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Welcome back to Fresh Matters, where we discuss matters of freshness. I'm the grossier here with Kat from Metro. Kat, your produce is impeccable. We have high standards. Meat is custom cut on site, am I very delight? Yep, it's important that we... And the baked goods? More like baked grates. Fresh in store every day. So at Metro you would say fresh. Matters? It does! Find fresh meals and deals at Metro!
Blink. So grace the city guard. Waving travelers in and out of Fairburn Point. Keeping tabs. Making sure. Blink. So grace the wise woman. Providing solace. Lending a comforting ear. Hearing all. Blink. So grace the adjudicator. Making decisions so others don't have to. Guiding the people. Blink. Two thousand eyes. A thousand plans. And all requiring a personal touch. This is the state of grace. Obviously, we welcome you to Fairburn Point.
And you are welcome to look through whatever information you need to look through. You're welcome to speak to whoever you need to speak to. We would like to leave a member of our court with you just to make sure that everything is above board. Yes, that works just fine with us. Punchinello, it is a pleasure to meet you. So I guess we do kind of a trade. Yeah. You are aware of Punchinello now on the Gallant Rider and Redora now on the rowboat with Yearning as they row back. Fantastic. Yearning is probably a bit chatty on the row back. Yearning...
You get an aura of, there's still kind of like a gauging. Yeah, sure. But Yearning doesn't seem to have, the Tenete had a lot more tact than Yearning does. All right. Yeah, cool. You transfer back over to the boats. Well, of course, I would say that that was the first time that I rooted out a cult, but perhaps it will not be the last. Yes.
You realize you have not been paying attention at all to what he just said. And only the one? Well, of course, it was quite a large one. Oh, of no doubt, of no doubt. I say, I look down, have I finished my mutton? Yeah, it looks like it's been 15, 20 minutes since you were last aware of this room. Dessert, I say.
Shall we continue this? Of course, of course. They make a wonderful maple cake. While you were away, Patricia Valen Ottvos has been... You can tell there is a craft of wine which you were not aware of when you left. It is now nearly empty. Okay, oh boy. You can see the only person who is quite clearly drunk is the Viscount. Okay. Ada hasn't been drinking? Ada has a half full glass in front of her. And more wine as I stand up to go and organize dessert. I would love more wine. This is perhaps the only wine outside of Hydea that I have ever enjoyed.
I, like, you know, make a big show. Please, let me tell you, speaking of gooseberry cults and gnomeberry cults. Uh-huh, uh-huh, yes. I must tell you that the wine they made, while it was obviously in service of ritual murders, was of course, of course delicious, as all they must be. He's doing, you're very quickly getting up to speed with what must have been happening. The Vicar is definitely taking credit for someone else's actions. Okay, all right. Since you're such a connoisseur, in the wine cellar we have a much older, much nicer vintage. Would that interest you?
Oh, the vintage pop. Yes. Yeah. Well, let me organize dessert. And then if you keep talking to the Viscount here, I will go and I will acquire that older vintage for you. You exchange a glance with the patrician. Yeah. Who quite clearly was the one. I don't know if I said this, but he quite clearly. He was the one who organized the wine. Fantastic. I go into the kitchen, take a little pause for a second. The crunch sound is he stepped on the plate again. Then I would like to probably, I guess I'm just kind of going to take this moment as a bit of a breather while I go and acquire. I'm assuming we do have a wine cellar somewhere. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'm going to go. It's like a moment to make sure everything's okay. And I will go get an older, nicer wine to bring back. Do you have it brought up? Sorry, or do you directly go get it? I think I'm going to go get it myself. Yeah, yeah. You step down into the darkness for perhaps the fifth time today. You are at the dig site. Who are you? I get shield mold. Dwarven archaeologist. And I'm sick of digging in this fucking tunnel.
No, I'm not. I'm loving it. No, I get shield mold. I am a kind of middle-aged, red-headed dwarven woman, and I'm an archaeologist, and I'm obviously also Sir Grace. You are descending in an elevator, essentially. It's a gnomish invention that the dwarven excavation team are using. There's a huge hole in what has been identified as a market district as part of the site. It is being called the Storja Ormi site. That is the kind of...
believed to be the name of this settlement. Once long ago, the Dwarven Nation spread itself out in an event called the Mass Drift. And as part of that, many, many, many, many different Dwarven settlements exist all over the world because of this. And a lot of them kind of got lost to time, this obviously being one of them. The Greyhill Free Company rediscovered this location, but as part of it, they reported some ancient elder evil that accidentally got released. Your archaeological team has been very, very worried about this entity. You've not seen it directly, but you have seen evidence of its passing. It looks like in the time it took the dig team to get here, it looks like the evil has gone in and out a few times.
It looks like it keeps returning here. You're not currently sure if it is or isn't here. If it's here or if it's about to return. As part of that, there is the court wizard from Fairburn Point, a very eccentric fellow by the name of Jinderbind the Howling Mad. Cool. Jinderbind is a human wizard. He wears long straps of clothing, you might say. Cool. It looks like his clothing has been through a shredder. And it clings very tightly to his... No, sorry, very loosely, I mean, sorry. It clings very loosely to a very...
frail frame. He looks like a strong burst of wind would bowl him over. He has a long white beard, which when he's working, he kind of throws over his shoulder to keep it out of the way. And he has two huge curly eyebrows. That rocks. Incidentally, now, once again, you can decide how full of inky black he is. Just letting you know, his predecessor actually resisted your takeover. Tanya Gideon?
She realized what you were doing and who you are. So you had her killed. Yeah, okay. And how did he take the... Well, you selected him. Okay. If I selected him, then I think he's not aggressively Inky Black. I think he would be in some way, you know, there would be a bit of influence there. But I think also it seems like a pretty cushy job for a wizard. So I imagine part of it is almost like a Silvery Moon style where he's like, well...
Not that he necessarily believes in the cause, but he's like, to be a court wizard is a pretty good gig. Very opportunistic. I like that. He's not really inky blacked, but he's like... He might have taken the inky black willingly. It might be that kind of situation where he's like, yeah, I'll take a little bit. Get me in. It's good to be on the inside. He had always been known as the Howling Mad. He wasn't part of any of the many cults that infiltrated the court at Furburn Point, but he was kind of almost a mainstay at many strange events. If you had a ritual and you needed someone to perform a spell for it, he often...
just made himself available to these people. Cool, cool, cool. He was very opportunistic. He's very willing to play the game. Anyway, also on the elevator as you descend down is Director Gala Thronecaster, who is the manager of this site. She's the highest ranking member of the dig team. And Professor Nyla Breakbone, who is an archaeologist who you are beginning to suspect is suspicious of the wizard. Okay, yeah, cool. Interesting. So this dig team, it does need security. And that's why the court wizard is here. They think to provide security. You've sent him so you have someone on the internet.
Absolutely. I imagine I would have sent him, and then him, through me, would have Inky Blacked Agate's shield mold, and that's how I would have become Agate's shield mold to infiltrate this archaeological dig. Was Agate a fellow professor or a member of a security team? I think she would have been like a professor. Okay, cool. Well, yeah, you may be Professor Nyla Breakbone, and you were colleagues. Yeah, absolutely. Once kind of like friendly, but as part of the Inky Black process, you've become a bit distant. She's a bit weirded out by that.
Come to, I suppose, in the elevator. You get that flurry of memories. The Dig team is very energetic and excited. They've made a new discovery. They've made a new discovery. They have uncovered a discovery.
Do I know what it is? Or am I going down to see what it is? It's still being decided what it is. Someone is deciphering the Dwarvish script. When the Great Drift happened, the Dwarven script got many different variations. And each different settlement kind of had its own rules and grammatical language, sometimes even its own words. So it can be a bit spotty. Every time a city is uncovered, it's essentially an entirely new process to translate the language. What's the name of my colleague, Professor? Your colleague, Professor is Nyla Breakbone. So, Nyla, give me your theories. What are we talking about here? Hmm. I am...
Hesitant. Hesitant to say but. She's got in front of her some drawings that people have taken of the sigils. Sorry, Uncovered was a door which had sigils written all around it. If I had to guess, I would say this is perhaps protective seals warding. You, as part of your team's research through here, you discovered the king of this settlement had died defending the entryway. And this is a commonly known thing. There is a magic to intention. Yeah, okay, yeah, sure. The king died.
trying to seal this place, either from within or from without. Something was trying to pass through the entrance, and his death, his sacrifice there, created a magical barrier, which, when the Greyhill Free Company came, as adventurers love to do, they claim it was kobolds, but you have not actually found evidence that kobolds have ever been here, so you're a bit like, yeah, okay, it was kobolds. Are we imagining that that's the seal the company broke? Or a new seal. Well, I couldn't imagine that the company delved this far down. We didn't see any evidence of them. She leans out. You maybe also have some papers. She flips some of your notes and then gestures to- That's right. Yes, of course. Your hands brush for a brief moment and then the entity that you are dwelling, agate shield mold, has a flash of memories that are irrelevant to Sir Grace. Dumped. The memories are- You were once perhaps more than friends. That is no longer the case. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Cool. It's good to know. It's a complicated extra layer to this. You're kind of-
the level of control you have means that you have to do always a little bit of suppression of who this person once was. Yes, yeah, of course. All right, I squashed that bubble down. The section there, she points to a part of a piece of paper, a map, where you tracked, because you needed a close account of this, you tracked everywhere the Greyhill Free Company adventurers were. You see they made, you know, they weighed down a certain part and then they stayed in the side guard room and then made their way back up, essentially. They didn't get that far down. So, or at least we have found no evidence. So we assume we're the first people to discover this. So we're imagining two entities.
The one that's already released and then perhaps a second one. Well, what we're thinking is that perhaps the entity has been coming and going. So it could be the same entity, but it's still in here. The question is, why? What's it got in here that it needs to return to? Does it need to return so that it might gain more energy or power so that it can then leave again? Very interesting. You are also aware that there are reports that when the entity was released, all it did was attack druids. It sought and killed...
Druids. Interesting. So that's just in the back of Agatha's head. Yeah, Agatha's head. It's like, oh, this thing specifically hates Druids. Hates Druids. Very interesting. What's the plan then? I say, I mean, you know, they say don't break seals, but if we're to learn anything. Well, the translation is still ongoing, but we're thinking perhaps this seal was broken quite some time ago. Their magic weakens over time and perhaps the protective layer, perhaps it was disturbed by something. Certainly, she flips some more pages for you and gestures too. There was a...
this is well known, there was a war between two cities, this being one of them. The other city, you've still not found them yet, they sent an incursion down into here, which is why there's this hole above the market area. It was how the opposition got in. Perhaps something got knocked loose in the battle. Or perhaps they were hiding something down here. A weapon? No, I hadn't thought of that. I think when Agate Shield Mould says weapon, there is a hunger there that would not have been in her voice prior to being Inky Black.
You make your way down in the market area. There's many different passages that lead off to other parts of the city, but there's one huge passage, which is essentially a tunnel that leads down to where they were digging. You travel down that tunnel. You hop into a mine cart, which once ferried ore, but now has been by the dig team repurposed to ferry people up and down because it's quite a trip to get there. So you make your way down in the cart and you come to this newly discovered doorway. As I described before, it's a huge door. There's over it, carved into the stone around it, is some sort of message or...
maybe a sign or something. You're not 100% sure. And the door itself is made out of heavy stone. The stone is, you can see, inlaid with some other material. Yeah, okay. There's another metal in it. Can I determine what that metal is?
You shave some off. You'd have like a whole field testing thing. Yes, as I shave it off, like apply chemicals to it, you know, hold it up to the light, that kind of thing. Yeah. You're able to determine that it's a, what do they call it? A two alloy. Yeah, it's an alloy. It's made out of silver and it's made out of adamantine. It's mixed together. Silver and adamantine can be found near each other. But it's very out of finder. No, this is on purpose. Someone has come along and made this alloy. I go over to Nyla. Well, as an alloy combined.
Look, I don't want to do this, I say, but the court wizard, you know, if anybody's going to know the function or the reason that our ancestors might have done this, it'll be him. Nyla Breakbone looks away from you and she looks, the director Thronecaster and the court wizard are... conversing with each other. The director, you are aware, is kind of involved in the archaeological scene. What I mean is she's not a tenured professor like you. She's more of a work in management. Pit boss. You two are the authorities at the dig site. You're the scholars who know everything. You know that Nyla Breakbone has been very cagey about giving information to Thronecaster because
She doesn't like how Thronecaster is sharing everything with the court. She feels very protective of this information. And you perhaps once shared this information. Not anymore. No, not anymore. I know, I say, I know. But I don't know why they would have done that. And I'm going to hazard a guess you don't either. All right, all right, all right. That's all we'll ask. I imagine I've said this quite a few times. Oh, yeah. You have been pushing this relationship to, well, it's been, it hit the breaking point a while back. If she could cry, would be crying every time she encountered, every time she worked with Nyla. For me.
Oh, you bastard. Nyla nods, and the two of you wander over and explain your findings. Jinderbind stroking his beard, which is a habit that you once found annoying. Now you have no opinion. Stroking his beard. Well, many reasons this could be. Perhaps silver has protective properties, and adamantine also, but different types. Silver is, of course, protective magically, and some might say even protects from things like disease and such. Adamantine is just physically strong, so an alloy of the two could be used in a spell.
quite well to keep seal and whatnot. You wouldn't know how to break a seal like that, would you? No. Well, perhaps I could if I had translation. Jindabynd, constantly, is always asking for more information. You get the impression that he, and he does, half of his wizard book is just like...
Secrets, essentially. He loves collecting information. You get the impression not for... Well, sorry, you don't get the impression. You know. He collects these as almost little pieces of blackmail that he plans on using later. Awesome. Well, we'll get back to that. And then I'd like to turn away with Nyla.
And do we have like the rest of the team? Is there other people here? There are excavators here. And there's some other, you wouldn't call them, they wouldn't be professors, but more students. No one is knowledgeable as you. Who's working in the translation? Is that just me and Nyla? There's some students working on it, but they, once again, wouldn't know as much as you. Well, I'll go over to the translation and I'll... It's a little table set up. They have a lantern so that you can see what you're working on because darkvision doesn't allow seeing written word like that. Yeah, I'll go over and approach the students. How good is it? One of the students looking around gives you a solemn shake of his head. I... Mom, I'm very sorry, but there's...
An annoying hurdle here. There's, uh... Well, I mean, we're slowly working on it, but every symbol is meant very literally. There's not a lot of room for, um... Well, you'd think that everything being literal, it would be easier to translate. But a symbol of water could mean something esoteric, like a movement or passage or ice even. But when they use the water symbol, they mean only water. But that means they need a separate symbol for ice. To explain every other concept. It would take either a genius or an idiot to translate this. And that's a little reference to a tree stump being able to...
Tree Stump who perfectly translated everything. Fuck, that's so funny. You regretfully are not aware that Tree Stump can perfectly translate this. That's right, she's back at the castle. Fuck, you have that resource. God damn it. Actually, did you... Well, that's a great question. Did you inky black Tree Stump? Yes, but slowly. Slowly. So she's still... The same way I did it to Agate, the same way I did it. She's not just inky black. She is. It's a slow corruption over time. Well, highs or lows? Call it highs. Highs? Yeah.
As soon as he's describing that, because you're a little bit aware of every single entity that you're connected to, in the dark dingy cell that Tree Stomp currently resides in, she sits bolt upright. I use Agate's eyes to inform Tree Stomp's brain of the language I need translated. You immediately translate. It's a tale that takes the form or turns itself into, essentially, a sealing spell. In a distant village...
An envious monster named Zephyr caused discord by feeding off villagers' jealousy. One brave child, Mira, discovered a magical mirror that reflected true contentment. Using the mirror...
Hey, it's Kat Nat from Kat Nat Unfiltered. You know what matters most to us when cooking for our family's freshness. That's why we always choose Metro. Their produce is hand-picked, their bread is baked in store, and their butchers custom-cut meat to our exact needs. Freshness is the thing that can make a simple meal simply amazing or turn an ordinary bite into an extraordinary night. At Metro, fresh matters because fresh changes everything. Find fresh meals and deals at your local Metro.
Mira confronted Zephyr. And as the monster gazed into it, its envy dissolved and vanished, leaving the village in harmony once more. And the sigils create a seal of contentment. You think that when the seal was active, it didn't actually form a barrier. It just made the monster quiet. Okay. So the monster now is, without the seal, is agitated. Yeah. Interesting. Would we need to break the seal or do anything with the seal to get deeper into the... You're not sure the seal is actually still active. You might need actually a court wizard to detect that. Okay.
Well, I read that out loud. I say those words. I think I've cracked it. I just, you know, we were thinking to be translating this, you know, more in line with dwarven non-linear C, but actually it's more like a combination of dwarven non-linear C-E-A and dwarven non-linear F. This is the seal. It was a seal of contentment that was making the monster content and now it's agitated. But do we need to do anything with it to get deeper in to... I look at Nyla. We might have to ask him again.
Unless you can figure it out. Looking at Nyla, you can see there's kind of a bit of shock on her face. You realize a little bit too late because you maybe were a bit excited at the sudden realization, wait, I have a resource for this. Yeah, I can use this. You...
When I say you, I mean agate definitely did not have the capability. This is not something agate has been ever able to show proficiency with. So Nyla seems very shocked at you just suddenly being like, I can read this. Is she going to say anything about it? She remains silent. The silence is deafening. So, Grace, there is no one here in the wine cellar. No one comes to drink here anymore. Okay. I grab a wine. I'm kind of not really looking. I just grab a wine and then I'll return to the dining room and I'll sit down and I'll pour the glasses as well. Okay. And has the dessert arrived and finished by this point?
You were gone quite some time. Yes, so great. Dessert, you can see, has already come and gone. As you come back with the wine, the patrician Valenotvos turns back and says, Ah! Sir Grace, of course, I presume that the court found in favour. Yes, yes, they did. Thank you very much. I apologise for my absence, but I did manage to collect the wine, I say. You sit down. You can see the patrician is probably at this point drunk enough that whatever lie... Sorry, the patrician, the viscount. Whatever lie the patrician Valen Otfoss came up with seems to... It's just breeze past. Okay, fantastic. Sir Grace, just like you, you ignore Adol. Okay.
Is it nighttime? Like, are we in the evening? It is currently, yeah. Okay. Would it be bedtime? Or is it just sort of like... You could... This is a funny thing to say. You could make an argument for bedtime. An argument could be made for bedtime. Maybe that's actually a bad idea. Well, I'm very sorry I missed dessert. But shall we retire to the smoking room, perhaps for a cigar? And I believe I have a nice brandy in there that we could partake in. Your quote-unquote charm offensive seems to be working with the Viscount. He stands up. I would love to enjoy a smoking pot, perhaps. Do you have... Do they have tobacco here?
Do we have tobacco? Yeah. Is he kind of making fun of me? I'm not making fun, but it's like a power play again. It doesn't feel like a power... Well, I mean, he just inherently looks down on anything that isn't Hyde. He might genuinely be like, oh...
Oh, do they get water out here? Like clean water? Well, it might not be to the quality that you're used to, but yes, we do have some. Ah, lidon zen, lidon. I put like an arm around him and I will walk him to the smoking room. Well, the patrician obviously comes with. Ada is also coming with? Yes, I would say so. The more I can keep her with me and not doing her job, the better for me. She gathers up her papers and books and whatnot. Honestly, now that the dignitary is not, he's sourced, I turn around to Ada. Those books.
I mean, are you sure you wouldn't like them taken to a room or something like that? You know, I just hate to see you carrying them like this. It's going to be exhausting. We have a room prepared. I mean, we can take those books there this second. I'm sure that the Viscount wouldn't mind at this point. Ada, drop the books. I like turn back to her like, there you go. And I just see you carrying them and it just seems so exhausting. Maybe these ones, she says. She drops the vast majority of what she's carrying, but she still holds on to enough that it's quite a lot. She's still holding on to. Well, I'll take the victory. Okay.
Click my fingers and some inky black fella comes and takes the... The patrician turns to you and maybe for a moment... Oh, no. Patrician Valen Otmos turns to you and says, I could see them secured. That would be wonderful, patrician. There's an implication of like, do you want me to look at them? Yes, absolutely. I try to intern. It would be amazing if you could take care of them for Ada.
I will, of course. He snaps his heels without any sound of metallic. I return back to Inglesius. Good help. It's hard to find. Valenot Moss goes with the papers, quite clearly with the intent on flipping through them to try and check to see what they know about you. What they're looking for, what they know already. Just any information we can glean from that. You, the Viscount, and Ada head to the smoking. Once we arrive, I imagine I have a little mixing station. What do you call it? There's a name for it. But one of those little stations where I have a little brandy, a fine dwarven brandy, let's say. Crack it open, pour it into three glasses, place them down on the tables, and then I'll open a box of...
Dragonborn cigars. Dragonborn cigars. All the way from Richcliffe. Oh, his interest seems piqued. I, you know, open the cigar box and I pull one out and maybe I'll even put it in his mouth and strike a match and light it myself. You know, they say that dragons, they are terrible farmers, but I found the plants they grow to be exclusively tasty. He says, and he doffs the cigar. Yeah, I light my own and then I'll proffer one to Ada as well. Ada. No, thanks. I don't smoke. Oh, a million apologies. Brandy.
No, thank you. You, as you will lead... No? Well, I don't know. Sir Grace, I mean, you have been very attentive to thinking about Ada, probably because you see her a little bit as a threat. Yes, yeah, yeah. But Sir Grace, I think, is also the sort of person to kind of see the help as being very beneath him in a lot of ways. So do you think her glass remained half full when you came back? She actually hasn't been really drinking. No. Is that something you would have noticed? Yes, I think so. Okay. Well, when you offer the brandy, you see she puts up her hand and shakes her head, and you get the distinct impression she's trying to keep her wits about her. It's a very fine brandy, I say.
Even just a sip, it's an incredible quality. Oh, perhaps another night. Of course, of course. Well, I wish there was some other way that I could, you know, I'm sure you're full from dessert, but perhaps a chocolate or something like that, or a tea. A tea would be nice. Okay, yeah, well, we'll have a tea arranged. Thank you. Yeah, you're welcome. You're welcome. I'll leave, I guess, and go, or you know what, I'll just, I'll, I will have to, for the illusion, I have to leave. It'd be weird if people just showed up with tea.
That's something you need to remind yourself. Yeah, I do, I do. I step out into the corridor. I guess I'll walk down it a little bit so they can hear my footsteps proceed. Send the, well, it's already been sent. And then I turn around and come back and rejoin them. The heady scent of a Reach Cliff cigar assaults you as you step back into the room. It is very powerful, very strong, but it's not strong enough to cancel out the incense permeating off the high priest. You shift again into a new form. Who are you?
I am Captain Morlock Brush. I am a hobgoblin captain of, I imagine, a sort of envoy from Fairburn Point. Like a person in a position of high standing. Maybe like a captain of the gate guard? Yes, absolutely. Captain of the gate guard. Morlock Brush. I am like a tall, imposing hobgoblin man. Dressed very nicely, very well. Standing next to you is, as I said, the high priest. Her name...
Unknown. She's just a high priest. It was once, a long time ago, it was once custom that, so the high priest is, they're kind of like in charge of a large region. They're kind of like a lord equivalent in the hierarchy of the church. They are only superseded by king priests. And it used to be a thing back in the day to, because it was seen, the clergy were seen as supposedly to separate themselves from the physical and become more in commune with the divine. As you achieved certain ranks, you would lose parts of your name. It's a very old custom that isn't done anymore, but this high priest is more a part of her cult.
She is also in charge of one of the many cults. Fabulous. The permeate... Febun point. Yeah, Febun point. She says that it's part of worship of gnomes and pannier, but in reality it's because... It's something far darker. How in control of her are you? Doesn't sound like I need to be... Well... You have...
commandeered, like I said, you've commandeered the cult. Yeah, many of the cults have been brought into your sphere of influence, so it wouldn't be unreasonable for her to also see you as a god. Yes. Do I think that she is the kind of authoritative figure within her cult that if she were to ever decide that I am no longer this divine figure, that her cult and her influence could be a threat? It could be, yeah. She's probably a bit Inky Black. Just a little bit. Just a touch. She's got a droplet in her, you know? No worries. She is a, in a similar way to your master of masks, she's a very tall woman, but she wears a head-to-floor veil that completely obscures her visage and features. She has two different
forms of this or two different veils that she wears for different events shall we say she has a white one that looks it's got a very like almost wedding dress appearance to it that she wears day to day but then at night for certain events she has a more i mean her current one is quite formal but she has an even more formal black one that she likes to wear sick even with the little amount of influence that you have over her you actually have no idea what she looks like underneath the veil is truly a mystery which i not even know if she's human is it like that level of it yeah the cult that she was a part of which has no name it's a the entire thing is about becoming nothing cool and part of that the she is not even aware of what's underneath the veil Coming slowly, nothing. Goddamn, okay. So where are we currently? You are, oh, sorry, yes. You're walking through, it's a place called, typically it's a place called Four Bridges. It's a place where? Four Bridges, okay. Yes, I know, creatively enough. The place so nice, they named it four times. Now, the dragons are very isolationalist creatures. They don't like to mingle much, aside from sometimes very small groups. And if a couple come together, it's like a way of raising children. Sure, yeah, okay. But dragons, even when they are raising children, they typically stay together just long enough for the dragon to reach maturity. And then they're off again. Okay, interesting.
There is, aside from that, things like this, a Genu Kisjan or Great Meeting. So there are many different types of Genu Kisjan or Great Meetings. They can range in scale from essentially, I mean, this is very, they're uncommon normally, but they can be two dragons or they can go all the way up to like hundreds. The largest ever Genu Kisjan is held at Dragon's Peak, but that one is held extremely rarely. Within living memory, it might've been held once.
This one is only large enough for the dragons that live in and around Fairburn Point. The dragons in this area, you have literally no influence or knowledge of. They are such powerful, magical entities that you are actually a little worried about, with one exception. You are very worried about influencing. There was, not really a dragon anymore, but there was a dragon that lived in Fairburn Point. You just had to do something about that dragon. They would have noticed otherwise. But it's the only time you've ever done something like this.
At Four Bridges, there is a slowly a kind of marquee or a series of marquees are being set up. Places for dragons to habit kind of comfortably and converse with each other. It's all very informal right now. There's no like, you don't know really why this has been called. And it doesn't seem like there's a goal right now. It feels almost like a party is happening. As you approach the space, you can see there are dragons and there's a lot of cobbles here. The place is...
thick with kobolds. You can see some dragons, probably the metallic ones, and all the kobolds are quite clearly laborers, working, doing stuff. The chromatic dragons seem to be kind of either resting on their laurels or just assuming they're the ones who brought the most kobolds. They're like, well, they'll do the job for me. Is there a place for non-dragonoids like anywhere? There isn't because the Genu Kisjan is for dragons only. The only reason you're allowed here and you're expecting this to happen at any moment is there is an old treatise between Kandor and the dragons that live with...
that should a high priest desire, they can come and pay a gold tithe to attend the meeting. You are expecting kind of at any moment... For somebody to come along and... Where's the money? Classic dragons. As you're approaching... Sorry, as you enter the space, some of the dragons seem to be kind of giving you and the high priests a little bit of a side eye. They're not sure exactly what's going on. A lot of these, like I said, they're very isolationalist. While they would know this rule, they probably don't know that you are with the high priest. Okay, can I grab a nearby cobble? Sure. I'll just grab him and pick him up by his shirt.
Can I help you? He took that in his stride. That's awesome. I am Captain Morlock Brush, representing the High Priest of Kandor. We wish to pay the tithe.
I'll be right back. I drop him. He does take that. He just got it. He runs off. No one's really approaching you. No one's saying anything. But you feel the eyes of all the dragons specifically in the area. Some of them, when you approach, they kind of stop talking. They don't seem to want to... It feels like you're harsh on the vibe right now. I'm really just hoping none of them can sense the inky black within us. That's really what's in the forefront of a Morlock brush, i.e.
Sir Grace, i.e. the Inky Black's mind. You do get the feeling of suspicion, but you don't know if that's just because... Just because we're not dragons. Yeah, yeah. After a little time, you see a gold dragon approach you. He appears to be making a beeline fall. Actually, no, wait. Fuck, you see the kobold that you grabbed in front of the dragon. Great. And you can see the kobold's giving a little hug on the... Well, he's not wearing clothes, so he's just... Just grabbing his scales. Right there, right there.
Right there. The dragon, as he approaches, he sits like a cat does. Yeah, of course. That kind of body. So he sits as a cat does in front of you. Who are you? I am Captain Morlock Brush. I am the priest.
The gold dragon looks at the two of you. Right. We wish to attend the Geno Kiss John. Ah, yes. The gold dragon turns and appears to be gesturing for a kobold to be of assistance. In fact, several kobolds are of assistance. A slew, maybe like eight whole kobolds bring a dragon-sized leather book up to this gold dragon. Yes, of course. I am Ratan the Shameful. It's a pleasure. He starts flipping through the book. I, from like somewhere within my clothes, pull out whatever the tithe was.
Is it like something extremely ceremonial, like one gold case? You're not actually sure. You don't have the treaties in front of you. You just are aware of the treaties. So you've probably taken... I hope we've worn enough gold. You've taken, I would say, maybe a thousand gold, hoping that that at least is enough. You must... The gold tithe is based on... He looks around, Ratten the Shameful looks around, the number of dragons present. Okay. Not including kobolds, I say. You see, his first impulse is to say, we don't count kobolds. But he instead says, not counting kobolds.
Welcome back to Fresh Matters, where we discuss matters of freshness. I'm the grossier here with Kat from Metro. Kat, your produce is impeccable. We have high standards. Meat is custom cut on site to my very delight. Yep, it's important that we... And the baked goods? More like baked grates. Fresh in store every day. So at Metro you would say fresh. Matters? It does! Find fresh meals and deals at Metro!
Hey, it's Kat Nat from Kat Nat Unfiltered. You know what matters most to us when cooking for our family's freshness. That's why we always choose Metro. Their produce is hand-picked, their bread is baked in store, and their butchers custom-cut meat to our exact needs. Freshness is the thing that can make a simple meal simply amazing or turn an ordinary bite into an extraordinary night. At Metro, fresh matters because fresh changes everything. Find fresh meals and deals at your local Metro. It will be 632 gold.
I pull out the, I guess there'd be so much gold that we probably have it on like a trolley or something. Maybe on a mule. I think a thousand gold could be a backpack if you had like nothing else. Well, then I open my backpack and I pull out the sack of gold and then I say, perhaps you can have one of your cobbles sort through it. Correct amount. Rattan gestures and some kobolds begin... They attack it like raccoons attack a bin. Literally, they push the back... One of them crawls inside. I'm imagining a hiking backpack with a stiff frame. They push it over, scramble it, and start kicking through it. And 632 gold is counted out and taken from the money, which is then given back to you. I re-host the backpack. You are, of course, welcome to see proceedings. I had a question, though. Who is the lord of Fairburn Point currently?
Sir Grace is current regent. Sir Grace. Who? Famed adventurer. Right. Perhaps you recall him and his companions. I'm sorry. The necro-wizard. At that, the gold dragon gives a little start. Oh. Yes. Right. Is Sir Grace attending? No, he could not make it. The high priest is the attendant this year. The gold dragon looks very confused by what you said. Like, confused that Sir Grace isn't here. Sir Grace is an enemy of the necro-wizard. Yes. And is not attending. Yes, you are correct again.
Is this meeting in some way related to the Necro Wizard? We were unaware of the specific nature of this particular... Yes, it is a trial. Hmm. Captain Morlock brush. Agate shield mold. Punchinello. The Sir Grace Tendril and Sir Grace all stop.
in the middle of whatever they were doing. The necro-wizard, we do not know why, but was trying to capture draconic blood. We are here to form a council to try him for his crimes. I, as Moloch Brush, compose myself. Well, that will make for a most interesting Genu Kisjan. Yes. Well, did you have a statement from Sir Grace? We were not aware that a statement would be necessary. Right. We were not aware of the nature of the Genu Kisjan. Oh, right. I hope that's not a problem. No, I... Everything you have told me is news. I'm... Forgive me, I only knew of the Necro Wizard as his crimes against Starkind. Yes. Do I know about his crimes against... I probably would. He just told you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You get the impression that Ratten the Shameful, like...
Everything to do with Sir... Maybe this is really hard for Sir Grace to believe, but Rat and the Shameful doesn't know really what's going on in Fairbone Point, has never heard of Sir Grace. It is kind of pissing him off. Has never heard of the Necro Wizard. They probably... What's happened is you've arrived. You've been like, oh, I'm here representing Sir Grace, essentially. And Sir Grace, oh, you know, the slayer of the Necro Wizard. And the dragon's like, oh, you're here for the Necro Wizard. Oh, you knew about that. And when they're like, no, he's like, what? Why would you not? So why did you just show up? Yes. Sir Grace and the Necro Wizard had many...
encounters, but we were not aware that this was, perhaps if we were aware, we would have sent more representatives. I believe it was Sir Grace's understanding that the NecroWizard was, in fact, dead. Is this not the case? No. And how long has the NecroWizard been active? In total? I mean, prior to his most recent slaying. This has been...
maybe two, three months. Okay. He gives you probably a date, but it's in a calendar you don't know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure, sure. It's in the draconic calendar, which really only dragons follow. Yes, as of no. Okay. Huh. Actually, wait, you have an archaeologist. Yes, yeah, I was going to say. Okay. So across all of your, spread the information out across everyone you're in, Agate Shieldmold's mind pings at like, that is the exact, the same date that he just gave you is the exact date you got Inky Blacked.
Hey, it's Kat Nat from Kat Nat Unfiltered. You know what matters most to us when cooking for our family's freshness. That's why we always choose Metro. Their produce is hand-picked, their bread is baked in store, and their butchers custom cut meat to our exact needs. Freshness is the thing that can make a simple meal simply amazing or turn an ordinary bite into an extraordinary night. At Metro, fresh matters because fresh changes everything. Find fresh meals and deals at your local Metro.
Hey, it's Kat Nat from Kat Nat Unfiltered. You know what matters most to us when cooking for our family's freshness. That's why we always choose Metro. Their produce is handpicked, their bread is baked in store, and their butcher's custom cut meat to our exact needs. Freshness is the thing that can make a simple meal simply amazing or turn an ordinary bite into an extraordinary night. At Metro, fresh matters because fresh changes everything. Find fresh meals and deals at your local Metro.