, it is. Do you think that Connie did that? Potentially. Well...

I think it was probably golden notice, but Iris, I think you should go first, given your... Your nobility? Yeah, yes. Yeah, and also the rest of our gifts are probably going to make yours look shitty, so you should go first. I've been talking about it. Haven't you ever wanted a climber's kit at least four or five times? This climber's kit could have come in handy for any one of you. I can fly.

I can run just like straight up a wall. You can? Yeah. Nice. I know. I don't think I've ever seen you do that. I don't even know. I can tilt up a tree. You can what? I can tilt up a tree. It's a little easy does it. Exactly right. Exactly right. Why don't you just go ahead, Iris? We'll be right behind you. You...

You open the doors and that smell of saffron is almost overwhelming. It's incredibly calming.

as you enter a small antechamber that leads further into a room that is beautifully gilded in gold with gemstones and rich jades in tigers' eyes. And as you turn the corner, you see that there is a large, shallow bowl

in the center of the room and it's filled with gold pieces, strange knickknacks, trinkets, statues with gem eyes and strange jewels as

I want to make sure I'm adorned in literally every piece of gold I have. Okay, yeah. My golden Anubis headdress is on every piece. You are fully, all of your jewelry is on. And I'm going to walk up shining as I place the canvas climber's kit on top of all the gold items. You do that, and no one is in this chamber yet. It's a circular room, and there is a door at the back, and...

you see that there are sticks of incense burning all around, and you see that there is... There are actually panels built into the walls, and behind it is actually... It's filled with water, and there are fish swimming around. And you can...

You can see that it's very pleasant and calming in here, and Iris just drops, replaces the climber's kit, and it kind of rustles and slides down. So there's nobody in here, though? Not yet. Don't you want her to see you put it in there? Yeah, it's like a tip jar. You've got to make sure they see. The moment she steps out here, she'll see it on its glorious pedestal of gold. Now it's going to get sopping wet, Iris. Why would it be sopping wet? Because it's in a pool. Is it in a pool?

- There are fish tanks. - Oh my gosh. - I thought this was like a fountain we were throwing at him. - Iris, quick, the worst thing that could possibly happen if she sees you is go reaching for it and taking it out when she comes in. - Well, what if she doesn't even come in here? What if it's like one of those shitty parties where you bring them a birthday present and they open it later? - What if she will not allow us entry until all of those plays are offering?

in the offering bowl. She might be right. I mean, she knows more about this stuff than I certainly do. Well, I've never had an offering bowl, but I will have one now. You should get one of those. Oh, I will. Next time I buy gifts for everyone, I'll buy you an offering bowl. I would love that, Caprice. I would appreciate and tell you how much I appreciate the gift, even if I've already purchased a nicer, more intricate offering bowl previously.

for myself. That's fine. I'm going to keep my offering on me just for a little while longer to see if she shows up first. And then worst case scenario, we can all throw them in. I just don't want to be without. If I've already thrown it in and then she says, where's the offering? I'm like, I already put it in there. I have some money, but I need it. I don't normally have research, spellcasting. And he uses very expensive... Have you noticed that when he spends an entire evening alone by himself in his room... He buys pens from the shop or image.

I don't want that. Don't put that thing anywhere near me. What were you saying, Iris? Well, I don't remember. I'm thinking about Sharper Image. Oh, I'm sorry. Anyway, I have my offering and I'm proud of it and I want to show it to her. Wait, what is it? I'm not telling you yet.

Well, why did I have to tell everyone that I was giving her a climber's kit? You didn't have to. You ought to have been up. No, I was told... Well, Iris, you've done this before. What are you going to give her? Give us guidance, Iris. And so I told you I was giving her a climber's kit and then you all made fun of me. Well, joke's on you when she looks at the climber's kit and is so pleased.

It has special pittance in it, Felix. I don't know how these things get away from me. All I'm trying to say is, you know what, it doesn't matter. They're special. Are you saying pittance or pittance? What is the difference? I always kind of thought it was pittance. Well, that is why you are the help.

And then we wait in silence for however long. Yeah, it just goes dead silent and we're all awkwardly looking around and twirling my thumbs for as long as it takes. I'm just going to spiral into an existential crisis right here. I go over and I look at the aquarium.

- We all just sit down with our tail between our legs. - I just look to Beatrice on my shoulder and I'm like. - The whistle. - Not much longer. - Not much longer does the door slowly open and you see, once again, the fragrant aroma gets even stronger as you see a humanoid figure standing

dressed in a beautiful gold and green and red robes, holding a large, what at first you think to be a staff, but beautiful adornment. It actually seemed to be a large glaive with a golden dragon's head at the top with a blade coming out, pure gold. As

She, as you see, a tabaxi holding it, smiling, white fur with black stripes of a white tiger variety. And she looks at all of you and smiles and says, "I have never received pittance before." You're welcome. I thank you for your offering. Of course. To the eternal blossom. The pack is filled with many things.

I like collecting many things. It's made of canvas as well, as you can see. It brings me great joy.

as all things here in Mogra Kai bring such great joy. How about that, Felix? Now, provide your offering. She steps down several steps and smiles warmly at all of you. I take several steps up to the bowl and I'm kind of like looking back at my shoulder. I really should have seen that coming. And I reach into my coat and I say, I know it's not much. It's not as unique as the climbing pack that Iris gave you, but I have this

tiger's eye gem and I think it's appropriate for where we are and I hope that it's a little bit more than just normal gold because I don't have much and I don't really have a need for worldly things and money but I thought this looked nice and I'd like you to have it

Her eyes widen and she smiles as you place it down and she steps forward. Each step of the way, the beautiful glaive tapping on the ground and she smiles and says, "I have

You're welcome. And I look over my shoulder and I shoot her a look. And I step back and line behind Toa.

Hi, my name is Capriccio Nassesto. You can call me Caprice. It's a pleasure to meet you. And pick a finger, any finger. She steps forward. No, you can't do that. It's like a bar trick. She places a finger to her lips and says, ooh, is this a game?

No, no. One of the rings on my finger is what I'm going to make my offering. They've brought me great luck and journeyed with me for very far. And so I'm hoping that the meaning of the journey that they've come along with me would be part of the value of what I'm offering you now.

I like this one. And she points to if there is a smaller pinky ring, the smallest of the pinky ring, whichever side, she would select that one. Excellent choice. The Ring of Uncertainty. This is what I was just about to offer my friend here. But here. Oh, does it go in the bowl?

Yes, it does. I sort of like do one of those rolling around the fingers things and then I flick it in so that it flops into the bowl. My pleasure. Very impressive, Caprice. Thank you, guys. That's not what I thought you were going to do. What did you think I was going to do? We'll talk about it later. I guess I'll go next.

And I, so I take my pack out and I pull out, um, this is a very ornate place. And so I thought I should bring something ornate, uh, as an offering to match. So I pull out, uh,

My equipment says an ornate lantern. Why do you have that? Where did that come from? Oh my gosh. Ornate lantern. It's very ornate in whatever way an ornate lantern would be. And I will say, so that it can light...

your path in the way of something inspiring and intelligent, and I'll just place it gently down on the-- It immediately boosts. Yeah, you place it gently down and be like-- It falls down. And you're like--

And then it stops. It stops. And then it silences. Lights on fire. And then she says like, fake. I love it. It's a fake. It's a fake.

Toa, I... I'm going to give you all of the mountain of coin to spill out to the size of the bowl and settle. And... You have a way with words, Toa. Thank you. Thank you for such a wonderful offering. Oh, you're very welcome. And unorthodox. May I go? Would you like to go, Wolfie?

Well, let me ask a question. Are you a drinker? I do love tea, yes. Anything else? Water is very purifying and delicious. Anything a little stronger? I'll sometimes have stronger tea, yes.

Yeah, you better go. I, um, yes, go lower this. So I'm sheepishly walking up, pulling this strange-looking bottle out of my pack, and I'm just kind of giving it an elbow. I'm going to crease it up a little bit. So I picked this up in the last city we were at, and I put it on everything. It tastes like home.

Well, I don't put it on everything. What is it? It's a cream sauce with seasonings. It reminded me, because of all the saffron, I smell walking in, just reminding me of a good cooked meal. It's ranch. I don't put it on bread at church. I have visited many ranches here of the common folk. Yeah.

It is very quaint and inspiring to see their hard work. I thank you for your ranch concoction. As I'm sliding it onto the pile, I'm like, yeah, it reminds me of the time that I tried putting it on bread at church and Father Lorthar, man, he had a fit. And then I'll just like back away slowly. Why would you eat ranch and bread? I'm going to lean into Tela and just whisper to him,

Oh, dear gods, how long has that been in her pack? I was going to ask the same thing. At least weeks. It is like pure, like green and blue. No, it's not!

It's just hard. It's just hard. Blushies, bitch! Put blushies on everything, okay? With your wings, you put it on your breath-- At this point, I'm visibly gagging. Like, behind Toa, I am visibly gagging. While all of this is happening, I'm slowly going to slide a signet ring into Lufti's hands.

And then push her forward. And she's looking directly at you and smiling. So...

Can I remove my sling arm? I gotta remove my orny lantern. I gotta remove my bottle of ranch. Of my rations. This ring was given to me by my father. And it was given to him by his father before. Iris is your father? Well, no. In a... In a... In a... In a...

Philosophical sense. We must discuss philosophy later. Yeah, I love that. She's trying to be with my brother. So I think she means that in time she would like to become the daughter of my father. You know what? Take your ring back. I'm going to give you today the gift of honesty. Oh no. Here's the ring! It's the gift of honesty!

It like clinks off of the lantern, the toe of one hand and it cracks. Oh, no. Thank you so much. Lukey is so honored to be here with you. No, I think, no. You should have a drink. No, I want to tell, I think he would like this, yes? How many people tell you the truth when they walk in here? Everyone. Oh, really? Everyone in Gron tells me the truth, yes. It is our way. Oh, fuck.

But I will appreciate it as a gift from an outsider. Well, um, so... I forgot what I was going to say now because you upset me. I gave you my ring. You called my father your father. You threw the ring at me and you tried to tell her the truth. I'm really put off by how the gift-giving thing, if I'm being honest. I think...

I got another bottle of ranch I can give you, okay? There's more? It was actually my father's ring given to him by his father, given to him by his father. I know, so I guess I am kind of in your family when I'm here. Your brother was here with your dad. That does check out. Okay, but for one, I'm going to correct one of the things you said. He is not your father if you've slept with him. Oh, I know what you mean now, you harlot! Ha ha ha ha!

"This is my bed. I have to go. It was lovely to meet you." "Do you have a bathroom?" "Is it like, with the kittens back there, or?" "It is down the hallway outside. You just make a right from the antechamber." "Oh, right. Thank you. I need to just... I need to go, and then I'll go to the bathroom." "I thank you all for your offerings."

I'm taking this ring back. I put it on my finger. I'm just gonna go in my bag and just like a handful of gold in the bowl and just... How many gold coins?

Nine? Can I put nine gold coins in my hand? Yeah. You could probably fit more than that. It depends on if the coins have the holes. She's also small. She's got small hands. That's true. Nine coins fall in and jingle beautifully. And she smiles and says...

Thank you for your offerings and respecting our culture and our traditions. You are going to love it here. Things are perfect. It seems pretty nice. Does it? These aquariums are amazing. You're freaking me out.

And you all remember that Revali had elected to stay outside because he was not being expected. And the DM also just remembered him. And so... That was the case anyway. He wasn't going to go in, but I'm just explicitly saying that he is outside with Peyton. So that's what... He's watching Peyton. They're the body cop. And...

And so as you finish giving your offerings, she smiles at you and says, So you have come to save our kingdom, and you have come to join Mogrukai and join us. I mean, that's the goal. We certainly don't mean any harm, and we want to help. But can I ask a question? Of course. You already knew our names. Yes, I did.

How much more do you already know? I know much. I see it in the blossoms. Like the outcome of us coming and helping? Yes. I was told by the Eternal Blossom that you would come. That you would be the saviors of Grand Saviors of Mogra Kai. Does the Eternal Blossom have six eyes? Six eyes? Know it. She is a goddess.

that is in the blossoms, it is in the air, in the cosmos, in life. She speaks to me and I speak for her. Do the things that you read or see, do they ever change? The things that I see do come to pass, but they are not always exact. What's the matter? Thank you. Thank you for telling us. You have come to ally with us instead of Kouravakia, yes?

No. I don't think that we need to choose one over the other. We've simply come to assist. But surely you must not serve...

Virgil Zurn? Well, I do believe he's quite an ass, but so far, it has served us well. And serve is a little strong. I mean, we're trying to help, but we're not necessarily bound to any one faction, if you will. And I say that as a Corvacian. I mean, I'm not a part of their military anymore, but I'm sure you know that. We're very passionate about providing aid and succor. Caprice? What did you say?

You shouldn't say things like that. Shut her. I know it's a real word, but don't say it anymore. Please, we're in a holy place. Man, he's here. No. It is a holy place. I think that your minds will change once you experience more of Mogra Kai. Things are nice here. Things are good here. Life is happy. Well, it will be as long as the Horned Legion doesn't decimate it where we stand. And that is why you are here. And once we save it...

Grand will be the only happy place in Striga. Well, I hope that's not the case. We'd like happiness to abound and be all over Striga. Just really cover the whole thing. I mean, do you mean that in a literal way? Yes. But why? You have been in Striga. You have been in Erius. There is nothing but misery, sadness, strife, and chaos. Well, not anymore. There is still...

strife and chaos, all of the actors that form a government in Erios. Do you think that their

Goals will align and be in harmony with each other. There will always be debate and strife and chaos and disorder. But to be fair, can you truly experience joy if you've not felt pain? They do go hand in hand, I'm sure. Pain is a natural part of life, but we do what we can here to minimize it, to bring us tranquility and joy. And how do you do that?

through inner peace, reflection, and the golden, the eternal blossom. I will show you. You perhaps do not know you have been deceived by Virgil Zurn. It's possible. Probably, yeah. Yes. You can show us what you see in the blossoms? I can show you what the hawks see. Oh. Join me. Oh, what the birds see. Yes. I'll walk up and... Interesting. I'll join her. And you... You get to be her, sure.

The door behind her that she came out of, she gestures to and steps up, and she opens the door as you go into a relatively darkened chamber. And once again, this is circular, and you see that there's the low glow of embers of incense burning, and a pool.

And you see that on either side of this chamber are two trees, very small, growing up out of a patch of grass around what looks like a very small pool, a small pond built into this chamber. And you see that the pool is crystal clear. And she steps forward and she...

And as she steps forward, she says, come, join me. Are we going to go swimming? Please keep your clothing on. This is not for swimming. Unless it's six inches deep of ice, I don't know if I want to stand on that. I'm kind of an aversion to water. We will not be getting in. We will be observing. Oh, okay. I will observe. Thank you.

She taps the glaive onto the ground and immediately a light wind whips up and petals fall down from the trees. These beautiful blossoms of pink and gold and white as they drift down and they fall into the water and they begin to swirl around as the ripples expand and shift and shape and you see crystal clear

the what looks like a bird's eye view of a massive horde of beastmen. The size of the army that had faced, that had sieged Zentra is, despite having, you thought, had been mostly decimated, now is even larger than before.

You see centaurs, minotaurs, goatmen, giants, hill giants, ogres, all shaggy with black fur and hair and horns growing out of every direction, jagged weapons. And you see just a swath of destruction, smoke rising up.

behind them, and you see at the direct center of this massive horn, as far as this pool you can see it bodies, a massive looming creature, far larger than even the giants. A... what has four colossal black horns spiraling out

a massive nose ring, snorting flames with a jagged glaive as the bullhead that you had seen just over the tree line, you now see the massive form of this avatar of Baphomet that every single stomp it makes shakes the earth and shakes the army and they get disrupted and they continue on their way. As it looks like death,

is descending upon Mogurkai. And the vision changes. And you see the path of destruction being carved through, the land trampled and ruined, farmland, as you see more bodies marching, but not a horde, regiments in Grond. Korovakian soldiers marching into Grond, following in and setting up perimeters.

taking territory behind the destruction now that all of the defending forces have been pushed back to the inner kingdom.

And once again, it shifts again, and you see the great mountain front that you had crossed through, and you see the defending fortresses and the great mining towns now completely occupied by Corvaccia. You see orc bodies laying strewn across these towns and camps. You see new structures being erected already, mining operations already beginning.

And it shifts once more, and you see that there are... that Mogra Kai is standing there, and despite all of the horror that's descending upon it, the hawk flies through, and you can see through its eyes, people at peace, smiling, happy.

going about their business as if nothing bad will happen. And it shifts back again and the water returns to crystal clear and the petals shrink and fade. And it's a crystal clear pool once more. Do you see? And that's how one reads the blossoms? It is how I read the blossoms, yes. Okay.

So it sounds like things will be fine or just people are happy despite that devastation heading this way? You saw the Korovakians, despite us not invading when they were being attacked by the Horned Legion, they are taking the opportunity to gain ground. They will take the entire Outer Kingdom before long.

You seem really calm about this. This is a real threat. We need to do something about this. All the people who are looking so peaceful, they need to take up arms and get mad. Defend themselves. We will defend ourselves, but I am calm because you all are here. You are the saviors of Mogra Kai. You will stop this, Menace. I have seen it in the blossoms. You are the key. I was told this would happen. You didn't.

Did that happen in the... you saw us in this pool here? How were you told by the pool that all of those... Yes, I was told, but not from what the hawks can see in my reflections when the eternal blossom speaks to me. But do you wish to ally with a government, with a man who, despite a threat that threatens us all, still capitalizes?

and still attacks those who are only trying to defend themselves against the menace from the abyss? It's not right. Surely we must be able to reach out to him and maybe see what's going on. It's not right.

Do you think maybe he doesn't even know what's happening? Yes. I mean, I don't want to keep giving him the benefit of the doubt, but I think just from what we've seen already happen, there's a chance that he doesn't know. He seems to be missing things, whether it be on purpose or some sort of negligence on his part. Almost like a selective sight. Something's going on, and I think we need to talk about this more later. But you're right. We should at least try to stop...

Korovakia, from taking opportunities like this. Let me show you one more thing. And he, she taps the glaive to the ground again and several blossoms fall.

and it swirls around, and you see now it's in the sky and it's facing forward, and it's a difficult thing to track, and then you see a dark, what looks like a dark cloud, but it is, it's not a cloud, it's a flock, or a, not a murder, of ravens.

as they are soaring over Korovakia. Conspiracy of ravens. Conspiracy of ravens. As you see all around you, as hawks begin to meet this flock and begin to tear apart the conspiracy of ravens that are attempting to fly into Grann Skye space. And...

You see that despite the scene of blood and feathers being torn apart and flying all around, these ravens stand no chance against these gray goshawks. And they've been very clearly trained to kill ravens. As the spurt of blood and feathers fills the pool and then shimmers away, and it's clear once more. Do you think that Virgil Zurn would...

be sending so many ravens if he did not know what was going on? It's a fair point, Felix. We're not doubting you. To be clear, we're not. I'm just trying to think of ways we can stop this. That is for another time. We must stop Baphomet and the Horned Legion. But we must, you must, convince the Warchief

that you can be trusted before we continue with saving this world. Well, can't you just tell the Warchief that we can be trusted? She seems to be willing to do anything that you tell her to do. That's true. You're talking about Dukani? No. Warchief Frosfey. Shen'Goro Frosfey. Chosen by the Eternal Blossom. It is why I came all the way to Striga.

It is why I have brought the blessings of the Eternal Blossom to these orcs. Help them suppress and contain their savage nature and all of the prosperity that has brought. What was the warchief's name again? Shingoro Frostfang. Shingoro. The Dancing Blade was able to unite all of the tribes of Gronn, and he was chosen by the divine and granted a naturally long life.

As have I. That's a sweet deal. It is. The Eternal Blossom is eternal, and her true chosen are as well. So how do we do that? How do we convince her? Surely you must already know. He... Sorry, he. He has... He is a very peaceful and calm and reasonable individual. But he does distrust Korovakia deeply.

And the only reason that you would not have been killed on sight is because I told him it was the Eternal Blossom's will. But despite him following my counsel, it must be you that make your case and disavow Virgil Zurn and ensure that you are loyal to us. Loyal to saving the world. Well, I think saving the world we can all agree on.

Yeah. Has this happened before? With the convincing of the Warchief thing? With other folks like us? There has never been such a dire situation in my many decades. I was hoping for some tips from maybe the, you know, how did they get it? That kind of stuff. He is very wise and a very good Warchief. He has been my dearest ally and friend.

for as long as I can remember. He was the one I saw first in the blossoms. I traveled thousands of miles across the sea to give the Dancing Blade everything they needed to make them happy and peaceful, to bring order, to bring law, to banish the chaos. It is what I am here to do. How much time until we have to meet with the Warchief? You may meet with him at sunset.

Which is roughly... Which is roughly probably about like three hours. Okay. We've got some time. All right. That's fine. That's fine by me. In your vision, how much longer do we have until the Legion is at your doorstep? If we are lucky and the defenses of the outer wall do what they must and the great sacrifice of the warriors there slow them down, it will be perhaps a week and a half if we are fortunate.

Ten days? Not a lot of time. Ten days. But we all must do what we can. Perhaps longer, if the Great Warrior's sacrifice does even more. If the Eternal Blossom is willing to grant them strength in a glorious death in combat. How do you plan to reinforce the Outer Wall? Do you have...

Blacksmiths, construction workers, are they going to be building artillery, setting up shop? We have the defenses that we need. Let me know if you need any help. I'm fairly good at a hammer. Your help is needed beyond crafting, but far more dangerous. If there's any place that we can spend the evening, we don't need much space, and maybe somewhere we can wait until it's time to meet with the Warchief. I have already prepared your quarters.

That's very generous. I hope you like them. I'm sure we will. Thank you. You're welcome. And your friend, he seems downtrodden. You mean Rilali? Yes. He thinks it's just his face. No, I mean... You had to ride with the back of that smelly muskox for days on end. And he lost his hand. Would you not? Oh, yes, that too. He's been mortally wounded. And his face...

Perhaps... Perhaps he will find a rejuvenation of spirit and inner calm just by being here. And... It is very nice. I will take you to your quarters now. Well, can the blossom pool thingy... Can you just turn that on to any Hawkeye that happens to be, I don't know, aligned with it or however that works? Yes, of course.

Oh, well, we're looking for Herge's dad. I don't know if you knew that. But if you could, you know, sort of change the channel a few times really quickly and just scroll through and see if we can, you know, maybe spy him or if he's in the city or something. Yeah, just click, click, click. Like put it on scan. Yeah, I found this at the top of the mountain before we met Dokani, I think, who he was. And I'll take out my father's axe and I'll show it to her. You wouldn't happen to have an old wizened

Dwarven drunk in the city, would you? For seeing one passing through? She looks at it and she just smiles and says, I will do what I can. Can I tell if she's lying? Make an inside check. It's like a big number for me. Fifteen. She seems to be genuine. And she says...

But I must speak with the Warchief first to make sure that he is in the appropriate headspace to meet with you. Absolutely, that's fine. We'll go to our quarters and we'll wait as long as we need to. We have things to discuss anyway, so that's fine. When she says "the appropriate headspace," does that set off any red flags in my brain?

Does she go? What do you mean? Like, let me just make sure that he's totally cool. I'm not going to do anything horrible to him first. Make an insight check. Does any of that happen? That's a great question. Oh, fantastic. That's why I'm a Viking. I do not trust this creepy old lady. Oh, actually, I forgot I'm proficient. 13. 13. You get the sense that for an orc, that this is an orc that has probably experienced...

the war between Korvaccia and Grond for longer than any living person possibly, and has experienced all of the potential war crimes and all of that, and probably does not like anyone allied with that. And you would say you get that sense that you-- - There's not a head in a jar. - She does not have a head. - Let me go Clockwork Orange him for a moment. - You don't get that sense.

And she says, "Is there anything else before you see your quarters? I hope you like them." - I'm ready. - Yeah, let's go. - Wonderful, follow me.

and she leads you through the town, and everyone who passes her, you can see that they all bow very reverentially to Golden Lotus as soon as they see her, and she just smiles and nods, and you make your way through the city, and it's not too far. There's another smaller peak,

where you cross a bridge and there's a beautiful garden that sprawls out with a lake and a number of smaller structures that also smells rich with saffron. This whole area does. And you see that there seems to be a little courtyard with three separate dwellings that she...

provides you with keys to each of these three dwellings. There are two plush beds in each, and there is a full tea set, and there's food already there for you, a tray, and a small fire pit in the center of this courtyard with seating. I love pistachios. She looks at all of you and says, this is for our most esteemed guests.

I hope they are to your liking. Yes, but where am I, gorgeous? Whichever one of these three dwellings you would enjoy. Oh, I see. Thank you. You're welcome.

I will see you at sunset. So there's like two in each? Yeah, there's two in each with a little center courtyard area. And then on the little triangulated configuration, there's like a little lake with trees on the side. It's beautiful. And it's actually looking over a vast expanse and you see just past it, the mountains rising up to the north and to the east. And you see mist all the way through. It almost gets shrouded in mist when you go past maybe 50 feet. And it is absolutely gorgeous.

And she nods at you and taps the glaive on the ground again and says, "Well, it is such a pleasure to meet the, do you need help with that?" And she reaches forward and extends a claw and effortlessly cracks it open. - Thank you.

So good. We need a lot of help. Go for some of the more open ones first. Enjoy and rest and feel regenerate and find inner peace and calm. Thank you. Before you go, um...

I see you've got a lake over there. What are your catch and release laws in the city? You may fish anything you would like. It is the most delicious catfish on the continent.

So it would be no disrespect to you or the Eternal Blast? Absolutely not. The fish are there for us to consume. Are we allowed to open fires? Yes, that is the point of this fire pit. Oh, I see. I will come fetch you before sunset. Excellent. And she turns and bows at all of you and leaves. Totally.

Would you like to share a hut with me this evening? Sure, I was going to ask Felix, but we always bunk together. Yes, well, I think tonight I'll take care of the public. She did ask me first, to be fair, Felix. Toa! Well, I can't say no. How am I supposed to say no? She asked first. Who am I supposed to bunk with? She called dibs. Maybe Caprice? I'll teach you a card game. We need to work on our abyssal. That's fine.

I'll bunk with Caprice. I don't want to break your heart, Felix, but she did. No, it's fine. It's fine. I have work to do. It's fine. It's fine. I made some flashcards. Thank you. Wagon? We've already learned wagon. I know wagon. Well, you have to repeat it. I have to repeat it. Can you do it one more time for me?

Maybe if you do it again, I might be able to do wagon. Okay, hold on. Let me make sure I got that right. So it sounds like...

Again, right at the end, there's a sort of, huh, instead of a, huh. Oh, it's the inflection. I missed the inflection on the third or fourth, huh. We'll get it, buddy, we'll get it. All right. It's like there are two demons standing right in front of us on very heavy buildings. I just kind of side-eye Toa. Rivali steps forward and says, oh my fucking god. I hate demons. And I guess there's not a bed for me, but I would donut.

sleep inside this creepy building or this creepy place. No, you may stay with Toa if you'd like. Are you sure? Yes, of course. We could use you for what I've planned. He grimaces a little bit and says, I'm going to sleep outside with the musk ox. Oh, I like that. And he looks around and he continues to grimace and says, this place gives me

Strange feeling. You know, I'm glad you said it. My brain's been going non-stop and I have a lot to say. And there's a very good chance that she's going to know everything that we say in here because she has some sort of advanced manipulation of time magic and that's fine. But I think it needs to be said. And you're more than welcome to stay for the conversation. But I've got a lot on my mind. What do you want to say? I mean, this place is lovely.

Are we ready to have that conversation or are you ready? DM, should we take a quick coffee break? Let's take a quick coffee break and then we'll have it. I mean, why my ass if everyone was ready for the conversation? Felix, why don't we all take it? Why don't we enjoy these pistachios? God damn it. And he's like struggling. Fuck. I'll pour your tea. I click my nail out and slice it. Oh, thank you. Thank you.

So, Revali kind of steps forward and he leans against one of the trees by the pond and he, like, picks up a little stone on it and he just chucks it and skips it along the pond. And he says, this is too perfect. Go ahead, Felix. All right. Everybody just bear with me here for just a few minutes. I've been thinking a lot about this. And what the...

Golden Lotus? Golden Lotus is the Tabaxi, the Eternal Blossom. What the Golden Lotus said, she makes a lot of sense. She makes a lot of good points. I don't consider myself allied with Korovakia any longer. The things that they've done have been absolutely atrocious, and no one can deny that. I've done horrible, horrible things, and I can only hope to redeem myself in some way or another, but...

The point is, we know. We basically have confirmation at this point that whether Zurn is aware of it or not, he's been corrupted. He's gone. He's lost. In some way or another, whether he is compliant or not. And that's something we need to think about. But something irks me about the way that she says that everything here...

is tranquil and perfect forever. And it's almost like I got this feeling when she started talking about it that she didn't want us to leave. That she wanted us to be here and experience tranquility forever. And I gotta be honest, I thought about it. There's a lot of things that keep me up at night and rack me with guilt forever. And I would give anything to get rid of that feeling forever. But that might mean I might forget my brother. And I can't do that.

And while I don't think that we necessarily have to serve Xurn, and I think we could even disavow him, I don't want to give up on the people of Korovakia. They deserve a chance at also being happy and not being demolished by this horrible threat. And for some reason...

I understand why they're at odds. I understand why these two factions are at odds. I get it. But I don't think that it has to be that way. It feels very absolutist and it just feels very almost defeatist. Something's not right here. I'm with Revali on that. And I don't necessarily think that it's evil. But I think that there's more that they're willing to let us see. And I can't quite put my finger on it yet.

Have you considered that you saw only what she wanted you to see? That's exactly it! You said it! I'm not sure I believe the vision she showed. I don't trust Zurn. And you know this. I've told you this. I told him this to his face. We had a very tense conversation the last time I saw him. But I'm not sure I trust Golden Lotus either. I'm so glad you said that.

I am only willing to follow the news. My goal, my job, is to save the innocent people, those that cannot fight for themselves. To do that, I do not need to align with her. I do not need to pledge myself to her, and I do not need to give up my allegiance to anyone if I choose not to. I knew I could count on you. And if their chieftain is wise, he would not turn down aid because we simply will not do it.

turn our backs on those who've helped us so far. The other thing that's bothering me, too, is she clearly has some sort of powerful manipulative time magic. I mean, she's able to see things that didn't happen yet. She knew our names before we ever introduced ourselves. We've been making waves. Maybe. It's possible that she's heard it on the wind, through the grapevine, whatever you want to say. But the fact of the matter is that she seems to think that the outcome of all of this is already determined.

She says that we're going to succeed. I almost asked her if we all survive. And I was wondering if there's any way that we can manipulate or change the visions that she's seen. Regardless of whether it's divine or god-given, there's magic at play here. And I just... something's not quite right. No, something is not quite right. Do you guys think it's Furman? I'm sorry, what?

doing all the border stuff where he's invading your land? Well, I mean, he's certainly in control of the military. He's in charge of all that. He would be giving orders to some degree. You're absolutely right. I just don't know the involvement. And there's still a part of me that wants to reach out to Zurn and say, this isn't a time for expansion and war. We need to work together. If I know what's happening. Exactly like what Toa said. But either way, I'm with Iris. I've been convinced...

Xearn, whether he means good or not, has been taken by something, by this... Whatever it was that Caprice saw, it has Xearn, one way or another. And I hate to admit it, but I'm not going to pretend like it's not true. Go ahead. Do you think Fuhrman was maybe part of the whole Baphomet cult and we didn't figure him out? Then we figured everybody else out, Kujata and all the rest, but...

But maybe he's a part of it, too. There was a time when I would have said that Zurn would have known, and he would have dealt with it. But now I don't know. I mean, we know that he and Firmin go back a really long time, that they were young and in grand when they were in their 20s, probably. Yeah, we saw them in the ledger, right? Yes. It all just depends on the level of

compliance that Zurn has, the knowledge, the amount that he's willing to just go along with these things. There's a chance that deep down he still thinks that he's doing the right thing and he's just being puppeted. There's also the chance on the other extreme end that he's truly evil and he knows it deep down in his core. I think all this time I've gone about seeing the good in people, even those who are cruel, have a chance at redemption.

But traveling with you guys has just taught me I can only trust each of you. Oh, you can't trust me. Well, I do, Iris. No, I said can. Oh, I thought you said can't. It's very rude that you think I would say that. I didn't say can't. You

Do you know if the Nangsh chicken comes with a side of rice or do I have to order that special? What are you doing? We're ordering dinner. Like room service? This is a palace after all. You thought we were going to spend the entire evening eating nothing but pistachios that Caprice can't even open? I was going to say, I'm opening his pistachios. These pistachios are fucking bullshit. I was going to eat more of those. They splatter and scatter everywhere.

While I'm still talking to them, I'm just gonna like prestidigitate and like put them all back in the hole while I'm still talking to everybody. To what Herrscher said, Zurn, we cannot control what he is doing. Our goal is to save and fight for the innocent. Our goal is to destroy the Horned Legion. Who we're relying on. That doesn't change that. I agree.

100%! You're right, we- We will deal with Zurn when his time comes, if he ends up being a nefarious person. Just promise me that if it turns out that he doesn't know, that he isn't aware, that we can try to save him. I will kill him. No, please don't. No, it's as I've always said, the final judgment is in death. He will pay for his crimes, whatever they are. I still want to believe that he can be a good leader.

I think that he can change things. I don't think that Korovakia needs to be the way that it is any longer. I think you're right. I think we've obviously done a great deal of work in Eerios and as much as, you know, Golden Lotus thinks it's so chaotic and run by a bunch of actors. It's so strange that you would say that.

I think we've done a great thing in there, and so I think we can do that again here. You know what it is? Ravalli, correct me if I'm wrong, but this place sounds a little like a cult. That's what bothers me about it. It's all happiness and tranquility and almost some sort of a denial of what's actually going on out there. It's a bubble, is what it is. And nobody drinks. It just doesn't make sense. Yeah.

It is weird. And they're orcs, too. She didn't like... Grumsh, I've killed so many orcs, and they were savage. But they're the orcs not from Gronn. Grumsh corrupted all of them. I don't get it. What's Grumsh? Is there God and turned them all into bloodthirsty savages? It's that area between your bull sack and your asshole. Oh. I don't think I've ever heard that. Oh, well. No, I know that. It's true.

That's an unfortunate name then, for Grooch. I mean that's... From what I remember from my history lessons, it was... It was the Dancing Blade and purging that and getting rid of it. And this, that allowed them to take their kingdom back. I don't know. It's weird. I don't know, it feels kind of wrong.

disavowing Xurne after all the support he's given us. He's given us guidance. I don't plan to disavow him. But they asked that we would have to. I'm going to put it to you this way, too. She claims we are the saviors.

We don't have to disavow Xehanort to be the saviors. And if they believe that us claiming that we have disavowed Xehanort is the only way that they'll assist in making sure the population isn't wiped off the planet, then they don't have the best interests of their people at heart, do they? That's right. They are not the kind of people I wish to rally behind.

And I'm with Iris 110% on this. I don't think we need to be claiming allegiance or disavowing anyone as long as we're all under the same understanding that there's a very good chance that she already knows exactly what's happening because I wouldn't put it past her. I will put my life on the line to save those who cannot do so. Agreed. But they will not coerce me to align with someone I didn't want to be aligned with to do it.

If that means I walk out on the front line on my own, then Anubis, guide me. It just feels bad to be stuck between all of these governments and people that hate each other and all we're trying to do is just the right thing. And that's what we're going to keep doing. That's all that matters. Then maybe we choose not in front of the general, but here and now in front of all of us. We disavow them both. We are no one's puppets. We are no one's pawns. We have come far enough.

We will assist where we may need to be assisted. But we are not yours to order around. We are our own group. That's it. We do it for the people and to stop the horn legion and that's all that matters. What is this?

We all put our hands in and we agree. It's an oath. It's a pact. We're all in this together. With the wings of the raven. No, get your hand out. Oh, oh. Help him first. Oh, I mean, wings of liberty. Wings of liberty. I look at Revali. Wings of the liberty of the raven. Yes, because that's what matters. Wait, but birds are bad. No, the bird thing doesn't matter. No, it doesn't matter. The governments don't matter. It's the people. How long do I have to keep my arm in here? It's getting tired. Until we're all...

I really don't want to die. You may, any arm that you're comfortable with. This is the best idea since Brass on Buns. Let's go! We'd announce them all. The Wings of Liberty Brass on Buns. And for the people, and for the end of the Horned Legion. And for Anubis. And for Anubis. And for Moradin. And for Moradin. My dad, and my family. And for just everybody. For all that is good. And for Myla. And for my mom.

Are we all in? Definitely for Milo. For liberty. For his soul, too. Everyone say it. Capricious. Shut up, we're doing something really awesome here. Okay, I know, it's great. For liberty. For liberty. For liberty. What do we do now?

Well, that was kind of it. That was the most- Ho! That's what I was thinking. It came to me in that moment. Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho!

But we're all in-- More service hasn't come yet. We're all in this together and we're all on the same page. And that's all that matters. All right? So whatever comes next, if they confront us, we put our feet down and we stay-- We are for no one but ourselves and the foundries. Yes.

Oh, thank goodness. I thought this conversation was going to go really south. Help me light up this brassiere and we can get some warmth. I keep, are you saying? I snap my fingers and it lights. Are you saying brassiere? Brassiere, yeah.

that's not what that is people do bruno's i don't know this fire oh you know when you read a word

I look at Debris and I say, "How many abyssal words have you just taught me incorrectly?" None that I didn't know how to not pronounce.

Have you ever heard the words or have you only read them? I learned them myself, just like Felix is doing. I read it from a book. By reading them? Yes. Yeah, so just don't tell any abyssal women that you, you know, they have a lovely braja. You know, I know he said wagon earlier, but he probably taught you maggot.

I'm gonna get laughed at. Oh, flag him. I feel like I can speak pretty good Abyssal. I talked to that big goat guy who was making the sacrifices and whatnot. I heard you went with me. That was when we saved Thomas. That's when we first met. That was like day one. Oh my gosh. How long ago was that? I mean, ages. I still have this baby right now. What do you have? Did you steal that from Thomas? No.

You did! No I did not. When we went to sleep the night we were in the whorehouse, I checked everywhere for that rifle.

It was in my pack. Did you check in my pack? No, because it had not previously been in your pack. This is the one that I found in the weird-ass cemetery on that same day that we confronted the goat man. I believe you are lying. I don't believe I'm lying. But I also can never tell with you. That's also fair. And I hate to admit that you telling me you found a rattle in a cemetery, something to do with the goat man, I stopped listening, is something we have done.

We've been through quite a lot. Well don't get rid of that because we can probably makeshift it into some rattle bait. It'd be great for some trout. I thought about giving it to the golden lotus but it makes a great musical instrument. Well then keep it, just don't throw it out. I'll use it as bait if I need to. What kind of fish eats a rattle? No, so you just drop it in, you pull it up three inches, you get a little bit of jingle. Do you want to see something really cool?

Sure. Yeah. As a cat, I swipe in and snare a fish. Yeah, you do that. Oh, wow! That is really cool! You know, I live along the river. We eat fish. Holy craps! This is tabaxi. And I just throw it at her. It's wriggling and alive and it's wet. I think I handle it pretty easily. If you would like to make some kind of strange jiggly... Hey, fish! Fuck you! I kill it with Mish's live property. LAUGHTER

Fuck you, bitch. Oh my god, it's dead. What the fuck did you do? Please, why did you just go there? The fish is like, as soon as he says fuck you, you see like, no, fuck off!

What is he doing? He just turns upside down and then rises to the top of the water and floats. No, it's in my hands! Now we can gut it and eat it. We don't have to wait for room service. Could I just eat it as it is? That was really vicious. I didn't even want to eat it after-- I grab it and I just swallow it whole. Oh my god. She just swallowed it in itself. Well, there's plenty more where that came from, I guess.

Well, I was going to do some proper fishing if anyone wanted me to teach them. Oh, no, thank you. No, that sounds like something you should just do. I'll sit on a rock and drink while I watch you. That sounds like something you should do a little bit. It sounds great. Oh, you bet. It's been three hours yet. Oh, you bet. It's been three hours yet.

I'm gonna pull out my wine skin. It's only been two minutes! I'm just gonna start drinking from my endless wine skin. Can I reflavor that as a tankard? What? My wine skin? Yeah, of course. So I stop saying skein? Well, it was from your mother, who was a big wine person. So no. Get fucked. Ah!

That makes sense. I guess you wouldn't drink wine out of a tankard unless you're a real fuck up. It's like the Cougar Town full bottle wine glass.

Jesus Christ. Fuck you, fish. We're off the rails. Fucking fish. I retract my question. Well, I'm gonna go fishing. Oh boy. I'm gonna eat 30 to 40 pistachios. Maybe I'll get some spirit.

Yeah, maybe I'll get a bite. I'll be good. And I'll head to the lake nearby and I'll start setting up my pool. I'm going to ritually cast detect magic. Okay. While we're all just chilling. Okay. Do you think you're smart or something? So you take 10... You have 20 in, thanks for noticing. You take 10 minutes to do that. And you...

You kind of cast, and you get the sense that immediately around you, there's no magic that you can feel. But as soon as you get a ping of divination magic, and you see a flapping of wings as a gray goshawk soars over and flies out of your range, and it dissipates, you're like,

I utilized the feather token fan that Caprice gave me, and I just lay along the side in like a beautiful patch of the garden, and I have the fan just slowly fan me while I lie there. Since one time use.

Worth it. Your magic pings as evocation magic goes off and it fans it. As long as she's enjoying herself. And yeah, that would be the only magic that you and how was the range on it?

Sorry, I somehow closed my gate. It's not far. Yeah, so you get the ping of divination magic as the hawk flies over. Yeah, 30 feet. Cool. And with that, the sun sinks down.

beneath the mountains, and you see an array of golden and violet rays get fragmented in the mist. It washes all of Mogra Kai into this beautiful... It almost looks like a portrait, like a painting. As you can see, almost the entire city from the other side of your personal peak.

You see, despite—it doesn't feel like there is a horrific horde of beastmen crashing, as a massive wave crashing against this city in merely a week and a half. You do see that there are preparations being made on the walls of this city, and it seems as if there are—you see that there are preparations being made at each various bridge. The massive ravines and spaces in between the peaks, a natural defense.

and also being fortified, but done very regimentally, orderly. And once the sun is almost fully set, the sky is a rich purple plumb.

And you see a figure turn the corner around into the beautiful garden, the courtyard area. And you see the elegantly robed Golden Lotus and holding her her glaive. And she nods at you and taps the glaive to the ground and says, Do you have a good rest?

Yes, thank you. It was very pleasant. You look rejuvenated already. Where the hell did that fan go? I had the little feather token here. Got a couple catfish, like you said. Caprice. Pretty good. Did you see my feather token? Oh, well, it only works the one time. Oh.

Well, thank you. It was a lovely hour. My pleasure. I'm glad you were a fan. Revali heaves himself to his feet and he kind of looks around. He's still kind of hanging his head. There's still little deep bags under his eyes. And he's like, yeah, I'm feeling very tranquil. Thank you. And she just smiles to that and says, wonderful. Now you all seem very rested and ready to meet the Warchief. Are you all prepared? Yes.

As ready as I'll ever be. He's far more amenable than he has been. I think that he just needed to calm his nerves and be sure that everything would be alright.

Well, lead us. Lead us where we need to go. We're ready, right? Absolutely. Cool. Yeah. All right. And you all follow her as you make your way across the bridge to another courtyard of various buildings. You see, once again, the crafting quarter with the smoke billowing up. And you see the major palace with great statues of tigers, of yetis, and of hawks all around it.

And you see a massive statue at the top of it, gilded in gold and in jade and these brilliant orange and blue gems, as you see the figure of an orc, two long tendrils from his chin, wide, square-jawed, holding a massive spear in one hand and an axe in another.

as you see that there are bodies on all sides of him. You see a human laid out on one side, an Aarakocra on another, and then an elf. Skinny, but a very narrow, almost gaunt face, all cast aside and dead. As you see what this massive statue, what you can only presume to be Shingoro Frostfang. And...

You make your way up many, many, many series of steps. It is almost exhausting to get up to the grandeur of this massive palace that looks like a great temple, almost, as the massive doors are already open, and you see rows and rows of temple and palace guards welcome you with a simple nod.

And they all bow the second that Lotus steps within 10 feet of them. And immediately it's like a wave of bows, all at the exact same time, perfectly regimented.

as you make your way through these glorious grand hallways, massive pillars of red and gold and green, as you see great paintings and murals all along the sides of very stylized exploits of

of the Warchief, and you see him striking down enemies in Grondon, all side. You see Aarakocra, you see these strange-looking elves, you see humans, Korovakians, being slain, and you even see a... And then as you turn, you see one picture that looks strange, and it seems to be very stylized, but it seems a young boy that...

has been attacked by the Warchief, and you see the white tiger pelt over his shoulder, the ghost steel armor elegantly adorned, and his spear stabbing into the chest, and his axe cleaving off the arm of a young boy.

that seems to be surrounded by feathers. And behind him, the look, the head of a raven, looking down menacingly as

As you all see this ahead of you, and you see that there's another row of palace guards in a beautiful rug, and you turn the corner and you continue to see all these great exploits on the sides of the walls, as you eventually see the massive throne room of Warchief Shingoro Frostfang. As you see many great steps up, a mighty throne.

made of gold with two golden dragon heads on either side of the arms. And they almost seem to be spitting bursts of flame, but it seems to be perhaps a trick of the light as...

you see that beyond the temple guards, there is also perched on top of his thrones on either shoulder, a gray hawk, and directly at his feet is a massive white saber-toothed tiger on either side, peering at you with feline eyes. And then further down, not even in chains, are two huge yetis.

just looking at you, relaxing, but with the eyes, all six of these creatures look at you with the eyes of a predator discerning its potential prey, and you see on this throne,

an orc mightier and larger than any that you have seen yet. Skin, you've seen that kind of deep bluish-green skin that these have. This seems to be far darker, far bluer, and with tendrils going down all the way to his waist.

elegantly adorned in gems and jewels and rings, and you see that he is in a heavily gilded set of armor. No weapons that you can see. As he grips the sides of his throne and looks at you, and as you get closer, you see his tusks are both chipped, and his face, you can see wrinkles, and he seems to be

You can't really tell if he is ancient and old or youthful.

There's a strange look to him, as there's both the-- his eyes seem to have a wisdom and an experience that you have not seen in any of these other orcs, and almost a weariness to it as he observes you. And Golden Lotus follows behind him,

behind you as you all enter and you hear and he just seems to look at you appraising you and you get this look that is almost similar to the six beasts he has with him. A predator appraising his prey and Lotus extends an arm. My warchief, these are the ones I told you that I saw in the blossoms that

have been sent by the Eternal Blossom herself. They have come to disavow the Raven Queen, to disavow Xurne, to disavow Korovakia, and pledge themselves to the safety of our city. And she steps to the side and she looks at all of you and, oh. You see the muscular, heavily armored Warchief with his

youthful yet elderly face simultaneously staring down at you with discerning eyes. So these are the ones that will save my kingdom. Aye. Yeah. Sure. You betcha. I am the ruler of this land and you have come from my greatest sworn enemy.

Yes, we have, but that doesn't mean that we don't want to help you. We've been helping everyone in Striga. But I have suffered much, and treachery is Korovakia's primary trait. We're not going to argue about it. We're not here to hurt or treacher. Yeah. We're here to aid and succor.

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shroud over salt marsh you can also go to the crooked moon.com to pick up your own copy of our first published supplement the crooked moon a folk horror tome for dungeons and dragons fifth edition and don't forget to snag all the extra goodies like dice miniatures plushies a tarot deck and more thank you you are here because lotus said that she saw your arrival in the blossoms and she sees all

She said that you were loyal to us and not to Zurn. Should I? No, we're not. We're not loyal to Zurn and we're not loyal to you. We're loyal to all those who are not fighting this war. We're loyal to the land and the world of Andras. So you either want our help to quell this threat or you want to die. I will not die here. Oh.

Is that a disavowing of Vergil, Xurn, and Korovakia that I am hearing from you? Sort of, basically. It was a statement. For what it's worth, we don't condone any of what Korovakia has done. We don't. But just as Iris has said, we're not pledging a loyal allegiance to anyone.

We're here to do good and fix the things that are wrong. We're for liberty and for the people. And at the end of the day, all that matters is that the Horned Legion is no more. That's what we can promise. The road to the Nine Hells is paved with good intentions. You may have the best of intentions, but if there is someone pulling the strings behind you, above you,

It could spell our doom. Well, there is Anubis, and I will never disavow him. I am not asking you to disavow your god for mine. I know the power of the Eternal Blossom, and she is not a jealous goddess. Great. Then it looks like we should all be able to work together without having to vow ourselves to anyone. I would ask...

You simply kneel before me and disavow Korovakia. A simple ask, I think. An ask can easily be refused, and I refuse it, but I will happily help. The rest of you? I stand with Iris. I'm willing to offer my help, and I think it would be foolish for you to decline. Yeah, I said it. Nobody asking for help would turn away people who are willing to give it.

Especially when all we want to do is help the people, your people. You wish to help the people, but I have let you into my city. I have let you into my kingdom. Coming from a man who has worked every single moment of his life to gain more power, more land, more resources from my people.

How can I trust you if you will not disavow him? If you will not show me respect in my own palace? We are showing you respect. We are offering our help, our lives, for your people. They're not mine. I do not come from Striga. I do not come from this land. And yet I offer my life to save those that belong to you. If you choose to turn that away, that is not on me. That is on you.

But what you require of me, I will not give. You're not my lord, you're not my master, you're not my god. We are the wings of liberty, and we vow to no man. And with that, it looks like he's going to say something. And then Revali steps forward. You must be out of your god's damn mind if you think I am going to kneel before you, an orc above anyone else.

Bowing to any individual is why I'm missing my fucking hand. Why I'm missing my fucking eye. And if you think I came all this fucking way to save you stupid, ungrateful people and your stupid cult, how dare you? How dare you? And he's trembling and immediately you hear a voice call. Now, now let's all be, let's take it easy.

Let us all relax. And she steps forward and taps the glaive on the ground. Let us all be calm. Let us find inner peace. You look so pent up and frustrated. You look unwell. And you see Revali as he's gritting his teeth. And he is struggling. He calms down. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

I just got some flashbacks. I don't know what came over me. I'm sorry. It's all right. Yes.

Let us all think about this. I agree. Perhaps some common music, and I will start to just not use my bow, but sort of pluck away. I'm using my action to use a feature I've never used before, Counter Charm. All friendly allies within me have advantage on saving throws against being charmed. I'm just going to be playing that sort of a melodic, nice little one. So you make a...

Make a sleight of handshake. This is a very shallow tune. Uh, 15. 15. Okay. You play, you pull out your violin and you start playing a tune as you kind of play and you all they all hear your allies hear the effects and they feel you all feel more steeled

and you can feel the magic pull around you and may not be sure exactly what's happening. - They only last around. - Oh, got it. So just letting out a tune, but you're still continuing to play on your violin. And Lotus steps forward and says, "My Warchief, I understand everything that's happened, "but perhaps there is another way. "They have already come so far. "How can they prove to you that they are trustworthy?"

I ask that they kneel. It is a simple gesture of respect. And he narrows his eyes and says, I understand what you are doing here, but I will not be deceived again by Zurn. Too many times, too many times over the decades we've been at war. I will kneel.

I will not. I didn't say that. I just... I'm kneeling. I kneel. You... Toa kneels. Toa! You are supposed to be with us. I am with you. I'm not going to disavow anyone. But this is a warchief of a great peoples and a great kingdom, and we're in his palace. He is letting his hubris get the best of him. And I don't necessarily blame his... his...

He's questioning us and I don't blame him. You've seen the horrible things that he's gone through. He can speak to us and ask us and we will answer. We will lay our lives on the line for him. We will fight with him. That should be enough. Warchief, I won't disavow anyone and I will pledge my service to help your people and to defeat Baphomet or whatever's coming, the Horn Legion.

And I look around.

You've united people, you've brought civilization, you've made walled cities, you're protecting them, you're evacuating the Outer Kingdom. You clearly care for your people, and I respect that. I believe you are honorable, and I am kneeling to respect you and to show you that I have honor as well. I can see that. And with that, Revali steps forward.

And he looks down at Toa, and he nods at you, and he looks up and gives you a sly look, very, very subtly and quickly. And he says, "You're right, Toa." And he gets down on one knee. I turn and I walk through the room. And he says, "Service to protect your people. That's not pledging ourselves to you. We're pledging ourselves to the people. And that I will do."

I turn and walk in the room. You do that. Do we have to kneel? Do we have to pledge ourselves to you? You've got a whole legion coming your way. We want nothing to come to you or your lands or your people. But if I carry the one and... Listen, I'm not a math guy, but the odds aren't good. We're here to help. We're not asking for payment. You could have killed us on that mountain. Your people are very capable. We're here...

to help to rid these lands of this grand evil that if we'll any moment they're just coming in closer and closer as we sit here bickering amongst ourselves. I can help in other ways and I'll cast Zone of Truth. I will choose to fill my own Zone of Truth. Your magic does not give me any confidence. Magics can be tempered with. Magics are why

Korovakia has done so much damage. Magic comes from all across, Avantris. I'm not from Korovakia. My magic was bestowed upon me by the power of Moradin. By his anvil. He put good into the hearts of many dwarves and men alike. And women like me too. I am more than happy to help. We're all more than happy to help.

But we're not here to make contracts. We're not here to tie ourselves to leaders and get involved in more political messes. We're here to create some balance in these lands. I will be front and center up there with Peyton right next to me. She'll haul anything you need for any of your people. But you will not kneel? That requires that I kneel.

I'm inservitor to you. No, it doesn't. I didn't pledge anything. Except that I will protect people. That's all I've pledged. You salute generals? This is a war chief. But we are not part of his army. We just met. It doesn't mean it's disrespectful. It's disrespectful to not honor someone's position. Regardless of... I just met him. I just walked into a room and he said, get on your knees. You know what I usually do? No, I don't. I usually say no. No!

Usually. And now is one of those times. I can either stand with you on the battlefield or I can kneel before you. It won't be both. And you too. Do you honestly believe that me kneeling down in a sign of respect and not disavowing Korovaki is good enough? Is that the only way that I can show that I will respect you and fight alongside you? You don't think that that means nothing? Just a kneel?

For a Korovakian, nothing else. Especially a Korovakian. I figured you were gonna say something especially harsh. Boy, what have you done? I see in your eyes. Same look I see in the other boys that I've killed on the battlefield. But even worse for you. What have you done for him? What have you done for them? Fine.

I've done unspeakable, horrible acts. I know it. My friends now know it. I'm trying to fix that. I may never be able to. I may never be able to find some sort of redemption. And you think me just kneeling is going to fix that? I'm not so sure. I think that acts, I think that me being out in the field of battle is going to be more proof than any stupid kneel. It's not a secret. I'm terrible.

But I'm trying to fix that. And I'd rather prove it by fighting alongside of you than some meaningless act of what you think is respect. He just looks at you and then switches his gaze to Caprice. And you...

I stand with Toad. I recognize your authority in these lands, but I'm here to fight for the right of the people and for the health of the people and for the balance in the lands, just as my friend Herger here said. My kneel could be just as disingenuous as the word I'm giving you now, but it isn't. You have my word that we'll do our very best to protect this kingdom at your side. He looks at all of you.

and his brows furrow, and he stands up. "To think that the insolence of the so-called chosen ones to save my kingdom, I laugh at the disrespect. I laugh, I tremble in anger." And you see that he doesn't have any anger in him. "At the disrespect you have shown me.

I who have lived so long, I who have done so much, I who have... And then you hear a voice cut him off. Now, Warchief Sengoro, and she steps forward with her glaive in hand. Let us be calm. You are getting worked up. Is it not true? Is it not true that I have seen them in the blossoms? Do not trust me. I came all the way from Yulong.

I have given you all of this. I have introduced you to the Eternal Blossom. The Eternal Blossom has given you all of this. Would it not be the natural thing for great heroes, great heroes of legend, great servants of the gods to not wish to kneel before a mortal? As what are we as mortals?

Before the divine, the divine visited you. And she continues to approach him. And you can kind of see him as like he is breathing a little bit heavier and he starts to calm down a little bit.

I'm still playing my soothing song. And I'm going to, I don't know how you define ally. I'm going to try to include him in the Warchief in my ability to give him advantage against saving throws. Advantage on saving throws against being harmed. Okay. Just in case that's what's happening. You do that. And you continue to play out. And she gestures back.

You understand that this one here has... And she points to Jesuit Toa. He comes from a people of traditions just like us. He naturally kneels and respects you. The others have not. The Tabaxias myself. I stand tall. She serves a god. I serve a goddess.

She walks out. Do not take that as a sign of disrespect. It was. She surely wants what's best for our people. Without them, they cannot. Without them, we are doomed. I have seen it in the blossoms. And you see him sit down. Is there any effect my Stone of Truth is having on them? At 60 feet, 10 minutes, I don't know if they need to make saves or if they're willingly...

As far as... They have to say the truth if they're within 60 feet of it. Yeah, yeah. They went through it. They all failed? I don't think you get a sense of if they failed. In Zone of Truth, you do. Oh, you do? Yeah. On a failed save, a creature can't speak a deliberate lie while in the radius. You know whether each creature succeeded or failed on its saving throw. As she passes through your Zone of Truth...

Um, you get the sense as if she steps forward and, uh, she fails the saving throw. Okay. And she continues to step forward. It is foretold that they must be the ones to stop the beast. The Horned Legion will destroy us all without them. They must find the final piece of our salvation. It is in the blossoms. My Warchief, we are in this together.

It is your destiny. And they will bring about your destiny. And as she approaches him, she crosses the distance with the stairs. And he struggles and he's like... You're right. You're wise, my spiritual advisor. As always, I continue after all these years to struggle with my blood. The curse we all have. I thank you for...

allowing me to see reason. Stand, both of you. Revali stands and looks around at all of you. You have come here for a reason. You have presented yourself when you could have been torn apart by my yetis at any moment. I do not need you to kneel. I need Lotus to say that she needs you. That is all I need, for my faith is strong and I believe in the divine. It is our way.

That's good to hear you say. And he nods as, uh, up at, uh, Lowness as she breathes out. See? Now we can begin. Now we, now we can save this land. It is not lost any longer. Very well. Escort them out of my throne room, please. Of course. Right away, my warchief. Whatever you say. Then she turns around

And she glides down the stairs and gestures you all out. Please, come with me. And where were you heading? Back to the room. Back to the room. You make your way out and you make your way back to the room without incident. You get the occasional second glance from nothing but orcs as...

that you see. But you are undisturbed. It's very heavily guarded. Guards are everywhere. And it seems as if there are even more yetis and tigers patrolling about than you had noticed previously. But you all exit the palace. And as you're leaving, Golden Lotus looks at all of you and smiles. I think that went quite well.

I think we did what we had to, right? Now we can save people. Yes, of course. Yeah, let's get to work. Well, you all must rest. You must go at dawn. Go where? To find our salvation. You will enter the Grove of the Eternal Blossom. Not even the Warchief has been there. I just kind of put my head in one hand and as I'm listening... Why hasn't he been there?

because it is only those who are chosen by the divine to enter. And although he is the chosen of the eternal blossom, it is he, it is the eternal blossom that only has permitted myself to enter until the six of you came. And Nervali steps forward and says, I guess I'm not permitted. Where they go beyond the grove is dangerous.

You would not survive. I knew you were going to say that. He looks down at his stump and you feel his eye and she steps forward and looks at him and says, You have been horribly injured, grievously, by the Horned Legion and yet still you came. I see that your spirit is weak, but there is hope. There is a wild spirit within you. There's a tumultuousness

If you need me to heal you and want to join our healers at the healing pools, we can help you. He's like, yeah, I'll think about it. Let's go back. And she looks at all of you. Shall we return to your quarters, your dwellings? Yes, if you think that we should just rest until the morning. Yes, your meals will have been delivered by now. Excellent. I'm starving. Great. Did they...

Did you put in an order for extra rice? Because they always forget. I made the presumption as soon as I saw you, Tom. Oh, thank you. I appreciate it. Please do lead the way. I never give you enough pita with your helmet. She guides you through the city, and once again, everyone bows as she takes you all to your dwellings. Well...

You all need your rest. Tomorrow is our destiny. Does it have to be at dawn? Can we sleep in a little bit? No. Caprice. It must be at dawn. All right. Unbelievable. I will come fetch you when you must awake. Thank you. You're welcome. Have you heard anything about my dad? I have not been able to help you. I am sorry. No dwarf came through this town. No. Can I tell him she's lying? Begin inside check.

Three. She's been telling the truth. She looks at you and says, I assure you, who's she? Well, she failed her, well, I don't know. If it's been 10 minutes, I don't know if the sound of truth is still going. We're outside. We're walking back. If it's centered on me? No. I guess it's just on one point? It's on a point, yeah. Okay. Then, yeah, you're right. And it's also been, you know, it takes like 20 minutes to walk through the city. No worries.

Probably about 30. And she smiled and says, I assure you, all will be well. All will be well. Until dawn, then. Until dawn. Are we being arrested for malicious unhappiness? Until dawn. You just triggered us so hard. Until dawn. All will be well. Have a lovely night. We'll see you in the morning. Good night. Let serenity wash over you.

And she turns and leaves. Toa, I'm sorry. I don't want you to think I betrayed you or that I wasn't with you. I was. I just didn't. I felt that Iris was right in this case and I wanted to stand with her and

And I hope that you aren't offended. No, I'm not offended, and I would never force anyone else to kneel. But there are many different villages in the Makani Islands, and I would kneel in front of every village chieftain, even if they were maybe at odds.

I just want my village. I just want you to know that I would never not have your back. No, and I never for once thought that, Felix, and I have your back. I just thought that it would be a sign of respect to clearly a powerful chieftain. I respect his calmness. As someone from a tribe who was once very full of rage, I respect that, you know, my people have...

have turned over a new leaf and are generally more laid back than many, although like Makutu has shown, some do exhibit that rage still. And with my head only barely reaching his chest or shoulders, I give him a hug and I'm, I'm sorry. It's okay, Felix. No, seriously, you don't have to apologize. This is so sweet. Okay, as long as you know. Thank you. No, I do know. And I think that

It was great. We all got to make our own choices and we get to go on tomorrow morning. Alright. Are you sure you don't want to bunk with me? Well, Iris might kick me out so I might need to bunk with you. I don't have any problem kicking Caprice out. Well...

We'll figure that out around the fire. Let's see what they delivered us for food. Okay. All right. I'll make you guys buy the brazier. Brazier. Brazier. Thank you. Brazier. Oh, brazier. You all, there's a beautiful meal of whatever you would care to enjoy, and it seemed to be very well made.

hearty meal. It fills you with... Sniff it. It's warm. What was that? Sniff it. Does it smell okay? It smells delicious. Absolutely fine. It smells perfect. And it's some of the most fragrant and delicious food that you've experienced. Bacon cheese bread bowls for everybody. Where is Iris right now? In her room. So before I eat, I want to go to the lodging where I would expect Iris to be.

And she's there. The Irish, they delivered us like cheesy bread rolls out there. It's like Panera. It's like Panera bread. It's like when Domino's does the pasta in a bread roll. This is like in this pasta. You can put pasta in it if you want. No, thank you, Taylor. Are you sure? Are you mad at me? I no longer trust you. Why wouldn't you trust me? We all did that weird hand thing Felix made us do.

I was uncomfortable, nervous, and scared, but I did not stand down for all of you. You put me in a position. You put all of us in a position, and I do not trust you. You said you were with us. In the moment that faith was tested, you turned your back. I am not. You are no longer my friend. And you watch as I sling a pack over my back. None of you are. And I walk out of the room and ask everybody, and head out of town. Um, Aris. Where's she gone? Aris.

I'm going to run up to you, if I can. I'm walking slowly. Okay, I won't... Iris, we pledged that we would never pledge ourselves to any government. And that's not what I did. I was just showing respect to a leader. That's what I would do at home. Just like I would do here. Just like I bowed to Zurn. I made time of my own, Toa. My god has been silent for too long. And all of your worries, it clouds my judgment.

I'm not who I'm supposed to be. Not here, not now. Well, where will you go? Well, hopefully somewhere warm with a plush bed and a very handsome man to bring me soup. But if not that, wherever the sands will take me. Head back to your friends. Eat your pasta in a bread bowl. And think about what your promises mean in the future. Well, from our perspective, I didn't break any promises, but that's fine.

I won't disrespect your wishes. You may sleep with Felix, too. All right, I will do so. And I'll, I guess, join Iris as she walks through the group and all. We all see this? Yeah. Where are you going? What's going on? We have him somewhere? No, but I will see you soon. Okay. Should we send you some pastilla bread, though? I do.

You have a soul song. Oh, ah, ah, thank you. Ah, oh boy. And then I slowly turn and walk away. Okay, are you coming back tonight? And I just keep walking. Iris, is everything all right?

I'm gonna... Is Peyton nearby? Oh yeah, Peyton's with Revali. She's like taking a liking to him. I'm gonna be like telepathically to her because she's not in a moment. Hey, Peyton, sorry to interrupt. Can you go give Iris a little nudge? Give her a little nuzzle?

She does exactly that. You feel a nuzzle of a slobbery muskox. I cast Banishment on Peyton. I continue to walk. What's the saving throw on that? A 17. I roll for Peyton. What the fuck? What's happening? That is savage. That's what Iris would do. Trust me, I understand. I've been on the receiving end.

- Wisdom's here with her. - Don't worry, Peyton comes back in a minute. Just who knows where Peyton will go. - Oh man, this would happen. Natural one. - Oh no. - Two. - What the hell just happened to her? - She blinks out of existence. - I'm assuming it would be further down. You wouldn't have seen it. - Oh, okay. - I would feel the disconnect, right? - Yeah, you would be able to know if you're within 100 feet. If you're within 100 feet, you would know that Peyton was no longer there.

She's just going to pray or something, right? Is she all right? What did she say to her? I think she was very offended that I kneeled. And I get that she doesn't understand my customs and where I come from. And those are her wishes. So, then what is she doing? Like I said, I'm sure she's just going to pray. She often does.

Is it safe? Should we follow her? I mean, I believe everything here is safe. She says she hasn't heard from her god in a long time and maybe she's feeling... Maybe she just needs to connect. I don't know. That's exactly it. I mean, she did pray in the middle of a battlefield after, you know, all that shit that came our way when we were fighting. What's his name? Ray. So I think she'll be okay. She'd probably hate it if we followed her and protected her. She doesn't need protecting.

And for as much as I think weird things are going on here, I do think that we're safe here. I don't think we're under any kind of duress. What are you looking at me for? She ignores me all the time. It's not out of the ordinary. Fine. Okay. Well, if she's not back, what time is it? What time is it?

Why are you looking at me? Because I assume you're the sun, Ian, who removed. You get the same, it's probably like, it's probably like 7:30. It's 7:30. Oh, good. In a pia. Oh, while I have everyone here, I also wanted to just say, Caprice, you're not rooming with me tonight. Oh, okay. Well, that's not very nice. Nice? It's not very nice? Yeah.

Did I start a starter? I'm rooming with Toa. Oh, big surprise. What are you gonna do? We're gonna hang out and be best friends. Tell me more. You're gonna braid his hair? You could if you wanted to. I could teach you. Don't tell them that. Oh, oh. Sorry. We have a secret handshake. I bet you do. That we've been working on for months. Okay. Toa's a little slow to pick it up, but we're working on it. Yeah, I'm sure he'll get up to speed.

So anyway, I'm sorry. We have plenty of time to work on Abyssal another time. All right, yeah, we'll get to it. No problem. You can bunk with Hersha again. Great.

I think that was already going to be the plan, because I already told you I watch you and you sleep because of your nightmares. Oh, yeah. We kind of have an understanding. It's not a secret handshake. We can work on a handshake. You know, now that you mention it, I feel like occasionally I've heard him say wagon to you in Abyssal. I wouldn't understand it. I only know Draconic and Dormish. Never mind. It's fine. But what am I supposed to do?

You can hang out with us. Yeah? Oh, okay. We'll drink and play card games. That sounds great! I mean, we're not going to bed right now. I'm just letting you know that we're not rooming here. Of course we're not going to bed! It's 7:30! Yeah, I mean, I should probably... It's 7:30 PM! I should probably do some studying, I guess. I have some work to do, but... We have what? 10 days? 10 days, roughly, that we need to prepare for whatever's coming. And by the way,

What is it with all these different gods and all these different trials? I mean, this isn't even the third one that we have, fourth one that we've had to do. The Raven Queen. There was Garrix. There was, you know, what else have we done? Who's Garrix? The Masked Giant dude. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We all told him a story.

That's right. That was less of a religious thing and more of a, I'm worried that the giant was going to eat me kind of a thing. But nonetheless, it's like we're constantly proving ourselves to these different people. I don't know. I think if I were a god, I would totally have some trials, right? That sounds pretty badass. Now that you mention it. Right? I mean, I guess it kind of makes sense. I'm going to start thinking about some trials. Oh, Garrix was the dragon one? It was the dragon, the raven one, the...

Well, there was the cloud giant incident, but again, it was less of a trial and more of I was worried I was going to get eaten. My bones were going to be used as a toothpick. We almost died. I don't know what to expect tomorrow. And like Revali said, things are a little weird. And I just think we should all be on guard. We're constantly being judged by these higher beings. It's like what they do. Yeah. This is why I gave up

I never ascribed to the religion of the Raven Queen in the first place. It was very much a cross my T's and dot my I's to get in the academy and learn what I know. Well, then forget about her. I have. Well, outside of whatever's at play here, but just do me a favor and be aware. Just be in your guard. I'm always on my guard. All right. Do you think that she was telling the truth when she said she could heal me?

It's worth a shot. What do you have to lose? I guess the question is, do you think that she's literally going to regrow your hand and eye? Why not? Isn't there... There must be magic that can do that, right? It's not outside the realm of possibility, but it's nothing that I've ever understood or studied. I couldn't tell you.

Now, granted, I literally watched as an orc died and turned into a halfling. And in that moment, everything that I ever believed to be true was unraveled before me. That's right. We've all seen much weirder things happen. So take that for what it is. Maybe they'll kill you and turn you into a halfling. No, I won't allow that to happen. You'd have both of your hands. Good God, Caprice! I think that's even a worse fate. ♪

That's very mean to halflings. I'm already... I'm sorry. I... Halflings are fine. I just got picked on a lot for my height. I got called a halfling a lot. Oh, yeah. I don't want to dissuade you, but on the off chance that they're able to restore you... I could fight again. Just think what that might cost you. Don't do anything rash. This is well outside the realm of what I know and understand.

And that's the thing, I... all of this is so above me. I was just killing monsters and... and spooky things in the woods, and now there's gods and there's... there's cults and demons, demon lords, and I... all of my friends are dead. And I don't even know what I'm doing, I can't even fight anymore. I just tag along on a fucking yak.

Peyton finally comes back. What do you mean, big guy? What have you seen? I think she stays in her astral plane because that's like her home plane. Oh, right. So she goes back to Moradin's plane. You can recast the spell when you have time. So she goes back to whatever upper plane is Moradin. I totally forgot she was in a base plane. That's right.

Oh, you didn't put that together? I thought you were like just demolished. No, I just wanted her to be banished for a minute and then come back and be banished. She goes back to the astral sea or plane or wherever she's from. I'm not going to tell you to not make a decision that you want to make, but just think about that oftentimes things come with a price. I guess the way that I see it, and that's why I fucking kneeled. Because in the end, all I care about

is saving everyone's lives. And the ends justify the means. But just remember, especially when it comes to magic, you don't get anything for free. There's always a cost. I guess that's right. We've got ten days for you to sort of build some trust and figure out whether or not that seems like the right option for you. You don't have to decide right now. That's a good point. I'll just eat and drink and be merry.

Here. I'll make you... I'll get you one of these pistachios. Fuck you, pistachio! Oh yeah, no problem. You look at him and you lose. Thanks, Caprice. And you get sad. You know, even with everything you said about my yak, I would still be willing to go with you if you decided that you wanted assistance with your injuries. Well, you are all under special...

chosen, foreseen ones going where I can't follow. So you got bigger fish to fry than that whole Revali freeway. Perch fry is pretty good. Haven't had that in a while. Actually, I saved my last one for Iris because I knew she wouldn't eat the stuff that they offered here. Kind of miss her already.

She'll probably be back later at some point. I'm going to open the door. Is it dark yet? Yeah, it's dark. It was sunset when you left. So it's now, there's a beautiful kind of bluish violet color to the sky as the large moon rises. And the stars out here look incredibly bright and large and they twinkle just absolutely stunningly.

I'm gonna pour a little bit of milk in a saucer and place it just outside the door. He'll look longingly into the darkness. ♪ Memory, all alone in the moonlight ♪ You do that. As Lufty looks out dejectedly at her little sad saucer of milk. Hey, hey, if Patrice isn't doing anything, maybe she could keep an eye on Iris.

Look, yes, if we're genuinely worried about her... Who's Patrice? Beatrice is what he said. I totally heard Patrice, too. He just fumbled a little with the... I actually thought you said Caprice, and I was like, don't talk about yourself. She slipped into abyssal. It's fine. I know Iris pretty well at this point. She'd be pretty angry if I tried to spy on her. Beatrix? Beatrice. Beatrice.

You know, this is why we don't room together. I am worried, though. Yeah, I'm worried, too. About... She never leaves. She didn't even ask me to carry her stuff. She's just very...

She's strong. She's strong-willed. All right? Gee, the word is bitchy. And she doesn't want... When she doesn't want our help, she doesn't want our help. Well, I don't care. She likes to pray in peace. But I don't care. Then go find her. Fine, I will. But I'm not going to spy on her. I'm not going to spy on her. Why would I spy on her? I'd offer Peyton to... You could ride around on her, but, you know...

It's okay. I'm giving it a little bit longer and if she doesn't come back, I'm going to find her. And if she's dead, that is very bad for me. Why would she be dead? You don't think this whole place would be up in arms if there was some sort of attack? I don't know what these people do. Maybe somebody slipped out of their peaceful facade and murdered her.

Alright, well now you got me worried, and I will spend the next ten minutes resummoning Peyton. Guys, look, I'm not going to stop you. Go find her if you want. But this isn't exactly unusual. She just wants some alone time. If what she said to Toa wasn't a lie, she really needs to go and just consult with her god, then perhaps privacy is the best thing we can give her.

That milk's gonna go bad in like an hour, you know? You can turn it into some ranch dressing. Oh, I got plenty of that. I don't think so. I hear in the back of your head a celestial voice. Things can be at room temperature for at least four hours. It's been 30. This place is weird. Yeah.

I'm going to bed. Good night. Well, if that's all we have to discuss, then I'm going to get an early night because we got to be up pretty early tomorrow. Well, I think it's interesting that, so the statue of him cutting off the arm, how old was this boy? He looked very young, probably in his teens.

Late teens. Do you think that statue of the Warchief cutting the arm from the boy with the raven head, do you think that was him, like, stabbing Zurn and cutting his arm off? I don't want to talk about that. Wasn't the head totally free from the actual body? Stop. I don't want to talk about that. What do you mean, head free from the body? Why don't you want to talk about it? What's the matter with you? It was a piece of art of the Warchief murdering a child. Well...

Why can't we talk about it? It's just an artwork. So he was chopping the arm off. Yeah. And stabbing with the spear. Yep. Oh, I thought that you said he was a raven. But the boy did not have a raven head. No, he was a soldier. The raven was looking over him. And it was a young Corvathian soldier. And he was surrounding the feathers. Where he cut the arm off and he stabbed. And the feathers were surrounding him. Yeah, I don't know what that was about. You think that was maybe Zen?

Maybe that was the moment when he called out to the Raven Queen and got all of his power. Does he not have an arm? His arm is like in a sling. So maybe the Raven Queen gave him back his arm, but it doesn't work. I mean, I think we're all in agreement that it wasn't the Raven Queen. Or maybe it was... I don't know. I hope it's the Raven Queen, but it's probably not. Thank you for the hug, Sarah. Thank you.

Maybe if the golden lotus healing pools can help Revali, I don't know if there's a time limit or a statute of growing back your limitations, but we could...

What? You guys are all laughing at me. Why does that always happen? No, I, uh, yeah. I'm not intelligent enough to make that suggestion, so I'm actually going to retract my statement. You know, I'm normally not relatively intelligent. I don't pick up on these things quite as much, but I'm noticing that I do now since I've been around you guys. And Golden Lotus never asked for my dad's name. Did you notice that? Never once. He walked through her lands.

They're bound to have been found by one of her people. I don't want to be, I don't know, disheartening or pessimistic or even insensitive, but I think that the Golden Lotus knows far more than she's ever going to tell us. That kind of divination magic, whatever you want to call it, it's divination magic. I meant it when I said it wouldn't shock me if she's seen all of this, what is happening right now, already.

She might know, and she might not be telling the truth. So, who's his father? Do you think he may be Deet?

I don't want to hope for that. Take out the axe and inspect it and see if there's any sign of, like, fighting or scratches. It seems to be the wear and tear from sitting on the road in the mud. But beyond that, it seems... There's a chance he never passed through here. Think about these people and what they would think about some random dwarf waltzing into their town. They might kill him on sight. They would remember that. There's a chance that he went around

Or they stopped him or something happened before he got here. She might be telling the truth in that regard, but to not even be aware of who he is, I'm not sure I believe that. I'm speculating. Don't take what I'm saying to heart. Just think about it. There's options. We don't know. And for what it's worth, I don't think he's dead. I don't. I believe that he's alive because he plays some part in this. I don't think it's a coincidence or an accident.

Felix, would you mind taking ten minutes to look at this? Of course. No problem. See if there's any part of it that would be helpful. I don't know if... Maybe this part comes off, and I'm basically trying to see if the...

axe comes apart in any way. You could probably deconstruct it, like the, you know, separate it from the handle and all of that, but it's not anything special or magical. It's not like anything that rings a bell and like the parts that he was carrying that would have been part of a rod. No.

I still ritually cast a magic. You do that and you get the sense that there's no magic, just normal acts. I would say I would spend a good 20-30 minutes with it. And at the end, whatever happens in between, I would give it back to you and just say, "It's not magic in any way." Craftsmanship is superb from what I understand, but it doesn't seem to be magic.

Maybe someone bought this from him. Who knows? Might not even be his. It's of his make, but... You've never seen him wield anything like this? Was that his, like, primary weapon, or was this just something he made? It was something that he made. You know that he wasn't, um... He wasn't a huge fighter, but, um, he was generally not an axeman. I mean, the man's got E. He might have just been working on the road. You don't think they have him...

enslaved here, making weapons for them, for this legion. Is it worth interrogating these folks? I don't know if we have time before dawn, but-- Not right now. I don't think-- Until we know that they're up to something, I think we should just give them the benefit of the doubt.

Take a close look when you see guards walk by at their weapons and see if they're of the same make. Don't count it out, but I'm with Toa on this one. It's not worth pursuing something that might sow discord when we need to be working together right now. If for some reason some piece of evidence were to show up and we believe that your father was here in this city, then I'll support you. All right? You have my promise. Thank you, Felix. With that, you all enjoy the evening, enjoy each other's company.

Iris, you leave your friends behind. You make your way through Mogra Kai and no one stops you. You see guards, you see hawks flying around, yetis and tigers, but none stop you.

You make your way to the gates of the town, the city, I presume, one of the many. And as soon as you make way to leave, you don't even have to ask. And the gates are raised for you, and you are undisturbed. The moon rises and shimmerers across the city, and the various rivers and streams going through this town. And it paints this picturesque scene.

As you walk alone, what do you do? I walk until I'm too exhausted to walk anymore, and then I find a spot to curl up and go to bed. Okay. You do that. You continue walking. I have a bedroll and a blanket. What direction are you walking? I'll just look up at the night sky and choose a random one. Okay. You do that. And you continue to walk, and you're going to go as far as you can. Okay.

And you pick a random direction. And you continue to walk. And then it gets late. Back at your camp, and Iris hasn't returned. I don't know if anyone is staying up for her. I'll stay up, and you can have Peyton put some bits of fish in a little box and shake it outside the door. Nothing happens. Oh, she dead dead.

Yeah, I'll go knock on both of their doors and just kind of peek in. Is she back? Did she come in here? No. She's not back in my room, and I'll do the same for your room. No, she's not back. Should we go look for her? I'm afraid if I do, she'll dispel both me and Peyton to another plane of these estates. But if you want to go looking for her, I'll come with you. I don't know what to do.

I'm just gonna go walk around the town and see if I would find her. I'll get her on Peyton and I'll go with her. We'll mount up and ride around together. Could you make a... Are you looking for... You ride around town and you don't see her. She's nowhere to be seen. You look around and you see no Tabaxi at all. You just see orcs. Once again, they don't stop you.

Would we have any inclination of what direction she might have gone? I would say there's really nothing... No way to track her, I guess? If... I would say that you can make... I would say that at the point you're going, there wouldn't be... It's been so long, and there's so much... You see tiger tracks, maybe, and yeti tracks, but it's been... At this point, it's been all... Any tracks she would have left have been...

swept away. I would probably like ride up to people that are bustling around and getting their stuff like in their homes and closing down for the night and just be like, hey, have you seen any other two backsies walking through here? And I'll kind of like describe what she looks like. Make a persuasion check as you question.

28. I'm sorry, 26. I would say that you are told by certain guards that a Tabaxi that wasn't a Golden Lotus left the city, and you get the sense that she's very long gone. Hours ago. She left the city? Do we go after her? I don't know. I mean, we can... What would she want us to do, Lufty? You know her the best.

I don't know. I never know what she wants. That's why she's always yelling at me. Can you, like, call up her dad or something? No. Couldn't. I couldn't. I didn't know how to do that. You know, I wasn't sure if she gave you anything as like a, you know, beacon, emergency, you know, pager or something, you know. I don't think so. Maybe she'll come back.

Let's go back. I'm just gonna wait by the fire. Maybe she'll come back. I hope she comes back. If milk's gonna go bad in a couple hours. I don't think so. Refrigerate thinks you're in the game. Probably not. I'll...

turn Peyton around and we'll just kind of solemnly trot back to camp. Okay. I'll look over my shoulder behind Lufty and see if, you know, there's any sign of the tabaxi coming back into the city and, um,

park Peyton by the fire and all sit down and... Have you seen that meme with that Jesus trying to parallel park and has the wheel on the back that comes down and helps it scoot into the spawn? Thank you. That's what I think of. Peyton goes,

And just stands completely still. Alright, Peyton, let's pass your bedtime. Let's lay down for the night. She immediately collapses and passes out and starts snoring. Oh, Lord. Should we take a watch, you think? Do we try sleeping here overnight? I'm gonna stay up until she comes back. Alright, well, I'm gonna stay out here tonight. Okay. I'll be with Dakota. Dakota will keep us safe. Pfft!

into the ground next to the-- my flail into the ground next to the fire, and I'll curl up against Peyton and I'll just snooze outside and see if Iris comes back. Okay. You guys go to bed or--? Yeah, I'm asleep. Yeah, I'm asleep. Okay. As you all drift off to sleep, Iris, you go to bed and peace is-- sleep is peaceful, and

suddenly there's fire. Fire all around you. It dances and flickers. As you suddenly see, you feel warmth all around you. You feel exactly what you said to Toa. The warm desert winds and the sands whipping around you. As you feel yourself in the flames and you

You look as darkness past the fire starts to almost swallow you, but then you feel the smooth sandstone of what feels like a great tomb as you look up above you as the fire now gone beyond two flickering torches besides a large sandstone seat.

And sitting in this seat is a figure, muscular, dark, furred skin, wearing nothing more than barely concealed cloths and tunics, and adorned in simple but respectable looking jewelry. You see the form of a man, three times the size of you at least, but where

A man's head would be, you see it, two tall pointed ears. I feel a lot better about that. Jesus. A long pointed snout and small nose, two eyes, gold, that with paint going down around cheeks, makeup to look like a piece of artwork as...

You see the jackal-headed god. Do I have onus of myself in this stream vision? I just immediately flatten myself on the ground and in a bow. Good one. Like, literally, like, nipples to the sandstone. Arms out in front of me, forehead on the ground. Like, holy god. All six nipples. You immediately... That's been more like that in the banter. You draw me like one of your French cats. Yes! You immediately bow down.

As you see Anubis sitting in his throne beneath the mountain, the tomb, and he looks down at you, and you hear his voice rumble out, firm but warm, personal yet distant, exactly how you know and believe it to be true.

This is the first time I've ever seen him, seen him. Yes. We've heard him. You've seen him, but not had a full... Not like this. Yes. As you see his mouth move and you hear that low, rumbling voice and it shakes the tomb. My priestess, why is there doubt in your quest? I have no doubt in you.

Doubt in those that are troubled. If you wish it so, it shall be. If you say it so, I shall do. I am not here to command you, Iris of the Sands. I wish for all my priests and priestesses to have their will be their own. You are the one who must choose. But if your doubt is in your friends...

I must ask why. I feel as though our paths do not align. We bicker and we fight. And when we finally have a moment where we agree, we're all together for the first time. One of us always stands down. An army cannot fight as one if we do not stand together. Men die when the front line is weak.

I will ferry souls to you, but only those that are ready, and I do not want war to die, because our front line cannot handle the weight on our shoulders. None of us likes to fight with those in power, but sometimes those that hold the power are not doing what is right, and it has been silent. When you called for my aid,

I told you of a deception beyond the Lord of Lies. Yes. Do you recall? I listen for it always. The deception is great. I have been able to pick up no scent. The path ahead will be filled with darkness and filled with even more death. And the realm of death itself hangs in the balance. That is why you are here in Striga.

It is why I sent you, my most devout worshipper. My trust wanes, my friend. I fear that that is the deception you speak. Iris, when I sent you the vision in the flames for the first time, you understood where to go. But where I was sending you was not to a place. It was to a family.

I see my god, and I kind of raise myself a bit, and I look at him, but not in the eyes, and I quickly look back down. I will not let you down. You will not be led astray. I am strong. I will make you proud. You have not let me down. And I will not. You have never let me down.

and you hear kind of a rumbling in the stone. - They wouldn't even hear the end of this. - As Anubis stands up and you see two massive sandaled feet step forward, kicking up dust in the tomb and-- - She's going ducking. - What? - I'm kidding, I'm kidding. - This is going to be a little rough.

Thanks for calling up the Broke Andy. Stand, Iris of the Sand. I quickly stand. Don't even hesitate. You kneel to no one but me.

Always. You hold your head high. Look at me, Iris. And I do make a full eye contact. You see as gold eyes blazing with brilliance. You almost for a moment feel the need to cower as you stare into the eyes of a god. And it's almost... You get the sense that if you weren't dreaming that this could be mind-melting. But you are... Oh, it is. You are...

staring directly up and you see his jackal snout move as it speaks and you see in his hand is his massive staff in one and the crook and flail in the other. As he looks at it, he leans down. The end of your road, Iris, I have seen in the flame.

And where it all ends, good or ill, is with your friends. I know. There will be times where you doubt your friends going forward. There will be times you doubt yourself going forward. It is impossible to trust when there's this much at stake. But you must continue walking your own path.

Even if you decide to leave everything behind here tonight, you will have made it for me and for yourself. And you'll always have my approval as your god. Until the end of time. Until the end. When the world turns to black. But until then, do what you think is right. Do what you think my teachings would instruct you to do. I will.

The land of death is in turmoil. Souls misguided, not being judged. A great atrophy threatening to disrupt the cycle of life and death from continuing. It must be made right. And it will be made right. In the land to the east. In the land to the east. Go forth, live your life, Iris, and do what you think is right.

I bow my head, look at him again with purpose, and then turn and wander. You do that, and you feel a... you hear a low breath, and it almost shakes the tomb as the flame whips around you and disappears, and you drift off into sleep.

Oh no, I jolt awake immediately. Oh, you jolt awake immediately. Yeah, whatever you want to do. Oh my god. That was Anubis. That was my god. He talked to me. Don't watch this. Oh my god. Okay, well, get yourself together, girl. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh, that was my god. Well, all right, pack. Where is my pack? I'm sitting on my pack. Put my pack on my back. Get back to my friends.

oh my god, my god, literally my god, and I start, instead of walking, sauntering, I'm going to use my feline agility to get back as quickly as possible. And then...

Yes, so that's what I do. Your birth to DM says you didn't get his autograph. Turbo fail. You didn't get a selfie, nothing? You don't ask Anubis for his autograph. You get his hieroglyphics. You obviously haven't spent time with a god before. Duh. Human hands and dog feet.

was that yeah yeah he's like he's like humanoid from the waist up right no is he human feet i apologize oh he's human but like he's got like his dark thin like uh like skin and dark fleckle thin fur i thought he had like the dog head like human chest and arms and then like it went down into that backwards dog no no no no no no no classically

So that's one iteration of him, but classically the Egyptian gods tend to have human bodies and animal heads. Yes, he's very muscular and ripped. He puts Toa to shame, and with that, I'm going to sneak straight to Toa and Felix's room and knock on the door. Okay, so you're not even stealthing in the camp. No. Okay, so you walk by. Once again, as soon as you approach, they open, and...

- You were in the common room, right? - No, I'm outside. - We sat by the fire. - Yeah, they left one room completely empty. - Yeah, as soon, you're sitting by the fire, you all hear Iris approach. And as the, you're sitting around the torchlight, it is probably like,

4.30 in the morning, I would say, at the very least. And you are all, you figure you're feeling tired. And then you hear soft footsteps and a rustling as you see the fire pit, the fire in the pit catch on gold jewelry as Iris walks back into camp.

Iris? Where did you go? Toa. As soon as I hear that knock, I would roll out of bed with my like, no, I'm wearing my like pajamas and I've got the dagger like, oh God, who's there? Who's there? And I run to the door and I open the door. You should be bad. I knock on your forehead. Toa. Iris. Iris, stop.

Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. Toa, wake up. Toa! Hold on, I needed that five seconds to wake up. I'm asleep and I... I'm gonna put the dagger in its sheath. Are you all right? Let me get dressed. Just give me one second. He's coming. Are you okay? Yes, I need to speak with Toa. Why did you leave?

Okay, and I'm gonna go back to bed. I'm gonna lay back into bed and let her talk to Tom. Did you guys push your, like, Ricky and Lucy, your beds together? No, I assumed it was bunk beds. Tom would lift one of the beds and put it on top of the other. Because he's so strong. Oh my gosh. I'm just gonna peek up over Peyton's seat, make sure that she's not, like, bleeding or, like, limping or anything. I'll be like, yeah, yeah, I knew she'd be back.

She always comes home. Cats never attach to people, they attach to homes. If you need anything, just wake me up. I'm going back to sleep. I have horrible bed head. My hat is like hung up on like the bedpost and I'm like, I'm crawling back into bed.

And I'll come to the door and I'll say, "You came back?" Yes, I need a large muscular gray man to come to the room with me, please. Oh, right now? Yes, all right. I'll lean under through the doorway. I'll go out to the... These are made for orcs, so it's actually quite comfortable for you. Ladies, this room is empty, yes? I'm faster. I'll be ready. Jo, are you first? Oh, it's nice. I don't have a deck. Oh, all right. And I walk through. Then we sit down on the bed.

I spoke to Nimbus. You... Wait, you actually spoke to him? I fell asleep in this horrible grassy patch. I...

And they pull off. It's just a piece of grass. This was on me. I'm so sorry. Wow, that must have been really terrible. It was. I had... My back, it hurts. It is... It doesn't matter. I spoke to Anubis. He told me I should stick with my friends. You speak to Anubis every night, right? No. Yes. I saw him. He was taller than you. More muscular than you.

He sounds very... More powerful than you are. He's a god, literally. He's definitely more powerful than I am. But I feel the need to be in the presence of someone large. I'm glad I could help. So will you please stay in this room with me? Over on that bed. Oh, stay here? Yes. I should probably tell Felix that... He fell asleep already.

All right, well, I just... over here... do you need a... But I wanted to apologise for being so angry with you. You don't have to apologise. Everybody's been apologising to me lately. I know, that is what makes me so kind. But I'm going to do it anyway. I apologise for being so rude to you. Well, I appreciate the thought... And now it is your time. I... should I apologise as well? Yes. All right, um... Iris, I apologise...

For what? What should I apologize for? Are you trying to make me angry? No, no, no, I apologize. I'm fully listening at this point. I'm waiting for squeals. I'm so used to you closing doors behind me. The door's actually open. I don't even realize that it's open. I apologize for... Breaking a promise that we were going to stand together as a group.

Oh, for breaking my promise that we were going to stand together as a group. Oh, Tawa, that means so much to me. And what else? Anything else? Do you have anything else you should be sorry for? Oh, I don't know. Should I? Well, I don't know, Tawa. You said it in a way that made me think that you have something to be sorry for. No, I don't think so. I'm sorry for everything that may have upset you. Would you like to hug?

Yes, that would be nice. And as I hug him, I rub my hands down his back. My goodness. All right, go to bed now.

All right, just in this one here. This one. That one. You have immediately been jolted awake by this commotion, Caprice. Oh. I wake up and I roll over and I grab a piece of parchment, invent a new bisque, and then offer Iris a new bisque. She'll love that. And then I go back to sleep.

You son of a bitch. You son of a bitch. Once he lays down to go to sleep, I go to bed. Okay. He holds us, lay down, and go to bed. Something's my fault. Isn't there like a third hut that I'm not using because I'm sleeping outside? Oh, you in with them? No, no. I'm alone. The priest went to a bed. There was an empty bed there because Hersha didn't go into it. Toa was with Felix. You both left a room empty. I'm alone.

And Caprice is alone. And each one of them has a... I'm going to go find the hut that you're in and open the door and just peek in and see if you're sleeping. I am. I'm going to sneak up behind you and just be the big spoon to your little spoon.

That's thematic. I don't wake up. In my sleep, though, I like... Toa! Toa! Oh, that's nice, Toa. I do not say that. I do not say that. I do not say that. It's canon! So I'll just snuggle him up and go to sleep. Ah.

And everyone enjoys a long rest. Oh boy, that took us a while. Took the scenic rink in there. I cast Mage Armor once. So, how are you feeling? Did Anubis talk to you again? No, no. That is a once in a lifetime thing, for now. Well, I hope you see him again. Well, I'm quite honest, I'm afraid to see him again.

Did he give you any like divine quest or like some kind of guidance or knowledge? Like forbidden knowledge that no one else can ever know? Ever? Isn't that what gods do? Yes, Tony. What did he say? Well, unless it's, is it like forbidden? And my head would explode if I would know it. I don't really know much about like gods, quag gods. It's possible if you don't truly believe in him. I believe he exists.

But you don't believe enough. Your puny Goliath mind won't be able to handle it. Would I go mad? Your brain would explode. My whole brain? Direct. The whole thing would explode. In your head, where you stand. But my head would be okay. It's the brain that would explode. Yes, darling. I don't know if I want that knowledge. I don't think I could even hand it, even if it wasn't forbidden knowledge that would explode my brain.

Maybe you should just tell somebody else. I don't think I'm capable. I'm afraid we might get out of this. I don't know why I ask. I'm trying harder at night. I'm trying to be difficult to comprehend what you're telling me. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ.

We don't deserve to. We don't. I think Felix's brain would be totally fine. Definitely wouldn't explode. This is the morning roll. Yeah, we're in the morning. You're probably not. It's dark still, but you all, you're getting up. Oh, so in that case, I yell.

Oh dear gods! Lufty, what are you doing? What are you doing? Why are you? Why? No, don't! Get back! What is wrong with you? We must find out what's going on. Where's Chawa? He's...

With Iris! You mean you just left? We run in, Toa is carrying me in his arms. We did the Oswabaru, so, you know, they slept together and are best friends now, so, you know, I slept with you and we're best friends now. Toa's my best... Toa, you left! Well, you knew that you... I did leave, I just never came back because Iris... I don't think it's a big deal here. Iris requested that I stay there.

Damn it! By the gods! I've been sleeping all night. In my strong arms. You loved it. Come here, I'll hug you again. No! No! Stay back! Oh, Iris, you're back! Hold on! I ran away.

I look at Iris over my shoulder, I give her a nod, and I just pet Peyton, and I'm just staring at her. Why are we like this? Why are we all like this? Why can't we just stick to the bunking arrangements? Well, to be fair, the bunking arrangement was that Toa was going to stay with her.

But he changed his mind. He told me he did. I'm not upset that he changed his mind back. I just would have liked a little heads up. I feel so left out of this love triangle. Iris. You're better off without it. I made you a new...

Never mind. What the fuck was that? What is it? It's not important. There's soup everywhere. There's biscuit everywhere. Coat it on my room, Caprita. I'm sorry. If you think you can do the thing, do the thing. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Do what thing? I smell like garlic, Caprita. There's soup everywhere.

Is there fish in that? What does that say? I'm never going to be able to get this out. These are my best linen robes. Have you even ever cooked before? No. Well, I mean... Is the fish old? Brother,

"The digitization press, the press, the press. "Can you get the press to-- "Damn it!" Iris holds still, and I begin to press digitize her dress and try to remove the-- I magically pull the visc out of her dress, and then as soon as it leaves the fabric, I let it splash to the floor, and I am furious. I bagged under my-- What happened to Wisset? I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just tripped a little.

What the fuck is wrong with all of you? One night! What do you mean the fuck is wrong with all of us? Toa storms in here with me in his arms and Lufty is big spooning you. I just want one night. One night of no nonsense. None of this. I just, I would like a night of just sleeping. No one getting up and leaving in the middle of the night. You left! You left in the middle of the night. You were awake when I left in the middle of the night.

I'm sorry. Can we all just take one moment, one deep breath?

And just relax. We have a large day, a long day ahead of us. It's very early. Oh, it's a very large, large day. I don't want to know about anything that happened last night. I want to hear about it. Are you sure? Yes! I do. You know, you like me. You should give them all the details. Please tell them. No, I don't want to hear anything. No, no, no. Trust me. It's very interesting. It was a once in a lifetime moment. It was. Nothing has rocked my world quite like that.

I have to go. No, no, no, it's very important. I even told the artist that you were the only one that would really understand and relate. Oh,

No. Toa. Toa. Toa, stop. For all that is good and all that is holy, Toa, stop, please. No more. No more. No more. You're fine. You just like learning so much. I thought you was going to learn about that, Snap. Snap's all right. The sun isn't even up yet. All right. I need five goddamn minutes. Five. Five.

I'm going back in my quarters. Did they deliver? And if any of you fucking follow me, I swear to the gods, I swear. And in this motion, I back up into the door and I close the door. It closed. You hear the latch go. It locked.

And I prepare my spells for the day. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. I know. Well, do you want to hear about what happened last night? I'm just sipping my ale and I'm just stirring the pot of bisque that's over the campfire. I'm just making sure it doesn't burn as I'm just like sipping, petting fate and just quietly... Make a dexterity check at disadvantage. Fuck.

Fuck you, Mike. Fuck you. Can I use Shieldmaster for this? Seven and a two, so it'll be seven. You poorly stirred. You stirred, and it's early, and you're groggy, you didn't get much sleep because you stayed up all night. No disadvantage, so two. Yeah, two. I know, I added five. To dex? It's a dexterity saving throw? No, just a check.

You get billing and it's late. You kind of slump forward. Knock the pot over. Bisk spills everywhere. The entire camp, half of the campsite is now Bisk. We all drown in Bisk. The end. What a nightmare. Bisk falls everyone down.

Man, this is some dirty Bisquick. I'm just defeated looking at half the campsite covered in Bisquick. For shame. I know, that was a rough one. I'm just going to take the wooden spoon now after every of his, and I'm just going to hand it to Peyton, and I'm going to have her lick the spoon as I'm just solidly looking at it. She happily licks it. She'll eat it. She actually goes to the ground and starts licking up all of it, and you see Revali's just like...

Don't you guys have to get the fuck out of here? I'm gonna sleep, Ben. I think we're waiting for someone to pick us up, right? Can you just be, like, more quiet while you do that? No. So do you want to hear about what happened last night? Yeah, tell me everything. How was it? How was he? Oh, he was amazing. Far larger than his rippling muscles. I always assumed that. He towered over me.

Really? Three times my height. Oh my god. That's how long he was. I've never seen a god before. But in that moment I saw a god. That's kind of laughy. I don't assume he would, you know, be bumbling. Why would you assume that Anubis would be bumbling? What are you talking about? I'm talking about last night.

What I wanted to tell Felix. Excuse me? Would you like a pet name? Well, in my mind, I called him Newbie, but I don't think he would like that. Oh, dear gods. Regardless, when I was out in the creepy field under the stars, I fell asleep. Also, look at this. Ow! A blade of grass! Can have that. When I fell asleep, Anubis came to me in my dreams.

It's normally his voice or shapes or faint images, shadowy, in the flame. But he was there. He was actually there. And I looked at him. He told me to stand up and to look at him. Like in the eyes? In the eyes. And I think I've not been asleep. That my mind would have melted into pudding. Did anything else melt? My heart. What?

Oh, do you mean my kitty bits? Your kitty bits? Oh, no, no, not like that. No, it's my godlucky. Just because something has a penis in front of you does not mean you need to get sopping wet. Anyway, we should wake up Felix and go about the day. Try kitty bits today. That's a bad kitty bit. Oh my god. What?

Oh, you have another point of grass there. Watch this. I can never quite get it. I remember doing that. You had to roll it. You had to roll it. I could never do that. I've never been able to. And we got him with all this fucking height. Oh.

My cheeks are like so inflamed. I have one of those laughter headaches. Yeah. Oh.

I loved Kelsey's Risky Biskness. I don't even know how to say that. Say that ten times fast. Risky Biskness. Risky Biskness. Risky Biskness. Toy Boat's the hardest one. I've got a good one. It's a box of biscuits, a box of biscuits, and a biscuit mixer. That's tough. I don't know about this. All I know is Aluminum, Linoleum, and Toy Boat.

- A woman of one hour. - Golden Lotus, it's so good to see you. Says Toa as you hear the tap of the glade. And you see Golden Lotus arrive and she smiles at you

and says, "I trust you all slept well." - Yes. - I just burst out laughing. I spit as I'm pointing to the knocked over biscuit that's covering half the desk. - You all look very rested and tranquil. - Oh yeah. - Feeling great. - Shall we go to the Grove? - To the Grove. - To the Grove. - Let's go.

Knock back the rest of my old-- Helix, you should eat a banana. Your eye is twitching. None for me, thank you. Don't forget your hat. Thanks. And I like, I like smush all of my bedhead under the hat and we just, I follow Golden Lotus. Come on, Payne, wrap up your breakfast. And she's just like lapping up the bisque from the ground and then she follows us. She leads you out of your, the courtyard

and across the bridge to one of the more main thoroughfares. And you make your way back to her quarters. And she guides you up the steps into that same area, the antechamber, and then the room where you had given your offerings. And then the door opens into the very small room where the pool and the two trees had been. And this was built into the side of a mountain. And...

You see as she reaches behind a hanging tapestry and she pulls it up and you see that there is a small passage. With that, I'm gonna cast Mage Armor on myself. Okay, you do that. You feel the magic wash over you with the Arcane Guardian. And she holds it up and says, please, follow me. Not even...

The Warchief has been here. It is a sacred place. So please, be respectful. Should we, like, take our shoes off? That will not be necessary. You will need them. Oh, goodness. It takes forever to take things off. And she leads you through a passageway that goes on for many feet. It's dark, but it's marked by several small lanterns.

And you make your way through and you see the end of this hallway. And it's dark, but not from any kind of tapestry, but seems as if by leaves. And...

You see bits of the sun's rays poking through as she takes her glaive and presses it through and pulls it aside, and immediately the beautiful pinks and purples of dawn wash over you as you step into a beautiful,

what looks like a valley grove, completely surrounded by the mountains and the peaks all around you, out of view from every single

a building of Mogra Kai. However, you can see the sun cresting above the mountains as dawn is painting the sky, a tapestry of gorgeous colors. And you see a beautiful, tranquil grove. It almost feels like the air is still as the smell of saffron assaults your nostrils. And you all feel calm.

as there is a lake out in front of you. And you don't see a single fish in it. The water is crystal clear. And it is ringed with these beautiful cherry blossom trees with petals of gold and white and pink. And this...

You feel the... almost like a sense of touch of the divine as you enter this sacred place. And as you all enter, she lets the bush go, and you can see that it's ringed with bushes, and out of sight, you don't even see a single hawk flying over. As you are basically almost... It feels like you're at the top of the world in this grove.

And she, Golden Lotus, turns to you and smiles and says, What do you think? Is this not the most beautiful place that you've ever been? It's incredible. This is stunning. I see the bait shop comes in second place. I will take that as a beautiful compliment. Oh yeah, bait shops like home. Wonderful. This is my home.

This is where I retire to every evening. This is the place where the Eternal Blossom sent me when I first came to Grond, those many decades ago. And this is where her agent, her representation, her emissary to us mortals, this is where he comes.

communes with me. But first, now that you are trusted by the Warchief and we are in this sacred grove, not even the powerful magics of Virgil Zurn can peer through this veil, I can tell you where you will be going and how you will be saving us from Baphomet, the Prince of Beasts. You know how everyone loses? I do.

So you said that someone else then speaks for the Eternal Blossom and they meet you here? Yes. But you will not meet him yet. Oh, we'll meet him later? Yes, soon. It will be soon. And he will guide you. But I first must tell you of the plan. The great plan of the Eternal Blossom. There is only one thing in the multiverse...

that can stop the calamity and the destruction and the entropy that is threatening this land. This name... Thanks. This name, I know, will not be new to you. The Rod of Law. You know it, don't you? And you do know that Virgil Zurn himself was seeking it, do you not? I am happy to inform you

He has not found a single piece of the seven, the Rod of the Seven Parts. - Thank you, Tarity20. Thank you for following. - Thank you so much. - You're welcome. - And if there's one thing that can send Baphomet and his horned legion back to the Abyss, it is this artifact, the Rod of Seven Parts, reforged into the Rod of Law. It is my life's work.

It is why I have lived this long. And there's only one piece remaining. And only you will be able to retrieve it. Wait, you found all the other pieces? Yeah, one piece remaining in what way? What do you mean by that? What do you mean? What do you mean? One piece remaining, it's as if you found the others. Because I have. Oh...

And why? Well, not me. I have not. But... The Eternal Blossom? You mean to tell me that you have, in your current possession right now, six of the seven pieces? Yes, of course. How long did it take you to obtain all of them? Decades. Decades of our time here on the Material Plane. Once, the Rod was destroyed.

All seven pieces were scattered across the plains. Hidden. Guarded. And if it were not for the Eternal Blossom, and... And do you know exactly where the last piece is? I do. For you see, the emissary of the Eternal Blossom, the servant of the Eternal Blossom, is a traveler of the plains, able to

travel where he pleases, and has spent decades for her, the Eternal Blossom, to find the pieces and return them to me. For it was foretold that this day, this week would happen. I'm sorry. This is a lot to take in immediately as we're standing here. There's someone that you're going to introduce us to that can just hop between planes. Yes. And we get to meet them. You will. Very soon.

But I must tell you, I will not call on him until you agree to your destiny and tell you where you must go. The emissary of the Eternal Blossom has traveled across all of the planes, some more treacherous than others. But there's one place he has found it, but is not able to go. Are you familiar with the planes beyond the material?

I mean, we've had a little bit of experience, yes. It's something I'm very interested in, yes. Then you will know when I say the final piece of the rod is in the place that you would expect at least. The place where it should not be and could not be. The plane of chaos, of course. Limbo. Ow.

I'm sorry. There is a plane of pure chaos? Yes, of course. And you mean to tell me that this person can just pop in and out of the plane of chaos? Yes. Every time he does, it is very dangerous. And death is always a possibility every time. It is one of the most treacherous and dangerous of all the planes. She continues to smile.

The plane of chaos, Limbo, yes, it is held in a place that cannot be traversed by fiends, by celestials, by dragons, elementals, aberrations. Only humanoids

And of course, being an agent of the divine, a celestial cannot penetrate the great adamantine citadel of Maldraxxus. How does he do it? Who? What do you mean, this person? How does he just blink between planes? Well, he's a Ciaran, of course. What's a Ciaran? I'm sorry, a what? It is one of the most beautiful divine creatures in existence. It is the servant of the eternal blossom.

So this person isn't a humanoid? No, absolutely not. A celestial. Didn't you think a mere mortal could travel the planes and collect all the pieces? I shade a little red. I look embarrassed. I giggle a little. I don't. Are you prepared to travel to Limbo? You're going to send us right now? Yes.

Once you all agree, I will call upon Hizaki. How long will you be there? As long as it takes. It should not be long. With your skill, I have sent many orcs to attempt to retrieve it, and none have returned. Can I ask a question? Of course. Why did you start looking for the Rod of Law, the different pieces? I saw in the blossoms...

I saw that there was a great calamity, a great chaos. And not just the chaos beyond, not just the chaos of Baphomet and the whole Legion, but beyond, far worse, and only one thing to stop it. What could be worse? The evil that lies, the entropy, the chaos that surrounds all of us right now, threatening to be released. How does the rod...

Do that? It is an artifact of law and good. It banishes chaos. Oh, you just... Like, you just wield it and then it... Anti-chaoses? Once it is reforged, we will know what to do. The blossoms will tell me. I am assured. Oh. Where are the other pieces now? In a very safe space. They are guarded? Yes, heavily. On the material plane? Yes, heavily.

Oh, that's not good. Iris did it. Did he say anything about this? Toad, you're mine. I don't know if it could handle this information. Oh, you're right. Forget that I asked. I'm so sorry. I give Herge a look and I turn back to the golden lotus lady and I say, you say that this rod has to be reforged? Yes, of course. Hmm.

How does that work? It is a process that is very involved and difficult. But once we have retrieved the pieces, I'm certain we will be able to do it. Well, of course you will, because our good friend Herja is from a forging family. Wonderful. So I'm sure that she could take care of that. Yeah, what's your mean of forging it? Do you have someone in mind? There will be a way to save us all.

I'm very certain of that. I definitely don't want anything happening in the world, but I meant, you know, when all the seven bits come together. We have some of the best blacksmiths in the world within these walls. But they're mortals. Yes, of course. And they're going to forge an artifact of such grandiose power. We will attempt to do so, but I am confident in our craftsmanship and our skill. Well? We are blessed by the Eternal Blossom.

I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, and we agreed to help, so you've got my agreement to go to Limbaugh. I'm ready. I'll throw my ball over my shoulder. I'm ready as well. Can I have a moment with my friends before we go? Of course. I will call on him, and he will come to greet you after I leave.

I'm gonna pull them aside. So we know my dad went missing with the last piece of the artifact. Well, a piece, supposedly, of the artifact in his cart. This last piece, supposedly, now is in limbo, which suggests to me that these people have probably found my dad. He could very well be imprisoned here, or they took it from him when he crossed the border into Garand.

I don't know. Or he may be helping. I have no idea either. Well, she would tell me if he was, right? Yeah, I heard the word fortune just suddenly. Well, no, I was agreeing. He'll know if he doesn't want you to know that he's helping. He didn't ask you to come follow him.

Well, no, but I think he probably would have expected me to, without leaving notice with Ma or me. Well, I'm not sure. At least for me, I know with my family, if my father left, he would never be pleased if we left our mother alone, unguarded, unprotected. Yeah, but it's not like him to be so secretive.

Even about his business. I mean, he was hoping to have me inherit all of it. He was shaping me up to be, you know, his, you know, next of kin. So I was going to take over the shop and be the best forge cleric smith of Yonah. How are you going to do that if you're not a cleric? I said smith. I changed my name. He's a forge cleric. Oh, I know.

What, um, let's talk about this a little bit more when we get across the threshold, so to speak. I-I-I- Isn't it smart? I don't know what it's like over there. Well, I don't either, but I don't know if we're being heard at this time. Well, we probably are, but it's irrelevant. We'll probably be heard there as well. For what it's worth, something isn't right here. I agree. It doesn't add up. To your point, I think it's likely she knows something about your father.

But I don't think not going to the plane of chaos is going to yield us the information we're looking for. Agreed. The best chance you have at getting that information is to have a bargaining chip, like the last piece of the road of law. So if we want to find out where he's at, I think getting that piece is going to serve you the best. We have to play along for now. Just like Iris is saying. I don't know how your dad would just end up in limbo.

If he had the piece, something's missing here. Well, he didn't have the last piece. He had a piece. He had a piece. So now they must have his piece. Do we even know for sure that he really had a piece? No, we don't. We don't. So maybe he never really had it. Maybe Zun just thought he did. We have to take a lot on faith here. Don't lose hope. All right? Don't lose hope. Don't worry. I just didn't...

Smells like bad porchetta to me. But we have to do right now. What is the porchetta? Oh, good gods. You know, I would normally go into this. She says it a lot. I would normally go into this, but I know then I'd probably be badgered about time and, you know, she's summoning this. What do badgers have to do with this? Oh, they're such great creatures. Well, let's go to the Blade of Chaos then. Great. Oh, wait, we're already there. Ha ha ha.

Wait, are we? That was a joke. You may all laugh. Oh. Thank you. Oh, I'll get it, because it's very chaotic right now. It's true, I would think. Yes. Yeah, it's funny, because it's true. What does a Ciaran look like? Will we know when we see him? Have any of us heard of that? Is he invisible? I would say that possibly Felix and Iris and...

uh, Herja would, like, loosely know that it's a divine creature, an interplanar divine creature. Um... Do we know if they're inherently good? Yeah, they serve the gods. The, uh, the good gods. Good gods. No other way but forward. For now. Yes. Yeah. I'm ready. You all ready? I would love to go to Limbo. I should warn you, it will be very treacherous.

there is a very high chance of death and destruction on your part. However, I believe that you will be victorious. I have not seen one way or the other in the blossoms, but within Maladaxus, the adamantine citadel, is Shivatu the Awakened, a Githraza- a Githzirai who has taken the peace and is using it to bind an army of Sladi to his will.

An army of what? Slotty, horrific beings appear chaos.

That sounds bad. So I can imagine this person will not want to give it up for us. No, you will have to kill him. Oh, okay. Well, no day like the present to kill someone in chaos, so... Did you say a name? Was that? Yes, Shivatu the Awakened. Shivatu the Awakened. Come on, let's face it. Shivatu the Awakened.

Yeah, let's do this. Let's do the plan. I'm excited about the plan. That is so good to hear. I'm glad that the sleep did you well and purged all the doubt that you may have had. But it is your destiny. Can she come with us? And I point to Petyr. I believe that she is not very well suited for that. You will not be able to ride her there.

She's a celestial being. So she couldn't come anyway. Is that how it works? Didn't you say celestials can't go to the... Yeah, they can't go in the adamantine. Oh, got it. Oh, as a celestial being, she cannot step foot into the threshold. Well, in that case, then, just in case, and I'll do like a little whistle and hold on my finger as Beatrice will lay on it, and I will say, I will see you again soon. And in a blink...

she vanishes okay she uh nods and understands and let's see you soon and she pops out i'll go over to peyton and i'll uh scritch her behind the ears and i'll say uh go keep her valley company until i can't feel you anymore but i'll be back soon don't worry about me gives uh

She gives a moo, and she wouldn't have been able to get here with the tunnel and all of that, but that's fine. Okay. Yeah, you said goodbye, and she's fine. Okay. And so Lotus looks at all of you and says, So are you all ready? Yes. Yeah. Ready and willing. Very well. Wait here and stare at the blossoms in the water. Do we have to? Yes. Okay. Okay.

And she turns. Well, I'm a cat, so I have a really low attention span. Just try with your might. I am a cat as well. No, you're a tabaxi. That was a joke. Ah, you were testing me. No. Very well. And she turns and she sticks the glaive through and pushes the branches aside and ducks. And you all look.

as a light breeze whips through and the leaves, the blossoms fall onto the water. And

Right as the sun rises above the tallest peak that surrounds you, a ray of sunlight hits the water and the blossoms begin to swirl around and they rise into the air as the water drips from them and they swirl around and suddenly a burst of golden light. You're all nearly blinded as you have to shield your eyes and as soon as

the light dims enough for you to see. You see a huge, brilliant creature floating above the water's edge by mere inches. You see what looks like a strange combination of deer and horse and dragon.

as it looks at you with gold and green and red scales, two large antlers going back, but a singular, almost unicorn-like horn. And you all hear in your minds telepathically a voice. "It's so good to meet new friends!"

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