Now we come to episode 13 in which we get to see the most inner party conflict/drama so far. “This is why we have trust issues” Feels like a pretty good way to describe things, but more on that in a bit. First of course we have our highlights: 15:30 Lirials theme. The bard singing a song to the guest at their request. About as hilarious as expected. 17:24 DM rolls a Nat 1 18:30 Followed very quickly by a second. 19:00 In which Hannah gives the GM an idea on his next accent. 21:35 “We should definitely trade her for the owl bears” 23:50 Slow mo anime love shot 27:15 Norrin crushing his enemies 33:15 The bard attempts to do something cool but this time is told no (They dont have the effects budget for that) 34:00 Alex mind palace: “sliding off the rump of the horse” 37:30 These two are a problem (unhinged chaos) 38:16 Bard singing: Thats amoreeeee 44:45 “I might accidentally hit the owlbears. So Ill go for that one!” 51:21 Whipping things out as only a bard does 1:02:55 Snake oil dressing! 1:09:45 Accents are hard 1:12:08 LORE 1:14:00 Mic drop for Shadow. Backstory reveal! 1:18:50 More Circle info 1:22:00 Fourth wall shade by GM 1:22:59 Harmon has a D&D Ring alarm 1:27:29 Smug antagonist(?) is a little terrifying 1:28:18 “So youre saying you werent just trying to kill the owl bears…” 1:28:45 I get the feeling Gabe was just enjoying this reveal a little too much 1:29:08 Jaren Nat 1 1:30:30 Everyone knows they have a gem facepalm 1:31:25 Whats funny is I got the same feeling as Norrin about the original conversation 1:40:35 New gem! 1:43:30 Bringing in NPCs with indirect connections to player characters 1:45:15 Important information about Stephen 1:49:36 Frisky wildfyre Admittedly not a whole lot of character highlights here with the exception of the NPC Harmon who is a fantastic set up for yet another potential antagonist for the players to have to face in the future (Well probably not him but certainly those from his Circle) So of course we have to address the elephant (cat?) in the room that is Shadows backstory. This was a long time coming considering every other person has met some sort of connection to their past (Feels so long ago since we got that dream from Norrin! And there are certainly hints the party is moving towards the elves hometown again) and their backstories therein. I really must emphasize how I love the timing on Gabes reveals. This one in particular the set up could have gone a couple of ways… It just so happened with Krieg choosing to put down that symbol of the hand making the perfect opportunity for the actual reveal to happen. The inner party tension was SO thick this time. (A short recap of the current “secrets” revealed of the group: Norrin/Renya are “diplomats” from a kingdom that could be getting ready to go to war. Jaren *was* a spy working for the king of his country even though he claims to hold no loyalty to anyone. Pearl isnt actually an old woman but the ex fiance of a dukes son. Now finally Shadow is actually part of an organization of assassins. Needless to say there is a MAJOR reason this group has trust issues) Add all this together plus the fact they are holding on to a WORLD CHANGING artifact and there is just every reason to not want to continue traveling together as a group. Im really grateful for the closeness of this group in real life because this is the kind of stuff that can make or break campaigns as far as Ive seen. Things were kept relatively under wraps and there wasnt any actual ill will from parties involved though it felt pretty close near the end with Shadow refusing to budge. The main drawback Id say in this case though was the presence of a guest at the table who was kind of forced into the background. (Props on the ones trying to get Lirials opinion at the very least though I would not want to be in her position) At least she was able to contribute in the early battle and in the indirect connection to Harmon. The lore drops were almost over shadowed by the inner party tension but love the fact that we get some look at least one other of the gems. (Something that has been surprisingly lacking up to this point despite Mutys and the Professors reveals about the number of gems) I know we get even more in the next episode so looking forward to revisiting that… That said there isnt much else to say about this one. Getting really hyped for where this is going!

So much lore in this one!