Episode 258 - A Princeling Problem

Having narrowly escaped the extreme Pyre Problem due to Lahni’s incredible speed, our heroes must decide what to do with their new orb. Orb is strange but also, orb is good. What does the orb want us to know? Is it an orb or is it The Orb? Who knows… Oh look, Queen of Pelor’s Hope Ashayara Dayne is sending us a message I’ll just take a big sip of bean juice out of my “Nothing Else Can Go Wrong Mug” and chat!

## **Story**

### Long Story

After escaping the wrath of the Dragon King Pyre, Toby Treacletart, Rowan Grey, and Skud Derringer are riding aboard their airship, *Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap*, waiting for their friend, Lahnik "Lahni" Caplain. It sure does seem like they got away from that whole Monastery of Uthgar situation, huh? Anyway, Skud informs the others that he has never been outside of the now-destroyed Monastery, and asks them what he should do now. There is an awkward silence,then Rowan tell him to enjoy the view as she and Toby converse in private. Also, Frank Ubell is there, he's like a new Old Man Weck. They decide to bring Skud along, but on a trial basis, so that they can see how he does. Soon, they come up on the statue, The Middle Finger of the First People, where they find Lahni, who has just outrun Pyre. Skud accepts their offer, then they offer to pay him, which is not good business. Toby tells Skud that they are in a bit of debt, and Frank informs them that pilfering Skud's treasure helps that out a bit. That is, if Skud agrees to let it go. He would essentially be "investing" in The Tower of Grey, according to Frank. After some awkward conversation, Toby and Rowan decide to make both Lahni and Skud the same level of Apprentices in the company, and they give Skud his first lesson: that not everyone with his Necromancy abilities is good and wants to help people. They cite Riekert Svenson as an example, and tell him to keep his powers on the down low.

They celebrate the addition of their newest recruit with a party! Meanwhile, Toby slyly casts the *Identify* ritual on Skud, to learn what spells he has. Rowan, drunk, asks Skud to make a skeleton dance for them. He happily obliges. He casts *Danse Macabre*, and they danse! They party the night away, and a good time is had by all. The hellish next morning, Rake enters and asks them where they are going now, after he brings them sandwiches. Toby asks Lahni where Lonnie might be, and Lahni says that their peepaw would often tell them "Go Westward, my son!", so it's probable that he went west. It starts snowing, which Tim finds strange, as they are in the dessert, even though it's totally possible for it to snow in the dessert. Toby asks for the orb, so that he, Skud, Rake, and Ava can study it. As soon as he sees it, he notices that one of the six bumps along its surface is now glowing. Toby discovers that the map isn't of the Prime Material plane, completely, and that the glowing dot can be pressed in. He does that. An illusory image appears, that seems to be some part of the world. It looks like a densely wooded area. Toby sketches it with his mage hand. He pushes one of the other buttons, but nothing happens.

Toby thinks it looks more like a Galanthian tree than an Ichtakan tree. Rowan has been to Galanthis, though it seems to not have a location on the map, as it is weird and magical. They decide to head toward Galanthis, and suddenly, a bird comes flying in through the window. It turns into the illusory form of Ashayara Dayne, Rowan's half-sister. "Rowan, we need you now!" she says. "Thom Harper is gone!" She then vanishes. Rowan asks Lahni if it is okay if they go deal with this Thom Harper situation, which she is fine with, mostly. Skud learns the lesson that someone's nephew is more important than someone's brother. The next morning, Toby begins preparing a Teleportation spell, so that they can teleport to Pelor's Hope, but it will take three days. In the meantime, he casts *Message* and tells her that they are on their way. Eventually, they get there. This is one of the fastest episodes ever. Queen Ashayara Dayne tells them to investigate his room.

They go there, and Rowan is easily able to find a device used during planar shifting. Skud investigates, and determines that it is attuned to the Feywild!

### Short

After escaping the clawed clutches of Pyre, the party celebrates the acquisition of a new Tower of Grey member. They investigate the map and discover it pointing to a place near Galanthis, possibly. Queen Ashayara Dayne sends a message to them, that the young Prince Thom Harper has gone missing. They head to Pelor's Hope to investigate, and find a device that was used to shift to the Feywild Plane!

## **Trivia**

* The statue that is broken that they meet up at is called "The Middle Finger of the First People"
* Rowan filled her pockets with gold, but Frank has two giant bags of gold
* The dog, Squelch, came with Skud, or maybe he didn't?
* Skud carries a bag of holding with him, to carry bones for making skeletons with
* ~~Lahni is now an Apprentice Level 2~~
* Skud doesn't drink
* He doesn't have revivify, but he does haveReanimate Dead
* Skud doesn't believe in the soul
* During the party, Frank had his tie tied around his forehead. The next morning, Toby woke up with Frank's tie tied around *his* forehead
	+ Rowan woke up with three skeletons
* Toby gets Inspiration for pressing the button immediately, as that was brave of him.
* Lahni has many very bad tattoos. One is a Butterfly/rainbow/dolphin on her lower back.

## **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**

* Ashayara Dayne
* Frank Ubell
* Rake

### **Locations**

* Ssathra
	+ The Middle Finger of the First People
* The *Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap*
* Pelor's Hope

### **Quest Log Updates**

* [NEW][Active] - Find Thom Harper
	+ [NEW][Active] - Search the Feywild for clues
* [Active] - Find Lannie Caplain
	+ ~~[Complete] - Survive Pyre's attack and reconvene nearby~~
	+ ~~[Complete] - Investigate the map found in the Monastery of Uthgar~~
	+ [NEW][On Hold] - Investigate Galanthis
* [Optional] - Find a way to pay back the Ferrim Pecunia bank of Pelor's Hope
* [Active][Jaeludra] - Investigate the Great Colosseum in Caer

### **Quotes**

**"When we started this, we wanted to make the world a better place. We wanted to make people feel safe!"** ~ *Toby*

**"Yeah, and what makes people feel more safe than comedy?"** ~ *Rowan*

## **Rolls**

* Recap
	+ **Tim - 13**
	+ Bachmann - 4
	+ Jennifer - 4
	+ Nika - 3

* **Lahni** rolls *Survival* to to see if Lonnie might have gone West - 18+10
	+ There could be an island out there

* **Rowan** rolls *History* to to see if there's any reason to go west, like money or people in need - 17
	+ They don't really know what's out there

* **Toby** rolls *Arcana* to to investigate the map, using his/Harper's Arcana glasses - 24
	+ He senses that it is of more than just the Prime Material Plane, and that he can press a button on it

* They all roll *Investigation* to search Thom Harper's room for clues
	+ **Toby** - 20 (?)
	+ **Rowan** - Nat20
		- She finds a silver, forked instrument of some kind
	+ **Lahni** - 2-1

* **Toby** rolls *Arcana* to see what the weird thing is - 24
	+ He recognizes it as a thing used to shift planes

* **Toby** and **Skud** roll *Arcana* to try to attune to it, and see where he went
	+ Toby - 1
		- Wut?
	+ Skud - 20
		- He believes it is attuned to the Feywild

*Episode Ends*