C2 E77

Politically speaking things are about to get not that chill in the region. We have been able to ignore most upheavals, political or otherwise, in the past but now, well, things are much more complicated. At least we ranked important enough to use a spooky ghost communication. Good to feel appreciated.

## **Story**

### Long Story

The strangest thing has just happened. Thaldin Emberbrew just sat up, said to Selene in a creepy voice "Your family is in peril.", and then fell unconscious. Now, the party turns to Ratma Ritmo, and is all, "'Sup with that?"

Ratma doesn't know 'sup with that. She's never seen anything like this before. Weirdly enough, it's Screech who has some idea. He recalls his days reading about dark magic from back when he was, like, super against it fundamentally. There are a few things that would be able to cause something like this: a high level mage, or a Fae spirit, or... a god. Yikes. That's a little above my pay grade.

So, Selene's family is in trouble, huh? Ratma does mention having heard rumors of trouble brewing out in Farhold, the capitol city where Selene's family lives. They seem to be worried about some sort of attack, likely coming from one of the other major houses. And war may soon follow. Could that be the danger the von Esper's face? Selene doubts it. The only thing that would potentially make the von Esper's a target is Selene's own disappearance from the OT, but that doesn't seem like a big enough deal to start a war over. Besides, something big's always going on in Farhold, so this potential attack probably has nothing to do with her. But still, she wants to get a letter out to her family. Ratma suggests that she can deliver the message herself, if she (and the rest of the party) want to go east, and investigate the city for themselves.

There's a long discussion on what their next move should be. There's a Drow city to the east in the tunnels, which is close to Farhold. Ratma says that they can get to Farhold through that city. But is that what they really want to do? They've been avoiding Farhold, due to the heat on Selene. But maybe the turmoil that's brewing is exactly the kind of distraction they need to get in undetected. Farhold is pretty centrally located in the region, with Rimeford/Mineford laying to the west. So, they could go east, stop at Farhold and help out Selene's family, and then continue going east from there (assuming they survive).

During the discussion, T'Chuck and Selene kind of get into a fight. Selene says she's risked her life for the other party members, so they should be willing to do the same for her. T'Chuck reminds her that they went on the run because the OT went looking for Selene, so, they basically are doing the same for her. Selene storms off in a huff.

Well, what about R'Oarc and Screech? How do they feel about all of this? Screech claims not to have too many enemies in Farhold, except for Copperpot, who still has ownership of his money printing press. Then he remembers that the Empire kind of took over his mining company, so there's no love for the Empire there. As for R'Oarc, she's just excited for the upcoming "Owlbearpalooza" festival happening in [INSERT THE NUMBER OF DAYS IT WOULD TAKE TO GET TO FARHOLD], so she's down. Somehow, she already has a few VIP passes. The big thing about Owlbearpalooza is that there's supposed to be a Fire Sorcerer there doing the pyrotechnics named Jett Razor. No, not that Jett Razor! This is "Jett Razor 2", who just goes by Jett Razor for short. He's a shark rocker, with razor fins, and he throws his shark teeth into the crowd. Also, during the conversation, he may or may not turn into the musical act for the event. It's unclear.

Anyway, Selene returns, despondent that no one came after her when she stormed out. Ratma suggests that she herself go to Farhold, and verify if the rumors about the impending danger are true. The others agree to this, deciding not to decide anything until they get back. Ratma stresses that they'll have to stay and keep an eye on things around here until she gets back.

Suddenly, Thaldin wakes up. He explains that he had a dream about "many scary people in big boats". They came across the land, killing everyone they encountered. Selene presses him for more information, and eventually the boy says that, in his dream, the boat people came to a big city, and came to a big grey stone building, and then he saw it burning. Selene grew up in a nice, 3 story building made of grey stone. So, that's not good. With no more info to get from Thaldin, the party crushes up some of those children's vitamins, mixes it in some water, and forces Thaldin to drink it. He goes back to sleep.

Alright, well, it will take Ratma 24 hours to go check on those rumors, so they might as well get some rest. They decide to keep watch over Thaldin during the night, to ensure he doesn't die in his sleep. He gets set up in Selene's room, while T'Chuck returns to his mushroom hut to sleep, and Screech goes back to his... cave? Isn't that where he's sleeping these days? Just, like, a dark cave inside this tunnel system? I think so. R'Oarc stays with Selene in The Goblin Pit Too.

Also, it's decided that Meat has made his way down here in the last few weeks. He's back to helping out Ratma in the Goblin Pit, but is given explicit instructions that he's not allowed to do anything but serve food. Despite this command, Selene ropes him into taking one of the shifts to watch Thaldin during the night. On Selene's first shift, nothing really happens. She wakes a grumpy Meat for his shift, where, presumably, nothing continues to happen. R'Oarc is woken by Meat, and she takes over watch duties.

A one point, Thaldin stops breathing. Thinking quickly, R'Oarc slaps him, which kind of works. Thaldin sits up, just like he did last episode. He once again grabs the wrist of the person standing above him (R'Oarc this time), and offers a grave warning. "They're coming!", he says.

And then, everything goes black.

### Short

The party considers Thaldin's strange warning. They don't know who sent them the message, but they know it can't be good news. Ultimately, Ratma volunteers to go to Farhold and investigate if the rumors of an impending war are true. She'll be back in 24 hours. The party goes to sleep, keeping watch over Thaldin through the night. During R'Oarc's shift, Thaldin offers another strange warning. "They're coming!", he says, before everything goes black.

## **Trivia**

* There's some discussion of the large houses around the Farhold region. The main house in the capitol is, of course, House Beauregard, of which Emperor Beauregard is a member.
	+ There's also House Proudmead(?), House Babaneux, and House Bartell.
		- House Bartell was mentioned back in Episode 46, where a copy of *The Farhold Trumpeter* said that "The Bartell and Rewayne families are to be united in the wedding of the decade". The Rewayne family was mentioned as one of the smallest, but richest houses. They are located "in and around" Whitmore Fort. Presumably, Whitmore Fort is near Farhold.
* The "Drow City" that Ratma tells them about was mentioned back in Episode 63, where Ratma suggested they sell the Brain Collector's brain goo there, for a good price. As far as I'm aware, we haven't been given a name for this city yet.
* Selene thinks she's going to change her look up, but isn't worrying about that just yet.
* Both of Selene's parents, and her three siblings live in Farhold. Her brother kinda sucks, but her younger brother and sister are just kids.
* R'Oarc has somehow managed to get her hands on 5 tickets to Owlbearpalooza, 4 for the party, and the 5th being for Lucee, even though she's not sure if they'll come or not.

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

### **Cast and Player Characters**

* Michael DiMauro - *Dungeon Master*
* Tim Lanning - T'Chuck
* Jennifer Cheek - Selene von Esper
* Nika Howard - R'Oarc
* Mike Bachmann - Beholder-doodle (Screech Echo)

### **Non-Player Characters**

* Thaldin Emberbrew
* Ratma Ritmo
* Meat

### **Locations**

* The Underground
	+ Mineford
		- The Goblin Pit Too

### **Quest Board**

* [Active] - Find a cure for Thaldin Emberbrew
	+ [On-Hold] - Go to the nearby Drow city
* [NEW][On-Hold] - Save Selene's family!
* [On-Hold] - Investigate the mysterious goings-on to the east
* [On-hold] - Investigate "Bill, the Necromancer", in the far off city by the coast
* [On-hold] - Take the disembodied lips to the oceanfront, for a burial at sea

### **Quotes**

* **"I came back. There's no consequence for dying!"** ~ *R'Oarc*

* **"If I can't be rich, I might as well be dead..."** ~ *Screech Echo*

* **"They don't call it 'Closehold'."** ~ *T'Chuck*

* **"I'm maternal."** ~ *Selene, after drugging a child*

* **"My imagination is so strong, I made a house."** ~ *Tim Lanning*

## **Rolls**

* **Selene** rolls *Arcana* to see if she knows what the hell is goin' on around here! - 5
	+ She doesn't know.

* **Screech** rolls *Arcana* for the same reason - 15
	+ He thinks there are a few things that could have caused this, like a high level mage, or a Fae spirit, or a god.

* **Selene** rolls *Deception* to convince Thaldin to tell her about his dream in exchange for a potion - 23
	+ He agrees to tell her what he remembers

* Some of them roll *Medicine* during their watch over Thaldin
	+ **Selene** - 8
		- She thinks he's dying a few times, and wakes him up, but he's fine.
	+ **R'Oarc** - 2
		- R'Oarc gets a weird message, like Selene did.