Ep. 5 Finding a Trail Chapter 1

## Listen

Ep. 5 Finding a Trail Chapter 1

—Laozi

The party leaves Mistmarsh on a lightning rail heading to Sharn. They pick up Prince Oargev and Barasha, and find out how little Draconos knows of his own religion.

## Synopsis

### Gram's Vision

After the debacle with Jacob and the shadowy figure at the end of the last episode, Dex, Draconos, and Beric return to the town and let Trant know what happened. Beric spends the rest of the night in the Red Wolf Inn pouring over his mother's journals, searching for anything that will help them figure out what the figure was. Lyle goes home and gets a good night's sleep, knowing there'll be a lot of work to do the next day. Drac finds a cot in someone's house and sleeps there.

Gram greets them at the sheriff's office the next morning, looking exhausted and worn out. It's obvious she's looking for them. Beric and Dex ignore her, heading for the door, and Drac gives a small wave. She stops them before they can enter and says she's had a vision. A man of brilliant silver light appeared before her when she was in bed. A majestic voice said,

*"To retrieve youth, the fiend blood must find the shaper of his own. The darkness will creep into the light and the light that holds the shadow must venture to the darkness to stop the sun from snuffing out."*
When she says "fiend," she's starting directly at Drac. Knowing Drac is a paladin and had to have been trained by someone, they all assume it's referring to that and agree that their next step is to find that person.

### Meeting Ruken

After a small chat with Gram about her locket they enter the sheriff's office and see someone talking to Alben. Beric introduced them to his third(maybe second, he can't quite remember) cousin, Ruken ir'Clarn, Alben's father and the prime minister of Breland. He's very regally dressed and looks down at them. Dex puts his hand out for a shake and Ruken takes it begrudgingly, in a way that makes it clear that he thinks he's above all of them. Dex pointedly wipes his hand on his shirt. Drac misses all of this, sees people are shaking hands, and happily shakes Ruken's hand.

They tell Ruken everything that happened with Jacob, and he tries blaming it on the goblins, even after he's told that the goblins actually helped in the search. He talks down to Alben for a beat and turns back to the party. There's a lightning rail being built connecting Sharn to New Cyre and they're to go with him.

Dex insists that they need to stay in Mistmarsh to look for Jacob and find out what happened in the Faded Forest. Drac waits until he's finished making his case(interrupting is rude, and Drac isn't rude) and finally tells them that he thinks they should go to Sharn.

*"I'm sorry, prime minister, if you could excuse us for like thirty seconds."
"You can excuse* yourselves.*"
"That is what I meant. I would like for us to be excused for thirty—I said 'would you excuse us,' not 'would you get the hell out of the room?' That was out of character."
—Dex/Jeff and Ruken*
Drac excitedly tells them about his old mentor being last seen in Sharn and he thinks "Gram Gram's" vision about fiend blood is about him. He stumbles through an explanation until Dex interrupts him(even though interrupting is rude) and says they'll go to Sharn. Beric isn't overly energetic about leaving the Faded Forest but agrees to go and tells Ruken that they're okay with it. Ruken mentions that they'll be picking up a passenger along the way; Prince Oargev of New Cyre, who is in talks with King Boranel.

### Beginning the Journey

Beric searches for any books he can take with him for the trip. He's pretty sure Gram is the only other person in town who has any, so he pays her a visit. She welcomes him to borrow one, and he finds History and Edicts of the Silver Flame. While perusing her shelves, he finds a small painting of a young girl in very ornate clothing on Gram's desk. She tells him that's her in her youth. She used to live in Thrane, and had an important job, but after her skills were no longer needed she decided to find a quiet life outside of the busy city. After more questioning from Beric she becomes uncomfortable and doesn't want to talk any more about it, so he backs off.

Beric uses his new skill, Eldritch Sight, to scan the room for any magic. The only thing he sees is a small box on the desk next to the picture. It's a beautiful box which is clearly made by a master craftsman. While Gram isn't looking, Beric casually opens the box. Inside it's lined with very fine velvet, but nothing else. He thanks her for the book and leaves.

While Beric hunts for books, Dex visits Trant to update him on the situation with Jacob. He tells him about the vision, and makes sure Trant knows they're not abandoning the search, but they have a new lead that they need to speak with someone in Sharn.

All the while Drac is chilling outside the Red Wolf Inn, playing with Cashew. Farlan exits the bar, a bag in hand and a barrel of ale over his shoulder. He glances at the mouse and back to Drac, and tells Drac they'll be travelling together. He's going to Sharn to sell his ale.

They finish their trip preparations and start loading onto the train.

*"You see Bessie on the train platform, crying as she bids you all farewell."
"I don't say anything cause I know I'm going to a bigger city."
"Wow."
"Wow. You're the worst."
"He's not a* good *person."* *—Eric, Jeff, Trevor, and Philip*
The train has four cars; the conductor car, the dining car, the sleeping car, and the cargo hold in the rear. Farlan and Ruken are already inside, sitting at different tables. Beric takes up a whole tables with his books, the journal, and his amulet, studying all of it to see if he can make sense of what happened in the Faded Forest. Dex and Draconos both sit at different tables, and Drac gets some pumpkin pie.

When they get out of town, Farlan gets up and motions for them to join a table out of earshot of Ruken. When they've all gathered, he tells them to explain exactly what happened with the archway. They fill him in, and it seems like he has a knowing look on his face, but doesn't share his thoughts. Through his studying, Beric and found that the archway is a connected to another plane somehow, possibly Mabar.

### Oargev and Barasha

The train stops at a small settlement. Ruken puts his paper away(he's been reading the Sharn Inquirer) and straightens himself out. He exits the train and shakes hands with Oargev, a very, *very* handsome, charismatic looking man in his mid-thirties. By Oargev's side if a gigantic silver dragonborn paladin wearing armor and holding a shield. From what they can tell Ruken is "putting on the cheese" with the man. Beric notices this might actually be important and for the first time in days makes an effort to make himself presentable. Everyone boards the train, and the dragonborn sees Beric and Draconos and starts heading towards them, clearly excited to see some people who aren't human. With so many people getting on the train, Dex and Drac migrate to Beric's table, who closes *one* book for them.

The paladin plops down at their table and introduces himself as Barasha. He tells them a little of his history, how his parents died when he was young and he healed soldiers in the war but never fought. He, Beric, and Draconos all started comparing which of their parents are dead, and Dex exasperatingly interrupts, asking why Oargev needs more protection than Barasha. He goes on a tangent about how much he hates thieves and people who hide their real faces, making Dex and Beric very, very uncomfortable.

When asked who his deity is, Draconos is *pretty* sure he follows the Silver Flame. Barasha is loyal to Bahamut, and they agree that they're essentially the same thing. Seeing as Drac doesn't seem to know much about the religion he's devoted his life to, Beric slowly slides over The History and Edicts of the Silver Flame.

The whistle on the lighting rail starts going off, and Oargev and Ruken check out the window. Oargev is shocked at what he's seeing and motions for the party to come look. Approaching the train are three earth sleds carrying warforged. They do not look friendly.

End of episode.
## Locations

* Breland
	+ Mistmarsh
	+ Lightning rail

## Spells

* **Beric**
	+ Detect Magic

## Quotes

"Dude, we have like a similar story! Both of our parents totally dead, and then like we both found a paladin! You found one, and you're like oh this guy's awesome, and I was robbing him. But similar stories. So yeah! We got a lot in common."
"Well, good to see another man of the clothe. Or steel, I guess, since we, you know, wear armor."
"Yeah! Tink tink."
"Who's your god?"
"My mother's dead."
"Well…way to bring the mood down, Beric."
"Do you have—is your dad still going? Is he still…kicking? Or is he not…kicking…"
"I don't know."
"Well guys I hate to raise the mood but—"
"What about your parents, Lyle? Are your parents dead?"
"Are we like a dead parents club?! Are we the gang of dead parents kids?"
*—Draconos, Barasha, Beric, Dex*

"It's not common, but people rob lighting rails. Bandits, thieves, things of that nature."
"Oh I hate thieves. Let me tell you."
*"Me, too."*
"Let me tell you, buddy. One thing I don't like, it's a thief."
"You know what I hate even more? Thieves that lie to your face. People that you befriend and trust and then they turn out to be thieves? People that deceive other people? Just—I—hrr. I told you I'm not a killer, but I might be."
"So what you're saying is you don't appreciate people who put on a false face."
"Yeah. It's because people like Draconos and I, and Beric here, we can't hide our appearance. We just have to deal the hand that we were dealt. And—"
"You know I'm a half-elf, right?"
"Yeah but I mean, you look like a vampire. You don't got fangs and it's daylight so I know you're not, but."
*—Barasha, Dex, and Beric*

## Trivia

* Barasha was created by Josh Boyd, a listener who won a contest on Reddit for promoting the show. This is his first appearance.
* The party hit level 2.