crash diet hair loss regrowth

matt: welcome to tonight's episode of critical role, where a bunch of us nerdy-ass voice actors battle traffic from e3 to get here in time to roll dice and play dungeons and dragons. travis: yeah, we do.

crash diet hair loss regrowth, sam: video games! matt: it has all the stuff. marisha: all the video games. matt: thank you for being patient and waiting for us

with a couple of tech issues and just generally battling living in los angeles and having a car. anyway, before we kick the night off, real fast, i just want to take a moment to acknowledge - and i feel it's important to acknowledge there's been a lot of difficulty and a lot of terrible things happening in the world and in our country in particular this past week or so.

and us as critical role and this community around, i'm sure many of you agree, we just wanted to take a moment to express that we stand with the families of those that are currently dealing with this difficulty, who have lost those, and stand with the communitythat this was aimed at. and everybody who has come together as part of this, we are in full support

of this whole wonderful gathering of people in light of this darkness, and i think it's not just myself when i say that everything this community stands for is to perpetually spread love, community, positivity, acceptance, and everything in between. so we just wanted to bring that to you guys and let you know

that we're thinking about you all out there. and we have a wonderful communityof critters out there as well. if anyone needs any help,assistance, or guidance, or even just a happy wordto pick them up during this rough time, we're all there for you. so, anyway. (blows kiss, sighs) then, to kick off this eveningof announcements and such, we are kicking into the second day

of our renewed loot crate sponsorship. travis: yeah!marisha: yay! laura: whooooo! matt: we wanted to reinforce that their current theme is dystopia, which is an awesome theme box that deals with all sorts of things of post-apocalypse and dystopian-type films, games, the whole thing.

they have fallout, robocop, bioshock, a whole bunch of really, really cool things, so if you guys want to go to lootcrate.com/criticalrole, you can go ahead and get $3 off your subscription and get a whole bunch of that cool stuff. we also have the dystopia dx, which is their big collector's box - travis: so awesome. matt: which we showed last week, which is -

laura: oh, is that what this one was from? marisha: yeah, your sweet shirt. laura: yeah, skeletor!ashley: i love that shirt. matt: (laughs) that's pretty slick. if you guys have a chance to check it out, go see if it's something you'd be interested in, and make sure you put in the criticalrole (all one word) code to go ahead and get your subscription discount,

matt: which is fantastic. travis: yeah. matt: we're happy to present that(funny accent) and are happy that they like our show enough to come and sponsor, which is awesome. (normal voice) so check that out. you have until the 19th at 9 p.m. pacific to subscribe and receive the dystopia theme, otherwise it switches over to the next theme,

so if you're gonna get under the wire for that one, (funny accent) do it soon. it's like a - yeah! we have a - travis: we’re giving out cratesin a chat room thing, don't we? matt: you think so? ashley: yeah.sam: giving out crates? laura: we are?ashley: loot crates? taliesin: are we?marisha: are we? travis: yeah.laura: (gasps) that's exciting!

marisha: i want one. ashley: it's gonna be give away at the break? matt: oh, snap. ashley: i'm just going to start making stuff up. travis: is that - did you just point and - marisha: (laughs)ashley: point, shoot. sam: loot crate has donatedtwo loot crate dx boxes to give away to you. we will be doing this at the break

and at the end of the night, random in chat. you must be active! stay tuned for that! exclamation point! ashley: whoa!matt: (laughs) marisha: i'm so glad someone wrote that down for us! taliesin: yeah, i'm so glad they wrote out the exclamation point. travis: i'm in the chat right now. laura: (laughing) yeah.travis: totally.

sam: remind you, gotta stay active. marisha: you're active? stay active. matt: stay active, travis. in the game! (snaps fingers) eyes up here, grog. (all laugh) matt: all right, so the next couple of things we want to mention to you guys real fast: we have, it started up today, a critical role t-shirt contest that went up.

laura: yeah! matt: we're doing this with woobox. the link should be in the chat roomfor you guys to check out, but we have currently, until june 24th at midnight, the cut-off date, but if anyone wants to submit any designs, all the rules for the contest are there. when all those designs have been submitted, we ourselves, the cast of critical role,

are going to pore through and pick our favorite. matt: and you -laura: top three. matt: top three?laura: yes. travis: top three faves.taliesin: top three? ooh. matt: (funny accent) and we will have designs incoming forward for official critical role shirt stuffs, which is nice. travis: (similar accent) critter. laura: (similar accent) critter, it's a critter shirt. marisha: critter shirt.

travis: (similar accent) critter community t-shirt. sam: are they all going to be likeboaty mcboatface or something? laura: what's boaty mcboatface?matt: we will select - sam: boaty mcboatface is like an online "name our boat." (all say boaty mcboatface) matt: say boaty mcboatface so we can get into this, and i'll be happy. travis: do your worst.show us your best. yes! liam: k'varny mcvarnface?

marisha: all right, who did we send to alaska? who was that? was that flo rida? no, who was that? fuck. matt: no. oh, alaska? that was...redman. bulldog. marisha: bulldog! matt: bullman.taliesin: pitbull. marisha: pitbull! pitbull! matt: i mess up his name intentionally all the time.

travis: bullman?taliesin: (groans) marisha: (laughing) pitbull.ashley: bulldog. shih tzu. taliesin: bullman never had a hit before. marisha: he played in, like, a wal-mart in anchorage. sam: he's going to be a guest next week. travis: artist formerly known. laura: but it was like a joke for publicity, right? matt: he went ahead and did it! the online poll for his next performance,

the internet trolled himand made it to this far alaska performance. marisha: like a wal-mart in anchorage, or something like that. laura: and he did it? that is so cool. matt: and he did it! i was like,"respect to you, man. well done." marisha: yeah, respect.like 50 people showed up. laura: that's awesome!marisha: and got a private - laura: concert.marisha: yeah. redman concert.

taliesin: you know what,i've done a con in anchorage. it's nice. i like it. travis: yeah, man. anchorage moose. taliesin: they've got moose. laura: can we talk about our next thing because i'm so excited about it. sam: yeah.taliesin: what's the next thing? marisha: yeah.sam: do we get to show it, or no? laura: yes.taliesin: oh, yes, that!

liam: (frustrated noises) laura: wait, okay, so liam gets to say it. sam: this is liam's job. matt: so, you are technically dm. liam: so some of you might remember us talking about joe madureira - taliesin: (gasps) liam: - and his kickstarter game, darksiders night war - taliesin: (whispering) so pretty.

liam: - which he successfully kickstarted. we talked about it a bunch on this show - matt: battle war, you mean?liam: hm? matt: darksiders was - liam: excuse me. battle chasers.laura: battle chasers. liam: excuse me, i was going to be here for a half hour and settle down and go over my talking points. liam: battle chasers.sam: you're wearing the shirt.

liam: battle chasers. i'm wearing the damn shirt. liam: sorry. hour and a half in l.a. traffic. anyway. he successfully kickstarted,they're working on it, i just saw him at e3,i saw him a couple of days ago. if you don't know joe's work, he is a comic book artist rock star. he has worked on x-men, he's worked on avenging spider-man,

inhumans, ultimates 3, and his own comic, battle chasers, which i fell in love with when i was a teenager. he does gorgeous artwork. he's only gotten better with time. sam: pitbull chasers.marisha: (laughs) liam: pitbull chasers, flo rida,and joe collaborating together. anyway, that game's coming out. you should check it out, this is it.

but i bring that up becausewhile joe is a busy, busy guy, he somehow found the time - i'm so excited - to create an exclusive art piece for critical role. ashley: can we bring it in? marisha: so gorgeous.laura: okay, okay, okay. (noises of awe) liam: look at that business. so right now - laura: it's blocking my face, but i want to see it. travis: oh.ashley: it's crazy.

marisha: well, we've seen it tiny. liam: guys, if you go over to the geek and sundry shop right now,this is on pre-order, so - i'm going over my script - signed versions of this will be available for pre-order for two weeks only. travis: yeah, limited two-week run, y'all. get it. liam: two-week pre-order.and then unsigned for three weeks.

laura: three weeks. liam: so this is now or never.marisha: that's it. ashley: it's so badass! marisha: now or neverand then it goes away forever. laura: forever! liam: and it's too gorgeous, too. oh my lord. marisha: it's so gorgeous. ashley: i wonder if we should showa close-up or something. laura: so yeah, keep in mindwhen you order it on pre-order

that you have to waitfor it to be fully pre-ordered before we can send it out. laura: i don't know if that was on camera because i'm above the poster. ashley: it's so sexy.marisha: you're so sexy. liam: it's all right. vex is on the paper, so. laura: that's right. marisha: pike in that three-point landing! laura: oh no, don't take it away.

ashley: (singing) goodbye, my love! travis: there's an image on the website, right? marisha: and they are movie-poster size. they are that size. laura: yeah, they're that full-on - liam: they're 24 x 36. gorgeous.marisha: 24 x 36. sam: and there's a place to click on the page where you areright now watching this. matt: those are my eyes. i'm on a poster!

laura: is the image online? i am sure it is. marisha: if you scroll down, there'll be a button. liam: scroll down to the bottom of the page, there's a button for that. marisha: scroll down, there's a button. ashley: scroll down. liam: thank you, joe. thank you. it's gorgeous. laura and marisha: thank you, joe!matt: thank you, joe. it's amazing. ashley: thanks, joe!taliesin: that's amazing.

8:32 laura: it's beautiful.ashley: i love it so much. matt: it is getting framed and becominga centerpiece of our home. laura: i know, right? liam: and battle chasers night war. you should check it out today. matt: all righty. sam: signed, by the way, signed by us, not by the artist. liam: us. by us.marisha: yeah, by us.

taliesin: you could find him. you know, track him down if you wanted to. marisha: yes. (laughs) matt: (in a funny accent) taliesin, you are going to be somewhere this weekend, are you not? taliesin: oh, god, i am. as soon as we're done here, i go home and pack and get on an airplane. i will be at amazing comic conin vegas all weekend.

travis: you bastard. taliesin: yeah. sleep is never gonna happen. laura, ashley, and marisha: no.taliesin: never. ashley: what is that.travis: sleep. taliesin: you can meet me, slightly deranged, all weekend at amazing comic con with a bunch of other street fighter kids, and it's going to be a great time, and be right next to the library bards.

bonnie gordon, yeah yeah. matt: yes, yes.taliesin: yeah, be hanging with them. marisha: oh, yeah, library bards. nice. matt: glorious.taliesin: good times. matt: and if i recall, there was also a recent announcement of a cool telltale game that went up this week. laura: oh, man! batman the telltale series! ashley: yes.

travis: it's sweet.they announced the batman cast and laura is playing catwoman selina kyle. laura: yeah.marisha: yeah, man. travis: i play district attorney laura and travis: harvey dent. ashley: ohhh.laura: it's pretty exciting. travis: we're gonna turn gotham around. laura: and at e3 today,we went and checked out the demo and it's pretty frickin' cool.

ashley: it's so good. i saw it yesterday and today because i just couldn't not watch it again. travis: it's gonna be fun.taliesin: yeah. matt: all righty, anyone else have anythingthey want to talk about? (southern drawl) or shall we dive into the rest of tonight's story? travis: let's dive into the story.marisha: let's dive.

matt: (southern drawl) all righty. let's go ahead and bring it down as we all prepare ourselves to begin to kick off tonight's episode of critical role. (spooky ethereal music) (heavy breathing) (roaring) (dramatic music) (gun firing)

(crackling flames) matt: welcome back. so, picking up where we last left off last week. vox machina, the growing troop of heroic misfits, having recently felled their first recent memberof the chroma conclave, umbrasyl the hope devourer, as well as destroying

the current incursionof the herd of storms in the city of westruun. you met with the remaining people of the town and began to decide a plan for its continued existence and the recovery of those that were displaced in these recent conflicts. part of this process was meetingan individual named kerrick, who was a blacksmith who had been in the town for a while,

who unwittingly became part of this discussion - marisha: my best friend. matt: (laughs) you - grog had spoken with the remnants of the herd of storms that had essentially been disbanding from the name and moving west to join with the rivermaw, which had stepped off from the herd not too long ago. you guys had a hot springs episode in the mansion.

sam: (laughs) matt: scanlan, you had made your way back to kymal, in which you, along with the aid of a few of your friends, figured out a plan in which the people who had been displaced could eventually return to westruun, and also found kaylie and spoke with her, had your somewhat tearful reunion there.

you guys began to construct a subterranean portion of westruun that would be protectedfrom future dragon incursion, renovating and restructuring within the sewer system beneath the city. after this process was complete, you decided the next level of your trek, the next direction you would travel would be towards the far western,

northwestern continent of othanzia. specifically, the city of vasselheim that you know all so well. all of you guys stepping through a tree portal presented by keyleth, you immediately step out into the snowy exterior of what seems like the outside of the quad roads in vasselheim. and now, we see what your next plan of action is.

what do you guys want to do? sam: (sighs) light a fire. laura: what time is it? (laughs) marisha: yeah, what time is it? matt: it's hard to tell right now with the cloud cover so thick in the sky, but you envision at this point in time, it's probably mid-afternoon or so. the general omniscient glow through the clouds,

kind of diffused light, but based on the time that you - where you were and how far you traveled, you gather it's probably early to mid-afternoon. scanlan: well, you're the one who brought us here, vax. where would you like to go? vax: i need to go to the temple of the raven queen. scanlan: we'll come with you.vex: let's go. percy: i know where that is.

vax: i know that you all have a lot of errands to do. i don't need everyone to come. grog: we have a lot of errands to do? vax: i thought so. you mentioned... vex: my only errand is to keep my eyes on you. percy: i have some errands, if that makes anybody feel better. i have some errands to run. grog: do you need any help

with your errands? percy: sure. actually, yes. i would love some help with my errands. vex: don't let him shop, percy.do not let him shop. percy: that shouldn't be a problem. grog: i don't know what that means, but i'm sure i take great offense. vex: (laughs) percy: that's - you're getting smarter.

grog: how effin' dare you. vex: that eagle form really made a difference. vax: it rubbed off, yeah. travis: i spit out a feather. (pthh) no, i don't. yeah, a loogie. matt: so. who's off to where? vex: where is this raven queen's temple? vax: (sighs) i - we've not been here many times. liam: are we surrounded by people?

are there people walking about? matt: there actually - it is quite a busy time in the afternoon. there is actually a bit of hustle and bustle. looking around, just a quick glance at your vicinity in vasselheim, you can see a lot of the bastions are out in force. many of them are in process of helping construct what looks like green forest dragon-headed ballista.

some of the ones you had seen towards the outside wall of the city; there are more being installedupon the inner walls, and the ones in the distance appear to beunder some form of construction. percy: we have rooms. why don't we go claim our rooms and i'm sure they can lead usto everywhere we need to go. vax: that makes sense.

keyleth: want to go check inat the slayer's take? percy: and we can meet back therewhen everything is done. keyleth: all right. vex: pike, do you need to check in at your temple, or should we pretend you're not here so they don't try to make you stay? keyleth: yes. pike: let's just pretend for a little bit. grog: yeah.keyleth: okay.

pike: and then i'll check in later. there's no rush to get there. at least, that i know of right now. maybe next time. scanlan: god will wait for a long time. grog: all right. to the slayer's take, then? vex: let's do it. percy: to the slayer's take. matt: all right.

you guys continue further southinto the quad roads until eventually you find yourselves at the slayer's take guildhall. the door is partially ajar already. it appears that somebody had left it open, but it is warm on the inside. you can see a fireplace hearth on the far back and to the right is already kind of filling the area

with this subtle musty smoke smell, and the crackling of wood in the distance is a very welcoming sensation from the cold exterior of the city streets. as you enter, you do not see anybodyat the front desk at the moment, but you do see a few otherrandom individuals of the guild that have taken certain tables. some are eating, and some are in the process

of playing cards or passing the time. it seems to be a relatively casual day here at the slayer's take. but your rooms are still available,best as you need. what would you - anything you specifically require in this place? laura: can i just grab one of the people that are here and ask him, vex: what's all the hustle about outside?

i see them installing more. matt: okay. you go ahead and - one of the guys closest to you, you've met him briefly in passing,his name is loran. he has a completely bald head with a single stripe tattoo down the center. he has a very, very pointed long chin. human, but he's probablybeen busted in the face a few times. you can see there's just scars

and what appears to be bone structure that may have been reformed at timesdue to blunt trauma. but he's just sitting there,sharpening his weapons, just kind of doing good upon his own self, being prepared for anything. but as you come over to ask him the question, he looks up to you and goes, loran: word's gone around the town recently that there's some wandering dragon horde

tearing through tal'dorei, so they're just upping security around these places, just in case. vex: smart. loran: i hope so. hope they make their way here. vex: nobody's sighted the dragons, though, over here? loran: not to my knowledge, but (chuckles) i'd love to get my hand on some of them scales, eh? (blade scrapes) keyleth: what's your name? what's your name?

loran: loran. keyleth: what?scanlan: what? keyleth: (hesitantly) oran? what?vex: loran? keyleth: loran. matt: because... that's what i remember. laura and sam: (laugh)liam: thought so. vex: it's - (laughs) liam: it took over fifty episodes for that to happen. sam: i'm glad he broke.

laura: i'm sorry, what was the question? matt: well, when you don't take notes when i give you a character's name originally - matt: - and they come back around and it's weird when you suddenly take damageand your character starts hemorrhaging. laura: oh no. loran. loran.loran was his name. liam: i was just eating an apple.why am i dying? travis: veiled threat. ashley: i'm just sitting by the fire, so.

laura: slayer's take.taliesin: (laughs) marisha: so this is - we have seen this guy before? matt: some of you may have seen him in passing. you haven't really had a conversation with him. he just exists within the guild. there's many membersthat you've come across in the past. marisha: sure, that exist.travis: probably a dragon. laura: pointy chin. got it. ashley: stripe on his head.travis: nothing wrong with those.

vax: how are the people doing? is there a sense of worry,or do you guys feel pretty secure? loran: as far as this town is concerned, it takes a lot more than a couple dragonsto drop these walls. it's the reason it's been around for a long time, and i'd like to see them try. keyleth: have you everencountered a dragon personally, loran? loran: i mean, i've come acrossa few small ilk in my days, but - keyleth: uh-huh. sure. yeah. yep.

sam: (laughs) are you hazing loran? marisha: nope. nope. vex: keyleth is proud of herself because we've just killed our third, actually. loran: oh, that's fantastic. i love to hear it. you half-elves are a humble bunch. travis: fire! fire! put the flames out! marisha: yeah, team half-elf. yeah! travis: such a good burn.

laura: liam, i don't want to ask matt this, but the chick that runs the slayer's take, her name's vanessa? liam: vanessa.all: vanessa. sam: cyndrian. liam: and her husband merkin. sam: mertin.travis: most amazing name. vex: are vanessa and merkin around? vex: mertin.liam: mertin. (laughs)

travis: nope, merkin from now on.sam: merkin is a different thing. matt: (laughs) yeah, a very different thing. i guess it depends on if he shaved recently.59600:20:59,000 --> 00:21:02,000he looks toward the back room,where her main office is, and he goes, loran: you're welcome to go aheadand knock on the door if you're feeling frisky. scanlan: sure. vex: should we try to sell vanessasome of our dragon bits? grog: we should sell to, like, a merchant? vex: well, vanessa - they tend to be in the -

percy: they may have a buyer. vex: yeah.keyleth: yeah. grog: love that you asked me that question. vex: let's go see - i know, right?what was i thinking? grog: i don't know. (laughs) percy: keep a few of the scales, obviously. grog: we can tell what my place in the party is. vex: of course. grog, come with me. keyleth: oh, wait, keep the teeth.keep enough teeth for us.

percy: we'll talk about the cold bag for now and see if there's anything elsethey want to talk about. keyleth: i have an idea for teeth. laura: can i go find vanessa? matt: you go and knock on the door. (knocks) there's a brief pause. knock again. (knocks) vex: (sing-song) vanessa?vox machina here - oh, hi. matt: the door (fwoosh) swings open.you have to duck backwards. it (thump) slams ontothe other side of the wall there,

knocking a few knick-knacksthat were on a nearby shelf over. and vanessa swings out. vanessa: what? who's calling - ah.it has been some time. how nice of you to come and visit. may i... be of service to you,or is this a business call? vex: oh, well, we were wonderingif we could be of service to you. we happen to have acquireda great many dragon bits and we thought you might be in need of buying them for your sellers - buyers.

your people. scanlan: fencing them. vex: fence - you know. percy: i really thought you'd be better at this. vanessa: there is no fencing. vex: no fencing, no. no no no, you're - vanessa: we run a legitimate business. vex: legal buyers. vanessa: good. as was i hoping to hear this.

let me check my ledger. matt: she turns around and goes back to her desk. her tail kind of flicks behind her as she steps over to her table, leans over. vanessa: (muttering) ah! matt: pulls one of the books. (blows)starts thumbing through it. vanessa: (more muttering) (louder) what color dragon? vex: black. vanessa: hmm. chromatic.

vex: very -scanlan: (quietly) ancient. vex: ancient black dragon.vax: weathered. keyleth: yeah, you might have heard about him. umbrasyl... (chuckles) scanlan: you're super salty today. grog: tone it down like two notches. vex: gaining confidence, our druid. vanessa: there is currentlyno contract for a black dragon. i do have one up for a bronze or perhaps a white, but...

vex: oh, white! do we have any white bits left? grog: yeah. pike: we should have white from back in the day. vex: what, do you want scales or... vanessa: specifically hide.if there is white dragonhide... grog: we have sixty pounds of - vex: didn't we - that was the dragonwe killed for you before, because we didn't bring the - vex: no, but we killed one with zahra.

we killed a white dragon. keyleth: yeah, they killed a white dragon. vanessa: that was for a different contract. this is for a newer one i came by. vex: we've killed four dragons?!four fucking dragons. go us. keyleth: yes, we have. yes. four dragons. grog: excuse us while we reminisce, apparently. vanessa: (deadpan) yes, it is amazing. the things you've accomplished.i am blown away.

but in light of your capabilities, i do not require anything black dragon. however, if a contract comes in,i know who to call. hold onto that,because that would save you a trip. vex: all right.keyleth: all right. percy: we do havesome white scales left over, don't we? vex: yes, i think so. grog: yeah, we do. yeah, we have like 60 pounds of scales.

vanessa: is that hide or scales? grog: just scales. no hide, unfortunately. vanessa: hm. well, i could definitely do a bit of business for you there. the hide would fetch more, but -60 pounds, you said? grog: yeah. 64, to be exact. vex: of white dragon scales. vanessa: 64 of white dragon scales. okay. i would be willing to continueat least part of this contract

for this applicant for...let's say... 4500 gold pieces. vex: 5000 gold pieces, i think is a fair price. vanessa: this is not about bartering. this is what the contract says, my dear. this is beyond a situation of conversation. the paperwork is already signed. vex: what if we gave you less dragon scales? would you have said less money? scanlan: that's typically how it works.

taliesin and marisha: (laugh) liam: to you, it’s obvious. vanessa: vex'ahlia. my dear. my delightful little dragon-hating half-elf. we've been good to you. we've done many great things for you. you've done great things for us. this is a fantastic arrangement. matt: (boof) she slams the book shut and sets it down.

vanessa: but you have signed on with us, and the deal is to fulfill contracts as they are signed, as they are written, as they are agreed upon by the person. if you wish not to accept this contract, we can just wait until somebody else picks it up and goes out and fulfills this need at the price at which they are requesting for this. you're welcome to keep the scales.

vex: i think we'll keep them and we'll sell them to other vendors, then. scanlan: haven't we had them for years? percy: i have a thing i'm thinking about, though. vanessa: see? then it's easy for you to get rid of them. if they've been a problem for you, then i'm sure this would be easy. scanlan: where are we going to sell these?

the world's on fire! vex: yeah, but they're worth - keyleth: okay, hang on,we know it's here. we know it's here. there aren't that manywhite dragons walking around - percy: certainly not anymore. keyleth: certainly not anymore. we know it's here. vax: it's time to sell them. keyleth: why don't we sleep on it. think about it.

if we're ever in a pinch for money,we can come back. grog: yeah. sounds good.pike: mm-hm. vanessa: very well.vex: vanessa, you're so kind. grog: besides, i've been workingon that dragon immunity potion. vanessa: as ever.vex: i'm so sorry. vanessa: that is all right. goodbye. matt: and she shoos you out. keyleth: oh, wait, vanessa. wait wait wait wait. vanessa: yes, other female half-elf?

keyleth: that's me.where's the temple of the raven queen? vanessa: oh, you're looking for the duskmeadow. raven's crest. it is - matt: and she points loosely outward, kind of southeast of the directionof the slayer's take guildhall. vanessa: it's kind of hard to miss.it's giant, black, ominous. (chuckles) you'll see it. ashley: what's it called?travis: raven's crest. matt: and she kind of bops your nosea little bit with her finger. vanessa: now, please. out of my office.i have work to get done.

vex: thank you, vanessa.keyleth: okay, bye. scanlan: thank you. kord's strength to you. matt: (boof) slams the door shut. vex: they were worth a lot more than what she was offering, just for the record. they are worth so much more. scanlan: to whom? we haven't ever sold them or come across anyone who wanted them before. percy: this is no reasonto get rid of something for wholesale.

vex: well, we've not really tried. that doesn't mean we should just give them away. scanlan: we also are almost full in our bag of holding, might i remind you, and 64 poundswould free up quite some - vex: it's not 64 pounds. scanlan: it's 64 pounds.grog: it's 64. vex: oh, it was 64 pounds. (groans)matt: (laughs) grog: like i just told you.pike: 64 pounds of scales.

grog: but i could get rid of some other stuff. vex: well, they're worth like 20,000 gold. scanlan: to whom? vex: you don't care. grog: we also have fifteen casesof expensive-ass bottles of wine. percy: i'm just going to point out, since - vex and keyleth: we should just drink those. percy: we should drink those, first of all. that is the only thing that makes sense.

and i feel - and i apologizeif it seems like i say this a lot, but i do have a castlethat we can drop things at - vex: oh! percy: and we can leave them there,perhaps get back to them at a later date. keyleth: to be fair, percy, you do a lot to remind us to try not to forget that you're titled. scanlan: to be fair, have we ever gone back for something before, ever, scanlan: in our entire travels?percy: yes. we -

scanlan: what? vax: we needn't stay here long. i don't think what i'm here foris going to take too long. i hope.we could go to whitestone next. scanlan: all right. all right. percy: yes, that would be - and just drop everything off,create a little nest of what we need. vex: all right. let's go find your queen. travis: there is some gross shit in this bag.

taliesin: you found the troll dick, didn't you? laura: what do you have in there? travis: there are six basilisk eggs. laura: are they still good?marisha: those are probably bad. taliesin: oh, i bet thosehave gone really bad. travis: i reach into the bag of holdingand think about one basilisk egg. liam: i'm sure they smell like grog. matt: you pull out a basilisk egg. taliesin: do they just turn to stone?laura: does it smell like a fart?

matt: it's roughly that size.it's a dull grayish-blue hint. liam: sulfuric?travis: can i get the smell? on the outside of the egg. travis: i'll put it back in the bag. ashley: oh, vanessa! vex: we could make stink-bombs with it. keyleth and percy: ooh.vax: yeah, we could. keyleth: good idea. i like that. grog: all right. so what's next?

vex: we go see the raven queen. you go see the raven queenand we wait outside. vax: i didn't say anything.vex: uselessly. vax: i didn't say anything! taliesin: is it in the direction where i have to go? matt: where are you heading? taliesin: i need to resupply everything. matt: that's the opposite direction.taliesin: okay. matt: you're heading to the braving grounds.

they're heading to the duskmeadow. grog: oh! i like the sound of that. i'll go with you. percy: yes, you will. scanlan: i'll come with you, as well. grog: yeah, three! who else? any other takerswhile vax goes and gets a tattoo? vax: another tattoo? grog: well, i thought that -is that not what you're doing? vex: that's what he's doing, grog.vax: it is. i'm getting a tattoo.

pike: close. something like that. vax: it will say "phillip the brave". grog: (gasps)vax: across the small of my back. grog: phillip. full name, phillip. percy: just a - this is out of - i don't know if this is going to beany help or anything, by the way, vax, but just in case. taliesin: i'm going to reach in and pull out the mask and hand it to vax.

percy: just in case. vax: (slowly) i don't know. thank you. keyleth: percy? percy: yes? keyleth: do you still have that raven's skull i gave you? percy: i do. we'll talk about that.keyleth: all right. percy: but that - i've found in moments when i was feeling less than brave

that pretending to besomebody else on occasion, even afterwards, can be helpful. vax: is there anything left inside of this? percy: just some spit. vax: that's wonderful.vex: (laughs) percy: and something that smells nice in the front that will help. it helps cleanse the air. vax: all right, percival. superstitious.

keyleth: oh, i was going to say "giving." percy: you know, i kind of like it. vax: you know. enough chit-chat.let's get this shit done. matt and travis: all right. matt: so you three are going to the braving grounds. you four are going to the duskmeadow. laura: we are. matt: okay. all right, so. you three are making your waytowards the braving grounds.

following suit after percival, you make your way upnot quite to the trial forge, which is where you had your last discussion and brief showdown with earthbreaker groon. still seeing the large statue of kord looming over the entirety of the realm. you can still see the large columnsof dark smoke and soot coming out of the various forges,the various mining encampments, and a lot of the folks there

are working on different pieces of iron and metal. you, i assume, make your wayto a very familiar abode. (laughs) taliesin: of all the options of the worldthat you've given me... matt: all right. you, uh - taliesin: this is really your fault as much as it's mine. matt: you come up to the outside of a familiar hovel. previously damaged,missing part of its roof. you actually see two individuals are over the top of it, hammering pieces of wood into it.

not a very fine job, but definitely enough patchwork to keep the rain and snow from pouring in. the door is partially open as you approach. percy: (sighs heavily) scanlan: you might be blown up if you go in there. percy: i know. grog: should we wait outside? percy: let's just all be ginger. (louder) hello? victor, are you home?it's percy.

matt: silence. scanlan: want me to go in and investigate? percy: hold on. (louder) hello, you up there? hello? matt: (hammering noises) roofer: what? percy: where is the owner of this domicile? roofer: i don't know. i haven't seen him. percy: how long has he been gone for? roofer: (mutters) (louder) couple of hours.

scanlan: oh, good. not dead, then. grog: he's dead. percy: do you have any ideawhere he's been off to? roofer: i haven't seen him leave. percy: well, i'm going to pop inand check really quickly, just letting you know. roofer: your funeral. taliesin: i gingerly open the door. can i check for traps?

travis: attaboy. matt: you may. make an investigation check. travis: yeah, we're standing right here. taliesin: oh, yay, that's not that bad. investigation? i never use that.11. no, 12. 12. matt: 12, okay. liam: (giggles) that's cute. matt: (creak) you move the door openand kind of search the ground and the area before itand the actual frame of the door itself.

no traps. taliesin: all right. matt: glancing inside, though,you can see a little bit of light. it looks like there'sa hooded lantern across the way and just a little bit of light is flickering and it's kind of going against the wall nearest to you, to your right, as you enter. the same familiar smell of fresh earth, really, really, really dry dust

and a very familiar smellof explosive black powder material. percy: oh, dear. scanlan: is victor in there? percy: no, i don't see anybody in here. scanlan: well, should we just purchase what you needvia the honor system and leave some coin behind? percy: he's not necessarilyalways a believer in coin. sometimes he just wants some trade.

also, i need to talk to him about some personal issues. matt: (boof) you see off to the side, what you didn't initially notice as you entered, what appears to be a wooden trapdoor in the far corner that (thud). percy: oh, sweet gods of pelor! matt: (boof, boof boof) and you notice that apparently something - a large sack of some heavy material

has rolled off a nearby table and is now currently holding the door down. taliesin: okay. matt: you hear a muffled,victor: i'm inside! taliesin: i'm going to go try and lift it. percy: (grunts) matt: okay. you lift it up, set it off to the side. (boof) victor: (coughing) what's going on?you trying to kill me? percy: (laughs) no! no - hello, victor.i was just to give you money.

you were stuck -you had gotten stuck down - what is down there? victor: this is my mining building. sam: your mine?victor: (scoffs) taliesin: his mayan building.can you not - sam: i can't.taliesin: - understand simple english? victor: don't put things on top of the door.it makes it hard to get out! sam: (whispering) something's happened to him. percy: are you all right?victor: i'm okay!

percy: are you sure? victor: no, i've been locked down here for hours! ashley: oh no. percy: um. grog, scanlan? (stutters) come on in, he's fine. victor: help me out! matt: he raises his hands up. you can see now,where once was two, now is none. everyone: oh no!ashley and laura: victor!

victor: (grunts) liam: you have to build him a hand.taliesin: i know. ashley: oh, he just has a stump.laura: help him out! victor: i can't wait all day, here! scanlan: grog, can you get him out,can you lift him up? percy: grog, can you lift the poor -grog: all right, all right, yeah. travis: i grab the stumpand i pick him up into the air. victor: (screams) travis: i shake him a little bit.

victor: big boy. percy: i need him mostly intact.grog: oh, so like, on the ground? percy: treat him slightly betterthan you would treat a member of your own family. victor: don't shake me too hard. percy: more than slightly better. much better. laura: oh, don't shake him too hard -we're not there. grog: oh. gas. victor: sure.

travis: i put him gently back on the ground. victor: thank you. matt: he pats you on the head with his nub. matt: goes over. you can see he's kind of bandaged. he goes over and then pulls the ladder up that he didn't use, closes the - travis: (laughing) the ladder he didn't use? victor: okay. so. what do you want? percy: well, i was hoping to buy

a little bit more black powder from you, if possible, and i'm curious if you had anything else for sale, and i wanted to ask you a couple of questions, just about other customers again. victor: that's a lot.percy: i know. victor: eh! i can - i have powder. percy: you do. victor: i can sell you more powder.question one: yes. how much? percy: one question?

liam: first question. percy: first question. has a one-armed lady, a one-handed lady, a doctor come by to purchase - victor: not a lady. i am an honorable man! grog: don't insult him. and i would never insult your honoror preferences of any kind, but - victor: are you saying i'm pretty? percy: victor, i think you know how i feel about that,

but you're a very attractive man, and - victor: your friend's hitting on me.grog: i know it. victor: i'm taken. grog: he's taken. percy: are you dating right now? victor: no, i'm just taken. percy: okay. taliesin: (laughs) i can't. i'm sorry. i'm good. victor: how much?

percy: well, i was going to offer, i was originally going to offer some gold if you like, but if you'd like,i could make you a tool you could use with your current predicament. some sort of simpleclawing mechanism for grasping, lifting,not getting caught in your mine. victor: maybe. maybe.maybe a trade? maybe a claw? percy: i love trade. trade is brilliant. victor: build and bring.build and bring, and we trade.

percy: i would ask one other thing,if i am to do this for you. one other thing. victor: oh, so many questions! does he have questions, too?does he have questions, too?! scanlan: i do have a question, actually. percy: you have a question?scanlan: yes, i do. grog: i don't, no. i don't have any questions. none. victor: (sighs) i like him. what's your question? scanlan: i'm just looking for a hat shop.

is there a hat shop around here? victor: ehm. matt: and he starts pulling aroundfrom a pile of oiled rags and he pulls upwhat looks like a small burlap sack that's torn somewhat at the opening. victor: hat. scanlan: oh, god. ugh.all right, thank you. thank you. victor: my pleasure. happy to help. (chuckles) scanlan: okay.

percy: that was everythingi could have hoped for, and more. victor: don't get near the fire. percy: really, don't.scanlan: thank you. percy: has dr. ripley -has a woman come by to buy black powder, one hand, one mechanical hand, one normal hand? mechanical hand? victor: is that the oneyou're saying you can make? percy: i'm going to make you something, nice and useful claw piece, yes.

victor: so you're saying that this woman made a better hand than you can make? percy: no, i can make a better hand. victor: then make me a better hand!why would you give me a lesser hand?! percy: you're going to need to give me quite a bit of black powder for that. and more questions. grog: ooh.victor: really? victor: i've had a bad day.

marisha: (laughing) i've had a bad day. percy: is that recent?scanlan: that happened today? percy: it doesn't look that recent. matt: (ripping sounds) he starts unwrapping the wound. percy: oh, that's recent.that's wet. that's very wet. matt: it's pretty recent. percy: oh. okay. i can work with that.i can work with that. i'm going to go construct you something

that will be perfect for your needs. i have a great idea, i will need another hogshead and a half of black powder and a little bit of informationabout another customer and then i will leave you to your work. is that fair? victor: fair! matt: he turns around, rushes over,and grabs the same phantom hogshead that he has lying around his place.

taliesin: he eats a lot of pork. matt: before he fills it with powder,he goes over to scanlan and goes, victor: (hums) too big. travis: good hat. matt: fills it with black powder,carefully brings it over, holding it under his arm. percy: thank you. (grunts) i will put this in something reasonable. i'll be back in just a little bit with -

actually, do you have a glovethat you used to wear, or anything like that? percy: do you have something?victor: yes! matt: he pulls out the glove that was on the hand, half burned to cinders, fingers gone. taliesin: i can take measurements from that. matt: it's more of a sleevewith a charcoaled edge. liam: madonna glove. percy: i'm going to be busy. can you cast the -

scanlan: no, but keyleth can, and i think that would save you a lot of time. marisha: i'm not here.percy: she's not here. scanlan: no, but we can go get her and come back. percy: to?scanlan: to just fix his hand. percy: i don't think she can just fix his hand. scanlan: someone can restore something.maybe pike can. marisha: i can. not today, but i can over time. grog: want me to give it a try?

percy: while i'm tempted - can you just - laura: you can regrow limbs?marisha: regenerate. scanlan: i think he would prefera real hand than a claw hand. percy: would you prefer a real hand or a claw hand? victor: depends. how cool is the claw hand? travis and sam: (laugh) scanlan: i would much rather you spend time on projects for us than projects for him. percy: this is projects for us.

grog: i vote for the claw. it's pretty cool. victor: cooler than that lady's hand?i will show her. better hand. percy: and believe me, i would like - keeping him happy is pertinent because i'm - i can make this myself, it's just very difficult. scanlan: we have party memberswho can regrow his hand. grog: hey, percy.percy: yes? grog: he wants the claw to be cooler than that lady's claw hand. percy: that's very easy to do.she has no aesthetics whatsoever.

grog: all right. then eff the old original hand. let's give him a reasonable claw, yeah? percy: don't worry about it.scanlan: all right. percy: it'll be fine. and if you can't do the mansion, i know where i can go get some work done. scanlan: oh, you want me to make -we have the slayer's take. they have a workshop, don't they? percy: if not, i knowwhere i can work on something.

i will be back. i will not leave townbefore i've delivered to you something - victor: (squawks) matt: he takes the hogshead. percy: oh! absolutely fair. victor: trade when you bring hand. percy: yes, of course. victor: then i deliver with new hand.then all is well. victor: no more questions!

percy: aah - no. that's fine.we'll be back! it'll be good. victor: you're small. scanlan: i need a big hat. victor: can't help you, sorry. scanlan: all right. percy: are we going to go find a hat shop, then? scanlan: maybe, if we pass one. percy: all right. we will be back. stay safe. victor: okay. don't touch the door, please!

percy: yes. no. just. we'll be back. bye! taliesin: i'm going to go finda workshop to work on something. grog: i like you. we'll see you later. victor: (chuckles) he’s big. grog: (chuckles) percy: and i'm just right.it's... a thing. victor: i'm undecided about you. percy: you're not alone. taliesin: i'm going to go seeif the slayer's take has a -

sam: we're going to leave. taliesin: i can't handle any more of that. taliesin: that was brutal.sam: too good. travis: i feel like you’re just on a higher level. ashley: right?laura: so much. laura: i just thought you weregoing to make him not there so you didn't have to do it. matt: no, no no. marisha: yeah, yeah yeah.he's just not home. sorry, guys.121200:44:40,000 --> 00:44:41,500laura: he's not here. nope.

ashley: oh, i love him. marisha: victor's on vacation. taliesin: so, i'm going to go see if there's - if there's not a blacksmithing, if there's not somewhere i can do a bit of basic smithing work and technical, then i'm going to go find that blacksmith from last time. matt: there's basic materials to do essentially weapon repairs, armor repairs,

minor armor constructionwithin the slayer's take. if you want something that's going to be a little more to the level of what you're doing, you may have to actually rent out a facility. taliesin: well, i'm going to go findthat young chap from before. matt: okay. yeah, easy enough to do. if you want to rent the forge for the day to craft whatever it is you're looking to craft, he's charging you 50 gold for the day.

taliesin: 50 gold for the day? can i use all of his toolsand just my own materials? matt: you have to supply your own material,but he'll let you rent. taliesin: i'm going to run and find vex,get my stuff, and go to work. matt: okay. you guys. you four make your wayover towards the duskmeadow. matt: now -laura: trinket's out. matt: trinket's out? (fwoosh) trinket: (groans)

vex: come on, trinket. trinket: (grunts) matt: he rolls his head against you, licks the side of your face, happy to be out of that stuffy little necklace. you make your way towards the duskmeadow,which you've seen before. it's a very comparativelyglum-looking area of the town, hence the name that accompanies it, but this is the area of the city that contains

the raven's crest,the amaranthine oubliette. it also contains the entire town's catacombs. this is where, since this town's existence,all of the dead are interred perpetually deeper and deeper and deeperbeneath this part of the city. this is - also one ofthe oldest libraries of the city is kept here as well. as you approach the outskirts of -and you can see a very fine line between this area and the birth heart, which is the melora section of the city.

there is a very, very wide river dividebetween the two of them and it's like night and day, back and back. very, very, very directly between the two of them. you can see on melora's sidethere's just stalks and stalks of corn and other vegetation that's being grown for food. there's almost like a lush forestthat curls around the outside of it that doesn't match the rest of the indigenous trees you've seen in this area of othanzia. the entire birth heart area,where this temple to melora is,

is just this plucked-out-of-nowhere section placed into it. and then you move overto the duskmeadow and it's just... like the color has left the vicinity. and there you see in the centerof this part of the town, this large, looming,ominous obsidian and gold structure. it's like a giant black stone aerie. it has no intricacies from this distance that you can see. it's almost like

a giant square buildingthat is just devoid of light, with little glimmers of goldwhen the light catches it at moments. it's hard to miss and definitely stands as a centerpiece to this part of vasselheim. liam: the whole walk over, i've been talking a lot,mostly to trinket. you know, scratching him behind the ears, saying, vax: buddy, you've been trapped in there a while. it's good to see you out.

trinket: (moans, snuffles) vax: come hug your uncle. come. vex: he doesn't mind it. vax: i'm sure he doesn't.i'm just happy to see him. matt: he presses his nose under yours and lifts your chin up and you bite your lip a little from the sudden impact from this very large bear, but it's all with love.

vax: yeah. it's cold. you're sure you don't want to go back in? nah, you don't want to go back in. i know. liam: just nervous talking the whole way there. keyleth: (whispering) hey, pike.i think vax is talking to himself. pike: (whispering) he's very nervous right now. pike: this is a big deal.keyleth: yeah. pike: this temple is very...it's lovely. keyleth: it's gorgeous. it's very intimidating. do you know anything about this?

you've lived here for a while, pike. pike: i've never been by. keyleth: never been in?pike: i've never been in, no. matt: you do know from your time hereand what little you've heard that part of the purpose of this vicinity is not just to inter the deadwithin part of these catacombs. the library here is kind of a loose partnership between the people worshipers of herand those who follow ioun. it is a center for knowledge and historykept within the city.

but you'll see throughout the townand the landscaped outer wall that surrounds this entire portion of vasselheim, there are repetitive glyphsthat line this entire area. and from what you've heard,at the very least, most of these glyphs, which you see across the corners of roadways, and many of which surroundthe entrance to the catacombs, it is a perpetual enchantment that is to seal any sort of possible undead.

there once was a terrible scourge of undeath in this part of the landscape, long ago, that corresponded with a battle hundreds of years ago, and since then, the reinforcement has been put in place to prevent that from happening again. so the downside is that the power of these glyphs that prevent undeath also prevent any actual vegetationfrom existing in this area as well. so all the ground that you've come across:

no grass, no natural vegetation. it's just dirt and ash and dust. marisha: can we recognize the languagein which the runes come from? or is it just runes? matt: the magic itself is divine in nature, but it's based in the samevery, very base draconic glyphs that a lot of arcane magic is based on. it's very - it's old magic. marisha: oh.ashley: (laughs) it's old.

matt: but, yeah. it's based in some sort of divine ritual. marisha: what did you say the name was of the raven queen's temple, again? matt: the temple itself is referred to as raven's crest. marisha: raven - raven's crest? liam: raven's.matt: raven's crest, yes. marisha: okay. pike: how are you feeling, vax? vax: i'm all right.

i'm just going to talk to my sister for a minute. pike: okay. vax: you know, i know you want to - i know you.i know you want to be here. vex: i know you don't want me to come. vax: i don't. i really don't. vex: i know. and i won't, if you're sure. i put you in this place and i feel terrible about it and i know you're extremely nervous.

trinket can sense it, too. he's very in tune with those emotions, and i just - vax: listen to me. vex: (sighs) vax: you did not put me in this place. no one put me in this place. and everything's going to be fine. vex: everything will be fine!

liam: and i tug her sleeves and make them a little more orderly and i move a bit of hair out of her face and i do a button that's not done. vax: everything's going to be fine. vex: i wanted it unbuttoned, actually. vax: that's all right. just wait here. i'll be out in a bit, all right? vex: yes.

vax: everything's fine. vex: i know. everything's fine. vax: yeah. vex: you don't need to be nervous, either. vax: i'm not. vex: i will be here waiting for youwhen you come out. vax: i know. i'll see you - vex: i love you. vax: you know i love you, too.

vex: i'm proud of you, you know. she's just going to love you so much. and who knows, you might have a new girlfriend when you come out. (laughs nervously, sighs) i've heard other people have dated gods before. i've heard it's done.that cashew guy. anyway. vax: you're going to wait here for me, right? vex: i'll be right here.

liam: and then i drop the smile as i walk off towards the other two. matt: okay. which, as you turn and look, when you originally approached the stairs that lead up to the entrance of this large structure, it was just empty, doors closed. there was no guard post on the outside. it was just these two looming,almost dark glass-type doors

about twelve feet talland about eight feet wide on each side that are just locked shut. as soon as you turn to walk towards them,the doors open and you see a figure standing there at the door, just looking directly at you. or at least you assume is looking right at you. it's hard to see. this individual, somewhat lithe in physicality, is wearing long, dark robes

and their face is shroudedin opaque black cloth, like a death shroudthat just blocks the entire face. you can see the hint of a jawline, a nose. it looks to be a personof some background in there, but they're just standing there,watching you. the hand just beckons quietly. vax: were you expecting me? ...all right. i've brought a couple of friends.is that permissible here?

they'll keep quiet. marisha: i turn to vex. vex: keep him safe. keyleth: i swear to you. we're all coming out of here alive. vex: i know. keyleth: but if like an hour passes and we don't, maybe come in? but we're all coming out of here alive,

so don't worry about it. it's fine. ashley: and i squeeze her hand. pike: i'll make sure he gets out okay. i promise. vex: all right.pike: okay. please be safe. vex: it'll be fine.pike: it'll be fine. yes. vex: i'll just be right here.waiting here with trinket. vex: just calmly leaning against a wall. no big deal.

keyleth: we've faced way more terrifying things than a few albeit creepy men in robes. vex: i don't even think she's that bad. she's not going to be bad. vax: guys.vex: just go. pike: okay. we'll go. we'll go in with you. keyleth: we're fine. we're fine. as you step up to the stairs,the figure leads you all inside, and as you step into the main centerof this initial walkway chamber,

the figure doesn't enter with you. it just closes the door behind you. (echoing thud) you can feelthe hint of vibration of impact as the doors close shut. marisha: it's dark? matt: it's lowly-lit on the inside,and it's interesting. from the outside, it looks like a black, solid,impossible-to-see-through building.

from the inside, you can actually look out and the entire building is made of this glass,this somewhat-warped, dark glass. and you can see almostthe entirety of the outside from your position. the doors are held aloft into it. it's like a one-way type enchantment, or the construct, the material itself, is somewhat translucent from this side.

marisha: like an interrogation room? like one-way mirror type of thing? matt: kind of. or like a very,very dark pair of sunglasses, but made of naturally-formed rock, almost. liam: noticing that, i turn and just sort of look at my sisterfor five or ten more seconds. matt: she doesn't see youand she just stands there quietly, looking around, inspecting the vicinity. pets trinket a little.

vax: (hesitantly) let's do this. sam: (chuckles) ashley: do i feel anything, being in here? matt: you just feel a natural tremble stepping into a place of powerful divine influence that is not the warm comfort of sarenrae, which has protected you before. now, you understand the waymany deities work in these lands, and your place in it,and sarenrae's place in it,

and you know enough about the raven queen to know that this is not an unwelcome place, per se. go ahead and roll a religion check. (silence except for dice rolling) ashley: 23. matt: 23. you understand the raven queen has also not always beenthe one who holds sway over the domain of death,the domain of winter, the domain of fate.

once mortal,the raven queen ascended as, essentially, a followerand a partner to the previous god of death, which his namehas been erased from the books. this mortal ascended many,many years ago, pre-second spark, and has since taken what was once a tyrannical position of deathand afterlife and souls and took it insteadas the natural transition that it is. however, due to a lack of respect,

or at least, a lack of, for lack of a better term, belief or trust from the other gods, she only gained dominionover the actual moment of transition, not of the actual souls of the afterlife. that influence was given to others. but the raven queen represents one of the most feared elements of life, which is the end of it, but you also know that that is a natural thing.

your personal belief is up to you. the sense you get here is that being an individual that worships life, that worships redemption,that worships second chances, you can't helpbut swallow a little hard at the idea of a god that's purposeis to make sure that if you're destined to have once chance, ashley: okay. matt: as you begin to walk down this hall,

ever so slow as it is, each footfall deafening in the clack. (clicking footsteps) the hallway leads onfor another hundred feet or so before the glass,somewhat translucent material shifts into the next chamber, into an almost deep gray and ivory ice-like interior. the dark,coal-black exterior you've seen

now transitions into what feels like a very finely-carved piece of architecture from ice and bone. marisha: do i get the senseas a druid, as an ashari, that we've switched into another plane? matt: go ahead and roll a...just roll an arcana check - marisha: (sighs) matt: - as this is not so mucha nature-based thing, yeah. marisha: oh! i rolled a 19. (laughs) 21.

liam: oh dear, oh my.laura: oh gosh, oh jeez. marisha: oh gosh, oh gracious. matt: from your understanding of transitional magic between planes, there has beenno actual shift between planes, it's just the material itself is different upon the interiorof this building. as soon as you enter this place, you do see another figurewalking towards you.

similar long, dark robes. however, the veil has been pulled back, and you see before you what looks to be an older elven woman with very, very bright silver hair that just kind of falls long,past her shoulders, down to her back about mid-waist,or down to the bottom of her waist. with a smile. you can see as she walks towards you,a very welcoming grin. as she approaches,she pays very little mind to you three,

but directly to you, says, laura: (whispers) i'm not there. raven’s crest worker:you walk with her sight on you. you are ever welcome here. vax: i've come to understandmy place in her sight. raven’s crest worker:then i think, perhaps, you are here for communion. come. our most sacred chamber.the communion pool awaits.

only you may have entry,unfortunately. vax: right. liam: i plant a kiss on the cheek of each of the women. keyleth: do you need anythingbefore you go in? any enhancement of any kind? vax: just cross your fingers for me, okay? keyleth: okay. marisha: i just kind of squeeze his hand. ashley: same.

pike: be careful. keyleth: we're right out hereon the other side of this door. if anything terrible happens,you have the earpiece. no one will stop pike and ifrom getting through there if something terrible goes wrong. rules be damned. vax: yeah, well. i made my bed.now i gotta lie in it. i'll see you soon. liam: i follow.

raven’s crest worker:come, champion. the lady of fates awaits. matt: and she turns aroundand leads you thirty more feet, to what looks to bean ascending staircase that just entersup and out of the sight of you two. pike: we'll just hang out, yeah?keyleth: i guess we'll wait, yeah. matt: you ascenda few feet behind her, about forty or so feet, until it comesto a single large doorway

of deep, deep dark oak wood with what looks to bea dark iron ring in the center. as she steps up to it,she takes it and knocks on it twice. (deep creak) it just shifts openand leads into a central chamber now that looks about a hundred feet high, and it is a large steepled dome of what looks to be nothingbut stained glass. it's awe-inspiring. it's beautiful: the colors,the light as it peeks through.

the source of light,diffused as it is by the clouds, is sourceless in here. it seems like there are beams of lightcoming from all directions and all the colorsare just strewn across the floor in what looks like this perpetually-shifting kaleidoscope of dots of reds and blues and purplesand yellows and pinks and whites. you can see, across the room,there are three other figures that are all dressedin the same dark robes,

the veils over their heads,of varying size. you can't make outwhat their racial background is, per se, but they are all stationedaround the center of the room, in which lies, from what you can see, a very, very large round poolof some sort of deep crimson liquid. vax: i have come to pay a debt, and i do so gladlyand without question. what would you have of me? raven’s crest worker:you came to speak with the lady.

well, the way is before you. matt: she gestures to the pool. liam: i walk slow and straight in. matt: you step into it. (squelch) it comes up to your ankles,to your knees. and what catches you firstis that the liquid is very thick. it is viscous in a familiar way. this is most definitivelya pool of blood. and it is cold. it is ice-cold.

as you step in, you can feel thatas it begins to seep into your boots and begins to find its wayinto the crevices of your outfit as you get down into your waist,it's just chilling. you can't help but to stand up straightas you step further in, not quite sure of how deep it gets. and it gets deeper. and deeper. up past your chest,up past your shoulders, and you're not evenhalfway into the center of the pool before it's going past your nose.

liam: i keep going. matt: you take your last breath,hold it, and submerge yourself in the pool. darkness around you,the cold sensation. nothing. nothing. nothing. liam: i open my mouth and inhale. matt: as you do, you feel the blood fill your lungsand you immediately -

your lungs begin to seizewith the lack of oxygen. you instinctually beginto reach up for the water and pull, but you can't rise. you can't get up. and at that point,the cold, piercing pain of the liquid in your lungsbecomes warm. all the liquid around youbecomes warm. and in the darkness,where you cannot see, you calm, as suddenly your breathingis no longer difficult.

it's natural. it's like air. and it's reminiscentof being in the womb, of the moment of birthyou'd forgotten so long ago, that you're just surroundedin darkness and comfort. and piercing the centerof this darkness before you, you seea very faint bead of white light just begin to sparkand grow, and grow, and as that light widens out,it becomes a face. a porcelain face.

a nose, lips, a chin,empty dark sockets, long dark hairthat goes to crimson and surrounds you. you see a small handreach up behind and lift you from your legs. and for what you thoughtwas only a few feet of liquid, you look around youand it is an endless space, a space you've been before, a space that you once visitedin your sleep, in your dreams.

you look down below and you can see the infinite skein of threadsthat you were once given inspection to. as you look down you see the very palmof the raven queen holding you aloft in this space as the maskpulls in close to you with a smile. the lips don't move, but you hear a voicefrom all directions in your head. a comforting voice.a welcoming voice.

raven queen: my champion. vax'ildan.you've come to me at last. vax: this was alwayssupposed to happen, wasn't it? raven queen: there is destiny, but you still guide your pathwhere it must come. especially you, fate-touched. you're one of the few that bends threads near and around you. that's why you're so interesting to me.

vax: (haltingly)i give myself willingly to you for the bargain that was struck, although i questionif the bargain was just the surface reasonfor this to happen. raven queen: when one such as your...unique essence walks these realms, do not think i amthe only one to take interest. and do not think you arethe only one, either. but i was thereto seize the opportunity when it arose, and as such, you are now mine.

and i know that you hate me.i know that you fear me. most do. but only because they arewithout understanding. without death, life has no meaning. finality drives change.innovation, greatness. it is the end that i bring that drives all of your gracious creationsof this land to make the world better than we did,than those before me did. vax: i would learn your ways.i will learn your purpose.

and i will serve. raven queen: then understandthe wholeness of what it is you serve and what you represent, champion. even after death, the soul is carriedto another purpose, but it is that transitionwhere it is at its most vulnerable. it is my charge, my gift -your gift, now - to safeguard that beautiful moment. there are those who findthe immortal soul one of the most pureand powerful means

of energy, of sourced power,in this world. that is an abomination. there are thosethat wish to halt the process and live eternallyin some form of undeath or the other. there is also a difference between bending your thread around destiny, fate-touched, and perverting the thread entirely, for death is sacred. but not all deaths are destined,in that moment.

some destinies require oneto endure beyond the moment. to meet that moment many timesbefore the final death is to come. we must guide these momentsacross this web. matt: and as she sweeps her hand out. where she holds you in one palm,another hand reaches out, and the entire web of threadsjust glows below you in this curling waveout into infinity, into the horizons, endless, to each side of you and beyond. raven queen: so, to bend destiny,to bend these fates,

is within our sphere of influence. it's those that find a wayto cheat this destiny, halt the progression, corrupt their thread to the pointit sickens those around them. undeath, wayward necromancy. perversionof the sanctity of the cycle, of our very domain, is an atrocity and must be stopped and stamped out. that is our cause. your cause, now.

do you still accept this gift? vax: (whispering) i do. raven queen: you, vax'ildan.i've had my eye on you for some time. matt: and the smile curlsinto this much wider smile. to the point it seems somewhat perturbing. raven queen: your dual nature:rushing prematurely towards your end, wantonly throwing your lifebefore the flames, only to pull awayin those last moments. instinct.

you test your path constantly,without knowing you've been preparing for this mantle your entire life. my beautiful champion. matt: the smile subsides. the face goes stone.lack of expression. blank. the hand pulls backand you now can see the full immensity of her size. her body infinitely long, looking down before it disappears into darkness.

and as you look up, suddenly the maskis there before you, but normal, human-sized. you're no longer in her hand. you're standing on a floor, a floor of the same white,ice-bone type substance that the interior of raven's crestseems to be built from. and for a brief moment,you see before you the woman before the god,the ascended mortal,

no larger than you. from the hairthat topples down the sides, the hand reaches upand grabs the mask and pulls it away. beneath the mask you see a very beautiful, very sad-looking woman. but her eyes are cold and red in the iris. her skin flawless and smooth.white, pale, sunless. her brows thinned and furrowed. she steps forwardand touches the side of your face.

raven queen: there are thosewho will be frightened of you. but know what we dois one of the most important gifts of all. matt: and she grabs your head, pulls you down, and kisses you on the forehead. at which point, suddenly your lungs fill once againwith searing white pain. you find yourself scrambling about, instinctually spilling out liquidall around you, and you finally (cough)

come out on top of the communion pool. your eyes open and you can see just red crimsonpouring in your vision. you rub it outand you're in the chamber alone. eyes wide, swimming around, you can see the figures on the sidecome to the edges. they all bow. the figure that led you in stands at the mouth of this poolwhere you entered.

she's smiling.she has her hand extended. liam: i take it. matt: she lifts you out of the pool. one of the other figures runs up and takesone of the dark robes that they have and pulls it off around them, revealing just a simpledark blue and black outfit beneath. still wearing the veil,but wraps the dark robe around you as the liquid is nowback to its freezing cold sensation.

your teeth are chattering. they lead you backto the door you entered, down the stairs,and into the central chamber where both keyleth and pike await. you guys turn and see,descending the stairs, being flanked, essentially, by two of the membersof the raven's crest, both of the shoulderswith the dark robe wrapped around a very cold and somewhatfreaked-out looking vax'ildan,

who has smeared red across his face. his hair is thickwith viscous crimson liquid. ashley: i run over.pike: you okay? marisha: i standat the bottom of the stairs and i watch. vax: (hoarsely)i got answers in there, but they led to more questions. what am i to dowith those questions? matt: the womanwho had led you in there

smiles and says, raven’s crest worker:that is the nature of death. we can't have all the answers,my friend. it is the pursuit of those answersthat drives us. do you trust her? vax: i do. raven’s crest worker: then perhapsyou'll find those answers one day. vax: thank you. raven’s crest worker: thank you.

matt: they pull the robe off and they all headback up into the chamber, leaving you all therein the room alone. marisha: i walk over. ashley: (whispering)i'm just going to stay where he is. liam: i'm shell-shocked. keyleth: you look well. vax: it's going to be good. keyleth: what did she say to you?did she speak to you at all?

vax: (whispering) yeah. keyleth: (shocked laugh) vax: do you speak? pike: yeah?vax: to her? pike: sometimes. vax: do you understand? pike: i don't think you ever -any of us can fully understand. i think, if we did,then we would be gods. keyleth: do you believe?

vax: yeah. yeah. i do. keyleth: do you - vax: i don't know what...i don't know why, but... this was fate. keyleth: is that what she told you,that this was fate? vax: no. keyleth: you just -vax: i know it here. keyleth: why? vax: everything has led to it.

you and i wouldn't be standing here if my sister hadn't stolen a broom. where's the sense in that? what else is it? i teleported into the stomach of a dragonwith a gnome and i am still standing here. if it is not fate, what is it? keyleth: i don't know.

as someonewho is constantly questioning mine, i don't thinki'm the right person to ask. but i do know one thing. marisha: and i grab his hands. keyleth: you were amazingand talented and special way before she found you. if anything,we can call her a god. we can also call hera great opportunist. she didn't give youanything special.

the vax that i see before me right now is no different than the vaxthat i saw before me ten minutes ago. i'm not saying that what you experiencedwasn't real and true. i believe you whole-heartedly. vax: this is real. this was meant to be. and i am on board. keyleth: is it what was meant to beor what you just really wanted?

and it found you? vax: (startled laughter)it is not what i wanted. thank you. thank you. i need to see my sister. liam: and i head off towards the exit. matt: you guys make your wayto the outside of raven's crest. the doors open once again. the figure that let you inis waiting for you, opens the door. as you see the doors open -

laura: i jump up immediately.i've bitten off all my fingernails. matt: (laughs) rushing down the stairs,you see pike, keyleth, and your brother in a little better spiritsthan when he first entered, if a little damper and redder. vex: is that blood?is that blood all over you? did she hurt you? vax: it was really -it was really weird, but it's fine. i told you i'd be fine, and i'm fine.

laura: i get out a ragand i start just wiping everything off. vex: (laughs) you're alive, though. vax: (laughs) yeah,doesn't make any sense, does it. vex: (still laughing) oh my god,are you stronger now? are you, like, so strong? vax: i think i might bea bit weaker, actually. vex: oh, i don't believe it.vax: i have the jelly-legs. vex: (laughs) do you wantto ride trinket for a while? vax: could i?vex: yes!

vax: he's going to get sticky.vex: no, he loves the taste of blood. trinket: (sad moaning)vex: (laughs) oh, trinket. matt: trinket comes over and begrudgingly lowers himselfso you can climb on. vex: oh, buddy. vax: don't - no, don't lick.don't lick. vex: he's very light.scrawny, scrawny, scrawny. vax: but don't lick, trink, please. trinket: (grunts)vax: not good.

pike: just one kiss?one little lick? vax: later, buddy. later. later. liam: i climb on top.trinket: (grunts) vex: aren't you gladyou got out of the pokeball for this? liam: i give a quick lookback at my friends. and then i kind oftake a nap on trinket. vex: so everything's good, then.he's good? everything's fine? pike: i think so... i mean, it's -it was very different, but that doesn't mean it's wrong.

vex: he talked to her?keyleth: he talked to her. vex: were you there?pike: no. keyleth: they didn't let us in the room. vex: oh. well, i'll find out. keyleth: we stood outside. all it -he didn't talk much about it. maybe you can find out more. all he said wasthat he knows that this was fate. vex: well, good.he has a purpose.

pike: yeah. keyleth: oh. yeah.well, that's one way of looking at it. vax: (snores) laura: i keep him steadyand i walk next to him. you guys eventually make your wayback to the slayer's take. the three of you guys... what are you doingwhile this is transpiring? travis: eating my mechanical pencil. taliesin: i've sent himwith a shopping list.

what have they been sent to acquire? taliesin: i'm going to needa cheap gauntlet, some saddling straps, three tankards, a pick-axe,and two clocks. matt: all right.how much gold do you give him? laura: you've got - taliesin: i've got -that's right, i've got. sam: four gold.taliesin: (snorts) i give - laura: you've also gota five-pound bag of gems, don't forget. taliesin: i do. i give him -

marisha: (giggles)travis: does he want wine? taliesin: this is what happens.marisha: is that riegel? taliesin: that was riegel.marisha: (giggles) taliesin: don't read that.that's not necessary. i don't - sam: (singing) i drew a dickon his picture. taliesin: and i needthat man's dick to finish the arm. matt: that'll go over well. taliesin: despite the dick on my page, i'm going to give scanlan 100 goldto take with grog

to find some junk itemsthat they can put together. sam: i'm going with grog to shop?all right, sure. taliesin: if you're down. sam: yeah. i'll do it.yeah, we'll go for all that stuff. do we find success? matt: i want you guysto go ahead and roll - actually, for you, just rolla general charisma check to ask around and get peopleto give you the proper information. taliesin: i love you.

sam: what is this, just charisma? matt: you just addyour charisma modifier. sam: 18.matt: 18? matt: yeah, within a very brief periodof talking to the right people and smiling and getting folksto listen back to you, eventually you're sent,or you're given information on where each piece of that listis able to be found. they're not too crazy items. there's a lot in general stores,general armor -

taliesin: i don't even needan articulated gauntlet. it just needs to be clamp. matt: yeah, just a basicclamp gauntlet. sam: do we also find a hat store? travis: yeah, we'd better.laura: you want another beret? taliesin: you want a haberdasher.a haberdasher. matt: not in the braving grounds -sam: damn it. matt: - but you can definitely find oneon your journey in the quad roads. sam: if i can take

an extra side journeyto find a hat shop, sam: - that would be great.matt: certainly, certainly. matt: do you go with him?travis: fuck yeah. scanlan: it's just hats, grog.we're just getting hats. matt: you guys make your wayto the busy streets of the quad roads. eventually, asking around, you find yourself across fromwhat is called the sore socket haberdashery. sam: the sore socket?matt: sore socket haberdashery.

travis: i love it.sam: i love it. matt: and the picture outside has a caricature of a guy,smiling, with a giant black eye. matt: you walk inside and it's like a small, localized bar -not a tavern by any means, but it has likeone small set-up in there for just general beer, and just loads and loads of hats. leathers, cloth,all kinds of silly circumstances.

you see some nice fancy hatswith big feather plumes. you see joking hatsthat have multiple colors and what looks to bebells hanging from them. as you step into the room, you see two other random individualsthat are looking around, shopping, and at the far end, you see coming througha big thing of curtains what looks to be a rather rotund womanin her late 40s or so.

big curls in her dark brown hair and maybe a little too much makeupon her face, who goes, deidre: darlings,what are you looking for? what can i get you?are you looking for hats? scanlan: oh, man. deidre: i assumeyou're looking for hats. scanlan: wow. yeah,we've come to the right place. grog: the guysare missing out on this one. scanlan: hi, ma'am.my name's scanlan. this is grog.

we're just - i needed one hat, but you havesuch a fantastic selection, maybe we'll pick up a few. sam: how much moneydo i have left over from his hundo? matt: after all those materials,i'd say probably, asking aroundand your high charisma, you probably have about 60. grog: bro, we got money. scanlan: let's get some hats!

deidre: my name is deidre, dear,so nice to meet you. scanlan: it's lovely to meet you.deidre: you're so adorable. scanlan: we've heard so much about this store. deidre: really?scanlan: yes, far and wide. deidre: oh ho,i can guarantee you, it's all true. and you, you're so big,you're so strapping. grog: i am.deidre: and that beard! matt: she kind of touslesthe beard with her fingers. deidre: (giggles)grog: (giggles) oh, stop it.

laura: little food bits fall out. scanlan: i'm here to buyjust one quick thing in particular, then we'll be on our way. i just want a very tall hat. just very tall black hat with a point. deidre: tall.proportionally tall or regular? scanlan: like a big triangle hat. deidre: hmm. scanlan: with a wide brim.like a wide black hat just like this.

marisha and travis: (laugh) matt: she thinks for a second. deidre: i don't carryanything like that - scanlan: all right, well,it was worth a - deidre: - but i can make you something -scanlan: what?! deidre: - if you don't mind waiting a bit. scanlan: i could come back for itanother day, perhaps. deidre: oh, but at leastlet me measure your head, sweetie. scanlan: it's not for me.

deidre: do you know the sizeof who it's intended for? scanlan: well, her head's about -a little bigger than mine. deidre: i'll make it adjustable!scanlan: all right, great. deidre: you have to payhalf in advance, a custom order. scanlan: sure, how much? deidre: that will be 10 gold now, and an additional 10upon retrieval. scanlan: more than worth it.i'll take it. deidre: all right.sam: boink.

scanlan: and also,can you get something for him that would really justaccentuate his features? grog: me? what?scanlan: yes, you need a hat. grog: oh, this streamlined.this is how the look goes. scanlan: but if it rains, grog. grog: but that's part of it.my muscles ripple in the moisture. deidre: nothing to block the muscles,no, not at all, but i have to say,with a fine, smooth head, it does need a little decoration,if you don't mind me saying.

grog: oh. you think so?deidre: (chuckles) you! scanlan: somethingin a yarmulke, perhaps? deidre: i was thinking -grog: a yarmulke? matt: and she whips out what looks like this fancy engraved leather capwith two straps on the side and just (shoomf) right over your head. it kind of folds everything in, the straps just go very longand dangle there. laura and ashley: (laugh)marisha: yes! yes!

matt: she takes themand snaps them underneath - to where these two little dangliesare dangling from under the chin. and it just hasthese really intricate flower patterns punched into the leather all around. ashley: buddies. scanlan: i love it, grog.i think you look great. grog: (stutters)scanlan: we don't have a mirror here? deidre: i think it speaksof the seasons. travis: is it over my ears?

marisha: is it like one of thoseold-school leather helmets? matt: it looks almostlike the old football helmets. marisha: oh, football!yeah. okay! cool. laura: awesome! grog: i mean, i don't know,does it do anything? deidre: it looks masculine.you wouldn't believe. here, let me show you! matt: and she brings up a small mirror. grog: (screams)(everyone else laughs)

deidre: exactly. men will fear youwalking down the road, my - grog: no, please, more like - a bit more like war,death, battlefield. more aggressive. this is a bit more like sheep-herder. grog: here you go.deidre: well, all right. deidre: death. battle. aggressive.scanlan: maybe something with spikes? deidre: spikes. spikes...let me see what i can do.

marisha, laura, and ashley: (laugh) matt: and she runs off down the way,gets into a bag and you start hearing things going(tink, thud) something rolls over - deidre: ah, shit!ashley: (laughs) matt: eventually she comes out. deidre: this is less of a hatand more of a half-helmet, but maybe it'll do. matt: and she pulls forth what looks likethis very wide metal brim,

almost in a swish shapeto a point in the front. travis: (laughing) conquistador's helmet? matt: yeah, it kind of lookslike a conquistador's helmet. matt: but it's only the front, so it's almost likea rhinoceros horn - travis: oh!matt: - that sticks up to a point. marisha: yes.laura: oh my god. matt: and the rest are just bucklesto the back of the head, so it's just a giant metallic groovefor the front.

grog: i'll take it.i don't even care if it fits. liam and marisha: (laugh) deidre: oh, that's what i like to hear. grog: how much is it? deidre: this will be 50 gold.laura: (gasps) grog: is the point very sharp? deidre: try it yourself. travis: and i reach upand i... hit it with my finger. matt: it's all right.it can be sharpened.

it's more for decor. it's not meantto slice somebody in half. grog: yeah, it could be sharpened? deidre: well, i mean, what are you intending to dowith this hat? (titters) grog: uh, nothing, just look sharp. (all groan) deidre: i can do that for you,my big muscley man. liam: that is the very ceilingof intelligence of his.

marisha: yeah. laura: i can't believeyou were able to think of that. grog: oh, seethat sweet jam i just dropped there. scanlan: i did, that was a good line.grog: write that in a notebook somewhere. ashley: that was a good line. taliesin: we'll be cleaning thatoff the floor for ages. matt: so after about five minutes or so, she grinds downwith what materials she has to a little more -

it does mess with some of the polishon the very tip of the metal, but it does come to a more solid point. she's like, deidre: be careful with that. travis: so is it one pieceor is there a strap on the back or it just goes (foonk)? matt: it goes on and then straps tight in the back to fit your head. grog: beautiful. laura: it's basically like a unicorn?matt: kind of.

travis: rhino. matt: it's like a big old rhino hornthat curls upward to a point there. liam: wow. wow.matt: it looks a little ridiculous. marisha: i'm so excited for the art! grog: what do you think? hold on.what do you think? scanlan: wow. i mean, your silhouetteis magnificent. imposing. liam: is thisyour variant fighting costume? ashley: oh, boy.grog: am i fearsome?

scanlan: you are. you are. we should goto a silhouette artist after this and get something drawn for this. grog: they have those?scanlan: they do, they cut it out. grog: milady, you area master of your trade. ashley: oh, boy. deidre: well. so they tell me. scanlan: our mom only gave us60 gold to spend. could you give us both hats for 60?we're brothers.

scanlan: he -something went wrong with him at birth. matt: make a deception checkwith disadvantage. sam: with disadvantage?! matt: yes.liam: doesn't matter. sam: well, would a 1 be bad? matt: deidre goes, deidre: (laughs) you silly,silly tiny man - no, seriously. we have a price agreed upon. pay it. grog: yeah, no, i got it.i got 50 gold of my own.

scanlan: all right.twenty from me, 50 from him. we'll take them both. deidre: ooh, all up front? all right.it'll be ready for you shortly. matt: she takes the coin. deidre: thank you for the patronage. return here in about...ooh, an hour, and the hatshall be prepared for you, sir - what's your name? scanlan: thank you, deidre.my name's scanlan shorthalt.

deidre: scanlan shorthalt.all right, come soon. scanlan: see you soon. travis: can i hit my headon the doorway on the way out? matt: (shoomp)laura and marisha: (laugh) matt: (creak) you have tokind of pull it out. travis: perfect.matt: yeah. you leave a nice big groove. travis: it is nice, right?matt: yeah. travis: okay, good. matt: (laughs) all right,eventually you all gather again

back at the hall of the slayer's take. you guys have just settled in and are free to continueany discussion you like as you see scanlan and grog come in. say, you've since retrieved your hat with your variouswonderfully-crafted accoutrements. grog: 'sup, bitches.scanlan: look at that. vex: wow.pike: whoa. grog: what happened?scanlan: look at that.

pike: (gasps) ohh...grog: i know, right? wait for it. vax: (laughs) vex: whoa. grog, you're so monstrous.pike: what? grog, that is so scary. keyleth: that's likeanother twelve inches to you. grog: i know.keyleth: you look so tall. grog: it, like, changesmy whole battle strategy. i'm now literallythe point of the spear. pike: (gasps) you're so scary. percy: how have we lived with this idiot?

grog: (laughs) i'm a sea monster!pike: (roars) grog: i'm likethe most wicked narwhal of all time! keyleth: (giggles) yes. grog: give me a pool! (laughs) pike: can i try it on?grog: yeah, you want to? travis: (laughing)i put it on pike's head. pike: whoa, it's so heavy. (all but taliesin laugh)percy: what is the world coming to? travis: is it, like,as tall as she is, or?

matt: you can seethe bottom of her mouth. pike: oh, grog. grog: oh, yeah, look. wait, turn around 180 degreesand then run as fast as you can. keyleth: oh, yeah, go!go! go! go, pike! go, go! vex: (clapping) go, pike!go, pike! go, pike! matt: okay, make a perception check. taliesin: (groans)everyone else: (laughs) ashley: 9.

matt: 9. you go runningstraight out of the door - laura: no! matt: you guys are like,"oh, no no no, pike!" laura: pike! matt: she's already out the door,over the stairs (boof boof boof boof),outside of the hall. (all make sounds of dismay)marisha: oh no, pike! travis: oh no.laura: oh no! pike: i'm okay!(all laugh)

matt: you guys rush out to go catch her and the helmet is actuallyembedded partway into the ground and she's kind of - ashley: are my legs doing that?marisha: yeah, yeah. matt: and she's just laughing. pike: (laughing) grog,get me out of this helmet. travis: i pick her up by the feet. grog: that was excellent. (giggles) ashley: as he's holding me up like thati try to stab him with it.

travis: i yank it off of her headand put her back on the ground. liam: vax has beenlaughing hysterically, giggle fits,clutching his ribs the entire time. and then is thereany of the staff here? anyone that's here? anyone else? matt: you haven't seen mertin.vanessa doesn't seem to have left. liam: what about underlings? matt: i mean, there are a few individuals herethat are part of the guildhall.

it's - the hierarchy hereis more like the few that run it, and then everyone elsecomes and goes as they please. vax: yeah, yeah, come here, you.do you have a tub? do you have a bath? look at me.do you have a bath? i need a bath. slayer’s take worker:you look pretty rough. vax: yeah? slayer’s take worker:yeah. we could - we got a washroom in the back,if you need it. vax: is it hot?i feel like i need it to be hot.

slayer’s take worker:you get what you get. it's water, buddy. vax: okay.that's perfect, thank you. grog, put that hat on again. grog: oh, yeah, hold on. (foomp)vax: (laughs hysterically) liam: all the way down the hallto take a bath. scanlan: it's crazy - did you guysget him drunk or something? percy: i don't knowwhat you people did, but... pike: well, he just... grog: people respond to fear differently.

scanlan: i guess so.vex: he's gone insane. keyleth: he might have sawthe face of a god. scanlan: whatever.grog: he did? keyleth: yeah.vex: crazy. pike: yeah. the head of - grog: by the way,why is he covered in bloodbath? pike: i think that was part of the - keyleth: ritual? communion?pike: ritual. keyleth: talking?pike: getting to know his new god.

grog: did he kill a lot of people? vex: obviously.pike: maybe he had to. i don't know. grog: he did?vex: so many, grog. grog: oh my god.vex: yeah. it was a giant battle. grog: like, how many on two hands? vex: like at least this many.that's more than six. grog: that's a legendary amount. vex: i know.pike: yeah. grog: pike.

liam: somewhere deep in the building,far away: vax: this is not hot! matt: the gruff individual chuckles. slayer’s take worker:heh. it never is. matt: i need youto make a tinkering check. i'm sitting with my tea and my tools,trying to ignore these people. laura: can i heat water upin the fireplace? matt: yeah, yeah,it'll take you a little while. taliesin: please don't explode.liam: tink tink tink.

sam: when i deliveredthe materials to him - taliesin: oh, jesus h. fucking christ.marisha: oh no, taliesin... sam: could i have inspired him at all,when i delivered the materials? taliesin: please.matt: sure. sam: all right.marisha: please inspire. sam: i will inspire -oh my god, it's not even worth it. taliesin: (muffled) please inspire.do it. do it, you bloody gnome! sam: okay.so when i delivered everything, i just sang him a little songto inspire him. and i sang,

scanlan: percy's gun, won't you comeand kill up all the dragons? (others join in) percy's gun,won't you come, won't you come? ashley and liam: percy's gun! matt: oh my god.all right, take your d10. laura: ten! ten! ten!liam: do it! do it! taliesin: better!marisha: oh my god, it's a 10! sam: that was a 10.taliesin: thank you. marisha: i get excited. sorry.liam: pretty good song. taliesin: proficiency,tinkering, plus the -

matt: well, your proficiencyis what you get with the roll and then it's your dex bonus. taliesin: okay, so proficiency,dex, okay, thank you, god. liam: (hums black hole sun)taliesin: (muttering) that's 11... taliesin: 23.matt: 23. what did you roll naturally? sam: a 2.taliesin: 2. liam: (laughs)laura: whoa. sam: plus 10.matt: ah. taliesin and marisha: plus 10.

taliesin: made it 12.matt: wow. all righty. taliesin: it's not complicated,but i've got a good design, and it has two nifty things. matt: what are the nifty things? sam: fingers. taliesin: it doesn't actuallyhave fingers. it's a mitt -it's a mitt piece, strap-on, it can lock the thumband lock the hand so you can open it, lock,close it, lock.

it's got little flip-locks. matt: mm-hmm. taliesin: you can detach the hand -sam: ooh. taliesin: - and put a pick spike onfor mining. like a mining punch. liam: is it like young frankenstein? (mechanical sound effects) taliesin: it's more dustin hoffman "hook",but, you know. marisha: oh, sure.laura: oh, that's nice. marisha: i was thinking go-go-gadget finger.liam: i guess that's okay.

taliesin: because it's gotthe click, pull, click. matt: right. taliesin: i can do itwith all these things. i can graph it. so. taliesin: reasonable.it's not pretty. matt: it takes you a few hours and gets you intothe early parts of the evening, but you do manageto go ahead and complete it. you manage to get it finished up

and you're pretty proud of your work,actually, and you feel - the whistle you're still doingas you do the final bits, you realize is the songthat scanlan sang for you, just looping in your head. it happened to push youthrough your work and get your final piece completed. taliesin: i also carveda little message inside that will not matteruntil it actually becomes pertinent. taliesin: you don't get to knowuntil you ask offscreen.

sam: you don't know.laura: (laughs) ohhh. matt: okay. i'm excited. okay. marisha: that's right, dm.travis: that never happens. matt: (laughs) try me. okay.do you go and deliver it? taliesin: i do go and deliver it. matt: okay.as the sun begins to set in vasselheim, you make your way back overto the braving grounds, which as you look across, too,this dark - as the night goes dark, the braving grounds itselfhas a whole different life to it.

there are so many forgesand smelters going that there's - most buildings havethis bright orange glow through the ceilingand these various openings where fumes and smoke and exhaustare sent up from the variousproduction constructs and such. it has this very luminescent lookin comparison to a lot of the city. it's very interesting. it reminds you of the deep,deep portions of kraghammer, where most ofthe actual fire and melted rock

was being smeltedand gathered and heated. so you make your way to the hovel. the roof workers are no longer there,and the door is closed. percy: (knocks) victor?i've got your hand. victor: (muffled) i'm sleeping. percy: do you want your hand? victor: (muffled) you want me to sleep? percy: i don't see whythey're mutually exclusive. marisha: (laughs)

matt: you hear (scraping sound)a bunch of different locks fiddling. (series of clicks) (fwoosh) and the door opensand you see victor, clean-faced for the first timeyou've really seen him before, and he has a nightcap which sort of (foomf)in front of his face, with a little puffball at the end. he's like, victor: i told you.i was trying - oh! hey.

(hesitantly) percival? percy: yes, that's quite good.i love your hat. victor: thank you.it's comfy to sleep in. percy: it looks it.victor: did you bring my hand? percy: i did. i grabbed your handand i will show you. it is very special. victor: come in! come in! (grunts) matt: and opens the door.

you see he's wearingthis long nightgown that is covered in patchesand tears in it. most of ithas been turned black through soot, but the cap is perfect.perfect condition. percy: i have a specialset of pajamas myself, so i understand. victor: they are comfortable. matt: as he walks in,still bandaged on the arm, you can see there's a small kettle of teaset by the small fireplace right there.

it's a tiny little tableand a tiny little stool that he's just kind ofsitting on right there. and he goesand he reaches over for the kettle. victor: (groans) matt: tries to pick up the cupand just pours the tea into it. percy: (alarmed stuttering) taliesin: i'm going to stopand attach and begin strapping this. victor: (confused stuttering) percy: let me show you how this -it attaches like this.

victor: ooh. percy: here are the two switches.(clicking) and - victor: (giggles)percy: - for your mine. victor: eh? oh. taliesin: i grab,hit the button, twist, pull. victor: oh? eh? i just got that! taliesin: and i get the spikeand attach it. victor: ohhh. taliesin: remove it,put the hand back on.

percy: tea? victor: (chuckles) (click) (excited laughter) tea? percy: sure. why not?always say yes. victor: need another cup. (grunts) matt: he stands up and goes over, still holding the kettleand splashing everywhere, and he's flipping through cabinetsand knocking pieces of glass out. victor: ah! found it.

matt: pulls outanother little ceramic cup and pours the tea in,sets it down. (chink, click) victor: (cackles) victor: to new hands!percy: to new hands. sam: that's a great toast. matt: it is pungent. it is bitter. matt: it has been steeped way too long.ashley: gunpowder tea. matt: but it definitelycleans out the sinuses. and there is a hint of gunpowderto the flavoring.

you get the sense that pretty much everythingin this room is marinated in some way,shape, or form to be flammable. percy: (hoarsely) victor. victor: it can put hair on your balls. percy: ohhh, probably. has a woman been byto buy black powder? (coughs) has a woman been by?

victor: not in, uh, weeks, maybe. percy: weeks? victor: did you make her hand, too? percy: i did not.do you know where she goes? victor: no. she paid well, though. percy: did she? what did she pay? victor: are you guys in a club now?how many people want black powder? tell me! tell them!bring them more. i could use money.

(others laugh) percy: ...how much black powderdid she buy, victor? victor: uh... (mutters to himself)(click, click) percy: only counts to two.i'm so sorry. victor: maybe...twelve hogsheads worth? ashley: whoa.travis and marisha: oh, shit. percy: really?and how often does she come by? victor: she only come by once. percy: okay. (sighs)

thank you. i'm so pleased. i may stop by one last timebefore i leave town, just to say good-bye. thank you. victor: please do! i have more tea. many different flavors.this is, i call, dark roast. percy: it...certainly scalded something. thank you. that was very lovelyand that was very charming and i unfortunately have business in the - victor: i want to try the other onebefore you go.

percy: one moreand then i must go, thank you. victor: (click, creak)come on, need this, too. percy: yes, of course.victor: (creak, click) (cackles) percy: (uncertain laughter)victor: (thunk) matt: he sticks it into the wooden stooland the table. kind of breaks the woodand snaps it. victor: oh. (cackles) percy: rememberthat it's attached to bone. you can still break your arm,so be gentle.

victor: yes. thank you! percy: thank you. good night!have a lovely evening. victor: good night!sam: aah. percy: good night.aah. pleasure, as always. victor: (slurps) taliesin: i leavein a little bit of a panic. matt: you leaveand he's just sitting there staringat this long chisel point, going, victor: (quiet cackling)

sam: his ring.marisha: (laughs) matt: the doorslowly closes behind you. taliesin: yeah.liam: a fighter is born. marisha: yes, yeah,just give him an anime weapon. taliesin: there's a - yeah, okay.we're sticking around for a day? sam: i assume so. i don't know. we're going to spend the night,at least. taliesin: i'm going to takea long walk before i come back and i'm going to walk bythe raven queen temple

and just... peek inside. matt: okay.you make your way past the quad roads. at this point at nightthe whole clientele has shifted. most people coming here -you hear laughter, you hear music. the quad roads isthe new orleans of the town, comparatively. it's still nowhere near as rambunctiousas many places you've been, but for what seems during the day to be a rather dourand serious business type city, the quad roadsis where the celebration of humanity hits

when the evening hours hit. so you come by and there's some tavernsthat are open. you see, to a certain extent, what even appears to bean adult entertainment district. laura: (laughs sarcastically) matt: you make your way beyond - liam: (clears throat)ring-a-ding-ding. matt: it's the oldest profession.

you make your way all the wayto the outskirts of the duskmeadow, and there, amongst the just barely peekingthrough the cloudline starlight, the looming dark structurethat is raven's crest. taliesin: i'm just going togently open the door and peek insideand see if anybody's inside. matt: okay. you go aheadand push the door open. (creak) doesn't appear to be anybody there. taliesin: i walk in just for a momentand take a look around.

matt: okay. you walk in.(clicking footsteps) at this dark hour, looking around,the obsidian-type walls are translucent glasson the other side, though you can barely make outthrough the material the details of the outside world, due to the lack of lightacross the cityscape. especially here in duskmeadow, which the magical lantern lightthat illuminates the city streets are relatively sparseon this side of vasselheim.

you take a few more steps in,(clicking footsteps) footsteps echoing across the long,thin, dark material of the floors. (creak, thud) laura: (gasps)matt: door closes behind you. travis: (quietly) what would -why would you do this? liam: said the t. rex. taliesin: i'm going togently look around and slowly back upand see if i can see anyone. percy: hello? hello?

matt: (echoing) hello...hello... hello. (long pause) percy: what do i have to payto fix this? matt: (echoing) this...this... this... this. taliesin: i leave. matt: (thump-crash)you hear the sound of some sort of low,distant hit and a rumble, and you see a distant light appearin a chamber just beyond the walkway, just faint enough to illuminate

and give the presenceof some sort of life or movement about a hundred or so feet ahead of you. taliesin: i walk briskly towards it. matt: you enter the next chamber, where you see the interiorof this structure is ivory-white bone and glass,with a blue hint, very much resembling the interior of a very naturally,beautifully-carved ice cavern. there is a stairway that ascends,

as well as other hallwaysthat lead out from the central nerve center of the lower floorof the main structure. as you walk into this central chamber, you see, ever so faintly,at the very top of the stairs, a pair of feet (footsteps)walk and disappear up the stairs. taliesin: i'm going to charge after them. matt: okay. you go runningup the stairway. (thud thud) you get to the top

and you can seeat the very top of the stairs a dark wooden doorwith a dark iron rim and what appears to be a large hanger or handleor knocker bolted to it and it (boof) just closes as you come underneaththe top of the archway and up the stairs. taliesin: ...i knock. matt: (doosh) once? taliesin: three times.

matt: (doosh doosh)with each hit, you can hear the reverberationof the echo of the knock through a much larger chamber beyond. as soon as you releasethe actual door knocker, the door (thump-crash, creak) just creaks open ever so slightlyinto a very, very dark chamber. you can see very, very little in here,other than the basic outline of what looks to bea little bit of floor, some sort of a smooth,glassy surface

that refractsjust a little bit of light that makes it throughwhat looks to be some sort of broken-upglass dome-type structure above you. you can't make out much beyond that.it's very dark in here. percy: hello? please. (sighs) something terrible has happened. i don't understand how these games work. i need help to fix something. something terrible has happened!

percy: you obviouslycare little for this world. taliesin: i start to back out. matt: as you step out of the room,you hear a whisper come from beyond the chamber,within the darkness. it says, raven queen: is it yourselfyou wish to fix or something more? percy: ...i don't think i can be fixed. there is something broken in the world. raven queen: then come. let us talk. percy: ...i don't understandhow these things work.

i'm so sorry. i -where do you wish me to go? raven queen: have faith. percy: (disbelieving laugh) raven queen: step in. join me. taliesin: (sighs) ...i strip. travis: (gasps) taliesin: and put it aside. sam: put "it" aside? taliesin: put my clothesin the corner.

sam: oh.you're gonna jump her, eh? taliesin: you're filthy.and i go into the pool. as you step into the chamber,freezing cold as your toes - taliesin: we're cold people. matt: - your legs, your whole bodyeventually finds itself stepping into this thick,freezing liquid. you hear the whisper in your ears just as your headreaches the level of the blood, that says,

raven queen: come.come to me with your questions. matt: just as your head goesbeneath the surface. taliesin: (sighs) we're doing this. matt: you're underneathand in darkness, feeling around the thick material, kind of justswishing your fingers around, but amongst the liquid, you still hear the whisper againin your ear: raven queen: come.bring your questions.

taliesin: and i swim downuntil it's uncomfortable. matt: you swim downwardand you touch the bottom of the pool. you reach a somewhat concave,smooth floor to the pool. taliesin: i'm going tohead to the surface. i don't know what's... matt: you head to the surface. there's no surface.it just keeps going. taliesin: (sighs)i do not do well with this. matt: you do not.you begin to panic.

taliesin: yes, i do. matt: you begin to reach around and try to swim upand find the surface, but it just keeps going. the liquid's thickand it's hard to pull through, and you can't open your eyes,and you can't see anything, and the iron-like flavor is starting to find its wayto the inside of your mouth as it's seeping through your noseand your ears.

you begin to panic even furtheras the cold is starting to take and you feel your musclesbeginning to shake and seize from the onset of hypothermia. you begin to headto the bottom of the pool again, and this time,you crack your head on the bottom in the middle of your stupor,and you reach up and scream in pain. as you do,the blood fills your lungs and you begin to feel yourself drown. you begin to shake and convulse

as you begin to try to find a wayto force it out of your body and you can't. and at that moment, where all of a suddenyou realize that this is it. this is the end. this is how the tale of percivalcomes to an end. the sensation goes warm again. and it's like all that cold energygoes away, and you're now swimming in water,then air,

and the pain subsides,and you're breathing normally. but you still stand in darkness,and you hear these distant footsteps. (clicking footsteps) sourceless. no light, just shadow. and you look around over your shoulder and then right behind you,you see immediately a white porcelain face, the head is just standing thereamongst the shadow. percy: (takes deep breaths)do you know what i've done?

raven queen: i've watched. percy: ...i have questions. raven queen: then ask them. percy: first, is - can we stop it? can we stop what's been released? is there something i can do? raven queen: many thingsare released in this world. many terrible, many wonderful.many things. ask the right questions.

percy: did it choose mebecause i was broken, or did it break me? matt: the mask, which has not shownany expression at this point, pulls back a little bit from youand almost seems to grow in size. it's strange; the proportion seems to stay the same,but suddenly your vision shifts and you realize, no, it's farther away from youand is just suddenly immense, like your visual focus just changes

and your whole perspectivesuddenly causes you to lose sense of scale and balance. the voice comes in,this time louder: raven queen: you were always broken,percival. and you were preyed upon,just as it preys upon others, and will continue to do sountil finally destroyed. percy: can it be fixed? raven queen: perhaps. your deeds will guide your pathto salvation or damnation.

the choice is yours.you skirt that line still. percy: but the first deed is so... there's so much,and i don't think any of them see it. i don't - i want it to diebefore anybody sees it. can you help? raven queen: i've already helped, percival. do not think the paththat you and your allies walk goes unseen. there are many of those in this worldthat represent the will of us,

just as there are thosewho represent the will of those that combat usand always have. there are a great many deedsahead of you. it's your choice to take them. just know:should you not watch yourself, you may not find yourselfon our side. there is nowhere i can look for healing? other than deeds? i like to fix things.

raven queen: all life is inherently broken from the start, percival. take solace in that. there is no perfection in life. otherwise, what would be the purpose of death? it's to try to find waysto better yourself before the end that gives us purpose. you are all broken,but also understand - matt: at this point, her voice gets very deep and very resonant. raven queen: mortalscan achieve great things.

i did. matt: and the mask pulls backinto the shadows and suddenly (gasp, cough) you begin coughing,finding your way to the surface, pouring blood out of your mouthand coughing and eventually you find your way over,breathing heavily, to the side of the pool and (grunt)pull yourself onto the side. (cough) cough the rest of it up. a little bit of moonlight peeks through,and you can see

the beams refracting throughthe purples and reds and blues and just hints of specks of light that just shimmeracross the surface of this dark,glass-like floor. taliesin: i'm going to take my sword and i'm going to very carefullyscrape my body clean of the blood, as much as i can, and i'm going to takethe back of my shirt and clean my hair offas much as i can.

i'm going to takea vial of the blood in the pool. one tiny bit. matt: you do so. taliesin: i'm going toput my clothes back on... and i'm going to cast hex on myselffor my walk home and banish itbefore i come in the door. matt: okay. all righty. so, as percival finally wanders in, is there anything elseanyone wants to achieve

before the evening's done? sam: i'd like to go to the raven queen. sam: no. liam: are we next morning, or we're still evening,at this point? matt: we're still evening at the moment, if there's anything elseyou wish to achieve. otherwise - laura: i've been slowly heating water and giving it to vaxto put in his bath.

marisha: aww. matt: you do manage to draw a comfortable bathfor your brother and wash him clean. laura: i don't wash him.i just give him the fucking water. matt: you aid himin washing himself clean. so you specify. liam: thanks, man. thanks, man. taliesin: i've got a little - travis: do we see percywhen he comes in?

matt: it's going to be late. taliesin: i'm going to walk quiet and late and go tinkeron a little thing for a minute until i pass out. matt: okay.you do notice percy enter. looks a little frazzled,but doesn't seem to - laura: do i see any of the blood?passive perception? liam: you're in the tubby town, though. matt: make a perception check.

i want you to make a dexterity check. marisha and taliesin: (groan) liam: sorry, taliesin. sam: you've got him. liam: rolled high.laura: 32. sam: you've got it.taliesin: 32?! liam: yeah. taliesin: oh my god, what the -i couldn't have rolled that. like, that would've been a natural 20,

would have been the only way around that. matt: you see, just faintly behind one of his ears and at the edge of his collaron his coat, just a bit of familiar crimson,and a look of... a distant stare that is familiar. do you all wish to restfor the evening? sam: no, i would liketo take 12 hours to read my book. matt: okay, so the first 12 hours are completed, but you do not sleep?

liam: it's a page-turner.marisha: (laughs) matt: all righty.sam: lots of centerfolds. taliesin: pretty pictures. travis: don't be stingy,share those with me. matt: written by john cleese.it's a wonderful piece. laura: i also spenda lot of time that night reading, but i'm readingthe book about the raven queen. matt: okay.doing raven queen research. laura: pretty muchhave it memorized at this point,

with the amountthat i've read that fucking book. matt: yeah, fair enough. all right. you guys all find yourself to rest,except for scanlan, who takesa point of exhaustion for going through the nightwithout sleep. sam: i don't know what that is,but someone will tell me. travis: you'll find out. matt: yeah. basically,it means any ability checks, any skill checksuntil you get a full night's rest

are at disadvantage, yeah. all right,as you find yourselves to rest, most of you,the morning light comes, greeting you to a new day, and we're going to go aheadand take a break. we'll be back herein a few minutes, guys. reminder, once again:loot crate, our awesome sponsor, check them out atlootcrate.com/criticalrole, enter criticalrole (one word)to get $3 off a subscription.

we'll be back here in a minute, guys. sam: oh, and funny, we're giving away - marisha: and get your joe mad poster!matt: joe mad poster! marisha: right now, pre-order. sam: wait, there's a giveawayat the break, i think. laura: oh, there'sa loot crate giveaway. marisha: oh, and giveaway! matt: for the dx boxes,so be active in the chat. liam: and please go check outthe joe mad poster.

laura: it's so sick. liam: also check outbattle chasers night war. it's a beautiful-looking game.i played it today. thanks again, joe. seriously. laura: also, give your friend a hug.love each other. marisha: (laughs) yeah, and a high-five.you know, love each other. sam: bathe in blood.we'll see you soon. [stream will return at 22:43] matt: welcome back, guys.so, as we return to the game,

the morning comes to you allin vasselheim as you awakein the slayer's take guildhall. a brisk morning, but not too cold. the clouds are actuallya little more separate this morning. you get brief moments of blue; it looks like the weatheris a little clearer than you're used to seeingin this vicinity. but the day is yours.what do you guys wish to do? vax: what do we needto accomplish here in town?

is there anythingwe need to finish, or do we wantto pick our next destination? scanlan: do they sell potions and things here in town - scanlan: no, they don't.percy: no, very specifically they don't. keyleth: they hate magic. scanlan: then let'sget the hell out of here. vex: yeah, let's get out.scanlan: there's nothing for us here. grog: what about the feywild?scanlan: oh, yeah. keyleth: we did talkabout the feywild.

percy: let's drop off our - vex: don't tease me about the feywild. grog: wait, don't you haveto pick up something? percy: oh, i already picked it up.grog: not you, you. scanlan: me?taliesin: oh, you have a hat. sam: i thought we waited for the hat. matt: yeah, he picked up the hat. travis: oh, shit, balls, ass.all right. scanlan: there's the feywild.

there's dropping stuff offat whitestone. there's marquet,which something is there in marquet? vex: is one of the vestiges there? scanlan: i don't know,everyone just keeps talking about it. grog: really? scanlan: there's also -wait, weren't we going to go to - keyleth: one of the vestigesis in marquet. vex: which one? keyleth: hang on. cabal's ruin,which is a magic-devouring cloak -

grog: hold on, hold on, hold on.are we alone in this room? matt: you guys are right nowhaving breakfast in the guildhall. there's maybe twoother individuals in the room. one of them isdrunkenly asleep and snoring. the other appears to begoing about their business. grog: i'm just saying. keyleth: (whispering)okay, i'll speak quietly. there's apparentlya magic-devouring cloak who is being worn by the -

it's in ank'harel.it's being worn by - vex: it's a cloakthat devours magic? keyleth: - a merchant warriorwith a missing eye. scanlan: and there's onein the bottom of the sea somewhere. vex: and there's a really beautiful strong bowin the feywild. grog: yeah, let's goto the feywild! we at least know that place. percy: i say we drop everything -we take a pit stop in whitestone

and head towards the feywild. empty our bags. keyleth: well, technically, we don't even haveto head towards the feywild. do you guys remember how i kind of did that thingwith grog's evil sword and kind ofbanished it away for forever? grog: are we bringing it back?keyleth: no. vex: yeah, to the dread emperor's.keyleth: right.

vax: not a good idea, grog. keyleth: no, we're notbringing it back. i can do that with the rest of us. vex: you can banish usto the dread emperor's island? keyleth: no, it's not likea banishment. i can plane shift uswherever we want to go, to an alternate plane. vex: to the feywild? so we don't evenhave to find an entrance?

keyleth: yeah, we just hold handsand think about it really hard. grog: no way. keyleth: yeah.it's druid magic. it's great. vax: and you put us in a safe spot somewhere in there, somehow? keyleth: i can take us to where we've been before,to where it's familiar. vax: have we been there before?i don't know. keyleth: very briefly.percy: yes.

vex: is it somewherethat you have to have been, or is it somewherethat we have been. keyleth: it is somewherei am familiar with, i believe, through means -through means that i am familiar... vex: syngorn is in the feywild. scanlan: normally? vax: no, not normally. vex: they transferred the entire city there,so technically, it's a place - vax: i know, but you're sayingwe've been there,

but they just did that recently. scanlan: grog's been to the feywild. matt: you can specify a target marisha: in general terms.matt: in general terms. marisha: such as "city of brasson the elemental plane of fire." scanlan: oh, is thatwhere we're going? keyleth: no. scanlan: oh. sounds like fun.percy: it does, actually. keyleth: if you guys want to goto the plane of fire,

that's like,a hike and a jump through a hole. percy: ah. grog: no, no, not the plane of fire.just the feywild. keyleth: all right.yeah, i can get us there. scanlan: to the feywild. how big is the feywild?is it like a football field? keyleth: it's very big.vex: it's a whole other plane. scanlan: well, how do - do we know where we're goingin the feywild?

grog: nope. keyleth: i imagine we'll figure it outonce we get there. taliesin: do i know anythingabout the feywild? would i have basic - matt: you haveno knowledge of the feywild. taliesin: i have no knowledge. ashley: would i know anything else?marisha: what about me? laura: would we know anything? would we have learned something about it in syngorn? matt: you havea general idea of it, somewhat -

marisha: team half-elf, yeah. matt: somewhat,just through your learning. you never actually visited there. the feywild is a near plane, a plane that overlapsthis prime material plane. it's a versionof the world you live in right now that is shifted and changed in a place where time,distance is relative and shifts. nature grows rampant and in cases

is hard to really expect its direction. things and entities exist there that prefer to trick and lose wanderers. it's a very strange placewhere some believe elves initially come fromor craft from there, at least. liam: do the two of us know enough that were you to jumpfrom the same place here, would you necessarily end upin the same spot in the feywild - matt: you have no idea.liam: - or is it a crapshoot?

liam: we don't know. all right. matt: you don't know anythingabout the transition to the feywild. you just know that certain doors openat certain times, especially with full moonsin certain locations, the classic toadstool rings, areas where the moonlightin the realms can be a little thinnerand the barrier doors do open, and those are where creaturescan transition out or through. you do know it's a place of fey magic,

it's tricky, it's difficult to follow. sam: terrible.laura: it sounds awful. matt: very, like, oberon and titania.weird. interesting. marisha: question.matt: yes? marisha: hmm, okay.sam: good question. marisha: it saysthe wrath of the fey warden is what we're looking for, the bow,and that it now acts as the heart of a cancerous tree,corrupting the verdant land. is there something i can do,maybe try and...

travis: hold on, is our stream up?are we offline right now? lucas: (muffled, from offscreen)i'm checking. just wait. ashley: hold, please. lucas: it says we're still online.hang on. liam: loot crate. check out loot crate.sam: no one can see it. laura: no, it says it's offline. liam: refresh it.marisha: it says offline? liam: quit the programand go back in. travis: the chat is saying it's off.

lucas: no, we're still online.laura: okay. liam: tell them to quit and re-login.sam: it's back. it's back. laura: okay, it's back?marisha: it's back? lucas: i'm not sure what happened. i'm not sure it even dropped frames on my end. liam: whoa, we werein the feywild for a second there. ashley: oh, it was crazy.matt: you guys missed six episodes. (all make exaggerated sounds of relief) travis: (laughing) six episodes.matt: everything turned out okay.

laura: yay! and we got the warden thing.liam: dragons are dead. marisha: guys, i'm so gladwe won dnd. we beat it. laura: yeah, that was the best. taliesin: roll the credits scroll. marisha: can i maybesense a sick tree, or maybe - you know what?let's go to whitestone. vex: let's go to whitestone. keyleth: let's go to whitestoneand drop some stuff off. vex: you know,because the more i think about it,

i mean, we almost justdied many times and the last time we triedto get a vestige it almost killed us,and maybe we just need a little bitmore preparation, maybe? percy: let's empty our bags,let's prepare ourselves, let's - there are certainly storiesin the woods of whitestone of strange happenings, so i'm surethere's probably some connection to the feywild,and we'll see what happens.

vex: make sure whitestone is actually preparing something undergroundjust like westruun. percy: well, we have something. keyleth: yes, they havesomething underground already. vex: exactly, but there'sa spinning orb of death there. percy: which, to be fair, is probably goingto keep a dragon away. vax: but i also think we've earned morethan a single day of rest.

percy: yes. vax: let's go to whitestone.percy: let's go to whitestone. keyleth: all right.ashley: where's the sea? sam: the ozmit sea?ashley: yeah. matt: the ozmit sea isto the east of you, east-southeast, and that is a wide gulf that separates - from your perspective, looking at me, there's othanzia, ozmit sea,and there's tal'dorei right here. laura: oh, okay.

liam: (sneezes) taliesin and marisha: bless you.laura: bless you. keyleth: the water asharilive in the ozmit sea. vex: are they like mermaids? keyleth: no, i think they've got an island. pike: it's also the sea that i sailed. keyleth: really?vex: (gasps) scanlan: ohhh.percy: really? pike: yeah.vex: in your roving pirate days.

keyleth: and how familiar are you with it?pike: i know it well. keyleth: how familiar are you with the sea? pike: i'm pretty familiar with it. grog: what if we go there? scanlan: we could. vex: wait, could i see the list of vestiges? scanlan: the one in the bottom of the seais called whisper, right? vex: whisper? keyleth: a blade forged from metalpulled from the far realm,

it was the center of many dark rituals. scanlan: it now liesat the bottom of the ozmit sea, sunken with the lost ship,the shrew. vex: (sing-song) the shrew?pike: (deep voice) the shrew. scanlan: a storm three hundred years agonear an island of glass. anyone know about the island of glass? vex: have you heardabout an island of glass? marisha: have i heardabout an island of glass? laura: has pike heard anything?

marisha: have pike or i heardof an island of glass? matt: i'll have both of you guysmake history checks. marisha: all right.i rolled a natural 1. matt: you barely knowwhat glass is right now. keyleth: guys, water isn't glass,that's stupid. taliesin: i would havea theory as to what it was. travis: she rolled a 20. marisha: you rolled a 20?oh, go pike! ashley: not a natural 20. total.

matt: explain. taliesin: should i roll to figure outthat this is probably an active volcano? matt: make an intelligence check. taliesin: i'm down. liam: come on, man. taliesin: no! wow. sam: onesies.marisha: team ones. whoo. matt: natural 1?taliesin: natural 1. matt: whoo.liam: snitch.

matt: doesn't quite come to you,but what it could be. the idea of a volcanopossibly comes to mind, but - taliesin: i'm distracted. matt: yeah. you have not been there,you haven't seen it, but some of your crewmateswhile you were traveling aboard your shipfor that five, six-month period, a couple of them did mention somethingabout on the sea, a mirage-like islandthat glistens in the distance,

but they said to avoid it,said it was dangerous. sam: did they say where it was? matt: no.sam: damn it. pike: heard many tales of the shrew. vex: yeah?pike: yeah, the ship lost at sea. keyleth: really? matt: you know of the shrew,you definitely know of the shrew. pike: all sailors know of the shrew. keyleth: what's the story of the shrew?scanlan: come on, sailor.

pike: it's just - there was a stormthree hundred years ago. laura: near an island of glass?ashley: near an island of glass. marisha: it was really bad. pike: and the shrewjust didn't sail on. sam: it was tamed.ashley: it was tamed. laura: (laughs) i was waiting for it to - matt: come around again?yeah, it was good. laura: come around, yep.taliesin: taming of the shrew fits, yeah. ashley: good tale,but we'll get there one day.

matt: what's the plan? vax: whitestone.scanlan: yes, whitestone. vax: we go to whitestone.vex: whitestone? grog: can i make one other suggestion? emon... go take thordak right now. scanlan: good call...grog: yeah, one taker? vax: it's cheeky. keyleth: you know what, grog?vex: it's a good plan, grog.

keyleth: we will put thatin our back pocket and we will think about it. vex: you could really do something terrible to himwith that thing. grog: i'm just saying,i think we have an edge now. vex: i think you're probably right -scanlan: (chuckle) attaboy. vax: that's technically true, yes.percy: you do... have a point. vex: but let's make sure that whitestone is safe before we do such a thing.

scanlan: percy, we are in a placethat has an airship dock. percy: that is true. scanlan: we could go steal an airship. percy: we could go steal an airship! vex: we don't need an airship.keyleth: we don't need an airship. vex: we have an instant abilityto transport anywhere. scanlan: it would be so cool, though. percy: then we wouldn'thave to go to whitestone. it would hold all of our things.

vex: when we kill all of the dragons -keyleth: when we kill all the dragons. percy: we could hold all of our things on the airship - and i could have cannonades,and it would fire - vex: - that will be the first thing we do,when thordak dies - vax: party on an airship.vex: - is we jump on an airship. pike: party on the airship. keyleth: we'll buy itwith all of the gold that we've stolenfrom all the dragons. it'll be great.

percy: we won't need the airshipif the dragons are dead. vex: all the fun has gone out of it.travis: what are we doing? sam: all right, whitestone.taliesin: whitestone. laura: we're going to whitestone.marisha: we're going to whitestone. marisha: (piercing spell noise) scanlan: before we leave, do you want to sell these stupid white dragon scales? percy: no.scanlan: all right, let's go. vax: let's go to whitestone. marisha: (repeats piercing spell noise) through a tree!

matt: all right, as you guys walk outside of the slayer's take guildhall, you find the nearest tree,which you've used before to traverse. as you all step through the portal,percy and scanlan look over their shoulderat the distant skyport and see the one airship docked thereand think, "one day..." vax: so handsome. scanlan: someday, it will be ours.percy: you'll make a fine sailor. scanlan: passenger.liam: swabby. taliesin: cabin boy.sam: cabin boy.

matt: you jump throughand emerge out the other side. as you step out of the portal,you find yourself jumping out of the centerof the sun tree. marisha: can i do something?sam: nope. matt: what do you want to do? marisha: while i'm in the tree,can i do something? like - travis: like kill us all? say they go first."go, go, go, go." and i kind of start teleportingthrough the tree

and while i'm in the sun treei just want to be like, keyleth: hey, boo. laura: (laughs) keyleth: i missed you. have you heard of this wholecancerous tree situation in the feywild? sam: (whispering) you're talking to a tree? marisha: shh, no.i'm in the middle of the tree. i'm in the tree.

laura: you're stuck in the tree? matt: as you finish this thought,you hear this sound emerge (vacuum sealing sound)and realize it's the sound of the hole portal you've madeclosing behind you because it only lasts for six seconds and you should probablyget the hell out of the tree. marisha: aww. i step out of the tree. ashley: good try. matt: as you step out, a voice goes,

sun tree: hey, boo, sorry.(kiss noise) matt: and it closes behind you. marisha: i'll talk to him later. matt: you guys emerge. due to the time differences,you land here in whitestone, looking at where the sun is in the sky,it's early afternoon, as opposed to the morningwhere you guys just stepped away from. there are people in the streets,and you see a few, a little bit of lifehas returned to this town square,

though still, by comparison - there are folks nowthat are bringing in actual, healthy, looks to be fruitsfrom nearby trees. there's a little bit of trade going on. this is the first real chance you've had to see a little bit of whitestonecoming to life again. as you emerge from the tree,a few individuals nearby stop and look and smile and wave,recognizing you as you approach. laura: are there any leaveson the sun tree yet?

matt: actually, no, there are not.there are no leaves on the sun tree. sam: (quietly) because it's winter. laura: whatever. grog: we should checkwith the border patrol. scanlan: there's a border patrol? grog: yeah.vex: a wolf. scanlan: oh, the wolf. travis: (whistles) i whistleas loud as i can. matt: okay.sam: what's his name?

marisha: i don't know.let me find it. sam: oh, boy. harold? laura: i just want to go find zahra and give her a hug and say helloand see how she's doing while he's talking. matt: you whistle as loud as you canfor a little bit. nothing. grog: must be off doing something(belches) important. percy: quite. matt: you head off and, asking around,

you find zahra is actuallyup in castle whitestone right now, just poring throughone of the studies of books, and is just currentlyreading and reading on her own. as you eventually ask aroundand find your way there, entering the room, you see her with a small set of spectaclesat the end of her nose. she takes them off and, zahra: my darling vex'ahlia! matt: and comes upand just gives you a big hug

and picks you up and sets you down. zahra: i'm so glad to see you're all right. vex: dear, the dragon arrow you gave me? killed him. well, i didn't kill him,actually, we did, but i did a lot of damage. zahra: you killed a dragon?vex: umbrasyl. dead. one down. zahra: i knew you would. vex: where's cashew? zahra: i don't know.he's testy these days.

i'm sure he's around. laura: i know his name is fucking kashaw. vex: so he's not there. zahra: probably downin the city somewhere. he's helping where he can.you know broody types. vex: i do know broody types. zahra: yes, you do. vex: what are you reading? zahra: oh, i'm just learningabout the history of whitestone

and i'm very intriguedas to the actual properties of this stone the entire town is built on. there's a lot of really,really interesting things that can be done with the materialsin these mountains. vex: i'm sure you have ideas.zahra: i do. laura: i sit down next to her and ask,just catching up, and see if they've spotted any dragons. matt: you guys continue your conversation,catching up, letting her know how things happened,and vice versa.

you don't get any infothat any dragons have come by. apparently, there have beena few other arcane practitioners that have been helping set upsome sort of barrier to help, essentially,dissuade attention towards the city. the idea of keeping this placeas far off the map as possible, should any prying eyesfind their way there. it's in the processof being set up right now. vex: zahra, how long did it take youto make that arrow? zahra: a few weeks.

vex: if i were to give yousome more money, do you think you could do it again? zahra: probably, based on what -(sighs) if i'm able to use some of the resourceshere within the castle, maybe. vex: i'll talk to percy,but i'm sure, if it's for a good cause... zahra: all right, perhaps i can. vex: all right. i'll come find you, dear. zahra: wondrous. matt: what elseare you guys trying to achieve here?

liam: i am trying to find shaun gilmore. laura: that's his first name?sam: shaun gilmore? matt and marisha: yeah.taliesin: yeah, shaun. laura: shaun?sam: what? ashley: (whispering) shaun?laura: how did you know that? marisha: he told us. matt: he told you guys thata long time ago. laura: i fucking know, i remember.matt: (laughs) taliesin: tattooedat the small of his back.

laura: oh, right. marisha: yeah, he's got a tramp stamp.ashley: tramp stamp. sam: can i accompany vax on this trip?liam: sure, come on. scanlan: i want to see gilmore. vax: let's startasking around town for him. matt: you start asking around. you come acrossa few folks you recognize, you find a few of the guardswho helped you with the original reconstructionof this city and such

and asking around. one of the nearby guardstakes his helmet off and is like, whitestone guard: first off,i am so excited that you guys are back.i'm so glad you're all safe. i heard that you wereoff to do some dangerous things. vax: you heard right. whitestone guard: well, great,i'm glad that you've survived. looking for mr. gilmore, he's actually down with the realmseer.

they're inspectingthe ziggurat underneath the city, so you could head down thereif you wanted to find him. i'm not terribly familiarwith whitestone, could you point usin the right direction? whitestone guard: it's under the castle. vax: the castle.whitestone guard: yes. vax: can't miss that. scanlan: yeah, we've been there before.yeah, let's go. vax: let's go.

matt: he puts his helmet back on. whitestone guard: thank you againfor all that you do. matt: he clicks his heels togetherand continues walking through the city. liam: all right, yeah. sam: i guess we'll headdown to the ziggurat. liam: let's do it. matt: everyone else going with? travis: fuck yeah, let's go.ashley: yeah. yeah. laura: we taking a trip?taliesin: sure.

marisha: oh, are we allgoing down to the ziggurat? laura: yeah.travis: nothing else to do. marisha: sure. matt: all right. you make your way down to the basement areaof whitestone castle, into the family catacombs, which have been cleaned upand you can see that cassandra has puta little bit of care into restoring itto what it was before.

the tunnel that was carved inhas been given a little more support, and as you're making your waydown a familiar tunnel, the same tunnel where you hadthe showdown with orthax, you hear a few voices from up ahead. two familiar voices. you hear the echo of some older,gruff, elderly gentleman and a little more rambunctiousfamiliar voice. as they turn the corner,you see them deep in conversation. it's the realmseer himselfhunched forward

with his white hairand balding top, turns around, eskil ryndarien: and it'sa great mystery to me that they can put a -oh, look! they've returned. vox machina themselves. matt: gilmore, at this point,opens his arms, standing and healthy. sam: hey, that's good. gilmore: my god,i've been waiting for you. vex: (laughs)pike and keyleth: aww. gilmore: and all of youso graciously clean!

vex: you look so healthy, gilmore!pike: very healthy. gilmore: well, i have youto thank for that. vax: look at you.gilmore: still a ways to go, but - vax: but in two or three weeks,it's not bad. you're looking well. gilmore: well, you all have kimato thank for that. she's been quite attentiveto my needs. travis: uh-huh.laura: (laughs) keyleth: how is whitestone finding you? gilmore: curious place, this whitestone.

it's - well, the company's interesting. keyleth: sure. matt: the realmseer laughs. he's like, eskil ryndarien: (chuckles) so i've heard. looking at this strange odditybeneath the city, and i'm not going to lie to you,it's really confusing. i've a few theories on it,as does the arcanist, but we're still comparing notes and we don't wantto jump to any conclusions,

as tests have been inconclusiveand rather dangerous so far. however, before anything elsegoes underway, i believe there's a very important bit of businessthat we must attend to. scanlan: business?what business, gilmore? matt: and he walks straight up to grogand just gives you a big hug. sam: aww.laura: oh? matt: and pats you on the shoulderand is like, gilmore: (chuckling) you big lug. grog: you... gilmore.

matt: walks over to you, pike,and kneels down and gives you a little pinch on the cheekand is like, gilmore: looking as spryand smiley as ever, i see. pike: hello, shaun. (more laughter) ashley: i give him a kisson the cheek. gilmore: ohh.ashley: (laughs) ohh. matt: he turns to you. gilmore: vex'ahlia, look at you.i hear, if my words say correct,

that you folks area recent dragon-slaying bunch, hmm? vex: that we are.gilmore: (chuckles) good to know. matt: skips over you. laura: ohh.ashley: save the best for last. matt: and goes to scanlanand goes to ruffle your hair, and goes, gilmore: and you, you,my little bardish friend. scanlan: little? gilmore: no, you're actuallyphysically little. scanlan: oh, i know.gilmore: you are a tinier person.

gilmore: embrace it!it's what makes you different. scanlan: that's true, i suppose.i suppose. yes, that's - absolutely. we've been spreading the good wordabout you and your works. gilmore: so i've heardfrom all sorts of interesting folk. i only hope one dayto wear clothes as fine as you. scanlan: oh! that's a nice compliment. gilmore: percival.percy: good patron. gilmore: thank youfor taking me into your home. percy: you do nothingbut brighten these halls.

gilmore: i'm...happy to keep things lit. (sighs) matt: at which point,he goes to look towards you. the realmseer's sitting theretapping his arm; he's like, eskil ryndarien: right, get on with it,we've got work to be done. gilmore: shh. you be quiet.these people have saved my life. keyleth. sweet ashari princess. keyleth: hi, gilmore. gilmore: you've grown.i can see it in your eyes. matt: he gives you a big hug.

marisha: i give him a hug back. gilmore: vax'ildan.light of my eye. smiling boy. matt: and he walks upand puts his hands across your shoulders and kind of cups your face. gilmore: i've missed you most of all. matt: and pulls you in for a big hugand lifts you up off the ground. vax: oh, hey, you. vex: you're strong enough to -be careful of your wound, gilmore! matt: as he sets you down, he’s like,

gilmore: ooh, i shouldn't have done that.my apologies. liam: i pat him on the ribs. gilmore: don't touch that.it's still very tender. vax: it's fantastic to see you. you're a sight for sore eyes, yourself.we're very happy to see you. gilmore: my sight is sore,so this works out well. but please, these tunnels are dankand not becoming of us. dinner should be happening soon and you should join us,now that you've returned, please.

keyleth: oh, before dinner,i think we were all just curious on the state of the... ziggurat,as we were calling it. vex: the orb.gilmore: let's talk over dinner. keyleth: spinning orb of death,is what we call it. gilmore: let's talk over dinner.keyleth: all right, yeah, sure. grog: wait, you saidyou were doing tests on it, right? did you throw things at it?did it blow up? gilmore: that is part of the test.nothing blew up. things did go away. grog: they went away?

vex: they get sucked in, grog. gilmore: we'll talk over dinner. i hate to have this discussionwithout allura here. i think this would onlybehoove the conversation if we're all present. percy: an excellent argument. vex: we have some deliciousand very expensive wine to bust out. scanlan: oh, yes.gilmore: (chuckling) well! pike: expensive-ass wine.vax: yeah.

vex: expensive-ass winewe could bust out with dinner. gilmore: color me intrigued. well - vex: oh, i haven't got to winkin a really long time, you guys. it felt so good. keyleth: back to your old self.vax: hard life. gilmore: it was a good wink.finest in the land. well, come to the surface, then!this place is dreary. gilmore: you, too, eskil. eskil ryndarien: aye.laura: (laughs)

eskil ryndarien: too many smilesin this area. i like it. it's jovial. don't see thataround these places too often. it's good to see all of you.come, now, yes, let's move! matt: you all eventually make your wayback to the surface, to whitestone. marisha: i go to vex and pike and go, keyleth: is this a good opportunity for us to break out our formal wear? pike: (gasps) yes!vex: definitely, dear. keyleth: okay. grog: oh, jeez.

percy: i genuinely have no idea what you're talking about. marisha: the ladies take, like, 20 minutes. travis: let's be honest, it's like 2 hours. taliesin: 40 minutes. travis: fucking 20 minutes, my ass. on what plane are you right now? (laughs) marisha: not the feywild. but maybe soon. ashley: there's magic involved.

taliesin: same plane as the break room.five minutes is fifteen. (laughs) marisha: (laughing) yes, yes, yeah. travis: "i'll be twenty minutes."the next day... liam: on the way out,as we're all walking out, i walk along with gilmoreand i give him just a gentle shoulder.shoulder to shoulder. and say, vax: it's really goodto see you on your feet. it's the best smile i've had in ages. gilmore: you and me both.

vex: while we're getting ready, i would like to talk to pike about a certain proposal that happened. none of us have addressed it. pike: i know, just because i just - vex: what happened?pike: what should i do? vex: what did you tell him?did you tell him yes, did you tell him no? pike: i'm just so, you know - keyleth: hang on,what exactly did he say, by the way?

pike: i just said we'll circle back. vex: we'll circle back?keyleth: circle back. vex: (laughing) how did he take that? pike: i think he was fine with it.he just understands that i just - keyleth: treat proposalslike we do our dungeons? (laughs) we circle back. pike: isn't that the only wayto just treat all things? i guess, i don't know.i don't know. keyleth: (giggles)vex: how do you feel about him, pike?

pike: i just don't know.i just feel so confused. keyleth: i understand that. pike: i just -he kind of wears you down a little. liam: (cracks up) pike: and there's something there, for him. keyleth: i don't know if that'sa good reason to say yes, though. pike: oh, i don't know. he's just very charming. keyleth and vex: he is very charming. vex: and i noticed,he's becoming more charming.

pike: yes, i know! keyleth: yeah, what is with that?i didn't know that was possible. pike: how? i feel likehe goes to sleep and then the next morning he's like - pike and vex: even more charming! vex: i don't understand it. pike: why is that?keyleth: i don't know. vex: like, every once in a whilei look at him and i go: keyleth: yeah, no,and then i feel really -

vex: no, but he's small, but at the same time,i'm kind of interested. keyleth: right! and you kind ofthink about it for a second and you entertain it, and then you feel really grossabout yourself. vex: it's like, you feel like - yeah!pike: yes! yes. vex: but if you're actually interested,then it's not gross at all. keyleth: no! of course it's not grossif you're actually interested. pike: i know. i just. (groans)

i've had feelings for someonefor a long time, but maybe they're slowly fading.i don't know. vex: wait.keyleth: wait, what? pike: i have. i don't knowif i feel comfortable talking about it. but it's fine. vex: we don't want to push you, pike,but you know, it's just us girls here. keyleth: i know! and we've been throughso many uncomfortable things together. pike: (groans) keyleth: most of lifeis so uncomfortable.

be comfortable right now. pike: i just. i don't know. it's still somethingthat i need to think about. vex: all right.keyleth: we understand. pike: i'm just. vex: you prayto your sarenrae about it. pike: okay. (laughs) you do look lovely, though,in your dress. vex: you look beautiful.keyleth: you look so cute.

laura, ashley, and marisha: (laugh) pike: thanks.ashley: i do a twirl. marisha: i do a little air cantripto make the skirt poof out. pike: ooh.laura: i tug up my dress. keyleth: hey, do you guys mindtying me up a bit? vex: of course!keyleth: nice and tight. (grunts) vex: can you breathe? keyleth: (strained)no, but that means it's right. vex: all right.keyleth: all right, i'm good.

taliesin: i assume there's clean clothes for everybody in their quarters, anyway? matt: yeah, yeah, yeah,it's all good. travis: i'm wearing the same shit. sam: and the big hat?travis: yeah. matt: to dinner. (shoonk) travis: (laughing) yeah.i paid money for this thing. taliesin: and i'm going to arrange -matt: all right. taliesin: for our stuff to be stowedin the vault. matt: okay. not a worry.

all right, so as the sun sets, you find your way downto the proper dinner table. gilmore is there, eskil is there,cassandra is there... marisha: we look fabulous.matt: you guys look fantastic. sam: they do.marisha: yes. we do. matt: fine outfits have been providedfor the men, if they wish to wear them,as well. some do not. taliesin: oh, i am dressed.liam: i'm dressed, yeah. sam: oh, i'll dress up.i'll dress up for dinner.

matt: all righty.as you guys sit down, pleasantries are exchanged - (yawns) pardon me. you catch up a bit with cassandra.partway through - laura: aw, matt.marisha: (laughs) matt: what?travis: he needs sleep. liam: e3, y'all.others: e3. taliesin: sit down, have a beer, watch our game. marisha: (laughs) 2 pm.taliesin: (laughs)

matt: within the next 15 minutes or so, before food is brought to the table, allura finally entersin a very, very nice dress, and says, allura: it is so goodto see you all are safe. keyleth: allura!pike: hello. laura: i give her a hug. matt: she then gives you a big,wonderful hug. vex: how's kima?we haven't seen her yet. allura: well...

matt: she looks over this wayand kima walks in, for the first time you've seen her really out of armorsince you first saw her. her hair is also in similar braidsto her side and she herself is wearinga golden dress, though she's kind of like... grog: yeah, i know the feeling. matt: she comes in, keyleth: kima.kima: hello.

pike: oh, you look lovely. marisha: keyleth goes overand gives her a hug. matt: she gives you a hug and goes, kima: it's good to see you guys.i'm glad you're all right... this feels weird. does this feel weird?this feels weird. keyleth: it's only for a few hours.don't worry about it. grog: what are you wearing? kima: that's what i'm saying!do i have to wear - he's not wearing anything.do i have to wear -

vex: you don't have to wear a dress, kima.matt: allura's like, allura: you don't have to wear it, kima.it was just a suggestion. vex: (chuckles)scanlan: kima, he's - kima: i'm going to go change.i'll be right back. grog: yeah, go change. matt: she darts off for a bitand allura smiles and facepalms a bit. scanlan: you two are at the kiddie table. vax: you ought to let hertry that helmet on later. scanlan: show some class, man.

travis: (laughs) matt: you guys catch up a bitas allura speaks about her and drake's escapefrom westruun. kima eventually comes back,wearing ratty clothing. shirt, pants, the general wearshe'd pick up throughout the city. and is still carryingher small maul at her side. it's like her little comfort blanket.(thud) next to the table. grog: yeahhh. that's better. matt: she scoots up next to allura.

gilmore snaps his fingers and wine begins to pourfrom the servants. cassandra says, cassandra: well, thank you all for coming. i believe there is muchto get underway here. this - matt: and she gesturestowards gilmore and allura, and they nod. eskil raises his hand a moment. gilmore: so, while you've been gone. allura, you've beendoing this research for a bit. allura: thank you, thank you.so, we've been trying

to ascertain the natureof the ziggurat beneath the city. the ziggurat itself is built over what appears to bean ancient temple of ioun. the glass substance, the diluted whitestonethat has been reformed into glass, is used as a very strong arcane current. a lot of energy was being placedin this location, as there is an actual,what appears to be an arcane leyline, a nexus point,

near and above whitestone,hence the sun tree's placement. allura: and why it flourishesso well in this region. but everything withina certain vicinity of this temple, of this dark spot, if you will,is eaten. doesn't vanish, it's not cancelled,it's taken. devoured. everything placed withinthat small little globule of darkness is taken somewhere as well. now, at first, we thoughtmaybe it was just destroying, but the arcane energy we feel,

the flow of it,it's drawing it somewhere. meaning that this is notwhat i had feared to be a sphere of annihilation,an object of complete destruction. instead it feels like it's a siphon. now, a siphon - siphons are very old.siphons were used in the first war. they were used as a means of transferring extremely powerful... raw magical powers. they were placed strategicallythroughout the world's crust

at these various nexus points as a means of creatingextremely powerful relics. the ones that you seek, the onesthat made the vestiges themselves, were crafted through the useof some of these siphons, but they have been lost and,many thought, destroyed for a very long time,or at least inert. i have reason to believethat this may be one. and it may be active. as to where the other side lies,i do not know.

because each siphon has two points. percy: so it's fair to assumethat at the other end of this is something old, something trapped,something hungry. allura: perhaps. vex: would it be in this planeor another? allura: i have no idea. everything we've attemptedto put through it that had any sortof magical connection, whether it bethrough inter-planal scrying,

anything that would bring usto the other side of this, is crushed, consumed,and transferred as part of it. none of our rituals or enchantments will let us see through thisspinning marble, as you call it. vex: you haven'tput any blood through it, though? percy: let's not. vex: no, i'm hoping that hasn't happened. keyleth: so nothing survives the transfer. it is destroyed into its...purest components, it sounds.

allura: seemingly, yes. vax: or is it - don't know? is it that you have no ideawhat happened to things put through, or - allura: we're still delving into it, and it may be a little whilebefore we figure this out, but this is the best i can ascertainwith my knowledge at my disposal. and the realmseer and gilmorecan back up this research. we've all worked togetherthese past weeks and we're all kind ofcoming to the same conclusion.

matt: she gestures to gilmore.gilmore says, gilmore: i've only beenon this case personally for a few days of rising health standardsin my body and i've thrown everythingi can at it, honestly, and it's all just come to nothing.gone. (pthbbt) percy: this is disappointing. gilmore: you're telling me.grog: what about a person? gilmore: (laughing) i'm notsending a person through there.

keyleth: to be fair, grog,i might have tried that, a little. scanlan: what?percy: yes, that's right. keyleth: i sort of stuck my handin the spinning ball of death and let's just say i'm glad i'm still herestanding with you all. vex: was it sucking you in? keyleth: it did a considerable amount of damageto my hand and definitely feltlike it was sucking me in

and i had to resist pretty hard. but it seems like anythingthat goes in that sphere doesn't come out the other end intact. vex: gilmore - any of you, allura - have you experiencedany kind of draw toward the orb? do you feel different,having been around it for very long? matt: gilmore cocks a curious eyeto the realmseer. the realmseer thinksand scratches his chin, looks to allura.

allura looks down at the tablewith her arms crossed, looks to kima. kima's finishing her big drink. kima: i stay away from it.it creeps the hell out of me. gilmore: not to my knowledge.do you think we should be worried? vex: well, i don't know. i mean, it is a very strong relicthat we don't know how it works. gilmore: the difficultyin our research is most of our means of inspectionare, well -

vex: up close and personal.gilmore: of arcane nature. percy: i was hopingthat perhaps we could talk about some engineering possibilitiesof finding ways that science can measure what it iswhere magic cannot. something safe. scanlan: (scoffs) science, percy? percy: in this sense, as it stands. gilmore: we're opento all possible suggestions. we're kind of at the end of our ropefor the time being.

we may send a few of usacross the way to, well, a few different placesfor more information. may do a bitof traveling ourselves, it seems. percy: i'll sketch somethingwith my copious free time. gilmore: hm. please do. scanlan: no dragonshave buzzed by here in our absence? matt: they kind oflook to themselves. gilmore: none yet,but we've been very careful. we're in the process of installingsome semblance of,

(sighs) for lack of a better term,sort of a screen. ways to reflectand perhaps cloud anyone who attempts to peer too farinto the northern regions of whitestone. the last thing we need is any of these dragonsfinding their way up north where you've kept all of usand the refugees safe, so we're trying notto piss any of them off, while also trying to make surethat maaaybe they're not really lookingbehind this curtain of cloud.

percy: any fortificationswould be helpful. vex: don't dragons sort ofsee past those things? gilmore: we're doing our bestto try and meet those standards. percy: i have another requestin that direction that might help. if there was a wayto spread the word in this city and amongst those who travel,to not speak of us. we should probably not be hailedin this city at all. our names should be strickenfrom any record of it. matt: allura leans forward on the table.

allura: no, i see. you're right. there is merit in that,though it will be difficult. many here look up to you. they see you as the salvationof this city. but i believe we can go aboutand speak with them and help instill the ideathat it's for the better good that you are not mentioned. percy: best to be nameless,at this point. keyleth: it's for their own safety.percy: it's for everybody's.

vex: we-who-must-not-be-named.scanlan: the unmentionables. percy: (cracks up)you're a terrible person. vex: (gasps) i love it. keyleth: yeah. my choice isthe unmentionables. i like it. matt: allura says,allura: i did find some research on some of these vestigesyou are seeking. percy: oh!vex: yes! allura: there is -from what i could bring forth from the cobalt reserve in westruun,

there is an artifactthat lies in the feywild, swallowed by a terrible tree. vex: yes, the warden.keyleth: (whispering) vestiges. vestiges. allura: is that the name of it?vex: the wrath of the fey warden. allura: so you've foundsome information yourself? vex: just the name. scanlan: and that it'sin the feywild, but nothing more. allura: (sighs) this tree that holds it,it's a tree seeded by the betrayal of an archfey

whose hatred burnedinto a black heart of disease. the cleansing riversof the gilded run prevent the spread of the shademirk bogthat seeps from it. grog: sounds nasty.allura: it doesn't sound very fun, no. keyleth: wait, the name of the -scanlan: the shademark balg? allura: the shademirk bog.scanlan: ugh, it sounds awful. allura: it seeps from this tree. it is held at bayby the rivers of the gilded run. keyleth: the rivers are calledthe gilded run?

allura: mm-hmm. scanlan: okay. well, that helps us.those are clues. vex: yeah, yeah, yeah. keyleth: and the shadem -shademirk bog pours out of the tree? vex: out of the cancerous tree. keyleth: the tree is responsiblefor a swampy bog. allura: from best i could ascertainfrom my research, yes. vex: and fen - fenraths?fen - what's the name? scanlan: fenthras,wrath of the fey warden.

vex: fenthras is inside of the treethat is terrible. allura: it is very possible. percy: oh no.scanlan: okay. vax: do you know anythingabout the vestige itself? allura: i don't, unfortunately. most of the cobalt reserve was destroyed and i was under siege at the moment from the return of the dragons. (sighs) vex: did you happen to findin your research what, perhaps,

we might face in the feywild? i mean, we've learneda little bit of it, but i knowthat it's going to be rather dangerous. allura: i've not been there myself.it creeps me out. vex: (laughs)grog: (laughs) no? sorry. allura: i did find alsoabout the spire of conflux. it is a staffthat can bend the elements and was taken into the abyss by joran the sea-speaker,hero of the verdant expanse,

about four centuries back,and was never heard from again. keyleth: joran the what?allura: joran the sea-speaker. scanlan: he speaks to the sea? percy: or just the letter c.vex: (laughs) scanlan: cookie monster.grog: hero. allura: i do have some researchabout the dragons, as well. vex: oh. allura: i've done a bitof looking into the personality types, the habits of some of these chromaticsyou may be coming up against.

the black dragon,you seemingly already dealt with, if word has come to me correctly. allura: which is magnificentand well done. very dangerous. let's hope they don't decideto strike back soon. however - vex: good thing we didn't provoke themin the cave at all, percival. percy: if they came there,they would've been provoked, i figured. allura: i did find thatthe white dragons, they're more primal. they're overall less intelligentthan other chromatics.

matt: and some of this information you know. vex: yeah, why am i writing this down?i know this shit. allura: but what they do is they - (sighs) well, don't letthe lack of intelligence lull you into comfort. they are also unpredictable and raw. dangerous hunters, they stalk in ruined landsof ice and vengeance. their memory is eternal.

and have been knownto hold vendettas for centuries and centuries. they despise other dragons and thisloose alignment with thordak is stranger than the othersfor the white dragon. though vorugal's distanceto the others is intentional, most likely. i mean, the entire alignmentbetween them is strange, anyway, but particularlywith the white dragon.

they generally steer very clear of,or are bent on destroying, any other types of dragonsthat may wander in their midst. vex: (whispering) interesting. allura: green dragons, in particular,are manipulative. liars, by nature, finding pleasurein power over others. through deceit and promisesof wealth and glory, they corrupt. they play subservienceto other dragons, then plot their demiseto claim their hoards. they're the seedy underbellyof the chromatic world, if you will.

they amass powerful allies,human and beyond, to their will, bending them and using them as tools. their life and their very presence is poison to those around them, and is the very basis of their danger. they corrupt the air around themto be venomous. i found a bit aboutthis raishan you mentioned, and word has spoken,though little that exists out there, that she is alsoa very practitioned

weaver of the arcane arts,so be warned. keyleth: so much so that she could almost passas a druid wielding natural magic? allura: i can imaginethat's quite within her grasp. i've heard rumors of hercalling the sky down upon her enemies. previous individualsthat hoped to raid her space were swallowed in quaking earthas she laughed from above. scanlan: druid-y things. marisha: i want to kill her so hard.(strained) i want her to die.

percy: do we knowwhere these - where these dragons have beenall this time, where they were banished to? allura: i mean,most of these dragons lived their liveswherever they once were before. raishan used to existin the mountains outside of syngorn and actually had amassed a sizeable horde of followers,lizard-men. lizardfolk, all sorts. percy: wait, then thordakwas banished to the fire plane?

allura: thordak we had banished, yes.thordak, in particular. now, red dragons are true tyrants,built on impulse and rage. arrogant to the core, they see themselvesas rightful rulers over all. and thordak, the kingof all other dragons, as well. he is powerful enoughto amass networks of spies and followers far beyond just the dragons that we've battled,i'm sure. so the more time that passes,

the more powerfulthat network will become. vex: (muffled) oh, fuck. percy: i've had a terrible thought, and it is sort of my businessto have terrible thoughts. what else has been banishedto the fire plane? travis: the djinn? percy: well, i say this because if i were to slowlyopen the portal to the fire plane and power it and make it biggerand bigger and bigger,

eventually it would bea hole into that dimension that's big enoughfor a dragon to fit through, but still not big enough for me, so i need to keep eating,to make it bigger. vex: (gasps) percy: and maybe they mightbe looking for what's down there so they can feed itand make a bigger hole. just a thought. it may be nothing. vex: you think there's something

bigger than thordakin the fire plane? percy: it's - i have terrible thoughts.it's a terrible thought. keyleth: i mean, i'm sure there issomething bigger than thordak, probably in the fire plane,but we closed - the fire ashari closed the portal.that's our - percy: that maynot have been the portal. keyleth: that was the portal -vex: that's the portal he came out of. keyleth: - that thordak came out of.it ripped apart my entire - percy: that may just bewhere he escaped.

there migh be -that power may still be flowing. keyleth: well, allura,how did you lock him in the fire planeto begin with? allura: well, we had,through clever subterfuge, managed to have a member of our team work as a follower of thordak, work into his greater trust and convince himthat to perpetuate his wealth, his growth, his strength,

that he needed to truly embracethe essence of fire. and there are crystals, there are remnants of the first war that exist in this world and others. the very coreof the elemental chaos itself, the hearts of the titans left behind. these heart-stones arethe very basis, or, at least,shadows of the basis of what made the elementswhen creation came to be.

we had found one of theseon the fire plane, but the nature of theseis that they cannot be removed. if they are broughtbeyond the plane themselves, they generally shatter, and the few that canbe brought across temporarily, the magics that contain themdo weaken, and those that attemptedto harness their power leave it to ruin,destroying all around them before it whirls itselfinto a frenzy

of uncontrollable arcane massand destroys everything nearby. these were many of the fools who ushered in the beginningof the second war. so. essentially,we convinced thordak to find one of these in the plane and convinced himthat he had the power to contain it. once there,all of our forces gathered and we attacked him,pressed him down, and the gemthat we had convinced him -

the heart-stonethat we had convinced him to take into himself, well, we found a way to seal it, to banish it permanently to that plane so that he could not escape. keyleth: all right.so, that's all good. but he did escape. vex: could he stillpotentially have it inside of him? keyleth: exactly!that was my question! sam: well, she asked it,so, technically, it's hers.

matt: she turns and you can see gilmore'ssitting at the table like this. gilmore: i got a very good closeat that dragon. a very good close look,to finish my sentence. laura and ashley: (laugh) gilmore: i've been drinkingplenty of wine tonight, don't judge me. vex: that's very - yeah.pike: expensive-ass wine. grog: been drinking.percy: it's the best wine. gilmore: it is very, very expensive,fine wine.

grog: matt’s vineyard is the best. gilmore: thank you, grog,it's wondrous. gilmore: but his mass, his unforeseen sizeto a creature like that. i couldn't help but noticethat within his torso there wasa pulsing heart of red glass. vex: all right. percy: look how cleverfood makes all of us. matt: he looks over to allura.allura kind of nods.

allura: well, if that is the case,then it's, i think, there's very much a chance that he did escapewith the heart-stone intact. grog: i have a question. we've got one of the vestiges in these titanstone knuckles,made from the heart-stone. if i left the plane with these, are they going to blow everybody up? allura: an intact heart-stoneis the true source of power.

those have been carved from one,an inert one, or, at least, they carry but a smidgen of the power. i think you're safe, grog. grog: oh, thank god.pike: phew. grog: kord.vex: oh, kord. i got it. (chuckles) matt: allura leans in again. allura: i have been keeping an eye on emonfrom this distance, as well. it seems that thordak's very essence

twists the land with elemental magic. grog: (whispering) oh, shit. allura: my distant views of the city have shown the center of the towncracked with volcanic fire as he digs and burrowsbeneath the city itself. percy: (whispering) fuck.vex: oh, fuck. travis: wait, why is hedigging and burrowing? liam: he's reshaping the landas he sees fit. travis: or is he looking for something?laura: because he's a dick.

travis: is he notlooking for something? taliesin: he might belooking for something, or might be making - keyleth: so these heart-stones embrace the essence of where they reside? allura: their essenceis created where they reside. keyleth: and he hasthe heart-stone of the fire elemental plane living inside of him.

allura: a heart-stone. there are many.keyleth: a heart-stone. right. vex: i'm confused. grog: i need more wine. do you think he wasjust making himself at home, or do you think he waslooking for something? allura: i don't know.he seems pretty lax. from what i could tellfrom my investigations, the major stepin the conclave's plan is already over.

vex: take over everything. allura: now they settleinto the divided territories and forget each other. now, i feel that thordakis far too old and covetous to be content with just emon. now, this was vengeance,which is now complete. who knows what the next stagein his terrible design is. keyleth: so you're thinking the chroma conclavewas simply a temporary alliance?

allura: there are very few permanent alliances between chromatic dragons. vex: well, that's good.keyleth: we can use this. vex: maybe they won't take vengeance. pike: maybe we can get one of themon our side. percy: we can only be so hopefulthat they tear each other apart. vex: maybe the white one will wantto help kill thordak with us. keyleth: turning them against each other'snot a bad idea. percy: our best hope, at this point,is just to amass power.

we are not strong enough. vex: no. percy: but we will get stronger. vex: does the heart-stone make himeven stronger than he already was? allura: i don't know, but he was not that largewhen we sealed him. vex: shit.grog: seize. keyleth: so we can take -yeah, yeah. vex: if we can pry itout of his body,

we could shrink him down. perfect plan. scanlan: then we could goinside a dragon again. vex: we can go in another dragon. vax: every one of them,one after the other. grog: you seen any dragonson the outskirts of the town? have there been any flyoversor close calls within, say, fifty to a hundred miles or so?any reports? allura: hundred miles.

there were reportsof the white dragon a week ago, south of us. far south of us. grog: far south. vex: doing what, just flying? allura: just flying. flying east. percy: unless they knowwhat's underneath the castle, there's nothing of value here. vax: do we know where vorugalhas taken up roost? no one knows? allura: no. i've tried to scry,

but they're apparentlyprotected against that now. grog: what aboutmeans of protection for whitestone. do you have a defense planned?a warning system? allura: we're just getting nowto that point. maybe a few weeksbefore we're ready to go. it's a lot to buildand it's a very big space to protect, but me and drakeare working on some ideas. (sighs) keyleth: do you know exactly howthese heart-stones are forged? allura: they're not forged.they existed.

they were the heartsof the primordial titans that existed on this worldbefore the gods even came here. keyleth: oh, that's right.vex: wow. allura: they were the true denizensof this world, before any of us. scanlan: this is an awesome dinner,by the way. super good. vex: so good.percy: i love game meat. allura: i'm sorry,it's been a very tense time. vex: this wine is pretty good.pike: it's very good. allura: perhaps rest is in orderfor all of us.

it's been a lot. i'm so sorry.it's good to see all of you. grog: you, as well.vex: you've done so much. matt: allura brightens up a little bit.you can see that she feels guilty matt: that she just didthis information dump and is like, allura: (sighs) it's goodto see all of you. keyleth: it was good to see you. allura: (sighs) well,let us rest for the evening. matt: drinks the last of her wine,stands up. allura: we'll talk on the morrow.

matt: she gets up.allura: kima? matt: kima goes,kima: i'm coming, let me finish. laura and marisha: (laugh) kima: no, seriously,it's good to see you all. i'm glad you're all right. vex: you should have been with us. kima: i should've been with you.i didn't know you left! vex: sorry, kima. we're dicks. kima: is westruun okay?

vex: it's... better. keyleth: (whispering)it's not great, though. vex: it's getting better.percy: it lives. it lives. scanlan: that's true.keyleth: it stands. kima: does my house still stand? (all make hedging noises) scanlan: what's a house, really,but a bunch of bricks. kima: oh, it's fine. keyleth: home iswhere you make it, kima.

kima: object impermanence.(glug glug) next time you're going there,you tell me. vex: oh, yes. we will. percy: we will be returning. grog: on one condition.don't wear any more dresses. kima: you sayingi wasn't pretty, grog? grog: i like youin your armor better. kima: that's why i missed you. matt: she reaches outand smacks your cheek -

grog: yaaah. kima: all right, kiddies,sleep it is. matt: kima gets up and joins allura,and they both leave. gilmore stands up,realmseer stands up. eskil ryndarien: all right, everyone.rest well. see you in the morning. and, ah, glad you're all safe. vax: good night, shaun.gilmore: good night, everyone. pike: good night, gilmore.gilmore: sleep well. matt: they all leave.

scanlan: so we rest herefor a night or two and then, to the feywild? grog: yeah, feywild. scanlan: or to the - grog: we even have a geographic -demographic location to like - scanlan: true.keyleth: we do. pike: yeah, yeah, we do. percy: i feel likethe feywild calls to us. vex: i'm good with the feywild.

vax: what do you saywe go get you a new bow? vex: we could go get me a new bow.there's also the ocean. scanlan: yeah. keyleth: let's go get you a bow.vax: nah. let's get you a bow. pike: i'm goingto pour another glass of wine. percy: ocean next. scanlan: pike could go offto get the ocean one herself. vex: no! you're crazy.vax: that's a shitty idea. grog: i think you've hadtoo much to drink, scanlan.

vex: or the two of you together. scanlan: yeah, i like the ocean.i don't really like the ocean. matt: you guys all going to rest? marisha: i have one thing i'd like to do. matt: okay, what do you want to do? marisha: i want to go back to our little cave that we dug outunder where the sun tree is. is that still there? matt: yeah, it's still there.

marisha: i want to go there, and i want to kind of sit downand meditate for a second. and i want to cast speak with plants and have a little chatwith the sun tree. matt: okay. (laughs)you cast the spell, you reach outand touch the roots of the tree, the roots of which have more colorthan they did before. the dull gray has becomemore of a full brown. the earth here smells of fresh,damp earth.

the tree, while stillin the winter phase, is definitely teeming with life,to where it once didn't. marisha: i reach outand i touch the roots. can i just kind of feel,sense the arcane ley-lines that allura was talking aboutthat the tree's in the center of? matt: mmm... not really. in speaking to the tree,you can ask questions, but you're not quite - you find yourself unableto tune into that

or tap into that source of magic. at this place, at least. marisha: okay. so i just reach out,touch the tree, and say, keyleth: hey, old friend. how are you feeling? doing better? sun tree: hey, bud. much better. keyleth: you're pretty cool, sun tree. sun tree: sun tree, a-ok. keyleth: hey, sun tree?

sun tree: yeaaah? keyleth: i was just wonderingif you knew - if you could tell me anythingabout this terrible cancerous treein the feywild, if you knew anything about it? he might be likeyour brother or something. sun tree: tree cancer? what? keyleth: no! no, okay. there's this tree in the feywildand it might have

a man living in itcalled fenthras and - travis: (quietly) the bow. keyleth: no, wait,that's the name of the bow, the bow is in it, named fenthras,and it might be a really sick tree. can you tell me where there's a really sick tree,maybe in the feywild? sun tree: that sounds sad, but no. i don't knowa tree like that, sorry. i've been here in whitestonesince day one.

liam: want to play hacky sack?taliesin: born and raised. matt: so i graduated from berkeleyand made my way to whitestone. travis: my twigs smoke the doob.(chuckles) berkeley. sam: "barkeley."marisha: "barkeley!" ashley: put a pair of birkenstockson its branches. travis: "birkenstalks."matt: (groans) laura: "birkenstalks?" i like it. keyleth: you apparently kind of live in the middle of all thesearcane ley-lines of the world.

sun tree: yeah.taliesin: (cracks up) keyleth: how far do those stretch? sun tree: loooong way, kiki. loooooooong way. keyleth: can you kind of give mea rough idea? do they goto the other side of the world? can you stretch all over the world? sun tree: naaah, just right here.pelor put me here for a reason. keyleth: who? pelor?sun tree: yeaaah.

keyleth: right. so you're not a natural tree,you're a tree from the gods? sun tree: ...sure. well, anyway,you're really awesome, sun tree. sun tree: speak for yourself, kiki. keyleth: yeah, you're so cool. okay, so it was good talking to you. sun tree: you, too. keyleth: i'll walk through you soon.'kay, bye.

marisha: and then i leave.matt: all right. laura: i wantto make a once-over on vax, and make sure that - vex: so you did,you got all the blood off, then? vax: what are you doing?yeah, i took a bath. vex: i mean,we got all cleaned up for tonight. i just want to make sureyou didn't ruin it by keeping some of the bloodin your freaking hair. vax: don't - don't i look all right?i'm fine! what's your problem?

vex: nothing! just making sureyou're doing all right. vax: yeah.vex: all the blood's gone. vax: yeah. it's all gone.vex: you're great. vax: i'm doing much better.vex: good. vax: much better. you ready for the feywild? vex: so - fuck, no, not ready,but we can do it. vax: oh. percy: stupid to settle.marisha: (snorts)

laura: i walk over to percy - taliesin: i was aboutto walk out the door, but if you're walking - laura: before you leave,i whisper in your ear, vex: you still havea little blood behind your ear. percy: do you want to take a walk with me? vex: (sighs) sure. taliesin: we take a very quiet walkaround whitestone. i want to pass all of the temples

that are eitherstill standing or destroyed. i just want to take a temple tour. not stopping, not talking,i just want to see what they look like. matt: pelor looks good. taliesin: the one in the cemetery? matt: the one in the cemeteryis still under construction. that one needs a little more work. taliesin: while in the cemetery - i assume that it's still a mess.

matt: most of the graveshave been refilled, the corpses have been brought back. most of the dead that were brought forthfrom the previous owners have been returned. that was one of the firstorders of business that people who live here did, was to return their familiesto the earth. taliesin: is there - there werea couple of lords' crypts in there.

was therean anders family crypt, at one point? matt: there would have been, yeah. taliesin: cool. all right. i'm going to walk back to the castle, with you in tow,and i'm going to find zahra. vex: are you going to tell mewhy you went and saw the raven queen? percy: yes. come. you come back to the studywhere you originally found zahra. she's still there,poring over books,

but is now half-asleep. she has a little candlethat's starting to flicker out and she has her feet up on the deskand her tail's kind of curled up and she's falling asleepinto the book as you walk in. vex: (whispering) dear -zahra: what, what, what, i - vex: we all need sleep sometimes, hon. zahra: sleep's for the boring. percy: i have a task for you, if you have the time and energyfor something a bit quiet, but necessary.

zahra: what do you ask, percy? percy: i'm going to havethe deeds to the anders family crypttransferred to your name. i want you to clean it out. throw the bodies wherever;he has disgraced himself. clean them. and if you can,if you can find people who can do it, i want to very quietly,in that crypt, create a small shrineto the raven queen.

this will help. taliesin: and i bring outthe vial of blood from the pit. percy: perhaps they will knowwhat to do with that. zahra: intriguing. percy: but i would like herto have a quiet mark in this city. vex: is this for you,or for my brother? percy: ...it's for your brother,so that he can help us. we're apparently all in this together. zahra: intriguing!laura: i give percy a kiss on the cheek.

percy: oh. thank you.zahra: all right. percy: we need all the help we can get. zahra: very well.i'm sure it can be done. i never owned a crypt before.i'm excited. vex: it's exciting. (laughs) matt: she takes the vialand puts it on the table. vex: i think it suits you. percy: tell anyone you'd likewhere i went. it's not a secret. i just wasn't ready to...

i don't think your brother - i would hate for himto think i'm competing. i just had some questions. vex: i won't tell anyone, percy. percy: thank you. vex: your business is yours. and mine, because i noticed. (chuckles) marisha: (snorts) percy: thank you for noticing,and... i'm trying hard

not to make it my business. it's hard to remember sometimes. percy: (sighs)vex: (quietly) we're all family. percy: that's awful, isn't it. (sighs) taliesin: i'm going to go to my room - vex: oh! percy!percy: yes? vex: sorry. if zahra wanted to makesome dragon arrows, could she use stuff herein the castle?

percy: i'll talk to my sisteron the way out. i'll write her a letterand see if they can - they may have to delveinto our materials for it, but i think we're good. percy: we'll talk aboutusing our materials for such a thing and i'll -yes, will talk to her about that. taliesin: i'm going to domy little thing and if it works, great, and if not,we'll speak not of it for a while. matt: okay. go aheadand make your tinkering check.

taliesin: better! 30. matt: that'll do. taliesin: i craft a brooch. it's not even a brooch,it's a clasp. using - i had built these pieces of itearlier on in the game. for the last three weeksi've been working on this. i've taken the raven skullthat you gave me and made a mold and poured melted silverinto a bird skull,

a silver bird skull. taken a ruby and set it behind it, built it into a claspthat does not reflect, and in it,put a sachet of - satchel... marisha: sachet.laura: sachet! taliesin: thank you, my brain? coffee.marisha: it's all right, you're on it. taliesin: of myrrh and - sam: frankincense?taliesin: (snorts and laughs) myrrh, sandalwood, and opium,and dragon's blood -

not real dragon's blood,but dragon's blood - sam: true blood. taliesin: sap. it's a sap.it's a tree sap. put the whole thing together. liam: you've had opiumthis whole time and you never... taliesin: it's not, it's just poppy.marisha: poppy. laura: what does it do?what does it do? taliesin: you will find outwhen i present it. matt: all right.everyone else going to rest?

travis: no.i ran out of dinner super fast and i ran outside of vax's room and i took the jugand i whispered into it, "oil," and i poured one quart of oil on the ground outside of his door. looked around real quick. is there anyone in the hallway? make a perception check. travis: 10.

matt: looks clear. grog: (giggles) travis: and i run away. liam: that was super awesomeand i can't wait to see the outcome, but before that happens, i was standing right herewhen these two walked off, so i am waiting in the exact same spotfor my sister to return. matt: a lot of time passes.liam: it's fine. matt: a few hours passbefore she returns,

but she eventually does. liam: it's all right,i might have done a little - vex: are you still here?you should go to bed. vax: i will.i took a little bit of a nap. vex: in the dining hall. vex: what? vax: you're a grown-ass woman,and you're twice as strong as i am. vex: i know.vax: so your business is your business. vax: just...both eyes open, yeah?

vex: always. (chuckles)i'm very perceptive. vex: (cackles)vax: don't do that to me. taliesin: that's two.two winks! ah hah hah. vax: don't -please don't ever, ever, ever - vex: i love you so much.vax: - do that to me again. vax: and if you do, you will never usethat wink on me again. it is not for me. vax: just... he's charming,but both eyes open, please.

vex: i don't knowwhat you are talking about. vax: yeah, the fuck you don't. liam: i'm going to go to my room now and see if i splat on the floor. matt: all right, make a perception check.laura and marisha: (laugh) travis: come on, big money, no whammies. laura: ohhh.liam: sorry, buddy, it's a 31. matt: as you approach the door,you look down and see a smear of dark,reflective oil

across the walkway about two feet leading up to your room. you guys have a cluster of roomsin this long hallway, and it arcs around like an l. so you guys are in this big l of all your rooms scattered throughout. liam: how thick is it? is it viscous? matt: yeah, it's pretty slippery.liam: put my hand in it. does that stay? matt: the hand stays for a minute, then -liam: goes away. matt: yeah, it's pretty thick.liam: all right.

matt: also has a fume to it. liam: okay. i'm going to scrapea bunch of it up just into my hand, so i have a big handful of it, and i'm just goingto go to grog's room, and i'm going to slowly,just at the door, take time to write: "grog smells "like farts and" - laura: i walk by himas he's doing this and say,

vax: do you want to help?vex: you know he can't read, right? vax: i picked specifically small words! liam: - "poo." taliesin: oh, he can read that. liam: and i draw - no. i'll tell you what i do.pull down my breeches - sam: oh! liam: and i put the oil on my buttand i go (pfft). matt: a little butt-print?liam: a little signature.

matt: all right. well done. percy: preschoolers run amokin my gentle abode. liam: get busy livingor get busy dying. butt-print. matt: all right.you guys all get into bed. anything else you want to get done? sam: i just told pikeshe looked real pretty tonight and i go back to my reading. pike: thank you, scanlan. you guys all find yourselvesback to your respective rooms,

resting for the night. some doorsadorned differently than others. partway into the evening's resting, we'll say the wee hours of the morning,post-midnight or so, your door opens slightly, vax. you hear a little(knocking sound) on your door. vax: yes? matt: you look over and you see gilmorepop his head in with a soft smile. gilmore: i'm sorryif i'm waking you up, i -

vax: it's all right.gilmore: here. matt: and he produces what looks likea folded pile of material and throws iton the foot of your bed and goes, gilmore: come, vax, i made you a gift. put it on, come walk with me a while. we have a lot to talk about. liam: i open it up. matt: it's a very well-crafted silk robeof dark blue and black. beaded, nice against the skin.it's a really, really nice -

vax: (quietly) give me one minute. liam: there's a wooden screenin the room. i go behind itand wipe any oil left off my butt. travis: nasty. matt: that's fantastic. liam: everything looks all right.and i put it on. he waits for you patientlyin the hallway. liam: yeah, sure. kind of puts his arm out to you.

liam: take it. matt: you take his arm.you guys walk up along the hallway. he leads you to a staircasethat leads up further, and he goes, gilmore: i know a lot has happenedthese recent months. i've been watching from afar, keeping tabs on your journeybest that i can. but i still know so little. matt: you ascendthe lengthy staircase and you make your wayto the higher floor.

you eventually openan intricate door and walk outonto a wide balcony on that tower that overlooks the groundsand the castle before you. beautiful moonlight, the night air. you see the moon is nearly fulland the white light illuminates the densely-forested countrysidesurrounding the castle. he closes the door and walks up to youat the edge of the balcony, looking over it all,elbows on the edge.

gilmore: some time has passed, vax. and much of the worldmoves on to newer, greater threats. but true pain never really heals. matt: he turns to you and steps up to you,looking you close in the face. gilmore: you hurt me deeply.and continue to hurt. agony, for weeks, months. pain i had never experienced. (deepening to a growl)it's all i can think about.

liam: can i make an insight check? matt: you would, if you had time. marisha: oh my god!laura: (gasps) i knew it. i knew it. marisha: no! matt: the pain hits you suddenly,before anything else does, as you're lost in that faceand the sudden feeling, the sensation of terror and horror. you suffer 18 points of piercing damage,

and i need you to makea constitution saving throw. liam: oh, that's my specialty. taliesin: (whispering) we don't knowwhat the hell this is. liam: constitution save?matt: mm-hmm. liam: 11. matt: you feel the poison - liam: i'll use luck.matt: okay. liam: 18.matt: 18. okay. you feel what should bea pulse of poison hit your system

and you just manage to fight it off as suddenly you look down and there is gilmoreholding a blade thrust into your stomach, your robes now beginning to fillwith crimson red around the wound. it's at that moment with a very, very low growl: gilmore: it's all i think about. matt: and you watchas a flicker to his form happens and you see for a secondthere's a flash: not skin, but fur.

you see teeth, you see whiskers, and the hand holding the daggeris facing the other direction. matt: that's wherewe're going to end tonight's session. (shouts of shock) marisha: nooo! laura: the rakshasa?marisha: is it a rakshasa? matt: (laughs)laura: oh my god. travis: ohhhh. matt: we'll be back next week.

liam: that fucked with my head, matt. liam: what are you doing?taliesin: wooow. matt: what a rakshasa does.sam: good job, man. laura: oh my god.marisha: what the fuck?! taliesin: wow. wait, is it the rakshasa who's different? is it not gilmore? so many questions! liam and matt: (laugh) matt: perhaps this will be revealednext week as we kick in

at this very moment. laura: oh my god. why does it always leave offwhen he's about to get killed? marisha: right!why is it always you? sam: because he's alwaysalmost about to die. liam: this one did die!that one did die! that one did die! taliesin: because he runsinto all the rooms first and he makes out with everybody. laura: because you do. that's the thing.taliesin: that's why it happens.

taliesin: he runs into the rooms firstand he puts his tongue exciting places. marisha and laura: (laugh) matt: you also happenedto lean in real close - taliesin: i'm not yelling at you, man.i'm envious. matt: and whisper in the earof the rakshasa as he slowly slit its throatacross the floor. travis: oh, that's right,you did do that. laura: oh, so what did you do?what did you do? liam: i slit its throat, yeah.matt: yeah.

liam: it's all right.marisha: hang on, wait. matt: it just wants to come backand show you the same love. ashley: (quietly) okay,so it's not really gilmore. marisha: oh, wait, did you get the final blowin the rakshasa in the slayer's take? liam: yes, i did.yeah, i cut his throat. marisha: you cut his throat? laura: and you saidsomething shitty to him. liam: he threatened my familyand i said,

"say something about my sister again," and i slit his throat. laura: oh, nice!matt: oh, boy. taliesin: it's about to drop. marisha: but he was dead.what the fuck is going on?! laura: did you chop him up? travis: well, if that's not a -that's not gilmore, where is he? marisha: no, 'cause i'm not a psycho. sam: this is exciting.

matt: this will be interestingnext week when we kick in. taliesin: there's a fine linebetween psycho and practical. travis: shit. i did not see that coming! marisha: i can seechopping someone's body up might be psycho. taliesin: it's not psycho if you drive a very small carwith a lot of trunk space. travis: nicely done, matt.laura: nice, matt. matt: guys, great game tonight.laura: thanks, guys.

travis: that raven queen, whoo.liam: whoo. laura: that can bethe name of the episode - laura: - is yaaas queen.ashley: yaaas queen. matt: awesome. well, guys, we're going to go aheadand get home and rest. hope you enjoyed tonight's episode. taliesin: is there going to be one more giveaway? matt: is there? laura: are we doing another giveaway?matt: we have another giveaway?

liam: there were two loot crates, one - lucas: we'll do a giveaway afterwards. matt: okay, we'll do a giveaway afterwards. travis: nice.laura: okay. matt: perfect. one more dx loot crate boxcoming your way. laura: thanks, loot crate! liam: thanks, joe madureira,for the art! laura: thanks, joe!ashley: get your posters!

taliesin: it's so cool. laura: thanks, critters, for being awesome!ashley: we love you! matt: hope you guys got to enjoy our silly e3 couple hourswe did earlier on gamespot. i'm sure that'll go up soon, anyway. but anyway, guys,we'll see you next week. until then, rest well and,is it thursday yet? see you then.