Ep. 13 Eberron Double Feature!

## Listen

Ep. 13 Eberron Double Feature!

—Beric

First, Eric sits down with their new player, Randy, to discuss his character and his history with D&D. Afterward our favorite warlock has a discussion with his new sword.

## Reviewed

Therudak has slightly below average intelligence, but a lot of common sense to make up for it. He loves collecting stones, and is always on the hunt for the perfect, most shiny rock. He only keeps 20 at a time; when he finds one fit to be in his bag, he takes out the least perfect of the bunch. The inspiration behind this was that Randy is a collector, but of things someone in a fantasy world probably couldn't collect, like comic books and Hot Wheels. He thought of his wife's grandfather, who collects rocks, and figured that might be a perfect fit.

Even though he's been playing since the 70's, he'd never played a half-orc before and wanted to see what that was like. Half-orcs have big tusks coming out of their mouths, so he imagined how someone like that would speak. Therudak is a little clumsy, being 6 feet tall and a lanky 170 lbs. An interesting concept added to the character was to roll on attacks and see if he would lose his balance or perhaps become distracted.

Therudak doesn't have an easy time getting close to others. He was a cook in the Last War, and his encampment got overrun and he lost several friends. If he starts making new friends it's always in the back of his mind that something could happen to them at a moment's notice. The people he does call friends though, he never abandons.

It's often hard coming into a group of players who already have established characters and character relationships, so to ease him into the group Dak is training under Crast. Dak looks up to him a lot and is still sort of looking for his approval, so when he stands up to Crast in the following episode it's unusual for him. Crast's whole attitude is off, and Therudak isn't really sure how to deal with it.

## Reduced

With the time between episodes 11 and 14, Beric has a long-awaited talk with Curse-Bringer. Just outside of Sharn in a city called First Tower is where his grandfather lives on his family's estate. Having failed once again to save everyone, Beric needs to retreat and spend some time in meditation. He has to understand what he can. Sitting cross-legged in front of his mother's grave, he places Curse-Bringer in front of him and lays a hand on it.

The sword says he's an ally of Beric's blood. Not his mother; Curse-Bringer doesn't know who she is. But his father was a great warrior who wielded him masterfully. He's gone now; he ceased to act with purpose, he wasn't vanquishing the allies of darkness. So the sword left him.

When Beric mentions his mother writing in the journal, Curse-Bringer is dismissive. The journal is not his mother's to write in. The bloodline does not belong to her. She was able to manipulate the power through knowledge given to her, but it wasn't her right. It was supposed to go through his father's bloodline, not be given away. The power bestowed upon it fuels the ability to fight those that work against the light, and Curse-Bringer is part of that power.

Beric tries to understand who the hooded figure was who physically gave him the sword. Curse-Bringer comes up with the example of giving someone a gift; if the person asked who gave it to them, would you say your hand? Curse-Bringer came of his own accord. Other people wield weapons drawn from this same power and they take different forms, but Curse-Bringer decided to appear as a sword. He chooses it, not Beric.

Beric asks what exactly their mission is, and Curse-Bringer is vague when answering, saying the usual stuff about stopping the darkness and serving the light. His father stopped fighting for what was right when he met Beric's mother, and fought for something else instead. He came to this land against Curse-Bringer's wishes. It was for some other duty and he met Urik and freely gave up his pact. Eladrin came in search for a different power, a power he thought he could use, but he was wrong.

Curse-Bringer warns that someday he will ask more of Beric. Not different, just *more*. If all he wants is to continue fighting the darkness, Beric is okay with that. He dismisses the sword, reaches into his satchel, and pulls out the journal. He opens it to the first blank page and begins to record everything he can remember, starting with the Faded Forest.