Episode 404 - Welcome to Galanthis

The gang has to make sure no GD hidden villains are within their group so they have a quick truth sesh. Then they rush off to meet Rowan’s cool as hell dad! Wow!

## **Story**

### Long Story

As little Toby dreams, so too does he hear the voice of Vecna, the scary demon god whom he made a deal with. She's able to control his strange withered arm, which she uses to strangle him awake. She's disappointed in him, and reminds them of their deal: to kill all the gods *(Side note: I don't remember if this has been established as their/her goal before)*. Her mission, she states, is to have all the gods killed, leaving only herself, and Toby, whom she is referring to as a god. The downside (well, one of many) is that this would mean they would have to kill Lahni, as she is infested with Orcus' powers. Toby doesn't like that. Vecna doesn't care. She threatens that she'll take Toby's soul if he doesn't comply. And then, she vanishes...

The next morning, the party prepars to head off to Galanthis, home of the High-Elves, to meet Rowan's father, King Theonjon Dayne. Rowan, who's from there, has the ability to teleport herself and her friends to Galanthis at will, which is pretty sweet. There's some house-keeping that happens before they leave, however. Queen Aludra Wyrmsbane and Jaela have returned off to Deephome to coordinate the Abyss-preventing efforts there. The Tower of Grey have given Jaela a Sending Stone so that they can communicate more effectively. Adira Harper, who was previously going to go find the Circle of Seven, is now staying with the party, and will travel to Galanthis with them. As an Adira fan, I love this, but as a continuity fan, *\*(makes angry Marge Simpson noise)\**. Also deciding to tag along is Frank Ubell, who's excited about the notion of establishing a trade route between The Tower of Gray and Galanthis, the nerd. And Bercy Hamhands, of course.

HOWEVER. There's one point of contention between Tim and the Dungeon Master (well, one of many). Remembering their betrayal by Eckhart Dayhammer/Trant Thumble, Toby makes Lahni, Skud, Rowan, Frank, Adira, and Bercy all stand around the Conversation Pit for a tête-à-tête. Well, more like a tête-à-tête-à-tête-à-tête-à-tête-à-tête-à-tête. He casts *Zone of Truth* by way of *Wish*, and encourages everyone to speak. One by one, they pour their souls out. Here are some of the highlights (though it's worth noting, we only know that Lahni, Rowan, and Skud failed their rolls. We don't know about Toby, Adira, Frank, or Bercy):

* Toby reveals that he recently made a deal that he shouldn't have.
* Rowan stole some of Toby's yogurt, and it gave her a tummy-ache. She won't do it again.
	+ She thinks very highly of her father.
		- She's also not Trant Thumble.
* Everyone, in turn, verifies that they are not Trant Thumble.
* Frank admits to not burying Rowan's paperwork in the woods, as he previously claimed. Instead, it's locked away in a filling cabinet on the third floor under lock and key.
* Lahni believes that she would have had a more stable life had she gone to work for that hell bank, and that she wants to go back and work there.
* Bercy also ate some of Toby's yogurt, and it did wonders for his digestive tract.
* Skud hates his dad! Well, maybe hate's a strong word, but with all the trouble he put Skud through, his recent change of heart is not yet enough for Skud to forgive him, which is understandable.
* Adira claims to have the realm's best interests in mind. She hates Trant Thumble.
	+ She also says that one time, when she was a kid, she kicked "her brother" in the nuts, and "one of his nuts did not *NOT* explode". But the clerics fixed it. She doesn't specify which brother it was...
		- She also, also has many regrets in life, citing the fact that the only living family she has is 1 nephew.
			* This, despite the fact they JUST mentioned Titus Harper's many children...
				+ Finally *(despite this inconsistency)*, Toby trusts Adira.

With that out of the way, everyone holds hands, and Rowan teleports them all to Galanthis!

Here, the air smells of honey and flowers and trees. It's extremely *Stardew Valley* in the spring time. Or, Rivendell. Or *Riverdale*. What have you. They are greeted by the royal attendant, Zeno Ziltaurus. Ziltaurus seems less than enthusiastic about seeing Rowan again, and the feeling is mutual. He recognizes the lot of them, save for Frank and Bercy, and Toby is suspicious of his knowlege of Adira Harper. Ziltaurus requests they leave, as this is not a great time. Rowan makes a comment under her breath about Ziltaurus being in love with the King's wife (Rowan's step-mother), Olenna. Annoyed, Zeno concedes, and tells Rowan and co. that the king is off by "the waterfall". They are off.

At said waterfall, are two men, firing arrows at a small piece of cheese atop a tiny mouse. They are not succeeding. And so, Rowan does the badass thing of shooting an arrow directly at the cheese, making a perfect shot. The two men turn around. One of them is Luccan! And the other is King Theonjon Dayne! And there's also Nyx, sitting beneath a nearby tree.

King Dayne is happy to see his daughter, and vice versa, and the two rush to embrace. They haven't seen each other in a while. She introduces everyone. Toby references the King's investment in the Tower of Grey, which the king *pretends* to know about. Like father, like daughter, I guess. She then asks him if he knows what's going on in The Abyss. He's a bit pre-occupied, though, as it turns out that recently, the Citadel of the Seven has been destroyed!

The Citadel of the Seven is the headquarters of the Circle of Seven, and it's located in the Prime Material Plane, on Drunkeros! It lies to west, beyond Caer, beyond the ocean, beyond Pelor's Hope, beyond Arkensaw, to the south of Norhall. This region is known as "The Westerlands", which includes a location known as The Crossroads. It's here that King Dayne used to meet for adventures along with River Grey, Rowan's mother. And that brings us to the next point. Among the many adventures of King Dayne and River Grey, they claimed to have fought and killed a Tarrasque! This is incredible, and would be even more so, were it not for the fact that Dayne now admits to not having killed the massive creature. Instead, they merely contained it. He theorizes, dare I say, fears, that this Tarrasque is what's destroyed the Citadel. And if it's gotten to the Citadel, that means it's made its way past the Crossroads. And that means River Grey may be in danger! He requests that Rowan and friends go there and make sure she's alright, though he's also sure she can take care of herself. He also, also asks them to check up on Bigby, an old friend of Dayne's. He would have been at the Citadel. Adira's eyes widen at the mention of Bigby. Remember that she was/is a member of the Circle of Seven, which was led by Bigby.

Before they leave, King Dayne has a lot of stuff to discuss with Rowan. She, meanwhile, is excited to show off her childhood home and her room and everything.

### Short

The party has a Zone of Truth session, after wich they all trust each other, and so they head off to Galanthis. They meet Rowan's father, who asks them to go check on Rowan's mother (and also Bigby), at the Crossroads in the Westerlands...

## **Trivia**

* The Wizard doesn't exist...
* Toby, with 23 Intelligence, is the most intelligent being in the universe
* Galanthis is in a pocket dimension hovering between the Prime Material Plane and the Feywild. One can only enter there if one knows how to teleport there, or if one has been blessed with the ability to get to there
* Rowan's mother is named "River Grey", she lives at the cross-roads. This would be the first we've heard of Rowan't mother. This is very exciting.
* Per Frank, everyone at the Tower of Grey has 401Ks
* King Theonjon Dayne had, for most of Rowan's life, an attendant named Kirla (an elvish woman), but Rowan's step-mother, Olenna, fired her
	+ Zeno is in love with Olenna
* Toby wants some street meat in Galanthis. This reminds me of Sal, the Street Meat Vendor
* Jennifer says that Nyx and Luccan are in a romantic/sexual relationship, though they don't admit it, and maybe it isn't romantic at all
* Theonjon Dayne's nickname/petname for Rowan is "Freckles"
* In the next episode, the mouse is revealed to, in fact, be Wiggins. Wiggins is dead

## **In This Episode...**

### **Cast and Player Characters**

* Michael DiMauro - *Dungeon Master*
* Tim Lanning - Toby Treacletart
* Jennifer Cheek - Rowan Grey
* Mike Bachmann - Skud Derringer
* Nika Howard - Lahnik "Lahni" Caplain

### **Non-Player Characters**

* Vecna
* Adira Harper
* Bercy Hamhands
* Frank
* Zeno Ziltaurus
* Luccan
* King Theonjon Dayne
* Nyx

### **Locations**

* Drunkeros
	+ Greenham
		- The Tower of Gray
* Galanthis!

### **Quest Log Updates**

* [On-Hold] - Stop Tiamat!
* [On-Hold] - Destroy The Artifact!
	+ [On-Hold] - Find Trant Thumble
* [Complete]~~[Rowan] - Find Rowan's father, King Theonjon Dayne~~
* [NEW][Active] - Find River Grey
	+ [NEW][Active] - Go to The Crossroads in The Westerlands
* [NEW][Active] - Find Bigby
	+ [NEW][Active] - Go to The Citadel of the Seven in The Westerlands
* [Side-line][Boris] - Restore the used Planar Crystals that power The *BTS*
* [Side-line][Adira Harper] - Reconnect with the Circle of Seven

### **Quotes**

* **"Kill the gods, or your soul is mine."** ~ *Vecna*

* **"Wait, are we-- How many truths are we tellin' here?"** ~ *Rowan Grey*

* **"And again, Lahni, I can bring your family back--"** ~ *Toby*
**"Nope! It is not worth it. They are *dead*."** ~ *Lahni Caplain*

* **"Hi, it me."** ~ *Lahni Caplain*

* **"I don't think we would be able to NOT create a DILF in any situation."** ~ *Tim Lanning*

* **"Toby, you had *Tarrasque*, didn't you!"** ~ *Skud Derringer and his impeccable timing*

## **Rolls**

* **Recap**
	+ **Tim - 17**
	+ Jennifer - 9
	+ Bachmann - 6
	+ Nika - 15

* **Rowan** rolls *Perception* to notice Toby's strangled neck - 16
	+ She maybe sees a bit above his ascot

* **Toby** rolls *Arcana* to attempt to teleport into Galanthis - 31
	+ He can for sure do it

* Everyone must make a DC 20 CHA Saving Throw against Toby's *Zone of Truth* (with disadvantage)
	+ **Lahni** - 8
		- Fails
	+ **Rowan** - 8
		- Fails
	+ **Skud** - 14
		- Fails
	+ **Adira** - ??
		- *Fails???*
	+ **Toby** - ??
	+ **Bercy** - ??
	+ **Frank** - ??

* Some of them roll *Perception* at the arrow shooting stump
	+ **Rowan** - 18
	+ **Lahni** - 30
		- There's a small mouse standing on the stump with some cheese on its head
	+ **Skud** - 10

* **Rowan** makes a ranged attack to shoot the cheese on the mouse's head - 24
	+ She makes it, cleanly

* **Lahni** rolls *History* to see if she knows who Luccan is - 14
	+ She does no look like a Wood Elf