The Ashen Road | Altheya: The Dragon Empire #6

this is the first campaign i’m fully following like, EVER (came in after the bg3 oneshot!) and can i just say: i absolutely adore mark’s worldbuilding. the images he paints with his descriptions are so vivid, which is amazing since visualizing things is hard for me even though i’m a writer! i could almost see myself walking through the streets of Ashen Rest, staring up at the Duke’s Palace and climbing the steps to visit shops. never have i been able to imagine a story so clearly, i could almost see the gleam of sunlight glinting off the knight’s and war drake’s armor. cheers to you all!! i’m excited to see where this campaign leads you can tell the others enjoy it as well!! they were just as mesmerized as i was

I love the running joke of Ophelia biting bad things. 😆

Am I missing something or is Rowan the only one still left in the dark about everyone? He seems just happy to be there, happy to have made some friends

Imagining Percival holding back Ophelia’s hair as she purges the gnoll blood hahaha

Gods I love this campaign so, so, so, so so SO much. Everybody's characters are so fun and unique and when thrown together they have such wonderful dynamics. I love Gruff's dad-ness and his calmer, wiser, and dignified character that knows his values and sticks by them... Ophelia's darker story in general being contrasted by the comedic interactions of Percival and her kind personality... Daisy's chaotic childishness and the mystery of who Nim is and what he is to her (a friend? guardian? parasite?).... Rowan's charming self and golden heart that just brings me a smile every time he speaks.... and the LOREEEEEEE when it comes to Xan, poor boy got messed up too badly and I LOVE WATCHING THE SHIT THAT GETS THROWN AT HIM THANKS TO THAT. It's so. much. FUN. Ughhhh I just adore everything. I love Gruff. I love Ophelia. I love Daisy. I love Rowan. I love Xan. And lets give some love to Mark too, because his world building and descriptions??? Godly, so immersive, so enjoyable to watch. Please, please, please never stop with this, it's one of my favorite things in the world right now. You are all amazing and so talented, just- wow, wow, wow !!!

Am I the only one that feels that Rowan is an office/park and rec character? The way trot looks at the camera while he RPs is the same feeling I get when Jim or Ron looks at the camera.

I'm both very excited and very nervous for the impact that Ophilia's vampirism is going to have both on the party and the campaign itself. On the one hand it feels like watching a ticking time bomb that could drive a massive wedge between the group and have drastic consequences for all of them, but on the other hand most of the players seem to really be enjoying the tension it's creating and Rhi is clearly having the time of her life playing this character :)

Ophelia's family "farm" is obviously a human farm, promised neverland style 😅

4:55 intro 6:10 Crucible rolls 8:07 Cackling !10:23 (Gnollger) 14:01 Nim is scared and angry 20:32 Mark makes a Gnoll sound 31:42 Mark blocks the camera 33:07 Vaultspawn prevalence Explained 35:25 Vaults themselves explained 38:13 Rowan and Kaid talk 41:11 Gruff wants another reference 43:35 Gnolls are disgusting (Ophelia con check) 45:44 Rowan listens to Altheya and plays a beautiful song to settle the camp down [Awesome RP segment created from Rowan's game] !49:38 Rowan wants to play the TRUST game (!49:55 AMONGUS lol) 51:03 Rowan's lute is quality 51:47 first round of the trust game Rowan -> Ophelia (About Percival) 52:55 Percival likes the party 53:19 2nd round Ophelia -> Gruff (About Gruff's dream here) 54:57 Ophelia gets bonus points! 55:20 3rd round Gruff wants to ask Xan 56:20 Zarontekis is WATCHING >:) 57:15 Zone of Truth is illegal, this land got LAWS 59:04 Xan makes a deception check 1:00:02 3rd round Gruff -> Rowan (Lute "Sostenuto"[?]) 1:02:09 4th round Rowan -> Daisy (Powers?) 1:03:11 :o Daisy makes a deception check, Nim wants to stay hidden 1:04:37 Bliss joins in the game 1:05:15 Daisy's powers theories 1:06:14 Daisy does a telepathic talk -> Xan and Gruff 1:10:36 5th round Daisy -> Bliss (Favorite food?) 1:11:35 Rowan is INSIGHTFUL 1:12:25 6th round Bliss -> Xan (Dragonborn house?) 1:13:40 Sub question with a weird pause from Xan? (Banker parents) 1:15:05 Rowan wants to play trust for months 1:15:42 Telepathic trio say goodbye 1:17:16 Rowan sneaks off to drop off his gift 1:19:00 How's Ophelia's hunger goin? 1:20:50 Rowan is GINORMOUS compared to Daisy ft Mark and Trott height solidarity 1:22:56 everyone's character height 1:23:56 How's Ophelia sleeping 1:24:38 She's not (ft. Visions of her Mistress and hard decisions about blood) 1:28:23 Ophelia looks for wildlife 1:31:44 Break (11 grand raised! 10 grand SMASHED) 1:32:42 Fanart video (same as last) 1:36:57 Return 1:37:48 Part 1 end Recap 1:38:34 Ophelia goes another sleepless perturbed night 1:40:32 Tent check 1:43:51 Ophelia tents with Gruff ! 1:46:37 Ophelia confides in Gruff's Knightly virtue about her hunger (ft Rhi does some great crazy RP) ! 1:50:44 Kim explains her scroll of Knightly virtues. Really cool background ! 1:51:19 sighhhh bloody hell 1:52:05 Ophelia plays the Knightly virtues against Gruff lol 1:54:10 that WAS GREAT 1:54:54 They hunt animals 1:55:56 We learn Osseus definitely farms humanoid blood 1:57:23 Gruff makes a warning to Ophelia 2:01:01Ashenrest described 2:03:58 Con save end of road trip 2:05:24 7 days downtime in a city helps a lot 2:06:46 Kaid explains the city, more city descriptions 2:08:41 Ashenrest is pretty safe 2:09:30 Kelskaris is massive compared to Ashenrest !2:10:00 Tom can't think of American towns lol 2:10:28 Dukel Palace and the Ruby River (Dominus Ignarum) 2:11:29 Big fkn dragon building lmao ft THE DOME CAN OPEN 2:12:38 Land and Royalty hierarchies 2:13:08 The soldiers are going to chill 2:14:23 Nobody knows the Reave did anything wrong 2:14:44 Where will they stay (Hotel options) 2:16:36 Goodbyes with the Sarge 2:18:26 Bliss gives Rowan an address in Ferros for the vanilla cake recipe 2:19:04 The Precious Chalice Bakery 2:20:11 Everyone's experiences with big cities 2:21:07 Ashen's rest is classy 2:22:33 Zarontekis gives his recommendation 2:24:03 Kim gives the name of the order: Circle of the Loyal Hounds ft he doesn't need any recommendations 2:26:27 Zarontekis gives Gruff some harsh reality 2:27:20 Ophelia wants a BATH 2:28:31 Everyone needs a glowup ft Cauldrons care about your appearance ! 2:30:07 this hair doesn't just happen on its own 💅 2:31:43 Gruff sees his first knight ooo (he's fkn sick) 2:34:11 Gruff is awestruck 2:35:08 Knight talks to the party 2:37:42 Large town description 2:40:24 Town exploration plans 2:42:51 Tom sees a noticeable tower 2:43:27 Random Wis saving throw??? monkaS 2:47:00 Outro/donos 2:47:14 Duke Considerate explained 2:47:51 Ophelia is a spoiled princess 2:48:45 Mark's random tables and other great resources 2:50:22 Goals once again SMASHED 2:51:40 Tom is someone's fav 2:52:26 Nim is evil theory 2:52:43 "Are we dancer?" 2:54:16 Crucible is from Star Wars 2:55:00 Soo many CALM donations <3 2:56:31 Kim doesn't have friends ;) 2:58:27 HITTING 13K?? 3:07:43 Rhi gotta leave, Trott is watching Scoobydoo's Wrestlemania mystery 3:10:21 Trott shows John Cena and Shaggy ! 3:10:45 SOMEONE GUESSED EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED TO XANTHEU

This is my favorite group of characters, and that is really saying something because I have seen all of their uploads. Rowan is a loveable giant, Gruff is the Uncle Iroh, Ophelia is a feral goblin of a dhampir, and then we have hobbitcore happy go lucky adventurer, and angsty secretive Tom's character

Always love the HR gang's character dynamics. So fun to watch!

I havnt seen the other campaigns, but I am absolutely digging this one. Love y'all!

Rowan is the absolute sweetest, I adore him. He is so full of love and kindness. And such a soothing low voice.

1:18:30 imo in terms of minerals: ophelia would be a banded red jasper, gruff would be a (green and grey mottled) kiwi stone, daisy is rutilated (clear and has little gold looking veins) quartz, xantheus is maybe a tiger's eye with a lot of amber tones (or pyrite aka fool's gold bc it's thematic)

Took me 6 episodes to realise they were vaultspawn, not voltspawn lmao. Mark even talked about proto-magi vaults and it didn't click

yo what?? I'm caught up on HR for the first time in forever. Absolutely loving Altheya can't wait to see where the story goes

I just spotted that Rhiannon has the Astarion MTG card in front of her.

When the gold dragon tidbit came up, I was right there with Ophelia and peering around waiting for exposition xD

I can't help but think of the movie "the mask" when watching the scene with gruff and ophelia. That scene where Jim Carrey pretends he's been shot and turns into a pathetic cowboy and keeps coughing while playing out dying. She deserves an award.

Public baths? We all know what kind of roll we're going to get next time 😉