Romancing the Dungeon is a softcore D&D 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. Oh, the best, but not the softcore thirst. Oh, what's that point? Content warnings for specific episodes can be found in the episode description. We'll find our way in the game that we're playing. We won't be pushed over.
So my bad, but I didn't listen to the last episode. Could somebody catch me up? It'll give me a piece of your heart. I will make you a new and show you the truth. Who are you? I am someone you would always. Know would you know of anyone who could help me contact my friends? Probably best fear that you maybe wait to visage before you do that. See where those pillars are? I might try to hit the posts wearing a blindfold. OK, now that is artistry. The crowd are up on their feet.
So to finish it off, my echo is going to shoot an arrow at me before it hits bonus action Raven Queen. The arrow flies free. Out of the corner of your eye, see a woman. She pulls back the veil. I have. Thea You find yourself staring up into a dark ceiling. You can feel sort of hard stone against your back. You can hear the sound of water lapping against stone. It smells salt on the air. And as your eyes kind of adjust, you can, you can kind of be you're, you seem to be in a cave.
You don't feel cold. You can feel sort of the wet on the stone beneath you. You can, you can feel the air on your skin. And you seem to be standing in this incredibly large cavern. And there are all along the walls, you just see these carvings, these murals, figures surrounded by all manner of creature, human, animal, mythical, all in various sort of different states. And in fact, currently what you're looking at is a short fellow. You're not sure if he's halfling
or dwarf. He seems to be sitting on like a large pedestal. And in his right hand he's holding like a like a very, very large goblet. And there's kind of like, there's like a wine spilling out of it. And he seems to be kind of enjoying himself. And all around him, everybody seems to be in that mural depicted as just absolutely in a very festive mood, all with a drink in their hand. What do you do? I kind of slowly start sitting up first probably, and then I'd say I feel a twinge in my
shoulder from where I got hit. It's. Something like as you kind of reach for it, there's no, there's nothing, there's no pain. There's there's no stage, there's, there's nobody around you. This doesn't look like the town of Nice. I start then, taking it, I think more of my environment to see than if there's other members of the fair like Cabaret around. Nobody, just me.
If there's nothing else around me to grab my attention, I start looking at these murals on the wall a little closer and to see if there's more of them. Give me an investigation check. 18. There are dozens. Some, like the one above you are are a painted mural. Others seem to be sort of carved into the rock face itself.
Some seem to hang like tapestry. There's one that catches your eye and immediately you think of AJ and you see this small little field mouse sitting on a stockpile of buttons and keys books. And it's a thing like as you kind of look, there's a moment where it kind of the keys tiny in all of these things. And as you kind of shake your head and kind of fix on him, he's gone. Does the image of that? I suppose it depends on Fear's
knowledge of the gods. Because I. Don't think she ever ran into anything to do with chaff, which, you know, that's chaff. Based on AJ talking about chaff, probably. So I guess making that deduction, I'm kind of looking at the figures in these different images and different types of images, and I'm assuming that the center of them is a different main figure. Yeah, all of the these different depictions, whether it's a stone carving or the tapestry or a painting, your eye is always
drawn to a central figure. You see Chaff vanish, you kind of turn, you kind of look, and you come face to face with Hadonna, this stone carving of her set into the wall, and just this rug of bodies lying at her feet, entangled and entwined as she sips from a goblet, smiling. I think images of herb flash through my brain saying this in a weird way.
I find it comforting seeing that image of something I've seen in in life and I I just reach my hand out to just touch the stone where the carving is. As you reach out, you just hear a. Turn in the direction of that noise. As you kind of turn quickly, you'd expect again, stone, stone, stone. There is just a void of darkness. It looks like a cloud, this roiling cloud of shadow. That makes me like this comes from quickly whip around again to see. Is the stone still behind me or
is it? Am I now just in completely enveloped? Your surroundings are there, but there is like as you kind of look, it's even kind of or even as you kind of go to turn to look over your shoulder, you can still see the the bust of Adonna, but that shadow is still very much there. Who's there? Where am I? Where have you brought me? I extended my offer one final time. Fear, is it true? Give you a piece of yourself,
and I will give you a treasure. Deny me again, and all of whom I am and you are will cease to exist. OK, what are you to me? Give me a piece of yourself. OK, I'll give you the memory of when I stubbed my toe off the corner of my bed. The weight of your voice carries
a heavy price. She thinks back a little more to a time when she was a kid and this memory flashes in her mind of being really embarrassed because Quillo just made fun of her in front of his friends and also really ashamed that she upset her brother. As the memory comes to mind, and like it's the thing, as you kind of drift into it, you see the shadows move like they kind of, they seem to sort of almost like a rolling fog just plume out towards you.
And then they're in your mind and the memory begins to fade and you can still see Quillo and you can still see the children. What's missing is the sense of shame. What's missing is the attachment to that moment. You can't really mark this on a character sheet, but shame is no longer something Fiat can feel. Holy shit. Speak your question. What are you to me? You don't even have to say it. As you think it, the shadows begin to twist in your mind, and you as much as you hear the
words, you can see. You can see the picture, you can see the story. And in front of you, the shadows, the smoke, the fog, all begin to form these figures that seems extended out from you. And you recognize the first. You would recognize her anywhere. You see Una. Is it true?
And right after her, you think you can recall her face from a picture in a Locket. Una's mother and so on and so forth back beyond this line of Izodrim women, and at the very end you see somebody walking towards you. I walk towards them. As you move, give me a wisdom saving through 11. You're not certain because you're focused on this person coming towards you, but for a moment you thought you heard Una's voice. Fear, don't. And then the woman is in front
of you. You see she is enveloped in black. Her face is covered by a veil and behind it you can just about make out these two jet black eyes that seem to swirl and hand reaches up to you. I am the Raven Queen, I was one who reigns in shadows. You are my descendant. You carry my curse and her hand locks around yours. I will protect you. And your eyes dart open. Bloody hell for you. OK, so it's just put it on the tab at this stage. Like I owe you a couple of weeks worth of gold pieces.
Could you maybe stop giving everybody a scare like that for you? Is this like, is this like a new thing that you've got? Is it the the dramatics that you learn from that? What was that lanky piss fella? Nate, Nate, Nate. Is that something you picked up from him? I'm kind of only half listening to Nana and I'm I'm sitting up and I'm assuming now I can feel that twinge. Yeah, there's a, it's a, it's a, it's a bruise. Like it is that thing of like it. It throbs a little.
Yeah, and she could probably see that I'm quite distracted right now. Acronym TOFIA. I mean, I'm going to ask you, are you all right? But you got shot, you shot, you shot yourself. They loved it. We were all absolutely terrified. Once they got over a couple of people that fainted, everybody loved it. So I, I guess you should maybe shoot yourself every time you perform now. Is that what we've settled on 6? Oh, I don't think I'd be able to handle that.
Yeah, Royce. Yeah, yeah, you're probably yeah bloody Alfie. And then she just punches you in the other shoulder. Jeez, Nana. You're alive and that's all that matters. So we're on the and then immediately there's just a thud. Like there is just kind of a thud and you feel like kind of the bed underneath. You just lift and bounce. Nana lifts and bounce, Sykes lifts and bounce and there is out of rash. So yeah, we've had to book it out of noise. Book it.
Yeah, yeah, there's another show, another town. And obviously, what with your wonderful shooting yourself, people wanted more. But Claudine and Ronnie are worried about attracting too much attention. That's fair. We've actually just passed through where we are. We're all tasked with setting up camp. So you feeling up for actually helping? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And obviously Claudine and Ronnie will want to make sure that their new star attraction is functioning and not itching to.
You can because you said you can do the. Yeah, I thought. I thought I could. I guess, I guess not. Nerves. Probably. Yeah, happens to Sykes and all his first states. Yeah, I guess I'll go find Ronnie and plot. Are we setting up here now? Are we still on the road? Well, judging by the and you see kind of Nana kind of just kind of reach out to kind of grab a couple of things, they're about to fall off the little countertop. We've still got a bit of way to go. So you rest up.
I'll check out where we are. Sykes can get you what you need. Sykes can't get it. Rashi will get it for you. Yeah. Right. Reshi. You're a good Reshi, all right. Yeah. Yeah. And she reached, she heads for the door and she kind of hops out. Oh, blood. Yeah. We've still got ages to go. And then she kind of tumbles out the door kind of closes behind
her. And you are set there with Rash and Sykes. I think I'm going to rest up a bit more, OK. And I, I lie back down and I turn over to not be facing them and I'm just kind of going to work through my mind all this stuff that I just saw. Yeah, Sykes just kind of gives you a grunt. Rash doesn't acknowledge you. What is going through Fear's mind? I guess what's going through her mind right now is what this entity wants from her now that she has a name and an idea of what she they are.
And certainly like connections of like the fact that she said one who reigns in shadow, connecting that to stuff that she's read before about the old ones and, you know, linking her to like. What? What's her connection to Hadana and Asmodean and any of the other first ones that there was and stuff as well? Trying to figure out it's OK what's her place in all of this?
Your mind starts racing, trying to locate how much of that was real, how much that was a dream, how much of that was because I shot myself. But there must be something because you couldn't do. You couldn't do your teleportation. You couldn't. You couldn't just disappear out of there. And as you kind of think about the words you heard in that cave, all the different murals, Chaff, Hadana, the Raven Queen,
all these entities. Yeah. You kind of, it's that thing of you kind of, you lose yourself and you lose time with it. And occasionally there is kind of a wobble or a rattle in the inside the caravan. But time passes. And it's only when the door opens again do you realize fear that you've you, you don't know. You don't know how long passed. You don't like how much of it were you asleep or how much of it were you kind of in it?
Like, you know, entranced with Nana is standing there with Claudine and Ronnie. The carriage has come to a stop, and you just hear Nana just kind of the same. See, I told you she was all right. Look at her. Ryan's day, Thea. She's always doing this thing where she just stares off into the absolute oblivion. Thea.
Maybe it's a whistle. Yeah. Yes, Nana. See, so and then like immediately kind of Claudine and Ronnie kind of come up to the doorway, like they're up onto the step and they're up into the doorway and they kind of acknowledge Sykes and Rash just kind of ignores them as well. Oh, Thea Thea, Thea Thea Thea Thea. You were absolutely brilliant. I I mean you shot yourself. Yeah, not intentionally. What's this matter? It was wonderful. I'm not repeating it. Clotting.
No please. Such a frail, fragile little belt such as feel. No, no, you should not be shooting yourself all the time. Maybe every second or third show. No, no 4th. No, we'll think about it. But you said you were going to do the. Well, I guess I wasn't able to. I don't think I am able to. Oh, that is a pity. Well, maybe it was how you say this, chitters Ronald. You know the word jitters? And then he kind of just chuckles and Nana chuckles. Yes, jitters.
First time on stage, all those eyes on you, watching you. I don't know what it was, but I think until I figure it out it's not something I'm going to try again. And they both kind of look at each other. I'll still do my routine, but just not that part. Understood, but the audience want a spectacle. They don't just want to see another person come out and hit some targets. OK, yeah, but until I figure it out, I'm not going to shoot myself again.
You don't have to shoot yourself, but you have to do something different because we already have Talon. I'll think of something. Great, wonderful. You do look like you could do with something to eat though. OK. We're setting up camp Ronald, Ronald. And like it's a thing of like Ronald is just kind of like lost in your eyes and she's just she just kind of like elbows him again.
Ronnie, sweetheart, why don't you take Nana Sykes and Rash and it start to help set up the camp, those clouds and she kind of leans out and she kind of looks, Oh, I think we could be dealing with a Blizzard. OK. We've two nights to put down in boudoir, then we're heading on up to jaunt and from there into visage. 2 weeks, maybe 3. Sure, OK, sounds sounds good. Wonderful. And I must, I must say I while I do miss that wonderful, wonderful face of yours, this and she kind of reaches out to
touch the mask. Stunning. That does kind of send a shiver up for his back. You freshen up and when you're ready, grab some food and then maybe help with provisions and arrangements stuff. Nixie and Seamus and Willow are back in the in the town. They're just doing some flyering, so they'll be back. And yeah, so whatever, whatever, whatever task you feel you best might be able to help with. OK, see you later. See you in a few. I get some clothes on to myself.
Just probably I'd say what Theo was wearing before she had her costume on, but her brain is still very much distracted. Well, it's now it's two things. Fighting. I think it was distracted by that memory or whatever she found herself in. And now Claudine has kind of, she's Satvia a little on edge, just the way she's talking to her. She's feels kind of a little bit cagey of her now. As you tidy yourself up, grab some clothes, you do see it. It's a very dark bruise.
Like you can see the you can see the wound, it's healed. The bruising is still very much there. As you head out, you do see, like Claudine was talking about, like it looks like there could be a snowstorm or a Blizzard on the way. There's already, like Tufts of snow on the ground. You can see snow banks. Some of the trees here have like, the branches are laden with it. So there has been already quite an extensive fall of snow. It is bitingly cold around you.
And you do see that there are already like some of the other performers that you would kind of see milling about the crowd at Iran. Some seem to be kind of tending to a fire. The furball woman who was kind of operating as the cook has kind of pitched up her sort of little kitchenette wagon on the opposite side of the the the kind of the camp. She seems to be busying herself
with some food and food prep. And you do see kind of Nana Sykes and Rash are kind of rowing in, kind of helping sort of fix the wagons in place and like covering them in tarps and that kind of stuff. They seem to be kind of like bracing the caravans for like the oncoming weather and the cold and stuff like that. There is another member of the troupe kind of handing out like kind of chunks of bread. They seem to be filled with kind of meat and cheese.
I guess I'll go and grab that first to start chewing that down to get some food and energy into myself. I think I would like to help out Nana Sykes and Rash but feel on my shoulder. I don't think I'd be able for that. I think it twins too much so I think I might go over and help the cook. Yeah, you kind of approach and she just kind of smiles down at you. She's just under 7 foot tall.
And even in the the caravan that she's in, you see that the the roof has kind of been pitched up and kind of extended and there is kind of a flume where there is the the chimney and the little stove that she does kind of any of the hot food on. Even then she's sort of like haunched a little over. Yeah. So you being able to kind of duck low and grab things from drawers and stuff is a godsend. And she does, she does kind of like like hand you bits and pieces. Everyone again like to like
taste this and. Chop this, yeah. That can sample that. Everybody seems to be kind of in radical spirits and she does. She kind of asks you a little bit like, how did the show go? She didn't see it. She was kind of helping pack up the camp so that they could get on the road. Have have you been to boudoir before? And so on and so forth as the kind of the more do chef jobs are kind of done and now it's more about kind of watching over the food.
It is that thing of like, maybe it's time to you to go kind of a thing. She's being very kind of polite about it, but it is that thing of like, go. Oh, Oh yeah. Sure. Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. No worries. You've saved my back and my knees. I'll make sure there's a little extra. Oh, you don't have to worry about that, but thank you. And she does. She kind of waves you off. Is there anything you want to do at this point?
Nixy and Willow and and Seamus are not back yet, no. We'll say, yeah, like enough time has kind of passed as you kind of step back out of the camp and you see kind of dusk is beginning to roll in. You've only been kind of seen. There's like a little kind of clearing here where obviously the Phae Lai cabaret have set up. And you just kind of like you kind of take in stock of the perimeter of this slightly off a road. You can kind of just make it out from the kind of the tree line.
And it is it's kind of large sort of coniferous trees all around you, kind of just some some kind of barely saplings, others shooting way up into the sky. As you kind of look around and you take stop of stock of camp. You're actually not that far from the town. You can make out some of the roofs and they are it's a mishmash of like heavy thatched roofs and then these sort of jade green slates like roof tiles.
As you kind of look around, you can take it and you can start to see smoke kind of spilling up out of the the chimneys, some of the kind of the faint glow coming from the town, probably probably about a kind of a kilometer away, maybe a kilometer and a half. And as you look around, you're like, oh, I haven't seen Nixie or Willow or Sheamus in the distance. You kind of just hear Sheamus kind of barking. Well, it didn't take that long. The last time we were in, we were setting it up.
Come on, put your back into it. And you see that the performers hush. That little space that they do their practice and stuff has just been kind of erected. I guess because he's not someone I have had much interaction with yet, I'm kind of curious to maybe go over and help and introduce myself to him and stuff. Outside, it's Nana and Sykes and a couple of the other sort of stagehands that are sort of people you've seen working the mechanisms on the stage. They are the ones pulling up the
tent. Inside. You see Seamus sort of like smirking and kind of like he's obviously rolled his eyes as he barked and you kind of caught the look on him. And you do you see that silvered tongue in his mouth? Nixie and Willow laugh with him. Talon is kind of standing against that main post just sort of like, yeah, he's kind of balancing A dagger point on his
index finger. Brings back memories to feel of accidentally stabbing herself under her nail bed with a dagger, so she kind of winces a little bit seeing that. Hey, up if it isn't everybody's favorite little birds, though you don't know many birds that tend to shoot themselves out of the sky, do you? And Nixie and Willow, kind of. They laugh, but it's not like that. It's an uncomfortable laugh. I don't know many of many things that managed to end up shooting themselves, but.
You could be the first then first time girl who shoots herself on stage. Certainly memorable. We've been telling everybody in Buddha that we have this absolutely manic lunatic who gets on the stage and does all these aerial flips and shooting bells and then shoots herself. Everybody's mad to see it. They're dying to see it. Oh well, that's not going to happen again anytime soon. Oh, that's a shame. I know, just need to figure it
out at first I think. Yeah, yeah, probably can't get shot that many times and gonna come back from it, can you? I. Don't think so, no. Where did you say you came from again and then nixie just full on like just shoves him. Hey, we don't ask those questions, not here. Thea ignore him, ignore, ignore shamus. He's just trying to get your goat. She's probably shot the goat and like that Willow let's out kind of a snort, like it's like a of laughter and he he does kind of oh, look, fear.
I'm just trying to arise. You think of it as like a Hazen. We all kind of go through it. I suppose there's anyone around who knew Fear. This is the probably the first time that she's had a genuine smile on her face in a long time. She's actually quite enjoying it. She's quite enjoying the humor and all that and the. Fine. She's fine. She gets it. She's fine. Yeah, it's fine. Anyway I can help at all? Well, we're all just kind of getting ready to start practicing.
You know we're on this evening. Yeah, I need to think about something else to end my act with. And you just kind of hear. You hear? Something muttered under Talon's breath. Can I make a perception check to see if I hear it any clearer? No, because even with your passive perception, it's more of the fact that you he's because he's, he's not like you're still standing back kind of at the entrance kind of chatting to
them. Willow, Nixie and Sheamus are kind of between you and him and he's in the middle of it. Like so he he said it so that you would hear he said something, but not enough for you to discern what it was. I guess I don't, I kind of just don't let it bother me because I think that's what he wants as well. So I'll just kind of continue on. I've I've seen, I've seen Willow and Nixie's acts and stuff and talents too. And I've heard a bit about your
SH Sheamus book. I'm really curious about it. Just a load of shite love. I, I don't really go on stage to do anything. There's not really much, you know, I mean, I could do a little bit of And he kind of does half a half a jig again. Willow starts laughing and kind of Nixie rolls her eyes and like takes her by the arm and kind of moves her out to the one side. Now I'm usually out at the front, you know, give me a palm, read your lines at the cards,
all that future seeing stuff. I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound rude when I asked this question, but is that real? It's just I've never, I'm, I haven't been around until recently very many people who practice in any sort of magic or future seeing or things like that. So I'm quite naive to it. It's as real as you want it to be, if that makes sense. I suppose so, yeah, probably provides people a lot of comfort. And then there is kind of a snort, like the not a snort.
There's a grunt out of talent give off absolute miserable sort. Listen, general rule of thumb is I don't do reads for the group as much as I can see into the future. I can see a little into the past as well. So people are a bit cagey about me digging around in their past so. That, that makes sense, yeah. And I suppose you don't want to have an awkward work environment either for yourself too. Yeah, that's talent's department. The full on chuckle comes out with fear that answer.
There is a twack of a dagger into the ground. All right, OK, I was just apps just trying to get a laugh out of your talent. Nixie and Willow are kind of they've moved off to one side and you see that they've taken they've now taken a trunk and they've started taking out some again. It's kind of like, it's that form of gymnastics where like, you know, a ribbon in the ring and the, the. Ball and stuff. Is it aerial? It's no, there's a name on it because they do it at the Olympics.
Yes, I know the exact one that you're on. Rhythmic. Rhythmic gymnastics. Yeah, it's that thing that you, because you've seen them with the tightrope and stuff like that, but they're now kind of using these other tools and implements to kind of, and they kind of set them to one side and they start stretching. And then Talon moves to another kind of corner. He takes out he he pulls out a trunk. He's most a bit away from us, has he? Yes, yeah, he's kind of he's, he keeps his distance.
Is he like that with everyone? Oh, talent. Yeah. Yeah. Even his men. Really. Oh, I don't know how to make that up. Take no heat, love. He's just cross constantly. I think it's the act, the acts. Can't take his brain. Have you been, I've never asked actually how long anyone's been with the field. Like have I really loud asked that question? Yeah, So Nixi and Willow.
Hey, girls, what are we talking as a ball kind of goes up into the air, you see kind of Nixie on one foot lean forward like she lifts up her back leg and then bends forward, puts out both her hands. And then Willow just sort of leaps over her and it with just a four as she catches the ball and then drops it into Nixie's hands. And Talan, I'd say public going on three and I'm here 5-6, it's in a bit. And is there many here who have
been? Here, as long as you are you kind of one of the long stays, people come and go. Outside of myself and Cookie, probably, yeah. And obviously your mates, they've been with us about maybe two or three months. So, you know, it's the life of a travelling group. People travel in, people travel out, we travel on, and you obviously like. Travelling with everyone as well, you get to meet new.
People, even if you don't like all the people and he does, he he's what kind of rolls that over his shoulder? You're always meeting new VOC and you always get to make up a new name. The mask thing takes a little. You get used to it and he kind of touches his own face. Don't mind saying if I do, but it doesn't always any kind of points at you. We're not all of us are blessed. Some of us become a bit more plain than our old handsome rugged and he kind of touches his face.
But it means must. Hey. Yeah. It's what's needed I. Guess so. Your ACT, you, you figured out what you're if you're not going to, you know, do the whole shooting yourself. I have an idea in mind. I'm going. To try and practice it now and see if it works and hopefully I don't hurt myself again. We'll see. Seamus just kind of gives. You the nod for you and he heads off talons at one side and you see that he has he's setting up little targets and there's some
of them are very small. Willow and Nixie are now kind of in in full swing of their number and they're kind of trying to talk about like what they did the last time, what they can add to it. What what, what can they pull out of kind of the repertoire. Both sets of performers seem sort of focused on what they're doing. I guess so. Happens as spheres walking and kind of looking at what everyone's doing. She does kind of subconsciously, not even really paying
attention. Her echo manifests out beside her and she grabs a short bow and an arrow. And what she's going to do is she's going to take the tip off the arrow and put like, I don't know if there's like a softball or something around pop that onto the top of it. Give me. An investigation check, OK. 22 as you kind of. Manoeuvre around and you're kind of, you're looking right, Like there's a lot of boxes and
trunks, There's a couple less. You see this small little wooden crate, you open it and yeah, there's a kind of, they're not, it's not like a soft kind of like foam, but it's soft leather ball. It seems to have beads or something in it. Yeah, you you notice that there? Are actually there's a handful of boxes you're like, because you wandered out the back the last day, Yeah, or two days ago. And there were, there were. There was way more than this. So where's Silas then? You don't see.
Him I kind of wander over to the girls. And like, where's, where's Silas? I haven't seen him today. And they both look at each other. What? What? What's going? On Silas. Left he. Left he seemed. I didn't, no. I didn't see him as someone who would leave well. He What happened? His. ACT really wasn't up to what is expected so. He was told to leave. It was suggested. Yeah, we really need to practice. We've only got a little bit before the show. Oh yeah, I, I, I know. Yeah, he's fine.
He's fine. He just. Ronald and Claudine spoke. To him, and it was agreed we have that, it just wasn't the right fit for him anymore and he left. So what did he say, niece? Did you get to say goodbye to him? Yeah. Insight 24, you see. Her eyes, dirt and her body language shift. What happened? Listen, you're new. Yeah, I know. Really shouldn't just. He's fine. We have to. Practice it You really. Should be practising, no, But you're not. Telling me everything.
I have, we have a routine so if if don't ask Ronnie or Claudine and she turns back to her partner and they start performing. This makes fear quite nervous. And then she goes on and tries to practice what she's thinking of in her mind. What are? What have you decided? What your new?
Yeah, it's like I'm going. To start off with the same idea where my echo is going to shoot me, but then I have a bonus action where I can swap places so that the arrow will go through the echo and not through me. A little time passes. As you are again, it's that like manifesting the echo. I know it was with you, but it's that sort of bringing it up and timing the shot and then it vanishing. And it's, it's, it's close.
And there is a little hesitation, hesitation in those first couple of shots, the connection with the echo and you, it's there and it's different. It's not the same as your blessing. And then you think of the blessing and you think of the Raven Queen and you think of the one who reigns in shadows and your mind is adrift. And there is a weird energy in the tent. And occasionally you see Nixie and Willow kind of looking at you and kind of whispering.
And then they go back to performing and then the the bell rings and they scurry out and Talon kind of follows and. The shoe that you'd be. Helping prepare on you can kind of catch it and your stomach growls a little and a lot of the cabaret troupe are kind of spilling towards the little kind of canteen area that always gets set up and it's it's under a a
little sort of marquee. As you turn to kind of follow suit and get a belly full of food, you do see Claudine and Ronnie talking to Willow and Nixie I. Take my eyes away from that and I put my head down and I go, and I sit beside Nana and Sykes. You all right for you? Sue's pretty good. I heard from Cookie that you might be a little bit of a chef. I don't know if Nana can tell, but I'm. Quite distracted. She's just talking. She just keeps talking.
I'm not really gone on large chunks in a soup, like just a chunk of anything. It doesn't really sound appealing, like who wants a chunk of onion or a chunk of meat in and like Sykes, that's out kind of A and. Then rash does the same thing. Almost simultaneously OK aside from you 2 who have absolutely no taste in anything except your best friend via back me up on this. Would you eat a chunk of something? 4 cubes pop into P. Into Phea's head from the disastrous dinner party. I'm like.
I used to like chunks of stuff. And food I don't know anymore. How did the how? Did your? You didn't. No, I didn't. I didn't Great. That's good. That's a that's. AII that's good. We're not going to we're worked it out then we worked today. I'm not going to and you. Told Ronnie and Claudine. That you've got a thing? Not yet, no. Oh, OK, well. You should because I guess they're a little, you know, you are going to, you're going, you're going to close it out again.
We want everybody on their feet and you should talk to them as well because they. Yeah, your earnings, your, your money. Yeah. I don't know, I it's kind of weird here. I don't know. I just, I can't, I don't know whether it's from everything that's happened over the last week or so, but I just feel, yeah, I've never been to boudoir. Either I don't mean like to just I don't mean green roofs. I don't mean that I. Mean here when I make a gesture to the canteen.
No, the cabaret itself. Oh. In what sense do you think it's weird? I heard that. Silas left, Yeah. How did you get to say goodbye? To him or. Well, I didn't really know the fella. Like did he say goodbye to anyone or? Did he just? He wasn't there. And you see her kind of. She seems to be trying to recall or recollect, I think. Yeah, maybe he just said goodbye and he was gone. That sounds about right. I don't know something. Just feels off. Well, to be. Fair for you.
His number, I mean. I did think it was cool the. First time I saw it, but it kind of wears thing then, yeah. I don't know, it was a little creepy used to. Absolutely terrify the living daylights at a rash he was. Nice though. Oh, look, you'll meet. Look. Sykes is lovely. Nixie and Willow, they're lovely. Cookies. Lovely. Sorry if he was your friend and he's gone, but you only kind of knew him a day, so that's not to say that it's not a real
friendship. I'm just saying, you know you'll make new friends and other friends, and we're your friends. So do you want a chunk of carrot? Sure. I'm really. Not gone on. Chunks. You know you could just cut this up, right? For yourself, but there's just smaller. Chunks. What do you want to blend it? Into like nothing. I don't know, I just do you want like a? Soup. That's just. Like mushed into nothing.
She's just sort of. Stirring and scooping and she's trying to break it up into smaller chunks. Rash has a ball on the ground and he like, there is, there's just gravy, like on his javels. Sykes kind of looks up at you as well. He also has gravy on his cheek. The pair of you can't take you anywhere. You're in the company of ladies. There is. My. Friends, I hope you have enjoyed your meal. We are going now out to boudoir to, how do you say, reckon the dough?
Seamus Talon, Little bird costumes. Hurry now. Yes. Yeah, kind of flusteredly. Gets up out of very good. There's the little. Bird. She's on her feet, everybody. Oh, such a good little bird. A couple of the other kind of performers that would have been kind of, you know, the acrobats if there have been kind of the crowd and the clowns and stuff like that, that all kind of get up to kind of start getting ready.
Nixie and Willow kind of have kind of manifested both in their costumes and are kind of picking anything as you kind of get up to move past. They don't say anything. They don't acknowledge you. And Ronnie just kind of gives you a really big smile, smiled back awkwardly. And I quickened my pace up to go and get changed and yeah. A little bit, a moment, a teeny, tiny, insignificant moment of your time. Sure.
Yeah, this. And he, you see that he like, he reaches in under his heavy, he's wearing a heavy brown coat. And you hear the jostling of coin. Is for you. Your board, your travel, your food has all been taken out of it, as is the any gestures at the little charm around your neck and the the mask. All of that as well. And there's still a little bit left. That was quite a performance that you gave us a quite a scare out of you little lady. You had me on edge. Thanks for this.
I'm going to go get changed. You need help, no? And then? There is a slap over the. Back of his head as I was joking, Monkey, I thought, you know, you are only the woman for me. And he turns back and he's kind of starts like planting kisses on Claudine, who's kind of appeared and he says she is. She's also wearing quite a heavy coat, but you can see her outfit underneath it. Ronnie, go get ready and leave Thea alone. I'm so sorry. He is an absolute beast of a husband.
It's OK. Run along. Get ready, the Elder of Boudoir is really excited to to meet with you. Maybe backstage you could say hello, sign something really quite taken aback with the word of your performance. Sure. Yeah, OK. Wonderful. Absolutely. Wonderful. Off you go. There's a bit of rustling kind of coming. From the the caravan as well as you kind of step in and you can, all the people are here getting
ready as well. Now you see your costume, it's been cleaned though there's no blood on it and it's been patched up. And you slip it on and a caravan with a cover is kind of out front and you see Nixie and Willow, Seamus Talon, some of the other performers kind of spill into it and Claudine just kind of gestures at that one. Ask yourself and Ronnie take a a smaller cart and courage towards the village and some of the other troop are kind of
following in behind. I I. Kind of almost jog quickly to it to get up and into spot. I tried to make. Eyes at Willow and NICC. No, they're not making any back. They are very much kind of. It's just they're talking to themselves. It's like I said, it's it's less. Than less than two kilometres from the camp to the village, the road is really bumpy. You can hear kind of the sloshing of snow under the the wheel of the carriage and I
think for a few as well. Seeing how the girls reacted there, this feels like a very long 2 kilometres to her Yes, it's even though they're. Kind of talking, and there's a little bit of chat between, like the Sheamus is kind of chatting to everybody, kind of chats to you. Small, but it's just small talk. It is that. Moment you can start to smell. Like the chimney smoke and you could smell pine SAP almost that resin sitting in the smoke a
little bit. And you can kind of just peer out from kind of to the flap and you can see the village of boudoir. It kind of looks like something from a storybook. And it's it's a weird mishmash in the village of Noise. It was you could definitely see a little of the Visagian influence in the architecture. There was still quite galeshire in terms of this is like the buildings are these sort of strong wooden framed houses and shops, stores and offices with these very, very bright jade
green slates. And it even seems to be in the glass. There is this sort of jade tint, green tint to the glass and there's the streets are smooth cobbled the whole way in. And you again, you can people are kind of flocking up behind the caravan kind of getting a peek in. And a dwarven boy and a human boy are kind of whisked away by one of the security for the I feel like cabaret as they just point in and they're like, oh,
the pretty ones. And they're pointing over at Nixie and Willow as they're just yawning by the scruff away by a member of security for the cabaret. Eventually the kind of the carriage comes to a stop. It looks a little like the village square in east, much bigger. And there are a lot more of these houses. There are a couple of them. They're still patched. But even then, that patching looks very sort of. It's a precise yeah or nation.
And they all look the same. They all, they all look like mirror images. There's a HOA in this place for. Sure. Very much, yeah, there's. Definitely some or like a Tidy Towns committee that takes it very seriously as the others kind of spill out and you're kind of lead out into the square again. Long rows of benches are kind of formed in a kind of a semi circle and the feh like cabaret stage is front and centre and you do see that huge moon and sun just sort of spin.
The backdrop has changed from when it looked a noise. Now it looks a little more like the mountains and there's rolling frozen glades, there's a deep valley and you can kind of see little buildings in the back with just these green tiled roofs. That's kind of and the whole thing. Kind of shifts. And changes as the the sun and the moon kind of rise and fall. Music is playing somewhere in the distance, and again, kids
are running around. Looks a little quieter than noise, like people sitting, but it's not a full house. You see kind of Nixie and Willow and Talon sneaking off around to the side of the stage. And you can see kind of some of the other performers who have filed out are now doing tumbles and leaps. And there's a couple of kind of miming. And some are kind of like making kind of little animals out of the air, like they're kind of creating a little puffs features or sparks and stuff like that.
And you can see Claudine and Ronnie, their carts a little further ahead. You can clearly see they're talking to a a much older looking figure, a little hunched in the shoulders, like a little hunched over 2 kind of Longhorns kind of coming out of the back of their head. And it's just these leathery wrinkly wings. They are a very sort of murky green skin colour. They're kind of clapping their hands and they do seem in good spirits. And Claudine and, uh, Ronnie are
very much focused on them. And then Claudine sees you and just kind of gestures over. I I. Walk over quite shy, like, like, like if you look at Thea's stature, she's walking over, it's quite shy. She's kind of shrunk a little into her shoulders. Bertie, allow me to. Introduce you to Elder Alder Adler. Elder Alder Alder, this is Bertie, or as you see on our posters, the Spectral Raven. She opens her hands up. I'd like to kind of point at
you. And again, there is just this whoosh of sparkles out of her hand, that kind of dance around you a little bit. Oh heavens. Oh, oh, my God, she's even more beautiful than the posters. Oh, look at you. You're a vision. I've heard. I've heard of your performance. I'm. Oh, I I, I must say, I'm most elated to hear of a creature of your talent. Mind you, I, I don't know if the old ticker can take the arrow, but I, I, I have my pills and he, he rattles a little bottle.
It's nice. To meet you. Sorry. Allow me introduce myself. I'm Elder, Elder Adler And and. And you're Birdie. Yeah, it's. A beautiful. Name for a beautiful creature. Thank you and. And. You're you're you're friends who are telling me that you're you're only new. I am. And I guess a little. Rusty if I end up shooting myself. Oh, no fret. Not fret not. We all get a little bit of stage fright. Oh, I dreams. I dreams as a young boy of travel in the world and performing.
But no, it's just, it was my responsibilities that kept me here. And but you're, you're here now and I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm most excited birdie to see you on that stage. And hopefully I'll live through it. I hope I don't. Give you heart failure and that you get to and he does reminisce and enjoy. He takes your head, Please. Don't. We haven't elected a new elder. It was. It was really. Nice to meet you. And he's still shaking your hand. I hope you enjoy.
All of our performances I. Surely will I'll. Surely I'll be front row. He kind of gives your hand a good jostle. And now Claudine is like eyeing Ronnie and Ronnie is kind of like, oh, thank you so much, Elder Adler. And I'll. Oh, that's so hard to say. That's very difficult to say, Elder Elder Adler. Oh, I got it. I got it. Oh, you are a funny man with a very funny name. But we must let the little birdie. We must let the little birdie warm up her wings. Why don't I take you to your
seat? And he does. He takes Elder Adler by the hand and leads him around the stage. And he does. He said he blows you a kiss like he's like Claudine kind of just leans down into your. Yeah, There are challenges in the job. I trust you have worked out a an ending. Yeah. Yeah. Wonderful. I'm I'm. I'm I. I can't wait. I absolutely, I can't wait. Maybe afterwards you and I can have a a little conversation about all of this, maybe answer some questions that you might have.
And she smiles at you. Sure. Yeah, sounds you can always. Always come to me for you, Birdie. I just nod and music starts to play. Mike, you, we'll talk after. And you see her kind of roll her shoulders and there's a cracking sound A, and she flits out onto the stage. And a few of the stagehands, again, you see them kind of, they're at, at the wheels, they're at handles.
And like the stage is moving and lifting and smoke is spilling out and the music gets louder and there's applause and Claudine just gets right into it. Nixie and Willow go out and perform and, uh, there's cheers and hollering kind of coming from the crowd.
Talon goes out and he's throwing blade and dagger and, uh, he's even throwing some out into the audience and like hitting gaps between where people are sitting and like people are like shrieking and then they're laughing and as the adrenaline kind of rushes through them and he's hitting targets even further away. And again, there is just this uproar of applause that follows and and a band comes out to play and it's only when you hear please hold your applause.
We don't want to spook the little bird, our spectral Raven, as again, pillars and bells just rise up out of the stage and give me 3 skill checks. So for. Acrobatics I got 15 OK Perception I would need as well, which is a 22. My third thing I'm going to shoot an arrow. That's good as well. 19 as.
You go to step out for you. It falls into a A roll, which is a spring up and where you spring from your echo night just whooshes out from you and there is just this plume of smoke and shadow off of it that then kind of springs into a kind of a cartwheel as the both of you kind of now stand at opposite sides of the stage. Take a bow. Your bow is just kind of thrown from off stage, you catch.
And again, the performance of leaping from column swapping places with the Echo Knight, shooting at the bells. The crowd are like you can hear it, like they are just screaming this spectacle in front of them. How quick, how accurate, how graceful this creature is. Front row and centre. Elder Adler is just in awe. Everybody seems to be completely and totally entranced by the stage. As you land that final shot and you take aim, point the arrow
down and the echo night fires. From a new swap. Of places and the crowd goes nuts. As you look out, you see that. Those empty seats from before full and people. Are. More they're they're calling for an encore. They're calling for more as Claudine kind of like comes from the opposite side of the stage and you're being ushered off.
As the pillars begin to descend, Claudine and the music whip up a frenzy and you see just out of the corner of your eye, some of the other performers that were out there kind of like entertaining are scooping up that coin. So the stagehands to the side, some of the other performers are like Willow and Nixie are all kind of, you're getting kind of really kind of like smiles and everybody seems to be in good
form. And as quickly as ye arrive, you're almost kind of spirited, uh, back towards the camp. Ronnie is driving the carriage. Some of the other performers in stagehands stay back. Claudine stays back as like people kind of clamor to the stage and are like, oh, please
stay another night. And again, others are kind of, you hear people kind of talking now in the carriage and Sheamus just kind of looks at you was like, well, that went, I would hazard to say a smidge better than shooting yourself just a smidge. So. Do you reckon we'll do 2 nights or is it going to be a? Dance, ditch and. Gone I, I, I don't know I. Suppose you would know better than I would.
Between ourselves, usually if Claudine stays back, it means they want us back so we could be here for another night, which is great. What means tomorrow, if not camp, we can go into the town, We can do a little exploring, maybe get a little food, maybe a little glass of wine. That sounds like a nice idea. There's a. Giggling coming from Nixie and Willow I. Kind of look over in their. Direction, yeah. No, we were just going to. Work out, but that sounds
lovely. Uh, Sheamus, you definitely, umm, take birdie out on a date. Oh, whoa, whoa. No, and like they both both of them in. Sync raised their eyebrows. Ah, Sheamus, Just look. Just because a handsome dashing fella wants to take out an absolutely drop dead gorgeous girl such as Birdie. We are calling you Birdie now. Yeah, this isn't a date. Don't worry, birdie, this isn't a date. Yeah. No, this is definitely. Not a date if you will be on a date. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, Yeah, yeah.
No, this is not a date. Yeah. She said it's not a date. By the time you get back to camp and. You see that some of the other performers had to kind of trek back and forth. They all kind of rock in kind of. There's a weird awkwardness now in the garage, just like Shamus is like giving daggers that Willow and Nixie talent is just in his usual huff. The campfire is still going. People are swapping, you know, little sweet treats and snacks,
some drinks. Someone's playing a little bit of music as you kind of Mull around camp. Is there anything you want to do at this point? I think I don't know how he'll react. To it but I think I want to if Talon is sitting by the fire I want to sit down beside him I think it's just for quietness because via doesn't want to really talk to anyone right now she just kind of wants to sit and absorb the atmosphere around her yeah he's he's sitting there and he's.
Just he's swinging from kind of a a small little hip flask. I just sit. Beside him, I don't even. I just look at him, nod, and I take a seat. And all you hear is kind of the crackling of the. Fire the music, people, people kind of laughing, chatting away. People are still talking about one night or two nights. It's only when you. Kind of take. A breath getting there, being on stage, coming back, it all happens. Seems to happen in kind of like a blink of an eye blink of an eye.
Yeah, but. It was dusk when you were leaving and it's now pitch dark and you can see the you see thousands of stars overhead. And you just hear the kind of. Sloshing sound as Tal and just kind of put his right hand just extends the hip flask I. I reach for it and thanks, and just take a little swig from a tiny tiny little swig.
It's like a cherry liqueur. But it has sort of a smokiness, smokiness to it. It's very warm, like even in your mouth you can kind of feel the kind of the heat off of it and then it's in your belly and it does kind of does warm you a little bit. Obelisk Cherry. It's what? Obelisk. Cherry It's nice. You're a good shot. You're a better shot. I know. And I pass back the flask. And he just takes this week. From it. This place is a lot and I just
go silent again. I just stare up at the stars. He doesn't say, I think after that. And again, people seem to kind of join around, and when it starts to get a little louder, a little busier, he UPS and leaves and he doesn't offer you the hip flask again. Doesn't say, I think as he goes. Sometime kind of passes and you see that some of the other performers have kind of come back. Some of the others you don't see. You don't see Nana and Rash.
Is campus still pretty full? Like of the 30 or 40 people that seem to kind of travel with the Fey, like Cabaret, like there is just about kind of 2/3 of the people are back. You do hear as you. Make your way to your little carriage. Yeah, I know. We're definitely staying. Yeah, sure. Look, the money was great, like what they gave us and what they didn't give us. And there is a bit of laughter and then they hush as they see you kind of walk past.
Good night, good night now. And you recognize a couple of the performers in the crowd and you kind of nod at them. And. Go to my own. Space. You do see Claudine, kind of. Roll in with that last group and she does kind of see you, she makes eye contact and she kind of just gives you a A. Wave and she gestures. At a a very large caravan, kind of Take a deep breath. And walk over to go into it with
her. She opens the door and again there's the there's the smell of like clove cigarettes and very old timber and a little bit of must even kind of in it. The thing is huge. It's very similar layout to what you have. There's a much bigger bed. There's a long kind of counter you see, there's even kind of a smaller little storage room or a closet room type space. There's a. Counter with kind of a Washington. Basin set into it and yeah, there it, it feels a little cosier.
It feels a little warmer. And you do see that there is a little very small. I could probably pick it up in in in two hands, a little stove and it's glowing. There's no chimney, but there's the heat emanating out of it. Do you tea something stronger maybe? No, thank you. I I see you broke the ice with. Talon. I like his silence. It's this place has so much energy. He seems smitten. With you, this version of you.
Anyway, come in, close the door. I you have questions and I don't want to keep them weighing on you any longer. I don't. Think I do. I know you do, no. I don't not. Anymore. Good. We're a family. Around here, Bertie. You could be part of the. Family or you could leave too. Do you understand? I do know. Thank you. And what a wonderful performance. It was like watching your mother. You need anything else? No. OK, goodnight. And I got to leave goodnight. Bertie.
Oh, and she just kind of puts a hand up to you. Like to wait? Silas asked. That I give this to you and it's a small little box, and inside it you see a small little automaton figure of a little ballerina. Thank you, I do appreciate that. That's what families are. And she closes the door. And we'll leave the episode there. You've been listening to Romancing The. Dungeon with Louise and me, Declan, the Dungeon Master.
That's it for another episode, and I think we've got maybe one more left before we head back to the other guys to see what they're doing. I'm sure it's fine. I'm sure everything's going to be OK. A big thank you to Stephen, Tynan, and Abby. Sorry for our theme song, Fight for Each Other. Title card and podcast artwork is by Dahi C Designs. We're going to be recording next Saturday, the penultimate
episode to this campaign. There are lots of things going through my mind, like the fact that we've been doing this for five years. That's insane. Thank you to everybody who has commented, shared, engaged, joined the Discord, offered your theories, offered your voices in some cases. Why am I getting it's not over yet? It's not over yet.
We're still loads of episodes. I'm not going to, I'm not going to. If you want to find out more about who we are, if you want to check out any of our other shows or see what we're up to, behind the scenes stuff, check us out on social media, The Eight Dungeon. There's a link to our Discord in the episode description below. We're in the early stages of planning our annual TTRPG fundraiser, so if you want to get involved this year, head over to that Discord page. That's it.
I'm going to shut up. I'm going to leave it there. Actually, I'm just going to annoy you if you haven't. Could you leave a comment? If you're listening to this on Spotify, drop a comment. What did you think? If you're watching this on YouTube or Apple Podcasts, if you want to leave a review, a thumbs up. If you want to send it to a friend. Thank you, we really appreciate it. I'm out for another two weeks. Hope you have a good one and we'll see you there. How do you not have your?
Dissect. I'm sorry, I don't have. DDB hand open either. Oh wow, so prepared. Shut up, you see my notes?