Hand & Wheel | Critical Role | Campaign 4, Episode 19 Part 2

Summary

Critical Role Campaign 4, Episode 19 Part 2: "Hand & Wheel"

Release Date: March 31, 2026
Theme: Schemes and shifting alliances in Dolmachyar as tensions brew between revolutionary ideals, noble houses, and the weary denizens of Ahriman.

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Episode Overview

This episode is steeped in aftermath, reflection, and the subtle positioning of power. The cast navigates loss, loyalty, and the undercurrents of political change, while wrestling with past sacrifices and decisions. Personal moments of grief and camaraderie in the group intersect with the brewing storm outside—noble houses consolidating power, museums on the verge of upheaval, and the city’s protectors caught between old allegiances and new threats.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Nightfall: Grief and Reflection at Hallendil Fang's Home (01:24–20:00)

• Azune and Lieutenant Nyar return home after the chaos of the previous night, processing the death of Thiazi and discussing their roles in recent events.
• Scene Setting: Midnight, the house is quiet with lingering evidence of recent strife and a sense of lost family.
• Comfort and Care: Azune brings food, sits on the floor, and tries to comfort Nyar, paralleling past moments of family and acceptance.
• Grieving for Thiazi: Both wrestle with guilt and what could have been done differently.
  • "I can't make heads or tails of it." —Azune [07:05]
  • "I do not believe that my brother gave up...that I don't believe." —Azune [07:52]
  • "I was ready to repay everything that I was given by giving you, your brother back." —Lieutenant Nyar [11:43]
• Notable Quote:

  “We do the best we can with what we have on the day. And right now, you and I need to lean on each other. … My brother doesn't need you whipping yourself. … You lived here. Played with my kids. Eating at my table.”
  — Azune [13:12]

• Healing, Acceptance, and Family: They resolve to support each other and try to rest, underlining their found-family bonds.

Memorable Moment

• The small magician’s silk flower ritual—Azune ties a piece to a hand-stitched band from his daughter, creating a multigenerational token of memory and connection. [04:01]

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2. Dawns and Rituals: A New Day for the Cast (20:00–28:00)

• Portent Rolls: Hal’s routine for determining the day’s luck; results are unremarkable (“very, very mid”). [21:04]
• Mechanics and Family: Lieutenant Nyar gifts Hal heroic inspiration, but Hal notes it is redundant since they both receive it daily—an in-world demonstration of lingering support. [22:01]
• Reflections on Home:
  • Azune and Nyar’s comfort in the house—births, deaths, the constant scent of Tysha’s flowers, the sense of warmth held over years, and the way necessity once brought everyone together. [17:10–18:57]

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3. Shifting Academia: Murray & Dean Cora at the Pentevral (28:00–54:54)

• Murray’s Quarters: Described as colorful, lived-in, filled with crystals, vintage fabrics, and maximalist academic clutter. [25:17]
• Murray's Morning: Visits her office, then heads to see the new Dean, Cora.
• Powerful Conversation – Negotiating Change:
  • Murray apologizes for past abrasiveness, expresses a desire for unity, and works with Cora to secure the future of less wealthy students.
  • "It would be incredibly stupid of me to come in here and try and do some sort of cheap trick to undercut this. You understand that, right?" —Hal [34:28]
  • Cora reveals plans to triple the school’s size, open scholarships to both nobles and commoners, and views their newfound cooperation as a sign of "great things" ahead.
  • Political gamesmanship and ambition linger in subtext:
    "You coming in here saying ... we're gonna play nice ... she's realizing she'll get to go and report ... all of her first box checked." —Narrator [39:49]
  • Internship Plot: Murray proposes an internship arrangement with the museum—Cora is keen to link it with the new Cormoray Scholarship and puts Murray in charge of TA/intern selection. [47:00–53:50]

Notable Quotes

• "You're such a badass." —Hal, to Dean Cora [42:45]
• "There's a lot more we can do. … But I am very glad to hear you say this, because I think that unity matters." —Dean Cora [37:55]
• "It's not abuse if I like it." —Hal [52:29] (on taking on extra responsibilities)

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4. Museums & Rumors: Bolaire Navigates Politics at the Archenaud (61:16–81:48)

• Bolaire’s Routine: Spartan, art-filled home; performatively eats to keep up human appearances, underscoring Bolaire’s enigmatic nature. [63:37–67:06]
• Arriving at the Museum: The city’s shifting powers threaten to jumble museum collections, affecting both curators’ autonomy.
• Expert Parley: Bolaire meets Curator Makmaz Gilphedar to discuss the potential merging (or swapping) of the Loy Wing and the Celadyne Wing.
  • Both curators distrust the Cormoray motives and each other, leading to a grudging alliance.
  • "I am curious what they plan on doing. ... They might be building an entirely new wing. No one will see our collections." —Bolaire [76:05]
  • "If you count on me to be brave, I will disappoint you. If you can count on me to be scared, you might find a worthy friend." —Makmaz Gilphedar [82:06]
• Memorable Exchange:
  • "We're archaeologists. We don't fear shit. ... I'm preparing to lose my peace again. You're a good man. As much as I find you insufferable." —Bolaire [82:10]
  • "No one ever has faced them all. ... If you can count on me to be scared, you might find a worthy friend." —Makmaz Gilphedar [81:43–82:06]
• Concludes with both resolved to make the best of the merger and resist passively.

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5. Mobilizing Allies: Azune & Nyar Step into the Political Fray (83:36–118:43)

Nyar’s Mission: Gathering the Guard (84:20–100:25)

• Falcon's Rest Encounter: Nyar (disguised) meets Verin Cadorn, who brings warning of mass arrests and implores action.
  • "The falcon's cry is still being heard... Are you willing to hear it?" —Nyar [91:15]
• Plots to Infiltrate Mercenary Companies: Nyar directs Verin to get dismissed guards hired by mercenary groups, gathering intelligence on the sundered houses. [92:42]
• Brethren Hall Briefing: Nyar is assigned to investigate magical wrongdoing at Palazzo Divinos, navigates low morale, and assumes more leadership in the absence of stronger superiors. [96:04–100:25]
  • "You have a lot on your plate. ... Allow me to assume some responsibility in your stead." —Lieutenant Nyar [99:51]

Azune’s Errands: Arrangements for Thiazi & Gathering Information (106:49–129:44)

• Covert Burial Plans: Azune, disguised, enlists help from Olgood Akarat to move Thiazi’s body for secret burial. [109:15–113:16]
• Recruiting Inez Roundtree: Azune tasks Inez, fight captain and old rebel, with arranging a meeting with her sister (who works in the Einfrossen estate) for intelligence-gathering. [114:29–118:43]

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6. Seeking Answers: Azune at the Gray Library (119:00–129:44)

• Azune's Research: Seeks ancient texts on the Death of the Gods, the traditions of masks, and the halfling country Hargud.
  • "I'm looking for any mention or scrap of information about masks in history... from the last 100 to 500 years." —Azune [123:20]
• Discovery: Finds brief reference to the "Visages of Creation," but the source is missing from the library.
  Brindra Moss, friendly librarian, promises to track the book and seek a new copy.
• Notable Quote:

  "You taught me the Mooi Decimal system." —Azune [122:55]

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7. Curtain Call: The World at a Turning Point (129:44–132:15)

• Citywide Spectacle: Trumpets sound at the Gray Tower; a dignitary procession, including the canine King Augustus Valiant of Timony, arrives—hinting at larger continental politics in play.
• Episode closes with the cast marveling at their fortunes and hinting at deeper secrets within the library’s troves.
  • "Folks, we got a lot to talk about. … We'll see you next week for our continuation of the schemer's table here at Critical Role. Is it Thursday yet?" —Narrator [132:44]

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• "We do the best we can with what we have on the day. And right now, you and I need to lean on each other." —Azune [13:12]
• "You're such a badass." —Hal to Dean Cora [42:45]
• "There is a wind. And I can tell. I'm just... curious whether or not you're standing upwind or downwind." —Bolaire [78:09]
• "If you count on me to be brave, I will disappoint you. If you can count on me to be scared, you might find a worthy friend." —Makmaz Gilphedar [82:06]
• "The falcon's cry is still being heard, piercing the sky... Are you willing to hear it?" —Lieutenant Nyar [91:15]
• "Help yourself. You taught me the Mooi Decimal system." —Brindra Moss & Azune [122:55]

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Important Timestamps

• 01:24–20:00: Night at Hallendil Fang’s—grieving Thiazi, found family themes.
• 20:00–28:00: New day routines, portents, and mechanical roleplay bonds.
• 28:00–54:54: Murray’s office, Cora negotiation, and the new internship plot.
• 61:16–81:48: Bolaire at the museum—political anxieties, uneasy alliances.
• 83:36–100:25: Nyar and Azune’s operations—mobilizing allies, assignment to investigate magical wrongdoing.
• 106:49–118:43: Azune’s covert burial, recruiting allies.
• 119:00–129:44: Research in the Gray Library, missing key texts.
• 129:44–132:15: Royal pageantry at the Gray Tower—foreshadowing wider conflicts.

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Summary Tone

Roleplay is rich, tender, humorous, and tinged with a sense of fatigue and wary hope. Political and personal lines blur as old hurts and new ambitions coalesce. The dialogue is true to form for Critical Role—by turns hilarious, poignant, and sharply observed.

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For Listeners

This episode is a tapestry of deep character interaction, subtle power moves, and the emotional reckoning that follows a crisis. Whether you’re invested in the political plotlines or the personal arcs, “Hand & Wheel” delivers insight into both the hearts of heroes and the machinations of the world that surrounds them. The stakes continue to rise—and the story remains enthralling.

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Next Episode: Will the group’s careful groundwork pay off as noble intrigues press in and new alliances form? Tune in to see what changes at the “Schemer’s Table.”

Transcript

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[Narrator]

hello again, it's Brennan Lee Mulligan and you're listening to part two of this episode of Critical Role. If you haven't checked out part one yet, pause this now and head over there first. What are you doing? Otherwise, let's jump right back into this adventure and the world of Ahriman. We return to the home of Hallendil Fang as Azune is pushed or pulled through the door into doors shut, no lights on, as the noise of those barking dogs chasing an illusory cat fades into the rookery.

[Azune]

Okay, I will stay at the window at the front door for five minutes just listening. Are we hearing an end to noise? It's late. Late. How late are we talking?

[Narrator]

It is God probably now like midnight.

[Bolaire]

Midnight.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I hate all this middle.

[Azune]

Okay, so last we heard of them, there was an illusory cat screeching. The dogs went apeshit and then they veered away from the home. So I'm going to wait for five minutes or more.

[Narrator]

You and Azune and silence can move into the house. And there is Thiazi's body still coins and other belongings here in this space.

[Azune]

If we give it time, does the street go quiet?

[Narrator]

Yeah about five minutes. Quicker than that, the dogs vanish off into the night.

[Azune]

Let's go upstairs. Go on up to my study. I'll be right there. I just divert quietly, still on edge, into the kitchen and I cut a couple slices of bread. I grab a little pot crockery of honey and some cheese that seems good. And I carry it upstairs on a tray and set it down on my desk. When I find a zune in this study that you've been in a good number of times before.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Yeah.

[Narrator]

You walk out of the kitchen still an absolute disaster from where tyranny was trying every. Was trying to make a suicide. Good times, good times. Head and head upstairs with Azune. You see that there is a. A small series of magician's silks that have been. It's not quite origami because it's made of fabric, but have been arranged into a small flower on the foot of your bed. From Shadia near the window where she's made her getaway to go be with her sister and Elodie.

[Azune]

I take that and quietly, promptly. I have this little blue kerchief that is tied around the. The strap of the bag that I carry everywhere I go, which was made by my daughter Hira when she was a little girl learning the business from her mother. And I just carry that everywhere with me. And I take some of that silk and tie it next to this band from a much younger hero. And now from present day, Shadia has the neat. Settle. Settle. I think. I think we're okay for tonight. For now.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Yeah. They had a message for you. You were being invited to have an audience with the folktarch didn't want me dead. Well, I don't know about that. At the very least they want you to speak to their grand dame.

[Narrator]

Great. Eat.

[Azune]

Eat. I said eat. Have something to eat.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I don't even know where to sit. I'm standing and I'm just.

[Azune]

I sit on the floor in the middle of this room and there's the desk and all of works in progress, of half filled scrolls and parchment written and books opened up. And there's two large chaise anges in here, like old ones, threadbare. And you've slept on one of them on past visits here. But I just put the food down on the floor and I sit there to make it inviting you so you don't have to anxious.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I'll put my weapons and my shield, I'll put it down. I'm still in my armor and I'll uh, I'll just grab a chunk of that bread. And I'll fit as much of it in my mouth as possible, probably, and just chew it. Swallow. Quiet.

[Azune]

Watching him. Like I watch one of my kids pick at their food, waiting for them to get enough to eat. Well, this isn't quite how I thought the night was going to go.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

No, me neither. I should have been ready for that, and I wasn't.

[Azune]

I think we're in unprecedented times. I don't know if you can be ready for everything anymore. Boy, I hope that's not true. I think it is.

[Bolaire]

How

[Lieutenant Nyar]

do you think Thiazi purposefully chose not to break the cliff?

[Azune]

I don't know. I know he. At the last moment, seems. Saw something beyond me, above me. He looked skyward before he called out to the crowd. And I have been rolling it over in my mind since. And I don't. I can't make heads or tails of it.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Maybe he saw a vision of something. Or maybe he was seeing. Signaling something to someone. I don't know what it could mean.

[Narrator]

But.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Do you think he gave up? He didn't know it wasn't real.

[Azune]

Plant my hand on your shoulder. I do not believe that my brother gave up. I don't know what happened, but that I don't believe.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

He said something to me when I was talking to him, and I. He said. When I was scanning him, he said, not you. Anyone but you. And I don't know why.

[Hal]

And,

[Azune]

Well, he was fond of you, you know. I don't know what he said to you when he sent you to me. I know he told you that I could give you a place to stay when you first got to the city. But what he told me was to look after you, get you on your feet, take care of you like family.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Well, you did so much. You did more than that. You let me come over and you let me have a place at your table for dinner. And why did you. What were the. What was the agreement between you and him? Why did you make so much room for me here?

[Azune]

I think he and I always liked strays. And he asked me to look after you. I used to look after him till we got older, and then he didn't need it so much. I did my best to anyway, when I could. Within my reach. But he's gone. Something I've always feared. And now there's only me to look after you. And meager though I am, that is what I mean to do. Even though you're a bit more formidable with your blade than I am with mine.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Sometimes when we were at dinner Your place here. I'd watch how you were with your kids and how you would wrestle with the different personalities that they had. And you were always so patient and kind. And I felt like. I felt like I was watching. Kind of like how I feel when I'm watching a play. In a way, it was real, but it felt like. I imagine. I think my dad would have been a lot like you.

[Narrator]

I hope.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

And. Hal, I knew that if our plan had worked. And I'm so sorry that it didn't. But I knew that if it had worked, I understood what would be my fate as a result of that. Because there was going to be no out for me. The arcane marshal that was set to scan the prisoner, missing it.

[Narrator]

Of course, he would have done it on purpose.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I was ready to repay everything that I was given by giving you, your brother back.

[Hal]

Because

[Lieutenant Nyar]

it would have been the most useful thing that I could have ever done. And it would have been the best thing for the cause that we have all been fighting for, is to have made sure that he would have lived.

[Azune]

Going to press my hand onto your chest.

[Narrator]

I'm so sorry.

[Azune]

Listen to me.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I lead into it.

[Azune]

You knew my brother. He lived the way he chose to live. He's been riding that line his entire life. And grappling with guilt. We all do. It doesn't matter if it's rational or if it isn't. But I'm going to do this, even if you can't. I'm going to absolve you of any of this. Because there's no blame on your shoulders. This world is what it is, Regardless. We do the best we can with what we have on the day. And right now, you and I need to lean on each other. And we're going to take that dwarf imburser and my friend, and we're gonna figure some things out. Okay? Okay. My brother doesn't need you whipping yourself. Believe me, my brother and I didn't see eye to eye, but I knew him. I know you. You lived here. Played with my kids. Eating at my table.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I know you.

[Azune]

You've done everything you can every day of your life.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I understand, Hal. But. In any war, there's collateral damage and there's sacrifices that are made for the betterment of the cause. And the Aussie's life would have been worth a thousand of me.

[Azune]

I grab him by the sides of the head.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

We don't get to choose.

[Azune]

Life just happens. And we run along with it. Do better tomorrow if we can. We can try to do better tomorrow.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I can do that. I have to do that now.

[Azune]

Here. Come here. I'll grab a rag. You got snot running down your face. Clean you off.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I'm sorry you had to see me like this, Hal.

[Narrator]

We'll take turns.

[Azune]

I'll do it later.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Okay.

[Azune]

That's an IOU for me to break down and you to pick up the pieces.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I could do that.

[Azune]

All right.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

All right.

[Azune]

This is gonna sound crazy. We should try to get some sleep.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I think. I think I'm gonna sleep well tonight.

[Azune]

Charm.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Thank you for everything.

[Azune]

That's what family does.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

That's what family does.

[Azune]

I will wait him out like the quiet parent does until he falls asleep. And then I will try to get some sleep myself.

[Narrator]

Azunay. How long is it before you are lights out?

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I honestly think faster than I could have ever anticipated. Pretty fast. Especially after that load like purging. And it's the way that it smells here. You know what I mean? This smells like. It's so whole and warm.

[Narrator]

I stand still. This is a space. You had your first dinner in Dolmakyar in this home. As many times as you needed. There was an open door here for you. Your life brought you somewhere else. Where you began to be able to make your own way. And there weren't hard pragmatic reasons to come here as often. I don't know. Maybe Azune misses some part of his life when there were pragmatic reasons that forced him to come to this warm place. And when he actually got up on his own two feet and was able to survive on his own. All of a sudden the warmth of this place wasn't strictly necessary anymore.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

An indulgence.

[Narrator]

Yeah. You smell a house filled with every smell imaginable. Tysha's flowers still outside. The buzzing of bees downstairs. There is liquor on the hard table spilled. And cranberry rolls and old Yargrass. There is a friend's body still covered in incense, but is now some just over two days dead. Wow. There is a. There is Druidic magic on the body. Keeping it from. That is keeping it preserved until it can be interred. And yet still there is death and life here. This is a place filled with. There's the step that Thiazi skinned his knee on as a kid. And I think maybe Alagar and. Or Shadia or both of them might have been born in this house. There's a lot going on here.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Yeah. A lot of people have been here in the last couple days. And the love is still in the atmosphere. It's like a Blanket.

[Narrator]

You are in dreams, Hal. I also don't know. I mean, how's it crashing in your bed? Where are you? I.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

In the office.

[Azune]

There are two big threadbare chaises in this office, this study. So he set him to rest in one. And I don't go to my bed. I just sleep on the other one.

[Narrator]

Hell, yeah.

[Azune]

Feels safer knowing that people with gigantic dogs could come crashing through the windows.

[Narrator]

You go to sleep, look out and see on your windowsill, little mama Magpie sleeping over her chicks that are all snoozing underneath her little poofy fruit, little poofy puffs. And with that, we return, I think. Or we enter the following morning. Everyone gets a long restaurant. Yes. Marisha hasn't gotten her spells back since the start of the campaign.

[Azune]

Suddenly come down with the fantasy runs and can't sleep all night for some reason.

[Hal]

It's so hard when you're exhausted for roughly six months of gameplay. Because there is definitely. I know. Rolls that I should have been rolling at disadvantage and kept forgetting. I love it, but it's okay.

[Azune]

When does the whole place start?

[Hal]

New day.

[Narrator]

New day, new portent. Ooh. New portent rolls. Let's see. Is today a day of great reckoning?

[Hal]

Let's find out. Let's find out.

[Azune]

Shake that eight ball.

[Hal]

Okay. Interesting.

[Narrator]

What do we got?

[Hal]

13 and 11. So very, very mid.

[Narrator]

You realize that days of great destiny are few and far between. Today is not a day of great destiny.

[Hal]

That's. That's okay. I can live with that.

[Bolaire]

I imagine you reading your horoscope in the newspaper every morning and just. Huh?

[Narrator]

Yes.

[Hal]

Pretty much.

[Narrator]

Yesterday will get ahold of me.

[Hal]

Yeah.

[Narrator]

Yesterday the newspaper came with one section of red ink, all caps saying, do it now and then. Today it says, a love interest in your life is around the corner. Yeah.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Right.

[Bolaire]

Lucky numbers are correct.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Question. I have heroic inspiration.

[Narrator]

Yes.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I already have it.

[Narrator]

Yes.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

And it says if something gives you heroic inspiration and you already have it, you can give it to a player character in your group who lacks it.

[Narrator]

Yes.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I get a new one after every long rest.

[Narrator]

Oh, yeah. Love it.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I'm gonna give one to you then.

[Bolaire]

So just.

[Azune]

Mechanic. Thank you. That's lovely. Does that radiate off your person? Is that because you're such a sweet boy that I did that quietly licks

[Bolaire]

you and you're sometimes for it.

[Azune]

I know, right?

[Narrator]

I think.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I think that it's. It's like a lingering. Almost like an echo of, like, time spent together. And as you wake up, you. It's not Even that you remember me or the conversation that we had, but you just feel a sense of.

[Narrator]

Of.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Just like a connection, unhampered,

[Narrator]

real.

[Azune]

Feels right in this family home. And then, mechanically speaking, you also get one every day.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I have one every day.

[Azune]

There's no point in me giving you one.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I don't.

[Azune]

Because you have one. And they're not here.

[Narrator]

The following morning. Murray, we awaken in your quarters. What do Murray's quarters look like in the Pentevral? Have these been your same quarters for 25 years, since you got hired?

[Hal]

I think so.

[Narrator]

I love that.

[Hal]

I think a lot of Murray is so very focused. She's been very dedicated to the Pentevral for the past, you know, two plus decades. I think when Murray is faced day to day with trying to help less fortunate kids seek the education that they are entitled to, the last thing on her mind is, but what if I had a guest bedroom? So I think it's just not even crossed her mind. However, shit is changing, and if it's gonna start sucking balls around here, maybe she should ask for more shit. I don't know. We're gonna think on that. But I think it is, you know, not. It is certainly not, like, run down. I think it has a little bit of age, but I think in, like, a charming kind of cottagecore way, I think it's probably. She's a maximalist. So I think there's like. She's got, like, a gallery wall that's got, like, everything and anything hung up on it. It is just. It looks like one of those old vintage powder rooms. I think maybe she's painted it like a rich, dark purple maybe, and it's just got, like, portraits and trinkets and dried flowers hanging from. And I think she's taken, like, you know, silks and vintage fabrics, and she's hung them from the ceiling to where you can't see the ceiling anymore. It's just, like, very layered. It's very, like, plush and cozy and cluttered, but in, like, an organized way. And it smells really good.

[Azune]

Is it like faculty housing that's just 20 years lived in?

[Hal]

Yes, correct.

[Bolaire]

Rent controlled.

[Hal]

And I think she's got so many throw pillows. More throw pillows on. You can barely see the bed. It's just lined with throw pillows.

[Narrator]

Hard to find a place to sit yourself.

[Hal]

Exactly. So she can come in in the evening and just collapse. And then she definitely has on the windowsill a collection of many different types of gems. So it's, you know, everything from your purple quartz to your Sapphires to your peridot to your. To anything mineral. She's got a very vast gem collection.

[Narrator]

Waking up, you see this garden of various gemstones and crystalline structures.

[Hal]

Yes.

[Narrator]

Humming in the gray dhulmakjar sunlight, sort of bright, but a bright and cheerful gray that comes through and dances on the crystals. You sense today is a day where you may have to make your own fortune, but maybe great catastrophes or great. Yeah, maybe great catastrophes could be prevented on a day like today. But it feels that some something has ebbed back from the wilds of the previous portent you had. You look out your window and see. Just remember coming to this place the very first time when you started here, when you made the choice to live in Dolmach Yar full time in this little artsy bohemian area. And there's the little cafe on the corner where you would see Elliptus waiting to talk to you in the morning. You used to talk to Elliptus every day before it got so big and busy. And there's still that little cafe, this cute little corner in Dol Makyar and the fun little artists and academics that live in your building.

[Hal]

Mari reaches up and she's got a few crystals even hanging from the windows. And they cast at certain times of the day, certain crystals catch it and create a prism and creates a rainbow. She puts her hand up and runs her hand through the rainbow. Almost seeing if she can sense anything vibrating from these crystals. She just takes a deep breath, fuck it, and gets up and leaves.

[Narrator]

You walk past leaving this place. I also think that coming through the prism of the crystals on the ground is a larger area because in your own home why wouldn't you have a pre made ritual circle to ritual cast spells.

[Hal]

She's got a desk that's probably a little scattered with little experiments, tomes, papers, everything that she's doing as research on her own time that she's been doing for decades. She's never been formally trained. She has just only been granted the opportunity to absorb what's around her on a day to day basis.

[Narrator]

So yes, little ritual circle making your way to the Pentevral. Where do you embark to first? Your office?

[Hal]

I think I'll stop by my office as per usual, drop off maybe a satchel of stuff. I think she almost. She maybe shuffles some papers around, looks at some invoices and payroll that needs to be dealt with. Maybe a letter of recommendation that's come through, a letter of acceptance that needs to be sent and she just kind of does that thing when you know you should be doing work but don't want to. She just moves papers around a little bit and then heads to Dean Cora's office.

[Narrator]

Knocking on the door. You hear a voice come in, I

[Hal]

crack the door open. Morning.

[Narrator]

Hi. Sorry.

[Hal]

You know, you.

[Azune]

Sorry.

[Hal]

No. Can I come in?

[Narrator]

By all means. Pull up a seat. What can I do for you, Mary?

[Hal]

I just. I feel like we maybe got off on the wrong foot.

[Azune]

Oh,

[Narrator]

You first.

[Hal]

I think it is only proper and ladylike that. I apologize. I was emotional. There's been a lot going on between you and me. I haven't been sleeping very well and I tend to prefer the type of choice that I can find in spare pockets in my coats. There's a lot of change very quickly, and I took an evening to think about it and thought about what you said. I think it is best for the students that we work together. And with so much change, I still want to be there for them as an anchor and a familiar face. And I believe that you have just the best intentions and you also just want what's best for the Pentaphora and everyone within these glorious halls.

[Narrator]

Go ahead and give me a persuasion check.

[Azune]

Okay.

[Hal]

I hate that you're asking me for that.

[Azune]

Hate that for you.

[Hal]

I hate that for me. Natural 19. Okay for a 22.

[Narrator]

For 22. Lovely. You see?

[Hal]

Kind of like dabs her cheeks a little bit as she says this.

[Azune]

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[Bolaire]

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[Narrator]

She looks at you. Squints her eyes. Should I cast. Detect magic for possible possession? Should I. What should I do in this moment? Are you serious right now?

[Hal]

It would be incredibly stupid of me to come in here and try and do some sort of cheap trick to undercut this. You understand that, right?

[Narrator]

I. I'm very moved by that, Murray. That's. I. I accept. I gracefully accept your apology. Thank you very much. And I think great things are afoot for the Penteveral. I think that this is the beginning. I think that we were at a fork in the road. There was a fork where we made a very. I don't know, a stand against the sundered houses to immediately undercut our funding and underserve our students and watch as they. What? Used their incredible resources to found a competing college of wizardry. I. I think that we were at a fork in the road. And that. Look, you don't get to affect the future if you're not in the room.

[Hal]

Yeah. Gotta play the game if you wanna win the game.

[Narrator]

Exactly. Look, truth be told, Marie, I wanna make myself of use to you as well. You are. You are beloved. I'm not gonna lie to you. You are beloved by our students. They like your ease with informal language. They like your. And frankly, you are a gifted wizard. And I think that you. And look, there are personnel changes that are going to happen here. Right? There are personnel changes that are going to happen here. But the reality is the period of time from whence this was a group of squabbling academics to get to the point where we could be in a position to align ourselves with the houses of Khormary and Taconis. That gap, I think only you could have bridged that Gap,

[Hal]

you flatter me.

[Narrator]

And now you are not needed. It does not have to fall fully and squarely on your shoulders. Now imagine what we could do, given. Imagine what we could do given funding, if our bursar didn't have to spend the vast majority of her working hours finding some loose thread to pull to cover the next curricular semester. Imagine what we could do. There's just a lot more we can do. But. I am very glad to hear you say this, because I think that. I think that unity matters. And I think that with Ellipides stepping

[Bolaire]

down,

[Narrator]

it's really good that you're staying. Go ahead and give me an insight check.

[Azune]

This bitch.

[Narrator]

This bitch.

[Hal]

I know it is. Everything she just said is fucking crazy to me just now. That's good. 217 total. I rolled a 16.

[Narrator]

She is gleeful. She's gleeful.

[Hal]

Fantastic.

[Narrator]

Because I think you. I think, Murray, you're very headstrong person, and you're entering into. Into a game of politics and intrigue, and you're talking with Hal and Azune and Bolaire and these other people. You're a very headstrong person. And the Pentavoral has always been about fucking truth and being, having candor. Being. And in fact, being blunt is one of the best instruments that academia can have to just say what the fucking facts are. And you're now dealing with all these vipers, and it's maddening because it just delays the truth. But one part of being a truth seeker is actually useful here. And you realize that this is a gift in this moment that you do have, which is to not cloud your judgment with your own perspective and to actually look at what someone else's perspective is. And I think on that high insight role, you realize that, Dean, Cora got this job because she sold a bill of goods. She told people, the Taconis, you put me in charge, I'll whip that school into shape and I'll make it sing. And you coming in here saying, I'm not gonna make like we're gonna play nice, that she's realizing she'll get to go and report to whoever she reports to, saying all of her first box checked.

[Hal]

Yes, I'm already enacting change.

[Narrator]

Mm.

[Hal]

I mean, I agree with everything you said 100%. I mean, I think, you know, there's quite frankly many elements of the Penteveral here that has been maybe a little lost, a little dated in antiquity. I agree. I would much prefer any type of funding and any type of boons and blessings from the sundared. Houses to be filtered through here. I would love to make the request. However, you know, some of these more poor, needy children, it is still important for us to consider them, you know, and that's only. That's gonna make the pentevra look good. Right? Everybody loves charity, so I am sure. I think I just. I had an immediate knee jerk reaction yesterday where I guess I was just imagining like the halls being flooded with a bunch of, you know, trust fund kids just coming in. And, you know, and I think. I'm sure there's gonna be some of that, and that's fine. And they're entitled to that as well. But, you know, I see everyone equally and I just wanna make sure that maybe we could still have an extension attention to that. And beyond that. I want to be of use. I do want to be of use.

[Narrator]

Well, let me dispel your concerns, Murray. The halls are going to be flooded with noble children. And they're going to be flooded with enterprising, exceptional children of workers and farmers and laborers. Because we're going to. If I can plan this out, I want to triple the size of the school in the next five years. I want to. If we accept these noble children at the rates that they can pay, then we go. And this Cormoray scholarship is aimed directly at. I mean, it's a scholarship. It's aimed at children who need financial help to come and fund their tuition and fund their tutelage. So to answer your question, I don't think we're at odds. I think it's not an either or, it's a both. And we're going to be able to help so many. You know, I'm a wizard, just like you. I wasn't born with these innate magical gifts.

[Hal]

Oh, my God.

[Narrator]

But even like twinsies. Well, listen, we're two women in. We're two dwarven women in a city with a lot of tall people running around who like to tell us all what time of day it is. And I think we, if we go back to back, we can get a lot done around here.

[Hal]

I love this. You're such a badass.

[Azune]

You are.

[Hal]

Oh, my God, Shadow. No,

[Narrator]

I love this side of the. That I'm seeing.

[Hal]

Like I said, you know, I was just, you know, it's all been a lot. I've just. I was a little bit emotional. You know, I will say this too. I have a little pitch for you. Because if I am gonna have some bandwidth that is gonna be freed up and I'm not gonna have to go you know, beg rich people for money. I think there's actually some good that I can do in maybe as, like, an ambassador, maybe extending my outreach, our outreach of the pentebral, to some other organizations. Are you actually familiar with. He's kind of a curious fella, Belair, over at the museum. Realm Antiquities?

[Narrator]

No, no, I'm not familiar. Bellair is Antiquities. Is Belair a private merchant, or is.

[Hal]

No, he. Is she lying to me?

[Narrator]

Give me an insight.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Oh,

[Hal]

nine.

[Narrator]

Nine.

[Hal]

Looking at my portents, like, do I bump it up three? But I'll.

[Bolaire]

Curator.

[Hal]

It's the arcanade.

[Bolaire]

Yeah. Of the. Yeah. Of the Balare.

[Hal]

What?

[Bolaire]

Curator Balaire. Lothalia.

[Hal]

Yeah. Bellair. Lothalia. Lothalia of the Archnod. Oh, yeah.

[Narrator]

The archnaut. What? Oh, interesting. What wing is he? Is he the. No, because, you see, she looks and says. No, I know the. She looks and says and says, I know, obviously, Oscuro Melanti, who's come by, but the preserver.

[Hal]

But

[Narrator]

this is actually one of the curators. Of which wing?

[Hal]

The Loy wing, I believe.

[Narrator]

Oh, my goodness. Yeah, the central wing.

[Hal]

Correct.

[Narrator]

Well, fascinating. Oh, my goodness. Okay. Wait. What is your. This is. Sorry, this is connecting in my head. What is your pitch?

[Hal]

Well, we've kind of. I, like, I just, like, ran into him the other day, and I was like, oh, my God, you're Belair.

[Narrator]

Who is this? Tracy, is that you?

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Sorry.

[Narrator]

I love this.

[Hal]

Girls love when they're like, oh, my God, we're like the same person. Anyway, he kind of had a proposition of maybe me helping him, doing some organization, maybe doing some sorting, maybe figuring out some of these antiquities and artifacts that have, quite honestly, just been collecting dust over there. And what is the actual point of having access to a bunch of magical stuff if it's not gonna get used more? He actually sent a little letter that I want to. I just. Yeah. Let me send a letter to, you know.

[Narrator]

All right. Have you read this or. No.

[Hal]

I have.

[Narrator]

Yes. Okay.

[Hal]

I mean, I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have. Maybe that's. Maybe that's improper.

[Narrator]

No, I only request.

[Azune]

Wow.

[Narrator]

I only request your head.

[Bolaire]

I wrote this while keeping eye contact with you.

[Narrator]

I love it. I humbly request your lead, Murray Magnussen's particular skill set, organizing the paperwork in the museum.

[Hal]

It just feels like we can maybe use this to our advantage.

[Narrator]

Murray.

[Hal]

Cora,

[Narrator]

what do you think Curator Lothalia would say about an internship program? The Cormoray Scholarship is based in public service and works specifically. They're looking for scholarship. For people who either themselves or within their family have engaged in public service or works either here in Dolmachiar or in Cormoray homeland throughout Older Redemia. And they have a particular interest. Just look here. They have a particular interest in the. The Arcanade. Right now. I was at What Comrades do. Yes.

[Hal]

Interesting.

[Narrator]

I was at a function at the Grey Tower. I was speaking to some members of the Revolutionary Council and the Chamber of Lords Advisory. And I met this Lady Amaria Dacencoray. We just shared some conversation over a glass of wine, but she mentioned the Loywing in particular.

[Hal]

Murray's eye. Her eyes twitching a little bit and she's trying to hide it every time the Cormorays are mentioned.

[Narrator]

I would love to be able to pay her a visit. And if you have. If this Balare Lothalia is requesting your aid with some paperwork, I wonder if we could set up a beneficial arrangement. If they require some assistance from the Pentevral. If we could impose on them as a favor to begin an educational program, as I believe some of these Cormoray scholars might be. If I can tell the Lady Amaria that the young children she wishes to send to our school of Wizardry might be put to work in the area of our city's fair museum that she's most interested in, I think that creates a very interesting opportunity for her. And I think it could endear House Cormoray to the Pentaveral even more. Do you?

[Hal]

That's fascinating.

[Narrator]

You also come from a family of jewel merchants, yes?

[Hal]

Yes. Yeah, the family Magnus and family jewels.

[Narrator]

Oh, a joke. Well, I think that if you were to under the Bursar's office, which after all, deals in antiquities. You're the Bursar of Antiquities. And what's the title? Sorry, I should know this.

[Hal]

I am the exact title. To be 100% is perverser of Aiden Antiquities. Yes.

[Narrator]

I believe that Master Lothalia has gone for far too long without an eager workforce looking to learn. It's on the job experience for young Pentaveral students. It's endearing us to the Archonaut and the curator of its most essential wing. And it's allowing a pathway for the Kormrae to. I think this really works.

[Hal]

I. Wow. I'm just. This is already paying off. I feel like. I feel like we're kind of like vibing right now. Like there's a level. Right. That we're like, connecting. I'm just. I'm glad you like my idea. It's very. Thank you. You know, and I can maybe talk to some of the students. I do have a few students in mind that I think might just be star students. They might be ones that we could at least start with, maybe do a little trial run so I can maybe put my ear to the ground, see who might be interested in something like that. Would it mainly be students from House Cormoray?

[Narrator]

Go ahead and give me Persuasion. You got this. I'll say before you roll. DC15 is a little bit of success. DC20 is a lot of success.

[Hal]

You said Persuasion.

[Narrator]

Persuasion.

[Hal]

Do you have to. You have to use portent before, right?

[Narrator]

No, you can use it after.

[Hal]

You can use it after.

[Narrator]

Swap it out just in case it's.

[Hal]

It's an 18. So that is going to be 21. Persuasion.

[Narrator]

She looks at you and says, well, listen, we'll need. I don't want to listen. I think this is a very worthwhile endeavor on behalf of the Gormeras, certainly. But I also don't want to send just you to wrangle 40 freshmen interns running loose in our city's most grandiose and majestic Civics Institute of Learning. So noted. You'd actually be. And she looks at this huge stack of applications for the Cormoray Scholarship and says, may I abuse our newfound friendship.

[Hal]

It's not abuse if I like it.

[Narrator]

You are so saucy. I love this. And you see, she puts a stack of applications in front of you, says if you could review those, select who you want for the internship program. These are the students that have been approved for entry into the Pentav rule, but select the ones that you'd like for the internship program and get yourself. She reviews a budget really quickly. Take a budget of, let's call it 20 gold per month and hire some TAs for yourself from the grad students. So.

[Hal]

All right, fantastic.

[Narrator]

So go ahead and just pick who you think A can speak with some level of. After all, we do want the. Let me be clear. There's a lot of politics to play here, but we do want to educate smart wizards. The long term health of the Pentaveral depends on us representing ourselves well in

[Hal]

the world, you've got to have success stories.

[Narrator]

And so please, please go out and get some TAs that you think can A, wrangle a bunch of brand new minted freshmen and B, actually teach and make sure that no one. I know half the curators there wear masks and gauntlets from blowing themselves apart. That's the last thing we need.

[Hal]

So that would be such a bad look.

[Narrator]

So make sure that they're people that can keep these children. Honestly. Obviously a couple of diviners, certainly, but maybe an abjurer or two is not a bad idea.

[Hal]

An abjurer.

[Narrator]

Got it. Oh, my God. Murray.

[Hal]

Cora,

[Narrator]

it means a lot to me because, and I mean no offense by

[Azune]

this,

[Narrator]

you are someone who is very set in your ways. Half of the people here that have congratulated me on assuming this position as 5th Dean of the Pentebral, half of them, I have to wonder if their intentions are sincere. For you, who, forgive me, has not always had a way with words, I can be sure that you are sincere in your intent. So this is very meaningful. And I think we're off to a great start.

[Hal]

I look forward to this. There's a bright future ahead of us. I, like. I don't know, not to like. You know, this is probably gonna sound silly, but I got up this morning and I felt it in the air.

[Narrator]

I was like, oh, today was a portentous day.

[Hal]

Today was a portentous day.

[Narrator]

That is all I needed to hear. First full day as dean is a portentous day. So says our birther of Aid and antiquities.

[Hal]

Got a little knack for divinity myself, so you can trust that.

[Narrator]

Well, go ahead and look for your TAs. Oh, okay. One TA who suddenly has a big mark on his record that I know is everyone's favorite, that please do not hire for this. It would be Demidis Blix, who just blew through a class he was supposed to teach this morning.

[Hal]

What?

[Narrator]

So, please, what happened? No show, no envelope. Sent. We went and knocked on his door. We don't know if he's. We don't know. We don't know. But a no show.

[Hal]

So what would I know about Dimitus Blick? He's like a grad student.

[Narrator]

Go ahead and give me a history. We'll call it history dc8. But if you can beat that more, you'll know it by more. Penteveral's gotten big.

[Hal]

Okay. He was a ta.

[Bolaire]

Did he?

[Narrator]

Yeah, grad student.

[Bolaire]

Beard.

[Hal]

I don't know. Wait, what did you say?

[Azune]

You want to be at an 8?

[Hal]

But what was the role for? Oh, history. History. Okay. 17.

[Narrator]

17. Oh, you know Demidus. Yeah. Demetus is a 22 year old. He's a graduate of the School of Illusion, has come back to get. He's trying to get his doctorate. And actually, basically, Demidus came as a 12 year old kid, fell in love with the place. He's a Young gnomish student. He has a condition. He's a young gnomish student. He has a condition where his. Oh God. Irises are the color of whatever's behind him. It's like translucent that it comes through with him. And he's just an illusion savant. And he is a. He's really brilliant, very beloved, very funny. But he's a kid who is like number one school spirit kid. He came here from. He was a student that basically came to boarding school and was dropped off here by his parents a long, long time ago. And basically has just always dreamed about being a professor at the Pentecoral.

[Hal]

So when he graduated his first day of class, new opportunity kind of thing. And he didn't show.

[Narrator]

Yep. One thing you would know about him is that Demidus was not financially supported by his family. So he would do a lot of school spirit events that were also like, okay, I'm gonna fundraise for a dare to do this act of magic on this special day. And it was like. You also know that he made a lot of his living because he again, did not have any financial support. He supplemented his living doing busking in the Ogremock marketplace. And when that got shut down, he couldn't do his little illusion shows anymore and lost a big source of income.

[Bolaire]

Oh, no,

[Hal]

I love this kid. It me in an npc.

[Narrator]

Okay.

[Hal]

That's so uncharacteristic of Dimitas. You know, he's. He was in my office quite a lot. As someone who needed financial aid, I think sometimes.

[Narrator]

I think sometimes for people that, I mean, I don't know, maybe he's just off nursing a hangover somewhere or whatever. But the. I do think sometimes. Sometimes when people come from a non professional background, there can be a performance anxiety. There can be a.

[Hal]

Sure.

[Narrator]

You know what I'm saying? There can be a.

[Hal]

The pressure got to him.

[Narrator]

The pressure got to him, you know, wow.

[Hal]

Murray in the back of her head is like, this dumb bitch does not know what she's talking about. One, hangovers are expensive. He did not be able to afford a. And two, this guy was a performer. He did not. Okay, that is so strange. You know what? Maybe I'll do a little bit of research, but noted. I'll ask around. All right, well, fantastic. You know, these are quite a lot of applications, so just give me a little bit of time to get through it. I'll kind of put my.

[Narrator]

Yeah, take your time.

[Hal]

You know, Take your time.

[Narrator]

No rush and end of day is fine. Whenever you get a chance To. Yeah, End of day. Yeah, no rush. Just, you know, anytime. Today is fine.

[Hal]

All right. Uh huh. Fantastic. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow. Does that sound more reasonable? Because I was actually going to go. If you remember, the whole start of this conversation was me going to the Arcanade to help over there. So. It's a busy day. Great.

[Narrator]

Well, I love Master Lothalia's. If he wants to help with them and see if he, you know, maybe. Many hands make light work.

[Hal]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, you know what? I got you, Marie.

[Narrator]

Cora, you're trouble. I can tell.

[Hal]

We're gonna have to go drinking one night. I know. I'd be.

[Narrator]

Oh, my gosh. All right, well, I'll see you at the next. I'm starting faculty mixers.

[Hal]

Oh, my goodness.

[Narrator]

We'll have. It's one drink maximum. But we'll. But we're gonna have. But faculty mixers. We'll have them at the end of the month. Oh my God. You are too much. Get to work.

[Hal]

Okay, I've taken up too much of your time. I am so sorry.

[Narrator]

All right, you get to work.

[Hal]

No, you work head. She leaves with a sack of papers.

[Narrator]

Oh, my God. You leave with a stack of papers. We cut over to Belair.

[Bolaire]

Belair jumps awake.

[Narrator]

Is it my birthday?

[Bolaire]

Wow.

[Narrator]

Oh, my God.

[Bolaire]

I cannot wait to know that.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Wow.

[Azune]

Incredible.

[Narrator]

I think Cora's one of the worst people I've ever embodied. What do you mean by that? I played Asmodeus and I even. Asmodeus is. What the fuck is wrong with you? What's wrong with you? Fabric and mixer. One drink maximum. Oh, God.

[Hal]

Don't make me go to a fucking work event where I can't drink.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Yeah, yeah.

[Hal]

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[Narrator]

You see. So Bolaire yeah. A new day dawns.

[Bolaire]

A new day dawns. I wake up. The stoic face just has a little bit of movement as I wake up in a very nice large bed that's very clean and a very clean bedroom with some beautiful large impressionist art on the walls. The first thing I see is the light comes through. The bedside tables are very clean. One has a couple books on it that I read and the other one is bare and empty. I go into a powder room that is mostly cement, very industrial and clean and still has light coming through from some nice skylights in the corner and I remove my wig and I've already taken my suit off. Normally I do not sleep in the red wig, but I'm nervous and I clean the body as best I can, perfume, get dressed, Put the wig back on and start to make my way to the living room again. Very, very the sun is bright and beautiful. There are little paper theaters. There's not a lot in here, but there's always that little bit of art instead of a fruit bowl. There are just a few meticulously curated books that clearly are there to be read, and a series of paper theaters. There's a shadow puppet theater, there's a couple complicated ones just made out of

[Narrator]

paper and sticks,

[Bolaire]

clearly based on classic theaters that don't exist anymore from the time before the war. There's a little very cubist art in the living room, a couple very uncomfortable looking couches, and then at the very end there is a kitchen that is so clean except for there is

[Azune]

a

[Bolaire]

bowl of fruit and a baguette and some jerky and there is way too much fruit and at one end it is just rotted to death and slowly the pile gets fresher and fresher towards the front. Clearly I go out and buy the food even though I'm not eating it, just to keep up appearances and often I'll forget to throw it away. There is a couple very moldy loaves of bread One that's relatively clean, and the jerky holds. And there's a pitcher of water. I pour myself a glass of water, a little bit of fruit and a tiny bit of bread and a tiny bit of jerky. And as I open my mouth, you can see somewhere in the darkness, a set of lips and teeth as I. Oh, no.

[Narrator]

Eat.

[Bolaire]

A little bit of bread, a little bit of meat, and a little bit of fruit and a glass of water.

[Hal]

Oh, I hate that.

[Azune]

Oh, boy. Greetings, fellow human.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Wow.

[Bolaire]

As it then disappears back into the shadow, I look.

[Narrator]

Oh, my God.

[Hal]

Oh, my God. You got, like an alien queen mouse.

[Bolaire]

There you go, Harborous. You get one more day, don't you? I can't wait to talk.

[Hal]

I don't like it.

[Narrator]

Different days. Different days.

[Bolaire]

Also, I would say clearly there was no actual delight in the food. It seemed like the food didn't even touched lips. There was no flavor that really registered.

[Azune]

Taliesin finally took his final form.

[Narrator]

I know. Oh, my God.

[Bolaire]

I suppose it's time to go out and get a sense of things. I'm gonna head to the museum and get a sense of where the other curator is on this whole debacle.

[Narrator]

Arriving at the Archenaud, you see getting there at the beginning of the day it opens, you see that some of your docents and other people are already at work as people come in. Some have traveled all the way from other far flung places of Ahriman to come here and see the Arknaut. You see some people gasping and looking up at the various weapons and arcane artillery and other things gathered here. But that central exhibit with that one last Pariah blade, people come to look at that one, gaze at it, you see just admiring faces and walking across the campus, there's a beautiful garden with white marble, or not marble, but those beautiful white mica flecked gravel stones. You walk across small cafeteria over to another area, and you enter the Celadyne Wing, which is unlike the Loy Wing, which is sort of in the bright gray of the sunshine here in Dolmachyar. You enter the Celadyne Wing, which is very much ensconced in shadow with very dramatic harsh beams of yellow light that come in to undercut the weapons of the shapers. You see here, they're artifacts and old emblems of the gods that are all depicted here. Almost like walking around a corner, there's almost a sudden jump scare of an emblem of Oscra's snarling face in stone or other places where it's again, nothing is moving, Nothing is Animated. But as you walk around a corner, there suddenly is tonsils glaring. Or you see the haughty wide eyed stare of Illumi, goddess of magic. Her arm outstretched a long wall. Where you see depicted are the legends and tales of the deaths of the four primordials wedded and married to various shapers that they were wedded to. How Trojana took Tehana and spun her body into all of the gold and silver and jewels of the earth until her wife was gone. You see, there's all of these legends throughout of the shapers and the various primordials. You see in this place a figure looking down, turning around. Tall, about like 6 5, but extremely reedy, kind of skinny. You see, there's a bespectacled Orcish gentleman is wearing some robes. You see, he has a partial mask over an ear that covers a bad injury on his ear. And a fine silver half gauntlet just covers his fingers. You know that two of those are prosthesis. This is the curator, Makmaz Gilphedar. You head over to Mokmar here as he turns and says. Oh, Master Lothalia, it is good to see you.

[Bolaire]

Wonderful to see you as well. I was hoping to get a bit of your time. I assume that you know the state of things right now.

[Narrator]

The state of things? Oh yes. The Lady Dacen Cormoray.

[Bolaire]

Ah, sharp as ever.

[Narrator]

Yes. What do you make of it?

[Bolaire]

I don't know. It is peculiar. And it definitely comes at an odd time. Things seem to be. Everything seems to have shifting sand beneath it right now in the city. I can't imagine that you actually want to fold your collection into mine.

[Narrator]

No, no, hardly.

[Bolaire]

This is a terrifying prospect of the amount of material that's going to have to move. Staggering expense, a mess of paperwork. Because I'm sure, as you know, both of there's no such thing as a museum with functional paperwork. Everything's a disaster.

[Narrator]

But we want to move it quickly. They don't intend for us to share the same vault, do they?

[Bolaire]

I think they do.

[Narrator]

This is a nightmare.

[Bolaire]

I'm so glad you think so. So what do you plan on doing about it? Since clearly they plan on keeping you on and not me.

[Narrator]

Go ahead and give me an insight check.

[Bolaire]

Thank you. Because I'm curious if this is landing.

[Hal]

Huh?

[Azune]

19.

[Narrator]

Machmaz is looking at you. He doesn't prefer you.

[Bolaire]

No,

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I know that look.

[Narrator]

But the thing about this guy that you kind of believe or understand is that he doesn't really prefer anyone. So it's hard to say that we

[Bolaire]

have that in common.

[Narrator]

Yeah, I think on that insight check, you look at him and you see he goes, look, Baulaire, I have no issue with telling you the truth. As I see it, we can't fold this into the same wing. It doesn't make sense. The museum does not have the pieces here, nor do I think the Loy will continue to wish for their new to be on this wing if it is possessing the artifacts of the Shapers.

[Bolaire]

I'm already hearing rumblings from them.

[Narrator]

Really? Who are you hearing rumblings from?

[Bolaire]

Sadly, I am not at liberty to say yet. But you know me, people talk to me. I'm very trustworthy.

[Narrator]

Yes, a very trustworthy face. Look, Bair, my understanding is the intentions of the cormorray are to move the Celadyne Wing into the Lloyd Wing.

[Bolaire]

What? That was not what I was told.

[Narrator]

What were you told?

[Bolaire]

I was told that we were moving the Lloyd Wing. The Lloyd Wing here.

[Narrator]

Both of those can be true. I think doing a swap, maybe that

[Bolaire]

doesn't make the slightest bit of sense. I mean, I'm not going to say that this is my preferred environment. I'm sure the students love it. But there's nothing for us here, and there's certainly nothing for you over there.

[Narrator]

Why bother? I don't. I cannot say. I mean, I cannot say. The Celadyne Wing is about, what, half the size of the Loy Wing. So you're gonna have to make some curatorial choices about what gets displayed and

[Bolaire]

what happens to the rest of.

[Narrator]

Well, maybe you can write a letter to the Lady Amaria de Sincormorai. Or as you said, people love to talk to you. Maybe you can talk to her.

[Bolaire]

I would much prefer to have you on my side. Or at least I would much prefer for you to have me on your side. If it makes you feel better. A united front about what to do about this would be delightful. I am curious what they plan on doing. This doesn't make a lot of sense. Is it possible that both vaults. I mean, who knows? Both vaults could end up moving their collections somewhere else. They might close the collections. They might be building an entirely new wing. No one will see our collections. We won't be able to touch anything

[Narrator]

for six years, eight years.

[Bolaire]

How much longer do you have before we. I mean, I can't tell. You've never looked. Well.

[Narrator]

Well, I would return the insult if I knew how you looked.

[Bolaire]

Well, I appreciate that you keep turning the other cheek.

[Narrator]

I find you distasteful.

[Bolaire]

And I find you dull. Which is why we work so well together. Because we know where we stand.

[Narrator]

Baulaire, let's imagine for a moment that I'm a hero. And that I love you. What I'm gonna do? Tell the Cormorant where they can put their artifacts? No, really.

[Bolaire]

What do you think they'd say to that?

[Narrator]

I say, on behalf of the Archenaud and the Revolutionary Council, take your winged scroll and shove it up your ass. No, I don't think so. I don't know if you talk to people outside of this museum, but there's a strong wind blowing out in the city. I can tell what direction it's blowing. Can you?

[Bolaire]

There is a wind. And I can tell. I'm just. I suppose I'm curious whether or not you're standing upwind or downwind. We're going to need friends. Things are going to get complicated. And we're going to have to be careful. What will you do if they take away your little wing?

[Narrator]

Every day I come to a place. Wing dedicated to the great weapons of the most powerful beings that have ever walked our world. Who lost. So I'm not one for blind hope. I think if they come for me, I lose.

[Bolaire]

If they come for us.

[Narrator]

Though,

[Bolaire]

it is actually the fundamental problem with this wing. You know that, right? Is you said it yourself. These aren't the most powerful beings that have ever walked this earth, this soil. We are because we won.

[Narrator]

Give me either intimidation or persuasion if

[Bolaire]

you'd be so can I, boy.

[Narrator]

Yeah, whichever you think is more appropriate. I'll say. If you give me. Do you have the same bonus to both? Mm. Hell yeah. Yeah. Then go ahead and roll. It's a little mixture of the two. Yeah.

[Bolaire]

17.

[Narrator]

17. He looks to you and says, Every day I walk the halls of the weapons that failed to win in the hands of the gods and their champions. You see, he used the word gods purposefully here. And every day you walk in the hall of the weapons that struck down the shapers in the hands of brave mortals. Maybe I'm a little too pessimistic. Maybe you're a little too optimistic. If I hear anything, I'll keep talking to you. After all, people love to talk to you.

[Bolaire]

I apologize for the number of truly irritating people that are going to be running through here, poorly cataloging everything. I'm going to make this as complicated as humanly possible. And who knows? Between the two of us, we have all of the mightiest weapons. No one's ever faced them all before.

[Narrator]

Go ahead and add. Just roll a D6.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

For me.

[Narrator]

Yay.

[Bolaire]

I get to use my new D6.

[Azune]

That's a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

[Narrator]

I think you add 5 to that persuasion roll with that little bar up at the end. You see? He says no one ever has faced them all. If you count on me to be brave, I will disappoint you. If you can count on me to be scared, you might find a worthy friend.

[Bolaire]

We're archaeologists. We don't fear shit. But, yes, I'll keep you safe. We need. We need wisdom to prevail. And if it comes to it, I am. I don't know what you did during the rebellion, but I'm preparing to. I'm preparing to lose my peace again. You're a good man. As much as I find you insufferable.

[Narrator]

Always a treat, Bolaire.

[Bolaire]

We'll talk. Let me know if you hear anything. Just send a letter to my not

[Narrator]

sending shit to you in writing. You see?

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Sent.

[Narrator]

An intern walks away.

[Bolaire]

That was very smart.

[Narrator]

Wow. He walks away. We move over, I believe, to. We wake up the next morning in the Fang Hub.

[Bolaire]

Never have two curators been that nice to each other.

[Narrator]

Any museum on earth. Okay. Shit.

[Azune]

Thank you.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Cool.

[Narrator]

Hell, yeah. Hal and Azune. I think you guys start your day and probably have to get up and running.

[Azune]

Yes, I get up pretty early, before the sun comes up.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Cool. I get up early as well.

[Azune]

All right, well, lot to do. Not enough hours in the day. Right. Meet at the theater, meet at the round.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Meet at the round in the afternoon. I'm gonna go out the back door. Go for it and do. I'm trying to have as normal a day as possible. Hell, yeah. I have stayed here before, so this is all along those lines. And I'm gonna do my walk towards Falcon's Rest.

[Narrator]

You go to the Falcon's Rest, go ahead and roll a D20.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Luck.

[Narrator]

Check in front of the board for me. You're looking for an 18, 19 or 20. Let's go.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Let's do.

[Azune]

Let's go.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

This one.

[Narrator]

Nick 20.

[Hal]

Natural 20.

[Narrator]

Drop like a rock.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Holy.

[Narrator]

Holy shit. You head out from Hal's home.

[Hal]

Yes.

[Narrator]

Walk to the Falcon's Rest. And you look up and see that. God. Hold on a second. This is crazy. Nat20. We have to honor this. This has to be really cool. Hold on. We're gonna honor this. I asked for a luck check. You got a Nat 20. I gave you three out of 20 odds. You rolled a Nat 20.

[Bolaire]

You see the GM behind a curtain go.

[Narrator]

Oh,

[Azune]

Don't worry, sir. I didn't See you playing with your toys.

[Narrator]

You walk up and you walk up in this moment and I think you see. Hold on. I know this is crazy. I am going to have to consult our timeline.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Okay. Oh, in.

[Hal]

He's got a doctor on the timeline.

[Narrator]

Okay, copy that. No, this is great.

[Hal]

You beat me to it.

[Bolaire]

Felt it.

[Narrator]

Felt it coming back in the Tardis.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

We're going back in the TARDIS too.

[Azune]

Borping to level four.

[Narrator]

You walk up and see as you approach the Falcon's Rest, waiting by the colonnade where the names are written, you look and see a couple things. Number one, the falcon's nests up here are empty.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Ah.

[Narrator]

You don't see any birds, any laid eggs up here. But also you see Verin Cadorn. This is a tall human, shaved head. You see he's wearing half plate, so a little bit more mobile than full plate armor, but still very heavily armored. Yes. He looks over at you and sees you approaching and begins to walk right towards you, looking sleepless and upset.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Okay.

[Narrator]

Uh oh. He walks up to you and goes, azune, you're here.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Yes.

[Narrator]

I thought he might find you here.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Wait, wait, wait, wait. We might be watched. We must do as we normally would. And I'll handle how we have our conversation. And I will walk towards Falcon's Rest and I'm going to cross my arm and keep myself pointing in his direction as I am going to spam Cass until you tell me I can't message so that we can have this kind of conversation in our minds.

[Narrator]

Yeah. He looks at you and goes, we need to talk. I was

[Lieutenant Nyar]

so, you know, I've been

[Narrator]

posted at the Elbrandi. I've been working for the Elbrendi for a while. We got a letter late in the night last night that some of our. A cousin of one of the young lords was working as. Working? Traveling with some men at arms. There's been a massive arrest in Riesengerdel of all of our men at arms that were supposed to bring up an advance caravan. I'm not one of these nobles. I protect the house when the Elbrandi are back in Tel Mora. I'm just here to basically watch over a bunch of servants and waitstaff while their interests are managed here in the interim. But we got a letter telling us to be aware that we might be arrested. House Einfausen has put a bunch of Royce and Elbrandian Divinos Bannermen under arrest on the other side of the Jalimar Pass. Threatening arrest? No, no. Effected arrest.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Effective, Effective.

[Narrator]

I don't know if I need. Have you heard anything? Do I need to go into hiding?

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Maybe I haven't heard anything. So they're effectively arresting any of House Royce's assholes.

[Narrator]

That's the message we got.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Baron, I came here hoping to ask you quite a favor, and I didn't realize that you would be under threat.

[Narrator]

What favor do you need?

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Well, this is all happening. None of this is a coincidence. There is a power.

[Narrator]

What did they do? Where are the fucking Falcon? You see, he looks around, I think. Give me an insight check. Okay.

[Bolaire]

Oh.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Oh, my God.

[Narrator]

Oh, my fucking God.

[Hal]

Oh, my God.

[Narrator]

A second. Nat 20. It's a different dive. It's a different dive. He's having a. His sudden shift to speaking about the falcons. He's having a. You can sense a traumatic episode coming on that he's on the verge of having. Yeah.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I am going to do what Houndon does, is I'm going to approach him, I'm going to put my hand on his chest and I'm going to the other hand on his shoulder, and I'm just going to press and I'm going to say, breathe, breathe. Breathe. Right now, you're not in danger. Right now, we know need level heads. We need to figure out what's happening. You might be under threat, but we cannot just run. They're doing everything they can to intimidate us and they're moving fast. The falcons that aren't here anymore, of course, this is all their fault.

[Narrator]

They did this.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I think you need to resign. You and whoever else you know that's working for any house that's a vassal house to House Royce, you all need to resign.

[Azune]

Okay?

[Lieutenant Nyar]

And then you need to come work for us.

[Narrator]

The guard.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

No, there's a lot more happening. As much as they're moving as quickly as they are, there are forces in opposition that are already moving. You are not alone. The falcon's cry is still being heard, piercing the sky. For any of those that are willing to hear it. Are you willing to hear it? Because you cannot come here at Falcon's Rest and just think upon those of

[Narrator]

our fallen and friends from the Falconer's

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Rebellion and think that that is a way to pay homage to them.

[Narrator]

No.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

It is time to act.

[Narrator]

That is the best way that we

[Lieutenant Nyar]

can make their sacrifice and make their memories come alive.

[Narrator]

Azune, I've been stuck for years. And you see, he puts a hand on your shoulder this time and says, I think we've all been waiting for it to cry again. And if you hear it, I'M with you. Tell me where to go. Tell me. If you need me to tell the others, I'll tell everyone I know.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

We need people that we can trust, and we need to play the game I.

[Narrator]

How they play it.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Right now, the Revolutionary Guard has been decimated. There's. They've let go of the majority of the Revolutionary Guard to have them poached

[Narrator]

by the sundered houses.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I saw a mercenary group recruiting people.

[Narrator]

They can't tell us apart one from the other.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I want you and those that you trust to act as though you were members of the Revolutionary Guard. Dismissed. Looking for another opportunity. And seek employment with those mercenary groups that are under those sundered houses because we need eyes and ears inside.

[Narrator]

He looks and says, I mean, they poached me five years ago. I understand. All right, what's the. They let go of the Revolutionary Guard and you think that they did it. I mean, they could do it for multiple reasons, but they. They're trying to poach them.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

They're weakening. Whatever. The city has to be able to stand on its own two feet.

[Narrator]

Where did you see everyone going? What house are they flocking to?

[Lieutenant Nyar]

It was a mercenary group that I didn't recognize, but I know it was under the Candescent Creed banner.

[Narrator]

Okay.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

But it would also help if we had a number of people in other houses as well.

[Narrator]

I'm in touch. This detail they've got me on, they all have manor houses here, but I know some of the people at Obramis, which is the Taconis Manor. I know some of the folks over at Divinos, obviously, and the Villa Aurora. And I'm gonna go collect names. I'm gonna go knock some heads.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Yes.

[Narrator]

I'll let you know. Where can I find you? You can find me here, all right?

[Lieutenant Nyar]

And if you don't, you might see a dwarven woman. She looks to be of the Penteveral, but she's on our side. Okay. Her name is Marie.

[Bolaire]

Yeah.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

If I'm not here, you speak to

[Narrator]

her just as you would to me.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I understand.

[Narrator]

All right. I don't want to stay any longer, but if this. I don't know what's happening, and maybe I don't need to.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

But

[Narrator]

they put you on the. On the Thiazi detail, right?

[Lieutenant Nyar]

They did.

[Narrator]

I'm sorry.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Thank you.

[Narrator]

Names. Heads. I'll be back here in a nurse action. You see that? He clasps you to him and walks off into the gray of the early morning sick rolls. Man, I'm lucky. Unbelievable.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I do have the Lucky feet.

[Narrator]

I do have the lucky feet. You continue.

[Hal]

I have the lucky feet too. I keep forgetting that.

[Narrator]

You continue on down to the. To the Brethren Hall. Yes, as you arrive there, you see that Captain Fazir looks to you and says, Lieutenant Nyar, you will your first task of the day. You've actually been called to special report slides over. There is a full investigation. Investigation of possible magical wrongdoing at the Palazzo Divinos.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Oh, does he hand me something?

[Narrator]

He hands you a small slip written signed by the Lord Hrondis Einfassen. Oh.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

What have you heard, Captain? The streets have been talking about what might have happened there.

[Narrator]

Suspicious things we're hearing, it seems. It seems that the Royce have reopened the door to Faerie. There are some reports that the Royce may have kidnapped some of the servants and laborers and taken them with them through the door to Faerie.

[Bolaire]

Oh, no.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Does that strike you as something characteristic of the Roy's?

[Narrator]

It's a. There's a handful of those who are missing. We don't know if they're missing or they've turned up or what. But an investigation has been called for because there was illusory magic present and so. Aha. That's why we are going. Otherwise, it's a missing person. So it has nothing to do with the arcane marshals. But we're going because there was magic present there.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

And it looks like by way we, you mean me.

[Narrator]

You've been requested personally.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Understood,

[Narrator]

Captain.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

How's your sense of the morale of those of us that have stayed in the revolutionary garden?

[Narrator]

I'd say morale is at an awful all time low. As you name.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Yeah, we need to do something about that. What are you going to do about that, Captain?

[Narrator]

Give me persuasion and then give me insight.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Persuasion.

[Narrator]

Unnatural one.

[Hal]

You got that luck, Pete?

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I am. Oh, well, luck is now. You have to declare it beforehand and it gives you advantage. But I'm gonna use my heroic inspiration.

[Hal]

Luck's changed.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Luck has changed.

[Azune]

At least erase the one. Yeah.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Yes. So I'm gonna use my heroic inspiration and roll again. I'm gonna roll a different one.

[Bolaire]

Can you use luck now?

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I think I could. You don't have to, but I'm gonna save that. Yeah, I will.

[Azune]

Is it cocked?

[Lieutenant Nyar]

No, it's not. It's a. This was a persuasion. A 15.

[Narrator]

A 15.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

And I have insight. Do you want the insight immediately?

[Narrator]

Yeah, I got the insight immediately.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Okay. This one.

[Narrator]

Nat 1. No. Nat 20. Yes. Oh my God, yes. What is happening ever in my life? What a streak. What a streak.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

And except for the one that I have for my character. I use these dice all the time and they're never this hot.

[Hal]

What the shit? Maybe it is important day.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Yeah, you know it.

[Narrator]

On reviving 2. On a natural 20. On a natural 20, you look and find that there is natural 20. Insight. Captain Vizier is not going to rock the boat. He does not have the soul of a hero. Yes, he is not going to rock the boat. On a 15 persuasion. He looks and says, well, I think you're right that something is in order. Perhaps we can gather the troops together at the mead hall down the street. Yeah, more camaraderie is probably the order of the day.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

You're right, Captain. You have a lot on your plate. And you, of course, have been through so much. Allow me to assume some responsibility in your stead.

[Narrator]

I appreciate that you seem to have come into the favor of Lord Einfasten. So by all means, on your way, Lieutenant.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Yes. Yes, sir. And I will make my way.

[Narrator]

Make my way.

[Bolaire]

Infectious.

[Narrator]

You head over to the Palazzo Divinas, a place you've already investigated the night before.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Am I. And I'm alone.

[Narrator]

No, not the night before. But the night before that, I'm here. All blends together.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Am I not assigned any of my. Oh, my guard is with me. Okay, great. Okay.

[Hal]

Do we like Captain Vizier? Do we like him or not?

[Narrator]

After that?

[Hal]

Mid. Yeah.

[Narrator]

I think that the correct read is that Captain Fazir is nice and mid.

[Hal]

He's nice and mid.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Yes. He is not going to do anything that's going to put him out.

[Narrator]

Risk.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

He's grassy.

[Bolaire]

He bends with the wind.

[Azune]

He's in a turtle.

[Narrator]

Yep.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I think on my way with my detail, I'm. As I'm approaching the Palazzo Divinos, I'm really concerned over them. And I immediately want to kind of get a sense of how they're doing, how deflated they are, how scared they are. And. And, Yeah, do I. I'm just gonna try to be the leader that I haven't been for them and that they deserve. I'm certain you are all struggling to keep up with these changing winds. I am as well. And I want to assure you all that

[Narrator]

although I may not have been

[Lieutenant Nyar]

the most forthcoming and the most verbose as your lieutenant, I want to make sure you all know that I am without a doubt, here for each and every one of you. I know we all had friends and some of us had family that were dismissed. If you're upset, you have every right to be. You have someone to come to. I will Be that person for you. And I want you, as we move forward, to do what this Revolutionary Guard under new supervision asks us to do. I want you all to remember who we truly are in service to in this city. And that is the people. And I'll point as we walk to the people that are going about their day. The children of the city, the elderly, the newly in love couples. These are who we are in service to. And you can, in spite of how rocked you might feel, hold them as well. Because we are one of the last remaining forces that can help protect them.

[Narrator]

Go ahead and give me persuasion with advance.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Come on, baby.

[Narrator]

Let's see if this hot streak continues.

[Azune]

Yeah, you can do it.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Wait, what is this?

[Hal]

What is that?

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Oh, okay, okay,

[Narrator]

okay.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

It's a 1313.

[Narrator]

You see that your four soldiers, Horus, Dalla and Grado, look at you. Go ahead and give me an insight check.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Okay. This one. Oh, boy. That is a seven.

[Narrator]

I think you look at your.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I got too happy at my dice roll.

[Narrator]

Your detail here and I think that you see that there is on a seven, insight. They nod back and they say, thank you, Lieutenant.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Oh, 15. I'm sorry. On the persuasion.

[Narrator]

15. On persuasion, they look. I think you see them look happy that they have been told they can come and talk to you. But I don't think you get any deep sense of the mission under here. And I think that there's a possibility that you. The clarity you got on your captain where you're like, that bridge is rickety. Don't cross that bridge. You sadly don't have the same clarity of. Of your subordinates. They are following your orders and are being respectful to you. And you don't know if that's because they believe in a cause or they're collecting a paycheck or they're wondering what the benefits are. With the Sons of the dawn, you just don't know.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I'm gonna have faith in them and am going to not press it. Sometimes some things are a little bit more of a long game. It takes more than one moment of contact to nudge something that's heavier to move. And I'm going to just say to them, you know how to do your jobs, you do them well. Let's begin.

[Narrator]

I also think in this question, Azanut, for you, so much of your job has been about being in this position because of what it did for. For Thiazi and his efforts and touching this over here and Murray and Belair and this other stuff. Does Ahzane have a long history of Leadership within his own unit? Or do you think Ahune is someone who has really thought long and hard about his unit before now? Or is this something that is changing?

[Lieutenant Nyar]

This is a change, yeah. I think the centerpiece of what I would in terms of what needed to get done, it revolved around what I thought the Ozzy needed.

[Narrator]

Yeah.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

This is the first time I think I'm recognizing that I might need to light some of my own fires, like he told me.

[Narrator]

You head out from there, heading towards the Palazzo Divinos to begin your investigation. Uh, Hal, where do you head to this fine morning?

[Azune]

Well, I have a lot I want to try to get done before getting to the hallowed realm today. The first thing I want to do is I want to go to two quick stops in the rookery, the neighborhood that both my home, the theater refer to as the rookery. This neighborhood is honeycombed with not all, but most of the troop of the hallowed round of the rookery. And I need to see two people. But despite Azune describing the hail of our visit last night and them really just sort of flexing and trying to invite me to the estate, still a little paranoid. So what I do early, right after Azune leaves is I take a moment with my brother hand on his chest. Just a moment of quiet. And then slowly in the back of the house there is a side entrance to the home. And I actually bring in a large slat of wood and I move my brother onto it and I begin to drag that slat of wood towards the back of the house. I pause, I grab a cloak from my home and throw it up and over my head and exit the rear of the building with my brother. And I have a low small wagon, a little more than a wheelbarrow, but less than a regular horse drawn wagon. And I manage to slide the Aussie on top of it and cover him over with fabric from inside the house. And while I'm still in the back of the house unseen, I will drag my hand across my face a way I've done a thousand times before. And my visage and my hands become wizened and old as I cast the spell disguise self so I look like a very, very old orc. And cloak still over me. And I pick up the cart behind me and very easily assume an old punched position. And I begin to walk my brother through the neighborhood of the rookery. Looking around for anything dangerous gave me perception. Okay, okay, that is a 15

[Narrator]

wheeling Thiazi's body which is covered. You just look like an old Dolmachyar orc. Taking a wheelbarrow of goods, taking a cart of goods somewhere. You pass the bottom of your street. Your street in the rookery does branch off into other streets, but they actually all kind of. You're realizing they do all come back down to the central highway. And you get down to that larger thoroughfare that heads to the bridge, crossing the Bridge River Vrosh, and see two Sons of the dawn, two Hailovar mercenaries that are just at the street corner looking up your street. And they don't look at you at all, because why would they?

[Azune]

Right? I turn away and begin to wheel off towards my partner's house, to Olgood Akarat's home, early in the morning. And when I feel like I'm a few streets of away from the Haylovar units, I drop the spell and stand up in the same cloak. So I just slowly shift from old man to Hal and arrive at Olgood's house. Give a little knock.

[Narrator]

See, I'll be right there. Hold on. Want to walk to work together? What are you doing here?

[Hal]

Carpool.

[Azune]

Sorry, sorry. I know that you've helped the family out so much in the past couple of days, and I'm afraid.

[Hal]

Carpool?

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Yes.

[Azune]

I'm here to ask for another family favor. So all your tasks for the business today, please put them on hold, if you will.

[Narrator]

Got it? No, no problem. He looks down and says, oh, are these the new. What is it? The foils. The stage foils. Stage combat. What do you got in the cart?

[Azune]

Listen, I am worried about Shadia. Now that we've said our goodbyes to her uncle, I think it's time to take him to the next step. I look down at the wagon and then back up to him.

[Narrator]

Oh, spirits of the old Peth. My God.

[Azune]

Okay.

[Narrator]

All right.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

I know.

[Narrator]

Okay.

[Azune]

And I squeeze him by the shoulder.

[Narrator]

Okay,

[Azune]

I need you to do me this favor today. And I turn my head up and I look at the hills above the rookery, above our neighborhood. You know where my father lies?

[Narrator]

I do.

[Azune]

I think that he wanted to be close to the old man. So the ridge above the cemetery up there? Yeah, I mean. I mean to make his rest there. So for today, could you look after my brother?

[Narrator]

I'll look after him. Did you have a conversation with them about the plot? I can handle that today.

[Azune]

Yes, please. And if you could, I'm hoping to move into sort of uncharted territories up onto that hill above it. You can see the whole city from up there. He can keep an eye on us.

[Narrator]

Still got It. I'll get it done now.

[Azune]

Thank you, old friend.

[Narrator]

He'd love it. See the whole city be up there. Catch every slate gray dawn this grimy old town has to offer. It's a good place.

[Azune]

Appreciate you.

[Narrator]

Appreciate you. What's the theater producer for if not to abscond with the body of his business partner's brother, hanged for sedition and arcanism? I don't get it done.

[Azune]

It is almost, but not quite, the worst thing we've ever done together.

[Narrator]

No, the worst thing we've ever done was that production the first time we were in the Lyceum. My God, that was bad.

[Azune]

We said we weren't going to talk about that anymore.

[Narrator]

No, he doesn't talk about that anymore. But I can't stop thinking about it.

[Azune]

Rules are meant to be broken, it seems. All right, I will look in on the round later and see how things are going. Make sure that we're still on track. You are free of thinking about theater for one day and one day only.

[Narrator]

Oh, what a relief. All right, I'll see it done. Take care of yourself, Al. Thank you. He takes the cart, moves it indoors and shuts the door. Looking around, paranoid for a moment. And then. Then you are on your way.

[Azune]

I just walk another three blocks over from here and I end up on the doorstep of Inez Roundtree. Inez, the half orc woman, ex rebel of the Falconer's Rebellion, turned fight captain for my theater troupe, has walked me and every member of it through choreo and swordcraft. Pretend swordcraft, a very important part of everything we do. And I knock on her door.

[Narrator]

You knock on her door, she opens it and goes. Hal. Oh, sorry. You needed the foils, right? The stage combat.

[Azune]

No, no, no, no, no, no. I think the troupe has finally. I think they've got it for this one.

[Narrator]

Okay, Understood.

[Azune]

I think at this point you can just enjoy a job well done.

[Narrator]

Great. Why are you here?

[Azune]

Right. I'm not the only one who is noticing this city is getting tense, am I?

[Narrator]

No, I don't think so. I think it's been getting tense for a while.

[Azune]

I'm starting to worry about the agreements we have in place for our work.

[Narrator]

You mean with the council? Our license to the hallowed round?

[Azune]

I can't even put my finger on it. It's like everywhere I go, it feels like the walls are getting just a little more narrow, closing in just a little bit more. And I'm hearing this from friends, all my little birds around the city. I'm trying to get A sense of what's going on inside of the guards heads. And I really hate to ask this, but I know that your sister still works in the Ironfrossen estate.

[Narrator]

Me and my sister gossip all the time. It is not hard for me just to go press and see if she's heard anything. Do you want me now? I will happily tell you what my sister said if you. Are you asking me for me to ask my sister to be proactive and look for something?

[Azune]

Tell you what. I'm a little load for bear today. But if it works for her. Schedule there. If she has time off and can visit you here. Can the three of us talk?

[Narrator]

Give me a persuasion check.

[Azune]

That is a 24.

[Hal]

Oh yeah.

[Narrator]

I think that sounds perfectly fine. I'll ask Romina over. What? You want to have dinner tonight?

[Azune]

Yeah, let's say tonight.

[Narrator]

If she's free, I'll ask Tonight. Should it be? Can we meet somewhere more central for her? The Einflazen Estates, Crosstown.

[Azune]

Whatever is easiest for her. I'm really trying not to put you or her out. I only ask. And as you know that the kind of purpose that my brother and you

[Lieutenant Nyar]

had to bear

[Azune]

those needs might be coming back. They are coming back. I don't know if I can keep the plate spinning. And I am just trying to future proof if I can.

[Narrator]

I've been thinking a lot about your brother. Hell of a time for our opening at the great amphitheater to be telling a story about a failed revolution.

[Azune]

The irony is not lost on me.

[Narrator]

I'll keep my ear to the ground, Al. Let me talk to Romina and I'll see what I can do. I know that she's working today, so I might have to send word to you at the round. All right. You take off from Inez? Yes.

[Azune]

And my last errand of the day before meeting up with the others is heading further out into the city to the Gray Library.

[Narrator]

You head to the Gray Library. The library of the Revolutionary Council in Marud. Arriving there, you enter into the maze like stacks of the largest multicultural Pan Historical library on the continent of Pasatar.

[Azune]

I'm looking for any of the few friendly faces that I have grown to know over decades of coming to this place to research for my work.

[Narrator]

You see that Brindra Moss is a older Bullfolk librarian. She has long spectrals on the edge of her stout big horns on her head. Turns around.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Oh, hello.

[Narrator]

Good to see you, my friend.

[Azune]

Ms. Moss, it has been a moment. How are you? How are you?

[Narrator]

Wonderful, wonderful. Life is glorious.

[Azune]

Things still fast paced here. The old library.

[Narrator]

It is a maelstrom of activity. The silence that follows that statement is resounding. Can hardly catch a breath and.

[Azune]

Well, I know it's been half a year, but I am back. Ah, begging.

[Narrator]

I weren't you here the other. Oh God, it was half a year ago. That's right. It feels like a moment.

[Azune]

I'm here to beg on your doorstep again. If you can believe it. We're finally on the verge. The show is about. About to go. All of those hours spent in the stacks under your tutelage and guidance have paid off. Please, you have my most gracious invitation to come. Eight days. Eight days at the Hollow Round. And you will be down front and center. Please, I insist.

[Narrator]

I'm there. Count me in. Is this treant of a woman I know? I live in marut. What part of town is the Hollowed Round in?

[Azune]

Oh, it's all the way on the south side with views of the country like you wouldn't believe.

[Narrator]

I'll have to get. It's been. If it's in eight days, I'll leave tomorrow. How can I help you, Alan?

[Azune]

While a rolling stone catches no moss, grows no moss. And if you can believe it, I already have an idea for the next. I have got an itch today to do some work to start digging in and I want to dive back into the history stacks, if that's okay.

[Narrator]

Oh, of course, Helen. Deal. Normally on a day this busy, I would wouldn't think of it. But here, and you see, she hands you a small little sort of parchment square that has an emblem of the library on it. Help yourself. You're such a speedy young whippersnapper. You go faster by yourself. Just handle the books with care. I know I can trust you.

[Azune]

That'll do. You taught me the Mooi Decimal system.

[Narrator]

So I am. You are a dad.

[Azune]

Or am I a dad?

[Narrator]

Help yourself. Help yourself. And she bids you into the history section. What do you do in that section?

[Azune]

Well, Brandon, I think it took me 60 or 90 minutes to get to this point and I have maybe three or four or maybe five hours before I have to be at the hallowed Round. So what I would like to do is dig into the stacks in the limited amount of time that I have and find anything and everything I can on the death of the gods. Hopefully with a focus on Illumi. Illumi and the Halflings. And I want to look for any mention or any scraps or shred of information about masks in history or story or myth or Tales. Anything from the last 100 to 500 years.

[Narrator]

Incredible. This information is secret from all across the world. You are looking for. For the barest wisps of clues. You are here in this great library. So I will allow you to roll with advantage. You'll be rolling a history check. A DC20 gets you a whisper. A DC25 gets you, I think something usable that points in a direction. DC 30 copy of Spider man number one.

[Bolaire]

Todd McFarland original.

[Narrator]

Wow. Let's go ahead and roll.

[Azune]

Boy, this is a long shot.

[Bolaire]

That'll be easy to find.

[Azune]

This is a long shot. Here we go. I'll do it.

[Hal]

What's your history?

[Azune]

It's pretty good. It's pretty good. Go for it.

[Hal]

Why can't. Oh, it is pretty good. Good rolls. Liam O' Brien good rolls.

[Azune]

It's a 22.

[Narrator]

22 on a 22. You open the books. Moving through.

[Azune]

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Nevermind. Never mind.

[Narrator]

Armor not gonna use your heroic inspiration.

[Azune]

Okay, I don't have that.

[Narrator]

Okay, what's that? Oh, he gave you advantage already. Catch it. Oh no.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

You have heroic.

[Narrator]

You have heroic. Heroic inspiration. You can re roll if you wish,

[Lieutenant Nyar]

but you have to take the new roll.

[Azune]

Keep the 22.

[Narrator]

Hell yeah,

[Hal]

you have to keep the new roll.

[Narrator]

You look on a 22 and you find. A text referencing the creation of sacred masks as part of a halfling tradition from the country of Hargud, far to the north. It references another text. There's a footnote in this tome that references another text in the library here. Going to search for it. You do not find it on the shelf here. It is missing. You see that looking in.

[Bolaire]

I say I need the kindling. But that part's already done.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Oh my God.

[Narrator]

The text that you are looking for is an ancient halfling text or not. It's about a two centuries old halfling text called the Visages of Creation. And there is this version in this library was a copy. It is missing. You could ask Barendra about it if you want.

[Hal]

Don't you hate it when you can't find the original source or something?

[Bolaire]

One on the list. This is how you get on the list.

[Azune]

How much time do you think it took me to get to this point?

[Narrator]

Think about an hour and a half, 90 minutes.

[Bolaire]

Insult it,

[Azune]

you bastard. I put masks on the entire chorus because. Because of you I go seeking her out.

[Narrator]

Yeah, you find Baryndra. How's it going?

[Azune]

I'm an amateur. I am not half the historian you are. Not even a quarter. I am Following a trail of a wisp of breadcrumbs through your labyrinth. And I am trying to find. An elder text called the. I think the translation is the Visages of Creation.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Does that.

[Narrator]

Visages of Creation. Yes. Oh, that hasn't been returned.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

That's.

[Narrator]

Hold on. He starts rumbling through. I'm so sorry, Hal. This is marked as returned, but I don't know what happened to our copy. Why don't I. I could send for another copy. The original text is in the totality in Hargood.

[Azune]

Oh, okay. Okay. Well, it's a work in progress. Do you have record of when. When it was taken out?

[Narrator]

Yes. Let me look that up. I'll send a courier with any information I have about it down to the hallowed round later today when I get time.

[Azune]

That is more than fair. Thank you so much for your patience with my noodling about your home.

[Narrator]

Of course, of course, Hal. Well, I'll keep an eye on it. And do you want me to. To send to the Totality to see if they have a copy that can be sent here to replenish our library? I actually should do that anyway feasible.

[Azune]

Possible, yes.

[Narrator]

It might take a few weeks, but. Yes, certainly, let's do that. All right, I'll go ahead and do that.

[Azune]

And if you have two or three friends you want to bring to the

[Narrator]

round, my treatment, my sisters, we'll all come. We'll make a date of it. You see? She smiles outside. You hear trumpets blaring. She says, ooh, out there at the gray tower. Well, be well, Hal. You exit the gray library before the gray tower of the Revolutionary Council. Exiting the library, the vast courtyard here at the central spiring civic castle, the home of the Revolutionary Council, the castle that was built for the united will of all of the mortals of Ahriman in their war against the shapers, to come together and know a world of only justice and light and truth and freedom to chart their own destinies. You step out. Broad steps, hundred foot wide, are the steps leading down from the library to the great tower of the Revolutionary Council, the flag flying of a united Ahriman. Trumpets blare. You see horses coming in, knights in shining armor, a druid with an antlered helm, and carriages pulling up, alighting to a rock in the garden. You see a young, muscular, almost halfway between a coyote and a husky arise up as the trumpets end, presenting to the Revolutionary Council. The dog speaks aloud, King Augustus, Valiant of Timony. And you see the emissaries of Timony exit from this cart and you see that a carriage opens and you see the dog looking in and goes, is he in there?

[Lieutenant Nyar]

And

[Narrator]

you see that a Druid pokes his head out and says, he told me he was riding a horse. And you see the dog goes, not again. King Valian calls out. And that's where we will end our episode of Critical Role.

[Bolaire]

I may be a talking dog, but I sure as heck can't drive talking dogs too.

[Narrator]

King Augustus Valiant, Gus from the Soldier's Table. I'm gonna look it up in a library. Do you think this fucking game gu. You don't think that I would. Oh no.

[Bolaire]

There might be a library with a book with me.

[Lieutenant Nyar]

Oh yeah.

[Azune]

No, I'm looking for rumors. You think I'm gonna be like, cool living mass. Got it. That makes sense.

[Bolaire]

How I Did it by Victor Frankenstein

[Narrator]

How I Did it by Victor Frankenstein. Folks, we got a lot to talk about. I'll tell you what. What a fucking hot start. I'm so psyched. We'll see you next week for our continuation of the schemers table here at Critical Role. Is it Thursday yet? 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 it. 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.

[Hal]

Foreign.

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