 Hello, everyone. Welcome. Welcome to the second session of Belkanis Necro Hunt. You guys are in the dungeon. Nathaniel just opened the great door, seeing the ladder leading up to the surface. And you guys have Eliza, the very extremely young elf girl, now in your care. What do you do? Well, there are still three people upstairs that I have charmed, as well as the two tied up over by the invisible pool. I don't know what this ladder leads, but it's most likely just going to lead back to the surface. So, if anyone wants to go up it they can, otherwise I'm going to return to our new captives. I think I'd rather come out the way we came in, just because I know the safe way out. I don't really want to be taking her through an entryway that I don't know what's waiting on the other side. For all we know there could be more. I would agree. We could always come back down for it. I will admit my curiosity is getting the better of me, though, looking up at the ladder. Then by all means, go ahead. I'll tell you what, I'll look for trouble, and if there is none, I'll come back down and tell you. If I'm dead, you'll know. Yes, very nice. I'm going to start walking back up the stairs. Very nice. I will say, if you guys choose to go out the way that you came, there's no need to do any whatever adjustments. I'll just fast travel you guys there, because you know the way. Good. Yep, good. No, I want to role play walking through all of these steps. I see a staircase right over there. Take me there. Watch. There I am. Oh my God. In the meantime. I swear to God. In the meantime. You can't stop me. Enoch, are you going up the ladder? I'm going to poke my head up to the top to see what's going on up there. All right. You poke your head up and you can see that there is a humanoid that is hovering above in the air about like 10 feet off the ground, kind of in a lazing lounging position. Fuck. Question mark at the end. Hi, hello. Oh, you say this to the person? No. No. I'm thinking this. You seem to be tossing some small things into their mouth as they are lounging. Can I make a check to see what this person or this thing is about? Yes, you can take a perception check to try and get a closer look. It is the dead of night right now. You guys went in while it was sunset and about an hour or so has passed. Okay. 16. This figure is wearing some robes and what looks to be some kind of plated armor and a headpiece of some kind. Do you have dark vision? Yes, I do. This is the same figure that was out here earlier wearing the bone mask. He is not taken notice of you. He's quite a few feet off, kind of in the distance. But in shouting distance, lounging in the air, eating berries. Wait, you mean the one that went through the portal, the boss of this room? Yes. Oh my God, it was just a dimension. I hate it. If I didn't have a child in my arms. I don't know this. I don't know what he said. Do you do anything with this information, Enoch? Oh God, I'm, I'm, I'm split. Shit, I gotta make a quick choice. All right. I am going to get to the top and I am going to attempt to approach. Okay. You come out of some illusory grass as it kind of the, the, its form kind of wobbles a bit as you exit out of it. And the, the man, Bloodstride, just kind of continues to eat. Not really paying much attention to you, but you see his head tilt a bit. Oh, I was expecting someone else. I take it that my team of pupils is dead now. Well, well, well. Almost certainly, I guess. However, I'm going to admit at least to this point. I'm probably no match for you. He tosses another berry into his mouth. Oh, probably. But that is a shame. They were very nice. They were criminals. Hmm. Were they? And so are you. Yes. Yes. Justice bringing me to justice and all that, of course. He drops all the berries and kind of brushes his hands. Oh, well, I hope to never see you again. And he starts to slowly way over away with his hands held behind his back. Wait. He continues to float away. I may not catch you today. I may not kill you today. But I have one question in mind. He pauses and turns. Oh, this should be fun. I make my approach. No weapon in hand. Everything's holstered. Stop about 10 feet away from him. It would be unfair for me to not at least hear you out. Why? He lowers his head and lowers his shoulders a bit. And I thought this was going to be interesting. Oh, well, listen, I've got things to do. You've got sleep you need. I hope to never see you again. And he turns. Goodbye. And he waves to you while he floats away into the darkness. Quick draw and mother fucker. Yeah, I did. Oh my God. I really want to go after him, but I have no possible way of winning. A few moments as he floats away. You see him open a portal very similar to the one that you saw him initially walk into. And he steps into it and the portal vanishes. Can I do a quick draw and try and put something in him? You can as he's leaving. Go ahead. Don't fuck me. It's just a rugged cowboy penetrates old men. Oh my God. You fire your pistol as he's stepping through the portal. And then I miss. And you can see that his skull like mask glows very briefly. Like a flash. And there's a bright circular barrier that your bullet ricochets off of ping. And I'm going to need you to make a dexterity saving throw. That's what I expected. That's right. Oh no. Yeah. That's about what I expected. This is why guns don't work against wizards guys. This just didn't mean surprising turnaround. Rugged cowboy penetrates himself. Stop it. All right. That'll be my last one. Thank you. Thank you. I'll be here for the next three hours. You shoot it and you don't even need to move your body as you know that this bullet it's as if it was fired back by an enemy and you don't move a single inch and as it whizzes by your cheek. Tiny little scar and a little bit of blood. Yeah. Oh it doesn't touch you. You better run. You better run. And I walk back down. Yep. In the meantime the rest of you have exited the way you came and you come out just in the same spot. Let me. Well there's no need to pull up. Let me pull up the balconous map rather than the map that you came out of. You also see that it is pretty much the dead of night. You see the moon is out and let me play some ambience. Some ambience. I love ambience. For the people that I have charmed that charm is supposed to I believe last an hour but let me check to be sure. Where would they be right now? They would be just where you left them. There we go. They would be just where you left them kind of just right outside of the illusory. I mean you left them unconscious. Oh no I'm talking about the three. The three that I charmed and said please go somewhere else. You don't need to see this. I'm going to say yes all three of them are just sitting there and just sitting around playing with the grass around the two unconscious men that you mind slivered earlier. I don't even I don't suppose even with dark vision that this there's a chance we're going to find these woods in the daytime or at night. We're going to have to wait till morning. You very well. I mean you could it would risk getting a not risk. You would get a point of exhaustion. Yeah. Yeah I don't know. Now keep in mind this is within walking distance of you know people closer to the inner wall where there are more guards. Yeah. Nathaniel I do you want to bring these people in because I'm going to be taking her down to the guard. How far away are we sorry how far away are we from Belkanis? Belkanis proper is about a day's walk since you spent the day walking out of it. I don't need to go that far. How far is the gate? Oh the gate the gate is like I don't know like 20 20 minutes or so. Oh fantastic. In that case I will say to these three men allies please come with me and bring those two friends of ours. We are going to go meet some other friends so that we can have a party. Yes of course our good leader and they they pick up the two who are just still. Would you like me to go with you? Of course I'm going to need your. Should someone I hate to be that person but should someone stay and wait for Enoch or we're just going to find him later. Oh I assume that we were going to be doing that anyway. I'm wondering currently what's taking him so long perhaps he'll be coming out of these woods. Perhaps let's just get little miss home it's it's someone to sorry but let's get the little miss home she's it's cold. Yeah she clutches at your leg. I just go and like pick her up again. Actually that's a point I snap my fingers you go find our cowboy friend and bring him back and I just point to one of the three. Hi sir. You point to like let's see what were they there were there were a gnome. Yeah there were a gnome a human and something else that I cannot remember. I wanted to be the gnome because I think that that's funny. Yes. Pipes up and starts running off in the direction as a they actually know the the exit since they are familiar with the sewers and they start running off in the direction heading presumably towards Enoch. Would you want him to go with you to try and find the girls home then. I'm going to I think I'm going to take it to the guard. We have a deadline and as much as I would love to go she said that her family is in these woods no. Yes it's just too dark. The whole thing needs to sleep. And we're not ever stay with us for the night after we get back we can keep our safe for the night and then it'll be easier for her to possibly remember during the day. Yes. I'm going to look at her actually. What do you think there. She just looks at you kind of holding arms wrapped around your neck as you are I assume holding her up. Yes I am I am holding her. Yes. And she just looks towards the woods longingly in the opposite direction of the wall and says nothing. She seems to be thinking. Hey if you'd rather wait till morning and then we can just go find your home. She's absolutely fine. She says nothing and nods your head. I want to stay with you. Okay. Okay. Well then I guess I'm staying in camp Nathaniel. I'll start getting a fire going and keep the little miss safe. I realize I said she says nothing and then immediately said something. The joy of role play. Nathaniel will say nothing. Understood. Damn it. Renee will nod and just say we will meet you back here and say now at most. Into doing. Right. Right. And I think after that we all should have a conversation. All right. Talk to me about this is important. In that case. No. Don't go find Enoch. He will find his way back here. He's probably all the way over already. He's like. Without skipping a beat while he's jogging you say that and he turns mid-jog back around like in a U-turn. I love it. It does not break your eye. Fantastic. Right. Very well. Renee. Let's just move. And I'm going to go towards the gate. Be safe future. That crowd was. I don't know if that crowd is still going to be angry at us. Just be careful please. Hopefully by now there will be a sleep. I'm going to sleep. I like to think so. But desperate and angry are a not good combination. She just gives a light wave as they're like walking away. And I'll start getting a fire going. Okey dokey. And now as we continue to split the party. Yes. Renee go find me some water. Everyone split. What I'm assuming is that like it will be super fast with it. I'm kidding around. I'm pulling. Okay good. I am the queen of splitting the party. And I'm sorry. Make like Scooby Gang and spread out and look for clues. And then just run through all the same doorways. No, no, no. It's fine. Okay. So you guys start to head towards the inner wall. And you can see that there are some guards and you over here one just on a on horseback. And the horse seems to have like many supplies attached to it like bags and the bed rolls and stuff. And you hear him sigh. More refugees. Come on. He kind of gathers a few others and he gallops towards you. What's wrong? Well, we'll just have to drop off a couple of people for you to have. Are they hurt? Hungry? Oh. They probably she likely needs over. No, but they probably need to be arrested. Arrested. And he takes a glance and squints his eye. This is a human. So he has trouble seeing the dark. His eyes adjust a bit. This is why we're a big yellow coat. Exactly. We know exactly who you are. By the gods. Their spine of death. Go. Manacles and a few of the guards grab, you know, some things to attach and what do you do? Raise my hand. I will raise my hand up. That will be unnecessary. They are currently under my protection up until we arrive at the barracks. The barracks? That would be where you would hold these people. Yes. It would be. Though the barracks are inside and... Well then. We should go inside. The human squints a bit. And what business would you have inside? I have already said these people need to be put in the barracks. And I will gladly take them off your hands. Ah. If that is what you would prefer. Then that is acceptable. But I would be more... I would be happier if I saw them all the way to the barracks to make sure that they don't escape. Members of the spine of death happened to be very crafty. Just earlier they were using illusionary magics to hide from us. No doubt a normal mundane person such as yourself might be caught on awareness. He kinda pinches his nose a bit in size. Ah, you're one of those. Alright, fine. If you want to have some kind of reassurance the barracks are luckily fairly close to the wall and within eyesight. Come along. Follow me. And he starts to gallop ahead at walking pace. As we walk I'm going to whisper to Renee. We are going to do the usual plan as long as you are alright with it. I'm going to let you do the talking now if that is alright. That is just fine by me. She gives him a little wink of reassurance like, I got you. I know how we do. Alright, you guys start to head towards the inner wall and just as he says when you lean at a certain angle there are a set up like makeshift barracks proper building barracks but you know tents, things like that set out kind of inside the inner wall. And he starts to lead you kind of in but stopping at the gate of course. There, safe enough for you. Yes, that all did just fine. Thank you. Indeed. Now, if I may have a few moments to speak with the prisoners or they may have information that is useful to me one of them did escape. Whatever is useful to you can be shared with the royal guard don't you think? That depends on the information. Considering I am the one who is going to be exploring and trying to bring them in I would prefer if it stayed in house. He gets off his horse and looks genuinely baffled. Are you trying to withhold information that could prove useful to serving the kingdom? The only thing we are worried about is information. It might have just been a singular occurrence and who knows, we don't even know if they were using those garments for one time. Maybe they might be potentially copycats we don't want to waste the guard's time especially when you already have so much going on. She gives him a very gentle pat. He crosses his arms. Roll a persuasion. Okay. I will do so. Renee, you came in at the right time. Gentle pat. 17. She basically giving him the doey eyes. Listen, you work so hard, honey. You and your big ol armor. Don't even worry about it. We got it from here. He just uncrosses his arms and breathes out alongside his eyes. It's been a long day for this guy. You can tell. He's got bags under his eyes. Both of you, I assume, have dark vision. So you can see that his eyes are nearly bloodshot. Like he has been awake for a while. Fine. Do what you want. Just leave him at the gate when you're done. Absolutely. Of course. Out of one of his horses bags. We normally don't do this. Merk work often has promoted some unsavory behavior. People bringing in too many, but since we're short on hands, he tosses you a jingly bag. Did he just pay me? He tossed it to you? Okay. I don't know who he tossed it to. Did he just pay us though? He most certainly did. You just received 30 gold pieces. Yeah. We're short on hands and anyone bringing in someone from the spine of death is worth a little bit of thanks. But of course. We are only happy to help. All right. I'll let you do your thing. He starts to walk into kind of the inner side of the wall. She gives a little wave and then looks back over, completely drops a smile. All right. So are we actually going to do this? It is up to you. I understand that you have a personal attachment or disdain for their motive. The ones that we found underneath fuck them. They are going in the jail. I do not care. All right. The other two, I will give them to you. But they are going on the shit list. Of course. Everyone who joins goes in the furthest rung down before they prove themselves. That's just how this goes. Fine. Like she's kind of like giving a little annoy patch. She clearly is not super comfortable with the idea, but the fact that she can literally kick their ass is after if they do any kind of shit. Fine. All right. If you are uncomfortable, then we do not have to go through this. I am unsure. But that is why I rely on you. Very good. As he said, do your thing. The rest of the charmed ones are going to go in. The unconscious ones are going to actually unlock them and basically wake them up. The charmed ones? The charmed ones are going in. They are going to get arrested. You turn in the three charmed necromancers and they go without any trouble. And then the two unconscious ones I'm basically going to smack them awake. Yep. You smack the tiefling Julius and the human serial. My head. I'm just going to be in the background. I am bad cough. Let's go. Renee is going to squat down and be like I'll write you to. I would like to take a moment to look around and see where you are. Julius, we're out there in a wall. Yes, you are. You're going to turn us in? See, this is where it gets very interesting for you. You said that you had not performed any necromancy yourselves. Is that correct? Yeah, as much as we tried and the tiefling just elbows him. We didn't. We didn't. We didn't at all. Not one bit. I tried a little bit. I didn't do it though. Are you going to try again? They both shake their heads. I'm doing an insight check. Most certainly can. Jesus Christ, that one dude just needs to put his foot in his mouth. He really does. These two are shaking their heads and it seems as though it was reactionary and they are doing basically, it seems as though they want to live. And you can tell that they're pretty quick to follow whatever it is that you say right now. They are whimpering, they are fearful and they are desperate. Listen. Listen, listen. I am going to be giving you a wonderful opportunity because unlike your little friends over there and she like points at the cell where all the other ones are sitting very politely and quietly. You have an opportunity to change the way that you and you'll keep you are being invited to join us in our syndicate. She has a very soft smile on her face. The human starts to beam a little bit. Oh, Julius, this is the second chance that we won. Well, third chance now. So, you're familiar with the three-strike pool, yes? Maybe. Which means you only have one more strike before you are out. The tiefling tries his best to look tough. What's the catch? Don't perform necromancy. It is a cross illegal for one. And you need to do exactly what is required for walking in Haku. You need to go to Jameson's general inside of the city proper. If we heal by morning and you did not go, you will be added to a different kind of list. And one that you will not survive long on. I believe that some people call it the shit list. That would be correct. And the human is scared shit list. He is shaking in his bindings. And Renee just like pats his cheek very gently. And you don't want to end up on that list. It is not very fun and it is not a very long time frame. Julie is the tiefling pipes up. Wait a minute. We're supposed to go inside the city? How are we supposed to get past the guards? You are already on the right side of the gate aren't you? The rest is for you to figure out. Like we said this is a chance we're not going to make it that easy. If it were that easy then everyone would be in and honestly that would be a lot more paperwork than it's worth. We have to make sure that you are actually capable of running with us per se. So you can either take this opportunity or we can just have you sit in with your friends and see what happens to you later. The tiefling just throws his body onto the grassy ground and with a thud and he buries his face and the human pipes up. I think that means he'll do it. And of course if you choose to try to say something to the guards about our invitation our second chance or third chance that we are giving you. I will deny everything and it will be your word against mine. And the thing is you're kind of wildly on the not so good side. I envy your chances really. This is fair like two. It makes things very simple. I value that simplicity. All right. I guess we ain't got no choice. Julius and Julius is kind of turns his head now his cheek laying on the grass. Yeah, whatever. Fine, we'll do it. Welcome. Then I bid you welcome. Thank you very much. Right. Renee, we have an appointment to keep. You two do as well. Good luck. Bon chance. Wait, what about our bindings? Oh, of course. I thought they unlocked them when they woke them up. Oh, maybe I guess you did. I was assuming that, but that's fine. Okay, my bad. I'm not going to unlock them because that would be bad. The guards binded them and then we just unlock. You're a decent distance away. I understand. But I'm going to do something that will cause less questions. Right. And that is I'm going to say, oh, right. And I'm going to like go over to them, pull them up and then I will walk them back to the guards with Renee. What are you doing? This isn't part of the deal. These Paul souls, they were actually totally innocent. They dressed them up as nickel monsters. Can you believe it? It was the wrong place at the wrong time. These poor souls. The human guard comes up. What? We're going to have to do another round of questioning. That is acceptable. If you would like my report, I can give it to you. In triplicate, of course, one for you, one for myself and one for the crown. Being the witch taker wizard, I have done a great many services for the kingdom of falconess. One of his lieutenants is kind of like whispers, hey, I heard of that guy. And he goes, all right, fine, scribe. He, some guy comes over and you know, you recount your story to them and so do the two, you know, the two captives. Then they are brought in, their bindings are taken off. They were like forced into service, pressed into it. They were enslaved by threat of death and then reanimation. We found them just in the nick of time and they told us everything when we were walking back. Really, they were heroes for not dying and telling us everything we needed to know. Of course. The human assigns a couple of escorts for the two. They try anything funny. You know what to do. Bon chance, my friends. You too. Have a good night. You as well. And thank you for your service. Yeah, yeah. And he goes back to looking at some paperwork. Well done. And I'm going to say Enoch, you probably headed back towards them. Yeah. I headed back to find to find Luna. Yeah, about now if you went through the sewers then you could easily find your way back and find Luna just holding Eliza who has fallen asleep in her arms. She's singing to her and she's sleeping. And you have made a campfire. Let me bring you all over to the map. I heard that. Yeah. I'm from a very talented team playing a few years ago. There we go. Here's where you are. It is near midnight by now. And she hears crunching. She does like prickle up a little bit like, you know, like she's got a kid. She looks and she sees it to you and relaxes her shoulders a bit. Good to see you didn't die. Well, I call it a lucky sliver right there, but no. Just sit down and begin unpacking my swage and everything I need. And I am going to bring my crucible over to the fire just taking off chunks of metal to put into the crucible and wait for it all to melt down proper. Okay. Is this going to be crafty time? Yeah, it is. I'm iron manning this shit. Time to make some bullets. What are you making? Silver or steel? For right now, considering how many shots I've already put off, I'm going to say let's make some silver bullets. Okay. 13. Okay. You managed to make six silver bullets. Enoch, I'm going to make something very clear to you. He points up at the sky one second as he's holding molten metal in hand with his tongs and begins to pour out into the billets. It's a very It's a very careful process. I'm sure it is. But I think you can listen to what I have to say while you're doing it. I wouldn't be paying attention. I didn't have a child of my own right now. So you have used up one of your silver bars. You have two left. With the intention of trying to make what usually would be 20 six is a massive failure. They are very hard to craft. Yeah, when you cool them, you notice like a few of them are malformed. Some of them like some of the molten silver has dripped out. Some of them have air holes in them after inspection. And I take the six that I have and I begin to swage them all into their casings and damn it. All right, now I'm listening. I want to make something very clear to you, Mr. Solomon. If you ever point that thing at any of us, I don't care what the reason is. It'll be the last thing you do. I do not tolerate someone who turns on their own men. I don't care what you thought was happening. This righteous sense of justice. You're going to need to abandon that for this mission. Sometimes you have to dress as the wolf to get to the alpha. All right. The notion is well and appreciated. Oh, no, that's not a notion. That's a promise. I'll see to it that the Viscount gets your blueprints because you won't be making it back if you pull a stunt like that again. You can almost see the dark glow from the eyes. Listen. I didn't have a moment to start with and if I really needed one I wouldn't start with you. The mission is clear. I'm just telling you what's going to happen. I don't know if you've ever worked with people before but if you think someone's doing something not right maybe not don't pull your weapons out on them talk to them. No matter of what 24 hours how many times that man lie and how many times of those lies benefit us lies are like a debt a debt that you have to pay to the universe every time you lie let me tell you a little bit about experience with debts when you lie to the universe and you have to pay that back it does it very cruelfully and there is always collateral and he's pointing at you with the metal arm by the way do you know what collateral you almost caused you almost delayed us enough to where this girl could have died you knew there was a child down here I didn't but you knew and you still didn't you let whatever anger rose up in you you let that cloud your judgment you let him pick up that book you let him read it and then he lied and then he lied some more and then he lied some more in every instance he could have been telling the truth being fully honest for all I know he could be letting criminals just walk away I want you to think about I want you to think about this who hired us to come together yes and somehow in some way you think that we should all be following the exact same rules um this is off the books we are on a mission to capture I know we're off the books I know what we're on a mission to do I also know that to do a mission like this we have to abandon some of our own morals we are meant to be we're not supposed to be going in guns blazing announcing who we are so going in and acting like one of them was really one of the smartest decisions made down there I like to bring up that point how was what he did was smart because now the black queen the black vain queen knows we're coming what will she do now that lie we have to pay for do you know you want to know how that helped us enough to this girl to where she could get her out of the cage without her getting hurt it got me close enough to the enemy so that I could take them down yes but think of the long run I am thinking of the long run she knows we're coming now she knows we're coming as the argument escalates this girl starts to just shake a little bit in her dreaming you can argue this day and not with me and but we just lost a major tactical advantage of surprise if you two keep on doing this then honestly it's going to cause you're not here I was just gonna say at that at that Rene and Nathaniel do arrive after this argument continues at this point put their tokens let me you can justify it all you want Enoch I'm telling you what's going to happen if you turn that on any of us again I don't care what the reason is a man that turns on his own is disgusting and vile I walk or I approach holding a bit of the berries in my hand I am like slowly eating them what are we justifying I don't know but it sounds very loud just gonna go start suiting the girl she's still fast asleep luckily foolishness apparently do one now right I don't exactly I think it's time we all talk about what we bring to the table yes so that we don't have another problem if that was necessary I would say you two work incredibly well together and I'd like to know more about you I would love to know what you two bring to the table as well well I'm gonna sit cross-legged at the fire what do you want to know well well I can't say I've ever heard of the witch taker before but admittedly I'm not from this part of Belganis as the vile count said I'm from the peaks hmm but I have to admit that Rose you two pulled was insanely clever and resourceful it's not the first time putting on the performance thing when it comes to certain criminal activity it's much easier to get closer what is he saying Nathaniel enemies closer friends close enemies closer yes something similar something like that I have to say I like the tactic I mean it is part of the reason I'm here in the first place that's right the vile count said something about SB Nodged didn't she yes that was some years ago though surprise it's still relevant two criminal factions I imagine remind her that it's relevant every day that wasn't entirely my fault but I can see well it would and like she's kind of like playing it up and as she looked at the fire she kind of like softens a little bit because well to be honest I was being a little bit selfish joining Naderia I was just very much trying to find ways to get into certain groups that could help me defeat necromancers in particular she's just nodding and listening I'm at pry but I'm I have to admit I again that was very clever what you both did so I think it'll be helpful for us moving on you it is scary how well you're easy to how easily it is easily easily you lie sorry it's been a long day no you're totally totally fair I am absolutely exhausted even though it I pop another berry in my mouth you see he's been very much familiar with taking on underground activity and it's putting on the mask is just practice you know yeah I could understand that hmm well I'm not good at what you do but I'm sure you saw before I'm pretty damn handy with the blade you very much are and I was going to ask about your friend the man of shadows that you create just a trick I can do even up the playing field a little bit they call me the ghost of Yastal for it that is a very pretty title does that name ring any significance to me you may roll me a history check if you would like I will well I don't know shit I first bad role of Nathaniel's career that's okay you know Yedzal Yedzal is a city in balconies so it's alright it's kind of something that's more relegated to the peaks I'm I'm a monster hunter that's what I do like that I count said I three yetis I've taken down I've been on countless missions for wolves and bears so well you said that was one and change technically speaking you had help on the other yes and she gives like a little bit of a playful wink of like a come on huh well by help I do have a partner he he works with me pretty often actually I didn't tell him I was leaving which might be a problem later on you know oh I didn't know I was leaving when we went to sleep so something we'll have to deal with speaking of partners the shadow that follows you yes what about it I'd like to know more about it uh she'll just kind of like a give like a snap of her finger and shadow will extend and sitting beside her is the same shadowy man you may present it you have control of that token now yes yes I do let me just come on out here echo boy an apparition what creates it is it's particularly powerful illusion magic a projection of your own psyche perhaps it's more like a projection of my of myself ah it's um well obviously obviously it doesn't look like me but it's like I'm projecting my own physicality who does it look like my father actually my apologies no no don't apologize I'm proud my father was a great man everything I aspire to be he's the reason I am what I am now I'm proud whatever magic I have that created it takes his form I will mention that when I say my apologies my eye my eyebrow twitches just a bit oh oh reaction his face moved I don't know if I noticed that my passive is shit if you'd like to roll in it's like you can but sure but I doubt it noticed it I want to sure I mean I don't Luna knows nothing I have a blank face my face never moves oh my god my face always moves what the fuck listen she is so attentive to Nathaniel when he does react to anything it's like a I'm not particularly like it's not that I'm not trying to hide it it's just that it's a visual cue so it's like I was probably focusing on like the girl so I just said I have a child in my arms your shit isn't all in my mind right now yeah I won't roll to like to counter it or anything I'd say an 11 is probably fine if that's alright with Joe yeah you do your father proud by showing his likeness and fighting alongside it I'm continuing his legacy I admire that you have something to follow I like that I go back to eating my berries and I'll dismiss my echo so that girl doesn't wake up to scary shadow man I don't know where I'm going to but you can just yeah Renee will just like nod and say I am a little bit green to say the least it sounds like you had a very strong connection we did on his own so I guess that's to be expected yeah anyway this isn't my life story isn't important it is in a sense at the very least it shows where your values are you have a very keen want to protect things that are important whether or not this is important to what we need to do or just important to you you are capable in terms of seeing the echo in the way that you performed try to be I'm not perfect I still make mistakes I mean running down by myself was probably one of them there have been plenty of mistakes today and hopefully they will not be repeated she's kind of like saying this like not looking at but also like we will grow right I hope so try at the very least to not make my mistakes cost anyone else but myself you can see he's just tinkering away on his metal arm what about you Mr. Solomon what do you bring to the table oh suddenly we want to know about me well you're often sitting over there by yourself tinkering away it would be nice for you to join the conversation if I recall correctly the last time that someone tried to have a conversation with you you rebuked it of course it doesn't matter much you've shown in your actions everything that I need to know as did you and what would that be exactly Mr. Solomon all of you got a debt that you need to pay back to the universe and somehow I'm going to be implicated in that you can see is like one of the fingers like switch from like normal position all the way back to all the way forward ouch what are your debts Mr. Solomon I ain't got a debt might already got paid you can see as he twists off the arm and he pulls it off of his actual body and he throws it at Nathaniel did at me in front of it I'm going to attempt to catch it just to make sure I want to to grab it okay he wants you to grab it oh in that case I'm still not going to move oh fuck grabbing it I don't grab things that random people throw at me Luna like starts to stand up and then remembers fuck there's a child right here and I can't wake her up so I'm just like grabs it and looks over at him like that's the price I pay that is the price I pay every single time you lie looking at Nathaniel looking at the fire you are adding debt to the universe and you will pay it back and there will always be collateral that right there in your hand Rene is the first time I ever paid the debt of lying and I never did it again and the collateral Samuel loses his eye you lost control of your life and wanted there to be structure to it something that would avoid it from happening again because it was so terrifying and you imposed that structure on others that's not the logic is that we are now sitting at the precipice where we are not above the law we are not below it we are walking a thin line your lies have cost us the tactical advantage of surprise to which now the black vain queen knows that we are coming the best thing we could when we came down there in the first place she as far as anybody could have been known we were just a bunch of group of adventurers saving in a little girl from a local disaster that still can be all we are you're not seeing the bigger picture here we didn't go in and announce ourselves as going after the spine we went in we talked our way to get close enough to the enemy we started a fight some got away some didn't in a sense you're both right we didn't announce ourselves finally something we can agree on we didn't announce ourselves at least not properly we could have been adventurers if it weren't for me but not because we didn't go in there stealthily it was because I wear the brandings of the witch taker wizard on my back I am a giant yellow target whether he knew who I was initially or not as soon as he goes to her says that a man in a yellow hat came in and took all of his men then he is going to know or then she is going to know who it is that she's dealing with Joe I actually wanted to see if I could remember something this kind of was happening all step by step I know that this might be a hard thing high DC but I still want to try it did when bloodstrike figured it out because I know he was staring at me and then started smiling I want to know did he seem like figured out that we were just adventurers or was there recognition that is going to require I would say a fairly high insight since you are recalling this information of what you can tell from the facial features from purely his mouth and his minimal gestures I know this is going to be a high one but I'll try it anyway nice to meet nice to meet 18 try to put yourself in the shoes of someone who didn't want to be found someone who is maybe part of the spine of death perhaps he sees you as not as much of a threat perhaps he may think as though if you were random adventurers that you were just making up a lie to continue your adventure perhaps he might be someone who believes you're not much of a threat at all as he seemed to walk casually out of there just like any other day I don't tell them that part well, yeah, I don't know that but I when you guys were in the studio when you first left I haven't told anybody here about you did the information about our conversation I do have a continuation though furthermore, I believe that she was most likely going to know about all of us Renee has a criminal record you have a metal arm and assuredly have a past that you haven't told us and Luna I didn't expect to have a history or a title behind her but you do it is actually very easy to get information and if she has a reach this far or this close to Belknis I can't believe that she won't have any reach on the side of the city I probably should mention that I have to agree because remember when I mentioned that my father's tomb was desecrated I have reason to believe that it was the spine who was behind it so even if she didn't know my face as soon as she heard my name she was going to know which means that postulating over what we didn't do wrong is the wrong move to take Renee will hand back what Enoch threw or basically like have her hand out with it just to see if I'll take it see the attaching little pieces that make up the nub and he just jams it back in and you can see the arm begin to move and she just gives him this very like pointed stare and just says if you really wanted to have the tactical advantage of surprise we would have never gone down there we would have never saved that girl we would have kept on going on our way and made advantage of our time but fortunately it seems that at the very least you have some sort of heart in there I don't know if it's metal or not but if you want to have a better tactical advantage other than surprise then we communicate what we are capable of that way we can all go into this and actually rely on one another while you may not like it Nathaniel is very good at lying he is very good at getting into places that we might not necessarily be able to at the beginning Luna apparently is very good with her sword you are good with a gun and apparently flying which if you would like to have a conversation I would very much appreciate knowing what you are bringing to the table to start with I believe that we could have done both but I will have to concede to Nathaniel there is no point point out what we did wrong and what we did right have it your way oh hell no trust is trust is vital to work with each other we can't trust each other at the very least at least on a battlefield we can't have some semblance of trust within each other we are going to crumble I agree with you this is me not disagreeing with you I agree with you but trust as a person we are off to a very rocky start as he will step over to the fire and so what do you all want to know what do you do I machine things I I can make things mostly firearms at the moment my experimentation with trying to infuse magic and machinery is a very long and arduous process but I am getting closer to that break through as per what I am I am as human as one can be just giving you a look there is a kind of similar thing Renee is also kind of giving a look at this point I am beginning to lay down so that I can go to sleep listen I'm not going to press whatever the hell you are I understand what you are but I'm not going to press it I know what you are you are as human as you can be too I'll be a little bit luckier than I but I don't think I think we are from backgrounds that are a little too different to be making comparisons I've simply told you the good things I've done nothing but tell you all the truths as far as I am allowed to get some sleep Renee did you have anything else you wanted to say no, if you are going to sleep by all means go to sleep I will take a first watch and she looks over at Enoch has a very like gentle smile on her face as she says I would feel very much like if you did not aim a gun at my friend again because if you do it will not be very... as long as we burn the book I stare up at the night sky if you want to carry around bad juju that's all you have it is evidence of the case unlike you with your an unofficial case that will never make it to the courts alright, alright enough this is not an argument the book is staying with me enough Renee wake me up when your watch is done I'll take the next one and she nods we'll probably play like a little bit on her lute just very lightly very nice okay Renee you may take the first watch actually alright yeah, you may take the first watch you can give me a perception or survival of your choice they're the same okay, okay I say as I get like absolutely nothing you see the odd carriage, guard or random person pass you by along the road that is quite a few yards away it's like a short jog but it's a little bit off but otherwise a mostly uneventful night so far and you wake up Luna you may take your watch as well the elf girl is still fast asleep with a thumb in her mouth and clutching at nothing just at the grass I imagine I've put a blanket over her as we've over my coat because I forgot I have one because I didn't want it in the art I've wrapped her up in my coat while they're changing shifts, Renee can also be like I can keep her company while you take watch if you would like I don't want to move her fair enough it's alright don't worry, get some rest she will okay, and you something else? oh, no, no you may make your perception or survival check yes, yes, I was going to say something and then my brain shut off so I'm just going to assume it wasn't important not to hey! perfect view of nothing absolutely fuck all but I'm so comforting to this child you peer just at the landscape you can see as far as the city you see the capital building that scrapes the sky with airships still parked you see a few more people passing by just throughout the night every like 30 or 40 minutes or so someone passes and one person seems to set up camp a little bit distance from you a single person can't quite tell from this distance make out any features or anything but they seem to have some kind of large pack but otherwise another uneventful night or another uneventful few hours rather seems pretty normal, I'm not too worried I guess I gotta wake someone up for next watch, huh Enoch Luna shake your shoulder see as he's sleeping on the ground you know that classical cowboy hat over the face kind of deal if that's what you do I just flick the hat I like playfully mind you the hat off your head relax body it's your turn relax body he gets up by the way when he does get up his arm falls off because he was unconscious ah shit this is a thing yeah so if your character is unconscious the arm automatically detaches so if Enoch ever goes to sleep or hit zero his arm detaches why are you the fantasy embodiment of arm fall off man hahahaha he forgot to take it off before he went to bed well god have a safe watch there's a person that set up camp a bit further down but they seem to be normal people head to and fro balcony all the time just something to keep an eye out for as long as the last person on the watch and I'm going to go to sleep alright good night okay Enoch you may give me a survival or perception of your choice assuming my perception is a lot better than my survival it is huh 21 you see mostly the same like people going 21 and you take note of the figure that Luna mentioned that they seem to rustle around like in their sleeping bag pack up and then go it seems they were unable to deal with living in the wilds the best part of waking up but however they seem to stop on the main road and set up camp in the middle of the road and any odd person here and there just kind of goes around them and otherwise your night goes uneventful and you guys finish a long rest it is 2 out of 14 days in your travel to clove way you guys wake up um it you know it is a bright sunny day the clouds have parted and you know uh so you just see the child making sure she is not hungry thirsty when you tend to Eliza she seems to be doing well she wakes up actually no she is still asleep she is exhausted baby I am going to let her sleep for as long as possible but eventually I will gently shake her shoulder Eliza she kind of turns and grasps like almost her entire body like wrap around your arm baby come on dear wake up so we can find your mommy she rubs her eye awake ok you don't have to walk or carry can I get on your back sure of course she smiles put her up on my shoulders like super tall she kind of very gently bounces up and down a little bit with her hands kind of bracing herself on your shoulders pushing herself up and down if I get from up there you might be able to see the woods you grew up there hmm she puts a finger on her lip I think it was why and she points towards the woods like almost straight east perfection but what else is everybody doing this morning yeah general maintenance general maintenance yeah make sure that this thing doesn't explode luckily the morning dew has not rusted up of your parts so that's good it's stainless steel baby vene is just kind of like getting ready for the day kind of like running her hands through her hair making sure that she looks relatively presentable it's hard to do when you're traveling but she makes do girls gotta make do I stand up and I'm ready for the day very nice and we can't all be as naturally beautiful as you are beautiful hmm well it would have if you didn't wear something so um yellow I keep on telling you I like I very calmly clean my glasses and then put them back on are we allowed to go through the woods yes if we are allowed to go through the woods and show that many people would get to see where you are she kind of like almost wants to reach out for the half but she kind of like doesn't it's kind of like the way of like she wants to grab but she won't you're very fluorescent yes listen I have tried so many different times I can't get into change maybe he I mean I don't think anybody can pull off the rainbow like you do Renee she just shrugs I was just going to say that I give no reaction to these compliments I am too beyond this thought and then we move back she's taking his hat and putting it on are you trying to take the hat I was trying to take the hat don't touch listen listen that's an offense to me if you try to take the hat only then will I move yes she's just kind of like a little bit of like a playful almost mischievous smile I got you to move that's offensive to every man that has a hat you don't touch a man's hat this is an official uniform you are not at liberty to take it see Eliza he just stares at his face waiting for some some sort of other reaction other than just a statement after not getting it Eliza is enjoying herself and giggling at the cacophony that is going on good while I have her like up on my shoulder is the wound on her leg just completely scarred and healed it is scarred over it is not as bad a scar as it was yesterday but from what you can tell it seems like this is as good as it's going to get but it doesn't look like it's going to be a permanently debilitating injury are you I'm going to approach the child and do you know how long it will take for us to reach your village she looks around and puts a finger on her lip hmm I think I know and her eyes go wide that tree, that one over there and she points it's a little bit off in the distance yes is that close to your home she nods her head very enthusiastically good wonderful, wonderful good eyes well we should probably be off look at this girl, her mom's probably worried sick I'm I am going to like glance over to Renee for a moment then back to the child you have been very brave so far and for your bravery just for a little while I would like you to hold on to this I'm going to take off my hat and put it on the child Renee just looks like betrayed but also is so happy but also like Luna will kneel down a little bit to make it easier for you to put it on her head because she's currently like sitting up on my shoulders she reaches out her hands and makes like grasping motions with her fingers like like half of her head disappears in the very wide brim and she has to hold it up a little bit to make sure that it doesn't eat her face she is now the witch taker wizard it's decided oh my god yes she's got a big smile on her face and you know what Nathaniel go ahead you get an inspiration for that fantastic she's gained my title which means she's also gained my enemies oh my god Renee just looks so like betrayed doesn't that suit you seeing this Enoch's just going to whistle a familiar tune just this is as happy as it can get for this moment and you guys start to follow her directions I presume as she holds her hat to the brim as if she is captain of a ship she directs you from tree to tree each one having a little mark like a like either a letter in elven if any of you guys recognize elven yes hello you recognize that she writes her name in elven on a lot of trees and like a little she likes to draw a little sun right underneath it oh and along the path you guys uh come across someone who's just kind of rummaging a fur covered humanoid who's rummaging through a massive bag nearly the person size they seem to be muttering things to themselves as they toss out various objects and junk onto the grass oh you take a closer look and they seem to be a tabaxi with a very splotchy unkempt fur can't quite see his face you can see that some of his arms and legs are covered in scars and he's fairly lanky he is dressed in just thrown together robes and rags something that looks like it was part of an awning and there is a walking stick like jabbed into the dirt and uh it's a very long walking stick near of like a little bit taller than he is and at the tip hangs a little lantern he's like tossing things behind him they throw to the ground where is it Rene will kind of look at everybody and be like may I should we I think you should he's obviously in some trouble yeah I'm gonna stay back here with Eliza that's what I thought I will stick with you on that I'm gonna let the two talkers talk I won't see this happening and Rene will walk up hello you say to him his ears perk up he pulls himself out as if he was just snorkeling out of his bag out of his bag and his ears perk up oh finally customers and he turns his head you can see that he's got just as unkempt fur and scars on his face twisty whiskers and a glass eye that seems to lays down towards his cheek without my hat to stop them without my hat to stop them my eyebrows raise all the way off of my head you just became long dog good job and he just like throws down his bag and a bunch of contents just fall and neatly seem to walk into place in rows by themselves and he takes a seat cross leg and he extends an arm up to you oh my god yes art oh my god up to you Rene named no tail of no tail traveling Emporium the best mobile star in all of balcony what can I do for you I love him oh my god oh god Rene will take no tails and just say hello I am Rene it's very nice to meet you oh thank you Rene it's nice to meet you too and you right you want to buy something and when you shake his hand you can feel his fur is very dirty and unkempt someone gonna wash my hands your whole stock I would love to I'm kidding take a look and he gestures over and you guys can see no tails stock oh oh shit it's an actual list an actual list of stuff he's got wine he does yeah so the paper image is his special items and then he's got more general goods listed below you know just goods that you can find anywhere but his special stock includes the rod of entanglement dinner bell, ruined wicker belt, heavy arrows you can read it all I'm sorry this is a stick of stickiness it is a stick of stickiness oh my gosh Rene yes can you grab me a bottle of wine please oh I was planning on getting one myself you can just get two oh there's more if you scroll down you can see more general goods that he has that's all I want that are self-explanatory I know I'm just staring at that sitting there going gold gold gold gold gold or like the oh my gosh and do we have a chef amongst us I know how to cook things to where it won't kill you I know how to make a mean goulash I suppose you would need cook utensils if you do not already have them I'll already have them might be handy I'm used to just roasting things on a fire there we go I could just make my own so what we're going to get initially is this a bell oh that thing someone sold that to me said there was some kind of powerful kind of wear that enhanced their abilities it just seems like a rusty old belt to me hmm maybe someone could fix it or maybe I got swindled ooh I'm going to get that boy if that's true how many how many of these sticks do you have oh just the one that is a legendary artifact there's no more like it understood Renee your eyes please and so she will go over and she will cast detect magic we need to combine the stick of stickiness with the rock with the googly eyes so let me just yes is this simply a stick yes you do detect magic on the stick and the wicker belt however it's very very faint you detect enchantment on the wicker belt and on the stick of stickiness you detect let me make sure that it's the right one necromancy I'm waiting for it to be necromancy if it is I'm going to go feral no he probably doesn't know what he's just a random dude that has a stick he's too attached to the stick a very sticky stick gosh oh this is going to be transportation oh my god it's a wand of webs I was thinking a stick of grease but you know no it is a transmutation oh yes oh my god it's a wand of webs oh my god okay she just will very like she'll move back and whisper to Nathaniel what it is like what kind of magic I will take your wicker belt and your stick of course and he tells you the price which is six gold pieces also the ring of certainty you can see there's divination on that oh I really want that Renee is just I don't have any money I don't have any money but yes you may add the ruined wicker belt and the stick of stickiness to your inventory at the cost of six gold pieces I'm going to pay for that oh okay sweet Joe I'm going to ask to see if the church gave me any money well you should have gotten money from your background yeah oh I never rolled for that your back your background your background just gives you an amount yeah check your D&D beyond when you put your equipment and you should have also gotten gold yeah fingers crossed that this is a wand of webs I also pay for a bottle of wine and I'll also get the cooks utensils for whoever was going to get it because it's only one gold also I got paid 30 like I guess we should split the 30 to 15 huh if we have the gold for it we might also want to get the rod of entanglement not that my skills in apprehending criminals are any worse off for it but in the case that I'm not around with that high amount of magic well don't forget we still have those crystals right but those are for the one person I'm just saying we still have them just don't forget that we have those I can buy the rod if we need to if you'd like I think that I am happy with my purchase as I hold up the stick as am I putting that bottle of wine away uh Mr. Notale which direction are you headed oh I'm just looking for people trust the adventure like you could always use some special items I know going on all your journeys oh but of course um I think that for now we might be good on our purchases but if we ever see you again I'm sure that we'll be buying much more I sure do hope so and he claps his hands and all the items start to like bounce and move and travel all back into his pack and he has a very satisfied smile he smiles bears his teeth to you you can see a lot of it's missing no if you're looking to sell to people traveling there's quite a few people camping along the main road he snaps his fingers I'm not from around here see is that trade festival still going on uh the trading district could look better they're not letting anyone in or out of the main city right now but there's plenty of people camped about I'm sure that they appreciate wine and tools for sale since it seems like they're going to be there for a while if you just go closer to the the walls you'll probably see people he snaps his fingers more accurate go on well to be more accurate the trading districts a little there was an attack on the trade on the trade district a few days ago it's all kind of ruins right now he starts and she is right there is a bunch of people outside the walls that could definitely be buying up whatever you got good business right now he rubs his hands together that's a damn shame but it does mean a lot of rich folk like to step in and help and I think they could definitely help me and he kind of uh pulls his chinny kind of beardy fur well thank y'all for the heads up and he lifts his pack very gentle like as if tugging it you can see it's not moving at all but then it slowly starts to lift up that approach and levitate behind his back oh he gives you a little he gives you a two finger salute I do hope to see y'all again and he starts to walk with his walking stick as his backpack slowly levitates behind his back I do I think that that is the most beautiful man I've ever seen and as he approaches he stops at uh you uh Luna and notices the little girl on your shoulder oh and I have some very special feel little girl he puts to Luna like has a puts like a hand like she's like more protectively holding on to like the girls legs yeah the girls the girl starts to yeah Eliza the kind of like hides behind you a little like your head a little bit use the hat use the hat child um what do you intend to give her oh just a fun little thing and he he puts two fingers in his mouth any whistles which I cannot do and out from his sleeve crawls out what looks to be like overgrowth vine you know like like that tends to grow along like poles and stuff and it seems to like walk and it comes up to the back of his hand and he holds it up to the little girl what's that oh that's my little buddy Twiggy does it look safe does it look dangerous uh you can give me a survival or a um what is the plant thing is there a plant thing nature nature nature or arcana if you so wish oh that's a 13 it would have been a same thing with arcana so this is uh detect magic uh you do not detect magic on this you uh Luna oh wait no that was your previous detect magic the chat was going weird in roll 20 though um with uh detect magic being up to 10 minutes yeah it is up to 10 minutes yes so you don't detect magic on this Luna with a 13 you know that this is some kind of small creature that it is it is pretty harmless that it tends to group up and you don't recall the name but these things if they ever feel threatened they tend to run away most of the time but they sometimes can make very cute little companions oh would you look at that and safe I promise hey yo get stick bugged do do do do do do do do do I hate it here she she extends her hand and this vine like creature kind of jumps and like wraps around her finger like uh like a ring and grows almost instantly uh just like one singular leaf all and no tail gives a little smile hmm and bows I hope to see y'all again uh thank you yeah be safe on the road uh thank you I'm still watching this leaf the leaf uh Eliza goes to like sniff at the leaf and it starts to tickle her nose and she oh baby bless you and she like starts to wave her hand around like shh shh almost like flying it through the sky oh and the leaf splits in two and starts to like flap with her looks like you've made a new friend little one let's get you back home now shall we okay we'll like rub the dirt off like from the fur on like one of the nearest trees just no yes I want uh before is it not before I want a greek greek yak versus no tail stands in the chat do I guess oh god don't hit them against each other please greek yak is my homeboy how dare you tail is amazing and beautiful can I be for both of them no you have to pick a side in this house we don't pick a side pick a side I stand them both I stand them both and I love them both okay but yes sorry anyway you continue to follow Eliza's directions going from tree to tree rock to rock seeing her signature carving here and there until eventually you arrive you reach a small cottage bordering the wood so you're not in the woods yet you're about here on the map hold on the grid's on let me turn that off you arrive about here about the center of the hexagon and it's still kind of late morning and you arrive a singular humble little cottage bordering the woods like almost like the woods are its backyard and out on the front front porch sits a short bearded humanoid it's a dwarf and Eliza starts to get very antsy and is like looking around to get down from you yeah now as soon as she does I take her down you let her go and she immediately starts booking it towards the house and drops the hat on the way oh I'm gonna follow up after her just so I can explain to any guardian what happened I'll I'll pick up the hat and give it back to Nathaniel absolutely not I will walk forward and swoop up my hat okay never mind parental emotion makes me queasy almost just stay back here why does that not surprise me I will go with not so that I can speak but just so that I can listen alright and you see as she runs and she starts to make headway the dwarf notices and she starts to run as well and they meet halfway and they collide in a strong embrace and you can see the the dwarf has tears in her eyes as she is holding Eliza tight shifting her left and right side to side oh Eliza my girl I thought I lost you I'm just coming up quietly letting them have their moment she she showers Eliza with kisses and Eliza is just like hugging her and bearing her face in this dwarf's just chest and after they have a moment together she notices you all oh thank you thank you for bringing my girl back to me and she goes and like just grabs at your hand Luna and just holds it real tight shaking it and looking to all of you thank you so much Luna will kneel down a bit um because again told lady she'll kneel down a bit there's no reason to thank us really we just did the right thing your daughter was very brave you should be very proud of her oh I am did you find your way home you leave them here my sweet girl she did she did all by herself she's a very smart system with all her little markings we've taught her very well you should be very proud oh thank you oh no your leg here here I'll I'll go tend to it here come on all of you all of you you must come for some food I just made some lunch and it's the least I can do please please please come sure sure we can't stay very long though right we do have to be getting on the road but I'd at the very least like to explain to you what happened yes please please no worries you can stay as long as you want and she starts to she goes and like grabs Eliza's hand you can see she's only a head taller and um they they kind of hold hands and swinging back and forth on the way back to the cottage oh my god my heart Renee has a little bit of like a sad smile and like going into the house might be fidgeting a little bit my face betrays no emotion of course it does Renee would you say you're being obvious enough that I wouldn't have to roll perception to see that or um I mean I said it out loud so yeah no I wouldn't make you roll yeah Linda's gonna look back at you and she's just gonna kind of almost like a look of reassurance you know just like a comfort general comfort just to her you look anxious and she's just gonna pat your shoulder you don't have to come inside if you don't want to no I don't I'll be fine thank you like yeah see they kind of like threw off a little bit she kind of like straightens back up just takes a breath like puts on her little like persona again walks in alright and she will I will walk in after her I'm not looking back at me boys you going in or no oh I said I was going in you're going in you're just gonna stay on the front porch no I'm staying on the far side of this little gated area if there is a gate well it's just kind of like a plains and just like a few trees here and there just open open land at least 30 feet away alright yep we're standoff it's 30 feet away and so though it's looking at parents kinds of it breaks his heart so you guys head in and you can see that this place looks makeshift you know crafted not by any sort of business or anything that it looked hand put together but sturdy you can see various knickknacks and various different colors of wood kind of ununiformly put all along the walls you can see that when you walk inside you can see that Eliza is hugging a very young human boy with a very long curly black hair down to his shoulders and they are holding each other and crying I'm assuming this is her brother if you mentioned him to me before the dwarf speaks up yes yes oh by the way my name is Helios it's very nice to meet you my name is Luna you saw my companions who are free to introduce themselves Enoch's not in here well our friend outside he's Enoch Renee will reach out her hand she takes it and she shakes it firmly she's got a strong grip she will smile then like nice to meet you and you sir she'll turn it gesture Nathaniel Gainsby which take a wizard of belchness and I nod down oh you're from the city yes I have a few questions if that is alright of course but let me go prepare the meal before it gets cold of course and she heads on into what you presume to be the kitchen while she does this I'd like to kind of kind of like the same kind of same thing I was doing to keep Eliza entertained before like playing with her making little late sparks because I have the light can strip can trip but also with her brother entertaining the kids to the sparks Eliza seems very taken by them but the boy who introduces himself my name's Edmund nice to meet you Edmund thanks for bringing my sister back of course of course and all alone out there now could I while you're doing the light thing he like quickly seems to get an idea runs into another room and comes back and seems to have a woodcarve and starts to fly hold it fly it around the dancing lights oh my god I love this yes I'm continuing and as you do play for a little bit you guys take in the more of this house and you can see that it's decorated with a lot of knickknacks and you see a very notable painting on the wall a painting that looks like it's got a trail and two other women on it can we dropped can we dropped can we can we well that noted Joe could I just make a general perception check just to double check that everything is okay yes you may looking all around watching taking a pick and watch yes yes 17 looking around and listening since it wasn't too far off you can hear the distant voice of no-tail shouting about all boy more customers just like often the distance and you do hear a little bit of what's going on inside the like raw dragon and you know some laughing and giggling going on as well and from the woods you hear very subtle howling oh no tail and then I pulled out my gun oh no tail oh my god wolves are about to attack him and I just bought the only thing that would stop them the stick he didn't go into the woods he went towards the the wall oh okay yeah he's fine all right or is he uh hearing that sound I pull out my gun of course it's in the down position meaning and then I pull out my gun anyways looked at me you do know that it was very distant in the woods it wasn't close by yeah well then I I wouldn't have pulled it out if it's like if it's close yes if it's far no it's more like an echo it's more like an echo that has gone through the woods just wolves communicating all right that's fine hello I'm so sorry okay I'm sorry that I'm I feel like I'm prioritizing the wrong thing but you're okay you're just without internet is your recording still going no the recording is still going and the thing is I just got my internet back I was trying to see if I could get back one more time and it worked rad rad rad okay awesome so sorry about that so yes as I was saying guys looking around you see the knick-knacks and you particularly see a painting a painting with the Viscount Chandrell Miharian on it along with two other women beside her now hello we went into her kitchen yeah yes there is it like an open floor plan where you can see into the kitchen or is it is there a door it's open um hi I see you have a painting of the Viscount who else is who else is with her oh those and I can show you a close-up of the yes and this is what you see oh my god it's adorable stuff wait I don't see this no you don't you see three elven women one of them very clearly chandrell on the left another elf on the very right they all have very similar facial features the one on the right has kind of redder hair up done with a ponytail and the one in the center has very scruffed kind of dirty blonde hair with notably you know one of her ears has been cut oh and you can notice that it is a little bit shorter I wonder if the one wearing your buffering I was going to say I wonder if the one that's wearing black with the stern look is the bad guy I wonder which one of these those are the Maharian sisters you know chandrell yes who are the other two I don't recognize them the one on the right there that's Kara we haven't really heard from her for a long time since the war ended and the center one well that's apica hill and I wouldn't be surprised if you hadn't heard of apica hill she died in the war that's horrible hi my father fought in the war oh did he he didn't tell me too many stories there oh you probably wouldn't have heard of the Maharian sisters back there they were just normal soldiers as well no my my father was much close to the front lines I don't know where they were but I don't know much for sure either but my father also was in the war he set up a shop up in Chester city but he had a run in with the sisters oh what's your father's name Chester city quite a bit ah his name is Unlem does that name mean anything to me um do you know Dwarven no I don't then well it's a cool name oh oh recalling like history about what your dad would know yeah do I she said he set up shop in Chester city I take a lot of jobs in Chester city that is true okay hmm roll me just a straight D20 let's see that's a 29 not a 20 come on hearing about the war always makes Renee kind of like fidget a little bit not like horribly but just you've perhaps come across his shop every now and then you've never took taken note of it but you maybe recognize that name do I recognize have I well I don't know what he sells I just know I've probably passed by a building that had a sign that with his name on it yes I you know I might be crazy but I think I may have passed by that shop a few times that name on it at least wonderful if you ever travel up there again please pay him a visit I'm certain we're heading north so certain that Chester city will probably be on our path yes yes of course and her eyes narrow a bit and she puts both hands on her hips and please tell him to write back more I write him every day and I assume that he gets it but he never tells me what's going on with his shop I will make it a personal mission of mine that once I've attended to the business that I need to attend up north I will stop by his shop and tell him just that thank you yes the sisters he tells me that they were very close but after Abigail died they seem to drift apart and only one of them decided to stay a shame food Freddy and she brings out what looks to be some kind of meatloaf with rice and various types of steamed veggies that come out on the table a very cramped table that seems to be like the trunk of a tree that has just been cut kind of just across go on eat eat all right all right and I look at the kids um we should probably stop for now yes awww we won't be able to stay for very long yeah we do need to be on the road but I travel through a balcony pretty often so if you've got somewhere to be I can pack it for you and she kind of goes back into the kitchen and you hear rummaging and the kids both get plates kind of some makeshift wooden ones and they pile things on especially Eliza like has like a mountain of food she's probably hungry hungry girl they both kind of sit on the carpet in the living room and just start to dig in I'd like to look at you you go first you first I do have a few questions if you wouldn't mind oh of course what'll it be well you live out here in the woods but balconies are at least the walls that protect it are so close by why is that well it gets loud in the city and with all the talk about necromancy I thought as rough as the woods are perhaps it might be safer and she looks over to Eliza shows what I know I might consider going back into the city very soon I see well with that understood I glance over at the children are they listening right now Eliza's there but Edmund is not and you can see him walking outside with a plate oh yes you will be forced to have character development it will be spoon fed to you literally literally spoon fed Luna's probably talking to Eliza so I don't know if she's listening alright I'm going to like take a half step to the side so that I can hopefully like if I whisper closely not to be within the earshot of Eliza she leans in as well and has a concerned look on her face oh this is a purely innocent question I'm just curious how you all came to meet each other oh well after my dad left and I had a little place in the city I didn't know what to do with myself and so I traveled around a bit and I saw these two just sitting in a foster home and I thought perhaps I could start a family ah so they're old enough to understand my apologies oh of course no worries well I think that it is a very good thing that you have done ah thank you that's very sweet of you I will give her a nod I will take my take out thank you very much of course and before you leave in the meantime while you're having this conversation with her Enoch you see a very short boy a human boy with very curly hair that seems to almost cover his eyes is holding a plate of meatloaf and steamed veggies without a word and he's got a big smile on his face eat your greens if I may if I may for this added flavor with the wind blowing Enoch is just pretending he's sort of floating just pushing himself up against the wind just to feel the breeze and to be poked by this kid hey mister you didn't come in to eat so you must be pretty hungry I got you some food and thank you tiny person and he holds it up a little bit higher he's standing at his tippy toes very tiny person and takes the plate awkwardly doesn't know how to act around kids which is why he avoids them for the most part he points to you after he hands you the plate he points to your arm you've got a weird glove yes I do I do you want to hold it oh yeah oh no clink clank pulls it out of his jacket oh god damn it seeing you detach it his eyes go wide and he goes whoa and he holds out his hands and he's like hopping in place like a gimme gimme gimme yeah and kind of like holding like a dog treat like over the head of a dog is he just like slightly lowers it expecting to be bitten he takes hold of it and kind of cradles it almost yeah I made it myself wow can you make other things can you make a tail can you make me a tail I want a tail like a dragon and he like wiggles his butt like showing it off to you I want a dragon butt can you make me fangs I lost my tooth last summer and I've got this hole and I thought it would be cool if I had fangs and seeing this missing fake tooth I'm not a professional at dentistry so could I possibly medically understand how to put in a fake tooth on a child you would understand medically that putting a fake tooth in a child who's has not had their adult teeth grow in yet would be extremely dangerous alright well I don't know anything about kids as he's like just give it a few years you know it'll come out and it'll you can make it pointy yourself you know just yes I'm gonna be the coolest dragon ever and he's very hyped and he starts going off and off about all the different things he's gonna do as a dragon and the rest of the party starts to walk out hearing him talking a mile a minute you can see the eyes of please I don't know what I'm doing get me out of here before I walk out I want to lean down to Eliza just real quick alright little one we have to be going now but like I said to your mom I come to balcony pretty often so if you'd like next time I'm here I might be happy to stop lying see how how you're doing you're very brave she looks up to you a little bit you can see her eyes start to water but she doesn't cry and she she just walks up to you and wraps her arms around the back of your neck as you are leaning down I hug her I hug her back really tight I won't be gone too long alright stop the bad men please hmm will you stop the bad people yes I'm going to try very hard to stop the bad people and they're never going to get you again you'll ever she tightens her hug on you and just whispers into your ear please don't die you saw how strong I was right you saw my friend it's going to take a lot more than a few magic tricks to kill me she gives you a little smile I've taken down monsters way scarier than them she flinches a little bit and giggles and I just give her like one last little head ruffle now alright if you see anyone like that approaching you again you run and you run far okay she gives you a firm nod and her mom comes by and kind of grasps her gently around the shoulder and gives you a smile seems I'll be making another trip to Belkines a trip back sooner than I thought I suppose I'll see you then hopefully by that point I'll have given word to your father thank you of course happy to help I give a nod and I start heading outside where I see a stressed Enoch dealing with the trouble by this time Renee is just like I know it's a lot of fun but can I have it back please it's legitimately a part of me he didn't take it it was too heavy for him any chance that you let go he would have just like fall into the ground with it I just assumed he was like playing with it like a toy he wouldn't be able to he's not strong enough to carry it okay I was just going to say like by the time that Luna got out there probably Renee would have been like talking with the child about the middle arm and then been like you want a dragon tail okay how can we make that happen I mean I can but like I just don't know how to yet so maybe on the way back maybe at some point he can come back and give you it there give me like 10 years tops she like leans over go on it's doable I just don't know how to do it you don't have to tell him the whole this is where it comes to play sooner than you think you'll actually have a tail of your own and she like leans over it is not an entire it's not an entire life but you're not giving him the idea it's going to take forever you can see it he's morally struggling with this like he's seeing numbers in the sky like he does have the dragon like sticking out of his pocket it's like we can paint it and tap it and cast a light on it magic dragon plush alright yes you do he hasn't noticed yet Renee what are you doing oh I mean I was just like talking with the kid a little bit like now she's kind of like out of the house it's like that comfy environment was really uncomfortable for her so she's just out and she's like space okay like you can tell like the visible difference between her being in the house and her being out of the house right real quick how old is the child the boy child that is in front of us judging by looking at him he is probably like eight human years old hmm never mind we are not recruiting him no that's not what I was going to do I may have picked up something in the dungeon that I was going to give to him but never never mind not bad not the book anyway in that case I'm going to lean down the boy the boy sorry human child did I say boy child sorry yeah human child human child and I'm going to say your sister was very brave earlier yeah she gets really brave a lot of times especially when we play tag and I don't follow the rules mm-hmm that's very good but she was in danger and in life you're going to find that the only people you can lean on or the people you can lean on the most are each other so you should endeavor to keep her safe as much as she keeps you safe mm-hmm in that I'm going to hand him that lock from the dungeon that I pilfered ooh the lock you hand him the amateur lock and he goes if you find go on if you find the need to keep yourselves stuck in place then you can use this just don't lock it immediately because you won't be able to unlock it very easily oh better yet learn how to unlock it yourself those are your choices and I stand up he almost locked it right before you said right before you said don't lock it immediately he had his hand ready to slam it down like Ben 10 baby baby boy by the way you guys are just witnessing Enoch basically his brain is fried his soul is like leaving out through his mouth he's just after you tell him this he goes yes I will take care of my sister with this new lock and I will be the strongest dragon ever and he holds out the dragon and it's light he's like whoa his mind is blown I am the sun dragon I I I give off an emotion that is hard to pin down inside inside inside I want to know can you show me I want to know about this stranger like me it's somehow recognition and pride but it's strange it's strange because why would I be prideful of this child I don't know him oh so cure all the curiosity it knows no bounds he continues to run around with this dragon up in the sky and kind of flapping behind him his other arm holding on to the lock and you know his mother the mother Heloise comes out she goes alright alright headman calm down now you don't want to tire yourself out before the end of the day let the grownups go on their journey and he continues to just be amazed at the bright dragon toy and his mother takes note of it and she just like goodbye and she waves to you as Eliza does as well very gently goodbye farewell and I begin to walk off into the woods alright and that will be where we call the session today no give us more that was so wholesome I demand more