Ep 117 - Blinded by the Light

The Agents of Repair work their way backward from a difficult battle and come face to face with a terrifying possibility.

Transcript

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Hey nerds, join us on Discord and hit that subscribe button. Hi. I'm Olma. Ceallach. Flynn. Seeker. Thessally, and I'm your DM, Seth. Welcome to VentureForth. When last we left our heroes after besting, the Kohdam Voh and his rune of binding with the aid of the drow mage Lollynthrir, the Agents of Repair decided upon their next course of action to uncover the mystery of Olma's heritage. For this, they began making their way from the basin to the town of Sunploom, the last known site of Olma's next of kin according to the research that Xavier was able to uncover. Good so far? Yeah. This is your oral quiz. Take you time. No rush. No rush. No rush. The agents arrived within the town of Sunploom at the local inn and as they settled in, several of the party members made note of a mysterious figure following them. After a brief chase through the streets, Olma and Seeker discovered the identity of this newcomer to be none other than a figure from Olma's more recent past, a monk from the nearby Oakengate Monastery, who goes by the name of Brother Brim, brought news to the group and told them of the monastic order of the ever seen within Oakengate and their duty to watch for powerful magic and how that directive had led him to this group and specifically to Olma with the aid of Seeker. You were all made aware that Olma is a rather unique magical case and her magic and indeed her appear to be tied to the old God of magic Laurus, with little else to go on and only one way of finding out more. You returned to the purpose for which you came to find the kin of Olma here within Sunploom. The local cemetery held clues and the body of Matthias Cross Olma's maternal grandfather, which gave a few more clues. These led you into the nearby raging wood, where after several hours of walking, you came upon a confusing scene, a group of deceased red wolf cultists, and a strange grouping of glass statues. After a brief bout with the undead red wolf cultists and their still functioning shield guardian, you discovered what the glass statues were the only and final remains of Olma's family. As Olma tried to come to terms with this discovery, you also discovered a nearby cache of items left by Olma's family, which included a fragment of a familiar type of crystal. You followed your last clue to an address on the northern outskirts of town and discovered the familial home of Olma's family and the servant they left behind, known simply as Keeper. The strange construct in charge the lady Alexandra and her progeny passed to Olma and with that directive allowed you all into Lady Alexandra's workshop. There you discovered journals, family histories, world histories, and as a group you made your way through. As Olma reunited the fragment of the memory crystal with its large counterpart and was shown a glimpse into the life of her great grandmother, the lady Alexandra, with this glimpse and the accompanying journals read by Ceallach. Finally, the mystery of Olma's heritage was revealed. The lady Alexandra, Olma's great-grandmother, was in fact the sister to The Fallen Storm daughter of Lord Barnabas Afton, who today is known by a simpler moniker, The Red Wolf. Reeling from these and more discoveries, the group settled down for a rest, awoke in the morning and left the familial home of Lady Alexandra and now Olma. But as usual, the past of the agents caught up with them alerted to their presence in town by a local innkeeper. Barrett Hastell, formerly warden of Oakenspire's prison, arrived to confront the agents along with another figure. This one from Ceallach's past, none other than Artemesia within the town center, you did battle with the assemblage and emerged victorious. Ceallach mercifully sparing Artemesia's life and she's now your captive, but sensing the need to be elsewhere and hastily you all departed Sunploom headed into The Raging Woods on your way south towards the Oakengate monastery where you believe the key to fixing Olma's necklace of concealment resides. And that is where we last left off. Oh wow. How, when you put it like that, you think it's been an eventful couple days. Just a couple. Couple of things. A couple of things. An easy weekend. A day and a half. I'm pretty sure that's all within the last 72 hours. So, yeah, not much happening, but as you hear the sort of fading sounds of the town behind you, you all make your way into the woods Artemesia in tow, and as you enter into The Raging Woods, you quickly sort of get almost swallowed by the tree cover. You see an old growth forest, massive redwood trees peaking up towards the sky and covering everything. A rime of frost that almost seems to freeze this entire scene in this eerie stillness. But even there in that stillness, you hear the wind as the trees and the branches far above you sway gently and shadows play across the ground, giving rise to a subtle sound that's ever present. Perhaps the namesake of the wood. You now find yourselves in, as you all find yourselves here. What do you wish to do? Brim, how much farther? About two days. Oh good. We have to... Two days? For two days.? Yeah. It's a bit of a walk, guys, right? Flynn, do you have that coat of mine in your bag there still? Maybe. And I'll swing off my bag of holding and I'll kind of dig through it and I'll think of Ceallach's coat. I don't remember if. I gave it to you. Yeah. Then I'll imagine the coat that he was wearing. I'll reach in the bag and try and procure it for him. Great. Take it. Strap the leather straps around the arms. It's a bit better. For some reason I thought... I don't know what I thought, but good to be warm. What are we going to do with her? And I point to where Artemesia is currently thrown over my shoulder unceremoniously, still unconscious bag of potatoes as I am running. Yeah, just a problem. Yes. We. Have two days of travel to. Say the least. Thessally, I don't know. I thought I killed her. What about your coins? We don't. We're out of coins. We need, I don't know, probably a bit of a feat to craft. You don't have that luxury all the time. Also, frankly, I need to speak to Artemesia because I want to assess, how do I put this, Whethe, she should live. Oh. So maybe she won't be traveling with us this whole time if we just let you speak with her. Oh. Well I wouldn't phrase it so bluntly. That's what he's saying though. Yes. Okay, but what if you decide to have her live? It still seems like there'll be a lot of trouble to get her. Are we taking her with us. Currently? Currently. Literally, yes. The place, her natural end, according to the way that I would like things to go would be to at least reside in the cells in Hayfreid's void. But. Well, can't you go back there really quickly? I. Suppose, but how would you get back here quickly? That's. Not as easily done. What. About the monastery? Do they have an alternative... Brim? But then we're taking her for two days. I. Mean. Thessally's carrying her. She's very strong. Don't worry about that. For two days? Also. I don't know. That's no big deal. I think it's safe to assume there are red wolves at the monastery. I don't--I think we should assume wherever we go, we're going to find them. I'm more concerned she's going to kill us all in our sleep. I can carry her. I could carry her for a week. It doesn't matter. But I--You're so strong. Thanks Olma. Well, don't go too far with that, but she's strong. Alright. I'm sorry. Could you carry a full grown woman for a wyole week? Yeah. Could. You? I don't want Thessally's head to get too enlargened from the. I think the crown will keep her head from getting too big. Yeah, there we go. Solution. Also. Thessally's temperament has never been that of a grandiose narcissist. I don't think there's anything to be concerned about, Seeker. You haven't traveled with her as much as I have. Anyways! Let's leave them alone. That's the. Problem. Let's talk about what we So you want to interrogate her and then you're going to what? Just assign yourself to be executioner. It's one thing. I haven't really thought through Thessally, but we're talking about a person who has plotted the end of the world for what? A hundred years more? Also she ruined his life, left him to die, ruined his life. That's not really part of the equation. Maybe it should be. Look as silly as this sounds, I have qualms about killing someone who's tied up and technically helpless. I was fully ready to end her life in battle when she was trying to kill all of you. But it's another thing to just.... I don't. This is the place that we are in as the agents of repair gesture in a somewhat glib fashion. We are encountering people now like Kohdam Voh and Artemesia and Hastell, to some extent who are, well, this is the work I'm trying to do. I believe that everyone is capable of redemption. But we must entertain the possibility. Well, that there are exceptions and that there's no amount of security we can have that these people can't circumvent in order to exact their aims. But that's why I want to talk to her. That's all. I won't make the decision by myself. And I'll nudge Thess. She did kill them all once. So that should count in the. I'm not, I want to be clear. I'm not arguing the merits of this woman. If anything, I would be more than content to dump her in the snow and leave her there. I don't know if any of you have killed someone when they're bound and it's just not the same as killing someone in battle. Alright. It's just not. She knows a lot, so I definitely think we should get information from her. Do you think maybe we should reach out to Xavier or Hayfreid and see if they can take her somewhere for. Us? Aye. Or bring you back when you get there. Maybe you could take her and then Xavier could bring you back. That's a thought. Do you have a way of contacting Xavier right now? Aye, I do. If I may. You may not. Okay. I'm just kidding. You. May. I'll go sit down. No, you may you. She's joking, but you asked so I felt like I should give an answer. Just kind of glare in Olma's direction. If there are wolves possibly, which is a good point. There might be wolves in the monastery. Maybe we should talk to her now before sending us somewhere. Yeah, I kind of finally look up after staring at my arms and kind of stretching. I kind of agree with you Thess and Seeker. I think I've never executed someone before. Ceallach and I know what she's done to us, but yeah, it doesn't sit just yet. It might be better to find a way to get her to the void if at all possible because we are the Agents of Repair, not execution. Sometimes you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet. Oh, Olma. Listen, I think that there's an easy line to draw there except when you start to factor in what we're doing long term. What is Hayfreid's void but an endless punishment to these people. In what way is execution a mercy compared to a lifetime in a void in a cell floating in the middle of nowhere? I mean. We're not perfect. I'm aware of that. I'm just arguing for it. We either have to, if we're going to build a prison, I'd rather not be Barrett Hastell about it. That's what we're up to. I understand. I think that right now might not be the best time to talk about this because we do have to move. But I will say I think that when we do get back to the void after the Long Eve ends, maybe we can have a talk with each of the prisoners and see who is capable of redemption and who is not. And maybe we can find a way to help them get to getting out if possible. Yeah, I agree with Olma. I never thought that would be an indefinite prison. I feel like eventually, I mean we've just been kind of busy and I'll kind of look around and where we're at. I know. Eventually I wanted to go back and talk to them and talk to Chath and see if there's a way to let them out or put them somewhere else that they're better served. But right now it's the best option. I don't want. Anyone that gets confused here. I'm not advocating execution as a great option. For us. I didn't think you were doing that. It's obviously my preference that I believe....Artemesia was, I looked up to her for most of my life. It is impossible for me to understand how she could not be good, how she could be anything other than a beacon of hope. So that's my preference. I'm just trying to weigh the options here. I. Think it's also really important to note Artemesia has been working with The Red Wolf since my great-grandmother was a little girl. So for thousands of years, artemesia has been a snake in her own right to try and steal and siphon power. She's not a good person and it's not like she made one mistake that's thousands of years of planning and... All this time I thought her departure from the temple was a result of some temptation from the abyss that she was a dutiful servant of Fimir and then something drew her away. But it seems then it stands. Well. It could have been that she joined the temple after making this commitment to the outcast. The time is such, I don't know. We can make this decision later. I just want everyone to be aware of the weight of either choice of sending her to the void and then continuing to endanger Hayfreid and Timmy and everyone else in there or killing her. I'm not opposed to it and I'm not saying it would be wrong to do it. I'm just becoming an executioner is no matter who it is, is not easy. So let's keep moving. You're right. I don't want anyone to catch up to us. Everyone consider carefully please. There's one more option and that is to turn her over to the temple. Of Fimir? Aye. Where's the closest temple to Fimir? We're in. Kaldur so not very close. Oh right. Right. But at least, I don't know, it feels like shuffling off the responsibility but might be easier. Those are the people most harmed by her existence that temple themselves. But will they believe you? They didn't before. And are they corrupted. Too? Probably. Can we know for sure? I mean. Wen we ask her. Right. Should we start moving until she wakes up at least? Well, let me I guess find out what her actions are. Are you going to talk to Xavier? Yeah. Or Hayfreid, which do you think? Well Hayfreid's traveling right now with Timmy. I don't know if he's back yet because they said they were going to use the whole Long Eve. Right. His void though. It's his void. Yeah. And he could probably reach out to Xavier too, on our behalf. On our behalf if I think they have a way of doing that. Okay. It's beyond. Me. They talk to each other sometimes. Right? Long Eve is almost over. So maybe they're heading back now. Maybe they're close to us. It's possible. Anything's. Possible at get permission deposit. I can go back. Is there a teleportation circle in Oakengate? No. Oh, in Oakengate? I don't know. Is there a teleportation circle in Oakengate? I feel like I remember us going there and using. To Oakengate? No, we've never. We've never. Been. No, no. Not the monastery. I'm thinking of Oakenspire. Brim kind of looks at all of you guys as if. Caught off --- who was just talking executing. Off guard. A prisoner. We are singed with. Fire, bleeding, blood, all. I'm drenched. In it. How does he define evil? But he looks as if the question itself kind of makes him a little uncomfortable and he goes, I'm not supposed to tell people about it. It's like giving someone the key to your house. Yes, there is one there. Right, but you don't recommend. Using it. Well do you know the sigils on it, what do you know. From memory? I've only seen it a handful of times. I wouldn't know. I imagine it would be pretty spooky if just all of us showed up. There's that. There are. They might not. Like. That. That's true. I'd rather just make sure it was a safe teleportation. We know these things can be a bit dicey. It's. Safe, it's in the sanctuary but it's kept a secret from all but the fully initiated members of the monastery. Not trying to make any more enemies than we already have. Please no. Please no. Okay. It might help us get home at the end of everything least. Certainly. Crisis. Yeah. Make sure we are nice to the people at the monastery I guess. Be up to Danewind. Oh. Okay. Danewind likes you. Right? Well he sort of told me I was getting kicked out. So I mean. But to protect you, correct? I mean that's what you say, but it's not how it felt to me. Well he's the one that told you to go, but he wasn't the one that made the decision. Right. Dunno. It was over my. Head. Danewind was bound by the orders of Abbot Kane. He didn't enjoy what he had to do. Well he did it anyway and it still felt pretty bad. So almost sometimes. Forgive me if I don't believe that. Sometimes we do things we don't want to do. You know that? Yeah, like traveling with you. Exactly. Olma! My goodness. Exactly. Trust me, I'm not thrilled about it either, but. Okay, so we have to find a way to get Artemesia to the void and then back here and then to the monastery. Could we take her to your house and leave her there? I mean leave-- Artemesia. With Keeper? I mean Keeper could do it but I just don't really-- He can remove all of the oxygen or something. But here's the thing. Alexandra left the house to get safer, so I don't think the house is like 100% perfect. Especially if someone that high level with The Red Wolf is there. Well, I can go back to Marstock with a handful of us, not all of us. How would you. Get back. Here? Well, I don't know. Can you do whatever you're getting to get there? Here? I suppose I could find a place or build one, build some kind of tribute to Zakriel in Sunploom or right out here and then I suppose. You'd be able to get here whenever you want. Not whenever it's quite a bit of exertion. But it would be like a teleportation circle kind of. Sort of. Do you think you could make one at my house and then I could get there whenever you had the ability to or the energy to, and you could take me home and also then we would have another safe house that we could go to and we could talk to Keeper and Keeper knows a lot and we've got the library. I mean it seems like a really good place. It's not the void but-- Who knows what amount of knowledge is in those books and you've got that little alchemy station-- And it's my house. Well that's true, although it didn't seem like anybody was going to fight you for it. It could. Be a safe place for us. I mean those hedges need a lot of work. Keeper's working. Keeper said he was. Going to work on that. Yes. Cut to Keeper, just madly pruning hedges, just how much work he's got. This won't do this won't do at all. Who. Planted these here? Short circuiting. Coming out of his ea. Yeah, we could go back there and I could set up a sanctuary. Are you comfortable with some kind shrine Zakriel in your yard or in the house somewhere? I don't care. I mean is it going to do anything to us? No. Well, it's up to Zakriel to some extent, but no. Okay. Well, Keeper will just get rid of it if it does anything bad. Okay, sure. Yeah, I think that's okay. So do. You have enough energy? Are you not so tired? I know you work really. Hard. I appreciate your concern, Olma. No, I can do this much. I have a little bit in me anyway and then that would get Artemesia to the void, which would at least for stall the decision of what to do with her. Hayfreid's going to hate us so. Much. But boy, it's amazing he doesn't already, although in fairness, he was a red wolf cultist for some time, so he's still kind of working. He did what now? Well. I know he has a shady past. Yeah, that's. That's the shade. Yeah. The shade is that he was a...? Do you know all those statues that he has? Yes. Those are people and creatures. Maybe. Don't tell 'em all of the. People. That he had made them statues. He petrified. Them. Yeah. He was working for The Red Wolf and other nefarious organizations. But he wants to cure them, right? Right. He was asking for he wants a cure. He wants to fix them and he's trying to atone for his. Sins. That's why we don't feel too bad asking him for stuff because he wants to atone. We are the means to his redemption. He's been. So, so helpful. He has been very, I'm just surprised. He feels so bad. I don't need to bribe him with Benton glass. I could just say--we should never, don't---you turned people to stone. I do wish you would stop bringing up the Benton glass. Do you have some of that by the way? Flynn Felloweave. I don't want you near that either. You are not allowed to have it right now. I'm just asking. I've. Seen what that does. But I don't have it. No, Tarka. Can I do an inspection? I dunno if that's what... Oh my gosh. Do I know? Can I think about it and remember if he has any, you can ask. I dunno if that's a way that I can gave it to me. I dunno if there's a way for me to think back. Who. Has it? If you don't. Believe me. Because he kept saying it! I know that's true. Go ahead and well up. To you. I know that I don't have it, but that's fine. I was. Just saying you could lie. Go ahead and roll an insight. Let's do this. Let's do this. I'm telling the truth. The whole truth. Oh. Thought we were just all walking through the woods exhausted and then we were like, wait a minute. I don't think we walked that. Far. Drop the body for a minute and let's just-- No, she's on my shoulder this whole time. 18. As you look at Seeker and he says, I don't have it. You believe him. Telling the truth. Okay. I'm just curious. I was also thinking it would be cool to have a way to get back to your place, Olma, but correct me if I'm wrong, but we did just kind of destroy it. Have a big fight. There might be more people coming to clean things up or check or look. For us. My house is on the outside of town so we can probably avoid the town square. It's risky. It's risky, but I mean if it can get us back to the void and I would really rather not travel with a very powerful mage who has succeeded in killing. All of you before. Right, right. Also it makes more sense to do it at Olma's house than just out here. It. Does, yeah. But we could also run into more problems, soldiers. I think if we go around, I don't think word will get back to anyone just yet that they didn't succeed. I don't know. Especially since Barrett Hastell. Magic is weird. If I may. Well, there's one other possibility I could go. I could borrow your cloak, Olma and just go set up the sanctuary myself and then come back out. Take us all back to Marstock. How are. You going to take us back to. I can do that from here. I can take us back to Marstock right now, but then. How would we get back here? Would you have enough energy? No. We just woke up. It's not time for it. Now. Hayfreid is back at the void. Maybe we can... Well you can ask, right? You can reach out and see where he is. Yeah. Maybe they know how to get us back to the void and obviously we still have to do the sanctuary to come back here. But then they can get us back to. Here, right? Well, yes. All right, let's just see what we can work out. Sure. I mean you can still go by yourself and then. Come back. Flip a gold piece to get Hayfreid or Xavier. Do you want to. Take my-- Do. You want to still take my clothes to go set up the sanctuary by yourself? I think that maybe wise. Do I need to spend time with it to use it or can. I just throw it? No, throw it over me. Can you just throw it over. Alright. Yeah, if. It's, but yeah, we can. You want to talk to Hayfreid and Xavier first, maybe they need to work on it. Right? Did you toss the gold piece? Yeah. I was holding it up in the air as they were talking. Heads. Is for Hayfreid? I'm just going to chuck it in the air. And it comes down. And I'll try and catch it. You catch it in your hand. Do I flip it or do I just open my hand? What do you guys?Just open. Your hand, let the Fates decide. You're the one casting the spell right? Just what is the bloody coin Flynn? Then I'll just. Open the palm. Comes up heads. That's right. All right. Adjungis. We haven't talked to Hayfreid in forever. Take the tether, wrap it around my hand. Pull it to my heart. Hayfreid. Hey bud. I'm going to come to the void and I need to way back out to Sunploom from there. Can you help? Yeah. Give me 10 minutes. I love him. And. Yeah, about 10 minutes go by as you guys, you of course can talk amongst yourselves, but after about 10 minutes you see this sort of warbling point of energy and it actually appears right at your feet Seeker and you see suddenly apparating into existence, you see a small sort of semi-formless creature made entirely from warbling air and it has a chest that it's just got holding up in its hands. I have a. Delivery for Mr. Seeker. Yes. Hello. Go on then. Yeah. Okay. But I just reach in. It's closed, right? Yeah. So. You open it up, open it up. And inside of the chest you see it's this beautiful, very ornate big chest, three by five feet or so, which is interesting because the creature holding it up is maybe a foot and a half tall. Nice. Is it heavy? Is it a heavy chest? The chest. Appears very heavy. Very heavy. Good wood. Good wood. Yeah. Very good wood. A rich mahogany. But it is inlaid with gold and when you open it up you see sort of just nestled there. You see two scrolls just sort of curled up right in the middle, kind of on a little velvet pillow that are served up nicely for you. I will take them out and I will(breathe) Ah, magic. Does magic have a smell? It does actually. Yes. A little bit. I'll take your word for it, Seeker. I'll sniff Olma. Hey! I smell, I smell like fire smells. I just look at Seeker. What does magic smell like to you, Seeker? I'll, I'll open one of the scrolls and look at it. Alright. You see there in your hands? Go and make an arcana check for. Me. As a matter of fact, did the creature go away or is it, oh. Actually yeah, as soon as the chest closes it's like: thank you very much! He's so cute. I want one! What it says, which is really good. My arcana ain't strong. That's a 21. You. Recognize both spell scrolls. One is for teleport and the other is for teleportation circle. And the teleportation circle appears to be linked to the sigil in pay freeze void. Oh wow. Give us, well we can teleport. We have a circle and we have...Whoa. So maybe we should just use that to get all-- And then you can bring us back here with your magic. Aye. Yeah. Sure. Wait, we still need to set it in the house. Right? Right. Okay. So we have to go back to Hayfreid must really love you guys. He's really trying to make up for so much. About that. Oh, when you talk to him, maybe some more confidence. What you were saying you seemed very hesitant to. Ask. He seemed fine. Why are we suddenly criticizing people's character today? Why? What is happening right now? Thessally's head is too big, Mine is too small Seeker? That's what's going on here? Actually. I--that's what are you trying to say? I look at Flynn and shrug. This is what I was talking about. Do you see this? That's why I just don't talk sometimes. What is this? We'll talk. We're not being not the strange ones here. I don't think so. Can we, are we okay? Olma's house? We can go back. We can get back? Well yeah, we just walk back or Ceallach can go back sneaky like. Oh because that's his strong suit. Well with the cloak of invisibility I might be all right, Seeker. Well maybe. It doesn't make you silent. I'm aware of that. He's the only person who can set up the recall. So can you do it? So I mean I don't understand why you're arguing right now. I'm not. Olma. I think it might be better for him to go with just in case he needs help staying alive. Oh you mean go with. We just. Got jumped by a bunch of people. I understand that you meant go with somebody. You were just trying to say he wasn't the right person to go. He's the only person who can do the thing. So the plan here, I go back, I set up a sanctuary in your house with Seeker or with an army of people who have very valid criticisms of my technique of oration. See, look what you did man. We, from there-- Nope. You come back. Here I come back here we teleport using the circle to Hayfreid's void. Right. And then you bring us all back to my home. Right. Okay. Alright. Brim speaks up. One thing I noticed when we were running through town, it seemed like the town looked empty. There were no guards. I almost wonder if Barrett Hastell didn't call them off or we killed them all. It's not that big of a town. We did. There's a lot, lot of blood in that. Also, if we all go, wouldn't we save some time? Yeah. I'm thinking we'd go to the outskirts and then you guys can sneak in or whatever. Well no, we can all just go to the house and then teleport from the house. Yeah. Right. Yeah. I mean. Before. I guess let's just be fine. We'll be. Sneaky. Someone does have to stay behind. Think I can only take six of. Us. You are not taking us. We're going to use the teleportation. Circle. Oh right, yeah. We're setting-- What? I'm taking us back. Yeah, but we're not going to bring Artemesia back with us. I can wait. That's true. It won't be right. So we'd be all right then since our Artemesia is staying. Yeah, I can take the rest of us. In the void. I. Can only did that man on purpose, but I didn't. Can you only bring so many people? Six including myself. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. But we don't want her. No, it's okay. No, we're going to deposit her and then come back. And. That will suffice for now. Yeah. Okay. So we're all going back. Yes. We all could start. We all go together. Oh, I carried her. It's fine. It's whatever. It's fine. You could carry her for a week, Thessally. You could do it. He said he could, right? Yeah. Seeker could help. What? You said you could carry for a. Little bit, right? I did not. I'm looking. At Ceallach again. I could carry her for a week, but she's annoying and she has this really distinct perfume and it doesn't sit right with me. Well you don't need to for a whole week. It's not the smell of magic. I'll tell you that. You don't need to carry her for a week just for another 15 to 20 minutes. Maybe an hour. An hour?! How we've been. Going in these. We've just been walking along in the whole time. Walking in the wrong, I was going to assume-- We were not walking. I imagine you got into the woods, circled up, took a break and started talking about what to do. So you guys, I think at this point, I mean you're still within sight of the town so you're probably Yeah, 30 minutes. Good. Half hour of walking, maybe a mile and a half. I'm just trying to do just-- To my head, maybe a mile and a half outside of town. Let's get to it then if there are any more guards, we'll just kill them also, I suppose. Yeah. Funny! Joke, right? What? Flynn, how bloody long have we been on this journey? I just start walking. Let's go.

I turn to Thessally just quietly like: 37:56

do I look like a monster now what? To that? No, no. It's just we've all had, we all fought things and. He's been a hard day so. Far. It's been a time. Let's go back to the void. Also. Maybe his horns are making him say this. Maybe his horns are itchy. Oh, maybe we should get him like a salve or some lotion. When we go back or get them gone. Oh, that also works. I could get another sheep and we could do it. No more sheep, I swear. And with that, with no more sheep, I swear. And Artemesia's unconscious body and into the back of Thessally's armor. You all make your way back into town. You all skirt along the outside of town using the woods. The woods kind of do. They get very thick outside of town, but they do sort of approach the outskirts so you kind of follow the arc of that. Trying to stay out of sight and unnoticed as best you can. But eventually you do find yourselves back outside of Olma's house. You can hear in the town square, kind of in the middle of town. There are definitely voices that are calling to one another. Fortunately the fire did get put out before you all left, but nevertheless, there are very clearly as it is now, kind of midday, you all slept in. So it's about midday on the 32nd day of Atirum. But you all find yourselves in the early afternoon back in front of Olma's home. So where do we want to put it? Do you want it in that inner sanctum kind of thing or just in the living room? In the living room. Alright. Keeper, we're home briefly. Mistress Olma. Hello. Hi. It's nice to see you again back so soon. Yes, we're going to set up a little-- Sanctuary. Sanctuary, shrine, but I don't believe in it but it's going to help me get back to here faster whenever we want. Wonderful. And you see Keeper is wearing a new--wonderful--has four different cleaning implements. Covered in dust has been manically cleaning this place ever since you left. It looks beautiful in here. You're doing great. Thank. You very much, mistress. Of course. Shall I make a space in the foyer perhaps? That sounds great. Is there, well, how did your family handle death? Is there any place that was significant in that, A place that they spoke of the dead or a place where they kept, I don't know, heirlooms, that kind of thing? I tug on Ceallach's cloak. Ceallach, they lived for a really, really long time, so they probably didn't talk about death a lot because they lived for thousands of. Years. Sadly, they had friends, people they worked. With. So you're thinking maybe they talked about death even more because everyone was dying around them. I. Don't know how much they talked about death. I dunno. I'm just trying to figure out where the-- I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I was just asking. Alright. Sometimes... The family all lived for a very long time. Death was not a common occurrence in the household, but sometimes the lady Alexandra would sit in front of the fireplace and she had a distant look in her eyes. It's her place to ponder. I think. Fireplace is ideal and I'll make my way over to the hearth. That works perfectly with ash. Yeah. And I will with my sickle in the sort of the deepest part of the furnace, I can--not furnace---of the fireplace I can get to, I will just as delicately as I can, but I imagine it still will be quite crude. I will carve out a heart with a slash through it. As you sort of reach back with your sickle, you make the marking into the brick in the back of the fireplace. It takes you a couple of minutes but it's done. And I will then pull the ashes in my palm and I will sort of let my hand fall forward so that they just trickle down to my finger and I will trace the symbol with these ashes. As you grab the ashes, it suddenly kind of occurs to you that this fire has been unlit for 12 years and the ashes are still here, but you reach them, you trace out the sigil of Zakriel. Girus. Designate this space. And cast word of recall. Amazing. You see as the sort of ember like energy sort of outlines the sigil that you've placed in and you see a dim glow from within the ashes themselves kind of pulse and then come back as they once again fall. And the space has been designated as a sanctuary. And I just take a deep breath. Always get a. Little nervous. We're good. We can come back here anytime. Good job. That's amazing. Cool. Very cool. It'll be nice to be able to come here. You have a house? I know. I own property. It's pretty cool. Is there like a deed or something. Keeper? Um, and he turns and runs upstairs. You hear banging around and kind of clatter until eventually he comes down and he has in his hands sort of like a leather kind of folio. Yeah. Oh my god. He just presents to you. Oh my. God. That's awesome. Well I suppose we'll have to find somebody to make it official, but this is yours now. Whoa. What do I do with it? I dunno. We might have to find a registrar or some officiate in Sunploom, but. There is a local notary. Wow. But it does make it your house Olma. Cool. It'll be nice to have a home. Also. Would you come with me? And he leads you upstairs. Like grab his. Hand. Awesome. Keeper reaches down and he holds your hand and he kind of looks down at you and then there's a small smile that kind of plays across his features as he leads you upstairs, he says, as seeing as the house is yours, I suppose this would also belong to you. And he walks over to the mantle in the upstairs bedroom and you see as he grabs a small sort of stone piece on the mantle and he twists it and you see(sounds of movement) and a piece of the wall falls open and you see a massive stack of money in piles of platinum just in a sort of small private safe. Excuse me?! That means we're rich. Yeah. You see ingots of platinum that are that word and yeah, ingots. What is this? What is, you also know what it is. You also see a very small, very thin leather booklet that is resting sort of on top of everything in there and that's it. The second the wall opens up, my eyes get wide and my mouth, my jaw just drops open. Whoa. That's a lot. Yes. Well seeing as you are the next of kin of Lady Alexandra, I suppose all of her possessions passed you. Yeah. Okay. I guess you're going to use whatever you need to use right? To fix up the house and into everything. I have already outlined my requests and pulls out a sheet of paper that he hands over to you and in it are a list of materials, basically cleaning supplies, some wood and things like that for repairs. There's lots of oil for oiling all the furniture and things like that. There's basically a shopping list of different things that he has requested in order for the upkeep of the house to continue. Yeah, this all looks great. You can do it all approved. I did forget one thing. She's the lordess of the household. There is something else in the safe. You also see what appears to be a small sort of jewel that's almost hollowed out. You can see in the center and there appears to be a little bit of a red substance inside of it. What's that? It belonged to the lady Alexandra. I'm frankly not sure. It was a personal possession of hers. Did she wear it or keep it with her or? Usually not, but every once in a while when she would go for a long period of time, she would bring it with her. You think I should leave it here? It's yours now, Mistress Olma. It's whatever you'd like to do with it. I think maybe I should leave it here for now. Yeah, we're going to be back really soon. This is really good to know that this all exists here. I don't think I need it right now, but now if we need something while we're traveling, I know we don't have to ask Hayfreid to make stuff for us or give us stuff for free. Do you think I should take one to pay him back? What exactly is owed to this Master Hayfreid? Well, he's done a lot for us and he gives us sanctuary and he gives us items sometimes and he's always made sure we were warm and safe and he's really powerful and he's super, super helpful. That sounds an awful lot like a very good friend. Yeah. Perhaps if he hasn't asked for repayment, he does not wish it. Well. Thessally offered to bring him dirt once. Correction. I did. Bring him dirt. She followed through. She threatened to bring dirt. Gave that dirt on his desk. She's. Got followed through. Follow through. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Well, maybe I'll just keep an eye out and maybe he wants something. I'll hear about it and then I can get him that like a friend would. That sounds amenable. Okay, then I'm just going to leave all this here, except and I look at the leather folder. What's inside the leather folder? As you open it up, there are a number of pages, but as soon as you open it, a sheaf of paper falls out and you see a very well worn just like piece of paper that appears folded up and it's got that look of paper around the edges where it's increased over and over and over and over again. It's folded. Do you open it up? Yeah, I reach down and I pick it up and I open it. As you open it, you see lines written down And you see in the shadowed heart of timeless woods, the she-wolf's song was first heard. Eight centuries shall pass. Ere the echo returns from a creature of word. A daughter of the crimson beast with heart unyielding and fierce shall find her path to the sacred stone where ancient and present merge. The oak silent waits with bated breath for the fateful day when she born of The Red Wolf's line drives the eternal decay away alongside others. She will mend the fractured world. A weave of old and new threads shall spin and the cycle as old as the ticking stars with her courage and theirs shall finally thin. Beware for not all is as it seems, and shadows may lead astray, but trust in the blood of The Red Wolf's line to illuminate the true way. What the fuck? I read it, I screw up my eyes a little bit and then I read it again and then I read it again. I don't know what this means. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, that tracks tracks it. I'm with that. I'm with you. Nor do I mistress. Okay. Well maybe I'll just take this notebook and this piece of paper, but I don't really know what to do with and I wave my hand in front of the room, all of this. So I guess use what you need for the repairs and everything and maybe it'd be a good idea to stock some stuff like tea and a little bit of provisions in the house. And that's probably it. I think at most there will only be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 people here at a time, but maybe sometimes more. But I don't know how often we'll be here yet. But we can let you know. Very well. We'll be prepared for say 10 at any given time. Well, that's a lot. No, I don't know if I know 10 people that I like. Understood. Maybe. Yeah, maybe like seven. Yeah, maybe like seven or eight tops. Eight tops. Understood. Yeah. Starts annotating just furiously paper. And then he reaches over and pulls two platinum pieces out and he tucks them into his pocket and he goes, that should be sufficient by the looks of it in here there's probably 2000 platinum pieces. Oh, I'm sorry. What is the breakdown? 20,000 Gold. Platinum is... 10,000 Platinum. What happens when you have relatives who live for eight years? For thousands of years? Wow. Yeah, that I got to get me some of those. Well. Generational wealth. I pull one of the platinums that I have in my back and I put it in this safe. Wow, that's awesome. Your first deposit, the family fund. And I remove it from my, I'm going to remove it from my inventory. Nice. Awesome. I literally have one platinum piece. I put it in. Amazing. And he reaches up and he takes the sort of piece of the mantle. It appears to be carved in the likeness of kind of like a flower like a daisy of some kind and he kind of puts his fingers on the pedals and twists it. And then the wall is almost seamlessly back in place where it was. Thanks so much Keeper! Of course, Miss--- And I throw my arms around his waist area. And he just kind of gently pats your back, the two rigid hands of someone not used to affection, but he pats your back. You're welcome. Okay, I'm ready now. Very well. Shall we keep this between us. For now? Yeah, I think so. Okay. Yeah. They seem an honest sword, but money can change people. Yeah. That's funny. You know what, maybe I'll just like, if we need something along the way, I'll just be like, oh, I think that's at my house and I'll just get over to you and then. That makes sense. I follow him down and shall return. He clunks down the stairs with you until he returns. And in the meantime, if I may ask, what has everybody else been doing kind of down there. I'm staring. At where Ceallach marked the fireplace and I'm just kind of like my eyes are narrowed. I dumped Artemesia on the floor. If there's wood, I would start a new fire in that hearth. There's a basket of a mix of kindling and small pieces to get a fire started as well as a few handfuls that are bone dry at this point. They have been in here for obviously a very long time. So in very short order, you are very quickly able to, you layer it up, it's because. It's chilly outside. It's trying to make this, and I would actually, after doing that, once I'm confident that it's stable, I would start to do just a small part of whatever I could to make it less destroyed. This whole space. I don't have the skill that Keeper has, but at least the intent just try. And they're like, well, this is a home. Now. As you can find actually Keeper kind of sat down a few of the cleaning things. He had three feather dusters in his hands for some reason and in his hands and he was going crazy. But you're able to pick one of those up and you kind of go over and focus mainly on the area around the fireplace. You kind of dust it off and things like that. And you can see on the mantle there are family keepsakes. There's a handful of what appear to be sketches or drawings of the family and just kind of trinkets that don't appear. You see a little top that is sitting up there that's just kind of on there. You're not sure why. It has a very bright red top that's kind of faded by now. You see what appears to be just a small, really beautifully made and very intricate little kind of clock that is sitting in the center and just a few other kind of odds and ends, but mostly portraits of the family kind of at different ages and things like that throughout the years. But you do see those all sort of sitting on the mantle in the room. I would take one of the portraits and look over to Thessally. You need any more references for your book? Think you have some here? Oh, I should have checked. I think I gave Keeper what I drew already, but I'm, I'm sure he's got a good enough idea that when he goes into town. Certainly. The accuracy is the most important thing. I like yours better anyway. Oh, thank you. I practiced really hard and I've worked for a really long time, so I appreciate that. Thank you. You. Said he used to do that for a living. Yes. Portraiture. Yes. I was really good. I'd travel around a little bit. I would go to different lords and ladies estates and sometimes they would come to me, but sometimes they would pay for me to go to them and I would just, they're sort of self-important nobility. They like to have portraits of themselves in all sorts of. Halls. I know the type. Yeah. It's actually what she was doing when we first met. It was! It tracks that that would be prior to your cutting in the heads off of prison warden's years. Right. No, that came later. That was a different time, but no, yeah, Seeker and met when I was still painting. I know the type. The unfortunate reality of temple is that we often needed to rely on those types of people for functions, permission to build in places, and you have to make nice with those folks. Do you think Artemisia would've been the type that liked a big 20 foot tall portrait of herself in her own home? I looked down at Artemisia on the floor. I truly have no idea. Oh, she's a bit of a mystery then. Well, I thought, I don't know how else I can put this. Artemesia was the truest representation of Fimir's principles that there ever was in the temple, at least for the last hundred years. See? That surprises you, but it doesn't surprise me. So I'm wondering if maybe you should ask Fimir about Artemesia next time you talk to her. Straighten some things out. There's much, I'd like to straighten out with Fimir, believe me. If it's, I dunno if this makes any sense, but it helps at all. I thought Chath was this best kind of sentinel one that was on the right path and really believed in what we were doing and look where he is now. So it may not be exactly what you're feeling, but at least I can say it. It definitely sucks. I'm sure it's not that far off, Flynn. But I hope to talk to him about it whenever we have time. And I don't want you to lose that chance. So maybe keep her alive for a little bit. Right. Well that's... I'm not going to kill her before I speak to her. I killed her. He's sort of, well, I did a pretty good job and then he stabilized. She was dead. But I'll say I'm hopeful that he's not always going to be evil or bad or whatever he is now. There may be some further similarities in these two. Chath believed that he was righting a wrong in your organization. Maybe Artemisia does too. She hates the gods. I assume. Chaff hated us enough to kill us. Well, he wasn't going to kill us. Right? Well, not us. I suppose your comrades. I don't know what he was going to do. Both of these people wanted to rebuild the world in a way that made sense to them. I guess that's sort of what we are trying to do. I mean, look what we did with the Dark Blades. They were adamant on their path and now they're--I'm just saying maybe we can do the same thing with Chath and withm Artemesia. That is my greatest wish. Yeah. It's just I've never, ever since I was a little boy, I wanted to rid the world of evil. I mean, I wanted to destroy monsters, so. I get it. I've never come in contact with such evil. An evil that can't necessarily be surgically removed. We've done it once. I kind of like adjust my helmet, my little hat. And see how that turned out. It's a work in. Progress. As the exchange is going on, I kind of go over and kneel near Artemesia and look up at Brim. What would you do with this, with her? Hard to say. Don't know if it's my place, but if she's done everything that you guys have said. She has. I believe in a swifter form of justice sometimes. I mean that's what their job is. Yeah. That makes sense. That's what I thought you might say. We've all got a little red on our hands, but some people can't wash that away. Yeah. Like I said, thankfully not my call. And at that point, the Keeper rather, and Olma, you return down the stairs, you guys hear Keeper kind of talking. So yes, I will begin the arrangements. Everything will be taken care of. No need to worry at all. This is of course my duty and then he turns to all of you. The mistress has requested that I make some improvements to the household. Any special requests? Food, drink, accommodations? A good lager would be nice. Writes it down on his list. Some lemon pastries, maybe. Mushrooms. Oh. We're all putting in for things now. Ask. That is what he said. We might be coming back here more often. I asked Keeper. We could have real food that isn't magically generated in-- I asked Keeper to make sure that there are provisions so-- I thought he was just asking to be polite. I'm sorry, I thought. No. What would you like Thessally? Do they sell paint in town? Yes. Could I get a palette? As many as you'd like. Thank you. Write that down on his sheaf of parchment. I have a nice little smile to myself after that. Would you like canvas as well? Yes. Yes. And an easel? Yes, actually! Scratches it down. This is. Amazing! Olma, this is incredible. Oh, on the off chance that we're, well, I suppose we'll be around, I don't know. Hopefully, if doesn't, we don't get to use it this year. Maybe next year. But some golden strands, decor for the Moon Peak Festival. It's coming. It's around the corner. Of course. Of course. Oh dear. He does the math in his head. As I do the math in mine. I'm like. Capital T-H-E. The math. Yes. The Moon Peak Festival it arrives in 18 days. And maybe just keep it a little bit. Don't say why you're getting those. We can do it on the inside of the. Ah, understood. And a wink. Wink. I love it. So much. Audible, wink. Yes. Would you say you're pretty good with dates? Yes. For the most part. I mean silly. But do you maybe know when the baby got here, what day it happened or, I mean it's silly, but I was just curious if you knew or remembered when that happened. Of course. You were born on the 15th of Flowmer. The Day of Embers. Oh, how long till then? Oh dear. Approximately six months. The Day of Embers is a celebration of the peak of summer. Oh, okay. Thank you. So Flint. Don't worry about that birthday. We don't need it. We don't need the-- We could say it's a late celebration of your last birthday. No, we can wait. Does. That mean... I want to wait! Does that mean you're still 12? How does that work out? Or are you already 13? Yeah. If we missed your birthday, don't you want to celebrate it a little bit? Oh, do you remember what year it was? If. It was after or before? Yeah, when was the first. But we're in the last month. I think it's probably that I was dropped off. Yeah. And then I was dropped off and then they counted one. You're probably still 12 then. Yeah, I was dropped off and then they counted one early. Right, because they would've counted one right at the start of the year. At the the. Year. Oh. So you're not quite 13. This one is your half birthday. Yeah. So we could celebrate. No, you do a half birthday. I have plenty of Everdawn birthdays. I want my real birthday. Okay, perfect. That's that's fair. I'll prepare the home. Thank you. You're welcome. We can go now. Yeah. Seeker, do you want to do the teleportation circle honors? Got the scroll there. You know the scent? Yes. I'll do the honors. Wait, can I smell it? What is going. On? I don't. Alright, I'll hold it up. I'll hold it up. I'll, I'll. Grab his hand and have the scroll. I'll pull it closer and I'll just look at Olma and I'll give it a big whiff. Smells like pachment. It doesn't smell like. Magic. And a very faint, faint, faint smell of sandalwood. What? No, I don't smell what you're smelling. You must work on it over time. Okay, that makes sense. It's almost like really a lot of magic. This is just like... It's okay. We, we'll work on it. Okay. If you want, we can put in time. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Sounds pretty cool. I'll take the scroll back if you'll. Yeah, I wasn't really ground. I'll just. Oh, you're smelling it. Pull closer. I'll just pull it back. I'll just move it back and start to prepare the-- Do you need help or? Alright. In order to, so teleportation circle is, I don't believe on your spell list? Correct. Oh, you know what? So. You are going to have to make a check to accomplish this, which is fine. That is why Hayfreid sent it to you. So this would be a spell casting ability check. You can aid him however you guys see fit. This is an ability check. So guidance works. Any sort of enhance ability, anything like that would also work. Yeah. After saying, could I help, could I, if he allows me, I'll kneel down and kind of help him... because I have proficiency in arcana. So if I could maybe take a look at some of the stuff, see if I can match it to the circles that we've stood in before that we've used and try and help him set it up if in any way. Absolutely. Yeah. The both of you working on it Flynn, you have a basic understanding of arcana and how it all works. You recognize the sort of connotation ruins and everything attached to the scroll itself. So as the two of you are sitting down and you're kind of working out the specifics of how to properly utilize the scroll, you can of course accept advantage on your rule. So. It's going to be, it's a what? This is a spell casting ability check, I believe. Let me confirm. As the modifier, not the arcana. Because. It would, it's your choice of intelligence or wisdom. Well actually it would be. Intelligence because. It would be intelligence. The wizard spell. Interesting. It's a wizard. It's an arcane trickster. But also I do have. But you're also a cleric. You have access to the wizard spell is interesting, but you don't get high enough. I don't get high. Enough. Flynn would actually be the one to have to cast it as it is. It's on the wizard spell. But you have access. I'm going to rule that this secret can cast it because you take. I'm helping. I'm helping you jointly. The two of you can make this work. Because my level in wizard isn't too high. So. Ability check using your spell casting ability to determine. So this be will be your intelligence mod because you're going for the wizard spells and you have to be a 15. So you're rolling with advantage. Twice! But you don't add just the intelligence. It's a straight intelligence mod. You. Got this! Does anybody have anything else? They can, oh. Yeah, anyone can help. I can't use it. It's still the Long Eve. Oh, very well. Very well. My. Spells hurt people. So probably. What about triple advance? Well, but if you had a boost you could add something to the roll. Yeah. Olma might have something. Yeah. Oh, I should have taken bless. You are magic. But I don't use wisdom for my magic or intelligence for my magic. But Laurus. It's a new day. I should have, damn. One second. I don't have anything. We always say magic is weird. I don't, I have bend luck though. Ooh. As a reaction. How would that, you can fix a failed check, right? Oh, I can fix an ability check. It says an ability check. You can use your, I can spend two source reports to roll a d4 and apply that number to whatever you roll as a bonus or a penalty. Other people. Yeah, any picture I can see. That is cool. That's super helpful. Yeah. I just use my sorcery points for myself. You can use it on a reaction. I can use it on a. Reaction. So it's a reaction. So would you rule that I can know what successful. It is? Reaction. If he fails the check, you can immediately use your reaction too. Nice. I'll roll. One second. Because we haven't rested, right? So we should still be using what we have available from the last, I would say fight? Even though we leveled up. Make. Sure if you like to at this point you can, I would say you've all gained the benefits of a short rest at this point, which means that you do. Regain source sorcery points don't regain. In mine they do. Oh, take that! After a short rest, you gain one plus half your sorcery level back. Hey! Oh! The DM giveth. I willl accept. Whatever. Exactly. No, yeah, I'll take that! I spent a lot of time doing a lot of math and it's about the same as arcane recovery. So go for it. It makes sense. I'll accept that. So you have whatever that amounts to. You're very welcome. All right, so here we go. Give a shot. This is a bit tricky. It's a little bit, oh what is that? Oh, that's good. I get to roll again. That's 17. Okay. You're good? Yeah. Okay. And 12. So, 17. 17. 17. Alright, I think I've got, let's go. I think it's okay. Just. Adjust it that way a little bit. Okay. Yeah, I think that looks right. Thank you Flynn. Yeah. Just adjust that way. I've got, and then as you're sitting that purple sort of instantly scroll and then around of the two of you sort of in the center of the room, you see (rapid puff sounds) as all these rooms appear on the floor as with purple magic, this plasma like energy as it is cast from the scroll, but through Seeker and Flynn together, you see is the teleportation circle goes up and you have six. Seconds. Everybody get-- All right, I'm coming. I'm coming. I drag Artemesia. Yeah. Oh yeah, yeah. You throw her over your shoulder and drag her into the circle right as you all wink out. And Keeper is left. Bye, Keeper! Bye. As we cut to the purple magic sort of flares in all of your guys' eyes and you find yourselves top the teleportation circle inside of Hayfreid's void. You see the stone platform beneath you and the darkness out as far as you can see. And you are here. I love magic. I've missed the goopy void, which is a sentence I never thought I'd say. Yeah. I want some more of these scrolls. Hayfreid! You would. Hayfreid? Hm, okay. Okay. Flynn, you want to try and move some of the prison An empty? Yeah. Oh, prison. Are there any empty? Are there any empty? Well. I'll look around. Are we floating or are we connected to the main already? You're. Floating. You're floating. And then I'll look around. Do we see any empty cells? I'll look around. As you look around, oh. There. Are a number of new additions. See four additional empty. Cells sort of floating out. It appears as though Hayfreid has prepared for the eventual this eventuality. I'll look at the, well there's those. Do you think he prepared more coins? Should we look for those since there was more cages? Maybe they made the coins correspond to the cages. Yeah, he usually creates a coin when he creates a cage, but I think for right now, let's just put her in one and then we'll deal with the coins when we come back and actually when Hayfreid is here. Maybe there's updates to them and maybe he can explain them a little bit better. But I mean, what if we need to capture someone again? We always do. Well right now we're not on an adventure to capture anyone. I mean, we weren't really on an adventure to capture Artemesia, but here she is. It happens. That's a good point. And I'll look down towards the main platform. There was a place where last we were here, Hayfreid and Timmy left us a bunch of stuff and a note on how to actually move the platforms. Could I look for that? It's like his library. His like desk area. Look for that to see? Maybe if I can, we can go there because maybe he left some stuff for us. Again, at the same spot. As you sort of look around, you can see obviously a number of platforms that are just sort of coalescing and you kind of take your time to go through each one. And eventually you do see sort floating down below you a couple hundred feet away. You can see that familiar platform where Hayfreid last left you those items. Okay. Yeah. So I will locate the platform that has the library that has the area where I think that all the stuff is. And I'll hold my hand out, close my eyes and think of...I'll think of running around with the little heroes and adventuring. And then I will think of the arriving home again for a home-cooked meal and the love and affection of my parents. I will think of.... Melarue and I will think of where the iron light is right now and kind of how it's different, how it's lost. And I will think of once again the smell of the rain when it drips down in the courtyard where we would train. But this time I imagine the sun coming up just at the end of that. And I will think of looking around actually taking a minute and looking around at that courtyard and all of the recruits and the members training and putting every ounce of passion into each swing to perfect it. And at the end, as I'm opening my eyes right before I open my eyes, a little smile creeps over my face and I open my eyes and attempt to move the platform. As you think you hear in your mind the clack of the wooden practice swords, the sound of spell craft, the and sort of the sound of iron light sentinels apparating and dancing all over the battlefield together. The sound of victory or defeat the oohs and ahs of strikes landed. And as you open your eyes, you see the platform hurdling towards you. Okay! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Until it slows and stops and you see us, the bridge, the stone bridge connecting them, the stones begin to form underneath and connect the two platforms together. There you go. Overdid it on that one. Maybe just a little bit. Huh? Okay. It's been a while. Alright, we'll begin walking towards the table. That awesome. You all walk over the bridge and you arrive at the platform and they're amongst the items that Hayfreid had previously left. You do see a note that appears to be sitting there and it

just says: 1:21:39

the coins take a while. Hayfreid. And I'll just look towards all I holding the note up. Oh well I guess you're right. Anyway, and I'll look up at a platform and I will just look at one and I will think of similar things and kind of just bring one down. This one. Drifts a little more slowly. Hopefully. I'll. Control it. Little bit over control. Control the emotions. Control the, maybe keep it on the path. Yeah. It slowly. Comes down towards you. And same thing you see as it's connected as Thessally, you feel Artemesia begin to stir on your back. Oh, I'm going to go ahead and real quick. Hilt of my sword from my back. Conk her on the head again, not lethally, but enough to knock her out. Yeah. I'll go up to the cage. Is it just kind of open it? Yeah, stay asleep. I'll just open it and be like, could have probably just put her in there. Are you objecting to me? Whatever. And I literally, and I've carried her all day and then criticized and so I just toss her into the cage. And she just (thump sound). Well, they just land. I lean in to Seeker. She said she could do it for a week. A week, a long time. as I shut the cage. It doesn't mean it's not annoying, it doesn't. She has. A belt for it. And apparently really good ears. Sorry, Thessally. Flynn, do you want to carry her next. Time? No, no. Great job. Great job. Definitely didn't get upset about later. I'll let you try and you're so strong. And strapping. I feel. Like it'd probably be easy. Are you hungry? She does get the little bit hard to deal with when she--what do you like to eat? What are you two on about right now? Huh? What? Seeker? Can I have word with you? Okay. Am I I in trouble? You're. Not in trouble. It's unrelated anyway. Yeah. I mean I'll look to lock it and I'll just lock it. Is there. Something we need to do to make the anti-magic element of it? Go? Yeah. Do I notice when I shut the cage and lock it? Does any magical essence pop up? I feel like we do remember. I think it's the cages itself. Yeah. Do we need to, I dunno. I'll look ahead of time. Well, before you lock, before lock her up, maybe check her pockets and empty them. Just make sure she doesn't have anything on her. Remember, because what happened last time. Right? Well I already locked it, but I can just, and I'll just reach in and I'll just check her pockets through the cage. As you go through, you find a smattering of different spell components. I'm just handing stuff to Olma. Here. Here. And you find a book. I don't hand the book. I look at the book and I look at the cover and I look at the spine and I feel the book, what's it made of kind of thing. It is a very, very beautifully made just like leather tome. Nothing on the cover, no indicators, nothing on the spine. Just well worn, well used. I open the cover. It is. Filled with arcane glyphs. And-- Stuff that I'm familiar with? Wizard spell book. Oh, is it? Is it now? Hey guys, this is I think it's a spell book. All of her spells. That's super cool. Did you get everything out of her pocket so that she can't escape? Right necklace. Hold on, sorry. I'll go few more. A few. Sure. You find a dagger hidden, you find and then... I'll take the dagger. Yeah, I'll take the dagger. You find a smattering of other arcane components, bits of spiderweb and things like that. But eventually after a thorough search, you empty her pockets. Just thumbs up looking at the book. Okay. And I will kind of just sit down and look at it and then I'll just shut it and I'll just put it in my bag. Yeah, I'm going to take it. I'm going to, that's fine. Going to trust you to know the difference between use of magic and evil magic there Flynn. Is that? That's just loud. We can all? Yeah. Going to look at you as you say that and look at him. Yes. Trust. Yeah. Yes. I'll trust you too, Ceallach. Just don't get possessed and kill us. Okay? Right. Noted. Possibly too late. I don't understand enough about what's in that book. So if you find something that helps us understand what plan was for The Red Wolf and that should be great. Okay. Yeah, I'll go through it a little bit and see. I mean, I don't know too much about it, but I know some stuff. I should be able to find something. Maybe. Oh, Brim, this is our void. Oh. Yeah. You look what can you just see spinning slowly in a circle, just looking around. It's pretty cool. It's mostly a prison right now. Are you looking for, is your order looking for any people? Because we've got a lot of them. There's a dragon over there. I see it. He's-- like locked on. We also have a Kohdam Voh. Was your order ever looking for him? We've got-- It's not like he's an international criminal--a demon. Oh yeah. That demon used to be a sheep. See that? Yeah. Before it was a sheep, it was a demon. Well, let's just keep moving on the next, We don't need to tell every---Yeah. We got a couple people who've been possessed by prism crystals. Yeah. Brim. What's your favorite food? Brim is looking at all of you. The onslaught of information and questions. Brim's a simple guy. Yeah, he is. Yeah. And he looks, he goes. Is that relevant right now? Not really. Unless. You're hungry, we can make any food. So I mean that's probably cooler than whoever's in the cages, right? Any food? I'm going to have to think about this a minute. Hey, well let me know. The monks. Are, man, they're not culinary. Geniuses. I'll tell you that. The last time you had alcohol? Never. No. Now's not a good time for that. Flynn. Oh, maybe it is though. Flynn. We have to get to the monastery. She is right. Yeah. I'm tugging on Seeker's arm. In an older. Sister way like I was patient and then I became unpatient like that. Yes. Is Eldra in here? Oh. And I just-- I try. To say quietly. I just whistle and she should come flying over to my shoulder. Damn good whistle. That's. A very good whistle. Very. So after a moment on silent wings on, you see her, you never hear her, but you see her coming as she lands on your shoulder. Hello, girl. Uses her beak. Does that thing where she kind of nuzzles behind your ear but then pecks. At it a little bit. Oh, not so mad at me anymore. Thank you. I gesture to my shoulder. I'm going to, do you want to write the letter or should I write it? Because you know Baron. So, well, we could both, okay. I write the letter. Okay. You write it and I gave you that little slip of paper, so? Yes. Okay, good. Good, good, good. Yes. So I would love to write a letter. Okay. To my man, Baron in...Saddlemount. Saddlemount. My goodness. We're all over the place. And yeah, I'm going to write a letter saying it's going to be pretty short. Actually, I would love to use a little bit. I'm just going to put a little bit of code in it and-- Okay. Very well. Yeah. Use a little Thieves Cant. Sneaky! It's going to be a letter that's like, Hey, how are you? Hello. How are you Baron, how are your children? And tell Beth that she makes the best peach cobbler ever. And I probably will come back sometime next year for some of that. And I will bring, I don't know, what would I bring? I would bring lemon pastries. Lemon---I would bring lemon pastries also mushrooms. You've got to try these mushrooms. They're so good. But the real message would say is, hello, thank you for your help. The card is amazing and yes, amazing. And could use your help finding someone: Salix Gwin. Please put feelers out. I will reach back out. Oh, you have ink. You can reach me. I am checking. I pause my writing. Sounds like it. I pause my writing. To look back--- Yeah, at the scroll affixed to my-- That's really funny. Is it silver or gold? It's gold. It's silver. Oh, okay. It's silver right now. Oh yeah. I thought you meant, what does it turn? Yeah. And I underline, I have been checking and so I will, and now just say thank you. That's everything in the real message. And I will fix the letter. I'll put in an envelope and I will add a gold piece and I will kind of gesture to Eldra to come out to my forearm and tell her I need her. And Eldra, do you remember Baron? He helped us save us. I need you to go back to Saddlemount. Find Baron, give him this letter and then make your way back here. I think. Well, we won't be there long, probably. How long do we think this will take? To--what would take? For us to go back to. When. Do we think we'll be coming back to the void? Didn't you say he could reach out to you? So two days, just let him know. Two days, I don't know, a day or so. Right? Alright. Two days to get there and then maybe a day to figure things out. And then hopefully we can just teleport back to here. So three days? Come back here, we'll find you as soon as we can. Just hang out if you see Timmy or Hayfreid, get their Actually, you know how to come in at this point probably. No. No, no. You need a-- She think she would she need-- Eh? Go through the-- Could she go through? I don't know. She's only ever come with. She has to. Get into the house. The door, you have to open. Yeah. Yeah. She would need somebody. She would need. A hand. Just wait, by waiting on the house. Yeah. Thank you. And I will, do you want to come with me to see her off? I do, yes. Okay. Thank you. Exit the void and exit the-- I avoid eye contact with everyone else. I was trying to be subtle and didn't succeed. Alright, so you take the door that goes into the home. Yeah. And then release. Yeah. Perfect. So yeah, as you leave the void, you walk into Hayfreid's domain and you're able to send her off with a message in grip in her claw. She kind of does that thing where her head looks at you a few different ways and then takes off on silent wings bearing your letter. Make sure to give her a nice little treat when she gets back. She needs a very nice treat here. Alright, well it's done and maybe we'll know soon. Thank you. You're welcome. You can rib me as much as you want. I wasn't mad about earlier. I just wanted to, we were here and Eldra was here and I thought it'd be really quick. But then and--I was going to do it while Flynn was doing the other thing. And then nope. Didn't happen. I don't want to answer questions about this. Let's just go back into. The void. I know. I can tell you're nervous and honestly I forgot. So thank you for reminding me. You forgot? Huh? What do I, we have so much happening right now. Yes. I forgot. Not that I don't care. I forgive you because I love you. Let's go back into the void. Okay. As back at the cage. I've just been watching Artemesia. Artemesia begins to stare once more. And you see, as she rolls over in the cage, pushes herself up to a sitting position, looks at you. Hey, you'll find your whatever horrible recess you pull your magic from. Not accessible to you here. It would appear so, Ceallach. So tell me, why am I still alive? By the grace that goddess, you so rue, you yet draw breath and nothing further than that. Let me tell you. I suppose I should be grateful. Her light yet shines upon me. That's the part I can't square. Her light has shone upon you more than most. Her forgiveness, her indulgence. You've abused, used every ounce of the grandeur she provides. You used it to kill me. Yet you're not grateful, spiteful and cruel. And I just don't, for the life of me understand why. I understand doubt. I understand seeing this world, seeing the way that Gods fell in the absence of light and wandering. If there's any hope, if there's any reason to try and reflect that light back on others, what I don't understand is how you can have felt its shine heard her hum. And... Turned away from. It. You really want to know? Try me. Very simple, Ceallach. I found something greater. What's that? You know. Do you not? If you mean a base that holds your chained behemoth, then no, I don't see that as something greater. Oh, Ceallach for all your wisdom. I've seen many years. And I know more. Vas Ronath is not some demon or devil thrown into the pit with the rest. Gods fear him. The old and the new. Why shouldn't they? For he is a god and has been since before your precious Fimir drew her first breath as the mortal she once was. You're a liar. Am I? And that's what we'll picking up next time. Excuse me? Before what? Oh, it's been done twice. Like the prime? Prime. Oh, okay. Alright, well that is what we're going to pick up next time. Thank you guys so much for listening. And goodbye nerds. Hey nerds. Devon here. If you're enjoying VentureForth, please like, follow and subscribe on whatever platform you're using and make sure to tell your friends if you're interested in going the extra mile. Please check out our Patreon link and our description to support the show and get access to exclusive bonus content. Bye, nerds!