You're listening to Romancing the Dungeon, a softcore DND podcast about heroes navigating their daily lives while looking for love in a world full of peril, monsters, and heartbreakers. This show is intended for mature audiences as it contains adult themes and not the thirsty softcore kind, in case that's what you're here for. Content warnings for specific episodes can be found in the episode's description. We'll find our way in the game that we're playing. We won't be pushed over.
Previously on romancing the dungeon not for not Lorette and but there was two of us. Yeah, I don't know where Rune is. This is me, boss Ronnie, and this is me, other boss, Claudine. Absolutely pleasure to have you here. Welcome, welcome. Welcome to our little community, our little coven, our little artisan creative space. Thank you so much for trusting us to take you to safety. No one has believed me. It's just so unnerving to have people believe that I didn't do it.
Everybody here has a shadow, something that chases them, something that haunts them. We have a job that we think you would be absolutely perfect for. Tell me, Thea, how could it? You disappear Thea as you are wrangled into this very, very dark wagon, Claudine and Ronnie kind of shoving in behind you. But first, it's a bit ghastly, right? What the hell?
But it's a lot of mannequins all wearing kind of like loads of different like, regalia and costumes, some some big and shiny, some very small and risque. There's a bang of Olga flopping bottoms off one or two that brings back kind of a flush to your cheeks. And a shiver down my spine. OK, sugar, you have a look through whatever it is that you want, whatever kind of catches
your eye. Ronnie, Ronald, Ronnie is kind of like staring at you and he's staring at some of the costumes, kind of like eyeballing one or two of the of the other kind of. And, and like she kind of grabs him by the ear. We'll let you get dressed in some privacy. There is a light round here somewhere. And you see, she kind of half taps the wall, the door opens and she shoves Ronnie out. And it was like, Monsieur, I was just her pinsy lady. Look for something to wear over
her shoulder. Not too long, mind you. Daylight's burning. You've got a performance to do, a town to impress, a whole caravan of performers to impress as well. You, you, you. You really want me up on on stage? Yes, straight away. Straight away. We work here for our food. At our shots. It's Jimmy lit. It's not pitch dark in here. Like your eyes have kind of adjusted.
Of dark vision as well. Even with the dark vision, it's very hard to see things like there is a faint light from like a little kind of. Like a crack or something. Window like, you know, I can see it's kind of on a lip. OK, so there's a little light coming in. This is obviously to protect the costumes from kind of sun damage and stuff like that. But yeah, you do. There are, there's some really kind of bejeweled and bedazzled sort of sequins, sequins, sequins, gowns.
It's not the first time you've stumbled on. That, but, yeah. And then there's full armor, like you can see that and they've taken chunks out of it. Like there's that's paint. That's definitely paint. That's not blood. You're not going to look at it. Yeah, as you kind of rifle through the rack. Little bits here and there catch my eye, like the the ones with all the sparkles. I'm kind of like, Oh no, I'll move those to the side. The skimpy ones, I'll move even
faster to the side. On the floor, on the floor as back. They they don't exist. And I guess my hands start falling on ones that are a little bit more, I guess not a standout ish.
Like I know the performers obviously like in Fuse has like, OK, obviously they want me to wear something that stands out, but I kind of want to also still be wearing something that I can kind of disappear in as well, something that fits, something that fits and just make her feel comfortable that she can like disappear in. Give me a perception check.
That's a not 20 for 30 total. Yeah, you are rifling through there's a couple of wizard costumes or what you know, you'd imagine kids with, you know, like storybooks that you've seen, uh, really sort of over the top kind of clown costumes that kind of run the, the gamut of like whimsical kind of mystical clown to that that stuff of nightmares, that clown costume. There's more costumes here than there is performers. That's again and maybe they've
alternates maybe. People have come and gone. Maybe you? Know, yeah, that kind of like, wow, there's a there's a lot here and as you are kind of rifling through it, it's really strange. You you come across it's just a vest when you pick it up when you go to pick it up, it is heavy.
Like it's incredibly heavy. And the inside of it, you just see all these metal plates with all kinds of manners of like cabling and like stuff that like, remember that time you were in Marilla's Fortress of Aptitude? Right, OK. Just it's that same sort of like OK, but it's very. A little bit artificy gives those vibes, yes. Yeah, OK. Like, so it's not, it's not just kind of like costumes for play or costume This, this and like it does it.
There is kind of a, like I said, there is a hefty weight in it as you kind of go to lift it. Whoever was wearing this clearly carried themselves. There's nothing else with it. It's just, it's just a vest. And then you hear a voice just it did. It's that thing of is that did someone Call My Name? Did someone outside say what? You kind of wait, and then there's just silence and something kind of catches your eye.
Further back. You can see a shoulder and you can see this plume of jet black, inky Navy feathers just kind of poking out. And there's a rustling and your eyes are drawn to this silhouette. The mannequin. The costume is on a mannequin. There's something about it that like just you can't take your eyes off of it. And then it almost seems to turn to face you. Little bird, Give me a piece of your heart. I will and show you. This is the voice that kind of been asking questions of the a
couple. Of weeks, this voice that you've been hearing, sometimes in dreams, sometimes in the middle of the day, you feel its presence. There is something back there. I think as well because like Theo was suffering exhaustion and stuff the previous times that she heard it, like she thought it was a thing of her imagination. Where is now? Hearing it now when she's rested, a little bit of fear sinks into her. Who are you? I am. Someone you always know.
But you still haven't told me who you are. Search and you hear this fluttering of wings and there's just this stillness in the caravan. I guess I'm really, I'm trying to shake it off because I'm like, I'm really creeped out. You move and you hear the jostling of jewellery and feathers. You're wearing a costume. Then I'm even more freaked out and I just like, I guess now that I'm dressed I just kind of want to get out of here as quick as I can.
Probably stumbling over stuff as I'm going, just wanting to get away. As you do like you do, you kind of spill into kind of cup of the mannequins and like a small box of kind of trinkets kind of spills over. You clamber to your feet and as you kind of look up, you are looking into a mirror. You're wearing this feather and lace costume. These shoulders are accentuated by plumes of black and Navy feathers.
There is a plunging neckline that is filled with silver jewelry that is tied and cinched at the waist by a black and purple leather corset. It feeds into kind of a bodysuit, but there is a long split skirt that traces just kind of below your knee and you're wearing a black lace
mask. Very much freaked out by the not remembering putting these clothes on this this entity that's been around her is it's she is literally just freaked out looking at herself in the mirror and stumbling to get out of this wagon. You reach for the door and you spill out and like the air hits you and you feel fill your lungs and like there is just a whistle. Then she's so pretty. She's she's a picture of the
night. And then people kind of turn to look and you see there are a couple of the other kind of performers, Nana Sykes, rash all kind of turn to look. Nana has just given you two big thumbs up. The Claudine kind of maneuvers over towards you. I don't recognize that one. It was in there. Well, no. If if it's in there and it fits and you're happy and you look well, you you look prettier than
a picture. Thanks. I'm, I'm coming to think of it. And she takes a step back and she got it's, I think she, she kind of goes to take you all in Ronnie. And she kind of like, she gestures out to him and she kind of holds her hand out. He wanders up, eyes to the ground. Why do you think I like I whistled? And immediately Claudine goes to give him a clatter and like he starts. He kind of laughs. She laughs. You are the image of your
mother. I don't know if Claudine picks it up, but my face kind of drops a little bit. So Ronnie and I have a couple of the caravans to finish off some last minute supplies that we need to bring with us. I have asked that Nixie and Willow maybe show you a little bit of what they do, introduce you to some of the others. You're going on last. You've plenty of time to think about that final act of yours. Sophia. Yeah, obviously it's your debut. We want you to close out the show. I don't.
Know what I'm going to do? I just want to remind you, we want to finish with a bit of oomph and pizzazz. And Una, could you know that little disappearing trick of hers? Mother like daughter, right? Yeah, but I I can't do it as far as she can. Oh, just away from the crowd, behind the curtain. Whatever. Wherever it is that. It has to be somewhere I can see. Off stage then you'll be fine. Just vomph and you're gone. Now, remember, we want the crowds on their feet.
That means more money. That means chips. That means fuller bellies. Do you have a bow and arrow arrows by chance? I look you ask Nixie or Willow, they'll get you sorted with whatever it is that you are looking for, bow and arrow. Ronnie kind of shrugs in. Maybe it could be very sexy, who knows. Claudine was in a rolls her eyes and the two of them kind of wander. You see them, they kind of
wander off. Sykes and Nana are loading stuff onto a carve and it just seems to be like kind of props and kind of parts of the stage, kind of for decoration all the time. Rash is just looking at you. You. Have a little wave to rash. He kind of and turns his head and like goes into the one of the kind of the tents and comes out with a case in his jaw and like hands it to Nana who starts loading onto a wagon. I go over to to to Nana briefly.
I just want to see, oh just just a chat real quick I guess. So I make my way across. I know I have to go and meet Willow and that like Bush, I just want to quickly chat to her. Well, well, well. Look at the legs on her legs 211. I'm kind of try and pull the slick closed on the skirt. I'm just wondering are are you are you sticking around or are you leaving now? Then I'm here. No, we we're fixed here for a while. Oh, that's good. At least I'll have a couple of
faces here that I know. Like Nana looks around. No, they're you've met Ronnie and Claudine. I don't remember them. No, no, but like you, like you met them today, like they're. I know I'm still getting used to them and stuff. They're good folk. They're like, do you think, do you think the three of us would be here if we? That's not what I'm saying at all. I'm just saying it's just nice to see faces that I no and have known.
Gotcha, that's all. Umm, I, I, I don't know if, if, would you know if anyone who could help me contact my friends with magic or something? I guess I I want to make sure they're OK. Nana and Sykes look at each other. Probably best fear that you maybe wait to visage you know before you do that. Oh yeah. It and maybe, maybe don't say it to Claudine or Ronnie. They get a bit uppity when it comes to security for the troop. No. Oh, yeah, you're, you're right. Yeah, OK.
Sorry. No. No, I'm, I'm, I'm not going to say that to anybody. Yeah, OK. I'll talk to you later, I guess. And I kind of, all right, walk away a little bit defeated. Yeah, I got to find Nixie and Willow. The troop is quite big, but not so big that you can't kind of find your way around. And there is, there's a kind of a smattering of some tents and outside it and inside some of the other performers are checking over bits and pieces.
And you find Dixie and Willow. Well, they're walking a tightrope, but it's made of water. I just, I kind of stop fascinated by it and enthralled by what they're doing and really just admiring it. Willow is on her toes and it is it's that kind of on on point, on point for the kind of it's that she's that high up and she has one hand out and Nixie is resting on that with her hands
and they're walking straight. On the other hand, you see Willow has kind of this is what she's using to control the water and there is just these plumes of clouds and fog just rolling out of Nixie as the two kind of move across it. When you see them reach the end, it's that thing where Nixie falls like she drops wraps herself around a Willow coiling herself. The pair land and Nixie is in Willow's arms. They both kind of giggle to each
other. I just, I can't, I think I break into like applause just straight away seeing them. Oh, you're too kind. Yeah, no worries. That was amazing and makes me terrified of having to close the show. That's just a warm up. Oh, even more so now. And yeah, and then Willow kind of just like, jabs Nixie. Don't mind her. Yes, we're warming up, but that's part of the ACT. It's just got to be loose and limber. I'm Willow. You've heard Nixie.
Yeah, nice to meet you again. So first time performing. Eh, ever. Yeah. Uh, I'm, I'm, I'm going to be honest with you via that I can tell you are a bag of nerves. Yeah, you shouldn't be. I think you look. Hot. Yeah, that's not good if I fall flat on my face. The best performers fall flat on their face all the time. Oh gosh, just make it look sexy. Oh God, I can't do that. You. What are you? What are you good at? Like what? What do you? What's your thing?
What's your gimmick? I'm quite good at firing arrows. And that's a performance that you. I've never performed. I don't know. I like, I, I'm good at like, I don't know, doing a few somersaults and stuff like when I'm like jumping across roofs and things like that. And but really, really my skill is like in like pamping here and there and shooting arrows and stuff. OK, So what if you were to jump off of things and fire arrows at the same time?
Like death defying stuff. I've never tried that before. Well, there's always today. Kind of like practice. Yeah, I think there's and kind of Willow looks around and you kind of see a couple of some of the other performers. There's a drow gentleman in the corner, just the rowing knives. So he throws a knife up into the air and then he sends out a flurry of blades and they ricochet off each other. They hit multiple targets. Over to the other side, you see
a human gentleman. Justy red hair, thickest mutton chops you've ever like you've ever seen. He's sat on the floor and there's this array of cards and there's a crystal ball in front of him. He looks up at you, gives you a wink, and then sticks out his tongue. And it is silver. I don't mind Sheamus. He thinks he can see the future. Can you see this, Sheamus? And Willow flips him off, and then he flips her off back and the both of them just kind of
start laughing. Nixie comes back and she has these two tall columns. They kind of look like, you know, those ancient Greek pillars. We could probably put these up in front of like a ladder and you could jump off of. You're OK with heights, right? Yeah. OK, I think this one. And she goes to kind of lift it and now she does like you just see kind of the air whoosh around her and the prop kind of wobbles back and forth. It's about 15 feet tall.
OK, And the other one, Willow and the two went together. Hold it up. And it is. It's 25 feet tall. OK Oh wow this is terrifying. Do we have a bow and arrows? A talent you, you did that arrow thing before the incident, right? It wasn't an incident. It was one death and it was an accident. Colored drains from Phea's face. I can't. He just laughs. They didn't die, I just, they lost a little, a little piece of
their ear. And you do see Seamus kind of just like fluff up some of the button shop to try and crush it into his hair and cover his ear. They all kind of have a little kind of a shorten to themselves. There's a trunk and he kind of gestures over his shoulder. I kind of have a little bit of fear of that person now and I just, I, I start jugging off towards looking for a trunk. Give me a perception check. Uh, a natural 20. It's a little bit like the
caravan. No, it's tough is in order, but there's a there's a lot of stuff and there's a lot of chests and boxes. You do come across kind of a kind of a long trunk that there is a load of holes and things scratched into it. You do see etched into it in the same way that a teenager would in their copy book, the name Talon. And then property of it kind of looks like one of the Forever Rock T-shirts, you know, And that's sort of like, yeah, where edgy and cool. Cool. Yeah, yeah.
You lift up the clasp and again, yeah, there is all manner of like crossbow. There's a couple of dart guns, there's a couple of whips, there is a sharp bow, there's a Longbow. Some are broken, some don't have a string, but you do. There there is and there's a, there's a couple of quivers of arrows. As you're kind of rummaging through, you can hear somebody muttering, mumbling to themselves.
I got to keep rummaging, but I want to kind of throw more of an ear towards that mumbling to see if I can pick up anything. Evans OK, OK. What wasn't? What wasn't? What was it? OK, so it was. Hands are out, air goes up, then the cog, and then you hear something drop and there's just as a ringing sound. Oh. I slowly turn an eye towards that where the noise is coming from, just to not like startle them.
You turn you, they're obviously they're not in this tent, but they're behind it. They're obviously outside on the at the back of it. You, you can kind of make out very faintly A silhouette and they're fidgeting with something. I I I go out to to to have a look and and and see them are are sorry are you are you OK? Oh, uh, and in that there is just this clanging sound again. Can I try like go in and try and help stop stuff dropping after I feel like I've scared this person?
Give me an acrobatics check. Yeah, just to kind of like flit in and see how you get on. Yes, 17. It's in that moment that you kind of slip out of the tent, short bow and arrows at your side, moving around to the back. And they are they're they're at the edge of the tree line. You can see that there's this kind of a small clearing where there are these kind of boxes and there's lots of little things like dolls, weird. They, they, they look, they're
made of like metal and stuff. And they're all at kind of different heights. They all look kind of slightly different. But in the kind of the middle of these, you do see a kind of a scraggly looking gentleman, pale green skin and this kind of long spindling tail like droops. These two horns kind of jut out of the top of their heads, and you can just see this kind of swath of like, messy curls. They turn and there's a flash of worry in these hazelnut brown
eyes. And you see a thiefling gentleman, and he seems to have been trying to fix something or repair something. And it looks like a doll, but it looks kind of like a little ballerina. You swoop in at the last second, catching it before it fell. It falls to the ground. Oh. Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Oh, please, please. And he kind of he go. He goes street. I, I, I it's almost perfect. I, I, I, I, you have you. You can, you can tell Ronnie and Claudine. I, I, I, I.
It's almost fixed. No, it's OK, don't worry. I, I'm, I'm. I get nervous too. I heard you dropped something and I wanted to make sure you were OK. I'm only new here. And he goes to kind of, he takes the doll from you as you were talking to me. He goes to check it to see if it's OK, you're OK. I know you're OK. And he kind of, he goes to put her back on like you see that she was going to be sitting on this. It's a, it is a tower of, of boxes, but there is a cushion on it. They're little.
They look like you've seen these little clockwork automatons before. Your dad would have them sometimes in the shop. They're these little sort of, you remember, even maybe a toy or two that Quillo could have had and that they would move. And then suddenly there were someone came with little enchantments and they could do a little bit more. He wipes his eyes and he kind of, you see him kind of adjust some kind of spectacles over them. Hello. And he, he holds a hand out to you.
I take it and I shake it, and I smile gently at him. I'm I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm Silas. I, I, I, I, I I'm. I'm a, I'm in the and you are. I'm Thea, it's nice to meet you. Very good. I, I'm almost, I'm almost finished. I, I, I, I I've checked them. They're, they're, they're all, they're all working. They're all, they're all working. They're all good. They're really beautiful. Thank you I. Yeah, I thought that. They remind me of ones I saw
when I was a child. Actually though, I think yours are far more intricate than what I saw before. You're you're you're you're just being kind these. Are no, no, I'm being honest. It's true. I have to go back. I have to finish. But thank you. Yeah. No worries and I'm sure you'll do great and I'll talk to you later, OK? And he kind of goes back to kind of fixing and adjusting. I I take off back to Nixie and Willow. So why don't you try catch me
for once? And you see the two of them, and, like, Willow kind of hops into Nixie's arms, and Nixie kind of goes to drop her. They kind of see you and they start laughing. Yeah, We were thinking maybe you could like backflip off of one of these, you know, like do a tumble, do a roll. It's just shooting targets and jumping and they kind of point over at the drow who is back flipping and rolling and throwing knives. I. Don't know what else to do.
Like I mean I know I have to earn my key but even if there's something I could do in the background and help others, I I don't like the spotlight at all. I'm not very good in it and. Yeah, Claudine and Ronnie Arden going to leave you in the back. But I can do other stuff. I can. I can like whatever else like. It's fine.
Go climb. Uh, we have, we've ladders, we put, we put ladders in and you do you see that while you were looking for the bow and you had, uh, you were chatting to Silas Outback. They have. They've fixed 3 ladders against a 25 foot pillar, 15 foot pillar and a 5 foot pillar is. There any targets or stuff around the place as well because like, I mean, there's no point in shooting arrows I suppose if there's no target that I could have targets that I could have set up around the place.
There is. You can see there are a couple of posts that you could shoot at, but you don't see any kind of bull's eyes. But again, it's one of those things that if he's throwing stuff, there's probably more of these things in the back. Nixie mm Hmm I wonder is there anyone who could help me see where those pillars are? Could we have like a bell on them as well with a string attack? Just that someone could ring the bell. I might try hit the posts wearing a blindfold. OK, now.
And Willow kind of leans in on like Nixie's shoulders. See that that, and they both look and tell them that is artistry. Well, Nixie and Nixie, why don't I always have to get the stuff? Well, I'm the older one. I'm telling you what to do. And I carry you. So you carry everything else. And Nixie kind of flits off a kind of her hair darkens like storm clouds a small bit. She comes back a couple of minutes later and there is, there is a, it looks like a bell.
You'd see you've gone to a fair share of boxing matches with Quilo. It's that it's that kind of big. There's a kind of a thick rope hanging out of it. This is what you've got to work with. Just one is it? You need lots of bells. Well, there's different pillars, so oh oh. Oh, OK, I'll roll to see what she can find when she goes back there. I'm not giving her advantage because she's kind of not Hurst. Gotcha. She finds another 2 bells. She rolled a 14 + 2.
They do not look alike. I think we had someone that used to do a tea ceremony performance thing and she rings it and it is a soft little delicate little bell. Then there is something that looks a little bit like a shop bell. It's like a little brass metal bell on a coiled kind of spool. Yeah. I have no idea where this came from here and she kind of starts to like fix them onto some of the posts. Yeah. So maybe one down lower, one kind of mid height and one very high if we could.
Yes, Your Majesty, I'm. Sorry, I thought you were supposed to. Well, I was like, wow, OK, first day here. She's already bossing Nixie around. I blush really hard, like. That's a good thing. I'm sorry. Don't apologize to Nixie. She's the help and Nixie is just seething at what's. The heights of the pillars again, it's a 10/15/25. Your pillars that no at 5/15/25. 5/15/25 OK, I guess I could try something out.
So this because I want to keep this for the finale, you spend the next little while I'm going to give you. You can add and take from stuff as you see fit, but you spend the the time that you have practicing getting your fix correctly, making sure that like the costume doesn't snag when you draw the bow. I'd also. Want to be testing jumping distance between the the pillars
and stuff like that as well. Yeah, it's a thing of like, like it's, we start with the I'm going to get my position and then I'm going to jump and then I'm going to, I get that down, I'm going to. And a little time passes and you can occasionally some of the some of the other performers flit out. They come back, they're dressed. Nixie and Willow disappear a couple of times. They change outfits a couple of times.
They come back and they've got like bowls of soup and Stew and, uh, kind of notches of bread and like, they are kind of like you need to eat and they do, they make you stop to eat when you kind of feel like you have it, You feel like you're ready. There is just A and we have to. So you put your stuff out and, uh, Nana Sykes and Rash come to collect everything that the performers are bringing with them. It's literally not that far where 20 minutes away in the
caravans. So you can sit with us, You can, you can sit with Nixie and me. Sure. Thanks very much. Claudine and Ronnie kind of approach as like the rest of the gear is loaded onto the the the wagons that are going towards the town. You've got a performance ready. I have something, I don't know whether it be good or not but I'm going to try. Well, I hope you try that. It's good. I'll try my hardest to make it good. All we ask is that it's good. OK. Remember, we want people on their feet.
We want people enthralled and Ronnie the, the stuff. And he kind of looks at her gay this Ronnie, of course, he disappears into one of the caravans. Uh, he comes back a moment later and uh, he's carrying a, you can see what's clearly an amulet and a vel like a deep red velvet bag that has a kind of plush drawstring, uh, that looks like it's lined with like golden thread. So we are all about our privacy here in the Felike cabaret.
You, you know, it's best that people don't know where to find us for our safety. We, everybody. And she, she kind of shows you kind of under the colour of her blouse. She's also wearing an amlet of the same kind of colour. This is just going to prevent anybody from tracking us. Oh, OK. Yeah, that's that's OK. Sure. And she looks at the bag and she takes it. She holds it very delicately. Up to you. Even with the mask. I think it's probably best.
Yeah, if you, while you're with us, wear this. And she put the hand into the bag. She takes out this. It's it's a blank glass mask. You can see there's eye holes, there's hole for the mouth, nostrils. It looks incredibly well made, but it's a glass mask. We need you to, well, we kind of need to hide a little bit of your face is everywhere, sweetheart. Yeah, that's, yeah, that's yeah, OK. It doesn't hurt. It's. What we What hurt, what just
mask, right? No, it's going it's it's going to. This is a mask of Narcissus. OK, You haven't heard of one of these. This will alter your face, like not permanently. As long as you wear the mask, your face can change to what you want to look like. OK. And we need you to not look like you. That's fair. I told you, Ronald. Practical, intelligent. Well, she's very good looking as well. I said that too. He moves towards the the caravan. Best you put this on now. Before we get to the town.
She nods. Can I take it off when we're like travelling and stuff? We can discuss that after. OK sure, when I pop the the mask on. I know this isn't easy, but we'll be in visage as soon as we can. And she follows behind Ronnie. It feels like the most delicate piece of glass you've ever held, and as you slip it up to your face, it's so cold for something
so thin. And there's a moment where as it sits you it, it feels as if it kind of becomes like a second skin where it was kind of rigid and fixed. You move your jaw, you kind of touch your face is pliable. You feel it. It sits in and in that moment your whole visage changes, catching your reflection in the glass of the window on the carriage. What does Thea see now? Sophia was AI suppose like her like saying like hero from like books that she read that were
not romance books. She loved this series called the Thunder Games and there was a girl in a Cathy ever moon who she was because again, a girl who spent a lot of time in nature was, you know, very good with a bow and arrow and probably inspired via in a way to to get into using that. Not just her, the fact that her mom had one, but reading about Cathy using it really inspired via to to learn so. We're still getting sued. I know, I know, I know. It's the only thing I could think.
Oh, go on. Her visage kind of changes to where her hair goes like a dark brown and it's trailing down one shoulder in like a French plait that starts off on the left side of her head and goes across down to the right and a plait then down over her right shoulder. Her face kind of fills out a bit more because like via like as we've said, is is quite thin and Reiki almost very much just up and down South. Her face fills out a little bit and looks a little bit more.
Not to fear doesn't look youthful, but looks a little bit more fresh and then the same with the rest of her body then as well, just a little bit more voluptuous than what she was before. There is that moment of it's, it's the way in which you picture. It's how you imagined Kathy from the book in the way that everybody, when they read the description, we all see the character slightly differently. And it was that thing of like,
there was kind of an unassuming. Kind of beauty about Kathy that very quickly we forget about and then she's just stunning, uh, throughout the whole lot of the rest of the the books books. Yeah and it is it's that version it's the it's the the Kathy in full confidence. You know she is a powerful warrior. She's a Ranger, she's a protector. That's what immediately when you put the mask of Narcissus on, when you think of beautiful, it is the beauty inside and outside.
And there is a moment where you kind of like, is that me? Like it's that click in your head? No, I'm fear. And then I would say there's probably a little wave of sadness as well that creeps over her because realizing now, like really realizing now that she's going to have to hide for the rest of her life. Oh, I didn't even think of that. I just thought of it right now. No, but it does. It's like the idea of like going town to town. And not being herself.
And not being her anymore for something she didn't do. It's in that moment as that kind of that thoughts kind of wells up the the door opens. It's like you can stare at yourself in my palm mirror and like Willow just kind of reaches the hand out for you to kind of come in. Sorry, yeah, I got distracted. This is. We saw, we all saw. It's a. Little bit charring. It's it's you're, you're beautiful. I'm different. And she kind of gestures around. We all are.
You all wear these. You know the whole shtick here. Some of us don't want to be found. You get used to it. You really get used to it. It takes time. Yeah. The door closes and like Nana, gives you kind of a very puzzled look. I kind of mouth, yeah. And I, I, I raise my shoulders and I'm like. I don't know. And then you do hear you hear kind of the one of the caravans in the front move out and then
this moves out. It's it's you, Nixie, Willow and Talon in this caravan you saw driving this or kind of steering this caravan, Sheamus. And kind of next to him, Silas is up front with a kind of a chest on his lap that he's kind of like barrelled over like protectively for the next 2025 minutes as you kind of bundle through the woods and on kind of old roads, there's a little bit of chatter.
Nixie and Willa are kind of talking about their routine occasionally because they're not they're whispering. They're not being subtle about it. They are talking about Silas. I mean, Claudine and Ronnie have told him that, like, and Nixie kind of kind of nods her head in agreement. I know. But I just feel felt so bad for him. What do you mean would he not? Would he not get to stay?
Is something wrong? Willow kind of sinks back and Talon kind of goes to like he's picking his fingernails with one of the daggers, and Nixie kind of turns to you because she loves the gossip. It's just Silas's act is a little flat, and it's not really pulling in ever kind of well, ever since Cogswald left. Now he might get. Left as in left behind. Everybody has to pull their weight for you. That's kind of sad. I know it's oh, that that's kind of sad. It's. It's it is sad, but.
So why there's so many costumes in the other wagon? And Nixie kind of sits back. I insight check that, Yeah. So for Insight 19. Panic. There was a what? There was a it was very obvious. Nixie wears her heart on her sleeve and her emotions on her face. You just saw It was that thing of, oh, I said something I shouldn't have said. And she just, and she goes back to kind of like sitting there and you see, she starts to kind of fix some of her costume.
You hear the very sudden change of the wheels on dirt roads onto cobblestones. And you can hear music and you can smell smoke and there is the smell of frying foods. You can hear the chatter. Uh, of like a couple, like of a small crowd. And then there's a kind of a bang, bang, bang on the wagon and the door opens and Sykes is there. He pulls a lever and kind of a step comes out and Nixie and Willow Goat smiles, smiles. It's Showtime. And they spill out into this.
There is just this splash of water that sort of ripples out of the wagon down into a wave, and then up it parts and Willow just kind of comes spinning out of it, spinning a long blue ribbon over her head. She's just starts kind of twirling and kind of dancing into the crowd. I I guess I follow them kind of just waving nervously and smiling at people. Give me a performance check. Oh, disadvantage. Damn you OK?
That might help. They're all the same thing for both at 15. You step out and it is that thing of you follow behind Nixie and where Willow it came out into the smallest wave that parted and she came spinning out with it. Nixie topples and tumbles out of the the wagon in a barrel roll midair and it's this slow like she and like she holds her hands out and she kind of does a full
body spin in the air. She lands and a breeze spins up around her and she just starts to juggle balls of air for all for this spectacle as Talon kind of kind of shoves Pat not he doesn't aggressively shove past you, but as he kind of like like, you know, let the pros go first. He steps out and he throws a knife up into the air and he swallows it and then he throws another and he catches it
between his teeth. He feathers them and then Combs them and then there's only one blade in his hand and then there's you fix his wrist and then there's no blades. And then he opens his coat and there is just a coat made of blades and he again goes spinning into the crowd. There is a moment where you kind of, you swallow a hard lump in your throat and you step out of the caravan.
Uh, and like, you feel the heat rise in your cheeks, like the, the embarrassment a little bit, like the way you're dressed. And then there's the worry of what if they recognize me? And you kind of almost go to kind of cover your face and you feel, you can feel the mask just there, just on the, on the surface. It's just that sort of like,
like a cloth almost. And then you kind of hear an audible as the crowd turn to face you and people are just staring at you in bewilderment as you wave and smile. Between the costume and the look, people are dumbstruck. I don't know if the crowd recognizes, but I, my pace I, I do kind of speed up a little bit to keep up with everyone else still smiling and waving and a little overwhelmed by their
reaction as well. You follow kind of like the the procession behind you and there are there's a handful of other kind of like performers, acrobats, some kind of mimes and clowns kind of that are filtered through the crowd. And you do see that there is you're in the middle of the square. The town of Nice Town is a strong word. It looks a little bit like Nookri. It's that sort of that very
tidy. It's 2 streets and a square and these sort of mid sized thatched thick black thatched roofs with just croppings of dust, of snow dust kind of just clinging to the edges. Heavy, heavy mahogany doors, tiny circular little windows you do see in the square, like a stage has been set up. And some of the kind of the stagehands, including Nana and Rash, are kind of fixing these kind of large props and stage decorations up around it.
You're following behind Talon and Nixy and Willow and they are kind of weaving through the crowd, kind of waving, and you see that a couple of the people inside are handing kind of like silver pieces, copper pieces to the performers. A rather red faced, lanky half elf boy stumbles into your path and just without looking at you, raises a hand and there's like a silver piece in it. You're real pretty. I, I reach out to take it and I just say thank you very much.
She just said thank you and like so that some of his mates are like, oh, go on. And like he's he's pulled, like they pull him in and they're like giving him a noogie and like he is red in the face and like the Crowder, like the kind of loving, kind of the excitement out of it.
People are still staring. You do see that the wagon that Claudine and Ronnie had let out with that has parked up towards the front of the square, and Ronnie is there's a flap that's opened and he's selling tickets and people are kind of spilling in as you maneuver through it. The stage hands are quick. The stage is assembled and it looks, it looks like something from a fairy tale, These long spindling trees, the sun and the moon all fixed in against this black backdrop of just sprawling
hills and mountains. And you see all these stars glittering and the sun and the moon rotate. That's cool. And the sky changes with it. And like that you can kind of get like, there's the smell of like honeysuckle, peppercorn, popcorn. You can hear it like smattering of kids, like squealing with laughter, some erupting into tears, like this is a thing and nobody, everybody is paying attention to you. But nobody, nobody's scowling, nobody's jeering.
There's a little bit of it, like how does Thea feel? Very out of place. Honestly, it's the first time she's ever experienced this so she just, she's never been good with attention anyway, so she just know how to react to it. So she is just kind of try. She's very much focusing on smiling, waving, and walking to make sure that she doesn't look
awkward. As you see the other kind of performers piling on one side of the stage and you do see some of the other acrobats, a couple of the a bar, a barge or two, Silas and Seamus to the other side, you are kind of brought backstage and Claudine is there and she's wearing this absolutely wow. Like if you thought what she was wearing that morning was avant-garde. This is like, it's this long ringmaster's coat, but it is short in the front and there is just this glistening bodice
underneath. She is pulled and cinched at the waist. Her bosom is heaving over the top of it, and you can see there are flecks of glitter and paint kind of smeared into it. Her face is beat for days. It's this wonderfully ethereal smokiness that seems to shimmer when she turns, and her hair has again that sort of again, that shimmering kind of glisten to it. It's slicked back and she's wearing this kind of hairpiece.
It's like a it's, it's a little top hat and there is just a mesh of netting that kind of comes down over the front of her face a little bit. She's wearing these absolutely killer heels. And there's a moment for you where you kind of go. I think I, I think Kyle had a pair of those. A thought kind of comes to you a little bit, and then there's a pang of that when you remember the name. And when the pang hits you, when that sadness hits you and you feel it, you feel it in your
heart. Something catches you in the corner of your eye. And sitting in the crowd, there's a woman dressed all in black, her face covered by a veil. Wow. OK. Umm, I don't think I've ever just walked through the crowd and waved and been handed a silver piece. Willow kind of just jostles you a little bit. I'm sure you have. Not without doing some flips and tricks and making water shoot out of everything. I'm very distracted. I'm like, my eyes keep flitting to that woman in the crowd.
When you turn back. Gone. She's gone. Claudine kind of comes round. Big crowd. It's the last show in noise. Nice. What? What did we settle on Noah's? Someone says in the background, No, I don't think it was Noah's. We'll go with niece for Ronnie. And and then you just, you know, Moshe, I'm not dead. You don't have to honour me like that. And he and he's wearing something very complimentary to
hers. He's wearing a full suit where Claudine is kind of like, you know, that sort of like hourglass figure Ronnie is built, like Ronnie is stacked. He's a tanky. Yeah, and in a way that he wasn't like. He. Also, he stuffed his shirt. Yeah, as he, I guess he wearing a bit of padding underneath it. They both look amazing. Yeah, there is. And like, his hair is also slicked back. And something you hadn't noticed before is there is just this streak of grey.
Like this is stripe of grey in his hair that now that he's pulled it back and slicked it. Uh, OK, everybody hands circle hands. And you see the kind of the performers kind of, they form a circle and everybody. Claudine takes her hand, and then Nixie takes, uh, your other. OK. So breath in. Via copies and also looking around everyone like. And everybody's following, everybody's eyes are shut. And exhale. We thank the gods and in their honour we devote this service.
May the applause be followed by the echoing of 1000 silver and gold pieces bouncing off the stage. And there is kind of a chuckle from the group. OK, everybody have a great show. Remember smile, perform on their feet. Rupturous applause. Let's hope it all goes well tonight. And her eyes lock on Silas, and you see the young that you see the tiefling fellow kind of shrink into himself a little bit. Oh gosh, I feel, I feel, oh, it
hurts my heart. Umm, I guess what people are starting to get their positions and stuff. I, I kind of side over to Silas and, and I pop a hand on his shoulder. I'm like, don't worry, you'll do great. As you go to rub them, you, Claudine and Ronnie move off from a kind of off stage and out onto it, just kind of holding her hand up and out. Her voice booms across the stage and you just hear ladies, gentlemen and marvelous creatures one and all in between
and both the neither. I am Claudine Moonshine, and this gorgeous specimen next to me is lucky to call me his wife. And Ronald does a backflip and then flexes his muscles and the shirt bursts and he does. He gives kind of a wink and a before you. This evening we have scoured the world of Arcanum under the blazing sun and the watchful
twin moons. We have scoured every corner of this wonderful world to bring you some of the most amazing, talented, mesmerizing, deadly, gorgeous performers you've ever seen. So dig deep, clap until your hands are sore and give it up for the Storm Sisters. And there is just this boom of Thunder and a wall of water just rushes the stage as Claudine and Ronnie disappear in a puff of smoke. And Nixie and Willow, who were beside you a second ago, are now spinning across the stage on a
water wheel. And the two of them begin this amazingly intricate dance, weaving air and water between them and the crowd. You, you. There is just a stunned silence. Silence. Just kind of. Yeah, yeah. You know, I they're, they're, they're, they're perfect. They're working. I, I, I, I've checked and hey, a brick, a leg, but not an not an actual like, you know, in the just good luck. And he he goes back to kind of the trunk and he starts checking over the the dolls again.
As he runs off, I'm like, thanks Silas to you too. Is there anything you want to be doing at this stage? Because like the the the Ganassi are outperforming at the moment and Claudine and Ronnie are at the other side of the stage. I guess I'm just because I'm backstage and stuff, I'm I'm thinking about my own performance, but I'm also looking around at the workings of everything that's going on and like what people are doing and stuff.
And there's just a level of awe there at this whole setup that they have and, and how it it just seems so, it seems so tightly run. And quite flawless so far from what I've seen. OK. So is it that that you're just are you like? I just analyzing everything basically. Yes, that was my question. It was it kind of I'm just having a bit of a nose or am I like, am I trying to figure things out? So that's the good thing.
Am I just looking or am I? Oh, no, I'm, I'm analyzing it all, Yeah. Investigation check I think is the most appropriate thing there. 19. Again, you do see stagehands that are kind of looking after props and kind of getting the next act ready and the talent the the drow blade dancer is kind of, you see him kind of stretching and he's kind of just checking the knives over.
He's kind of up. A few others are kind of working pulleys and you're like, you can see that that's obviously what's controlling the rotating sun and the moon. It's that like it is that thing like it is all together. Like there is so much of it, but there's something else you can, you can see like that sky that like changes with the light and you can see the flickering of the stars, like even the sun and the moon as they shift, they glow and you see that the trees
like kind of illuminate as well. It's a thing of like as you kind of get closer, they have very similar markings to like you saw it in the vest. The stage decorations seem to be as much as there's pulleys and there's hands involved. There's magic in these as well. Not sure what because it is that thing of like the vest reminded you of the Fortress of Aptitude and how that was doing stuff. And you could see kind of the magic, those whatever they were called, those lines that were
running through the house. See similar kind of mechanisations in place here, but you don't know what necessarily they're doing because the human man and the dwarven woman that are on the pulley are kind of rotating it. What's the what's the magic doing The like the evening rolls on. Talon tumbles out.
You don't see Shamus. He's not a stage performer, but like he is out in the crowd and he's doing kind of readings and you can kind of you see that like there, there are all these kind of like acrobats and like dancers that are, you know, in between acts still out there, still entertaining the crowd are no one leaves their seats like everybody seems like in a raptured with the whole thing. But there is the this this whole
thing has their full attention. You kind of find yourself kind of like as you were kind of staring at these things, you kind of find yourself kind of like, yeah, this is this is something that you can't take your eyes off of. And then something changes. You hear the clanging of metal. Oh, no, no, no. It it one second and the curtain drops and you see Silas is ushered off the stage by one of the stage hands holding Ina, the ballerina automaton and it's
broken and behind him. Then Nana comes kind of pushing kind of one of the crates with some of the other automatoms on it. He seems like completely shaken. The curtain lifts and there's a so sorry about that folks, all part of the ACT. Obviously an applause for Silas.
We bring our spectacle to an end this evening with a surprise, a treat, something that you won't want to take your eyes off, because as quickly as she appears, she finishes give it up for the spectral Raven. Someone's stagehands are kind of ushering you out. You see that your pillars kind of rise up out of the stage and the music kind of blares at this really kind of haunting, ethereal music.
I take a really deep, deep breath and like roll my shoulders back and give my neck A twist and they just quietly say to myself, just do the best you can, be fine. A deep breath out and I go to walk out. Give me 3 checks. I want 3 rolls from you. They can be attack, skill, whatever it might be, but I need 3 from you to determine the success of your performance. And then as you tell me what they are, what is Via's performance? What does she?
What is she about to do? So she walks out into the middle of this arena, in front of the pillars so that people can best see her, and the first thing she does is with her bow in one hand outstretched. She takes a deep bow and as she's bowing, her echo manifests beside her in the same position with the opposite hand out, and they both stand up together and the echo goes off to one of the belts. OK, there is kind of. As the echo appears, there is a
gasp from the crowd. I think next thing then it's probably going to be an acrobatics check to get up onto the middle sized pillar. OK, so that would be a 16. Thea runs towards the lower pillar, hands up onto it and springboards up straight as an arrow and lands kind of spiraling down flat. It's that sort of like Black Widow land on a very, very small platform. Again, the crowd there is kind of a kind of a gasp from the
crowd. The next one then is she's going to put on the the blindfold and this is where she's going to do a perception check to hear where the bell is ringing for where she's going to aim her attack. OK, so I want the perception check and then I'm going to depending on the role of this plus or minus, not disadvantage, plus or minus the role. Gotcha, SO 17. OK, over the kind of the, the whispering of the crowd and kind of the, the tension, you do, you can you can hear the Econite is ringing.
It's the little shop doorbell that they're ringing. So kind of possibly hearing that off to my side, my body doesn't move but my arms do in the direction to shoot an arrow at that pillar where the bell is from where she was practicing earlier. OK, so I'm just, I'm going to take -3 off of you because it could have been a -, 10 for the attack roll. So -3 on your attack roll. That would make it a 17. The blindfold on and the ringing
of the bell, you spin. It is that sort of like, well if I'm going to be dramatic about it I'm going to spin and as you do it is a full spin. You loose the arrow and it hits as you leap to the 25 foot. It is a thing of you throw yourself forward and again there's a ringing of a bell. You turn, you spin, and this time you bend and you twist your back and you shoot. You fall to the ground again, catching yourself. And as you land, you fire.
And there is the third bell rings in time, and the crowd are up on their feet, stomping, clapping. In that moment, you hear Claudine's voice. That that thing of like, remember? So to finish it off, my echo is going to shoot an arrow at me. I'm going to before it hits bonus action Raven Queen backstage. Claudine's voice, the the kind of that like, remember, I think so she wasn't subtle about it. We need you to vanish, you know, like mother, like daughter uh
you. It's that thing of like you turn to face the Econite and you see that it it has and like the crowd are like there is there's silence where there was a rupturous and like people screaming and roaring and like calling out for the spectral Raven. You can see kind of behind the Econite like Nixie and Will are like Talon is like chewing his lip. Claudine and Ronnie are like giving you thumbs up. They're the lights from the sky, the the backdrop, the stars, the
moon, the sun. They are pulsing with energy. Like there is just this glow of the bright lights. And the Econite pulls the arrow, it flies free. And you out of the corner of your eye see a woman dressed all in black. She pulls back the veil. The hood falls free and just this mountain of purple hair spills out. I've always been you. I am the Raven Queen. You've lost your blessing.
And the arrow strikes you into the shoulder and you fall backwards as the curtain drops and there is a gasp from the audience and we leave the session there. You've been listening to Romancing the Dungeon with Louise and myself, Declan and their Dungeon Master. Big thank you to Stephen Tynan and Abby Soiree for our theme song Fight for Each Other. Season 3 title card artwork for our podcast is by Daisy Designs. A little behind the scenes for
everybody. I think we, when we edit, we send out drafts to the team, but because these are very special episodes with just myself and Louise playing, we're, we're working together on these and Louise edited this episode in particular. And I, I just want to say hats off for the sound design, the music choices, everything comes
together. There's really wonderful moments in this that I hope, I hope you felt Via's trepidation or a little empathy for Silas. If you want to find out more about kind of behind the scenes stuff, who we are here at D8 Dungeon, you want to check out any of our other shows, stay up to date with any events and stuff that we're doing.
You can check us out on all social media platforms at D8 Dungeon. Why not head over to our Discord server where we are frequently looking for new players to join games. We have some of the best, funnest, coolest people on the planet there. I'm going to leave it there. I hope that you have a great weekend. I hope you have a great week. We're back in two weeks, time for another episode and. Until then, mind yourself. Bye. I'm so glad you did that. I was like, I hope she does the
glass. It's great for Queen Hope it's the. Only way I could fucking disappear. Something with the Echo Night. Damn it, damn it. Oh.