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The Fall of Thjazi Fang | Critical Role | Campaign 4, Episode 1 Part 2
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Part 2 "A politically suspicious execution brings the friends, family, and enemies of noted war hero Thjazi Fang to the city of Dol-Makjar to celebrate a life well-adventured... New Episodes Release Weekly on Thursdays. Learn more about Campaign 4 at https://critrole.com/campaign4/ OFFICIAL CAMPAIGN 4 CAST GAME MASTER Brennan Lee Mulligan Laura Bailey as Thimble Luis Carazo as Azune Nayar Robbie Daymond as Kattigan Vale Aabria Iyengar as Thaisha Lloy Taliesin Jaffe as Bolaire Lathalia Ashley Johnson as Vaelus Matthew Mercer as Sir Julien Davinos Whitney Moore as Tyranny Liam O’Brien as Halandil "Hal" Fang Marisha Ray as Murray Mag’Nesson Sam Riegel as Wicander "Wick" Halovar Alexander Ward as Occtis Tachonis Travis Willingham as Teor Pridesire CREDITS Produced by Maxwell James, Steve Failows, & Kyle Shire Edited by Taylor Burke and Emily "Stevie" Stevenson Visual Effects by Christian Brown Graphic Design by Aaron Monroy & Jordyn Torrence Miniature Painting by Payton Keo Lace...
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A new era of power is here. All you have to do is take it. Discover Area51 today at www.alienware.com area-51 laptops. Mazda Once you discover the Mazda CX90 Mazda, it doesn't take long to get it. With three row seating and safety features like radar, cruise control and rear cross traffic alert to carry you and your peace of mind, it will have you saying Mazda. The Mazda CX90. It's made to move you. Every Mazda SUV offers you an elevated driving experience and refined performance. Discover it at your local Mazda dealer today. 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 for first. What are you doing? Otherwise, let's jump right back into this adventure and the world of Ahriman. Welcome back to episode one, Campaign for Critical Role. Laura, give me a death saving throw. Hey, what's up? Clap, you guys, clap. 11. That's a success. Okay. Incredible. Go ahead. Okay. With a success. Thimble, you are a pixie from Tear Cruthu, the land of Faerie. Beyond this realm, a place beyond you see golden orchard swimming in your head. There's so much Thiazzi. The Azzy's counting on you. Roll another death saving throw. Oh, shit. Okay. Oh my God. 17. 17. His face. Tell Fimble, don't be scared. There's something on the wind. A falcon soaring. Give me another death saving throw. Oh, fuck. One. Okay, okay. Seeing Thimble. And this is two. That's two. Two successes. Two Failures. Everybody, for the first time in this campaign, roll initiative. Hold on. Including you. You will roll with disadvantage. Actually, no. You'll roll straight. Good. Cause I did bad. Natural 20 for a 22. Natural 20. 20. 22. What did we get here? 22. It's bad. No, 22. But my initiative was okay. But you got a 22 as well. I did. On a nat 20. You're gonna go first. Okay. Okay, 20. What do we get? A five. A five. I'm somewhere. I'm very distracted as we come into this crime scene. On that natural one. You see it? You remember the day you were with him. He was holding you in the palm of his hand. I'm so sorry. But they closed them. And you see the doors to Faerie closing. Death. The shadow of the underworld racing against the light. That inner spark within you, connecting you to lands beyond. Vanishing. That was the last day you felt it. The day you started aging. The day that fairy vanished from the world. The light is leaving. That's what it means to be immortal. And on that one, your light begins to leave. Teor, you are looking down. This was Thiazi's to say, his partner in everything. In crime, adventure, war and heroism. Thimble and Thiazi Ozzy were thick as thieves. And everywhere they traveled, they traveled side by side. And you watch as the light begins to leave her. In this moment, it is your turn. I see the light dimming. And I look down. And I remember you so vividly. And yet you've changed. You seem different. And just instinctually, I grab onto something that's on my waist and I reach out a single claw and I ever so gently just touch it to your breastplate. And I will cast. Lay on hands. I'm sorry. Cure wounds. Cure wounds. 2D8. Plus my spell casting ability. Okay. There is through the grate. Travis. Yes. And I promise I'm not trying to be cruel. Oh my gosh. But there is a grate in the floor between you and where Thimble is. Do you want to give me either an athletics check or something else to try to move it? Or an acrobatics to try to squeeze your hand. I would use athletics to rip the holy motherfuck out of that grate and leave no chance of anything getting moved between you and Symbol. Hell, yes. If you so desire. Even though there's possible danger everywhere, I will let you make that roll with advantage if you disregard your own physical well being in getting the grade out of it. Yes. All right. Amazing. 19 4. 23. 23. You take just three points of bludgeoning damage. Literally shoving your claws through the grate. The grate is kind of not big enough to get your hands in there. And you force them through, skinning your knuckles on the way in. And all of you watch Teor just pull some of the stone comes out with it. Boom. As part of your movement, as your object interaction to just get this thing out of there. Cast. Cure wounds for me, my friend. Hold, Thimble. Hold. And you'll see just a little bit of divine radiance. Extend down his silvery gray forearm down to the claw and into your chest. And you heal. 13 points, thimble. The light is leaving. Until suddenly the sun is rising. It's warm again. You look up, but this is a dream that it will hurt to leave. For the waking world holds no joy for you as you regain consciousness. Easy, little one. Taylor. Hi. Thimble. What are you doing? And I look next to me and I see. I see the glyph. I have to get to the azzy. I have to get this on the Aussie. Take it slow. You're with friends. Thimble. What are you doing here? It's done. It's done. What do you mean it's done? What do you mean it's done? It's done. It didn't work. I'm sorry. And the disguise self melts. Sorry. It doesn't work. Yes, I'm sorry. I don't know what was going on here, but the Aziz, he's gone. I'm so sorry. The ay's gone. Hidden. I hold onto your finger so I can get lifted up. My. My wing isn't working. Oh. It's okay. Breathe. Just. The Aussie is gone. The Aussie. It's gone. When? When? How long ago? I look up. Do I see the sky? Is it nighttime? It's no longer night. Oh, I didn't. I didn't even get to say goodbye. No. Thimble. Thimble. And I approach you as you're holding onto Taylor's hand. He knew. I spoke to him in my way. And he. He told me to tell you. What? That you. You. You did so well. And you're so proud of me. I did. Shit. The cliff is here. I fucked it up. These. These people came in. They. They. They attacked me. How did they even know? How did they even know? We don't know. But we're going to find that out. What the hell? We're going to find that out. Azune, as you look at the glyph on the ground beside Thimble Something's not adding up. Wait. I. You. The glyph was there. The glyph was there. Wait. And I want to take a look at that glyph. You told me the glyph. Give me an arcana check as you investigate it. Okay. You pick it up. This is an enormous wrinkle. Something is wrong. I start to look at it. If I may, Can I guidance myself as I investigate that? I close my eyes and I know that this moment needs me to focus. And I let my mind take me to a place of calm. And I remember my mother's face as I take a breath. That is a 22 arcana. You're looking. The glyph is perfect. It's exactly. This is what. And you're thinking back. There was no way for you. This is the glyph. It's here. And there's no way that's possible. And so the question is, on a 22, what did you scan? You got the. You got conjured. I was looking for conjuration and illusion. And you see contrary. And illusion here. Exactly. But the issue is you were reading an aura because it had to stay hidden in his jacket. And you're going back and you're saying I didn't actually get my eyes on what was in his jacket. Something is not adding up on a 22. You know that this is accurate, that this is the thing that Thimble was working on. This one you are holding in your hand and seeing with your own eyes. Yes. But something. It can't have gotten from Thyazzi back here. No. It's still on his body. You know there's something still on his body. Yeah. We need to go back. I'll pick up the glyph. This is the right one. This is the one. This is what was supposed to be on him. But Fimble. Somebody was on this. You told me there was the correct glyph on his body. It was. It registered. I did the scan and it registered. It pinged. It pinged. Conjuration and illusion. And it was placed. I start looking around the room. I start moving my wings. And I get a little bit off the ground and start looking around the room to see if those men took anything else. You had something on Diazzi. You were trying to save him. Yes. Yes. As you begin looking around the room. It is chaos here. And I think your fairy senses scan out through. Through this space. They have pillaged everything you remember in your last moment of combat. Masked figures barging into the room as you were finishing the glyph. Waiting for the moment of transfer where you could fly out through the city under cover of darkness, plant it in Thiazi's coat, exactly where it was supposed to go. The plan was set. It was you, Tysha, Octys. Tysha and octys were going to be waiting to get him out of the city. Azune was going to throw the scan so that it wouldn't register as there being magic. The wagon was going to be provided by Kasimir, an old member of the torn banner, and it was going to be put in place by cid. Teor's younger brother was going to drive it into place. He was supposed to break the rune, appear in the wagon, head out, get found by Tycha and octys, make his way out of the city. Looking around, not only is this place completely ransacked, but you killed at least three of them when they came in. And there's no one to be found in here. You look and see the grate. If you had not, with your last effort, grabbed the glyph and fallen into the grate. I think Teor, looking at the thing you just tore out of the ground, you can see fingerprints on it residually from. In other words, she fell through and was hidden away from where they could get her other. And then they ransacked the place and left. Looking around, though, there are so many questions here, and I think give me investigation if you'd like. Okay. God, I'm traumatized right now. Um. Seven. Looking around, you have no. It all happened so fast. Looking at this chaos, you would need a miracle to be able to piece together what happened here. Which means it's really good news that a miracle walks in. Robbie, you want to come out? Oh, I need a Kleenex. There's somewhere. Robbie, do we have Kleenex? Back in the blue. I didn't bring Kleenex. Go get one. Oh, man. I got you, pal. Nice. What's up? Hi. Hell, yeah. To Octus, all of you. I have all of your passive perceptions in front of me. A ghost appears in the doorway. Oxus, you don't recognize a figure, but thimble, Teor, and Azune all do. Robbie, you want to go ahead and describe your character for us? Yeah. You see a human man. Is he tall? Coward. He is so tall. He actually is an imposing figure. He's. He's older. I'd say in his mid-40s or so. But it's tough to tell because he's lived a hard life, a weathered life from the very beginning. You see a man at the Waning peak of his physical ability, but he was definitely there and very, very capable. He's 6 4, 220 pounds. He's carved out of the oak that he lives among. Cadogan Vale. Has a cowl and hood over his head and monochrome. Everything on him feels scavenged but purposeful. High quality and cared for, but wild and raw. And the things that he wears represents who he is on the inside as well. He is. He's a wild man in a place that he shouldn't be. As he sort of appears in the doorway in this imposing figure, he stumbles just a little bit. That aura goes away. And as he stumbles, he leans against the door and you can tell, hey, he's been drinking. Yeah. Yeah. And that takes away. It diminishes him and the sort of aura that he's putting out. But he recovers quickly and does his best to make a joke and says, I thought this was going to be a funeral, not a reunion. The sigil that Octus had started burning into the air fizzles. I have that effect on Minnie. And then through the open window, a massive juvenile canine just floats through the air and lands right in the middle of the room. Immediately off to his quarter. That's him. Yeah. I fly up in the air and it growls at everyone in the room and slowly walks over to Cat again and sits at him without any command. Stops growling and looks out at everyone. I know that dog. What? Pin comes up on my shoulder and flows down and goes and sniffs at the dog. This little fox made out of pieces of foxes. Cadogan's completely confused. I've seen this dog in the woods. Pin wanders in the woods sometimes, and sometimes I look through his eyes and I see this dog. Well, you would absolutely recognize him, because Wulfric the wolf, not a dog. I'm not good at naming things. Is armored himself. And it mirrors Cadogan's armor. On his side is an empty quiver. He even wears a tattered cowl. And Cadogan knows what's going to happen next. He's just going to tear this fox to pieces. And instead. Wulfrickin, help me, Pin. Pin circle each other. And Wulfric takes a submissive pose. And Pin just kind of jumps on him in place. And Cadogan goes, well, would you look at that? Hey, you've been making friends out there without me. That's why Pin wanted to wear the scarf. I stepped forward, recognizing someone I haven't seen in 10, 15 years. It's hard to know when. God, it's Good to see you. You're a good old man. What are you doing here? Did you know he rubs some of the alcohol out of his eyes and cause the Aussie's pixie thimble. Yeah, right. I'm a thimble. Thimble. What's going on here? How are you here? Oh, fuck. Fuck. And he pushes Teor out of the way and goes, ew, I remember you. The boy. The boy. Look at that armor. You got your. What are you doing here? Oh, I followed you. You're easy to follow. Noisy, loud, clumsy. I'm half drunk and you fucks are easy. Listen, we need to leave. This is a crime scene and it's possible that people are gonna come here and find us here. Shit. Were you here? Were you at the execution? Yeah. Yes. And Cadogan's mind sort of drifts off to the execution. Standing cloaked and alone in a crowded space. He's fully in his right mind at this point. After what he'd seen in the rural area surrounding what was happening at the crofters village, he needed to come into town for a drink, which he rarely comes into the city, very rarely. And whispers on the way said a familiar name was in trouble. As he watched the execution unfold in his mind's eye, he sort of painted a picture of what could happen. And the thing about Cadogan is he's unnerving to be around because there's no clue what's going to happen. You could get a drink, a handshake, a handful of coin or a headbutt, you never know. And in his mind's eye, he sees this scenario where he jumps up on stage and slices down a guard and frees the Aussie and runs off, but catches arrows in the back because there's no way he could do this. And he knows he would die doing it. But it sounds like fun. So he's fantasizing, he's imagining. And as he imagines, the grip is tighter on his club and you feel this sort of feral fight or flight energy. And Wulfric at his side, nudges his hand and his grip lets go. As he comes out of this fantasy and scans the area, he sees Teor in the distance, watching. And he sees you because you're part of it. And he follows them to the funeral, watches them go inside and almost thinks about joining. And then he hears the cacophony of voices, that part in Awake, where the quiet turns to reverie as people start to become comfortable and celebrate life. And he decides not to go. And in that Moment as he's turning to walk out, all of you step out of the funeral. So he decides to follow. And this is where he finds himself. Not sure why he's here. Looking around at this place, even as Azune begins to discuss the urgency of your situation, how bad this is here. I think it's so second nature that it's almost effortless. As Cadigan is surveying the space. Go ahead and give me any skill checks you want about what would occur to you in surveying this space. I mean, yeah, sure, sure. I stumble over and I look at the what anybody else would seem like chaos. But I see the footprints and I see the handprints and I see the action unfold in the remnants of what happened. And I just subtly cast clue to myself. I fly up and I land on octys shoulder while he's doing this. And then as I cast clue, all of the footprints and fingerprints within a 30 foot radius come to the life in my eyes. And they all change different colors. And every single one of those footprints and fingerprints and everything from that battle comes to life. And I see it unfold before me, as real as it were happening in this moment. And I get this image of what unfolded. This spell fucking rules. Doesn't. Doesn't do damage. No one ever uses it. Pretty sweet. I'll see you soon, Cadigan. You see, Wulfric scent informs everything sound. And you can even play these visible footprints and fingerprints. You can almost arrange them in time. There's a rhythm to them. There's a dance. As you do so you will get all the information here that you need. But also feel free to give me a survival. Allow this spell to do with advantage. Go ahead and give me survival. With advantage or investigation with advantage. Survival. Investigation. Sure it's cocked. Take the good one bad. Okay. 16. 16. Hell yeah. As you begin searching, looking throughout this space here, you watch the fingerprints unfold on that 16. Survival. The tracks coming in. Probably about seven people came in here. Okay. Fuck. Fumble. Damn. Three died. And looking at the fight that broke out here, they came in. They came in and they came in knowing that there was going to be a fight. They were not caught off guard. They knew that a fight was waiting for them inside the dead bodies. Three of them got dragged out of here. In being dragged out, you find some crow feathers. You smell them. There's pine resin alcohol. A thick sheen of tobacco smoke. These were worn as part of clothing handled. Your mind immediately goes to the crow keepers, which you know is one of the oldest thieves guilds in Dolmakyar. And looking at how these guys fought. These guys fought like murderers, not soldiers. Meaning that once they found Thimble inside, they didn't know what to do. The reason that three of them. They brought overwhelming numbers. Thinking that they were going to get the drop on somebody. They absolutely did not. And therefore the fighting was sloppy, but just overwhelming. Moreover, only about just judging by the boot here. There's something that's troubling to you. There's. Six of the sets of boots are old, tattered. One set is fine. Fine. And you see fingerprints over a mantelpiece where there is shattered glass. And see the residue of someone drawing runes against the mantle. You detect the presence of sorcery. There is a. Someone broke a glass encasement here to take something. And it looks like everything scanning the room. Everything of magical importance other than this glyph. Gone. It's so much. Do I know what was in that glass case? You do once you see, as Cadogan points it out to you, the object that you retrieved on your last big adventure with Thiazi of several. A month or two ago, you got back from. From it. The song. The Night Song. Right. The Stone of Night Song. The Stone of Night Song. What is that? Yeah. I don't know. Magic. What is that? It's a fucking black stone with crow. Crows. Yeah. Yes, sir, they're crows. It's super magical. I don't know. Why do I know anything about this? Give me Arcana. Give me Arcana. Check. Can I. Yeah, go for it. 13. 13, 21. 21 on a. 21. This on 19. Also, if any of you have religion, you can give me religion. It'll be a lower DC and no. No honor. 21 arcana. That guy left. Huh? I was like, I do, but it's better if I use Arcana. 21. Stone of Night Song. Yeah. There is a reference to that in the pentevrel back at the school. There is? The Stone of Nightsong is referenced as some relic. It came up in something about the Shapers. It was used by. If you're not mistaken, it was an elven artifact, right? Yeah. Used by the elves in the Shapers War. I don't remember what it does. I just remember reading about it. Thimble, I'm sorry. You were with the Ozzy when you collected this item. You have been. What have you been doing? How long ago was he taken? A couple weeks ago. Yeah. Two weeks ago. I don't know. We got this a few months back. Did this. Was it connected? Did they just happen to Come in. At the same time. There's no way they would have even known about the hideout. Something betrayed us. Yes, I think so, yeah. Can I see that stone? Well, no. They took it. Right. You want me to draw it for you if they. Yes, actually, that would be very helpful. Can I find a scrap piece of paper? Yeah, all right. I'll pick up the pencil and slowly walk as you draw it. It's a spherical stone that is a sort of like perpendicular embrace of wings of some kind of. It could have been a crow. But also, I think you'd heard Thiazi refer to it as a nightingale. A nightingale? It's a bird that looks like it's embracing itself in its wings to create a sphere. And it's a carved stone. I'm taking a mental image of that. You can take the piece of paper. I drew it for you. Well, thank you. I'll take that. I know someone actually who could help us. Kat, I'm. We are all sorry to see you again after such a long time under these circumstances. But I thought you were going to say under these circumstances. I thought she was going to say I'm sorry to see you never. I don't know if I'm happy to see you or not. Octus, this is Kadigan. He ditched us after a battle, so. No, this is. Do you know Taylor? Yes, yes, we met earlier. Yeah. The cats is a fierce warrior and a good man. Oh, well, one of those too. Okay, great. Did you come here Kadigan, for just by happenstance or did you hear? I'm sorry, I wasn't following completely. You knew the execution? What'd you say? Did you know about Tiazi? Did you know that he was Whispers on the wind and all that? I heard about it, yeah. I was finishing a contract. I'm a very highly sought after bounty hunter and warrior of the people, if you will. And at that Wulfric just goes and just sneezes. Don't worry about him. But yeah, there's. Well, you know. You know Pine bough. No, you don't. You don't fucking know pine bough, do you? You wouldn't, would you? I don't know if I would. Yes. City folk. City folk. It's all right. Pine bow. It's a little agricultural community. Crafters, they make all sorts of things. Is this body? Huh? It's a house. Oh. Can we go? Yes, we can. Let's go. The letter. Can I look around? Is the letter still here? Give me an investigation. Check with Advantage my dice. 13. 13 with advantage with advantage. Pick wisely. You only have a couple teeny weeny one tiniest little fairy dice. Oh my God. I can't reach. No shit. Yes. Correct. I really can't read it. 3. Fuck insight check. You get a 13. Yeah, 13. Taking a moment I would say on a 13 it takes some time but you know you can't leave without it. So with some help. There is something of Fiazis that you absolutely cannot leave here without. And you end up finding a letter with a single name on it. Balaire. Finally you find it. And as we see the name Bolaire on this letter, we must return to the holder of the name, which means returning to the Fang family home. Thank you for your time at the table and I love our funeral goers to come on back. Vengeance starts the fire. But in Ghost of Yotei, what follows burns brighter. This PlayStation 5 experience tells the story of Atsu, a lone warrior in a harsh yet beautiful land, chasing justice and discovering something more human. 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But if you want to go far, go together. At Ameca Insurance. We're built for our customers. And prioritize your needs, needs. AM empathy is our best policy. Visit amica.com and get a quote today. I did that too earlier. It's fine. Smash it. Break everything. Ruin this place. We're coming. We're coming. Points, points. Yep, yep, yep. Points, points. Table swap. Table swap. Just leave that. I'll just leave that. All the campaign it's gonna be like that. Yeah. Over what? Why? I didn't know people were gonna go by me. Jesus. No one loves to sit by you. Damn. I'll sit by you, my ass. Nah, I'm here. But wait a minute. But hold on. But wait a minute. Who you want? Well, because we have everyone at the funeral. But as I said, said the name, we should have its holder. Talis and Jabby, would you come out and join us, please? Sit on our side. So here, this guy here. Spill my drink. That's okay. So many things. Wow. Beautiful. Crazy. Lovely. That was great. Incredible. Walking up the cobblestone street to the top of the rookery, we see the holder of this name on this letter in the wreckage of things, the Azzy's hiding spot. However, unlike the chaos that unfolds in that room, I think a rather dashing figure now approaches the home. Taliesin, would you please describe your character for us as he approaches? Well, Balaer currently is holding his cloak in his hand, which normally he will where to keep a low profile. But considering that he knows exactly where he's going and is prepared to be a bit of a spectacle, is showing off. He wears a very fine set of clothing. It's not very rich, but it certainly has money and a bit of somewhere between ostentatious taste and trying to blend in but really not wanting to. He wears black leather and suede tied over an under layer of deep red crimson. He is covered head to toe from gloves all the way up to a high neck. He has very long curly dark red hair. And the most notable thing about Bellaire is, is that he wears a mask. And this mask is a gray clay with dark gray, almost black lips and very, very large empty pools of Blackness where each eye should be, with a cut to indicate possibly tears that run down the face. Deep within these black pools you can see tiny blue reflected lights, almost like a cat hiding in a shadow at night. And that's what blinks instead of the mask deep, deep within. This would be even more disturbing as. As he approaches the door, the mask itself sighs and moves just like a real face. Sighing at the door. You are about to walk in to the home of a friend. And the funeral. Not of a friend. I don't know the Azzi very well. My dealings with him are private and often through an intermediary. But I did go to the execution. Thinking back there in the shadows higher up in the seats at the back of the noble's viewing gallery. You yourself not a noble, but one who deals in matters of nobility. Welcome in the space as a fortune to nobles. You look down and see Thiazi's final words. What were you feeling in those last moments before the rope went taut? I was there to see who was going to help him. He's far too clever to let this be the end of it. And it's better to see things in person, because secondhand accounts are even more unreliable than first ones. I needed to know who had that kind of power and who decided to exercise it. Sadly, my empty seat next to me for my companion who decided not to show. I'm not terribly surprised, but it would have been nice to have company. But I'm perfectly happy to sit and not have to make a face. The Azzi's final moment. An incredible show of force. The first execution in the history of the city of Dolmakyar, carried out exclusively under the authority of the Chamber of the Lord's advisory. An auspicious day for the power of the sundered houses. Fuck. Memory fades and you approach the house of Hallendil Fang. You enter within and see Tysha Loy of the Domachar Loys, absolutely shit faced, holding a demon's ear. She is mid Druidic rant, but you can see that there are streaks of tears down her cheeks. And she looks up at you and doesn't want to break the rant. And you see her blink. And then you see a second set of eyelids blink and her voice continues. But now it's on the other side of the room as I burn a wild shape to summon Hala, my wild companion, who continues the rites in my stead so I can turn and address you. Welcome. I want to ask if you're all right, but this is even for You. Impressive. It's been a while. I'm sorry for showing up like this, but I assumed you would need help, and I'm more than happy to distract some of the more inappropriate people. Who? You look very familiar. Hi. I'm Tyranny. Tyranny. Tyranny. You look so familiar. I just can't put my face on it. I mean, my finger on your face. I can't put my finger on your face. I really wouldn't. You came to the gala six months ago at the party you did at the museum. Do you remember? It was the first and only party. I don't remember much of it. We are well aware, because you did, in fact, manage to elude security for nearly 15 minutes before we found you having thrown up into one of the only three remaining urns. No, I'm for the Eyes of Khelun. Right now, we use it as a teaching exercise in the cleaning of antiquities. Oh. Oh, that's great. So I helped. I suppose you could see it like that. Hold on. I have a thing for you. I do. A box. Did I give it to Octis? Where is Octis? Octis is here. Where did. Where is. As you look around, I think Wick and Hal, you guys descend the staircase from on high. Hal, you can see that the fullness of the gathering is here. Now, there are a lot of. You see some of Thiazi's more criminal associates here. There are some Arcanists and occultists in this space. Lot of neighborhood people, a lot of family, friends. But the house is full, and people are coming up to the table as Tysha's deer, Hala, is standing with its nose sort of down towards the top of Thiazi's head as he is laid out on the table, his arms crossed. You see a bunch of family friends are coming and putting brass rings and adornments on his fingers and laying brooches or necklaces across his chest. So he's being gathered up with small treasures and trinkets. Gets here on his viewing. Hal. And you? Where is my son? I have to give the box. Oh, dear. You're asking about Al. No, no, the Octis. Sorry. Where is Octis? I've been upstairs for a little bit. I don't know. Is he here? I say, as I pet your deer by my brother's body. You see, walking in through the door, a beautiful merchant woman who looks about in her early 40s, gorgeous gown made of rich imported textiles, and a young half Orc daughter with her. This is a human woman who's walking in with her half orc daughter. She looks up at you. This is your daughter, hero. Looks up and goes, hi, dad. Hey, dear. She runs over and gives you a hug. Elodie looks over and says, tasha, Hello. Hi. I'm trying to lock in so much. Do you want to use the druidcraft cantrip to instantly soberize yourself? Yes, please. So good. Just a bump it is. She walks up to you. Elodie goes, goes. Tysha. Hello. Hi. How are you? Oh, awful. Yeah. So sorry. Were you there today? Yeah. She looks over and gives you a big hug. I'm so sorry. Thank you. How are you doing, Chihiro? You see? She goes, well, any report from my own life would be improperly positive for the events that we now face together. Business as well and life as well. And let us say no more of it than that. I lean forward and kiss her on the forehead. She puts her forehead against your face as well. You see? She looks and says, master Lothalia, it's a pleasure to see you. I believe I saw you elsewhere in the viewing gallery. It's good to see you as well, despite the circumstances. And of course I am, as always, at your service, Folaire. Thank you for being here. Neither I nor my family blinks at this mask, which to a stranger might set somebody back a pace or two, but not a wink at it. I'm here for whatever you need, including, hopefully distracting some of the more. More difficult elements. This day is for you. At this point. We're feeling it out. We're all feeling it out. Thank you for coming. Of course. I think, Sam, you're holding the sentence. Oh, I don't have a good time to give it to him, but I guess now is a good time. You can absolutely stand here. You see that? A. There is a Beastfolk warrior looking over who's speaking to this Orcish woman, Loza. You see, he looks over this. He's got a massive boar's head, brawny body, big stomach. He looks over as you're holding the scimitar. He looks over and goes, oh, Thiazzi's sword. Nice. Right, right, right. Of course. Tyranny. Tyranny. Okay. Hey, are you still in trouble? No. I mean, yes. A little bit. Okay, that's beside the point. I have something to tell you. Have you been drinking? Yeah, I know, I know. Tyranny. Ember verse 151. Cloud not the spark with poison. Right. Remember? But. But you did cloud the spark with poison. Yeah. Okay, okay, okay, okay, listen. Everybody hears. Everyone here is drinking and so I kind of feel like because people don't really want to drink Tyranny. I'm gonna cast thaumaturgy and yell three times my normal volume. Tyranny. Be still. Yes. Iranians. I'm gonna read some hymns. You can go in the corner and start reading hymns. Through that bubbling up bickering. Hal has just been sort of like looking through it at Bolaire and thinking about his brother's words until that voice shatters the room and I whip back. I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. I hadn't found a good time to present this to you, but on behalf of the Hailuvar family, please accept this, your brother's blade. Oh. Oh my God. Well, thank you, Wick. That is a kindness. As the sword crosses the media crucis of your home, it passes over the doorway or the door is on the other side of the room. As the sword exchanges hands, a figure enters the door that knows that sword quite well. Matthew Mercer do you want to come join us? Mazda Once you discover the Mazda CX90 Mazda, it doesn't take long to get it. With three row seating and safety features like radar, cruise control and rear cross traffic alert to carry you and your peace of mind, it will have you saying Mazda. The Mazda CX90. It's made to move you. Every Mazda SUV offers you an elevated driving experience and refined performance. Discover it at your local Mazda dealer today. They say if you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together. At Ameca Insurance, we're built for our customers and prioritize your needs. Call 877-41-America for a free coverage review. 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That's Goldbelly.com promo code gift. Thought we got rid of Matt. You could only hope. Link up thank you. Hi Matt. Hello everybody. Let's go. Wait. What was his vibe coming in? We're about to find out. Because we're about to find out what his vibe was immediately prior to coming in A gleaming green and golden carriage, baroque and wrought all throughout, stylized and gilded, borne forward by a team of four. Four snow white horses glides up the street carriage of the sundered house of Royce seated in the back, a grieving widow in years only of some 40 odd and her gorgeous gleaming green gown bedecked with jewels, tears streaming down her face as she stares ahead, shattered. She holds in her hand a wedding ring, one she has not worn on her hand in many years but has never let stray beyond her person. To her left, one of her oldest childhood friends. Matt, would you please describe your character? Yes, you see a human man just about to crest into his 30s, lanky, compact build sealed within a reinforced leather military uniform of House Stavinos, the Vassal House 2, the Sonred House of Royce in dark purples and gray with red trim. You see across the right shoulder an intricate silver metal pauldron and the other shoulder itself hidden within a dark green short cape with intricate designs of vine and flower sown through it himself a very stern stoic look as he stares into the opposite side of the carriage, his long heavily curly black hair tumbling past his shoulders, his other hand resting on his knee while his sheathed rapier sits on his left hip. As he rides in the carriage, Stan staring forward. Erinessa is falling apart beside you. It's hard to tell in this moment compared to someone openly grieving how Julian is doing. We move back to the gallery, viewing the execution. Looking down. You sit next to an empty seat. You're not sure back in the carriage whether Erinessa saw Thiazzi's final moments or not. Her seat was empty beside you, though you knew that she was not far. So with that amount of privacy, what was Ser Julian Davinos thinking as he watched the final moments of the Ozzy Fang? He sits arms crossed in his chair, looking down from his elevated noble box view of this execution. His hair tumbled past one half of his face and the faintest little grin peaks at the corner of his mouth. And that's all as the body dangles. Nobles around you rise. You see a hand slaps on your back from a noble house that fought under you think the hail of ours. It's an older gentleman who sort of slaps you. Maybe they're from the Maltair or the Ajarion family. He just slaps you on the shoulder and goes. They should have let you do the honors, eh? Yeah. Unfortunately, such honors are not given to those who deserve it, my friend. But, well, there is further glory to have regardless. Yes. For the hero of the battle of Maharlane Falls, the man who brought the AZI fang to heal. You'd think they'd let you. It's an honor, Julian. Jacques. Jacques Maltaire. It's a pleasure, Jacques. He takes his hand and holds it and holds it steady as he makes his eye contact directly. It has been quite some time, and with time, some things are forgotten. So while the honor is not mine, I appreciate you acknowledging such a historied walk of grace, having no idea what to make of this interaction. Jacques Monserrat says good on you and walks as you look and you see. As you come out of reverie. You are approaching this place. Erinessa has started to look out the window. These homes are so lovely. They're not wrong. They are. He trails off for a second and gets lost in his own thought for a second before shaking free of it. My lady. And he reaches into his cloak, pulls it back and you can. As the cloak gets turned aside. His left hand itself is fully wrapped in an intricate metal gauntlet of dark silver itself deeply filigree and multiple plates of it. It almost looks unbalanced compared to the rest of his thin frame. But as it reveals it briefly, he peeks into the inside of his coat, his leather tunic, and pulls forth a nice little piece of white cloth and hands it over to the lady. She wipes her eyes with. Was awful. It was awful. My lady. I do not mean to speak out of turn here. I'm a bit taken aback. You. We are no strangers to the history of violence and thiazi. Whatever memories you cling to is not the man that you once loved. He wouldn't be there if he was. Yes, I married a dashing hero from the very end of the war of Axe and Vine. The adventurer rogue, a pixie by his side and magic in his eyes. Two years later he took up the banner of rebellion. My grandfather. My grandfather sided with the halo and the Taconuses. Perhaps these things are faded. Two points of light exist in constellation, though the night sky grows between them. What I can tell you is this. When you knocked my husband and brought him to justice and he was given clemency Julian. He told me to run away with him and I said no. I've loved that man every year since of the long years we have been apart. And when he died, I hid. Love doesn't go away so easily. It stays. Even if people turn their back and walk away, they leave some part of of themselves. That's what loving someone is. Be that as it may, he made his choice and he chose his pride over your love. And he's paid for it now, twice over. And we are here. And we can mourn as you feel is necessary. But we also live because we have been smart. And we will continue to live. I've got you. He puts his hand on hers and holds it. But I will also protect you from your own unnecessary emotional pain, if need be. People can really hurt themselves, Julian, trying to protect themselves from pain. Mine is mine to feel, my friend. And she squeezes your hand. You see? You arrive. She looks and opens a small pocket mirror, seeing that she is in grieving, partially disheveled herself, and said, give me a moment in the carriage, if you would. Of course. Stepping forward, you enter the doorway. This is a kindness. I don't know what to say. I know your intentions are in the right place. I am grateful. Grateful for that. I will ask my family for more information, and if that will help settle this in any way. Well, I'll tell you what. Why don't we, for the time being, just let sleeping dogs lie? We can pick up the pieces in the next couple of days. Certainly. You look over and see Hal stepping up next to you is Fiasci's old commander, Loza Blank Blade, who walks up and says, diazzi's sword. A kindness for you to bring that, my lord Hailovar. It was nothing, really. Might I speak with you for a moment, if that's all right? Oh, yes. Pardon me. Hal. Of course, of course. And Balare, it's so great to see you again. I'm so sorry, I do recognize you. What was your name again? Light Priest Wickender Haylvar. We spoke at great length at a few of your different galas. I meet a lot of people, but it is a pleasure. Hello. Oh, all right. You're very handsome. Thank you. You see that? The boar man goes. You are. You are bit young. Okay, all right. He looks over, he says, are you in the goat? The goat? Are you and the goat tyranny? No, she's my aspirant. She's my. Oh, sorry, I didn't know. No, never mind, never mind. She is not too. I don't know. Congrats. Am I hearing. Yes, you are. She is not cheap. She's not poking on my drink right now. She is not to taste of the flesh. She's not to. Yeah, but Ricochet. I'm kind of hitting on you by. No. She is not a taste of the flesh. She is pure. Oh, man. Ever bright, this guy. We're at a funeral. Relax. Ever bright. Ever right. Ever right. I can be so good for you. I just memorized a hymn. I just got put in my place and the basement is flooded. I pat you on the shoulder. I just want to give you a little Drew craft bump, if you need it. Can I have that? Yeah, sure. Yeah, please. So, brat, little guidance? Is this sort of a religious thing? You can't. Or is this like, actually an apparitional thing where you would just vanish in a puff of. Or is that brimstone? Is that sulfur? Not here. I'm real. I threw up in your vase. Yeah, but I mean, if you Copulated. Is that the word I think I'm gonna feel like I'm going to use? Please hide your ears from this disgusting talk. I don't think it's so serious that you would want to lose a blade. Looks over to you and says, I just wished to speak with you if I could, because. Right. I'm sorry. Are all funerals this fun? No. Pardon me, everyone. I'll go over to Loza. She looks over and just says, my companion Teor and I have traveled here for Thiazi funeral, and I'm retiring. My family lives further into Kahad, near Dolrunja. But I wished to speak because with my retiring, my companion is a noble guardian and has worked for many noble houses and causes throughout Pasatar and many realms. I just wished to speak because I have not been in Dolmakiar in some time. But if you are looking for security or a bodyguard of any kind. I know that obviously the House of Halovar is well equipped and manned, but he is loyal and shrewd and a fine warrior. You're talking about this Teor? Yes, yes, yes, yes. My companion, the Nama, who. Yes, I think I saw him earlier. Well, I could speak to my uncle, who does our security, or my father. Well, he wouldn't. Perhaps my grandmother. You know what? I could make arrangements to hire such an individual myself. Splendid. Yeah, he's your guy then. I believe that the estate of the hail of ours, the Via Aurora. Yes, that's our estate in town, yes. If I were to call on you there to inquire not doing business here at the ceremony. But perhaps tomorrow or so it would be my honor to help you find a good place for your companion. I'm grateful, my lord. Hailvar. Thank you. Thank you, Julian. Entering the home, you see, I just wanted to say. Yeah. The jasmine I always liked Lady Erinessa. So as the carriage approached, all of that jasmine grew in and grew in lush. Less flowers and more vines. And that green, the same green of her house. But the moment you step out of the carriage, I bid every bit of greenery, every plant to wither around your feet as you approach this home. No green for you. I barely crossed the threshold. Like with Erinessa. Taking a moment inside, I step barely in the door and then lean against it and just observe the party as I wait for her. A moment later, Erinessa emerges and extends her elbow. I take it as you enter. She looks and goes hello. And moves forward and very gingerly, no one's coming up and bowing and curtsying. She goes forward and awkwardly extends her arms for an embrace. Caught off guard. And return her hug. She gives you a hug and she looks and sees the body on the table. Oh no. I had hoped against hope maybe you would have been able to. Hal, I'm so sorry. And you see here she makes eye contact with Wick. Give me an insight check, Sam. Okay. Ten years, seven on a seven. You see her eyes go over to you and Hal, you give me an insight check as well here as her eyes go over to you and she says, my lord Halovar, pleasure to see you. Condolences. House Halovar extends our deepest sympathies to all who loved Thiassi. Of course it is a kindness for the house of Halovar to pay. What a burden it must be to see justice served when you would wish for some other outcome. We did. We certainly did. We wished. Not only wished, we worked towards some other outcome. It was not. Did you? Yes, please give an insight check, please. You want an insight check Here. How do you know? 23erinessa, your always technically legally sister in law, even though she and Thiazi did not see each other for many, many years, is looking at young Wakander with a barely concealed rage. Erinessa is way better than this. And what'd you get? 22. 22. Erinessa is barely holding on. The level of vulgarity in how open she is being is a danger to her house. She just looks and goes. You on a seven do not get that. No, she looks at you and just goes. It's oh yeah. Sorry, Belair. I want to gently just push the children back and get in front of them because this is a lot. Yeah. She just looks and says, I can imagine how hard you are working. Yesterday I arrived at the Via Aurora to speak with your mother and waited for some two or three hours. I assume that there must have been some work. Perhaps that was what garnered her time to that degree. I'm in tyranny's ear guidance. Get him out of here. I'm certain that you. She was just doing some of her charity works, perhaps. Or no. I throw up. Oh. Oh, I'm so sorry. Ever right. Ever right. We have to leave. I feel so bad. I'm so sorry. We gotta go. I'm so sorry. Apologies, Hal. I'm so sorry. I'm trying really hard to be good and I'm sorry. Apologies to you. I'm sorry. Let's go. She is not. She's trying. You see, Olgood comes up and gives you a tall of water and puts a little melting alchemical tablet in it. Yeah, the Yargraz will do that every time. Oh God, I love you so much. He's all good. We will worship to clear this out of your system. We don't need any of that. I think we should go. Yes. Yes, I think we should go. Erinysa looks and says, important charity works. Well, it is as ever, an honor to be represented on the chamber of the Lord's advisory. To think how far we've come since the shapers war that our houses are so aligned now. It is lovely, isn't it? And of course I keep calling you my lord, but you are all priests now. Yes, I'm a light priest. Congratulations. You can. I mean, most people use your radiance with me, but he's. Julian steps forward a little bit, puts his hand on Lady Ernesto. Julianes. My lady, there is time for more conversation in a bit, but I believe you must sit down for a moment and have some rest. You have not had a moment yet with the body rest. No, I'm fascinated at the worship of Melanie. The light. Yes. We're going to go. We're not even. Thank you. And b, you all farewell. And. And you guys. You guys head out. Okay. Bye. It was good to see you. You know what? I. I think I know him too. Should I say hi to him? I think we should go. Let me do a hymn, Julian. Right. May the light guide your soul. Have a wonderful day. I should say how. Take care wherever you end up. Forever hopeless. Erinnessa grabs her arm so hard and goes, they worship the light. Don't you understand? It's a divinity without the inconvenience of having a voice or perspective. I have missed you so much, my lady. And I give you a big bow. And then he tug and lift her up. She gives you a huge bow, or she gives you a huge hug in return, Looks around and says, I have not comported myself in a ladylike fashion. You're fine. We're mourning. Hal, May we approach your brother's body, please? She walks up. Now there is a veritable trove. Bracers and necklaces and candles and boxes. You see that there are around his legs, there are piles and piles of these little wax paper street food snacks from Dolmachyar. There's little fried, almost like little doughy, sugary fried things that are gathered around. There are candied nuts and fruits and things like that and all little candles burning everywhere. She steps up, looks at his face and goes, oh, he's gone. She knows. Leans down and kisses his cheek, gives him a kiss on the lips. A tear falls from her eye across his cheek. He is gone. Those of us who don't believe that you get recycled into the light or whatever. He is returned. He is a part of the story and the song of this world. It's changed us all. Indeed. A word, sir. If you will take Sirisa by the hand, Mrs. I'll return shortly. If you need anything, call out. Yes, Julian. Thank you. I kneel down and turn to the children. After all of this now, I hope we all just learned that we are to be kind and forgive the idiocy of people at funerals and weddings. Do we understand? You see, Shadia says we do. Mr. Bolair, thank you so much for the kind lesson. You see, Hero looks up at you and says, why specifically funerals and weddings? I don't know, honestly. Because I suppose we have to pick two days to be forgiving instead of just being irritated at them all the time. Let's see. Hiro goes, I can't tell if that's generous or stingy. And you see that I fucking love your Julian and Tysha, step away. Erinessa looks at you and says, I don't know what that Hailovar prick told you, but I'll tell you this. I was kept waiting in the antechamber of the Via Aurora for the better part of a day. How the door is to Faerie shut. I don't know how much longer my name will mean anything. Every passing day, the Taconis, the hail of our seem Stronger. It seems like fewer messages arrive at the Golden Orchard. I don't know what the future means. Maybe I should have run away with Thiazzi all those years ago. I hand down by my side. I clasp hers, my friendship, and squeeze it lightly. Whole world's getting away from us. The world is changing. Speaking of the world changing, someone who would know one or two things about that, I think, arrives at the funeral. Marisha. Ray, would you come in, please? Hey. Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. Goodness gracious. Oh, my goodness. I'm so late. Oh, to rain. It is coming down harder than a horse's stream out there. Oh, my goodness. Oh, hi. Hi. How are you? Oh, hi. How are you? I'm good. Oh, Elodie's here, too. Oh, my God. Kids are in the corner. How are you? Yeah, I'm great. Oh, my goodness. Oh, I. I brought a cranberry roll and a bottle of Yars Gr. You see, Olga looks over at you and says, oh, I brought all. I brought a ton of cranberry rolls. I brought. I brought, like, a whole six pack of cranberry. Well, it's the thought that counts. Marusha, please subscribe. Your character crushes. All right, you see, walking in, she's a little disheveled from the rain, which is not, you know, normally her position. In fact, she just kind of does a little bit of wizard magic to get herself all back into her full, shining glory. You see a dwarf woman with a kind of long auburn hair spilling out from under a flat brim cap, like, big, long, big hat. And then you see that she's wearing this, like, coat. It's like, long duster jacket that doesn't have sleeves. Sleeves are bullshit. It looks like she walked into a rich person's house and saw someone's rug and went, that looks nice, and then made a jacket out of it. And then, you see, she's very. She's not afraid of color. And even though it is a funeral, you know, she has to show off her proudest asset, which is her big old rack. And, you know, as she likes to say, you know, lanterns are lit, so are the tits. Let's go. So she loves. She loves a good party. She loves funeral. You know, there's just something about her. Even though she's very, like, put together. Oh, and you can see she's got, like, a little bit of, like, a. Like a chin strap. It is, like, perfectly braided. And her nails are dead. They are shining. And then you see on the tip of her. Of her index fingers, she's Got what looks like a press on, but when you look a little bit closer, it's. It's like the tip like of an ink pen. It's like a quill. So, yeah, she's here and you know, she looks very put together, but also there's just something about her that's a little grimy, a little greasy. I'm thankful to be six' four. That is a good angle. Hey, girl. Hey. Yeah, hey. Hi. Murray arrives. Murray Magnussen arrives as truly one of like for Thiazi's funeral. This is like Thiazi's current crowd that he's been running with. You arrive and look around Murray, and immediately you see off in a corner, you see a lot of the magical underbelly for a man who was just hanged for arcanism. There are a lot of arcanists here. Off in a corner, you see Tashmara Cobblegrave catch your eye with her one purely white pinprick pupil eye. And then an eye of a normal sort of hazel sclera. Looks over and goes, Murray, good to see you. Good to see you. Off in a corner, you see a tiny gnome with a kind of crooked top hat who's got a bunch of bracelets looking around. Who looks over. This is Uncle Emerald. You see, he looks over and goes and goes, hey, Murray. Oh, goodness gracious, condolences. Have happy funeral. So, so tragic. And she kind of starts digging into the cranberry rolls and she kind of picks out of her teeth. And as you see her kind of picking it out, she's missing the front three, like right side of her teeth. And if you look closer, they've been replaced with gemstones. So she's got one that's a little ruby, one that's just like a kind of a clear white quartz, and then another that's like a purple quartz. How she lost those teeth, who knows? Walking over to you, a sort of sallow faced man who you see is just sort of like leather vest, tons of armpit hair pouring out. But you see no shirt under the vest, but just sort of a tie, a sort of ruffle tie around like a bare neck. This is Dovrazzi, Gaunt De Vrazi. You dressed up. I did. I noticed that we are mourning the loss of a dear compatriot. I can see you put in the effort. Do you still need those skulls? You know, I think we can table that conversation. Sorry. Yeah. Condolence. You know where to find me. Yeah. We'll talk later. Okay. But I. But I don't know where we're going to. Because he's gone. So I don't know where we're going to find each other. You know I work at the Pentaveral. I'm allowed in. No, I just. You know what? Here just. And I just. Upstairs. Yeah. You know what? Can we exchange the skulls upstairs? I can tell you where to find me if that's. Yeah. You know what? Let's make a connect. Okay. I'll write it feels weird to be networking at a funeral. I know. But. But I think it's smart. Yeah. He's dead. Yes. So we have to kind of. No, we. We should. We should. It's what he would have wanted. He would have wanted us to. Look. This isn't my address. This is an address for some places that you can find me at on like Thursdays. I'll be there non stop until you show up. Okay. Yeah. I tend to like to go have a glass of wine. This is. This is one of the dive bars the Fae. Great. Ms. Magnussen. You grace our family with your presence. Goodness. You sweet, sweet thing. How are you? Are you all right? I just come up and I do the little. Yeah, yeah. I'm a dwarf down here. I forget sometimes. Five' eleven. Five' eleven. Short for a dwarf. Five' eleven. Can I get you anything? Which? Would you like a drink? You know what? I need to. I brought some yard grass. I know that it was his favorite. It was. I need to put this blade somewhere. I'll be right back. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Get her a drink. I have to kill this man first. Which you're probably already headed. Well say as Murray has come in here blustering like a tornado and all this chaos has happened. Ser Julian has used this immediate opportunity to disengage from the tractor beam of intention you had put upon him and has pulled away from the rest and actually gone to have a moment with the corpse himself. While everyone is distracted. If I might. Yeah. What do you do as you approach the corpse of Thiazi? Fang hand rested on the hilt of my rapier on the side. I stand there for a minute over glance left and right to see if anyone is paying any close attention to this corner. Hala's still there. So you have a whole ass deer staring you there. Is a companion of the wild here, but of mortal kind. You are alone. I'm going to. Where is the deer currently situated by the corpse. Deer's at the head. And was giving funeral rites. Right. Does it look like you're hesitating? It looks like I'M just looking down and quietly taking in the surroundings. Then I think Hala will blink, stare at you so you know that this is connected to Tysha. And then turn and go find Hiro and is just going to go hang out with Hiro and leave you to this moment. Looks down upon the well adorned and well remembered and well beloved body of Thiazi. Here in the warm hearth, surrounded by the chattering voices of his family and his friends and all those whose lives he's touched. I can hear the gentle, occasional sobs and stutters of my dear friend, Lady Arnessa. And just quietly look down upon him. The only shame is I couldn't watch you die twice. And then I walk away. Bolair, could you do me a favor and get our friend Marie a drink? I'll be right back. I'm just going to go deal with this. I'm going to slip away real quick. I've got this blade belonging to my brother and I'll return the my study upstairs pretty quickly and I will just stop in front of my desk and look at it and look at the deed on the desk and lay the blade across the deed. The deed to the area of land in this city that I worked for years to secure and only came in reach of within the last few weeks. And I wrest this sword. What remains of my brother come crashing through those years of work. Everything I ever wanted. Slashed with heartbreak. And I give myself 10 seconds to stare at it and then return downstairs. Hello, Murray. It's lovely to see you. I don't think I've seen you since that last party where that demon girl threw up in a vase. It has been a while. That was a romp, wasn't it? It was such a good time. When you gonna throw another one of those? Oh, as soon as we can deal with some insurance issues. I've been assured that I can handle it again. I wish that was the only thing she did. She was quite a bit. I didn't know you knew Thiazzi. I think everybody knew Thiazzi. I mean, look at this room. With some mixed company up in here. Honestly, I didn't look. What is with all these rich people? Damn those. I know. You see? As you say, what's up with all these rich people? I think Tysha, you're nearby with Erinessa. Erinessa turns to look over at you and says, hi, I'm a rich person. Oh, so am I. Ah. Oh, wow. You see, Aranessa cocks an eyebrow and he goes like. Goes like you. The Compared. Okay, okay. Is this some ridiculous. I pour you drink this great equalizer. Are y' all having like a dick waving contest over your bank account? Crude. I'm honestly not inaccurate, but sorry. No, it's all right. I have seen you around and I'm very sorry for your loss. I was Thiazzi was a good friend of mine. You see that? She smiles and says, that's wonderful. I've never been in a home like one of these in Dolmak where he was from. This is where he. Hal. This is where he grew up. Right? This was your family's home. I grew up here in this neighborhood, not in this house. Gotcha. Diazi lived with his father and mother, our father and his mother on the edge of this neighborhood. Well, it's beautiful and I'd love to. I'd love to see as you take a shot of that, she goes, what is this delightful thing called? Oh, yeah, it's best for sipping. No, she will. He puts his hand out from open and goes, ernesa, are you sure? Oh, there you are. You wanna go talk as you go talk. She takes it from her. I am not. You take the shot and head out. Just immediately pour Erinessa another shot because that was weird. Matt, I would love for you to make a. Make a wisdom saving throw for me. Ooh, that is a solid six. We're back, baby. I would like. I would like. Didn't know the dice. Go high. I would like for Belair, Murray, Tysha or Hal. Anyone who wants to. No one has, I think a detect magic up right now, but give me either Arcana or call it like Arcana or nature or religion. Dealer's choice. Well, go ahead and give me a roll. DC20 gets you a vibe. DC25 gets you pure information. Can I give guidance because of myself? Yeah, yeah. Nat20. Nat26. We're rolling hot tonight, baby. It's. You know, there's a lot of RP going on, but these are some important roles. Pretty good. 23 on Arcana. 23 on Arcana. I have a plus six. That's a 13. 13. Great. Murray. I think on this arcana check, you just notice as Tysha and Julian step outside, there is a bit of. You notice the cold iron nail glow a little subtly orange for a second. That's for repelling demons and fairies. Gihepa belair on a gnat. 20. 20. Religion and arcana. 26. 26. Nat 20. I'll give you two out of three. We'll make it fun. Dealer's choice. The Target the effect and the cause. You can get two out of three. I hate you every fiber of my being. I'll take the target and the cause, damn it. The target and the cause. The cause. There is an Orcish custom. So all those candles. All those candles, everything around the Azzi's body, the coins and everything. He is in a state of. This is part of the old path. He's been adorned with treasures by his loved ones. He is under a protection. That protection has been. Something has been done to cross it. You don't have the effect, but something like a shadow follows Ser Julian Davinos out of this home. And you can see in a way that maybe only Bolaire can, a shadow walking out the door after Julian would. Anything like Devil's Sight wouldn't help with this. I'm trying to think if I have any. Anything I can do to on that. Nat20. I think that you get a sense that, like, you don't know the effect, but it's something small. This is like the kind of magic that people tend to ignore. A little bit of folklore, an old superstition, a saw, an old wild tale. But you watch as something small and surreptitious is born into existence and begins to walk behind Ser Julian. And I think, you know, with more time, there are things back at the museum that maybe would be worth consulting after. You just saw Julian and Tysha step outside together. Tasha, why are you here? Because my friend is grieving. Why are you here? She's safe among friends. Because I myself have a storied history with Thiassi, and I felt it was important for me to close that chapter in person. Mm. So you came here for one last clue. Call it what you wish. I call it a desperate man's last bit of glory. You have no idea what those words mean. How's my son? Your son is actually quite an exemplary student. Rising to be a fantastic soldier. Picks up things quickly. Incredible intellect, good intuition. And has gotten quite a bit far, both with small and long blades. Has quite a future ahead of him because I have been his teacher. It was the last bit of wisdom and patience left in me to keep him by your side. But this you hear with a little fish hook pulling at the corner of your lip. A grin. He leans against the wall. Goes into a relaxed state. His stately knightly appearance melts a bit. He leans against the wall. Look, we have many reasons to dislike each other. Many. You're a lying scoundrel. A rat who betrayed his father and his family for A last hope of glory. No, I watching. We're not inside the house, are we? So uneven ground here. If you want to start throwing these words away from me, you have to be willing to take it back. All right. My family was thrown into the mud by my father and I pulled us back up your. And he gestures back towards the Oz. Your kin turned on all of those who helped lift him up. And he needed to be taught a lesson. And it just so happened that I was the one who had the courage to do so. And I know that can be hard for you to muster into your stomach after all these years. But with Sonnestan. And now we live. And now we mourn. So you can throw your words all you like. It does not change history. I don't hate you as much as you may hate me. I'm not going to lie. You know I hate him. I know you hate him. And as much as I want to, I don't hate you. I pity you. Because if it takes this level of betrayal, betrayal of your kin, to try to claw your way out of the bud, and what good has it done? The door to Faerie is still closed. And it's only the work of my people that gives you a snowflake's chance in hell of any real comeback. So you're gonna watch your fucking tone with me. And if one hair is hurt on my son's head, there will be nothing you or your lovely lady patron can do to stop me ripping you limb from fucking limb. And I'll start with that pretty little glove of yours. Do you understand me? And at this, I think you can feel it. Heat coming off like a shimmer off of the. The back of her. And she is trying very hard not to wild shape. Right now. Their pleasure is always Tysha. You're both suddenly aware that the temperature has dropped about 15 degrees in the last minute. It is night and the clouds have vanished in the silver light over the rookery casts everything in a strange translucence. I'm going to need perception checks from both Tycha and Julian in this moment. Cast guidance on him. Bad things come out at night. That's just a six, Matt. Stop touching my dice. What have we got here? That's the least I can do for that shit you just threw at me. That's gonna. Oh. 14 glorious 10. I am fully right now believing that this is your doing. I'm like, we'll only be here a short time. This isn't me. The magpies aren't cawing. Something ancient moves upon the face of this city. A figure is walking up the street. The lights are not on in the other houses. It walks alone approaching this home. Ashley Johnson, you want to come out? I bet it's super chill. Yeah, probably. Probably. Salt bra. Yeah. Yeah. To bring the knight. Oh, I brought the knight. I brought the night. I brought the knight. Hi. Hi, Ashley. Hi. Would you do me the favor of describing your character as she approaches the top of the hill? Sure. You see an Extremely tall woman, five' 11, yes. Dressed in sort of deep obsidian snug black leather chest armor and robes and pale white lacing that goes all the way up the top to the top of her throat. She pulls down a black hood and she wears a veil of mourning that looks to be chainmail that's draped over her elven ears. Cool. And the part of her face that we can see, you can see that there's gashes and scarring and burn. What almost looks like a scar of arcane magic Wrapped around her waist a few times is a very, very long chain. And she holds the end of it laced between her fingers. And dangling on the bottom of it is a censer with some smoke coming out of it. She walks up and sees the two of them as you approach, covering on your face, you wear a veil of mourning, an article of religious, perhaps even ecclesiastical garb. And though you approach a funeral, the veil of mourning is not for the deceased that lies within you. Behold a human warrior. An orcish druid as you arrive at the top of the hill, A censer in your hands. You smell funereal incense, the stink of liquor. Last rites are being held within this place. You have arrived exactly where you were told to expect, the event you now see unfolding. Do I recognize the. Do you have religious paraphernalia on you? Not that you can see. It is just. She's just wearing pure black, minus her white lacing. And there's not really any religious symbols on her whatsoever. Are you here to mourn the Aussie, Fang? I walk straight inside. You walk into the home, Hal. You turn and see an unfamiliar figure appear. Good evening, Ty. Hello, guests of Thiazi Fang's funeral. I follow him. Behind you. I am Velis of the sisters of Salandri, the fallen goddess of life, the green mother, the shaper of the elves. I would like an audience with the executor of this man's. I'm the Azifeng's brother, if that is what you're looking for. That man is a thief. And he stole something that belongs to me. And I intend to get it back. I don't mean any trouble here. My apologies to everyone. A brother, a lover. I just want what is mine. All right. We don't need to make a spectacle of my brother's passing. What is it that you are looking for that you think he has? It is something that he stole from me. If you can show me his things, I will find it and be on my way. Perhaps you could just clarify. He has a lot of things. This funeral's awesome. It's a stone. Just a simple stone. I'm sorry. I haven't even seen my brother in person before today. In a few weeks, I don't know of any stone. What kind of stone? I take a seat and cross my legs. I can wait until you're ready. Erinessa looks around and says, my lady, you have come here from the mourn vale, I am presuming. Yes. I have traveled very far for weeks to come here. It is my late husband that lies on that table. My condolences. Thank you. Normally I would take umbrage at the word thief being bandied at my husband, but given that it seems to be used in a very literal context here, yes, he stole. I do believe you haven't seen him in many years. I think the man that's laying here is very different than what you thought of him. I don't know if an elf like yourself has experienced enough loss to know that the way you are speaking is incredibly rude and will not be tolerated. That's true. I haven't experienced any loss in all of my years. Well, other than your God, 70 years ago, anyway. Well, I think the mood is pretty much sunk. Do you want to tell us a little more about this thing that you're after? It is called the Stone of Nightsong Belair. That name rings a bell. Yes, it does. Oh, someone I know? Hello. Welcome. How are you? Clearly not well. Phelis, give me an insight check with advantage, if you'd be so kind. Oh dear. Okay, where's my stuff? The realest vibe. Okay, he's just opened every menu. I was like, that's okay. You said insight check. Okay. With advantage. Wait, really? Yeah. With advantage. You said advantage. Advantage. Yeah. Okay, those are normal size dice. Okay, great. I know, that's really good. That's 18 plus 5. Where am I? 23. Yes, that's 23. You look around and see a dead mortal on the table. This one died from hanging, but that was merely changing the date on a calendar that was always coming for him. Nearby is the Lady Erinessa muttering under her breath. I've had just about enough people tell me that I don't know the man I met. You look over, see Bellaire in a corner, as you say, the Stone of Night Song. Seventy years ago, blink of an eye. In your centuries of life, you watched the last God of Ahriman die and have had to trust for weeks through the stinking world they built in the wake of what they destroyed. You see here in this place, family, criminals, nobles, all threads of the same corrupted tapestry. But there's one person you don't see, one being who you know knows what the Stone of Nightsong is. Because she was there. You wonder if any of these people are hiding her. And on that 23, you know that they will know of that person who traveled with Thiazi. They cannot hide that. The cold iron nail above the door. This is a place that knows fairies well. I just slowly start swinging my sensor and just looking around. Is that Pal Santo swing real nice. Little bit, little bit of this and that. You know, I actually agree with the Lady Aranessa. And I agree with you. It's been some time since she's, you know, knocked boots with the Aussie, as they say. However, some of us other lives around here, we might be able to help you. But I would suggest you cool whatever vibe this is, calm down and maybe we can talk like dignified individuals when we're not in the presence of grieving loved ones. Does that seem fair? I'm sorry. In all the time that I have been here, I have forgotten what grieving is like. I will reattach my chain. Please continue with the festivities. Would you like a drink? Absolutely. All right. Let me get you a drink. I'll get you a. A cranberry roll. Thank you very much. We'll break bread over these shitty fucking cranberry rolls and then we'll be good. Okay? Great. One moment. I'm going to walk over and sit next to you with a drink. What the fuck are you doing here? What do you think I'm doing here? Making an ass of yourself and ruining any you might hope to achieve. You let me into the city, Baulaire. I deliver two drinks of yardgrass. You're speaking louder than you think you are. And I just sit next to them as you sit down. Tycha, you see off in a corner, completely forgotten you mentioned it earlier, but when you were drunk, before you sobered yourself, there is that silver box that you had mentioned before, the one that you had traveled with. As you see, Bellaire, Sits next to this elven wanderer that is still yours here to have at this moment. And Vaelys, looking around, you see a couple of fairy protections here. If you want to do any other checks to see you remember who that companion was that traveled with Theos to the Mourn Vale. However, for anyone else here in this moment, you see Shadi looks over at this elven traveler and goes. Dad, is everything okay? Are we safe here? Yeah. Yeah. Hall Andil, I'm sorry. I was freaking out. Can you just come with me? I need to cool off for a second, and I want to drag you upstairs so I can go dig the silver box out of my effect. Okay. I look to Shadia and to Hiro. Girls, could you just clear the dessert table? Maybe take stuff in the back? Oh, yeah, dad, you got it. We'll come find you in a few. All right. And Hala is trailing them, so we've got just a little backup. There's also lots of armed. I know. Warriors here. Yeah, you see. You see. You see down there some of the old torn banner. See, there again, is this Tunk, who is the boar man. Looks out and goes over and goes 10. How big was the stone? If I see it, I'll write a report. It's small. Yeah. All right. Small. All right, I'll look out for a small rock. Would this ring any bells to Murray? Give me an arcana check. Actually, no. Give me religion, I assume. I know, but I'm happy to put another. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Murray, that's a 25. 2512. The Stone of Night. Is this religion or religion? The Stone of Nightsong was an artifact written by. Sorry. Was an artifact created by a celestial, which was basically a celestial servant of Salandri, the shaper of the elves, the goddess of the. In the woodland. To her children, the elves, did she alone grant immortality. That they would not die of age or infirm. That they would live lest accident or injury befell them. But for those elves that it did befall, she crafted a stone that their spirits would be brought to peace beyond in the garden of the spirit kept for her. But in traveling, there was a realm that they must pass. This being the realm of. Hold on one second. Lore. Lore. Lore Lord. Lord. Lore Lord. Lord. Lord. That passing through the tenebral reaches that there would be a brief night before bright dawn. That brief night, you know, is not very brief. That is the underworld, the realm of the dead. The Stone of Nightsong existed. That elves and their immortal spirits need not even touch those ghastly realms. But would be ferried by a spirit of song and night swiftly through the darkness to bright dawn. The goddess of life so loved her elven children that even in catastrophe the destruction of their bodies with their immortal souls never have to know hardship or pain. It must be dice. Jesus. The stone of Nightsong, you believe, was created after the original guardian spirit, that immortal nightingale. A celestial that took the wings of nightingale, sort of like a night angel, which is why it has the bird. The stone was created after that celestial's destruction in the shaper was born. So I'm just going to kind of look at Blair as I see. Oh, I'll talk for you, brain. Okay, so, other than reminding me that no good deed goes unpunished, what would it take to get you to leave these people alone? They don't have what you're looking for, clearly. How do you know that? Because I know them. And they wouldn't be be this contained if they did. At best, if they do have it, they don't know what it is. They wouldn't be able to find it for you. Do you know where the little one is? Which little one? Oh, my God. Where is Thimble? Thimble? Thimble. As you say Thimble's name. Upstairs. Hal and Tysha. Silver box flies open on the desk. Shattered ceramic. Black clay hidden in the box begins to move together into the shape of a mask, much like the one downstairs on Belair's face. Ty. Hi. This was the last thing the auntie asked me to get it. I. I don't know what it is. Can I make an arcana check? You want to make an arcana check? Yeah. No, I don't like this. I would be able to make an arcana check at what you now see. Shaking across the inner workings of the box. Black velvet and black clay coming together swiftly. Because you spoke the name of a little fairy. We'll make that arcana check at the top of next week's episode. Thanks for watching episode one. We hope you enjoyed it. And the question that I will remember to ask. Is it Thursday yet? Got in one, baby. 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. Your review may help a new batch of wayward souls find their way to Ahriman Exandria and beyond. Or if you want to hear what the cast discussed after the episode, head to Beacon TV and check out our exclusive show critical role cooldown. You'll be right there at the table immediately after we say is it Thursday yet? And experience our cast's post show reactions. We'll see you next time. Mazda. Once you discover the Mazda CX90 Mazda, it doesn't take long to get it. With three row seating and safety features like radar, cruise control and rear cross traffic alert to carry you and your peace of mind, it will have you saying Mazda. The Mazda CX90. It's made to move you. Every Mazda Amica SUV offers you an elevated driving experience and refined performance. Discover at your local Mazda dealer today. 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