[WIP: Partially edited, needs more time-stamps, may extend
to the end of the Ziggurat War Room scene.]
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Transcript method notes: http://otdderamin.tumblr.com/post/153539301510/a-note-on-my-transcription-method
Scene runs: 0:12:10 to 1:12:14 https://youtu.be/YxWU4r-cLIY?t=731
1. First impressions: no reason for trust 0:12:10 to 0:13:38
https://youtu.be/YxWU4r-cLIY?t=12m10s
2. The history of Raishan 0:13:43 to 0:19:18
https://youtu.be/YxWU4r-cLIY?t=13m43s
3. Negotiation 0:19:18 to 1:03:08
https://youtu.be/YxWU4r-cLIY?t=19m18s
4. Post negotiation 1:03:08 to 1:04:48
https://youtu.be/YxWU4r-cLIY?t=1h3m8s
5. The war room 1:04:48 to 1:12:14
https://youtu.be/YxWU4r-cLIY?t=1h4m48s
1. First impressions: no reason for trust
0:12:10 Matt:
“So, having just revealed, through the somewhat transformed eyebrows,
eyes, and upper face of the hairless, tattooed, and scarred side head of Seeker
Asum, you can see the reptilian-green scales spill about, and the glowing, yellowish,
reptilian eyes peeking through. The voice modulates into more of a deeper, but
thin, reedy hiss, after Asum looks to you all, as Raishan, and says,”
0:12:44 Raishan:
“I wish to kill the Cinder King. Now, you accept my alliance?”
0:12:59 Vex, derisively: “That’s it? We’re just supposed to trust
you?”
0:13:02 Raishan:
“No, I assumed you’d ask
questions. I’m an open book; what do you require?”
0:13:11 Vax,
staring intensely, coldly, at her with narrowed eyes: “Why in the fuck should we trust you?”
0:13:15 Raishan:
“You shouldn’t, to be perfectly honest. I’m a being that rides the line
between what’s true and what’s false. And I know your research has spoken the
same. However, strange circumstances make for strange bedfellows. And
circumstances as they are, I think you have very little choice, as do I.
0:13:38 Vax
“What do you claim your motives to be?”
2. The history of Raishan
0:13:43 Raishan:
“Listen for a moment, and I’ll tell you a bit about the history of this
Green dragon before you. My home is south
of here, within the jungles of the Riven Mist Peninsula, along the southern
side of the Stormcrest. That is where
I met the Cinder King, nearly two decades ago, when he encroached upon my
territory. Now, we battled then. An exhausting struggle over days. Thordak is
king of I, however, and older than I; he held his assault. He saw me, and he
saw my disease.
“I was cursed a half century ago when I infiltrated and
toppled a temple of Melora that was being built by a high druid for her roving
peons. As I consumed her last follower, broke the druid upon her alter, she
gave her dying breath to spite me.
This sickness that she imparted was merely an inconvenience, but as the years
wore on, it spread, and worsened. I left my pursuit of base interests and began
to obsess over a cure for this before it took me. I burned through servant
after servant to find anything on
such a disease. Everything failed. Everything.
“Thordak somehow looked, and recognized my ailment. He
said, ‘You are unwell. A rare malady
upon you. It will claim you in time. However, I’ve traveled the world, I’ve
gathered many secrets, and I know how to be rid of it. To burn it out of your system with a fire you will never find. I’ve
done it before. I can burn away the worst of illnesses.’
“Now I am a creature that can pierce any lie by nature,
and I know in my heart that he spoke the truth that day, that dragon. I asked
what he wanted in return. He said, ‘Your servitude.’ We made an agreement. He
would return once he marked his domain, and we discussed the terms. However, he
did not return.
“I grew furious and sought answers, only to find he was
brought low and sealed away by some assembled others. Some fools from Emon.
Now, it took me years of seeking, but I found his whereabouts. I was not going
to let my chance to strike away this bloody curse slip from me, so I met him on the Fire Plane. For years, I saw his
swelling, his pained form. He spoke of plans,
ideas for vengeance and domination,
but he would not relinquish the secrets he promised me until I released him.
“I proposed the Conclave. I assembled the others. I negotiated the agreements. I corrupted the binding‑stone. I prepared the Pyrah gate! I did everything! And as time went on,
Thordak’s clarity muddled. It seemed his bindings, the power he was absorbing,
was beginning to drive him mad. We did not have any more time; I needed to
initiate the escape before he lost enough to forget our agreement, the means to even fulfill his side of the bargain. No Celestial Solstice was planned.
But Winter’s Crest would have to do. And with Thordak freed, the Conclave
assembled, Tal’Dorei was razed, divided, and won.
“But Thordak still withheld his words. He laughs at my requests. I see now that he does not mean to tell me, and never really did, as his mind began to go. He enjoys his seat of power, over all
of you, over me, and I want him dead! I want to watch him be torn apart! I want to see his eyes go cold, and in that very moment, I want to
call his spirit back! And bind his
word to tell me how I can save
myself. And then laugh at his misfortune as I tear what’s left of him.
“So that… that, is why I come to you. I have not the
power to take him myself.”
[While Raishan talked, Vax stared coldly at her with narrowed
eyes, warry and edgy. Vex looks suspicious and very uneasy. Grog looked both
fascinated and really warry. Scanlan was thoughtful. Percy was watching her
intently, and looked to be trying to read her. He was keeping an exceptionally
neutral face, but he did twitch a slight simile a couple times when Raishan
talked about being particularly screwed over. Keyleth started off thoughtful,
but grew colder, more intense, and twitchier the longer Raishan talked.]
3. Negotiation
0:19:18 Keyleth, with
an icy glower, voice quiet, lowered, but intense, posture aggressive: “Thordak
will experience all of those things. He will burn, and he will suffer, and you will not be there to watch it
happen.”
[Percy tries trying to suppress a cold smile towards Raishan
at Keyleth’s words, as he moves his hand behind her.]
0:19:33 Vex,
quiet but very worried: “Keyleth?”
0:19:35 Keyleth,
baring her teeth: “You want to feel the burning inside of you?”
Percy gently puts his hand on Keyleth’s shoulder.
Vex and Grog exchange a concerned look. Vex looks
increasingly alarmed towards Keyleth.
0:19:41 Keyleth:
“Oh, you will feel it Raishan.
But it will not be from Thordak, or whatever proposed cure he made up.”
0:19:55 Vex,
putting her hand out towards Keyleth to stand her down: “Keyleth.”
0:19:55 Keyleth,
leaning forwards threateningly: “The burning you feel will be from the
souls of ten thousand Fire Ashari as
they sear your flesh. And the last thing that you will see will be my face, as I watch you suffer, as you
watched,” raising her voice, “a quarter
of my civilization burn!”
0:20:28 Raishan,
sneering in mock-placation: “Child, I commend your bravery in the face of
certain doom. But- think before you
give into such base passions. There’s a much to be gained by us working
together, and so much more to be lost.”
[Percy’s posture is shifting between being aware he should
be trying to calm Keyleth down to coldly smiling at her intense contempt and
mockery. Vax is clearly feeding off Keyleth’s anger, growing tenser. Grog is getting
more fidgety and looks like he’s anticipating a fight. Vex looks increasingly
alarmed.]
0:20:47 Keyleth,
sneering: “Oh, you commend me for bravery? Oh Raishan, for someone who is supposed to be so smart, I am not afraid! I know what you are. You are a
parasite. You walk around calling yourself a magnificent ancient dragon; you
are nothing more than a leech. You consumed the energy of my people for years. And we’re supposed to just trust you?”
0:21:26 Raishan:
“Child, you anger is misplaced.”
0:21:28 Keyleth,
snarling and shouting: “Call me child one more goddamn time!”
0:21:31 Travis:
“I move behind Keyleth!”
0:21:34 Raishan,
contemptuously: “I did not slay a single one of your people.”
0:21:39 Keyleth:
“No-”
0:21:41 Raishan:
“Thordak’s release destroyed the
top of that mountain.”
0:21:42 Keyleth,
snarling, angrily pointing at Raishan: “Which you did. You unleashed the mad dog! You BITCH!”
[Vex, Grog, Scanlan, and Percy are surprised and amused my
Keyleth swearing. Percy drops all pretense of hiding his disdainful smile
towards Raishan. Vax is staring still more fiercely at Raishan with his hand on
his dagger.]
0:21:49 Keyleth,
yelling: “This is your fucking fault!
He’s just a mad king, as you said so
yourself. You’re the master
planner!” Calming her tone into a sneer, “But your plan backfired,
didn’t it? So now you’ve come to us. And you
think that you can formulate some
other master plan that’s still going to somehow get you what you want. You dumb
fool. When will you fucking
learn.”
0:22:37 Raishan:
“Keyleth.”
0:22:39 Keyleth:
“Raishan.”
0:22:43 Raishan,
quietly scornful: “Do not mistake my grace in this room for need of
conflict, nor foolhardy wishes. If I wanted each one of you dead, I would be
chewing on your bones right now.”
0:23:02 Percy, disdainfully,
placing his hand on Keyleth’s back again, startling her: “I think, perhaps,
if I may be so bold as to… tidy up what Keyleth is trying to drive home here,
is that for all intents and purposes, from this side of the table, you strike
me as a desperate creature. Who’s pretending that he has a choice to be
here-”
0:23:35 Vex &
Scanlan, quietly correcting him: “She.”
0:23:36 Percy:
“She, excuse me–that is another
conversation. You’ve brought very little
to the table. We are not impressed
with your notions that somehow we can work together; you need us, and this is all you bring?”
0:23:52 Raishan:
“No, I bring information. I bring knowledge of Thordak.”
0:23:58 Percy:
“Where’s Asum?”
0:24:00 Raishan:
“I know where Asum is.”
0:24:02 Percy:
“Where is Asum?”
0:24:03 Vax:
“Let’s start with that.”
0:24:05 Percy:
“Let’s stop pretending you have a choice here.”
0:24:11 Raishan:
“The one you call ‘Seeker Asum’ is alive, in Emon, still working amongst
The Clasp. The story I gave you was… mostly truth, peppered with necessary
deceits to place me here amongst you for the time I needed. He is there to
secure survivors against Thordak. I infiltrated the ranks of The Clasp, gained
his trust, which allowed me to find your whereabouts, and so I came. He sent me on a mission to notify you of
his plans, which, by the way, along with Brotoras, Goldhand, and The Clasp’s coöperation, they have a plan to strike at the Cinder
King.”
0:24:57 Liam:
“Insight check.” He rolls, and shakes his head at the result.
“Well, hold on.” He rolls again.
0:25:07 Matt:
“is that a Luck?”
0:25:08 Liam:
“13. Never mind.”
0:25:11 Matt:
“Slippery dragon. There’s no reason you’d believe or disbelieve; it’s just
words to you right now.”
0:25:18 Liam:
“Yeah…”
0:25:24 Vex:
“What’s their plan?”
0:25:26 Raishan:
“One that’ll fail, of course. You see, they put their knowledge in what a
red dragon is capable of. They believe that by quelling the flames, or stoking
some nature of the crystal in his belly’s magic, they will be able to stop him,
and there is a path to be taken there, yes, but their knowledge is faulty. They
don’t understand the nature of the enchantment. And should they attack, they
will burn in the flames of their own righteousness.”
0:26:00 Vex:
“What’s your illness?”
0:25:04 Raishan:
“I wish I knew the extent of it.”
0:25:08 Matt:
“And you watch as Asum’s form grows a little more green in places, the
scales unfolding, and as the image, though still in the Halfling form, where
the scales rest you can see a series of deep purplish-black veins that ride up
the side of the throat, and across the chest and the arms. And they pulse with
each heartbeat.” He imitates a heartbeat.
0:25:37 Raishan:
“It withers my constitution. It makes me weary. And I’ve sat with this for
nearly 100 years. My brain is not dull, but I wish not to have this brilliant
intellect waste away into ash because I couldn’t find an answer.”
0:26:58 Vex:
“So you come before us and tell you you’re weak?”
0:27:01 Raishan:
“Well, weak by my standards.”
0:27:05 Keyleth,
tauntingly: “You’re weak by mine too.”
0:27:07 Vax:
“If we were to work with you–and that is a massive fucking if–if we were to work with you, and Thordak
were to fall, paint us a picture, what can we look forward to after that? What
happens to you? Where do you go? What happens to Tal’Dorei?”
0:27:24 Raishan:
“I have no interest in mass-kill domination. Most of these petty creatures
that you call your brethren live amongst their cities, and that’s fine. My
happiness lies in returning to my home in the Riven Mist where I can pillage
the east and southern coasts. Where I can ride out amongst the viridian ocean,
and steal what is necessary to survive and enjoy my network of followers and
spies. Far away from where you live. If that’s uncomfortable, I can find a new
home.
0:27:56 Vax:
“You might as well be bringing us nursery rhymes.”
0:28:00 Keyleth:
“Sounds like a life happily ever after.”
28:04 “If
you’re uncomfortable with my proximity, post the fall of the King, I will
happily take my presence elsewhere. Gather my people, my belongings, and find a
roost somewhere across the Ozmit, perhaps. Meanwhile-”
0:28:19 Percy:
“I’m comfortable with that being a conversation that happens later. She’ll
break her promise anyway,”
0:28:22 Vex:
“Well, obviously, but I don’t believe anything she says.”
0:28:25 Percy:
“so it’ll hardly matter.”
0:28:26 Grog:
“You’re sure that Thordak has a cure for you?”
0:28:33 Raishan:
“I have spent many years trying to untangle what could be the lie behind
those eyes, and I am certain. There is a confidence with knowing, and
withholding. It is stronger than the strongest of bluffs, and I’ve seen that
confidence in the Cinder King, the cruelty in that knowledge, that
smugness.”
0:29:08 Vex:
“Is he still insane?”
0:29:12 Raishan:
“By most standards has been for some time, but it continues to slip. His
narcissism grows to dangerous bounds.”
0:29:27 Grog,
quietly: “What about the white dragon?”
0:29:28 Percy:
“Before we would agree, or even consider any terms, before we would
consider any terms, we would need the
white dragon removed from the playing field.”
0:29:37 Keyleth:
“Could be a good way for you to show us your loyalty. Even though you have
none. But know, Raishan, whatever
deal we strike does not end in you leaving my sight. You’re gonna die. You’re gonna die. Even if I have to die
doing it.”
0:30:11 Raishan: “You’re
amusing. So,”
0:30:17 Percy,
with an antagonistic smile: “Really, this is a
conversation about whether or not we wait to try and kill you before or after
the Cinder King. That’s fair, I think.”
0:30:28 Raishan:
“You think because you took surprise upon Umbrasyl, the brute, inferior
intellect, that you will have the opportunity to strike me down. You have no
idea what I’m capable of, no matter what malady festers within me.”
0:30:50 Percy:
“Oh, we know.”
0:30:52 Raishan: “This
is your home, right, Percival?”
0:30:54 Percy:
“It is.”
0:30:55Raishan:
“It would be a shame for it to suddenly no longer exist.”
0:30:58 Keyleth,
frustrated: “Can we please just fucking kill her now!?”
0:31:00 Percy:
“I am not Keyleth. Your threats…
they won’t bend me.”
0:31:11 Raishan,
in a low, mocking hiss: “Threats…”
0:31:11 Percy:
Because I believe you. I believe that
you would rend this entire city asunder. That’s why I’m at the table. I am
conscious of where we are. I’m conscious of who you are. And I’m conscious of
what you need. I’m just trying to
make sure that everybody’s clear that the minute that red dragon dies, all bets
are off. You know it as well as I do. And you
should be wary, because only one side of this table is underestimating the
other.“
0:31:49 Grog,
confused: “Which side is…?”
0:31:52 Percy,
with a smile: “Thank you, Grog.”
0:31:52 Sam:
“Can I do a perception check to make sure this being is actually in the
room, and is not just some sort of phantom.”
0:32:01 Laura:
“We’ve seen this before.”
0:32:01 Taliesin:
“Yeah.”
0:32:03 Matt:
“It’s an insight check. Go ahead and make an insight check.”
0:32:05 Scanlan:
“17. Oh, nine- wait, am I proficient? No, 19.”
0:32:12 Matt:
“19; okay. The entity you see before you does appear to be physically
present, as to your knowledge. No one’s touched it or attempted to, but it does
seem to be present with you.”
0:32:24 Scanlan:
“Okay.”
0:32:26 Grog:
“Alright, I love a good story, so, do you have a plan?”
0:32:31 Percy:
“One step at a time. White Dragon.”
0:32:36 Raishan:
“Vorugal is a beast, simple of mind. Eager to kill, eat, sleep. That’s
about the extent. As long as it’s given enough land and cattle to devour, it
seems happy. It enjoys the hunt, enjoys the challenge.” [Note the pronouns
Matt, as Raishan, is using for another dragon.]
0:32:54 Percy:
“How willing do you feel to be a participant in his demise?”
0:32:58 Vax:
“A lot better if you’d be willing to shed a bit of blood.”
0:33:04 Percy:
“Get your hands dirty.”
0:33:05 Keyleth:
“Oh, she’s already done that.”
0:33:10 Raishan:
“Our agreement, should this go forward, does not end when the Cinder King
dies. I demand the opportunity to converse with spirit from
the corpse.”
0:32:31 Percy,
mulling that over: “Hmm.”
0:32:31 Raishan:
“Once that’s done, then you may pull your rug out from under me, if you
will. I wish you the best of
luck.”
0:33:43 Percy:
“Well, I assume once he’s dead, you’ll either turn on us, or you’ll run
away. Either way works for me.
0:33:53 Vax:
“Yeah, yeah, we’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves. You going to scrap
with the white dragon with us or not?”
0:33:58 Vex: Can
you talk him into flying off? Leaving everyone alone?“
0:34:04 Percy:
“No, I want a dead dragon.”
Vex coldly laughs at that.
0:34:05 Raishan:
“You see, whereas I have the aptitude to know where my alliances stand,
Vorugal is, of the entire conclave, the closest Thordak has to a lap dog.”
0:34:18 Vex:
“So dead then.”
0:34:20 Raishan:
“Probably the best bet, yes.”
0:34:22 Grog raises
his hand.
0:34:25 Percy:
“Yes, Grog?”
0:34:26 Grog:
“I have a question; do you want to talk to Thordak’s dead spirit, or are you after the big, shiny jewel at the middle of
his chest?
0:34:36 Raishan:
“I have no interest in whatever enchantment shackles him to his insanity.
I merely wish to draw from him the secret I’ve been promised.”
0:34:44 Travis:
“Insight check to see if he’s lying!”
0:34:45 Laura:
“Ditto!”
0:34:46 Matt:
“Insight check, both you guys, go!”
0:34:50 Travis:
“That was not bad!”
0:34:50 Laura:
“Aww, that was terrible!”
0:34:52Travis:
“18. It’s best not a 20.”
0:34:54 Laura:
“13.” Sarcastic wink.
0:34:56 Matt:
“Seems to be telling the truth.”
0:34:57 Travis,
sarcastically: “Yeah, well, sure.”
0:34:58 Laura,
sarcastically: “Yeah, sure he does- she does.”
0:35:00Grog,
reassuringly: “He’s telling the truth.”
0:35:02 Vax, Vex,
& Scanlan, correct him: “She”
0:35:03 Grog:
“She’s telling the truth.”
0:35:07 Percy:
“So, once the white dragon’s off the board, then we will hammer out whatever
promises can be made, but until then…” he sighs, “there’s just too
many players on the field to say one way or another.”
0:35:24 Vex:
“Have you just been here, as Asum, this whole time? What have you been
doing?”
0:35:29 Raishan:
“Gathering information, like I do.”
0:35:31 Vex:
“What, do you sleep in his room,
like a halfling? ”
0:35:35 Grog:
“Yeah, you wearing his clothes, and use his soap, and brush with his tooth
brush?”
0:35:41 Raishan:
“No, I move down to the stables and find a soft bit of hay. Yes, I sleep in his bed and his
clothes.”
0:35:47 Grog:
“There’s a lot of attitude on this one. I mean, it’s a simple question.
It’s gross.”
0:35:52 Keyleth:
“It’s pretty gross.”
0:35:53 Percy:
“It must be so humiliating for you that you need to turn to us for help.
You do have my pity, in that regard.”
Vex laughs.
0:35:38 Raishan:
“It isn’t the most… optimal circumstance, but we both have much to
gain.”
0:36:05 Percy:
“A creature such as you…”
0:36:08 Keyleth:
“Why do you think Thordak is the only one with knowledge on a cure?”
0:36:13 Raishan:
“Because everywhere I’ve sought the information seems to have been
destroyed by Thordak once we made the accord.”
0:36:20 Percy,
reflecting on that: “Hmm.”
0:36:20 Vex:
“If you tell us what the disease is…”
0:36:25 Keyleth:
“Because that puny, little druid
that cursed you, well, don’t forget you’re dealing with a puny, little druid
right here.”
0:36:38 Raishan:
“You could take a look if you like, but
I myself do not know its nature.”
0:36:44 Vex, with
a mocking smile: “Have you tried Greater restoration?”
Everyone cracks up.
0:36:47 Marisha:
“It’s the solution to all problems.”
0:36:49Taliesin:
“It’s the chicken soup of Dungeons & Dragons.”
0:36:53 Keyleth:
“Chicken Soup For The D&D Soul.”
0:36:53 Liam:
“It’s feed a curse, starve perma-death.”
0:37:00 Taliesin:
“Starve Stoneskin.”
0:37:04 Grog:
“Well, uh, no please, go ahead and continue.”
0:37:07 Raishan:
“Yes, I have.”
0:37:08 Marisha:
“What was the question?”
0:37:10 Taliesin:
“Greater Restoration.”
0:37:10 Raishan:
“I’ve tried all forms of cleansing magic. I have bent many diviner to my
aid, and all have failed. This isn’t
a simple magic, this was a Spirit Curse, this was something… this was something
far more powerful.”
0:37:28 Percy,
pleased mulling: “Hmm…”
0:37:29 Grog:
“Sounds like a job for me.” Mimics spitting into both hands, puts his
head down and opens his hands as if to try Lay on Hands. “C’mon.”
0:37:35 Percy,
towards Raishan: “You don’t have to.”
0:37:37 Raishan:
“I don’t want to.”
0:37:41 Grog:
“The spit smells funny, you know.”
0:37:44 Percy:
“Is it two days until the white dragon?”
0:37:47 Vex:
“Possibly.”
0:37:47 Keyleth:
“How long do we have?”
0:37:49 Grog:
“Wait, will Thordak know if we do something to Vorugal?”
0:37:55 Percy:
“Of course.”
0:37:56 Raishan:
“Most likely, very quickly, yes.”
0:37:59 Grog:
“Why?”
0:38:00 Raishan:
“He keeps a close watch on his subjects. He’s paranoid, and requires us to
continuously check in. Which I have been.”
0:38:10 Vex:
“You’ve been checking in? From where?”
0:38:11 Scanlan:
“How? How have you been checking in?”
0:38:12 Vex:
“Here?”
0:38:15 Raishan:
“I have my… means in my room, yes.”
0:38:19 Vex:
“Does he know where you are?”
0:38:20 Raishan:
“No. As far as he knows, I’m currently somewhere on the outskirts of
Westruun attempting to forge some sort of vengeance
for what happened to Umbrasyl.”
0:38:33 Grog:
“There’s a terrible-”
0:38:35 Percy:
“If he did find out he was here, it would be very easy to turn the two of
them against each other.”
0:38:43 Vex:
“So, when Vorugal flew over… did he not sense you?”
0:38:53 Raishan:
“He did not. I’m very good at avoiding the sight of those who would seek
me, if I wish not to be seen.”
Percy clearly picked up on the implications of that answer.
0:39:02 Vex:
“Was he seeking you, or was he seeking Whitestone?”
0:39:05 Raishan:
“Based on the correspondence that was put out by Thordak, he was very
perturbed at the death of one black dragon that you slayed. As such, sent a
rather large assortment of his and Vorugal’s wyvern army to sweep the entire middle
eastern side of Tal’Dorei in search of… you,
I presume. Thankfully, your allies put up some sort of illusory barrier. One of
which I did not disturb during that
time. To whatever consolation that is to our agreement.”
0:39:43 Percy:
“It is of great consolation. In fact, I would go so far as to say that I am willing to say that these attacks
will continue, post the destruction of the white dragon.”
Vax and Keyleth shoot Percy a look of caution and suspicion.
0:39:55 Percy:
“So long as these talks take place in Whitestone.”
0:39:58 Vex:
“We won’t have much time to talk, after the destruction of the white
dragon.”
0:40:02 Percy:
“We’ll have enough. And if there is no Whitestone to hold talks in, there
will be no talks.”
0:40:09 Raishan,
nods: “This is true.”
0:40:10 Scanlan:
“One moment. Just game this out for me, friends. If this is all bullshit, and Thordak has sent this little lady here
to trick us into traveling with her to Draconia, where Thordak is lying in wait
to kill us the second we get there, well then, if we’re making a deal for this
little lady to kill on our behalf, why do we need to go? Can we just stay in
Whitestone and you go kill the white
dragon for us? You’re powerful, aren’t you? Why do you need us?”
0:40:44 Grog
raises his hand. Then lowers it after several seconds.
0:40:48 Raishan:
“You see, if I was to utilize my full potential, which would be required
to fell Vorugal, as idiotic as the creature is, it’s still a very dangerous and
cunning foe,”
0:41:03 Vax:
“Not for you; you’re so clever.”
0:41:06 Scanlan:
“Yeah, you can just pretend to be Vorugal’s… something, pet hamster for a
while until you kill him in his sleep.”
0:41:15 Raishan:
“Maybe I overestimated your intelligence.”
0:41:17 Grog:
“No, you-”
0:41:18 Percy,
wish a dismissive gesture towards Scanlan: “Fine, carry on.”
0:41:18 Raishan:
“But, In doing so, would immediately paint a target on my back from
Thordak. I think it’s best that I remain in his good graces. As we all flank up
unexpectedly when the time is right.”
0:41:31 Percy:
“He is correct.”
0:41:32 Grog:
“I would also like to say-”
0:41:33 Raishan,
with an angry hiss: “She.”
0:41:34 Percy,
towards Scanlan: “I’m really enjoying that.”
0:41:36 Grog:
“I would also say that if she wanted to set a trap, three dragons on us,
they would just all be here right now.”
0:41:43 Percy:
“Also, we could’ve just avoided it entirely and just waited for us to go
to Draconia, as opposed to having someone come by to remind us that we were going to Draconia in the first place. It
just seems like an awful lot of work.”
0:41:57 Keyleth:
“I still don’t see why we need her to begin with.”
0:41:59 Percy:
“I want something-”
0:41:59 Keyleth:
“We’re powerful enough. Why don’t we just kill her now?”
0:42:03 [Raishan
spreads her arms in a ‘come and get me’ gesture.
0:42:03 Percy:
“Honestly, because it would damage the castle.”
0:42:06 Keyleth:
“because it would- I-”
0:42:08 Grog, to
Raishan: “No, no, don’t provoke- she-”
0:42:09 Scanlan,
to Raishan: “What is that? What is that move? Don’t do that.”
0:42:13 Percy, to
Keyleth: “It would damage my home.”
0:42:14 Keyleth,
to Raishan: “You inviting?”
0:42:16 Percy, to
Keyleth: “And there are civilians.”
0:42:16 Raishan:
“I’m saying… the choice is yours.”
0:42:21 Grog:
“Don’t do it.”
0:42:22 Raishan:
“Either we work together, or you all fall.”
0:42:26 Grog, to
Keyleth: “C’mon!”
0:42:26 Percy, to
Keyleth: “One dragon, then we talk.”
0:42:28 Grog, to
Keyleth: “Even my simple mind sees the advantages here.”
0:42:30 Vax:
“Keyleth, all we’re debating, is the order in which they die.”
0:42:41 Keyleth:
“She was first on my list.”
0:42:45 Percy, with
his right hand patting Keyleth’s arm with a sad, self-deprecating smile:
“I don’t recommend lists.”
0:42:54 Percy,
leaving his hand on her arm to gently restrain her: “I…” he sighs.
“The only reason I am stopping you from doing this, and swear this is the
truth,” he winces, his voice slightly breaking, “is ’cause this is my
home.”
0:43:06 Keyleth:
“But this could be our best chance.”
0:43:08 Percy:
“There would be nothing left.”
0:43:09 Raishan:
“Keyleth,”
0:43:09 Keyleth:
“It would be easiest, to do it right now.”
0:43:12 Raishan:
“Half-Elf,”
0:43:13 Percy:
“Thousands would die. To you.”
0:43:14 Raishan:
“Look at me.”
0:43:16 Keyleth:
“She’s right in front of me, Percy.”
Percy puts his left hand on her back, his posture both
gently hugging and restraining her. He says something inaudible to her.
0:43:17 Raishan:
“Your world view is clouded by optimism that does not belong in Exandria.
There is good, there is evil, but this world has been remade many times
because, life. Is. Destruction. You should know this as a purveyor of life in
its own right. The cycle lives on, the chaos perseveres, everything grows,
eats, then dies, or is eaten.”
[Everyone’s body language dismisses Raishan’s remarks as
utter crap.]
0:43:50 Percy
says something inaudible to Keyleth, cautionary advice from his tone, and lets
her go. [Possibly, “Dead may not get you what you’d hoped it to.”]
0:43:50 Raishan:
“You can put whatever fine dressing on it you like.”
0:43:53 Vax:
“Yeah, yeah, shut the fuck up, sick bag.” He turns to Keyleth.
0:43:56 Percy, to
Keyleth: “Would it be enough to watch him-”
0:43:57 Keyleth,
boiling: “She’s not making this easy to walk away, you guys.”
0:44:01 Vax:
“Percival- Percival- Percy is right.”
0:44:06 Raishan:
“Fact is,”
0:44:06 Vax: “You
do not want the people of Whitestone to fall like the people of the
Ashari.”
Keyleth’s taken aback by that and sobers up.
0:44:12 Vex:
“More deaths do not make it right, Keyleth. Not right now.”
0:44:14 Grog:
“You’re gonna get yours. You’re gonna get it. Just be patient.”
0:44:18 Raishan:
“You’re telling me you have not claimed a life or two in your time? Do
think your goals and your attempts to save those close to you have not been
wrought with bloodshed?”
0:44:30 Keyleth:
“Oh, I know the consequences of every step of my actions. It is you,
Raishan, who didn’t realize the biggest consequences standing in front of you
right now.”
0:44:44 Raishan:
“Do you think you’ve not stepped on an anthill to get to your
destination?”
0:44:48 Keyleth:
“I don’t give a flying shit.”
0:42:51 Percy, startled
by Keyleth’s livid response, nearly silent: “Wow.”
0:44:51 Raishan:
“I merely stepped on an anthill to get to mine”
0:44:53 Vax:
“You’re just fucking winding her up, man.”
0:44:57 Raishan:
“Understand, there are different levels of thought, intellect, and intent
here.”
Keyleth is seething. Percy holds her back again, more
firmly, staring harshly at Raishan with the occasional glace back to Keyleth.
0:45:06 Raishan:
“I come to you because we have much to gain together. Or lose everything
by not listening to what I have to say.”
0:45:14 Percy,
resolutely: “You will join us in the fight against the white dragon.”
0:45:17 Raishan:
“I will. If you promise to let Thordak’s soul be mine.”
0:45:25 Percy:
“Nope. That’s not the deal.”
0:45:26 Vax:
“We’re talking about a second round of negotiations.”
0:45:31 Percy:
“We will consider your offer once the white dragon is dead. Not a minute
before.”
0:45:36 Vax:
“This is evidence of your good will.”
0:45:36 Raishan:
“This is not a negotiation.”
0:45:37 Percy:
“This is everything of a
negotiation, you fool.”
0:45:41 Raishan:
“What am I getting out of this, then?”
0:45:43 Percy:
“Your life!”
Raishan laughs scornfully.
0:45:45 Scanlan:
“An opportunity to prove yourself to us.”
0:45:46 Percy:
“A cure to yourself!
0:45:48 Vex:
“A chance to take down Thordak; you said yourself you couldn’t do it on
your own.”
0:45:50 Keyleth:
“And yet again-”
0:45:50 Vax:
“We haven’t danced with a dragon that now stands breathing.”
0:45:55 Percy
“Your desperation is so obvious.”
0:45:56 Keyleth:
“We walk away, and you die. Or we stay, and you die.”
0:46:02 Vex
laughs, and gives a ‘maybe, sort of’ gesture.
0:46:06 Raishan:
“Here, I aid you with the tearing of Vorugal, as a show of good
will.”
0:46:14 Percy:
“Yes.”
0:46:17 Raishan:
“In response, you keep my true nature secret between those in this
room.”
0:46:23 Percy:
“Yes.”
0:46:25 Grog:
“Oh. Allright, yeah.”
0:46:27 Scanlan:
“Sure
0:46:28 Vex,
pointing to Grog: “He’s really good at keeping secrets.”
0:46:29 Percy:
“That’s fair.”
0:46:29 Raishan:
“You maintain that I have access to the lengths and breadth of
Whitestone.”
0:46:33 Percy
nods.
0:46:34 Grog
“Wait a minute, the length and bread of Whitestone?’
0:46:43 Raishan:
“Largely because I have interests in deciding my plan against Thordak. And
let’s just say, some of it may include a trinket or two that have come your way
in your travels.”
0:46:55 Keyleth
quietly, coldly, scornfully laughs at her.
0:46:00 Grog:
“Are you fully aware of what lies beneath Whitestone?”
0:47:06 Raishan:
“I have some ideas.”
0:47:08 Percy:
“Would you like to see it?”
0:47:11 Raishan:
“I have seen it.”
0:47:12 Percy:
“Have you?
0:47:13 Vex:
“You’ve been down there?”
0:47:14 Grog:
“Yeah, what is it then?”
0:47:15 Raishan:
“I’ve been here for some time, my dear.”
0:47:18 Vex:
“Then why didn’t we meet down in the- down there. Why’re you so scared of
it?”
0:47:20 Grog:
“Yeah, if you’ve seen it, tell us what it is?”
0:47:25 Keyleth:
“I know. You know?”
0:47:28 Percy:
“Of course he knows.” Taliesin catches his mistake and looks really
annoyed with himself.
0:47:33 Scanlan:
“You say it first.”
0:47:35 Raishan:
“I’m not telling you anything. That is not part of the negotiation.”
0:47:39 Grog:
“How big is it? If you’ve seen it.”
0:47:40 Raishan:
“If we are indeed-”
0:47:41 Matt
breaks off laughing at the exchange with everyone else.
0:47:44 Scanlan:
“Describe it.”
0:47:48 Percy:
“One dead white dragon and then-”
0:47:47 Raishan
snaps her fingers.
0:47:51 Maisha/Keyleth:
“Oh geez, what is that?”
0:47:52 Matt: “Raishan
snaps her fingers, you see a spark, and you notice a brief burst; akin to a
Minor Illusion, no sound, nothing, just the image of a tiny, black orb.”
0:48:05 Grog:
“Shit! She’s seen it.”
0:48:05 Percy:
“That’ll do. One dead white dragon, and then negotiations continue.”
Long pause. “We will speak to no one of what you truly are, although we
may caution others that we’re looking a bit sideways at Seeker Asum.”
0:48:28 Raishan:
“I would recommend none of that. Any suspicion mean I’m being followed. If
I’m followed and feeling threatened, the person you told may not survive. We do
not want that, but I’m going to look out for myself.”
0:48:42 Grog
nods.
0:48:43 Percy:
“That’s fair.”
0:48:44 So anyone
you tell, you’re putting in danger.“
0:48:47 Percy:
“That is also fair.”
0:48:48 Keyleth:
“Anyone you touch, you are then putting yourself in danger. If any of our
friends wind up dead, we’re looking at you first.”
0:48:58 Raishan: “Fair enough.”
0:48:59 Vex:
“Have you done anything with the rest of our friends?”
0:49:02 Raishan:
“Nothing.”
0:49:03 Keyleth:
“Where’s Asum?”
0:49:06 Keyleth:
“Did we already cover that?”
0:49:07 Vex:
“Yeah, yeah we already covered that.”
0:49:08 Percy:
“You were very angry at that point.”
0:49:09 Keyleth:
“I was very angry, I’ve forgotten a lot.”
0:49:11 Percy:
“Whitestone will not fall. If Whitestone falls, all deals are off. If
Whitestone is attacked, all deals are off. You keep if off the radar.”
0:49:19 Raishan
nods.
0:49:21 Raishan:
“It’s already off the radar, I just will not touch the radar.”
0:49:24 Percy:
“That will do.”
0:49:25 Vax:
“What is radar?”
0:49:26 Raishan:
“I don’t know.”
0:49:28 Percy:
“Do you never go into my room? Do you never look at what I’m working
on?”
0:49:31 Sam:
“What room are we in right now?”
0:49:33 Marisha:
“War room.”
0:49:34 Matt:
“The old war room which is upstairs facing the front.”
0:49:36 Laura:
“Our old war room.”
0:49:35 Sam:
“Okay.”
0:49:36 Laura,
pointing at Matt: “We asked to go down to the Ziggurat, and she didn’t
respect that.”
0:49:40 Matt:
“Nope.”
0:49:43 Laura,
quietly: “Bitch.”
0:49:44 Matt,
quietly laughing: “Yeah.”
0:49:45 Liam,
Laura and Marisha joining: “I said biiitch!”
0:49:46 Taliesin:
“For many reasons.”
0:49:47 Matt,
agreeing: “For many reasons.”
0:49:49 Percy:
“So let’s-”
0:49:50 Sam:
“How big is the room?”
0:49:51 Matt:
“It’s about… I’d say… close to… 30 feet by 60 feet?”
0:50:00 Sam:
“How many entrances?”
0:50:01 Matt:
“There’s two doors that enter, and then two windows that face out the
front.”
0:50:03 Laura:
“Are you going to attack her? All of a sudden? Are you going to attack her
right now?”
0:50:05 Sam:
“I mean… We should probably just kill her right now.”
0:50:09 Liam:
“She’s going to Alice in Wonderland us out the windows and doors.”
0:50:09 Marisha:
“I agree with that! I agree with that! Can I do a scan of the room? Like a
perception check to see if I notice anything magical, or traps, or anything
weird setup?”
0:50:14 Taliesin,
quietly, looking dismayed, facepalming at the exchange: “Please not in my
house. Please not in my house.”
0:50:15 Sam:
“She is here. Because she is weaker than us.”
0:50:20 Matt:
“Make an investigation check.”
0:50:21 Marisha:
“Investigation?”
0:50:21 Taliesin,
very quietly, still facepalming: “She’s not weaker than us. She’s just not
strong enough to take Thordak. Big difference.”
0:50:22 Matt:
“Yep. If you’re looking for traps, it’s investigation.”
0:50:24 Marisha:
“Well, no, is there anything off?
0:50: Laura,
quietly, shaking her head: “Her- opening she’ll bust out of this fucking
place.”
0:50:26 Tavis:
“She’s weaker than us. We can kill her whenever.”
0:50:29 Taliesin
makes a sound of distress.
0:50:30 Laura:
“Exactly.”
0:50:31 Travis:
“Might as well use her.”
0:50:32 Taliesin
makes a sound of distress.
0:50:36 Marisha:
“General perception… 21.”
0:50:38 Matt:
“21. Glancing about the room, it does not appear to have anything that you
notice different. It’s the same. It has the two banners on the side walls, it
has the table in the center with some chairs scattered about, there’s the two
windows opposite.”
0:50:48 Taliesin:
“She is entirely prepared.” Nearly inaudible, my guess, “With
all the attention. Please no.”
0:50:49 Matt:
“At one window that currently Asum is right to his- or Raishan has to her
back.”
0:50:57 Sam:
“Let’s just attack after-”
0:50:58 Vax:
“I don’t Scanlan is wrong. I think… he
is weak.” [clearly intentional pronoun.]
0:51:05 Laura/Vex,
quietly, but very frustrated: “No! Guys!”
0:51:07 Sam/Scanlan:
“It.”
0:51:10 Taliesin/Percy:
“Scaly. … Kermit.”
[Everyone has repeatedly referred to non-humanoids with
‘it.’ Including dragons. Raishan used ‘it’ in this conversation while referring
to Vorugal. Based on this consistency, and Taliesin’s remarks following, I
think Sam was equating Raishan with an animal as a way of skirting the gender
issues. Not commenting on the issues for humanoids.]
0:51:08 Vax,
carefully: “However, she will try to destroy as much as possible, out of
spite, in her death throws.”
0:51:19 Percy, looking
slightly relieved: “Thus also exposing the city. We will be attacked. That
will be the end of Whitestone.”
0:51:26 Travis:
“I walk over very gingerly to Keyleth, and I grab very- one of her antlers
very gently, and I say,”
0:51:33 Grog:
“Look, if wanna go, we’re with you. But if you exercise a little patience,
I think we’ll get more out of this, and you’ll still get yours in the
end.” He lets go of her antler.
0:51:48 Keyleth,
quietly: “Is Grog talking to me about patience right now?”
0:51:49 Vex:
“He is. That’s- That’s very important.”
0:51:51 Keyleth:
“That’s so extreme.”
0:51:53 Vex:
“Yes.”
0:51:55 Scanlan:
“He’s a man of peace.”
0:51:56 Grog,
hastily: “I mean, don’t get me wrong. I want to crack it open right now,
but we’ll get more later.”
0:52:01 Vax:
“He’s learned a lot.”
0:52:03 Grog
holds up two fingers on each hand, brings them together, and holds up four
fingers on one hand.
0:52:05 Keyleth:
“Grog…” She groans.
0:52:15 Percy:
“I guarantee you, the complete lack of satisfaction that you feel when
she’s finally dead, will be just as potent two days from now.”
0:52:25 Keyleth:
“Did Thordak tell you about the,” air quotes, “’trinkets’ of
ours that you wanted?”
0:52:32 Raishan:
“Thordak has no idea what lies beneath this city. Thordak is too obsessed
with himself”
0:52:39 Keyleth:
“About what we have, I mean.”
0:52:41 Vex:
“Don’t!”
0:52:42 Raishan:
“Are you referring to your Vestiges?”
0:52:43 Vax:
“Friendship!”
0:52:44 Vex:
“Friendship and-”
0:52:46 Percy:
“Good girl.”
0:52:46 Keyleth:
“She knows!
0:52:47 Raishan:
“I’ve already been told everything.
0:52:48 Keyleth:
“She does! She knows!
0:52:50 Raishan:
“You informed me of your entire plan.”
0:52:51 Vex:
“I know, I know! Okay!? ‘Cause we’re really smart, and we totally-”
0:52:56 Scanlan:
“We knew it was you all along.”
0:52:57 Vex:
“The whole time!”
0:52:58 Scanlan:
“We wanted you to know what you’re up against!”
0:52:59 Vex:
“That’s right!”
0:53:00 Raishan:
“Of course you did.”
0:53:01 Vax:
“Taunting you all along.”
0:53:02 Percy:
“In two days.”
0:53:02 Keyleth:
“We thought it was Asum. We talked to- She knows. She knows! We told her everything. What does he want!?”
0:53:10 Raishan:
“What does Thordak want?”
0:53:11 Keyleth:
“Yes.”
0:53:12 Raishan:
“Thordak wants everything. Everything.
Thordak is using the crystal in his belly to slowly build a volcano beneath
Emon. To turn the surrounding city and the country side into a new mountain of
his visage.”
0:53:33 Grog,
quietly: “Shit.”
0:53:34 Vex:
“How long Until that happens.”
0:53:37 Raishan:
“That’s going to be another hundred years”
0:53:38 Vex:
“Oh.”
0:53:38 Raishan:
“until the entire mountain is complete. But, the physicality is already
adjusting. The molten rock begins to swirl and flow beneath the Cloud Top
District.”
0:53:50 Grog:
“What? You said he’s building a volcano?”
0:53:52 Raishan:
“Well, a volcano is being summoned beneath him. Such is the nature of the
crystal he carries. The energy he absorbed from the Fire Elemental Plane
carried over with him, and it’s still hungry. It’s why he swells. It’s why he’s
in pain. But he just laughs instead. As it also gives him extreme power and
neigh-invulnerability.”
0:54:13 Grog:
“You said before, you knew Thordak before he was trapped in the Fire
Elemental Plane.”
0:54:17 Raishan:
“Yes.”
0:54:18 Grog: “Was
he in any way on what is now known as Glintshore before the Elemental
Plane?”
0:54:25 Raishan:
“It’s possible. I uh, I have no knowledge of this Glintshore.”
0:54:32 Vax:
“What do you know about the Briarwoods?”
0:54:36 Raishan:
“Don’t think I know anything about some Briarwoods.”
0:54:38 Vax:
“Really? What do you think about the walls surrounding that beach ball down there? It’s a little creepy down
there, isn’t it?”
0:54:48 Raishan:
“Itself is a little off-putting, yes.”
0:54:50 Vax:
“You expect us to believe you
know nothing? As smart as you are? You know nothing of what happened there in
the months past?”
0:54:58 Raishan:
“I know what I’ve been told.”
0:55:00 Vax: Are
you sure you’re not trying to summon something awful at that marble.“
0:55:04 Laura:
“Do we know, do we remember…”
0:55:06 Taliesin:
“Something else awful. That’s bad.” He grimaces.
0:55:06 Raishan:
“Do you think I wish to have another creature that I play subservience
to?”
0:55:13 Vex:
“No…”
0:55:14 Grog:
“Maybe if he can heal you.”
0:55:14 Laura:
“Do we know, ’cause Vecna, right, is Melora an enemy of Vecna? Do we know
that?”
0:55:21 Sam:
“We’ve heard of Melora before.”
0:55:21 Matt:
“I mean, essentially.”
0:55:22 Vex:
“We’ve heard of Melora.”
0:55:24 Matt:
“Melora is the goddess of the wilderness and the sea. Very nature, life,
elemental-based deity. Vecna is not a
god. Vecna was a very powerful-”
0:55:37 Laura:
“Wants to be a god.”
0:55:39 Matt:
“wanted to become a god, and was balked and scattered, supposedly
destroyed a long time ago, but the cults still endure, and infiltrate and
wander various parts of Exandria.”
0:55:51 Laura:
“Okay.”
0:55:52 Liam:
“What do you want to do with that thing?”
0:55:55 Raishan:
“Well, it pertains to what I think is a sound plan to bring Thordak down
to our level.”
0:56:02 Vax:
“Well, tell me a little bit more.”
0:56:03 Raishan:
“I will tell you, once we finish this leg of your journey, since you’re so
eager to have made the agreement.”
0:56:09 Vex:
“Makes sense.”
0:56:10 Vax:
“I think you’re lying through your teeth. I think you want something
you’re not telling us about. But I do want the white dragon dead.”
0:56:16 Grog:
“Yep”
0:56:16 Vex:
“Yeah.”
0:56:16 Vax:
“And we can work on it later.”
0:56:17 Vex:
“Let’s do that.”
0:56:17 Grog:
“Yeah.”
0:56:18 Scanlan:
“Let’s all agree that this is definitely bullshit.”
0:56:21 Vax:
“Definitely.”
0:56:21 Vex:
“All of it.”
0:56:22 Percy:
“I actually- No, I’m going to disagree. I think everything she said is the
truth. And I think she’s not saying an awful lot more. Deception is far more
interesting if you’re not telling the truth all of the time, and I think she’s
telling a lot of truth, just not all of it.”
0:56:38 Vax,
pointedly: “Oh Percival, lies of
omission are a tricky thing, aren’t they?”
0:56:42 Percy:
“They’re far more tricky than simple lies. And I think we’ve heard an
awful lot of truth.”
0:56:46 Vax looks
sour with Percy.
0:56:48 Grog:
“I’m confused.”
0:56:50 Percy:
“So yes, I’m willing to work with what we have.”
0:56:53 Vax, resentful and disappointed: “Yeah…”
0:56:54 Keyleth:
“Do you have any ideas on how to defeat Vorugal?”
0:56:58 Raishan:
“Well, for one thing, I will be peripheral to the battle. I will aid you,
but I cannot be seen on the battle field, or Thordak will know immediately
there has been… a turn of allegiance.”
0:57:13 Grog:
“Makes sense.”
0:57:14 Vex:
“So, what good are you? What can you do?”
0:57:16 Scanlan:
“Yeah, can you shape-shift into other beasts?”
0:57:18 Raishan:
“I can change my form into a number of creatures and be of assistance in
that way. I have a series of arcane talents I can bring to the battlefield as
well.”
0:57:28 Vex:
“Why”
0:57:28 Scanlan: “Needed
a beast to… bait Vorugal with.”
0:57:32 Vex:
“I have an idea, with that.”
0:57:35 Percy:
“Yes, I believe we’re all on the same page.”
0:57:36 Vex:
“I have a thought.”
0:57:37 Keyleth:
“What’s interesting is the way that stacks, too.”
0:57:41 Vex:
‘Mmhmm.“
0:57:41 Grog:
“Go ahead. Or do you want to save it?”
0:57:44 Vex,
sighing: “If we’re in this together, can I just say it in front of
her?”
0:57:49 Scanlan:
“Sure.”
0:57:49 Percy:
“Yes.”
0:57:49 Grog:
“No. Don’t”
0:57:52 Scanlan:
“Well, she’ll need to know at some point.”
0:57:52 Percy:
“She’ll know. She’ll hear it anyway.
0:57:55 Grog:
“At some point.”
0:57:56 Percy:
“Even if she’s not in the room, we should just agree that she’ll-
0:57:58 Grog:
“I say we agree on principal- princ- princ- we agree.” Puts his
finger up in a hesitant ’emphasizing a point’ gesture.’
0:58:05 Keyleth:
“Yes, yes.”
0:58:05 Percy:
“Yes.”
0:58:09 Grog,
raising his hand as a vote: “I agree. Hands?”
0:58:12 Vex
raises her hand. Percy raises both hands.
0:58:13 Scanlan:
“What are we agreeing on?”
0:58:14 Vex:
“I don’t know, just say you agree with him.”
0:58:14 Grog:
“To fight with Raishan.”
0:58:19 Percy:
“I’m in this far.”
0:58:20 Vax
raises his hand.
0:58:23 Scanlan,
referring to himself and Keyleth: “You don’t need our vote It’s already
decided.”
0:58:27 Grog:
“You’re abstaining?”
0:58:28 Scanlan:
“Yes.”
0:58:28 Grog:
“I really wish you would vote.”
[PSA: Voting is important. Small political derailment. Matt
facepalms. Taliesin puts the kibosh on it when it gets too political.]
0:59:08 Scanlan:
“Okay. Let’s kill a dragon and feel that burn.”
…
0:59:22 Scanlan:
“Okay, I’m in. For now.”
0:59:24 Percy to
Keyleth: “You don’t have to be in.”
0:59:30 Marisha:
“Keyleth holds her hand out, to shake her hand.” She holds out her
hand.
0:59:34 Grog:
“Oh geez.”
0:59:34 Laura
gasps in foreboding.
0:59:38 Liam:
“I am drawing a blade behind my back.”
0:59:40 Matt:
“Asum walks around the table slowly, making eye contact with you, those
yellow, reptilian slits for eyes.” Footsteps. “Brushes past you.
0:59:55 Raishan:
“You’ve grown quite a bit in just these few moments, Keyleth.” She
shakes Keyleth’s hand.“
1:00:03 Keyleth:
“I heat up my hands just a little bit, my flame hands. Feel the
burn.”
1:00:15 Sam:
“The dragon dies.”
1:00:22 Matt:
“Stands there keeping a grip, and releases your hand.
1:00:27 Raishan:
“Very well. So, what’s your plan against Vorugal?”
1:00:36 Grog:
“We need a moment. I feel like the emotions in here are a bit raw. Can we
please-”
1:00:42 Percy:
“We will reconvene tomorrow for travel-”
1:00:44 Vex:
“Tomorrow morning?
1:00:44 Percy:
“tomorrow morning to arrange travel, and the battle plan towards –.”
1:00:51 Scanlan,
alarmed: “Shouldn’t we keep an eye on this one all night!?”
1:00:53 Percy:
“No.”
1:00:54 Vex:
“What? We haven’t kept an eye on her the whole time!”
1:00:56 Scanlan:
“No, but she could be sneaking around, creeping into other rooms-”
1:01:00 Percy,
harshly: “That she hasn’t already creeped into!?”
1:01:02 Raishan:
“I can guarantee you, you’re not wrong. But I have been and I will
regardless of-”
1:01:06 Percy:
“Yeah, no.”
1:01:07 Scanlan:
“She could come into my room at night and do things to me that I don’t
want to be done.”
1:01:11 Vex,
doubtfully: “That you don’t want to be done?”
Scanlan, and everyone else cracks up.
1:01:12 Grog:
“Let’s be honest…”
1:01:12 Percy:
“There’s nothing you don’t want to be done, let’s be fair.”
1:01:16 Vex, laughing:
“You’re giving her ideas right now, aren’t you?”
1:01:17 Scanlan
tilts his head in a ‘maybe’ gesture.
1:01:18 Percy:
“I’m not changing her status in the castle before. There’s no sense in
changing…”
1:01:20 Vax:
“You’re going to want to scratch that one off the list.”
1:01:21 Keyleth,
laughing: “Yeah, yeah!”
1:01:24 Travis:
“No. No!”
1:01:26 Scanlan:
“I’m going to have sex with every beast on every continent.”
1:01:30 Taliesin:
“Thank you, Captain Kirk.”
1:01:33 Matt:
“Gotta catch them all!”
1:01:39 Percy:
“I’m content with this.”
1:01:40 Vex &
Vax: “Yeah.”
1:01:41 Raishan:
“Very well. I’ll go… check in with the boss, if you will, in the meantime.”
1:01:45 Vex:
“Uhh…”
1:01:48 Raishan: “Alleviate
any concern on his end. We shall meet tomorrow.”
1:01:49 Percy:
“Thank you.”
1:01:51 Vax,
hesitantly: “Yeah…”
1:01:51 Percy:
“We’ll see you tomorrow. And thank you-”
1:01:53 Marisha:
“Can I get an insight check on that ‘check in with the boss?”
1:01:55 Matt:
“Sure.”
1:01:56 Marisha:
“She’s gonna turn around and tell him everything.”
1:01:58 Travis:
“You gotta kill it. There’s only one number you can roll.”
1:02:00 Laura:
“Get a natural 20. Natural 20!”
1:02:02 Marisha:
“C’mon, natural 20! No, it wasn’t bad, it was a 15. So 26.”
1:02:06 Travis: “That’s
not a 20.”
[Matt whispers to Marisha. Liam tries a Loot Crate rap that
he quickly bails on from embarrassment.]
1:02:55 Matt:
“Raishan looks very confused.”
1:02:58 Keyleth:
“Alright, let’s go.”
1:03:00 Raishan:
“Very well. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
1:03:02 Matt:
“The image of the veins, the scales, everything reverts back to normal
Seeker Asum, nods, and leaves the room.”
4. Post negotiation
1:03:08 Taliesin
and Liam clearly pick up on ‘image.’
1:03:09 Percy:
“Downstairs. To the real room. Downstairs.”
1:03:11 Vex: “Yes,
yes. I know.”
1:03:12 Taliesin:
“Downstairs to the real room.”
1:03:14 Scanlan:
“To the real war room?”
1:03:15 Vex,
Grog, & Percy: “Yes.”
1:03:16 Scanlan:
“Magically incapable of-”
1:03:17 Grog
& Vex: “Yes.” Percy nods.
1:03:18 Scanlan:
“Okay, but wait, before we go down there, two things. Keyleth, can you
scry today?”
1:03:25 Keyleth:
“Yes, I can.”
1:03:26 Percy,
very alarmed: “Do not!”
1:03:28 Scanlan:
“So there’s- We could check in on Vorugal.”
1:03:31 Vex:
“Yeah.”
1:03:32 Scanlan:
“Make sure that Vorugal is actually there, and not-”
1:03:34 Vex:
“Don’t actually look at Vorugal, look at something near Vorugal.”
1:03:38 Grog:
“Okay, we could…”
1:03:38 Scanlan:
“Just to make sure Vorugal is in town, and not here.”
1:03:41 Grog:
“Right. Two?”
1:03:42 Vex:
“Mmhm.”
1:03:43 Scanlan:
“We could look into Raishan’s room right now and watch how it scrys. I mean, it communicates with
its boss.”
1:03:49 Percy:
“Absolutely do not think that’s
a good idea.”
1:03:53Grog:
“Why?”
1:03:54 Vex:
“I don’t think so, either.”
1:03:54 Scanlan:
“Why?”
1:03:56 Vex:
“She’ll know.”
1:03:56 Vax:
“She’ll go apeshit. No.”
1:03:57 Keyleth:
“Let’s go down to the war room.”
1:03:57Scanlan:
“So then what? So we kill her.”
1:03:59 Keyleth:
“War room?”
1:04:00 Scanlan:
“We’re better than she is!”
1:04:02 Vax:
“She’s-”
1:04:03 Percy,
with a nervous laugh: “We’re really
not!”
1:04:03 Vax:
“obviously hiding shit from us, and if one of us goes and pokes our nose
in there, she’s gonna start a draw right there.”
1:04:10 Marisha:
“Are we in the war room? Can we go down and talk about this in the war
room?”
1:04:12 Taliesin:
“We’re down in the war room.”
1:04:12 Matt:
“You can go there right now.”
Vax: “Are we talking
Matt: “Okay, so you make your way-”
Taliesin: “I have already been walking.
Matt: “under Whitestone, through the tunnels, to the
location of the Ziggurat. The war room is a series of tables and chairs that
have been assembled on the top of the Ziggurat, near the spinning- bead of
death as you call it. It’s makeshift, it’s functional, there is currently no
one else in here, even though there are a couple guards stationed to make sure
nobody comes in here without approval. But you are currently stepping up to the
top of the Ziggurat, and there it rests, still spinning silently in place.”
5. The war room
1:04:48 Grog:
“Okay, drop it on them.”
1:04:50 Laura:
“I sit on a table.”
1:04:51 Vex:
“So what’s going on?”
1:04:52 Grog:
“Yeah, no, no tell us your plan.”
1:04:55 Marisha:
“Keyleth screams. Keyleth just screams her head off for a second.”
1:04:56 Vex:
“Oh, my plan, okay.”
1:05:01 Vex:
“You did well, dear.”
1:05:01 Percy
gently rubs her back, earnestly: “I know how hard that was. I know how hard that was. I know. And I wish I could say I did as
well as you did, when it was my turn.”
1:05:17 Keyleth
to Percy, dismayed: “I don’t think I understood until that moment,”
1:05:20 Percy,
hugging her: “I know.”
1:05:20 Keyleth:
“what you did.”
1:05:23 Vax:
“You’ll have your day. Absolutely.”
1:05:31 Percy,
looking very tired and worried: “We can’t… We can’t spy on her. We have to
be very careful. Well, we can spy on her, but we have to be careful. We should
spy on her when she’s speaking to Thordak because Thordak might see it. Which
would mean that, plan or no plan, everything would be ruined.”
1:05:45 Vax:
“If Thordak- senses, sees, any one of us in the same place as her, he will
go mad.”
Vex: “Terrible.”
1:05:59 Percy:
“And then if I were her, I would destroy the city and all of us, as
quickly as possible, and run.”
Grog: “Geez.”
1:06:05 Vex:
“I feel like she needs to talk to the spirit because she’s going to try to
absorb his power or something.”
Keyleth: “She’s a fucking idiot. She’s a fucking
idiot.”
1:06:15 Marisha:
“What do I know about Melora, and this curse? ’cause there are a lot of
Druids that worship Melora.”
1:06:23 Matt:
“Make a religion check.”
1:06:29 Marisha:
“That’s not good. I never do religion checks. 9.”
1:06:36 Matt:
“You know that Melora is worshiped by druids of nature, hunters, societies
that exist in a more natural setting; as well as ship captains, oversea
merchants, in hopes of getting across large bodies of water in weather. She is
considered by some to be good, by some to be in a neutral space, and more of a
Mother Nature-type entity, amongst the pantheon here, if there was one. And as
far as curses go, I mean… You don’t have too much experience with curses
outside the minor one’s you’ve seen used, or have yourself, at your disposal.
But even just from the few of you, Sam especially- Sam, go ahead and roll an
intelligence check.”
1:07:33 Sam:
“Who, me?”
1:07:34 Matt:
“Yes.”
1:07:39 Sam:
“Don’t have my thing, hold on. Intelligence? Straight intelligence?”
1:07:43 Matt:
“Yes.”
1:07:45 Sam:
“16.”
1:07:46 Matt:
“16. You get to add your plus two…”
1:07:48 Sam:
“18.”
1:07:49 Matt:
“And, if you wanted to, add your inspiration die.”
1:07:53 Sam:
“I will inspire myself. Which is 12 now, right?”
1:07:58 Matt:
“Yeah, d12.”
1:08:00 Marisha:
“Big money.”
1:08:00 Travis:
“Watch yourself.”
1:08:02 Sam:
“26.”
1:08:03 Matt:
“26, okay.”
1:08:04 Sam:
“Wow, that escalated fast.”
1:08:06 Matt:
“That’s what you can do as a Bard. It’s pretty rad. So, through the two of
you, conversing over this, there are simple curses that can be imparted for a
temporary period of time, usually as a penance to someone who slighted you,
some that are a corruption of the land, a blight, if you will, that spreads to
a life source, and there are soul curses. Usually where someone feels so
wronged in their final moments, that they basically burn their soul, and any
possibility at the afterlife. Purely to scourge whoever was responsible for
their pain.”
1:08:48 Taliesin:
“Yeah.”
1:08:48 Marisha:
“Really no good.”
1:08:50 Matt:
“It’s rarely ever done, because it’s essentially accepting a bloody doom.
Your existence is done. The gods don’t hold any sway over your immortal soul,
there is no afterlife, however you die knowing, for whatever that means in that
brief moment, that you have scared the individual, in some degree, for possibly
the rest of time.”
1:08:11 Laura:
“Damn…”
1:08:12 Sam:
“Do we have any idea how it could be revered or undone?”
1:08:14 Matt:
“No idea. And you’ve heard of it in stories. And it was mostly a folklore
element, ‘No, I’ve kind of heard of this,’ but if there was anything, this
might be it.
1:08:29 Vax:
“I worry about her intentions with this thing. Help me remember, when Pike
has spoken to dead things, they cannot lie.”
1:08:40 Matt: “That’s
true.”
1:08:40 Vex:
“Yeah.”
1:08:41 Vax:
“So she wants to talk to Thordak’s… spirit. Who presumably cannot lie,
right?”
1:08:50 Percy:
“Yes.”
1:08:50 Vax:
“Which could mean, the cure to this disease, it could mean something to do
with that.” He points at the orb.
1:08:56 Scanlan:
“Yes.”
1:08:56 Percy:
“It could. And also, this is a third option,” he sighs, thinking,
“Thordak could have tasked her with… bringing us to him in a way that he
feels comfortable with, and only then will he cure her. I believe he holds the
cure as sway. This whole thing may be the plan.”
1:10:19 Keyleth:
“This may be a trap.”
1:10:20 Vex&
Vax: “Yeah.”
1:10:21 Percy:
“Which means we do have an ally
for defeating the white dragon.”
1:10:24 Scanlan:
“And should use it.”
1:10:26 Vex:
“Yeah.”
1:10:26 Percy:
“And should use it.”
1:10:27 Scanlan:
“But then, right after…”
1:10:29 Vex:
“Kill her.”
1:10:29 Percy:
“Well, if the opportunity presents itself.”
1:10:31 Scanlan
“Or shake her.”
1:10:33 Percy:
“If the opportunity presents itself to kill her there,”
1:10:34Vex:
“True.”
1:10:34Percy:
“In a way that is fitting, where we have advantage, then yes. But if not-”
1:10:40Vax:
“Away from this city.”
1:10:42 Percy:
“In Draconia.”
1:10:42 Vex:
“We never mentioned J’mon Sa Ord when we got back, so Asum doesn’t know
about that, or Raishan doesn’t know about that.”
1:10:51 Keyleth:
“Unless she was scrying on us, which is highly possible.”
1:10:54 Percy:
“Which is highly possible.”
1:10:55 Vex:
“Do we have no way of having knowledge if someone scrys on us? I mean,
they can-”
Percy: “Sometimes we can notice, but often-”
Keyleth: “I would have to have a super-high perception
in order to maybe sense it?”
1:11:06 Matt:
“Generally, if someone were to scry on you, and you were to succeed on
your saving throw, they’d fail to scry, and you’d have some sort of inkling
that something weird is going on. If you’re a person who is capable of casting
the spell, like you are, you would be like, ‘Okay, someone’s trying to peer
through the veil.’”
Marisha: “So, can I…”
Laura: “So you would know. She would know if someone’s
trying to scry on her.”
1:11:26 Taliesin:
“Unless they were…”
1:11:27 Matt:
“If- If…”
1:11:28 Liam:
“If she picked up on it.”
1:11:29 Matt:
“If she picked up on it. You don’t know.”
Marisha: “And I never…”
Matt: “You have no recollection of ever having-”
Marisha: “Is there a way I could start… looking out for
that?”
1:11:36 Matt:
“You can be very, very-”
Marisha: “Conscious?”
1:11:40 Matt:
“Conscious of that possibility, and keen on intercepting, should anything
like that occur.”
1:11:43 Percy:
“The other thing that can happen is we set up different forms of attack
when we finally go against Thordak. So we have our mode of entry, and the way
we are going to be moving that attack forward, and make sure we have secondary
lines of attack that she will have no knowledge of, that we will keep separated
from her.”
1:12:02 Scanlan:
“Is there any way to move Whitestone? To reinforce Whitestone? To get
something here to protect Whitestone?”
1:12:09 Percy:
“A bit, but not a lot. There’s just not enough time.”
1:12:14
Critical Analysis 