Flight to Castle Torch | Critical Role | Campaign 4, Episode 15 Part 2

Hello again! It's Brennan Lee Mulligan, and you're listening to Part 2 of this episode of Critical Role. If you haven't checked out Part 1 yet, pause this now and head over there first! What are you doing? Otherwise, let's jump right back into this adventure in the world of Aramon. We return. We return. Don't laugh. Don't laugh. This is deadly serious. Juice? Some kind of juice? I didn't hear a whistle. The important thing is this. We return to the skies over hell. Octus, you have spent the past several hours. Your companions across the carriage from New York get asleep. Phelous wakes up after four hours. And you have spent the better part of an evening with your back up against Teich's knees. The sort of, you know, area in front of you, under the seat, and also on top of the seat, available as a workspace for you to look through these items. Yeah. And you've looked through them quite a bit. Do you have any questions about any of the things put before you? Well, so there are a few charms and some scrolls, which the scrolls look like scrolls, I assume. And then there's three charms. The hare's charm, the otter's charm, and spring charm. What do they look like? the hares and otters and spring charm all much like your walker's word are very simple um there is in their cases a leather cord that ends in a beautiful smoother than moonlight stone charm each of an animal in sort of resting form around itself. So a hare curled up and around, almost in the shape of like a teardrop, right? But you can see that this is the shape of the animal there. And then of an otter as well. The hare's stone is, they are smooth and polished stone as well. The hare's charm is a sort of dappled jasper, sort of dappled jasper kind of gray. And then the otter's charm is a basalt or some kind of volcanic rock that's carved into a deeper shade. And the spring charm is actually a pressed flower, not in glass, but in what looks like dragonfly wings. and then set into a piece of wood that has been set in amber. So sort of like an amber edge or outline around pressed and preserved dragonfly wing on an ancient flower pressed behind the Gotham or the dragonfly wing. That's very cool. That's for me right now. Great. And then the embers of Arrasque are what's in the chest. Are what's in the chest. And the scrolls, I will say, are all written in Druidic. So these are our Druidic scrolls. Only one of them you recognize to be a spell scroll, but it is of a spell that is beyond your ability to cast. But the other two look a little bit closer. They're not even spells. One of them appears to be something like a written record of a promise made to a druidic order, to the circle of stones. Interesting. And the other one looks to be a chanted abjuration, something that is meant to ward and protect. Right. The embers of Aros, as you open that chest, you see that there are, as you're looking at it, there are these coals that are dim, sort of at, you know, like what you would find in the hearth the morning in waking up, these dim, dim embers, but still smoking, crackling. And it is of some ancient coal deep beneath the earth something. In other words, not an ember of a fresh cut piece of wood. This is an ember from deep below the earth, crackling here and smoking as you behold it. And the chest actually has a sort of series of metal arms and then a sort of tin with sort of holes punctured in it. This like tin pan with a covering on it that rests removed by these arms from the wood of the chest around it. So they just sort of smoke in the middle, not touching anything. Right. This is the hand warmer. It's a very happy hand warmer. Graham, I think I figured out what most of these are. Some of them will need a tie shirt to look at. I don't speak the language they're written in. Okay. But these other three charms could be useful. I'll wait. I can tell you what they do when everyone else is awake. See who wants what. Okay. But the chest, these are, um, these coals, if, when you come in contact, they will effectively burn someone they come in contact with, so. And she said it was a form of ammunition, so I'm assuming some sort of sling apparatus could hurl these at people and burn them. Cool. Which would be useful. How? How? I mean, I assume I wonder if I could put any in my censor I don't think you these were the things that were hurriedly given to you by Amida I don't think that occurs to you to be far from it I mean, she said ammunition, but that's her That's how you, yeah. We could always try. I like experiments. Me too. Options. Options. Options. Let's wait until we're not in the air before we burn the carriage down. Oh, yes, yes, yes. Wake up and we're like, the eagle's a phoenix now. Ah! Sorry with the pieces. You're not landing in the dark, little buddy. You are the light. We made light for you. The one that probably is of the most interest to you, because as you said, the scrolls and the charms were created for exactly this purpose, to give aid to something. But the embers appear to just be this discovered thing. Ares, you would know, is the Titan of Fire, the primordial queen of fire. But the other thing you see here is this thing that has a title on the book and is sort of a book of druidic magic. This appears to be a more recent painstaking copy. Copying these books is very challenging. So this is why you were given one at all. But for what your journey was, this is the Kibanim Kedaz, which is... Oh, that was at the bottom of the list. I see this now. I didn't see it before. This, to you, pulling it out, is... Whoa. The Kibanim Kedaz is the book of the names of stones. I spelled it. Definitely, you're so wrong. Probably not. That's so cool. Not even close to what's on there. I will never look. That's so cool. Kibanim Kedaz. You're looking through that. I think Vale is looking at this book, waiting to see sort of like the indentations of either prose or poetry. You see in Druidic lines, columns, ranks, words written, some smaller shapes here lined up, sketches with tiny script. there are pages of this book which is a sort of large dwarven tome that in druidic have lettering that is maybe a twentieth of an inch tall like the finest script this is like this is like instant migraine to try to read this book without some kind of magnifying power and I think It is written in Druidic. I can take a minute. I don't know if this will actually work, but I can ritual cast common languages. Baby. Casting Comparate, you begin to decipher the Druidic script in front of you and see the names of not only vast ancient Druidic namings for types of stone, written as the term they use is family name or surname for the types of stone. You see, there are hundreds of pages of just the individual names of stones out in the world. That's that rock's name. Reggie. Each of these, the names of individual stones, some of which are small enough to be held in a hand and are described as such typically the shortest name is somewhere in the neighborhood of 14 pronounceable syllables Jesus oh my god this is incredible this is I don't know how I would say this but almost like a family history of stones actual rocks well I think this will allow me if I use it spend some time with it I can if we find something that is made of or at least partially made of stone I might be able to find out who it is which is very interesting who? Well, it will have a name, supposedly. Whoa. Even in the short comprehending of languages, I think one of the things you see that this book is not intended for, but your wizardly mind begins to see, is that with so much text, phonetic structures start to appear. Right. You begin to see the grammar. Well, if that's a family name, that's where that goes. and I notice that these two first names over here are the same so if I were to encounter a stone like this or from this other family wouldn't this have to be its name or at least close to it and begin to sort of see the empty spaces might not be that empty yeah, that's interesting there might also be enough text here for me to decipher this language and not have to use a spell but that's so important right now This is fascinating. I think, Octus, you are beginning to also feel, even though you do not need sleep, you are becoming aware of the joints grinding down your cartilage. Um, if you don't mind, I do need to try and rest. Yeah, um, I'm going to try and do what you did. Okay. So it just kind of puts it away, gets back up on the bench, and just kind of like splashes down on the bench and sits. I, um... I get one of the world blankets. I don't know. Just... I appreciate it. Thank you. I just cover him. It's night now. Let me just double check here. Yeah. Interesting. This is so bonkers. So, Octus is there and is just kind of... He starts thinking about, doing what you said to think about his life and something that makes him happy. And as he does, the light in his eyes kind of like dims a little bit. But his eyes are still fully open. it's almost like just someone turned off the light, kind of, and he kind of goes into himself. But I have to, mechanically speaking, I have to spend these hours in inactive, motionless state during which I retain consciousness. So he's just staring forwards, but I think is inside of his mind. Okay. Goodness. and is just thinking trying to sift through the recent events and find something nice to think about and it takes some digging digging into your memory what do you find that brings any sense of joy? I think there's a lot of stumbling around through recent events and so much of his family is on his mind and then going through and realizing how much of his family life was not terrible but not great unpleasant or lonely and he kind of goes to the roster of his family and tries to find a memory with each any one memory with any of them that is like a positive sort of that was nice, we had a nice day and he doesn't really come up with anything and then he stumbles on but I used to hang out with Thimble all the time and that was fun and starts thinking about the things they used to, when he was a child and she was a child, and the things they would get up to and the mischief they would do when he was left without anyone to watch him. You stare ahead. Aranessa was already a woman grown by the time you were born, But there were so many times before all this happened that the Tacomas would be invited somewhere. The fairies of the Golden Orchard would be. What joy there was in those brief moments. Perhaps it was foreshadowed even then that you would have to make your escape from your family. Yeah. as morning arrives, who amongst Tisha and Julian are the first to awake? I'd say, just given the domino stack of weight, left shoulder, Julian kind of comes to first. Just located. Chilled air met with that, like, just the twinge of, like, the faintest hangover. the soreness from the fight from the night before all kind of culminates as he begins to stir and notices the stack just kind of like kind of takes a moment to himself to reflect on everything he's only had piecemeal moments to really begin to absorb these events. Sometimes it still feels like a weird daydream or a vision beyond reality, and I think he just kind of sits and, after a few moments, kind of decides to brave a glance to see how close he might be towards any semblance of civilization. You glance sort of through the crack in the canvas. underneath and see sort of hard to see unless you realize that Altradler has been circling for maybe like an hour or two. You are above Garwin. He has not wished to land until it is safe to do so. So has stayed on the wing and now appears to even you see sort of his eyes looking up at the massive bird hang low. Now that the sun comes up, the thermals that are beginning to greet him from up below make this flight even more... He's on the verge of falling asleep. My lady, Tysha, we are over the city and the bird is getting sleepy. You look and see also this strange sight from up here because you look and see that as he is circling, he sort of banks away. You look and see far, far in the distance, the Kavrosi Mountains, and at the Arisen Girdle, which is, you know, a dot on the horizon, far, far away, some, you know, 30 miles from here. And as he wheels, all of a sudden, you look at a soft tear across the sky stretching the horizon. Here in day, a band above the horizon where in brightest day you can see the stars. The eternal night. Barodal of the fallen god of the sun. It has not known the dawn for 70 years. From the outside, it looks almost like a celestial wonder. A thin band across the blue where the stars can shine and that thin strip of land on the horizon where it glows with that silvery moonlit glow. you know the feeling of nausea that awaits if you actually approach that place on foot I'll go talk to him I'll go talk to him and I'm going to like clamber out and kind of crawl towards his head like good morning you sticking your head out of the carriage are basically looking up you know you're under his his eagle talons holding this massive carriage. So you're kind of looking up at just the underside of his throat and under his beak. So he looks out and goes, Hi, thank you so much. And thank you for waiting, too. You said I'm tired. We should go down whenever you're ready. All right. Anywhere. That is a point or just the safest ground? Safest ground where you can maybe rest for a little bit before returning. Oh, no. I won't rest here. I won't rest here. Oh, okay. It's not safe. Understood. and then I have that thought just a little bit because I didn't get to experience feather fall no no no no he goes and says there are lots of little ones and not many big ones and the little ones I know that if I sleep It might be fun to kill me If you want to sleep We can make sure We can keep a guard You can get some rest Whatever you want For doing such a Not because you did us a great service but because you were kind. Would you like to sleep? You're kind. Sky's safer for me. Okay. And you see, there is a... Get back in. I am sobbing. I am sobbing. Get yourself. We gotta go. I think hearing people talk, Octus, like the light goes back into his eyes. Are you okay? Yeah. Sorry. I tried to breathe. Oh. Oh. It's unpleasant. I'm sorry, friend. I think it worked. I think it did, too. I've been watching you for most of the night, and it looked like you got some rest. Waking up from your rest, such as it is, your mind is like a library where the books have been put away. You realize that you're starting the day with a little bit of mental order, that if you were not to do this regularly, you can't guarantee that your mind would stay focused, orderly, or perhaps, shall we say, friendly to your values. you also feel in your body that you it's not wrong to think of yourself as a construct maybe undead are constructs fundamentally you're just a construct that happens to hold something like a mind and a heart and there's or not a physical one anyway but um too serious but you feel that what healing to you feels like in this regard is that the magic that animates you is like a sheet and a blanket covering you and that the bed has been made. The magic goes and is attached strongly to each and every joint, strongly throughout the muscles, strongly throughout the tendons. You are at your own disposal because of whatever this rest-like thing you have done is. Great. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. I feel much better. I was supposed to leave me next time. I could just command you to sleep. I wonder if it would work. Let's try. I'll try it if you can't sleep. Yeah. Oh, oh, um. While we're landing. Um. I know what everything does. Oh. The chest is full of a bunch of for lack of a better word, burning coals that we can use for, as she said, ammunition, but could be for whatever we feel like. Here's, I can do some scrolls. These are all in Druidic. Oh. They're scrolls of magic. Okay. There's three charms. They each, there's the, they can go wherever we think is best to each. There's one for each of us, I guess. there's the hair's charm while wearing it you can augment your jumping abilities you can cast jump only on yourself there's the otter's charm this will allow you to be at home in water like an otter would be you can swim very quickly and then the spring charm here allows you to take a minute heal yourself once per day. Oh. And in addition to that, you have advantage... You have advantage on saving throws against... to avoid being the poison condition while you wear the end. So you have a natural resistance to poison. Okay. So those three are whoever... I mean, you got one? I have one. This will... And this stops people from being able to find me-ish and then invade my mind. Oh. Okay. Well. These were gifts very much intended for you all, so if the three of you, and I'm including Aranessa, I want to decide amongst yourselves which of the three you prefer. Aranessa looks and says, Oh, my. This is very thoughtful. What's the jump one? The one with the rabbit on it. What's a hair? It's different. Hair. No, I don't fully understand this magic thing. How does it make me jump? Further? Stronger? Higher. Stronger. Farther. Faster. Harder. Nope. How much? I do not understand the specifics. I don't understand how this works. Sorry. Looks up the jump spell. You see Aaron Esa looks and says, why don't you take a minute to test it when we get to the ground? How high can you jump without it? Pretty high. I'll take it. We can talk later. You see, she looks and says, it's a druidic relic. It's a, I don't know, is this like a, this is like ancient and good. If you lose it, I'll kill you. How old is it? All right. You see that Aranesa says, well, good. Okay, good. And says... That's how much... I'm curious about the other stuff that's in the box. Because if the ember sinks... Oh, right. We want to try and put that in there. Sorry, what? We had an idea. Like, more with a... An idea. To use... They're called the embers of Arisk. Oh. And we thought maybe we'd put some inside the sensor. Oh. Just because they were smoking? So I thought, sure. But I don't quite know what they do. They would, uh, when struck with one, if I'm understanding correctly, when struck with it, it, uh, burns people. Okay. Cool, that's how most fire works. They do 1d6 fire damage. Okay. My nose starts bleeding, but I do understand that. Is that noise? Is it like you throw that? And it's just like a... So it's like, mechanically speaking, the ammunition to a rock and a sling where you would throw it at something. Okay. But it's not, I think, beyond Valis's... This is like, essentially, let's not let the D&D mechanics confuse things here. These rocks burn you if they hit you. So putting them in your sensor would be putting a source of flame inside of your sensor. It's not an impossibility. Do we want to try to put one in now? We can. I felt it was better to wait until we're not in a wooden carriage in the sky. Very soon. and boom, the springs go, as you can see why these springs are here. Essentially, there is a gentle motion whereby the landing of the carriage is not the landing of Altradler. Like, he, in other words, his thing is to coast in, like, sort of send a big windstorm back to very gently, like, drop you as you bounce up and down on these springs as he continues on to very lightly leave you on the ground as light as he can and then circle back around and land on his own. Right. And you guys look and see, you are in a beautiful wooded copse. This is a sort of farmland area. You look out and this massive carriage is in a beautiful pasture with very short grass because there's about 20 extremely frightened goats over by a fence, all hiding under a tree line from the, you know, 80 wings, eight wingspan eagle that just Didn make a promise Yeah I know Wolf mode And you see Altrodler sort of circle back around and a minute, you know, like a few seconds later, land at the top of the pasture on the ground, kind of look around, ruffle his feathers, and look over at the goats and begin to kind of... Want some goats? Okay. Give me a number. I'm going to go find who owns these goats and pay for these goats. Just not all, please. You walk off. Incredible. As you walk off, you are walking off with the three scrolls and the ring Amada gave. Yeah. That is not, was not. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's one that makes you swim well, and there's one that heals you. I, uh, my lady Vanless, I do not know to what degree you are comfortable with these druidic relics, but by all means, whichever is most comforting to you, I would say leave to you. I think you have your pick. I don't know if I'm going to wear one yet. Um, I, uh, don't enjoy swimming. And you see this, you said, I'll take the spring charm. Thank you very much. And just hold on to it for now and put the otter's charm in his coat. All right, so we are on the cusp of Gerwen, the castle torch. Right. What are we doing here before we send further east into the eternal night or where it is your vision is taking us? Right. I mean... I walked away to go find who to give money about ghosts. This is where I saw your son. Possibly. Possibly, yeah. The vision you saw seems to be in ancient ruins consonant with the old Obra Demian Empire. You've seen, in Venatus, that is the architecture. Like, you believe that you saw him in some kind of subterranean dwelling, something, some, you know, tomb or mausoleum or some ancient kind of place. But you know that he was stationed at Castle Torch where Julian was training him. Yeah. Effectively, we're looking for Taisha's son here where you were training him. Oh, God. Yeah. So I didn't see that. Look, if we find him and he's fine, then I think we can move on. That was the only thing, leaving us here was to make sure he was okay. You're a Aligar? I know him well. He's a fine soldier. A bit... Well, appreciably impetuous at times, but has the talent. A little more refinement in time. We can look for him. I may check in with the Captain Phaedron or maybe the High Ranger and see if there's been any news from the Golden Orchard as we had to leave the Eintfassen establishment before we could receive any word from our families. As he looks to Lady Arnasa, we still have no confirmation as to whether or not... No. No confirmation. It's... It's morning, so if your message was sent, there is at least that word. But there's Castle Torch, where you will be welcome. The Barrow Guard answers the collective call of the Thundered Houses, but it is first and foremost under the authority of the Revolutionary Council. We will not be... If we were to be slaughtered on appearing at the castle, then indeed the world has gone to madness and there is no safe haven for us if Castle Torch is not. That's for one of three, huh? It was fine at my house. One and a half. She looks and says, would you recommend that we go first to Castle Torch or the Lady Volkshiff holds sway here in Garwin. I don't have bad relationships with Alice, but I certainly think I should refrain from having any more diplomatic visits for a while. Taisha, you walk over to a farmhouse where you see a Helvarian goat herd comes out looking up and goes, Oh, no. Yeah, I'm so sorry. That's exactly what you think is about to happen. Ah! Mm-mm-mm. Yeah, I'm sorry. Okay, here's what we're going to do. I'm going to pay for some amount of those goats, and I promise to bless the other ones to make more goats quickly. you can do this through it oh hi oh the giant eagle you have brought is because oh you walked the old path welcome yes so sorry she's so hungry no no it is alright just to know it is part of a plan oh oh you're so sweet yes of course you can bless with the right of fertility that the goats of well Yes. Marvelous. Yes. Splendid. For the goat, how many do you think? I'm just, oh, God. I'm going to do like a sort of at that rate and assume he'll go up. Like 12. Let's say 20 and call it a day. There are only five goats. 20 goats. All right, well, I'll have eight left. He goes, I think for this, to replace the animals, it would be ten gold pieces of ice? Yes. Yes. I'm going to pull out twelve gold pieces. And listen and say, I'm so sorry. No, it is all right. Even if the goats prove to be prudish and standoffish, this will help me at least replenish my herd at market. I hope that they were a sufficient meat for your great beast. He seems pleased. You see, Alt-Rother sort of finishes this like, there's still a couple of goats left in Alt-Rother. I can't eat anymore. Okay. Do you have a number for me? He looks and says, one. Oh, great. Counting. Yeah. And I'm screaming like a red-tailed hawk, just across a prairie. He screams, all throttler, with his full, loose hue and says, Thank you for not getting sick in the carriage or making too much noise during the ride. Thank you for risking landing in the dark, making it to the light. Safe journey. Learn to count. Safe journey. Picks his carriage and whop back into the sky and begins to fly back towards Reason Girl. Sweet. I'll trot it out back to the homies, but I am going to go ahead and put on the wood ring and just try to attune to it as we're moving. Was he just holding on to us all night? Yeah. Or we connected to him. So if we started to fall asleep, we could just, like, slip out? You guys did not attach the secure, the fastenings. There were ropes. There were ropes. There were ropes there. We made it. We made it. He's a professional. He's been doing this for hundreds of thousands of years. He's great. What? Yeah. At this point, also, you see that wheeling overhead is a red-tailed hawk. Oh. The whole night? The whole night. Oh, my gosh. as you wave to him you see that Hanan circles down and approaches and lands in the pasture here in the morning and assumes his elven form thank you I spoke with Amida before you made your way across the bridge. I'm sorry that I was not there to help you with the danger you were in. Sorry I shot you a little bit. I understand you had reason to be testy. That's a form you can rely on me to use should I ever come up alongside you while you're not expecting it again. Noted. he looks and says, I wanted to take you this far because you bear many of the relics of the Shumgarten and furthermore, your persuasiveness last night has led me to believe that this may be one of the most important events unfolding in our world. and rather than remain, I wish to at least accompany you as far as some determination about your safety would be made rather than simply watching you take to a sky carriage and vanish into the dark night. May I offer you, not quite a blessing, but a bit of my favor? Yes, you may. And I'm going to take out, again, she has a ton of little piercings, pulls one out, and, like, heats it in her hand. How do you feel about needles? Neutral. Vigorous. Sweet. And then just trying to be quite quick about it. He's just going to pierce one of his elven ears with it. Yeah. You pierce it. He goes, ah, hot. Okay. And then, without fully casting it to burn the spell slot, I will begin to cast locate object. So, in the event that I ever need to find you again. You see, he says, I will wear it in good health. He says, I do not claim to be your companion nor in your trust, but I hope that you understand the sense in my position of not letting something this significant simply vanish without aid or help. I appreciate it. Thank you. I'll give you your space. And you see that he once again assumes the hawk form and just takes to the wing. It's a strange few days. Yeah. Shall we? Yeah. Let's go. I'm leaving. And you guys walk and behold. Carrying the chest. Carrying the smoking chest. It's a totally normal thing to do. as you sort of trundle along up this dirt road heading towards Garwin. Garwin is a little riverside city. It has diminished due to its proximity to the Eternal Night. And you see that there are sort of exterior farmhouses that used to be kind of like village, you know, sort of like how little hamlets and thorves will add up to villages and towns that get to the city. There's farmers far away, and these inner places where it would have been little hamlets and blacksmithy places and things like that as it gets closer to the larger city are abandoned and overrun. These places, there's a lot of vines, a lot of abandoned homes and houses. As you get closer to Garwin, you see that there are wooden palisades, some larger stone structures, and basically that the city has seeded this middle territory of either, we either need you out farming where farming is happening or come all the way into the center of the city. And as you see some of these palisades, you see that many of them do have places for being manned and that they face towards the east, towards the eternal night. As we're walking, can you hold that for a minute? Give me my half of the box. And as he's walking, you see him sort of gather energy in his hands create this symbol of these two skeletal hands that are crossed, like this inside this sigil he's making in the air, and then brings it to his chest, and you see these spectral sort of, and like an overlaying of a skeleton goes across Octus' form as he casts Mage Armor on himself to defend, just be like, Thank you. As you move through, Julian, you've been through Garwin many times before. You see that you're on the eastern side of the river right now. The major castle of House Volkshof is up on the western side where the larger city is. The city used to be, I think, more equitable between both sides, but the river provides a natural defense from things coming out of the Eternal Night. And so the western side of the city, the western side of the river, is a lot livelier. And you can see that has the traffic on the main highway coming from Wiesengirdle that would head up to the Golden Orchard, about 100 miles north into Tilmora. On the eastern side, however, you look over and see up on a hillside, probably like over a league of travel into some more forested area. A massive, ridgetop, wooden castle, like an old Mott and Bailey castle. Enormous wooden palisades, built so quickly that it was built of wood rather than stone. And you see enormous beacon fires all throughout that are not lit, but are being rebuilt again for another night of keeping watch. With the banner of the Barrow Guard and the Revolutionary Council, Castle Torch. very well you'll lead on well if we plan to stay partially rested and to inquire to see how much word has found its way this far any questions we have for perhaps Lady Wilkshift if not at least the captain then lest we have any other reasons to stay and any other visions that come to you that call our attention Then we will lead on to... Are you bringing us to the dark? I thought you wanted to go to the Golden Orchard. I do. I need to see if we are the Viking paths soon. I mean... What do you think? I mean... If we don't find Aladar here... We'll have to make other plans. I think we have to accomplish this first before we know where we're going. Eventually I will end up probably having to go to the dark. Let's ask. Let's see if we can find yourself. Thank you. Lady? You guys head, and where are you guys currently? Are you standing in the direction of Castle Torch? Are you headed to Garwin, or are you headed... You see this road, by the way, Tysha, you know, goes to Castle Torch and then passes beyond that towards the Eternal Night, which you would actually know is the Shadowlight Waypoint. That was the place that you came through here, what, two weeks ago? God, yeah. I think, yeah, I'm naturally veering towards Castle Torch. Yeah. We're down that path as well. You guys ride up, and as you ride, you see Aroneth looks to you and says, Should we display colors here or no? We must. You will be known here. I think if cautiously and if we are met with any sort of strangeness or resistance, then there is no safe haven beyond our very own borders. there has to be a place that we can call friends. She says, can it all be lost? And you see that she waves her hand and behind her, a trail of motes of golden light and flapping golden moths appears as you guys come up. So there's sort of the upper keep palisaded, but that also connects on a long bridge down to this even larger palisaded courtyard with multiple buildings in it, ramparts, palisades. Tysha and Octus, you passed by here a few weeks ago, and Tysha, I'll ask, knowing that Alagar was stationed here a couple weeks ago, did you see him on your way to Venatas and on your way back? I think there was one meeting. Like, he was probably out doing something on the secondary, like the second pass-through. but yeah especially in a world where at like you were able to disguise yourself as someone close to octus so i think you've met him before too yeah yeah close to alagar yeah yeah all right sorry i confused my sons uh yeah so i think we've like we saw him maybe on the way out cool and didn't catch him on the way back didn't catch him on the way back um i think he probably was outranging at that point um he was you know like doing his job doing the job of the barrow guard and we were hustling back trying to get to Thiazzi. So he doesn't wait around. Exactly. You guys approach. As you approach, the gate opens. And sort of standing there, you see, walking out of the gate, a tall, very tall, very broad-shouldered, very handsome half-orc that you don't recognize, but actually, Julian, you realize is going to be a little bit funny here, given your adventures in recent girdle. One of your fellow lord knights of Castle Taurus tasked with the training of these troops, a massive half-orc knight, Sir Thornveld Kursingblad. Thornveld looks out and says, Davinos, you have come back in one piece! Kursingblad, it has been a very interesting time indeed. Much stories to tell, much stories to swap. and I go up and kind of clasp a hand together. Clasp him. He brings you in and gives you kind of a hard, but a little bit wet kiss on the cheek. And he goes, This one, it is good to see you. And with the magnanimous Lady Aranesta, Royce, you see, he bows deeply. And, oh, one who walks the old path and the mother of one of the greatest drinkers our barracks has ever known. The what? No, I didn't say that. The what? Where is my son? Hey! I said he was a talented soldier. I'll kill you. It was... Give me my son now. He turns to look and goes, he is, much to my shame and to his great fortune, in the barrel there. What has sent him into the shadows? This is an order came down from Captain Luca not long, actually, while they were in Venatus, when they were in the Eternal Night themselves. Your son was sent with the head ranger, Biesa, Kagrikovilek. she had taken him off. I go cold, okay, all right. Drinker! You know this about me. I expected to teach him sword fighting. I do, I teach him many things. What other things have you taught my gun? Look, part of the process of learning to be a good soldier is learning to bond with your other. I push him. I can't take it back. I don't resist it. And I'd like throw the clothes back and be like, Part of the training is to be deft with the weapon. The other is to trust your fellow soldiers. You are arm in arm in battle. Do not judge our way of bringing our soldiers' hearts to... There were a lot of things he could have said to Alagar's mother about his talent. And you picked drinking? My mother is very proud of my drinking. I thought I have made a cultural forepower. I apologize. You're fine. She is a... I'm what? I'm what? Protective. All right. You see, he says, I only meant to say that he is stern of constitution and mighty. I push you back a little bit. I take it. See? Hello. All right. Welcome to Castle Talk. Sir Davinos, these are your guests in company, and of course, the lady Royce, who has ever reason to inspect the grounds. Indeed. We would like to have a few conversations, at least have a little moment to catch our breath after an evening's travel, and decide where our next venture takes us. I take it if there's not too much business, we might enter, please. Please, come in and enter. You walk in and see rows of Barrow Guard. You see some of them are running. You see that they have these sort of heavy vests on that have these burlap sacks of pebbles and sand, and they're running in them. You can see that up above them. You see there's another knight kind of calling out orders. You see that there's drills being run in this massive courtyard. A heap is being sort of stacked up. You see in a corner there's actually a wagon of the Candescent Creed here, and that some filament is being unloaded from a carriage to Castle Torch. And flags flying overhead. Anyone who wants to can make a history check for me. Julian, you would know all the information that a history check would reveal to you here. Wonderful. 22. 22. 22. 22. 22. 22. You look out here and see Octus, the Barrow Guard. Probably like 80% of the soldiers you see here are human, orcish, and dwarven. There are some small folk here, gnomes and such like that, and sort of a handful of beast folk as well. It is a very interdisciplinary, international gathering because it is made to address the issue of the Barodells. What separates this from a lot of more ancient or more storied institutions is the Barrow Guard is relatively recent and is relatively a-religious, meaning it is not too stewarded by Druidic orders. The Barrow Guard is basically like the world of mortals, strength of arms and will to like keep out what lurks within the Barrow Dells that perhaps a few decades ago, as we heard Amida say, the hope might have been that within a generation, the Barrow Dells would be dispelled. The land would be uncursed and healed. And so the Barrow Guard has been a great project of the thundered houses with the Revolutionary Council and represents the pride of strength and military might of the assembled peoples of Ahriman to resist the monstrous things that lurk within these Barrow Dells where the gods fell and cursed the land. But it also represents, sadly, a lot of effort that no longer believes in the promise of the Druids to heal the land. And I wonder how much of that is on Tysha's faces. This is where her son has come to serve her. Tysha's definitely very clearly displacing a lot of anxiety into bickering with Julian. Julian at this point too is like keeping note of the various contingents of training soldiers as they go by like when he's acknowledged in passing and if you recognition, looks of recognition pass kind of gives a nod he's one of the kind of training elite soldiers and kind of glance over him Vendala, it's been a minute how are you doing? Doing very well, Sir Julian, how are you? I'm doing well, I'm doing well keep their knees high it was early in the morning I want to wear them out by lunch she nods and says we'll try to get them as tired out as we can but then again without you here they've all gotten a good night's sleep please let me inside check that I kind of give a sly grin that makes one of us she says I'm a little too rested can't watch anymore so you just see him kind of go as she walks you see walking past you see Aaronessa takes your arm and goes what the hell is going on you're paying for all this you're yeah this is just an example of your being a fuck-asshole she looks she looks It is not a fuck castle. It is a shield of the world of mortals against the darkness without. Is this a fuck castle? Is this what you said? Yes. I'm sorry. My legs are too. I didn't know a fuck castle before. As you walk across the courtyard, as you walk across the courtyard, you're approaching the central gatehouse that goes across this massive bridge that goes to the upper keep. basically spanning these, like, two hills on this ridgetop side by side. So this bridge is basically like, if the worst were to come to it, this bridge could be, like, intentionally destroyed and just drop in between these two hills to leave this central keep up on this very, very steep hilltop. Looking at the approach to this gatehouse, anyone who wants to give me skill checks as you're trying to get a lay of the land in here, Perception, insight, whatever you'd want to do. Walking over to you, you look over and see, approaching from that candescent creed wagon, Julian, Sir Castling Neural approaches, and you can see that he has some glowing tattoos on his wrist in filament as he approaches and goes, Sir Julian. Sir Neural. It's good to see you. I take it you've returned from the business of the funeral. Yes, it has been a complicated number of days. I see you are bringing quite a shipment of filament into the castle. The time has come to arm ourselves with all of the tools at our disposal. I was more than happy to speak to Captain Phaedron and arrange for this to happen. And just in time for a candle feast. his name. Very well. He's Captain Phaedron within. Yes, in the High Keep. And it's a pleasure to have you back here once more. What are people rolling? Perception 18. I'm just looking around and seeing what I see. As the gate closes behind you, the red-tailed hawk overhead peels off towards the Shadowlight waypoint. And on 18 as well. I think you just see it like a busy castle that doesn't appear overwhelmingly I think after so much running and harrowingness the fact that you guys are just visiting as companions of a lady of a sundered house couldn't be more normal. Yeah, and I'm also keeping an eye to see if anyone's giving me any strange looks seeing as we did just encounter people who take the appearance of others and anyone paying special attention to me in a way that is suspicious and not just oh new people are here I think on an 18 perception you don see anyone looking at you weird And also without any really visible insignia no one really clocking you as a Taconus You also see, too, Julian, by virtue of his last name, is one of the commanders of this garrison. Call it over 95% of the people in this place are commoners. The Barrow Guard is from the common folk of the land, right? This is people that heard the call and have come to do what they think is right, protect the lands. The reason you see that there's mostly orcs, dwarves, and humans here is because the places that are affected by the Eternal Night are like the lands of dwarves and humans, and there are a lot of orcs in Cahad that would want to come here and help, that maybe don't have a predilection. If you think about all the orcs that don't have, like, to put it bluntly, the wisdom to be a druid or the charisma to be a paladin, there are a lot of people that still want to help. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Bayless. I was doing a perception check because I wanted to see where Hammond was. What did you get on your picture? I got a 15. 15. You see the hawk take off towards the shadow light wave. Okay. I only got an 11 because I just realized that I have to ask Julian a very, very weird question about his training my son. So I'm not looking around anymore. How closely have you trained my son, Sir Julian? You have to clarify your insinuation. Do I? we're close to a bridge right your son is an extremely talented soldier I have been a mentor to him like I have many soldiers here I have not fucked your son Vanessa goes alright well let's get into the castle this is so bizarre Naelus is just really loving being in this uncomfortable situation. As before we enter, I ask for at least respect and decorum here. These are people who have given their lives to the defense of all of Hurons. Yes. And also, understand, once again, we do not grind people into bastions of war here. We teach them the art of warfare and prepare them against the darkness by an appreciation of life. Sometimes that comes with some celebration. Please do not be so quick to judge and crush his own. I'm just going to judge if that's the first thing they lead with. I did a terrible impersonation of Cursingblad. Well, you see that worked. This is one of Cursingblad's cousins. This is not Ehrlich. No, dude. That was way off. Let me be so clear. I've made a mistake. Erlich Kersingblad is absolutely off doing some wild shit somewhere else. Erlich Kersingblad is, yeah. You see, Tonfeld looks and says, I do not think I have ever placed my foot so deep into the back of my throat before. Do not hold it against yourself. At the very least, take it as a lesson. A learning experience to put just a moment of thought before speaking to anyone's mother. Should any mother come to the castle under any circumstances, give pause. Take a moment and just deeply consider what can be said. For none are as fiercely protective and ready to dole out vengeance than a mother. He nods. I understand this. I owe you an apology, my Lady Tysha, Your Holiness. I, um, in my, my mother is, uh, an orc of Gyalfi, uh, far to the northwest. Uh, and it is very common for a mother to, to give a young boy or girl that is, is rambunctious or strong-willed to give a liquor or a drink when they are perhaps six or seven years of age. And to be a proficient drinker by the age of 14 is seen as... Is this an apology or a justification? Because it's fine that my son is good at drinking. He got that from his mother. Maybe if he's risking his life every day, that's not the thing you lead with. He's not risking it every day. Sometimes we go to town. I think you should keep going. I will leave. Take the loss. You're on your way. Anyway, um, I'll just see you. Um. I didn't know someone could stick their foot so far. I've never seen anyone kicking himself from that direction. I see the toes. They were just wiggling. Wait a minute. Crossing, going through the gatehouse and crossing the enormous bridge. Rushing up, you see, actually on horseback to the gate and sort of leaping off and running over is your staff sergeant. This is Donald Fletcher. Ah, Fletcher, come here, Fletcher. He gives you a big hug. He says, Roy, how are you feeling there, Lord? I should have seen you back. How was that, don't you, Mark? You had to put it into the filthy fucking yard grass, did you? No, no, don't touch the stuff anymore. I have a more refined palate these days. At least I'm celebrating an event, is there? He looks and sees Aranessa beside you, who's looking over at Fletcher, and just looks and says, Oh, apologies, milady. I don't... And she looks over at you. You see that Aranessa's giving you a look here? I just wanted you to know that while you were away I am there's he holds out some official documents of the Barrow Guard that has your signature on it a couple of times and he just goes is that alright for me I wanted to wait until you were back but I had already sent some of these off is that alright we will have to discuss this challenge to my authority any kind of like winks and nudges i am very disappointed in you oh i i've misstepped that's true um sorry and i am and i am sorry um and you see that he he looks out and says You see, he turns off again as you approach the bridge towards the high keep. I don't mean to say this is not an insult, but I've never seen as many people like you. It's weird. It's interesting to be around people who thrive, isn't it? yeah anyway oh that's a boy lucky walking into the massive keep atop the second hill you enter into the space and you know broad bright daylight and this area has a very small courtyard and you see that it appears that there's an old stone fortification that was like a watchtower here a long time ago that has had like wood and some stone built out from it. No great hall. This is not, you know, this is all the way on the slider from palace to castle, all the way to castle. There's nothing here to hold a gala. This is not a gala type thing. This is purely a fortress. In this sort of opening chamber, though, You see that there is a sort of fireplace that hasn't been lit yet. It's still daytime. But walking out is an older knight. You see sort of like gray beard, sort of graying around the whiter towards the bottom and then back into kind of a darker brown as it goes up. Human knight. This is Captain Luca Phaedron. Captain Phaedron looks like I heard you. Captain Sir Julian Pleasure to have you back at Castle Torch My Lady Aranessa You see he takes her hand bows, kisses her hand Welcome to your Castle Torch And she looks and nods in a scent Over Luca's shoulder you see the last of the Lord Knights of Castle Torch Dame Gaia Saramai. You see that she has her arms crossed behind her, sort of deep, rich brown skin, hair tied back in a tight braid that sort of you see can be quickly coiled around for combat. Sort of a very light-looking, dark half-plate on her body. and you can see that there is the end of a snake's tail coming out of her wrist tattoo, like a tattoo of a snake's tail here. And you can see the coils come up around her neck and end with the serpent's head on the underside of her chin. And you have to wonder how much of her body that serpent covers. Oh, I'm wondering. For those who need to. Go play, go play. I like here in the puzzle. Yeah, yeah, yeah. In the puzzle. That must have been so cool. It's real. This whole place, I'm calling it out. It's like real Olympic Village energy. You're looking. Bring me one of those cardboard beds. That didn't stop any fun. I think, looking here in this place, the amount of gregariousness from the mortals here, the amount of frivolity Julian has not struck you as a man who gives commoners like a pass or a light touch and the name Fletcher is a commoner's name and those two men embraced and laughed like brothers there is a feeling in the air here of kind of like primal, deep-rooted-in-the-loins embrace of life. And you look out, I think, to the east and see a sky that should be blue, festooned with stars. It is unsettling. It is uneasy. And there is something here of looking at... There's something... The coming made a noise. The coming made a noise. looking at a rend in the world that should be it's so funny because the stars are shining bright it's somewhat beautiful and yet the beauty of that nighttime sky across the horizon as the rest is sitting in day and the sun is ascendant as noon approaches that beautiful streak of nighttime is an open wound, a laceration on the face of Aramon. And everyone here knows it. And so they drink and embrace and speak a little louder than normal here in this place. You see that Dame Gaia sort of holds her chin up, looking at you, Julian, turning out to embrace everything. what is Octus doing in this moment as you approach? Octus I think this whole time has been staying behind the two of you going through and behind Aronis feeling very out of place here in a very different way but just being like I'm just going to be here until we land somewhere he's just keeping an eye out for his own personal safety and protection but also just observing how Julian interacts with everybody and just being very interested in how this place is very different from where he grew up and different from the Penteveral. And just seeing how other people live. Yeah. Anyone who wants to give me an insight to check right now, as Captain Phadron looks and says, my Lady Royce what brings you here to Castle George? She looks and says to return Julian who has guided me to Dolmachiar and she turns to you here Julian what do we get for insight checks? Six, six, twelve, twelve, thirteen thirteen You see that Aaron S. Lichukin says and to wonder if let me speak in private he ceases and says let us withdraw and you guys walk into the war room with him and he dismisses I think he actually goes ahead and dismisses everybody but Gaia behind him and turns to look at you and says welcome one and all of you to Castle Torch Your companion, Sir Julian, Tasha, it's good to see you again. Good to see you. Your son is still on his outing. He's not returned yet. You see, turns over and says, and your other companions. This is Octus Deconis, youngest of House Deconis. Ah, is this a formal inspection by the Sundered? No, it is not. I'm here of my own and traveling with Prince oh, you see he just looks at Eranus and Arctus being in the same place and says well, lord and lady of the great houses, it is an honor it's an honor to be here hello, I'm Valus of the Mornvale welcome to Castle Torch it is an honor to have you thank you he turns to how long are you planning to stay? Are you simply stopping by on your way? He looks and says, and where are your men at arms? He looks to Aranasa. We have to stay possibly just a short time. Our business may continue onward. What words have you heard from the execution of Fyazi Feng in Dolmachia? simply that it took place. We received a pigeon, I think, two or three days ago, and that the execution took place. He looks at Octus and Arnesa and looks at Tysha, and you see he says, it is of course good to understand that there was family there for what was ruled by the Chamber of Law's Advisory need be done and while we stand ever loyal to the lords and ladies of the great houses, I will ensure that on Aligar's return he is given time to engage with what customs he and you deem best by Lady Tasha. And he looks, and I think even with no insight check, you can see that he's looking at a motley fucking crew. Yeah. Yeah. Have you heard anything else surrounding these events? Has any word come to Castle Torch or glances over, looking very intently towards Dame Sermai and Captain Phaedron? Any other events that have transpired in Dolmachiar since? Since the execution of Theod of Fane? No. No. In Syshack? In Syshack? Yeah, I'm going to look to. Nice. Nope. 23. Aladdin. On a 23, you're looking at Captain Phaedron, who appears to be telling the truth. even you guys rolling up like they opened the gates you guys walked in the it's he seems to have heard that this execution happened you see he even looks at his desk and says uh yeah it's and you see he looks at it the report that fiazi's dead is in a bulletin from the revolutionary council it's like a bullet point it's like fiazi's execution is on like five other bits of news many of which are more in debt another one is like we are looking to establish a northward He's like, it's about the northward excursion for Ferid, for the northern guard. But we, you know, he's just looking at business. Do I get a ping of anything, if I'm allowed, to Dame? On a 23, you absolutely do. She. Dame Gaia, did you say? Dame Gaia Theramai. Theramai. she cannot break her gaze from Octus until she notices you looking and then she looks away he's got a few little beads of sweat around the hairline I just sort of try to nonchalantly just kind of try to get in his path of vision so she doesn't have to stare at him too long Captain Faggert I know that we have not always had the most synchronistic opinions of how we run things with the Barrow Guard. But I would like to think I've earned a modicum of your respect enough to understand that what I say here is absolute truth and with great import to keep close to your heart. Very well. And on that inside, you can see Captain Phaedron is putting it all together. Aaronessa should be here with, A, a guardian pixie. She should be here with 30 men-at-arms and carriages and supplies, you know. Yeah. She should. Phaedron, would you do the honor of locking the doors? Done. Yeah, and I'll go and do it by hand. You go and bar the door. as you bar the door you look in the situation and says is everything alright? what is the meaning of this, Julia? it appears that the Sunderhouses have experienced a rather serious and growing rift aside from this young Taconus here that house has turned against House Royce and Divinos the majority of each of which have been slain what? you see that Gaia is looking and just make sure I come up with you in this moment who are you? my lord what do you mean? You seem to have a particular interest in me, more so. More so than seems to be required. Who are you? I, I'm me. I am your vassal knight, my lord. She turns and says, I don't understand. You see that, uh, Fadron says, Please, uh, what, as I, Dame Sarah and I have done nothing to warrant anyone's, uh, ill favor. Well, they are sweating. Can I make an insight check on her now? Yeah, go ahead and give me one now. Okay. Uh, dirty 20. Um, she is frightened and doesn't know what's happening and this is news to her. Copy. Okay. Needless to say Royce and Divinos Have What do you mean Fallen? You are Not completely But our Number was attacked Our men at arms Were imprisoned In Riesengirdle And we have No idea What Is the fate Of the Golden Orchard General Raymond Fell As part of this assault this ambush as well as all of House Divinos and Royce that had attended with us to Dolmachia we are the only survivors of that journey and we beseech any opportunity to hear if the Golden Orchard is safe but also to let you know that if we have been targeted it is no telling who else the next target of House Deconis may be or what their aims may be to manipulate or utilize this barrow guard to their interests in the future, should this unity between these underhouses be challenged. This is... I... You see that he looks at Aranesa, and Aranesa says, I understand your confusion, Captain. You behold a Royce and a Taconis, as House Royce informs you that House Taconis has attempted to end our line. This is difficult to navigate for us, and we have had days to process the feelings of betrayal, fear panic and horror at what we beheld if you are stumbling because you do not know what to do I remind you your greatest authority is the grey tower of Dolmachiar and the revolutionary council it is the council to whom the barrow guard owes their utmost loyalty and while the sundered houses are ever honored by the welcome we receive in these castles due to our generosity in helping to build them. Know that your command is given solely by the council. And you see, there's a bit of Captain Luca, you know, there's a real feeling of confused loyalty at what you're saying. So Aranessa is sort of trying to remind him, don't get confused. she turns to you, Octus, and says, Aronessa says, do you wish to speak to your vassal? I apologize for singling you out. You see, the Dame Sarami says, I do not know. I do not know of what you speak. my lord, this is not possible. House Taconis would not betray. And if they did, you, my lord, would... Be good? Unfortunately, I made the mistake of forming friendships outside of our house. Which caused them to consider me untrustworthy. it is true what they are saying and I apologize I'm seeing now that you do not know or did not know I have had unfortunate interactions with my family these last couple of days apologies for being more than a little suspicious but it is true So you have some decisions to make. You see that Captain Phaedron turns and says Team Ceramai can you produce the last instructions you were given from Austacomus? Please. She looks at you and says I I think I have failed greatly my lord what did you do? please explain the ladies of your house were here some more than a week ago they came Truly not long after you were last here, my lord, venturing into Venatus, they came and demanded that I give a missive signed by the Grey Tower. I asked for it and they said that they had lost the missive and that it would be alright to simply communicate it to Captain Phaedron and you see that the captain sort of lowers his face into his hands here in disbelief she says I had no reason to doubt my liege ladies they told me to inform that the Grey Tower needed an excursion at once to Tanisar and you see Captain Phaedron says this was the excursion this is where BSI is headed? And you see that she looks and says, I had no reason to doubt them. They said simply that the letter itself had been misplaced. The 3rd Battalion was sent under the command of our head ranger into the night. Which is exactly where... Tisha, you know who's in the 3rd Battalion. Yeah. Tisha is stock still. So, um, you're telling me that a bunch of your men and friends were sent to the Realm of Eternal Night by my sisters? Yes. With no documentation present? No. They... When did they leave? You see, she looks back and says, uh, a week ago, more or less. She looks and says that they had already left by the time you had returned from Venatus. That would have been, I think, a week ago at this point. It did not occur to you to say something then? No, it did not occur to me to. I understand. It is not your fault. What were you going to do? And why would you suspect them? A member of the Vassal House. To my family. You are following the chain of command appropriately Though perhaps a business slave If you need me to extend any grace To your fucked hierarchy I will not My son is in danger I'm not asking you to But I understand that it is not their specific fault You see that Captain Fadron stands up and says Enough with respect Chains of command become tangled When there is more than one we have been struggling with this for too long my lady and you see he gives this right to Aranasa he says Dame Saramai you are relieved of your station in Castle Torch we respectfully beg the forgiveness of the Circle of Ancients in this moment and moreover Dame Saramai in matters of your house's honor are you given leave to follow the direct commands of the members of House Taconus. You commanded the Barrow Guard, whose sole authority is given to the Revolutionary Council. You see that here she says, we've taken commands from the houses before. And you see that I think, Tasha, you just look and see a mess. As Phaedron even recognizes that occasionally the Sundered Houses will deliver missives from a gray tower that is only too happy to let them. You see that she turns weeping, looks to you, Octus, and bows curtly towards Captain Phadron and says, given that I am removed from my station, may I be excused? Where are you going to go? I don't know. I'm still standing in front of the locked door. If you'd be so kind as to remain here, take a seat. And while I consider what the best course of action is she sits lowering her gaze down I apologize I say to the commander. The minute to go, my son is in danger. Yes. I don't disagree. You see that the dame looks out and says our head ranger was given to understand that there was a ruins outside of the this is outside of the Tyria Via which you guys would know is an ancient Obrademian highway towards Venatis some two or three days march into the desert that there was a infestation of undead that was brimming over that some warlocks from Venatus had come to loose them, had discovered them and come to loose them, that they would ravage the land and come seeking the light and the flesh of mortal beings. They were added there in numbers to go and stop them, but the order was also given to hold the location and to prevent any warlocks from interfering with the magic below. Biers asked me how she would be able to tell whom, and the command was given to allow none entrance to the site. In order to get a contingent of them out of the way, to empty this place? How much are still stationed here versus how many left? You see that, uh... Looking out, you see Captain Faith and says, uh, the first and second. We are more or less than two-thirds of our fighting strength. And why do that? Captain? Sir Julian. these soldiers, many of which I personally trained, I wish to not see more that I care about be slaughtered by the interests of Taconist machinations. We will make our way in the path of the High Ranger. I inquire if there is a path to forgiveness for Saramai. If perhaps they are charged with scouting for us on this mission. You see, Gaia, looks up at you. You see that Captain Phaedron says he shrugs and says Dan Saramai is no longer under my command. And he'll separate you, Octus. I think that's a good idea. Then give your command, the goodness. I show you. You think that's a good idea? Yes. Dame Saramaya, you're going to accompany me. On my journey. I will do what it takes to reclaim my own. Good. You see that... Yeah, she looks out. I think Octus... Gaius Aramai is not a name you've ever heard. No. And she is herself a cousin of one of your vassal houses. She looks out from here, and you see that Captain Phaedron says, You had mentioned that you knew not what befell the Golden Orchard. Have you been able to send word to them? I have attempted, unfortunately, as we briefly had sanctuary in the company of Lord Einfarsen. Taconus had gotten word to him as well and we had to flee before the complications prevented us from leaving their borders. You believe that Haus Einfassen is involved in this conspiracy? Not involved, but at least tangled in the confusion of it. And we do not have time to deal with such political bullshit. So, just be wary. These gray sisters who visited you and gave this order were at Castle Linefawson when we left. So they are not far. And they are looking to accomplish whatever they are meaning to accomplish. He looks and says, I cannot imagine they will return. With respect to House Taconus, the coming of the Lady Petra and the Lady Raya was the first time that a member of House Taconus had seemed the least interested in the deeds of the Barrow God. This is not an un... Yes, I understand you. You know the Tyria Via will be policed by Takonis. They walk within the endless night at very little cost to themselves. They fear the dead not more. I thought there was a compliment on it. He looks and says, if you are to make your way at once, obviously, Julian, horses, whatever you need, but you know that animals don't tend to fare well in the night. If you need travel at once, you have my blessing. He looks and says, I would offer more men, but we are already diminished in number. We travel faster as a small group, and keep who you can to defend, just in the worst-case scenario. And should you be approached by any wayward, conflicting intent to connoisseur otherwise, do what is best for you and your man. I appreciate that. Alice, I'm not going to tell you to lie or in any way do anything against your nature, but I feel like it would be the best for everyone if you had not seen me. My lord, Taconis I am not given to lie I If I were an adept at the game of politics I would not have been placed in charge of Castle Torch I will speak the truth which is that I did not have station to hold you. Right. And I dismissed one of my warriors for not saying the truth. You see, he gives a letter here. To give an order on behalf of your liege house is one thing. to claim that you had seen the missive to lie on their behalf. This is the crime, Gaia. You see that she looks and can't refute it. He regards you here and says, I would ask in the future, should I ever see you again, Gaia? you do more to keep the tongue of your house less forked and he sort of stands and says but you have taken no resources from Castle Torch and I do not have the authority to hold you that is what I will tell anyone if I am asked good, it is good yes if you can my other request would be to as it is necessary given redundancy requirement please send what word you can as fast as you can to Golden Orchard to inform House Royce in our stead or pass along a message from Lady Royce of what has happened, they must know what befell the house and what comes for them if we are to not head in glance it over towards Lady Aronessa and make sure I can't assist if we are not to split for the Golden Orchard at this moment, then they must be confirmed to be notified. You see, as you look at Aranesa, you can see she hasn't spoken in a minute because as she realizes that the plan is to go into the Eternal Night, you can see that she is struggling. Unless, unless you head to the Golden Orchard to be with those there and see what has befallen, if you do not wish to follow us into the dark. I would not blame you. I think you should come. I beg your pardon? I think we need you. She looks out and I think she actually goes to you, Tysha. and goes, we have flown through the night and have yet to eat. You see Captain Fadon says, this conversation remains here in this room. We have been speaking of your travels. Nothing unusual. Get yourselves through the mess. Eat and make your plans. Castle Torch is here at your disposal. And you see that Aranessa stands up and Gaia falls in behind you. As the door opens, Aranesa is just looking across the bridge as she walks beside you, looking at Valus, looking at you, Tysha. She says, and looking at Julian and going, what should I do? I would never want to see harm come to you. But you stand at the edge of the destruction of your house. You have lost greatly in less than a week. Nessa, who are you now? I... There was a world where we walked through the gates of Castle Torch and it was yet another trap. Yet another... Another frying pan to jump out of. Julian, I need to speak I need to You see that she stops in the middle of the bridge Looking at these beautiful hillsides And just stands here and says Just for a moment Just Looks at you Sort of like Wags like a reproachful finger at you I take her finger Then her hand What do you need? Because Because Because What if we opened the door And there were more Tacomas in here And the whole world had gone mad And I was a beggar woman and running for my life, my house was destroyed. This has made everything more complicated. The fact that there's someone honest in the world actually makes this all so much more confusing. But if what you say is true and that was the case, then all would be lost anyway. It's left to try. But now, Julian, now, do we... She looks at you and says, Tisha, I would do anything to make sure that the beautiful young boy that's still, frankly, my nephew is all right, and I should ride out with you. But if Castle Torch hasn't heard that the golden... There was a world where we would come here and it would say the orchard had fallen, and they haven't heard anything, which means that it's still in the mist out there. Julian, should we ride north to make sure your mother, your sister... I mean, we shouldn't have to choose between your son and your sister. But there's something... The whole world's been thrown into chaos, and yet some parts of it still stand, and that's somehow even worse. Because it means we have to make a choice. You always had to make a choice. And the world was always chaos. It's just touching you now. she melts and literally just like collapses crouching on her she just goes when you've lost half of everything what's right and what's wrong I say we choose both no you go to the orchard you protect what's left or come back to tell everyone what's not I go and bring home the souls that I taught to use a blade before they were sent to this unearned end she looks at this wooden castle that was a naked old watchtower next to an empty hilltop less than two years ago and she looks and says you love this place Julian what did you find here a purpose it's easy to run from it's harder to run to Captain Phaedra in a moment I need to speak with you there's another matter at hand to discuss she leans in to you Julian and embraces you and buries her face in your neck. Oh, sweet little Julian. I remember. And you see that she touches the hilt of your rapier where she knows your tooth is. She cries and says, the web of our lives brought each other such pain and shame that I wish had not been there but I love you you are my cousin my protector my brave knight this woman is a sister to me. In a different life, we would have seen each other every day. And our children would have grown up together and instead the world conspired for that not to be so. Please guard her, her life, her son, as you would me. I promise. Do I disappoint you, my lady? No. That is not the word that I would use. She takes the droid. I want to insight check her. I want to insight check her. Good for it. That's really good. Let's go in for it. Let's go. I want to know if what she's saying feels Truth. Something doesn't feel right about her to me. What doesn't feel right about her to me? I don't think she's telling the truth. You look at her. What do you think she's not telling the truth about? What is the lie? That's what I can't figure out. I feel like there's something she's holding back and I can't figure it out. Ashley, on a 23, I'm going to let you come around behind the screen and see what I rolled for her charisma check. I won't say if it's persuasion or deception. 10. I like this. That's what I rolled for her. okay I've never been so stressed out in my life what's going on? I don't know, I need to talk to an adult I know I'm not being specific in what I'm looking for because I don't know but something is not making sense to me about her story in this moment you look at her looking hard for a liar. You've been watching her for a while. She reaches around her neck, takes off the spring charm, and says, well, if disappointed is not the right word, let me offer some counsel. My family earned the favor of the lords and lady of Ferry, the beautiful archfey of Hallow before memory before written history and we lived in a golden orchard so even though I am mortal and you are not we share the blessings of the fairies I know this is a druidic charm my understanding of the old path to which I am ever faithful is that you are a part of the family of all things I know that in your life faith was asked of you this requires no faith it is simply true that you are my family and she hands the druidic charm to you you do not need to believe in it for it to be true that we share one source of life in this world that is both of our homes on that insight to check I will take it but I do not put it on she you realize why she's registering as a liar to you Aranessa has never told you a lie Aranessa is a woman who has inherited one of the greatest centers of power in the world and has been tumbling down the hillside of her own life for longer than she can remember at the mercy of compacts and alliances made by her mother and predecessors. A world shaped by a war she was not alive for, who married one of the most troublesome and strong-willed adventurers that ever lived. The reason she's registering to you as a liar is not that she is some secret villain nor that she wished to see the downfall of her own house. Behind her eyes is one of the largest secrets you have ever beheld. And though you cannot see through the fog of what she holds dear, there is something at the center of her heart that she has kept hers in great pain to her for a long, long time. You are not being lied to, and you do not think that this woman has been the architect of her own or Julian or Tysha's or Octus's misery. safe travels safe travels captain if you can spare at least two bodyguards to accompany the heroes to the north the rest of the men are your respect you see he he looks and says two of course you see you hear a voice say could you make that three? And you see that Sir Tartfelt looks and says, I have been walking in a small circle feeling great shame. And I would love to reclaim my honor if the Lady Aronessa is of significance to her holiness, she of the Circle of Ancients, it would be my honor to see her defended. I'll give him a little pat on the cheek. Good boy. It's probably the cursing blasts, isn't it? I know. It's so fucking cool. He says, I accept this quest from she, a daughter of the old path, and no spirit shall pass my lips until it has been done. He kneels and bows. I want to give Aranessa a big hug, and then just in that embrace, like, forehead to forehead, you are my sister. And if, before we meet again, you find yourself in a wood with an old and well-drawn path before you, walk in proudly, and I will find you in this life or the next. Okay? In this life or the next, my sister. And she kisses your cheek. She looks at you, Octus, finally, and reaches once again into her belongings and just rushes up and embraces you, holds you close. Sorry, it's cold over here. You hear a plinking metallic noise as she places a thumb piano, completely non-magical, into your belongings. Thank you. Hey, as someone who is no longer part of the family of life that binds everything, do not leave that family before I see you again. Oh, my sweet young Lord Taconus. to a day when we see each other and restore what has been taken from our houses. Yeah. And if you ever can't go home, if I still have one, it's open to you. I appreciate that. Thank you. My lady. She turns to Captain Phaedron. And all of you, turn. It is slightly past noon. You have half a day if you wish to make good time. Yeah. We should eat tomorrow. Leave. Indeed. Julian, is this a safe place to send a letter? This is as safe as any. if this place is not safe, no place is safe. Okay. I do have a letter that I would like to send back to my sisters. You penned the letter. Something I've actually been working on at night. Yeah. And I would like to send it to my sisters and it says I found what is ours and I have it in my possession and I found something else so I'm going to follow that thread and also I have questions about a woman I am traveling with named Aaronessa Royce so if there's any information that you can gather I will see you when I see you and I'm the letter is written in giant and I will fold it up and send that to the mourn veil Captain Phaedron takes it and says I can give this safe passage to a ship bound to the Mornvale it will travel slowly we have no roost and pigeons here that know to call the Mornvale home so it will take some time my lady understood before Aaronessa ends up fighting on her path I stop her and kind of just hand on the shoulder get close to her face Find Maya Find Alba But as the first sign of any danger Or any sign of it being too late You return here under the protection of the captain Until we come back together again, okay? You will stop back here on your return, yes? Of course All right My family grows to dinner by the day I will not lose you no I would not inflict that on you Julian for you I will remain good I owe you to that be the last woman that got held by you around here that's my face you see you all Eat swiftly, nerves rising, Dame Gaia, or not all of you eat, I suppose. Dame Gaia by your side, and ride forth from the gates of Castle Torch, headed to the eternal night. And that's all for this episode. It's fine. It's fine. Everything is a mess. So what is it you do, actually? Cool. Just go to the Baradal. It's fine. It's fine. It's fine, dude. We're going to where it's so bad. I'm so excited. Yeah. How about it? I'm like, yeah. I know. This is from the heart. Is it Thursday? I want to play. Yeah. Thanks for listening to this episode of Critical Role. If you're enjoying this story, consider leaving a review on your podcast platform of choice. We're always looking for new critters to share our adventures with, and your review may help a new batch of wayward souls find their way to Ahriman, Exandria, and beyond. Or, if you want to hear what the cast discussed after the episode, head to beacon.tv and check out our exclusive show, Critical Role Cooldown. You'll be right there at the table immediately after we say, Is it Thursday yet? And experience our cast's post-show reactions. We'll see you next time. you