Episode 12: A man revealed

The audio of this episode can be found directly here; https://tailsfromthedarkdragonsinn.co.uk/campaign-episode-12/

You can find a ‘live transcript’ of the below here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90UuX7qF9G0

This transcript is colour coded for ease of use. Please download the PDF.

Tobe as played by Liz

Myx as played by Nina

Mhurren as played by Vinny

Erbak as played by Tom

Narrator/Scraw/GM/Everything else as played by Ray

[Audio Description]

{Tone Guide/Sarcasm etc}

[music]

Ray: Hello, and welcome to Tails from the Dark Dragons Inn, Episode 12: A Man Revealed. This week, we have Tom as Erbak, Liz as Tobe, Nina as Myx, Vinnie as Mhurren and I’m Ray, your host and Game Master, and I play, well, just about everyone else.

Before we get started, I just want to say a few words. It’s been an odd week for tabletop roleplaying games in the Twitterverse. I don’t really want to get into it a whole bunch, because there’s a lot of negativity out there already. But, listen, wherever you are and whatever you’re doing whilst you’re listening to this podcast, if at any point you find yourself wondering, “Is the D&D community really for me?” I’m here to tell you that it is, regardless of what or who you are, your level or type of involvement, I will welcome you with open arms and so will so many other people. I say this every week, but I want you to know that I mean it. The Scales of Justice are here for you, always.

Now, without further delay {laughs}, let’s get on with the show shall we?

Host: “It’s so good to see you. Have you been looking forward to tonight as much as I have? The Helping Hands Company are running the show again. I think the illusions are my favorite bit. Wonder if we can convince the Doomsinger to incorporate them.”

Evangeline: “Hello, and welcome to the Dark Dragons Inn.”

Host: “Oops, {whispers} better be quiet.”

Evangeline: I am Evangeline of The Helping Hands and tonight I spin the tale of Leosin Erlanthar and his encounter with The Scales of Justice.

GM: It is now the fourth day of the sixth week of spring. It is mid-afternoon and unless you have something specific you would like to do, you are all reconvening in the courtyard with Myx having returned from her few days sojourning away with Titania and each of you respectively doing your own thing. Erbak looks a little bit nervous about his activities the night before, though, obviously, I imagine most of you do not know anything about that.

Tobe: Not unless he’s told anyone about how he …

GM: I very much doubt it. I think he was doing it quite late at night.

Erbak: Hmm. No one knows. I’m good.

GM: And none of the nurses know. None of the doctors know. You haven’t told any of the party. Someone knows.

Myx: Not everything is as bouncy and whimsical anymore.

GM: The moment you left that forest, everything just seemed dull, grey and overshadowed. It’s not a warm day, I think. It’s cloudy. It’s not raining, it’s just overcast and it’s approaching the …

{laughs}

Myx: Myx is happy to see Scraw too.

Scraw: “Hello, there. You’ve been gone a while. I’ve been keeping Tobe out of trouble just like you said.”

Myx: “Good!” And Myx ruffles Scraws hair whilst she’s being hugged, just ruffle, ruffle, ruffle.

Scraw: “{laughs}”

Tobe: Have to imagine Scraw has been for the couple of days, very bored.

GM: Yeah, he’s been …

Tobe: Babysitting.

GM: Exactly, yeah.

Scraw: “Keeping him out of trouble was very easy. I don’t know why he needed monitoring. It wasn’t exciting at all.”

Myx: “It’s okay. I’ll take over from here. You are relieved of duty, soldier.”

Scraw: “Excellent. I’m full of rage.” Scraw has leveled up by monitoring Tobe and being so bored out of his mind that he’s just furious and wants to kill something.

{laughs}

Erbak: Has he gained intelligence?

GM: He’s always been quite intelligent. He just hides it well. Erbak and Mhurren, what are you guys doing?

Erbak: Where Myx is stood and, “Why do you have a dragon?”

Mhurren: “Did you get a pet? A lizard?”

Myx: Myx looks at her little pseudo-friend and back at them and back at her pseudo and says, “Darconius. Would you like to introduce yourself to my companions?”

Darconius: And you see the small lizard turns and looks around at you all, points at himself and goes, “Darconius!”

Erbak: “He can talk. Fascinating.”

Mhurren: “Uh, well met.”

GM: It lifts a claw and waves.

Myx: “Yes, this is my new friend. He has been gifted to me by Titania to keep me company be a friend and …”

Darconius: “Company!”

Myx: {laughs} “Be of help now and again.”

Darconius: “Darconius help.” And he jumps up on your shoulder and puffs his chest up.

Myx: Oh, I love this thing. I want one for real. “So, yeah, guys. He will be joining us on our adventures.”

Darconius: “Adventure!”

Tobe: I feel like maybe Oz would be giving this psuedodragon a lot of scrutiny. {laughs}

GM: You see him wave at Oz.

Tobe: Can ravens narrow their eyes, because I feel like…

GM: Uh, I think ravens have eyelids, so yes, I imagine show.

Tobe: Just scrutinizing this lizard creature, just, “What?”

Myx: I can kind of see Darconius just being like-

Darconius: “{flickering hiss}”

GM: Mhurren.

Mhurren: I want to say to Erbak, “Pay him a visit then?”

Erbak: “{contemplative noise} Could do, I suppose.”

Scraw: Scraw’s still hugging Tobe and Myx. “That seems like a fine idea.”

Tobe: Tobe is trying to escape.

Scraw: “Are you okay there?”

Tobe: {muffled} “Let go.”

Scraw: “Ah, of course.” Then he takes a step back. “Very well. Um, to Leosin?”

Tobe: “Yes, that sounds like a plan.”

Myx: “Yes, let-let-let’s, let’s see how he’s doing.”

GM: Mhurren you head over after making the suggestion to Erbak and people variously agreeing that that’s a good idea and to go and investigate and you make your way over to the medical wing of the keep, uninterrupted, as you guys are fairly well known around here at this point. It’s been a few days, no more than about week at this point, since you first arrived, and yet, you are all very well known by your face and by name. And occasionally you see people nod and acknowledge you as you pass. You occasionally catch sight of some of the previously rescued prisoners wandering around the keep, going about their business and trying to recover and relax after their ordeal.

You get to the medical area where the tabaxi doctors appear to be clustered around Leosin’s bed. And Nasim is sitting in the chair which you originally found him in and he looks up as you all enter.

Nasim: “Ah, Mhurren and The Scales of Justice. It is good to see you all.”

GM: You guys notice that there appears to be a small hive activity around Leosin’s bed and you can’t get a clear view of what’s going on.

Erbak: “What’s happening with Leosin? Has there been a change?”

Nasim: “He appears to have woken in the night and asked for water. They are doing a lot of testing to make sure that he is stable.”

Erbak: “He’s awake!? It worked!”

Nasim: “It would appear so.”

Myx: “What worked?”

Mhurren: “Good news.”

Erbak: “Uh, I-I must, I must confess. I did a little experimentation, you see. I’ve come across many trauma victims before in my past and I, I wanted to try and determine some kind of way of, you know, removing the trauma from them. Most of the time they don’t tend to recover, and they tend to be in a state of trauma and damage for days, years, even decades. So, I began experimenting with, um, a little invasive mind therapy, to be precise.”

Myx: “You, you went into his head?”

Erbak: “Magically! Not, not physically, of course.”

Tobe: “Without his knowledge or consent?”

Erbak: “One cannot truly consent when one is in a state of complete shock and trauma.”

Tobe: “You don’t think this has the possibility of backfiring in any way?”

Erbak: “The possibilities were too great to miss. Think of it! Just to remove and excise any all mental and pain suffering. Like excising a tumor.”

Mhurren: “Are you sure that this didn’t give him more trauma.”

Erbak: “Well, I was extremely careful. I will have you know.”

Myx: “Is there any way to find out if this is gonna, I don’t know, have long term damage on him?”

Nasim: “My master is very strong willed, if any such attempts were made it would be very surprising to me if Bahamut was not directly intervening in his protection.”

Myx: “Well, I mean, if he has Bahamut’s protection, maybe we should just see how things go.”

Erbak: “Sorry, I was fairly convinced, after all, he’s a monk and they are known to undergo rigorous mental training, would be a very different matter than say, choosing the mind of an elderly, feeble person.”

Nasim: “Quite.”

Erbak: “{stammers} I will admit, I apologize for the lack of, well, consent, but I just had the opportunity right there and the possibility and one cannot leave a life unsaved.”

Nasim: “It would be interesting to hear what the doctors who would obviously have been observing such practices thought about Leosin’s reactions to your treatment.”

Mhurren: “Erbak, Doctor. This, this procedure was it of a magical nature?”

Erbak: “Entirely.”

Mhurren: I just turn to Nasim, “Well, I do hope the light of Bahamut has brought him back.”

Nasim: “I am sure that he will be quite all right. He has been through far worse.”

Mhurren: “Through whatever circumstances.”

Nasim: “Indeed.”

Mhurren: And I just like side glance the doctor.

Head Doctor: You guys are watching and you see the head doctor of the surgery turn to you and say, “Do any of you have business here? You must understand, we are very busy and there are many of you. We cannot have you interfering.”

Myx: “Uh, is the patient okay? Is Leosin okay?”

Head Doctor: “He is cognizant, if that is what you mean.”

Myx: “Is there any chance we could speak to him?”

Head Doctor: “Maybe, I’ll see what I can do.”

Myx: “It doesn’t have to be all of us, but w-we just have a couple questions for him, that’s all.”

Head Doctor: “He has been through much and he has been awake less than 24 hours. I am sure a short, brief questioning would not be entirely inappropriate, but please, do keep it brief. Bear with me. I must make sure our tests are complete before, um, we allow this to continue.” She turns away from you and goes back to her doctors and you see her having a brief discussion while she leaves you to your own.

Erbak: Erbak is happy and patient to wait.

Darconius: “Bored!” Darconius is just poking you.

Myx: Myx boops him on the nose.

Darconius: “That really wasn’t necessary. Are we going to be long?”

Myx: To him, “I don’t know how long this gonna take, but hopefully it won’t take too long. But, we need to speak to this guy.”

Darconius: “{sighs} Okay.”

Myx: “I’ll feed you really good food when we’re done.”

Darconius: “Mm-hmm.”

Myx: “Anything else you’re after.”

Darconius: “That’s fine.”

Myx: “Darconius.”

Darconius: {mumbling} “I just want to get outta here, boring …”

Head Doctor: At this point you’re making eyes and faces at Darconius and the doctor comes in and says, “{long drawn out} I, will be fine to let you speak with the patient however, uh,” and she looks at Oz and Darconius. “Please, can you have your animals wait outside?”

Myx: “How rude!”

Head Doctor: “I cannot have our patient exposed to whatever they might be carrying.”

Myx: “That is an unneeded accusation.” Myx crosses her arms

Head Doctor: “You can follow our rules or you can leave, it is up to you.”

Myx: “{pretentious scoff} I”ll leave.”

Head Doctor: “As you wish.”

Myx: Myx will stay with the pets that carry no disease or anything like it.

Tobe: While Tobe doesn’t necessary have any questions of his own, he does at least want to observe the other two he’s {laughs} a lot more weary of Erbak now. So he tells Oz to wait outside with Myx and Darconius.

Myx: “Tobe, you have to do me a really big favor.”

Tobe: “What?”

Myx: “If you get a chance to ask Leosin, see if you can find out more about where the progeny was kept. Really think we really need to go back and take care of him, but we don’t know what he looks like. We don’t know exactly where he is. If you can find out anything from Leosin it would be very appreciated.”

Tobe: “Yeah, no problem. I can ask that for you.”

Myx: “Thank you.” Myx feels better now.

Head Doctor: “Yes, yes, yes. Please, just take them outside. I do not have time for this.” As you wander away, “Animal people. I just don’t get it. Anyway. Please, keep it brief. As well we will have a doctor nearby in case the patient needs any assistance. If you’re causing my patient undue stress, be prepared to be punished. Are we clear?”

Tobe: “Crystal.”

Mhurren: “Yes.”

Head Doctor: “Well, then.” She turns to her fellow colleagues and she shoos them away and, “You have five minutes.”

GM: The doctors clear away from the bed. They reveal the no longer quite as war weary form of Leosin Erlanthar the silver dragonborn with the large scar across his face. He blinks and looks around at each of you and he seems quite lucid.

Erbak: “Hi there, first of all, I must apologize for the, uh, mind thing earlier. I was attempting to discern and hopefully remove the source of any trauma. I sincerely apologize.”

Leosin: “I see.”

Erbak: “My name is Doctor Erbak Voss and these are my colleagues of the Scales of Justice.”

Leosin: “Ah yes, I have heard the name. The doctor, they mentioned you brought me here. I suppose I have a debt of thanks I owe you all, not that I asked to be brought here.”

Mhurren: “Well, you’re out of harm’s way at the very least. It’s good to see you’re awake and alive no less.”

Leosin: “Yes, I suppose it is. What, uh, can I do for you all? Why have total strangers gone to such lengths for someone they do not know.”

Mhurren: “Leosin, you may know my master, Kriv.”

Leosin: “Of the Order of the Stone Claw?”

Mhurren: “That’s correct.”

Leosin: “That’s good, because I completely forgot for a moment there.”

{laughs}

Tobe: Oh god.

{laughs}

Mhurren: “It’s quite all right, you’ve been out of it for a number of days.”

Leosin: “Yes, uh, I may know your master. He’s a fine man.”

Mhurren: “Well …”

Leosin: “And what brings you here?”

Mhurren: “I had received a letter that he had sent telling me to go and find you. He said that you may have been studying the cultists.”

Leosin: “{laughs} Yes, I uh, have been studying them a little bit closer than I had planned, but your master speaks true.”

Mhurren: “Is there anything you can tell us about what you may have learned?”

Leosin: “Uh, where can I start? {grunts} It’d probably be easier to ask me what I don’t know about them at this point. {laughs, coughs} Ow! {coughs}” He’s clutching his chest. :”

“{groans}” He’s not completely over whatever it was that they put him through. “I’m afraid you’ll have to be a little more specific.”

Tobe: “We believe that they have the progeny of an adult blue dragon. Do you happen to know anything about that? What condition it’s in? Where they’ve put it? What they’re planning to do with it?”

Leosin: “I did hear something about hatchlings. Before they discovered my ruse, I did manage to learn that that there was something being kept in the cave at the back of the camp, though they would not allow anyone in there, not unless they were approved by the Wearers of Purple. {coughs} What a stupid title. So grandiose and pathetic. But, um, it’s possible that the hatchlings they referred to were the progeny of something. Dragon seems likely given the nature of the cult. But, no one could get near that cave. Only those approved by the Wyrmspeakers themselves get anywhere near it.”

Mhurren: “Did you say the Wyrmspeakers?”

Leosin: “Yes, that is the title that those of the utmost order in cult bestow upon themselves. Though I cannot say I know why. Rezmir, I believe, with the main bitch behind it all. She calls herself a Wyrmspeaker, but she’s also a Wearer of Purple. Her and Mondath have absolute control over the entire camp. They have absolute say over who goes in and out of that cave. I suspect if there is any such progeny in the camp, that is where it is most likely to be. The excess meat from the hunters was actually taken there frequently as were the dead prisoners. So, I suspect that’s probably where it is. Unless they’ve got some other kind of monstrosity down there. Hatchlings could refer to a great many number of things.”

Tobe: “Whatever it is, they seem keen to keep them alive if they’re feeding it.”

Leosin: “That much is true. I believe, if what you say is true and it is a dragon, well, chances are they’re hoping to raise it in their own likeness, turn it evil, probably. That would be my hunch. Unfortunately, they discovered me long before I got much in the way of details. I had not heard anything about dragon younglings, but I’d certainly say it sounds plausible.

They have a very strict guard rotation, you see. And anybody who tries to get close that is not on the list is surely and swiftly expelled.”

Mhurren: “When you said that they saw through your ruse, did you enter the camp under disguise? Or?”

Leosin: “Well, I’m glad that you asked. I did feel the need to express my brilliance. So, I have spent many, many weeks studying these cults. Months, even. Their behavior has become erratic, strange, I knew that they would hit this city before long and I was right. I came here expecting, waiting for them to strike and when they did, I infiltrated their order. I snuck back to the camp. I was one of them. I snuck around and nobody noticed a thing, right up until I told them I was Rezmir and nobody believed me, on account of me being silver. Apparently, Rezmir is not.”

Erbak: “Didn’t you also…”

Tobe: “That seems like a major oversight.” {laughs}

Leosin: “A slip of the tongue. I was, I was cornered. I had to explain myself and I hadn’t yet met any other dragonborn cultists I could steal the name of, so I used the one that everybody referred to, ’cause they sounded scary.”

Tobe: Tobe’s facepalming. {laughs}

Leosin: “Seems you all faired much better than I. You managed to recover me, after all. I’d be interested in hearing some time about how you managed that.”

Erbak: “When in doubt, play drunk.”

Leosin: “I see. A worthy ruse. I will keep it in mind.”

Mhurren: “Fire may be a good distraction also.”

Leosin: “Interesting. I’m more of the icy persuasion.”

Erbak: “I was also curious about one particular thing. They did have a large number of mercenary contingents within the cult. Are these just additional groups that they’ve hired to help them or is there more cultists?

Leosin: “That is my understanding, yes. The Wearers of Purple were keen to bolster the ranks. They’ve tried to convert many of the mercenaries, but well, quite frankly, I think most of them are there for the gold.”

Erbak: “Hmm, potentially, right now their merely operating as some kind of marauders, pillaging town after town?”

Leosin: “More or less. They’ve been hitting small villages and towns for some time now. I knew that Greenest was going to be next on their list. It was ripe for the picking. Easily struck, poorly defended, wealthy and crucially on the path that they were already travelling.”

Tobe: “So do you have an idea about where they’re planning to go ultimately or next?”

Leosin: “Unfortunately, not really. I was not able to obtain that information. I was trying to sneak into the leader’s tent so I could steal their maps.”

Erbak: “Erm, one other thing that I couldn’t determine for the life of me, um, the prisoners, what were they collecting prisoners for?”

Leosin: “Honestly, the information heard in the camp about that is fairly vague. My understanding is that they were primarily for labor and they work them until they’re dead. THen they take their remains off into the caves and, uh, feed them to whatever, Ii suppose. If they choose not to work, well, they’re often killed on the spot or, in some cases, they actually converted to the worship of that she-devil. But, as for why they’re there, I suspect it’s mostly manual labor. It could be for sacrifices. I’m not really sure. Nobody told me. But, I think that’s mostly because no one really knew. A lot of the camp seems to be run by initiates, people still trying to earn their way into the ranks.”

Mhurren: “I do recall a quarry where some of the prisoners were being applied.”

Leosin: “The, uh, the dig site, yeah. I’m not really sure what they were after, if I’m honest. There’s not much of value in the land around here. Quite frankly, I think they were just working them for something to do.”

Erbak: “And you say with the dead prisoners, they just …”

Leosin: “They drag them off into the cave. I was never sure of what happened to them after that, but you say that there’s some kind of progeny down there and I hear the word hatchlings being throw around the camp. Seems to me they were being fed to something.”

Tobe: “Grim as that is, that’s a pretty efficient way to get rid of bodies, if you’ve got lots of bodies and you need somewhere to put them.”

Mhurren: “Something with an appetite, for sure.”

Leosin: “Yeah, those, uh, those cultists around the camp, they often refer to the cave as the nursery.”

Tobe: “Definitely, uh, raising something down there then.”

Leosin: “One would think so.”

Tobe: “You know of which towns are still within an area that they could efficiently attack that haven’t been hit yet?”

Leosin: “Hmm, it’s interesting. To be totally honest with you, I got to the point where I realized Greenest was next, realized that the time to strike would be soon and I escalated my arrival as quickly as I could. I wanted to be sure that I was here before they got here. Nope, I’m afraid not. I was hoping that I would be around the camp long enough to determine where they were leaving to. If I could figure out what direction they were going in, well, from there, I’d be able to estimate whereabouts they were planning on attacking next. The problem is, there’s a lot of culture and civilization around these parts.”

Erbak: “Do you remember the areas in the camp where you were most likely to pick up such information? We tried the mess hall, but that was risky and ironically, messy.”

Tobe: “Probably the leader’s tent.”

Leosin: “Well, I mean, the mess hall worked fine for me while I was there, but I was trying to get more specifics from the leader’s tent, as your friend here suggests, mainly because I say, a lot of cultists taking part in the raid appeared to be initiates, trying to prove their worth to Tiamat and her followers. They’re not privy to a lot of information. Mostly, they spend their time complaining about the meat.”

Erbak: “Hmm. I was wondering if anything’s likely to have changed dramatically, since of course our rescuing of you and several other prisoners was…It did not end subtly.”

Leosin: “Well, I was, uh …”

Tobe: “They’re definitely going to be more on guard if we try to go back there.”

Leosin: “Well, if you plan on going back, perhaps there’s information I could furnish you with, if you let me know what you think would be pertinent to you and, uh, I’ll see what I can offer.”

Erbak: “Such a difficult position here.”

Mhurren: “Leosin, do you get an estimate of the total numbers in the force?”

Leosin: “Including the mercenaries? It’s hard to say. Those companies grow in size exponentially because the portions that they have managed to hire definitely do not include the entirety of the company. That said, they do have at least three different mercenary companies on retainer. The bulk of the forces there are primarily initiates and kobolds because kobolds are stupid and easy to manipulate. I’d say cultists themselves, maybe about 100. But, adding in the mercenary companies and you’ve got at least 300-400 men there.

I managed to ascertain that they had hired The Reavers, The Black Claw and The Armcoat Mercenaries, I believe. Led by Wolfgang the Magnificent. The Black Claw, they’re run by an orc named Tarka and The Reavers, they’re mostly half-elves run by Urtier Halfhand. She’s, uh, she’s a half-elf lizardman. They’re not real loyal to anyone except money though.”

Erbak: ” I wonder if it’s worth acquiring mercenary forces of our own to defend the forces here and form a counter strike of some kind. Either way, but right now we’re simply a bunch of farmsteads. “

Tobe: “Do you think they’re likely to launch a counterattack?”

Leosin: “I think they’re done with Greenest, to be honest with you. One way or the other, they’ve got what they came for.”

Erbak: “They will be moving on to other cities soon, though.”

Leosin: “Yes, they will. But Greenest is likely safe. It has nothing left for them.”

Erbak: “What we need is to gather whatever local maps of the area and see if we can work out where their likely type plan of attack would be.”

Leosin: “Unfortunately, there’s so many different places that are near here that they could go to literally any of them. Greenest was my way in because I knew that it was gonna be their next point of strike. It took me weeks to determine that this would be where they would go next. Having a map of the area simply isn’t enough. We need intel. We need news from the inside.”

Erbak: “Could we not convince the various burgs and townships of the area to form an alliance of some kind? Strike first before they’re struck? Combine their forces to-“

Leosin: “Anything’s possible, but reaction time between cities of that size is not a small feat.”

Tobe: “I may have a way back in. Did you notice any kind of magic dispel other magic to prevent people going in under, say, an invisibility spell? {laughs}”

Leosin: “I can’t even think of a magic spell that would be big enough to cover an area like that. So, no I suspect not.”

Tobe: “Or maybe-?”

Leosin: “I didn’t detect any magic while I was there. Bahamut usually lets me know about that kind of thing. It didn’t seem like the kind of thing that they’ve had time to set up and prepare. The cave may be protected, but I’ve never been able to explore it. So, I couldn’t advise. The camp itself is probably fine, though.”

Tobe: “We might be able to find a way into the leader’s tent to get more specific information, presuming I can get in and out during the, uh, time the spell lasts.”

Mhurren: “Leosin, are you a practitioner of magic yourself?”

Leosin: “I’m afraid I’m not, no. I’m a monk, as I’m sure you are aware. You’ve been training with my apprentice, whatever.”

Mhurren: “Indeed, he has shown me a great many things.”

Leosin: “I’m glad to hear that. Your master should be pleased. Please do send him my regards when you see him next.”

Mhurren: “I will.”

Leosin: “{pained exhale} I’m afraid this, this cult activity doesn’t make any sense and it’s very troubling. I’m not sure how much you know about The Cult of the Dragons, but they used to be focused on small time stuff, raising dracoliches, not that they were ever any good at it. Um.”

Tobe: Tobe just snorts to himself.

Leosin: “And, I mean, they cause trouble from time to time, but never anything on this scale. I’ve been following their movements because their pattern of behavior changed so drastically. It’s just dangerous.”

Tobe: “No idea as to what caused the change?”

Leosin: “All I know is that they’re much more focused on Tiamat than they ever were before. Rezmir’s almost, hmm, what’s the word? Fanatically obsessed with Tiamat. She’s driven by a passion that I’ve not seen before. She has a strange mask that never leaves her side.”

Mhurren: “Would you say she’s the most dangerous one?”

Leosin: “She’s the one that they refer to as The Wyrmspeaker. I don’t know that that makes her the most dangerous, but I get the impression that she’s easily the highest ranking within the camp.

Now, despite my attempts, I did not get all the information that I was looking for while I was there. And after all you’ve done already for me personally and for the people of Greenest, I hate to ask anything more from you, but, {sighs} the need is great and I dare to hope that you can aid me one more time.”

Tobe: “What is it you seek?”

Leosin: “I need you to return to the cultist’s camp. You know your way around it now. If the cultists are preparing to conduct another raid or a large body of them marches away or if anything substantial is carried or into or out of that cave, we need to know. If you have a chance to get in that camp and look around again, that would be the ideal way to spot anything that’s changed.

I don’t recommend letting yourself get captured though {laughs}. I’d be willing to pay, if that’s what it takes. If I had been able to withstand what Rezmir was doing for longer I might have been able to find more information, but, well …”

Erbak: “Ironically, even if you were to refuse, wandering away, with our luck, no doubt have the cultists attack us next anyway, regardless of where we are. So, I’m in.”

Leosin: “Well that’s, that’s certainly possible.”

Mhurren: “Leosin, did they question you during your torture?”

Leosin: As you say, “Did they question you?” he looks at you like, “Uhhhh, yeah.” During the torture and he’s like, “Yeahhhh? Rigorously.”

Tobe: “That’s usually what they do when people torture you, you know?”

Leosin: “Now, they often don’t torture you for, you know, fun. Although Rezmir did seem to enjoy it a little too much if you ask me. I suspect that had more to do with me being a follower of Bahamut then, uh, anything else, though.”

Erbak: “Could you describe … Did you see any of the dragon people that seemed more than mere dragonborn? Could you describe the ones that were, that spoke to you directly that were involved in your torture.”

Leosin: “Rezmir. Yes, it was pretty much entirely Rezmir. She’s a, she’s a half-dragon. She’s … I’m not sure if you’re even familiar with the term. It’s something that, as a follower of Tiamat, Tiamat has the ability to take your form and force you through a violent and physical change. She can take your spiritual devotion to her and manifest it directly into your body. It changes you from whatever you are into a dragon of sorts. That’s what Rezmir is. She’s a black dragon, sort of. She’s more humanoid than dragon, but she’s more dragon than anything else.”

Erbak: “Our friend Myx fought her some days ago. It was to first blood, so she survived.”

Tobe: “It wasn’t a fight against Rezmir.”

Erbak: “I think it was someone called Langdedrosa?”

Leosin: “She fought Langdedrosa? Well, where is she? Get her ass {laughs} in here.”

{laughs}

Leosin: “That’s impressive. She’s still standing. Hey, Myx …”

{laughs}

Myx: “{questioning} Mah?”

{laughs}

GM: You hear, uh, him calling you through the door.

Myx: “I’m watching over our familiars. What do you want?”

Tobe: “I can take over. This guy seems to want to talk to you.”

Myx: “Okay. Now you two, behave.”

Darconius: Darconius does a little mini-salute. “We’ll be fine. Me and Oz are making friends.” And Oz is just glaring at him as he does a little cat wiggle on the ground, ready to pounce.

Tobe: Oh god.

GM: And then he jumps and Oz jumps out of the way. As you come out of the room, Tobe, Myx is looking at them as you see Darconius fly towards Oz and Oz flap up into the air and peck down at him.

Tobe: “Ugh.”

Myx: “They, they’ve mostly been quiet until now.” Myx cautiously walks into the room where she’s been called to.

Tobe: Tobe stands outside and folds his arms and watches the spectacle.

Leosin: As you walk into the room and you see Leosin propped up in his bed, not looking too terribly worse for the wear compared to when you last saw him. “So, you took on Langdedrosa Cyanwrath and not hair missing off your head.”

Myx: “Uh, no. Well, yes. I did, but um, no, no. No hair missing, uh, that, that was quite a night.”

Leosin: “I’m impressed. You must be quite the warrior.”

Myx: “Uh, you could say that.” And Myx is trying to act all cool but she’s still like, “I have no idea how I did that.”

Leosin: “He doesn’t often stray too far from Mondath’s side. Did you see her? Mondath. She’s a, a half elf, half dragonborn, red dragonborn. She has a vicious set of scales that streak across her face. It’s like a deformity.”

Myx: “I can’t say I have, but I honestly think that the adrenaline from that fight and trying to keep everyone safe sort of got ahold of me. So, no, I- I don’t remember.”

Leosin: “Fair enough.”

Erbak: “During that fight, from our vantage point on the battlements, we did see him talking to someone else, if I recall, before he approached. He was stood next to someone.”

GM: And between the two of you, you piece together that actually he said black half-dragon. That’s what you saw. It was a black half-dragon. You saw him speaking to Rezmir. You now know that you saw him speaking to Rezmir because you now know that Rezmir is a black half-dragon.

Erbak: “It must have been that Rezmir then.”

Leosin: “Frulum Mondath is a Wearer of Purple. She is a high ranking cultist and she is never far from Langdedrosa Cyanwrath’s side. You should be wary of her. {stammers} She commands a lot of power in that sect.”

Mhurren: “Leosin. You said with Rezmir from her devotion to Tiamat she was able to change her form?”

Leosin: “That is correct.”

Erbak: “If we could kidnap just a single one of these, just one. Imagine, this would throw so much the camp into disarray.”

Leosin: “That is true. They are always heavily guarded, however. As I mentioned that Frulum Mondath is always under guard by Langdedrosa. He is no small trifle,” and he says looking at Myx. “Despite what you may believe now. And, uh, Rezmir is not exactly easily challenged. If she were, I would not be here. She has a cadre of guards with her at all times, highly trained, lethal.”

Head Doctor: And at this point, the doctor comes back over and says, “Look, I really must protest. This is going on far too long and you guys are not efficient enough with your questioning. So, get on with it or leave.”

Erbak: “We will, I, well, if you wish to continue asking questions, please do. I must go and formulate plans, plans.” And Erbak’s just going to wander off out the room, pondering to himself. In fact, he’s going to go pay a visit to that really weird guard.

GM: So, Mhurren, Myx, you are now alone with Leosin. Do you have any further questions?

Myx: Not that I can think of right now, no.

Mhurren: “So, it seems that Rezmir had changed her form?”

Leosin: “Yeah, I believe so. I don’t know of any natural way that a half dragon like that can exist otherwise.”

Mhurren: “Would it be possible, at all, that she could inflict this on others?”

Leosin: “Probably not. This is more of something that Tiamat has done to her, through her devotion to Tiamat herself. This is seen as a blessing by her people, not a curse. And I imagine that it takes a lot of power, lot of energy from Tiamat to achieve such a goal from her cages in Hell, not something that she is willing to do for the sake of someone who doesn’t even want it, someone who would not follow her goals.”

Mhurren: “Well, when we do return to the camp, and should we return ourselves, we’ll let you know.”

Leosin: “I am willing to offer financial recompense of up to 150 gold each, if that’s all it takes. Please pass it on to your comrades. It is of a utmost importance that this happens sooner rather than later.”

Mhurren: “I shall let them know.”

Leosin: “Anything that gets missed could be crucial to our endeavors. Though I imagine a few days here or there would probably be fine.”

Mhurren: “Well, I’ll take my leave and let you rest up.”

Leosin: “Mhurren, before you go, within a few days, once I’m well enough to travel, my apprentice and I will be heading on to Elturel. I will be seeking out Ontharr Frume, a Paladin of Torm. He will be interested to here what we have learned about the cult and it’s imperative that we get this information to him as soon as possible. If you cannot find us here when you return, that is where we will be.”

Mhurren: “Is it far from here?”

Leosin: “Far enough.”

Mhurren: “Elturel? Where abouts?”

Leosin: “That’s an interesting question for another time.”

{laughs}

Leosin: “I’m very tired.”

Mhurren: “Of course, of course.”

Leosin: “Put it this way, you’ll need to get a wagon if you’re going to go to Elturel. We’ll probably be traveling by horse next chance we get.”

Mhurren: “Well, rest up.”

Leosin: “I intend to.”

Myx: “It was nice to meet you!”

Leosin: “And you too, little warrior.”

Myx: Myx puffs up her chest a little bit.

Head Doctor: So, you guys all make your way out. Tabaxi doctor comes over, like, “Finally. I apologize. I should not have let this happen. They talk and they talk and they talk and they never stop. I just could not get rid of them the entire time you were out. It was ridiculous.”

Darconius: To reconvene in the corridor outside of the medical facility, Darconius leaps up on you, Myx as you leave the room. He’s like, “Ah, that took forever. Why do people talk so much?”

Myx: “I’m so sorry, little buddy.”

Darconius: “We’re going on an adventure now?”

Myx: “Uh, soon. Very, very soon.”

Darconius: “Okay, that will do.” And he curls up around your neck.

Myx: “Oh, toasty.”

GM: So, you guys are reconveniening in the corridor, except for Erbak, who Tobe, you saw wander out of the room and head off out into the courtyard. Erbak, you see if you can find Bawden. As he is a guard, he does actually have a job beyond being your library keeper. You wander around and you find him relatively quickly and, in fact, you see him coming out of the equivalent of the mess hall in the keep and you bump into him.

Bawden: “Oh, Erbak, dear boy. {laughs} Always, always lovely to see a, a, a literary aficionado such as yourself. How are you?”

Erbak: “Bawden my good fellow. I was, um, curious actually. I was hoping to peruse some more of your book collection, again. I do promise we will have time to sit down and discuss it. I understand you have a very busy schedule.”

Bawden: “Uh … I-I do, yes. It-it’s such a very unfortunate state of affairs. I’m afraid I don’t really allow people into the booktorium. Uh, however, if you can tell me what it is you’re after, I’d be happy to see if I can find something for you.”

Erbak: “As a doctor, I’m always curious about the additional capabilities of anesthesia and the different applications. I was wondering if you had something relevant to that?”

Bawden: “Hmm, interesting, interesting. Um, perhaps Sparbold’s Book of Many Poisons. That could be useful. I’m not sure we have anything specific to anesthesia but most anesthesias are, in fact, poisons.”

Erbak: “Well, certainly. You are, of course, you are the librarian. You are the scholar. I will take your advice and I will take the recommendation.”

Bawden: “I-I’ll see what I can do. I’m afraid I can’t attend my study at the moment, due to the fact that I’m very shortly due back on duty, but if you stop by later tonight, perhaps? We can share brandy, discuss some books and, uh, I’ll see, see if I can dig that out for you.”

Erbak: “Certainly. Certainly. That’ll, that’ll be magnificent.”

Bawden: “Well then, I look forward to it. The shift with fly by.”

Erbak: “Very well.”

Bawden: And he excuses himself and he moves on.

Myx: “Let’s go back to that camp!”

Erbak: “First I think it would be worthwhile if we sit down and decide on a course of action.”

Myx: “Fair. I didn’t say rush in. Might have implied it, but I didn’t say it.”

Tobe: Tobe just pats her on the head.

GM: For the sake of expediency, I will point out that it is entirely possible for Myx to do some scouting and gather information without leaving the keep at all.

Erbak: “That’s right, because we can launch her in one of the trebuchets.”

Tobe: “I don’t think that’s appropriate.”

Myx: “So …”

Erbak: “They had some of those on the parapets, didn’t they?”

Myx: “Something slightly scalier than that.”

Darconius: “Darconius!”

Myx: “{laughs} Yeah, not to put a too fine point on it, yes. I-I have a little friend that might be able to do some sightseeing for us, if he’s up for it, of course.” And she looks at Darconius.

Darconius: “Oh, god. Let me get out of here. I want to go do something.” {laughs}

Myx: So, Myx scoops up Darconius in her hands and, “Are, are you sure you’ll be okay if I ask you to go look ahead for us?”

Darconius: “I can go wherever. I’ve been doing it for a long time.”

Myx: “{laughs} I know you can. Just …”

Darconius: “I’m a very old dragon.”

Myx: “Just, be careful. Okay?”

Darconius: “You do realize that right?”

Myx: “Well, y- no.”

Darconius: “I’ve been around forever.”

Myx: “T-that’s a very long time.”

Darconius: “Yeah, I’m a survivor. It’s what I do.”

Myx: “{amused} Okay. Well, just t-try and be careful. Okay?”

Darconius: “Where am I going?”

Myx: “So, there’s a camp.”

Mhurren: “I believe it was south of the keep.”

Myx: Myx relays this to Darconius.

Darconius: “12 miles seems like a long way. What’s it worth?”

{laughs}

Myx: “uhhh what do you want? “

Darconius: “{I don’t know noise} That’s why I asked you for a suggestion. Make it exciting.”

Myx: “Um, hmm. Is there somewhere you’d like to go for fun after?”

Darconius: “I don’t know. You tell me. What’s fun?”

Myx: “What if when you come back, I run you a really, really big bubble bath and you can play in bubbles?”

Darconius: “I don’t know what bubbles are but that sounds great.”

Myx: “Okay, cool. When you come back, and I’m going to give you the best bubble bath ever.”

Darconius: “O-kay. So, 12 miles south from here?”

Myx: “Yes.”

Darconius: “Okay. What am I looking for?”

Myx: “A camp.”

Darconius: “Camp, right.”

Myx: “You’ll see a lot of very unfriendly looking people there. Lots of-.”

Darconius: “What if I don’t? What does the land look like?”

Myx: “There are a lot of different camps dotted around, but all contained within area. There’s also a cave close to those tents as well.”

Darconius: “So, I’m looking for a cave? Okay. That’s probably a lot easier than one of those camp things.”

Myx: “{laughs} I-I’m sorry, there is a cave and near the cave there are a lot of tents. Tents are like these portable houses made of out of …”

Darconius: “Okay, bored now. Bye.”

Myx: “{amused sigh}”

Darconius: He pirouettes backwards off your shoulder and swoops away. You watch as he flaps off into the distance, in the general direction that you indicated he should be heading.

Myx: “Let’s, let’s pray guys. {laughs}”

Darconius: Every five, ten minutes you hear him humming a little song in your head like, “{cute music} {surprised inhale} Oooh, what’s that?”

{Laughs}

Darconius: “Oh, cool. Wow, that’s big.” Etcetera and so forth.

Myx: I feel slightly better then.

Erbak: “I would probably head down and try and formulate some plans together. We need to get some better idea about what we can do with this camp. Of course, we will have to update this with the information that Myx’s little … What is that creature, Myx?”

Myx: “He’s a pseudodragon.”

Erbak: “So, a fake dragon?”

Scraw: “I believe his name is Darconius,” says Scraw, who has been very quiet this entire time because he’s just been bottling up the rage that he’s been containing for days and trying not to let loose with it.

Myx: “He’s not a fake dragon. Technically he is a dragon. He’s just very different from a normal dragon and much smaller. So, different that some people don’t think he’s a real dragon and thus, pseudodragon.”

Erbak: “Okay, well. In that instance, I think that it’s worthwhile that we sit down and try to formulate some plan about how to met out and infiltrate this camp and determine exactly what we want out of it.”

Tobe: “I believe that Darconius is how we’re infiltrating the camp?” {laughs}

Erbak: “Unless he can rescue the progeny, I don’t think we’ll be going, will be the last time we see the camp. Could he rescue the progeny? No, I imagine the dragon progeny’s quite large.”

Tobe: “Oh, but I imagine any plan to rescue the progeny would probably involve any info able to glean.”

Myx: “For now, my line of thinking is, sending Darconius as a preliminary scout so we can get a better idea of things and if there’s anything in particular you guys want Darconius to look for, let me know and I will ask him or I will see.”

Erbak: What time is it in the day right now?

GM: Twelve, One o’clock.

Erbak: Okay, so I’ll have time to sit down and do stuff before I end up going for a goblet of brandy.

Myx: A goblet of brandy. Someone’s fancy.

Erbak: What do you think you drink it out of?

GM: You’ve got a few hours to kill after this meeting with Leosin.

Myx: “Should we go to Tarbaw and at least tell him of our plans, tell him that we intend to go back?”

Mhurren: “{grunts}”

Tobe: “It’d definitely be a good idea to relay what information we have found from Leosin.”

Myx: “Yeah. I think that might be a worthwhile thing.”

Erbak: “Should we do that now or after we’ve got Dracoago.”

Myx: “Darconius.”

Mhurren: “Who’s Draco?”

Erbak: “Darconius, that’s it.”

Myx: “Well, I’d say maybe we wait, at least for now, because it’ll give us something to do. We give him a preliminary, what information we gathered from Leosin and then give him the rest when we come back?”

Tobe: “I mean, we should at least tell him that we know for certain now that the town is likely to not be attacked again because otherwise he’s going to be running around preparing for an attack that’s not going to happen.”

Myx: “Yeah, but good thinking.”

Erbak: “You know, also, one thing that I’m debating, if it’s possible, finding some of the escaped prisoners and querying them to find out if they know anything, or …”

Tobe: “That’d definitely be a good idea to ask them if they knew exactly what they were laboring away for.”

Erbak: “Yeah, or if- .”

Tobe: “They might have more information than Leosin in that sense.”

Mhurren: “That’s a wonderful idea, doctor.”

Tarbaw: You guys managed to track down Tarbaw easily enough, but you find that it’s almost impossible to find any of the prisoners that were previously at the camp. And you question Tarbaw about this and he indicates that most of the prisoners that were rescued were townsfolk who have returned home and the ones that were not from Greenest are probably around town making plans to leave, but that he did indeed spend the last few days talking to them about what they were able to discern about the camp and ultimately, none of them really had anything useful to communicate. So he just gave them free run of the keep and said that they were really able to leave whenever they wished to.

So you guys relay everything that you learned from Leosin. “Ah, well, thank you for your, uh, your efforts. It’s been greatly appreciated. I believe I owe you a, a debt of great gratitude, and indeed a financial recompense.” And he reaches into his desk and he hands you each a small wooden box that contains the promised gold. You all obtain 250 gold per person and he takes out a sixth box and places it on the table in front of you. “Did he, uh, does he have any family that this can be passed on to or do you wish to claim it for your own?”

Erbak: “Well, he may still be alive.”

Tarbaw: “Oh, let it as … Whatever you wish. I-I don’t wish to make any assumptions. But, i-if you so wish, you may take it. By all means, please do.”

Erbak: “I do wish to see him again, very much alive.”

Tarbaw: “Well then, I-I hope that your intentions of returning to this camp prove fruitful. Is there anything that I can do to help you prepare for your, uh, your excursion?”

Myx: “Actually, more rations might be a good idea, and yeah, if there’s anywhere where we could purchase potions from.”

Tarbaw: “I’m afraid you’ll find the town is rather sparsely occupied in that regard, I’m afraid. Much of the wares of the town were taken in the raid. I’m afraid in terms of the healing magics that we have at our disposal, much were used in defense of our guards to revive them during the dragon attack.”

Myx: “Yes, of course. No worries. Um …”

Erbak: “Might I inquire as to where any local apothecaries are within the town that I can check, see what they have in? With my healing practices I can maybe find something beneficial to us. “

Tarbaw: “I’m not familiar with any apothecary myself, and I’m sure that we can find somebody who can guide you to one, yes.”

Erbak: “Hmm, telescope, and a compass. Just basic navigational tools may come in handy.”

Tarbaw: “Um, yes. I’m sure we could get something like that for you. Don’t have anything to hand, but give me an hour or two and I can certainly get something put together. A map, a compass, and a, a spyglass perhaps?”

Erbak: “Yes, that would probably be best, the portable version.”

Tarbaw: “Yes. Is there anything else I can get you all? You’ve been such a help already.”

Myx: “You’ve been very generous with us. I personally can’t think of anything else.”

Erbak: “Then I’m going to find me an apothecary.”

GM: You guys all make your way out of the room and Myx you hear in your mind, “Uhhhm.”

Myx: “Darconius?”

Darconius: “What’s a tent, again?”

Myx: “So, they almost look like … They’re made out of fabric and they’re kind of held up by sticks.”

Darconius: “And a camp?”

Myx: “to keep safe.”

Darconius: “Has lots of people?”

Myx: “Yes. Are you seeing anything like that?”

Darconius: “Well … I’ve found a cave.”

Myx: “Mm-hmm {affirmative}.”

Darconius: “And some tents. But I don’t think I’ve found a camp.”

Myx: “Are there people guarding the cave?”

Darconius: “Why don’t you just come look, because I’m a bit confused.”

Myx: “Okay. Um, Tarbaw, is there a room I could go to to … I need some meditation time.”

Tarbaw: “Yes, um, be my guest. You already have, uh, a quarters here. You’re welcome to reuse those.”

Myx: “Uh, yeah that’d be perfect. Thank you.” To my party, “Guys, Darconius is asking for my attention. I will be back. Just g-give me a little bit.” Myx scurries off to the room.

GM: So, you go into the other quarters and you sit yourself down and without arranging for anyone to look after your body, you connect with Darconius and things go black very briefly and you blink, open your eyes, and you realize that you’re seeing the world through your goldfish lens, again. And you look around, and you get a feeling of deep inertia as you realize that your way up in the air.

Darconius: “See, tents.”

GM: And you look down, and you see that there are indeed some tents. They are dotted around here and there, but there’s far fewer tents than you remember seeing, a lot fewer. He swoops around here and there, taking you around where he is. He’s keeping his distance because he doesn’t want to take any unnecessary risks. But, you get the sense, based on the land masses and stuff, that this does appear to be the area where the camp was, but there’s almost no one here.

Myx: Can I notice anything?

GM: All of the colored tents with the flags are gone and most of the tents that are left behind appear to be the smaller tents that were in the areas where the kobolds were. There’s a lot of old campfires that have either been left to burn or down or have been kicked out. There’s a lot of mess and it looks like this all got shifted in a hurry.

Myx: Can I get closer to the cave to see if it’s just as vigorously guarded?

GM: You try to encourage Darconius to go down. He gets a bit closer. How are you approaching this cave?

Myx: Maybe it would be worth actually flying down to the ground, very subtly.

GM: He doesn’t see any patrols or anything nearby.

Myx: Oh, my god.

GM: You encourage Darconius to glide down and he does. He glides down and he lands on the edge of the precipice. He looks out and he doesn’t see anyone in the camp, really. He does see a small campfire with four chairs around it. And the campfire is burning, but there’s no one in the chairs. He doesn’t see anyone standing by the entrance to the cave.

Myx: This is either a really great thing or really unfortunate thing.

GM: Go ahead and roll a DEX save.

Myx: Okay. Oh my god. It’s a one.

GM: Everything goes black. You snap your eyes open and you are alone in the keep tower and you don’t get a sense of anything.

Myx: Sense of anything, like do I know where I am? Do I …

GM: Yeah, you’re looking around you’re back in the keep tower. You’re in your own body. You’re no longer looking through the eyes of Darconius.

Myx: Can I try and get back to him?

GM: Nothing happens. You don’t hear anything. Try and call out to him. He’s not responding.

Myx: Oh fuck. Okay, in that case, Myx is going to run back to where her party are.

GM: You guys are hanging out wherever you are and Myx comes charging out of the quarters that she was in and barrels over to you.

Myx: “We have to go. Now.”

Tobe: “Right now?”

Myx: “Right now. We have to get our stuff and go and if you guys aren’t gonna go, I’m going to go.”

Tobe: “Well, obviously I’m gonna go.” {laughs}

Myx: “I was seeing things through Darconius and, i-it’s not, there aren’t as many tents there anymore.”

Mhurren: “You’re saying they might have started to leave?”

Myx: “Some of them have. The, the marked, the colorful ones. They’re, they’re gone.”

Erbak: “The mercenaries.”

Tobe: “The mercenaries have gone.”

Myx: “No one’s guarding the cave entrance.”

Tobe: “They’ve moved on since last night then. That’s probably why they didn’t pursue us. They just left. They probably just left since …”

Myx: “But, more importantly, I lost my connection with Darconius. I-I can’t reach him. I don’t know what’s happened but I need to find him.”

Tobe: “I’m assuming you’ve tried resummoning him?”

Mhurren: “Well, I do hope your little friend is all right.”

Myx: “You and me both, but that’s why I got to go save him. I gotta got figure out what’s going on. Hold off, guys. We might still be better off going to the camp sooner rather than later, but I’m going to try resummoning him and see what happens. Thank you, Tobe, for the suggestion.”

Tobe: “You’re welcome.”

GM: You focus on sending him back to where he came from. Though you don’t hear any thoughts from him, you do feel a shift in some way, like a connection. You can tell he’s no longer there. And then you sit down and you focus. Next 10 minutes, you call upon Titiana to return your familiar to you and he springs out of nothing in front of you and you hear in your head …

Darconius: “That really sucked. {groans} My head hurts.”

Myx: “{stammer} Darconius, what happened? Are you okay?”

Darconius: “I don’t know. {small sad sounds sounds}.”

Myx: “Wh-what did you see? I, I couldn’t see anything.”

Darconius: “Me neither. {sighs} Something hit me on the head and it hurt a lot.”

Myx: Myx is going to pick him up and hold onto him so that …

Darconius: “Adventures are hard.”

Myx: “Yeah. I-I don’t know what happened, but I’m glad you’re okay as in.”

Darconius: “I’m pretty sure something attacked me.”

Myx: “Was it a big something?”

Darconius: “Well, I don’t know. I didn’t see it. If I saw it, you would have seen it.”

Myx: “That’s a fair assessment.”

Darconius: “If I saw it coming, I would have moved. It must have been really sneaky. ‘Cause I’m pretty sure I was being really sneaky.”

Myx: Myx is going to relay this to her party and calm down a little bit now that Darconius is back. “Look, guys. I really think we should go back to the camp now.”

Tobe: “Agreed.”

Mhurren: “Ugh.”

Erbak: “Going in very riskily and very unprepared.”

Tobe: “Most of the camp is missing, that might be the most opportune moment to go there. Also, if most of it has moved off, the rest of it might soon follow and we will lose them completely.”

Erbak: “What I would not give to know how to ride a horse.”

Myx: “{whispering} We could have asked for horses but we didn’t.”

Erbak: “I don’t know how to ride a horse.”

Myx: “Eh, we could make do.”

Tobe: “Do any of us know how to ride a horse?”

GM: No.

Tobe: “No. No. Myx you can’t know how to ride a horse.”

Myx: “I bet I could.”

GM: Several broken limbs later.

Tobe: The world has ended because we all died trying to ride horses. It’s like grabbing a ship going…

Erbak: Can I try and quickly find Bawden?

GM: You manage to find him. He’s actually on watch at the gate to the keep, as you guys are heading on your way out.

Bawden: “Oh, Erbak, yes, um, are you off somewhere?”

Erbak: “I’m afraid I’ll have to reschedule tonight.”

Bawden: “Very well. Uh …”

Erbak: “A bit of a tricky one.”

Bawden: “It’s a shame but, um, well, I’ll be here.”

Erbak: “I certainly will be back.”

Bawden: “I hope so.”

Tobe: Poor romance.

GM: He is a slender, completely hairless dwarf.

Erbak: Could see if the spyglass and compass available, and a map.

GM: If you guys have left in a hurry, he did say it would take him awhile to get it. I’d say he probably hasn’t had time to get anything together yet. You’ve got vague instructions for an apothecary, but you guys on your way out of town, you cannot find it for love nor money.

Erbak: I figured at this rate the apothecary I’d fine would be just a guy pissing into a bucket.

Tobe: Tobe sends Oz on ahead.

[music]

Erbak: You think it’d be pertinent to let Leosin know of the camp’s developments?

Tobe: Haven’t we already left the keep? {laughs}

Erbak: Okay! “Let us make haste.”

Ray: And that’s all we had time for this week. Join us next week for Episode 13: Caught Off Guard, when the party find themselves deep in the belly of the beast. Quick shoutout to Dungeonmaster4President on iTunes. Thanks so much for you review. It genuinely made me laugh out loud. The song you heard at the beginning of this episode was Extravaganza by TRG Banks and the song that you are now hearing is Whilst You Were Here by Ending Satellites. Until next time, travel safe, and remember, The Scales of Justice are here for you, always.

The Doomsinger Written by: