173. A Breath

[00:00:04] Speaker A: Oh, that's me. Welcome back to Barely D and D. It's your Sword of Dungeons and Dragons podcast, y'. [00:00:10] Speaker B: All. [00:00:10] Speaker A: Welcome back to the Accidental Adventures. This is. We're way in. This is episode 172 today. That's crazy. [00:00:19] Speaker C: Wow. [00:00:20] Speaker A: What's really crazy is that if you're a patron and hearing this, by the way, you should listen. You should go join the Patreon. There's a bunch of really cool stuff on there. And also. Oh, wait, I need to shout this out. We had a new patron join recently. [00:00:35] Speaker D: What? [00:00:36] Speaker B: Let's go. [00:00:38] Speaker A: Give me one moment. Rylan, welcome. I sent you a message on Patreon. If someone sends you a message on Patreon, it's probably me, but welcome. I hope you enjoy it. You said you were in the first, like, 12 episodes, so give it a couple years. You'll hear this when you get here. We're excited you're here. If you are in. In the Patreon. If you're. If you're not, you should join. We've got a lot of really cool stuff there and some very low tiers. Also, if you're a listener of the podcast for a long time and you have not rated us on Spotify, we would appreciate if you did. So the number of listeners has increased, but the ratings have not changed, which also doesn't matter. But if you want to. If you're like, oh, I like it. [00:01:28] Speaker B: I have a question for the listeners, actually. May I ask. [00:01:31] Speaker A: Abby, are you speaking? [00:01:32] Speaker C: Yeah, I don't. [00:01:33] Speaker A: None of it's being picked up. Yeah. Oh, phone call. What is your. What is your question for the listener? [00:01:43] Speaker B: Jekyll, I have a question for the listener. If. For all the listeners, whether. Wherever you're listening, comment on this and answer my question, if you. So please. [00:01:52] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness. Jackie Cheese. [00:01:56] Speaker B: If we were to. If you were to start seeing our faces in the future. Okay. While we play this game, and we were to possibly be live, would you. Where do you like to watch your live streams? Twitch or YouTube? Because for the longest, Twitch has always had the upper hand, especially when it comes to DND type things. But I've noticed a shift in the recent. Just past, like, six months that a lot of people are moving over to YouTube, so please let us know. Or maybe you say, oh, I don't want to see your faces. Go away. And that's fine, too. [00:02:37] Speaker C: I hate green hair. [00:02:39] Speaker B: If you were to watch us as [00:02:41] Speaker A: that guy sounds like he looks gassy, [00:02:43] Speaker B: would you rather us. Would you watch a stream more so on Twitch? Or YouTube. Let us know. [00:02:50] Speaker C: I had a question. [00:02:52] Speaker D: Yeah, for the listeners. [00:02:55] Speaker C: Who's your favorite? [00:02:57] Speaker A: What did you say? Who's your favorite? Who's your favorite. [00:03:02] Speaker C: Who's your favorite listener? [00:03:05] Speaker A: Yeah, go ahead. [00:03:05] Speaker D: Wow. It's already expires. [00:03:08] Speaker A: Also, if you comment on Patreon, I promise I won't tell them, so you'll be safe. [00:03:14] Speaker D: I'm telling you. [00:03:17] Speaker B: How did my mom look at it? [00:03:23] Speaker A: Wow, Jackie, that's a lame thing to say. [00:03:26] Speaker B: Wow. [00:03:31] Speaker A: Okay. [00:03:35] Speaker B: Anywho, I'll ask Abby's mom. [00:03:38] Speaker A: Without further ado, Mickel, I think you said you had a letter question. Was that correct? [00:03:43] Speaker D: Yes. Yes, I do. And you all have to tell me if it's already been used before, because I don't remember. [00:03:49] Speaker A: I mean, we're probably a couple of them. It's fine. [00:03:52] Speaker D: What would your character's villain arc be? [00:03:56] Speaker A: Oh, no, I don't think. I think we've done if your character, like, was a bad guy, but I think it was more, like, conceptual. I don't think we've done that specific question. I'm confused. So I'm hip and in the lingo, but when we say their villain arc, is that a reference to something on social media or more genuinely, in the sense of literature? Like a villain arc literature? Okay, so in other words, were they to become villainous, for what would they be villainous? What would be their cause? [00:04:26] Speaker D: Yeah, [00:04:28] Speaker A: okay. Yeah. Who's the Dominipooka? What did you say? [00:04:36] Speaker B: It can't be a villain, guys, because the villain is already on their villain. Oh, goober's good. [00:04:43] Speaker A: All right, we can do. [00:04:44] Speaker B: I want to know what makes. I want to know what would turn. [00:04:49] Speaker A: You know, becoming a villain feels kind of like that theory that was going around Star wars for a long time where Jar Jar Binks was a Sith lord. Like, yeah, it'd be more funny than anything. Unless, of course, we made it very serious. Who wants to start? [00:05:08] Speaker D: I will. [00:05:10] Speaker A: Oh, get a Mickle. [00:05:13] Speaker D: I think that Craig's arc would actually start not from a bad thing happening, but by him surrounding himself with people who think he's really smart, attractive, funny, and overall, [00:05:38] Speaker A: Just something about when you put attract, you're, like, smart, attractive. I don't know. Something got me about that. Please continue. [00:05:46] Speaker D: I think that it would be like a. Well, shoot. [00:05:50] Speaker C: What's the. [00:05:50] Speaker D: You know how Emperor's new groove. [00:05:53] Speaker A: Yes. [00:05:53] Speaker D: Like, you know. [00:05:54] Speaker A: Yes. [00:05:56] Speaker D: Yeah, it'd be that kind of vibe of like, I live in a palace, everybody loves me, but also, I don't care about people's Feelings. Because why would I care? I have everything. [00:06:04] Speaker A: It's the. [00:06:04] Speaker D: So I think it would include him start, like. Yeah. Climbing to the top without caring guys, they're like, who? Yeah, probably him. [00:06:14] Speaker A: I feel like. I feel like Craig's villain arc could have just been joining up with a different party had he not been with the fun guys. Had he been with a morally different adventure party, I think he could have turned into a really morally nebulous character. [00:06:27] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:06:28] Speaker A: Like, who gained power and ability, but not a lot of conviction in any direction. Didn't make sense. Drew the wrong lessons from the things he was living through at the time. [00:06:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:06:39] Speaker D: There's one thing he is. It's incredibly easily influenced. [00:06:44] Speaker A: He is impressionable. Yeah. [00:06:46] Speaker D: Yeah, he's very impressionable. So he joined the right place, right people again. [00:06:56] Speaker A: It's so funny to go back to those early episodes and listen to the banter. It's bizarre. Yeah. [00:07:02] Speaker D: No, it's so real. New players thinking, oh, my gosh, a world. What things would I do if I. That I can't do life? [00:07:10] Speaker C: What if I said. What if I was mean? What if I set it on fire? [00:07:14] Speaker D: What if I was not? [00:07:17] Speaker A: Yeah. Yes. And just, like, the dialogue y' all exchanged, like, every single time someone said something to Craig and he was like, okay, it's just funny. And him just, like, slate, like, sliding stray insults to random people, just catching strays everywhere. It's. I don't know. It was really funny. [00:07:35] Speaker D: Can't listen to those episodes. In fact, hearing the fact that Rylan is listening to the past [00:07:43] Speaker C: made me [00:07:43] Speaker D: die a little bit inside. Yeah. [00:07:47] Speaker A: But it's a measurable. [00:07:48] Speaker D: I don't have control and can't delete those. And, like, that there. That's there. That's there for everyone to see, like, kind of kills me a little bit. [00:07:56] Speaker A: It's a beautiful journey. It's a beautiful journey. All right. That was an excellent answer, Abs. What would Greta's villain arc be? Oh, she raised her hand after I called her name. Fair enough. After a year and a half of teaching, no one's done that to me. [00:08:15] Speaker C: Discord Land. [00:08:18] Speaker B: What? Oh, Discord, I can't hear you. [00:08:21] Speaker A: Yeah, you're real hard to hear. Can you hear me, buddy? I don't think your mic's on anymore. No, just lean into that computer. Yeah, I know. [00:08:28] Speaker D: The lights on, she said. [00:08:30] Speaker A: Yeah, but it's. You're coming through your computer mic for sure. Skis, do you want us to go to Jackie while you figure it out? [00:08:36] Speaker C: How about this now? No, that's not Right. [00:08:38] Speaker B: It sounds now. [00:08:40] Speaker C: Is this better? [00:08:41] Speaker B: Yes, there it is. [00:08:43] Speaker C: Oh, I figured it out. Craig. No, [00:08:51] Speaker A: Craig is. [00:08:55] Speaker D: I've. I've infiltrated her mind. [00:08:57] Speaker C: Greta. [00:08:58] Speaker A: Every single person just answers for Craig again. [00:09:02] Speaker C: I think Greta was like, really, really close to her. Her villain arc, her vark, if you will. I think she was very, very close. I think she was like, extremely, like. I think she could have very easily, like, gone further down. Like, I feel like she had a little teeny, tiny bit of a villain arc and then got out of it. But her, she would just be so consumed by like, grief and guilt and sadness and shame that instead of letting those, like, instead of facing those and processing those, she would just, like, dive into, like, self pity and violence and just like, that would just spiral until she, like, became really, really monstrous, you know? Yeah. I also think that she was so desperate for, like, community and like, as ashamed and. And guilty as she felt, she did still kind of want, like, some like, just like love and validation. Just like how those things that people want. I think that, like, just getting that from the hag. So I guess kind of similar to Craig being surrounded by the wrong people. But I think that she, like, if she like, it's like literally, like, I think that it's like by the grace of God or by the grace of Maker that she like, made it out of her villain art. I don't think that she maybe would have on her own or if she would have, it would have been, like, bad. [00:10:33] Speaker A: So that was a great answer. And this is a great question Micah asked, which also, we haven't said this in a while. Abby, you made a great character. You wrote a really good character. I mean, you came in hot with that one. [00:10:46] Speaker C: I didn't mean to. I was just very sad when I made her. [00:10:52] Speaker A: Well, you were honest. You were honest at the table. And so something beautiful happened. It was really cool. I mean, we would. We would celebrate and enjoy whatever character you had brought to this campaign, even if it was a sticky little goober. But I'm very thankful this is the one you brought. I'll never forget Greta when I'm so good. [00:11:13] Speaker C: I'm so incredibly thankful for the opportunity to play Greta. And I know that she's an imaginary halfling, but I truly, like, she has changed my life for the better. I'm very grateful to play her. Jackie. [00:11:29] Speaker A: Jackie whispering into the mic. She's a gnome. While you're in the middle of you talking, he is. Sometimes. [00:11:43] Speaker B: Sometimes my thoughts come out before I can stop him. [00:11:47] Speaker C: I was thinking this week I was like, I play a Gnomish Cleric. And then I was like, no, I don't. I play a halfling. But she is a gnome. [00:11:55] Speaker A: She's a gnome. She's a gnome. [00:11:56] Speaker C: Is she a gnome in the picture? [00:11:58] Speaker A: Yeah, she's a gnome everywhere. Well, actually, to be fair, the artwork looks more like a halfling than a gnome. To be fair. [00:12:06] Speaker C: I, like, I literally. I was, like, thinking about. I was, like, thinking about dnd, and I was like, it's crazy that I always think that she's a gnome because she's. And she's a gnome. [00:12:18] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness. [00:12:20] Speaker C: Okay. Sorry. [00:12:21] Speaker A: No, that was. That was an awesome answer. When I'm. When I'm 70 and can't remember my name half the time, I will remember Roe and Craig and Greta. Genuinely, I will remember that. Also. Listener. While we're talking about correcting people on things, we had Jackie's birthday party. Not this last Saturday, but the Saturday before. And Jackie decided to give us a quiz on how much we knew about her at her birthday party, which was much less self absorbed than it sounds, but it was fun. [00:12:47] Speaker C: And. [00:12:49] Speaker A: And I can seem gracious on here, but that's because you haven't been in a class with me, and I'm a nerd. You're really good, and that's not what I'm saying. And a bad part came out of me where they were like, there's a quiz. And I heard there's a grade. And I got real serious about it and let it. Let it be known forever that I lost Abby by three points. And before we began, while everyone was working on their answers, Abby came to me and said, hey, let's share answers. And I said, okay. And I gave Abby about four or five answers. And then I said, hey, do you know Jackie's birthday? And that was the bonus worth three points. And she said, I can't tell you that. And then she just walked away and she beat me by three. [00:13:32] Speaker C: I want to say. I want to say it was a couple answers. We shared a couple answers. And then I did not give the birthday, which Hoffa knew technically, it was the bonus. And also, I [00:13:52] Speaker A: feel like it was. [00:13:54] Speaker C: I feel like it was the spirit. I feel like Jackie and I have a similar. Like, I'm gonna get this right, and I'm gonna figure out how to get it right. [00:14:04] Speaker A: Greta might be a cleric, but Abby's a rogue. [00:14:07] Speaker C: No, I'm just saying. [00:14:09] Speaker A: But Abby's a rogue, and I play [00:14:10] Speaker C: D. We figure it out, and we, like, connive and however, we figured out [00:14:15] Speaker A: and I played the game, she beat me. [00:14:17] Speaker C: I failed with the spirit of figuring the game out. I'm just saying. [00:14:22] Speaker A: Anyhow, Jibble. What would Rose Vark be? Also vark is excellent. I think it was Abby who said that that was really funny. I want us to be in campaign two, and we're halfway through, and the spoopy evil lord is raging whatever in the story. And someone's like, wow, this vark goes hard. Guys, you seen this far. This is a good vark. Guys, guys. The bark scared me last time. I was, like, [00:14:53] Speaker B: so hard that I farted. [00:14:59] Speaker A: Fart like an art fart, but way worse. I knew that was getting in. Micah Listener. When I make jokes and then you can only hear Jackie laughing. Everybody's laughing. Everyone's laughing. Micah and Abby just do it. [00:15:16] Speaker B: I don't turn my mic off as much as other people. [00:15:19] Speaker C: I'm very excited to stream because I think I play very visually. Like, I'm always, like, using my hands and making facial expressions. So I'm excited for you guys to see that. I'm also excited because we do. I do laugh quietly a lot, and a lot of times I get so tickled about something that I have to mute myself and go, like, over the table to laugh. So I'm excited. [00:15:40] Speaker A: Abby has laughing fits all the time. [00:15:42] Speaker C: It happens often. But you guys can't tell because I mute myself because I'm losing it. [00:15:46] Speaker A: I'm also. I'm excited for a world where we might. Where we would be streaming because Abby and Jackie. Not that Micah doesn't, but Abby and Jackie are very visceral players, and when things get stressful, the faces they make are phenomenal. [00:16:01] Speaker B: That's true. We'll be like. [00:16:03] Speaker A: I hope people can witness that. They're funny faces. [00:16:06] Speaker B: So you want us to cry on camera is what you're asking for us to do? [00:16:11] Speaker A: Yes. Rose [00:16:16] Speaker B: villain arc. I feel like maybe if Yini hadn't been at the orphanage, I feel like it goes all the way back to her childhood. I feel like if Yenni hadn't been kind of her main caretaker, like, her maternal figure, if she had just grown up in an orphanage with some random people watching her and it wasn't as hands on, I feel like there could have been an A in a parallel or different universe where Ro became like, she went down. Not like. Not like the most evil path of all, but where she just went down. Like, she became. She used her talents for bad and, like, maybe became like. Like a half rogue, half bard who I could Like. Like, she. She joined the brass company kind of thing. Like, in very much. [00:17:34] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:17:35] Speaker A: I could see Ro becoming understandably, for. For justifiable reasons. A resentful, embittered person. [00:17:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:43] Speaker A: With. With an impeccable mask of charm and performance that never ended. And, like. Like becoming a rebel against the Kefkans, but a really violent one who wasn't particularly concerned about who got hurt. And, like, somebody in the brass company who's like, well, it serves me and I'm surviving. [00:18:00] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. [00:18:02] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:18:03] Speaker B: I definitely think without the. Without the guidance she had growing up, I feel like it could have easily turned that way. [00:18:16] Speaker A: Nice big oobs. I feel like I can think of two answers. One I think is funny. Another one's a little more genuine, though I'm not sure how imposing the first funny one is. I think just, like. Especially before you guys. Or maybe like, before, where you guys are now in a much more meaningful relationship, probably just somewhere, like. Just like, you know, just being his bubbly self, but at a much, much less meaningful level. And just someone one more time disregards him or does not, you know, takes for granted something he's doing. And just one last time, he's like, why don't you say thank you? And just, you know, like, just snapping and. And then I think he'd be a really excellent villain because I think he'd be a terribly ineffectual one. Like, just a bad. Not good. Like a. Like a. Like a derpy, little, like, sidekick, you know, and like a. Like a villain. Animated comedy or something. If we're trying to be any more serious. I could see Shippoober becoming a villain. I could see shipping becoming a villain in a world where the Count gets everybody, where he's sunk his heart into the fun guys and the Count shows up and did what he did on the ship. And then when you guys go and face him, you don't beat him and you lose. And Goober's, like, sunk his heart into everyone, and then he's left without anyone. And, like, maybe even a world where. Because I think as long as Shipper has someone to care for, he'll be all right. But, like, let's say maybe Nam had died too. Like, in a world where it's just Shipper on the poor bet, I could see him finally reaching a darker place, feeling abandoned, feeling disheartened and. Yeah, yeah, I could. I could. I could see that world. So if we were trying to get scenarios. No, didn't happen. He's not at that place. I mean, this is the Cool thing about the Vark question is it's a bunch of stuff about what didn't happen, which is really cool. [00:20:15] Speaker C: I love it when things don't happen. [00:20:21] Speaker A: I love it when things don't happen. Abby. 2026. That's okay. We're gonna start here in a second. We have a very important session ahead of us. But I have. I have to tell you guys something. Last Friday, we had a Legend of the New one session, and it was a session. We'll talk about it after that. But they. At the beginning. Oh, we were talking about something. And I mean, you know, Kara's has her bachelor's and master's in geology and geophysics and is not like a practicing researcher, but is working in a scientific capacity. And Andrea is getting her PhD and is like a scientist. And so, like, everybody's science y. [00:21:11] Speaker B: And we said something about women are really smart. You guys really are really awesome. [00:21:19] Speaker A: We said something about women in stem and then there was like a little dip in conversation. Went back to talking and Andrea got really quiet and she went. And we all looked at her and she went, women in Sorcery, Thaumaturgy, and Elemental Magic. And we were like, we need that shard. And we were like, losing our mind. And everyone was like, oh, we need that shirt. And Jonathan commented on the Patreon episode that was posted and was like, I want that character. So it was. I. I really want to wear that. It says women in stem and then on the back it says sorcery, thaumaturgy, and elemental magic. Like, that's so good. [00:21:53] Speaker C: So cool. [00:21:54] Speaker D: I love that. [00:21:56] Speaker A: If we're ever successful enough to make merch. Dibs. Nobody take it. [00:22:00] Speaker C: Don't take it. [00:22:03] Speaker D: This is. [00:22:04] Speaker B: This is the proof right here that it was thought of. [00:22:08] Speaker A: We said it by our people. Anywho, Anywho, Are we ready to bring it? Okay, well, I don't care, so she's gonna get going. No, I care. I just won't be stopped. [00:22:26] Speaker C: You won't be stopped. I have a headache. [00:22:32] Speaker D: There's like a little bit of a lag. Really funny. [00:22:36] Speaker A: It is. Yeah, that's happening for me too. It's funny and it's happening sometimes and not others. Oh, I have to talk to the note taking nerds. [00:22:44] Speaker D: Sorry. [00:22:46] Speaker A: First of all, Jekyll, it was CB called 12 last we left off, right? [00:22:53] Speaker C: Yes. [00:22:54] Speaker A: Okay, cool. So for my. And then the very last thing that happened, I should have gone back and listened more recently to the last episode, but the very last thing that happened was Shisty went splody. And all the bones fell down, and then you guys destroyed the phylactery, right? What is it, baby? [00:23:14] Speaker B: Yes, that is what. [00:23:15] Speaker A: Okay, you can get it, baby. You don't have to feel guilty, okay. Go get Chick Fil A. That made Micah smile. She does. Go get him. Pr. What were you saying? J. You're saying it was the last thing. [00:23:36] Speaker B: I can't remember. I know. After that, we healed a few people, but then I don't remember. Whatever. [00:23:42] Speaker A: That's basically it, right? [00:23:45] Speaker B: I think so. I don't think. Abby, do you remember anything else happened after that? I don't think it did. [00:23:51] Speaker C: Were we flying back, or. [00:23:52] Speaker A: No, I did. I. I think you guys just left off with, like. I think you, like, left the building, and then I think that was that. [00:24:01] Speaker B: The fun guys have left the building. [00:24:03] Speaker A: Okay. All right, cool. I just. I just want to make sure I had it all right. Okay. Sick. Well, then, in that case, we will get to it. I think I had the music up a little high just then. I'm gonna adjust that. I hadn't started it yet. [00:24:19] Speaker B: Oh, okay. I was like, where's it at, though? [00:24:21] Speaker A: No, it's all the way up. This is episode 172 of the Accidental Adventures. [00:24:27] Speaker B: I thought it was 23. [00:24:31] Speaker A: No, the next one's gonna wait. Shoot. [00:24:33] Speaker D: It is. [00:24:35] Speaker A: Why am I. I'm so sorry. Well, actually, I know why I'm wrong. It's because I've had to reschedule everything seven times. That's why I'm always wrong. Which is fine. I'm not bitter about that. Because I've had to move everything 12 times. Actually, I don't feel badly. It's 173. I apologize. [00:24:53] Speaker C: Wow, we're so close to 200. [00:24:56] Speaker A: We are. [00:24:56] Speaker B: I think we're gonna get there. [00:24:58] Speaker A: You know what's crazy? The other campaign is at 247. [00:25:05] Speaker C: Wow. [00:25:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:25:08] Speaker C: That's crazy. [00:25:09] Speaker A: It is. Okay, sorry. Episode 173, a breath. [00:25:15] Speaker B: Like. Is it one word? Two? [00:25:17] Speaker C: One. [00:25:17] Speaker A: Like, pause? Breath is in the noun, not the verb. No, like a. [00:25:24] Speaker B: You didn't tell us what day it is. [00:25:27] Speaker A: That's because that comes next. No, so it's episode 173, a breath. It's a level 16 adventure because the groups won't quit fighting boss level things. So they're flying through the levels and. Who's fucking 34? 88. Pb. See, because the 13th, we've just stretched into the new part of the day. [00:25:50] Speaker B: So is it, like. Is it, like, midnight? What's happening? [00:25:55] Speaker A: Yeah, actually, it's like just after [00:25:59] Speaker C: midnight. [00:26:00] Speaker A: Okay, Jack. Avoiding things. Let's get it. [00:26:03] Speaker B: I am. It's a M. Oh, yes. [00:26:08] Speaker A: Amic. Thank you, Jackie. [00:26:10] Speaker D: Sorry. [00:26:10] Speaker A: No, I want to have that for my notes. That's helpful. Am Ech. [00:26:16] Speaker C: I have a question. [00:26:17] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:26:18] Speaker C: I just waved to one of my neighbors from inside my house. Is that weird? [00:26:24] Speaker B: No. [00:26:25] Speaker C: Okay. [00:26:26] Speaker A: Depends [00:26:29] Speaker C: By. And like, I've seen, like, we wave to each other sometimes, but I'm inside my house. [00:26:36] Speaker B: I've waved to people from my window. [00:26:39] Speaker C: Okay. [00:26:39] Speaker A: Because, like, I just don't wave from the toilet. So got Micah with that one. Again. Two for two. So fun. Guys, no. Oh, oh, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. One more. I'm. I'm gonna just kind of hand wave something really quickly. Daniel's not here. And I'm gonna give a slightly unreasonable exit from the story for Vangrim in that, like, I don't want to. Like, we have a lot of important things today, and I don't want to get stuck for a long time in, like, you guys doing important role play for a player who's not here. You know, you guys would be like, wrong. And he's gone. So we will say that you guys have had a bit. Interpret that as you will. Half an hour, two minutes. I don't really care. After Shiztha's death and destroying the phylactery and the warriors of the well have their own pressing business, they are also in the middle of missions and Alandra is in communication with the rest of the Manabus. And so you all, having slain Shista and her army falling apart and then having destroyed the phylactery and the storm starting to fall apart. Oh, that was the last thing. [00:27:57] Speaker D: Walked out of the tower and then [00:27:58] Speaker A: saw the storm starting to break. Yeah, that's right. Seems to break. Alandra would have. Hey, that's okay. Nervousness does that to us. Alandra reached out to the rest of the Manibus and let them know that, like, hey, the mission is done. And so you all were not outside but for like a couple minutes before there was a rushed teleportation of another member. We'll say that Gumbertimp arrived and he bid you all like a brief salutations, thanked you for everything you were doing, and you had some exchanges with Rongrim before he was whisked away to the rest of the party, to the warriors of the well. So just setting the scene. Nobody needs to be thinking about him. Nobody needs to be about worrying. We're role playing with him. And if you want, you can have said meaningful things to him before he went away. There could have been a whole exchange [00:28:51] Speaker B: when he went away. Very meaningful things. [00:28:55] Speaker C: Very good. [00:28:56] Speaker D: I gave him a fist bump. [00:28:59] Speaker A: He and Craig could have had one. One last, like, like, predator, bicep handshake thing. Yeah. [00:29:05] Speaker C: Why are they predators? I thought they were vegan. [00:29:10] Speaker A: It's okay. Abby doesn't know what they were referencing. That's okay. [00:29:13] Speaker C: I do know that reference. Just because I make a joke about it doesn't mean I don't know anything. I don't know things because it's funny. People assume that I actually don't. And then they're like. And I'm like, I know it was a joke. [00:29:27] Speaker A: The party stands outside of the immense and bizarre structure of Blackfang in the ruined land of Zorgram, with broken stone all around and litanies of scattered bleached bones now just all over the place. [00:29:43] Speaker B: It fell, right? [00:29:44] Speaker A: Just inert. Yeah. Just scattered wherever they were, in not so much piles as just messes all over the ground. And none of the towers beyond Blackfang remain visible in the distance. All seem to have fallen and the storm is not gone, but it is steadily breaking and falling apart. That black dark clouds are just moving. It's also a little hard to tell because as you all look up, it is very much the middle of night, just having crossed the threshold of midnight into early morning. And you all look up at. And where you can see the cloud dissipating and the dark heavens opening is some places you can see some ambient light, the silhouette of the clouds. But more, it's just where stars are being revealed, no longer being shielded by shadow. And there's a thick band of stars and the galaxy stretches across and then the other dimmer line of light behind it, which as none of you all would be able to interpret the second year galaxy. But those two bands of light moving across. We've talked about that briefly before. The second moon is not always visible. Sometimes it is depending on your position. And only Twilo is in the sky, because at this time of the year, Twilo and Twila are very far apart. You're just being able to see it. And in that incredibly dark expanse, you all still have your various sources of light lighting you, but now you don't even have the diffused light from the clouds above. It is a dark landscape and you can only barely make out all the bones around as their white surface reflects the very dim moonlight coming down. And behind you in the pitch black is just that dead silent court where the lich queen is destroyed and her many boned servants are gone. Where blast marks from spells and magical weapons, litany litter and scrape the floors. And you all are just battered, bleeding and wounded. Some of you with broken bones, some of you with severe lacerations, internal bleeding, and magic has stemmed everything at your various states. But you all are in the condition you're in, exhausted and spent. Boz is very quiet. He's basically just leaned up against a stone, a large stone, resting as he recovered from death not long ago. And Tello is just bent over, taking a breath, and the party is just there. Exhausted. With a couple light sources, Craig can have star splinter out. Shining light. You know, boss is all disco. However you guys want to do it. What that party do [00:32:28] Speaker D: is. [00:32:30] Speaker B: Go ahead. I was just gonna ask. It's so it's. It's dark out, but like you said, all the towers have fallen. But is there any, like, smoke or fire or anything from any of those towers? [00:32:44] Speaker A: Give me a perception check. First, roll a light. Oh, my moves are curled up next to me and she's snoring. It's really cute. [00:32:56] Speaker B: Oh, I said That's a dirty 30. As my first role as a 30 year old. [00:33:05] Speaker A: Wow. Your first roll of the session is a 30. Your first roll of level 16 is a 30. And your first roll of your 30s is a 30. That's. Whoa. [00:33:12] Speaker B: I rolled an 8. 18, but with my modifier. [00:33:16] Speaker A: So 30. That's crazy, [00:33:21] Speaker B: bro. [00:33:22] Speaker A: You scan the landscape. It is difficult. It was gonna be like DC25 because it's so hard to see in this darkness at such distance. But as you scan it with the silhouette, you can see far off, there is a trail. Like, it's not really making out color or detail in the landscape because everything's too dark for that. But it's more that you are looking for contrast of silhouette, absence of dim sources of light. And as you look, you can see far off. There does appear to be a column of deeper darkness rising up, which you would assume to be some sort of smoke. It might be dust from the structure. F. But you can see one of those somewhere out there. But you're not seeing any sources of light at the moment. [00:34:11] Speaker C: Okay, I think I'd like to send to Alandra. [00:34:20] Speaker A: Okay. Spell slot or the stone? [00:34:25] Speaker C: The stone, please. [00:34:27] Speaker A: Okay. You can have it on you. I bet Craig didn't have that in his mouth for the fight, the whole fight. Micah's doing a baby bird feeding right now on camera. Greta, you pull out the stone and you grasp it and you Feel a mental connection. [00:34:45] Speaker C: Okay, Greta's probably still a little bit out of breath. She's. It's done. She's gone. [00:34:57] Speaker A: Greta, you can't quite finish your sentence before you hear, come. Come as quickly as you can. Come immediately come to me. I don't know how you can find me, but come as quickly as you can. [00:35:08] Speaker C: Okay, I disconnect the connection. Okay. [00:35:21] Speaker B: I'm guessing Greta relayed that, right? [00:35:24] Speaker C: Yeah, I did. I did. I'm gonna try and use. I don't have, like, locate person or locate object. [00:35:41] Speaker A: You don't have it prepared is what you're saying? [00:35:43] Speaker C: Yeah, so I'm gonna go ahead. [00:35:48] Speaker B: I was just going to say, do we remember? She didn't call us anything from the mountain. [00:35:57] Speaker A: She was fighting there. Like, from whence you came. The path of your entry, kind of like only a slight rotation around the tower, around the mouth, and then just kind of straight south where that larger peak was, is where you all broke from the shadow of the mountain and began your assault. And that's where she and Atalia and the golems were distracting so many of the undead forces. So that's your best guess, but you're not aware of anything else? If you had different magical means, you could try to employ them. [00:36:34] Speaker C: I'm going to use a divine intervention to see if I can get a slight there. [00:36:41] Speaker A: Okay. [00:36:42] Speaker C: So I'm going to do that. [00:36:46] Speaker B: I was gonna say absolutely, like, fly around or something. Greta. Or like, balls could wild shape and I could turn into an eagle and try to find her from the skies. [00:36:58] Speaker C: Or Greta's gonna. She's. She's gonna, like, pull out her notebook and just start, like, flipping through it. I need to. It's a. It's a debug. And she's gonna, like. She's, like, looking through it like she's trying to find, like, an answer for something, and she's just gonna ask, like, where is Alandra? Take us there if you can. [00:37:26] Speaker A: Do you want to roll that play, my dude? I know you're rolling die, but you want to roll that play. [00:37:31] Speaker C: Yeah. What does that mean? [00:37:33] Speaker A: Like, do you want to do that in character instead of just describing it? [00:37:36] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, yeah. I was like, roll that play. [00:37:40] Speaker A: Role play. [00:37:42] Speaker B: What dice is that? [00:37:44] Speaker A: I don't know that Die. That's the D play. [00:37:46] Speaker C: I'm missing one of my. One of my Greta dice. That's very upsetting. [00:37:50] Speaker A: Oh, SpaghettiO. [00:37:51] Speaker B: That's not good. [00:37:53] Speaker A: Is it anywhere among your other bag? [00:37:55] Speaker C: That's what I'm gonna worry about that at a different Time. Because it might be with Telos. [00:38:02] Speaker A: Not to jinx you, but I've yet to misplace a diet I did not later find, if that's of any encouragement. [00:38:07] Speaker C: Right. Because they only. They all kind of stay in the same space. [00:38:13] Speaker A: They tend to be reflective, and they don't go that far. [00:38:16] Speaker C: Yeah. So she's going to. What's she gonna do? She's what? I. Yeah, she's gonna flip through her notebook and she's like. Like, she's looking for an answer for something, and she can't quite find it. And she's going to, like. She's just gonna, like, kind of mumble out loud. She says, where is Alandra? Take us there if you can. [00:38:42] Speaker A: Okay. Roll those dice. [00:38:45] Speaker C: I have all of them. I have all of them. [00:38:48] Speaker A: Yeah. There you go. [00:38:51] Speaker C: Misplaced him. [00:38:52] Speaker A: That's okay. Happens to the best of us. So now that you have just leveled up, Abby, a 16 or lower will do it. [00:39:00] Speaker C: Okay, 16 or lower. [00:39:02] Speaker A: Very difficult to roll, but, yes, very difficult. [00:39:07] Speaker C: Okay. So I said, where is Alandra? Take a stair if you can. Where'd my feet go? He hates me. [00:39:12] Speaker A: I probably just. She said, I can't look. Probably just adjusting your signal. [00:39:17] Speaker C: That's a 93. [00:39:19] Speaker A: So that is very much the opposite of what you want. [00:39:24] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:39:25] Speaker A: But most people never get a divine intervention, so still up on the majority of players. [00:39:30] Speaker D: Micah, I accidentally clicked off into a quizlet flashcard. [00:39:45] Speaker A: Okay, Greta, as you sit there with your book and flip through the pages and you offer your plea, a breeze moves by you, but this place feels repelling to the divine. [00:40:01] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:40:02] Speaker A: And you swear. You almost hear a whisper in your ear, but it's like having a bad connection on a call. The voice gets drowned out in the more nebulous currents of the wind. And it sounds like almost words, and you feel like that Ioun couldn't quite reach in this moment, in this place. [00:40:28] Speaker C: Okay. [00:40:29] Speaker B: Boz can turn in. The bronze dragon. Wyrmwing can carry us. All right. It's a medium dragon. It says. [00:40:41] Speaker A: What's. It's medium? [00:40:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:40:44] Speaker A: No, because a horse is large. [00:40:46] Speaker B: Oh, okay. [00:40:47] Speaker A: So that means it's, like, a little bigger than y'. All. [00:40:51] Speaker B: Oh, okay. [00:40:52] Speaker A: Now it is a little bigger. And a lot of you all are small, so it can get most of you, like, Telo could. Could ride. And then you and Greta are so small that you could both probably ride if he's gonna have his pace. Or you could get, like, Craig and Greta and Ro on there, but then Teller couldn't ride. [00:41:12] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay. Should I think balls and I should just turn into giant eagles, right? And we go up and try to find her. [00:41:25] Speaker A: Well, I have the broom. [00:41:28] Speaker B: Oh, that's true. [00:41:29] Speaker A: Which I'm getting accustomed to riding. [00:41:32] Speaker B: Okay, so if balls wild shapes, then yeah, I think I'm gonna have boz. I mean, that's okay. I mean, I know we're not. [00:41:44] Speaker A: Boss offers and he goes. He goes, yeah, I got you. And he gets down on all fours and he goes, I won't make an egg. And then he just transforms, massively elongating and growing in size. And bronze metal rips out from underneath his skin. And before a moment, with a flourish of auburn leaves, he is the bronze dragon Wyrmling. [00:42:09] Speaker C: Before we go, I'm going to say Greta's still furiously flipping through her spell book, and she's gonna, like, look up to Ro and be like, do you think it. Do you think it's. Do you think it. We have to. Never mind. [00:42:27] Speaker B: Well, do you think we have time for. [00:42:31] Speaker C: I. I could SCRY on her, but that takes a lot of time. [00:42:36] Speaker B: I'm worried. Do you think. Do you think she's still fighting something? Is why we need to get. [00:42:40] Speaker A: Do you want to make an insight check for me, Greta? [00:42:43] Speaker C: Sure, but I've already. I've decided. [00:42:45] Speaker A: So I just always eases this group when I make. Let you guys make a die roll instead of a decision. [00:42:52] Speaker B: It does. It's an emotional support die roll. [00:42:57] Speaker A: A24. That's good. It was DC8. It sounded terribly urgent. [00:43:06] Speaker C: Hey, let's go. [00:43:09] Speaker B: Okay, I'm gonna hop on. I'm gonna hop on Bronze boss and be like, Craig. [00:43:15] Speaker A: I'm like, hi ho, bronze away. Craig, your wings have actually finally run out. Cuz you guys have been here for a long, long time. They're around a while, but they have a. They have a time limit. I assume you get on behind row. Yeah, I assume you climb on top of boss behind row. And then you guys get going. Greta, as you said, that was a good use of that. As a good use of that picture. Greta, as you cry, climb atop the. The crime. That's your vark starting. As you climb atop the broom, Tello gets on behind you, and you all both. Well, the broom just silently into the night. And then the wings start up, and you guys are in the air. It is a completely dark landscape, and Craig has his blade out and it shines. But you all are trying to search a landscape vast and dark, and Craig's sword shines for like, Wait. [00:44:30] Speaker D: All right. I'm so Sorry. I have an ability. [00:44:34] Speaker A: Okay. [00:44:36] Speaker D: I have to find my master dot. [00:44:39] Speaker A: Okay. If anyone also wants to be a way to. [00:44:44] Speaker C: Something says I need to find the master. [00:44:45] Speaker A: Divine sense, [00:44:49] Speaker D: probably. [00:44:50] Speaker A: Divine sense lets you know if there's evil stuff within 60ft. No, [00:44:59] Speaker C: wait. [00:45:00] Speaker D: Let me find. Why is it so divine? [00:45:03] Speaker A: Control F is also a thing you could control. F sense, My dude, that's. [00:45:09] Speaker D: I did divine, and I'm getting Divine Smite. Okay, go, go. [00:45:13] Speaker B: Boss. As a dragon, wyrmling has like. Like, hey, proficient perception. Go ahead. I'm so sorry. [00:45:20] Speaker D: Wait, guys, guys. [00:45:23] Speaker C: It says. [00:45:24] Speaker D: It says the presence of strong evil registers senses like a noxious ochre. But powerful good rings like heavenly music in your ears. [00:45:36] Speaker A: Holy crap. And Alondra's hanging out with a gold dragon. An ancient gold dragon. You would pick that up. [00:45:44] Speaker C: Let's go, Craig. [00:45:45] Speaker A: Micah, that's genius. Well, to what distance? [00:45:50] Speaker D: 60ft. [00:45:53] Speaker A: Okay. Okay. But that means if you guys get within visual range, you'll also hear it, and that's pretty cool. Anyway, the party's flying in the dark. Is anyone trying to light up the landscape or find some sort of magical means of finding where you're going? Because it's a little hard to navigate at the moment. [00:46:18] Speaker B: Can Bronze Boss do a perception check with his bras? [00:46:23] Speaker A: I believe it is. I'm actually gonna need you guys. So perception check is looking. [00:46:29] Speaker C: Okay. Okay. [00:46:30] Speaker A: You all are trying to navigate back to the last place you knew her. There's going to be a survival check, but that would make it Boz's worm dragon or dragon wormling stats rather than his stat. So if you guys want, someone else could be trying to make that check for navigation. You also don't know that that's where Alandra is if you don't have another method of looking for her. [00:46:47] Speaker B: I mean, I have proficiency in my navigation. So would you guys like me to do that? [00:46:52] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:46:54] Speaker A: And feel free to be doing as much role play as you like. [00:46:57] Speaker B: I didn't roll great, you guys. That's a 15. That's not the worst. [00:47:03] Speaker D: So I can listen to for the bells. [00:47:05] Speaker B: I can hear the bells. [00:47:07] Speaker A: Craig is feeling very, very polar express right now. I can't hear it. [00:47:16] Speaker D: You believe? [00:47:17] Speaker A: Everybody shut up. I have to believe. [00:47:23] Speaker C: You're not believing or not. [00:47:25] Speaker A: Ro. You kind of, like, pull on. I mean, you can't reach the horns on his head, but you can reach the spines coming out of Boz's neck as you lean them to one side. He tilts in a direction, and you believe you are navigating generally southward. You also feel that you can just barely make out the silhouette of that larger mountain, which is a small mountain itself, but the largest geographical affect of this landscape. You feel like you're navigating toward its direction. So, okay. You feel like you're going generally in that way. [00:47:58] Speaker B: How far off the ground are we? How, how high up are we? [00:48:01] Speaker A: How far would you all like to be? [00:48:04] Speaker C: Within 60ft, [00:48:08] Speaker A: four or five stories off of the ground? The party is just. And moving through the landscape. [00:48:16] Speaker C: Okay. [00:48:17] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:48:18] Speaker B: I have a thing, a question. This might be really stupid. My, My side of past paths. Could I. Does it, like, light up footsteps? Like, could I. [00:48:30] Speaker A: Yes. Only you. So you pull out the side path. [00:48:36] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:48:36] Speaker B: And look. And Alondra think. [00:48:38] Speaker A: Alondra. You hold onto it very tightly and you pierce through it. It looks like she has not walked through this abandoned, hellish landscape. Oh, yeah, right. And you put the. Yeah. [00:48:53] Speaker B: We were like a mile and a half from where we started. Right. Okay. [00:48:57] Speaker A: But you're flying quickly. You're making good time. [00:48:59] Speaker C: I'm gonna call her back on the sending stone and I'm gonna stay on our way. We're heading towards you. [00:49:06] Speaker B: Where are you? We think we're heading towards you. [00:49:12] Speaker A: I don't know. Sorry. Hoffa was talking to me. What were you saying? [00:49:17] Speaker C: I'm gonna call her back on the sending stone and I'm gonna say, I think we're on our way. Where are you? [00:49:27] Speaker A: It's quiet for a second, and she just says, eastmost tower. Okay, Take your time. Oh, he's gone. [00:49:43] Speaker C: Oh, okay. I, I, I relay that to the group. [00:49:49] Speaker A: Okay. Greta shouts that over the room. [00:49:52] Speaker C: Yeah, Greta just kind of like shouts it and then veers that way. [00:49:55] Speaker A: Okay, could you make a navigation check? Person who does not have a compass or any inherently know where the cardinal directions are. [00:50:02] Speaker D: Oh, she just asks, Ro, does anyone [00:50:06] Speaker A: do anything in character and role play at any time? It's all been very above table so far. [00:50:18] Speaker B: Do you guys remember who was at. Who was at the east tower? [00:50:23] Speaker A: Someone can make a history check for me if they want. Also, everyone's shouting to each other over the wind. Yeah, you guys can even be flying pretty. Actually, the loudest sound is boss's. [00:50:32] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm gonna make a history check. Do I have to make a history check or do I just know? [00:50:37] Speaker A: Oh, keen mind. You do remember who went to the well. You remember the two groups who broke eastward? No one told you, like, hey, it's exactly. [00:50:48] Speaker B: But it was. [00:50:49] Speaker A: You remember the two groups that broke most eastward were ser. Paulo Coelho, Kettle, the Thunderhand, and the security golem that went with them. And then the other one was Ethmund, Kai, Thespis, and Kaladra. [00:51:04] Speaker B: I knew that was one of the groups and she said he. So there's like a. There's six different people. It could be four. Four different people. It could be. [00:51:16] Speaker A: So anybody making a check? [00:51:20] Speaker B: You what? [00:51:22] Speaker D: I touch on my. [00:51:23] Speaker A: Touch my head. [00:51:25] Speaker D: I touch my head. [00:51:30] Speaker B: I thought you said kill. I was really confused. [00:51:33] Speaker A: I touch my head and blow it up. [00:51:35] Speaker D: That was not the first episode type feel. [00:51:40] Speaker A: From behind row, there is a brief flash of golden light. And Craig, some of your wounds knit themselves slightly. Is anyone making a survival check to find it in the dark? I was perhaps the person with keen [00:51:53] Speaker D: mind using a cardinal direction to know animals. [00:51:56] Speaker B: I know my cardinal direction. Yes, yes. I go. I go. I see. I know. And I. And I pat balls and say go. Go that way. [00:52:06] Speaker A: Okay, excellent. As you pull on the spine and tilt his head, head boss lets out like a roar. And then and changes direction. Greta and Tello follow because they cannot automatically find that direction. And as you all begin veering into the darkness, now you all can be trying to give me perception checks to try and find where you're headed. So you can either have one person give me a check or you can repeat the check between multiple people with increasing DCs up to you. [00:52:33] Speaker B: What do you guys want to do? [00:52:35] Speaker D: I made. [00:52:36] Speaker C: I rolled bad. [00:52:39] Speaker A: Okay, so what'd you get, Abby? [00:52:43] Speaker C: Can I cast guidance on myself? [00:52:51] Speaker A: With one hand on the broom and the wind whipping in her gray hair, which is all kind of silhouettes at this time, Greta grasps her pendant in the other hand. There's a flash of green magic. [00:53:01] Speaker C: I said, I say I got 11. [00:53:04] Speaker A: Okay, Greta, you're not making out much in the dark. [00:53:09] Speaker B: Okay, I got a 14. [00:53:13] Speaker C: Okay. [00:53:14] Speaker B: Not making too much in the dark. [00:53:18] Speaker A: Not a good deal. Better. You all are. Are having a difficult time in the landscape. [00:53:23] Speaker B: Can I do pause as his wyling you can. [00:53:27] Speaker A: Okay, the DC is increasing. [00:53:29] Speaker B: Oh, that's a nat one. [00:53:31] Speaker D: Oh, no, wait. Is. Is navigation intelligence or like, what's the base perception? [00:53:38] Speaker A: The check that we're making is wisdom. [00:53:41] Speaker C: Okay, [00:53:43] Speaker A: okay, okay. The party searches in the dark. You all search. What works in your effort is that. But Ro is excellent with her directions. And so Ro, you have like this internal sense that you can like, you're like, you feel the distant thrum of Ogba practically through the earth like a homing signal in your head. And you like, everyone's like no, no, I feel like it's a little more to the right. And you tilt Boz's head and he's being perceptive to it rotating. But you all are searching in adjusting your course for travel and making up the time of flying. You all are searching for about 10 minutes trying to find where you are, revivify. [00:54:26] Speaker B: Okay, I. I'm. Oh, [00:54:31] Speaker A: finally. Go ahead. [00:54:33] Speaker B: No, I was just gonna ask if I needed to roll again. [00:54:36] Speaker A: And at some point, Craig, as you all are moving in the darkness, you hear a sonorous thrum in your ear. And you feel like as dark as it is, you guys are having trouble visually making stuff out, but you feel like distantly, maybe even a little outside of the realm of your ability. You're hearing a chime to your right, like a single note mellifluously repeating to [00:54:58] Speaker D: the right, to the right. [00:55:01] Speaker A: As Craig shouts, ro responds. Greta veers and searching in the dark. Enough of you all have dark vision. Actually very few of you have darkvision, but enough. I think it's like Greta and Craig, but through some shouting over the wind, you guys. The broom comes down and Boz lands and you all can dismount in the broken stone in a mess of skeletons scattered every. Just bones everywhere. The great majority of them just bones scattered on the ground. And maybe five or six hundred feet in the distance is just the ruins of a tower shattered and smashed around some of the stone. There's like char marks in the ground, but I guess you probably wouldn't be able to make that out in the dark. And as you all land and the light bathes the area, it picks up the millions of brilliant gold scales of that massive golden Dr. Dragon towering and coiled. And she sits with her head hung slightly somberly resting, the fluid metal tentacles hanging off of her face or barbels like catfish hanging. And her wings are relaxed and her musculature is in this moment she looks like an incredibly detailed, gorgeous statue picking up the light all off of you. And there is among all of the skeletons as you all jog forward yourselves badly wounded and exhausted, having had very little break from your mortal experience. As you all near, you can see Alandra there knelt forward. She has it her size you put together, that they've had time to pick up survivors. And Alandra is on her knees cradling someone's head. But beside her is. And she has the white necklace. That stone pendant along her neck is shining with light that's diffusing 30ft of bright light and 30ft of dim, providing quite a bit of light to the darkness in the area. Now you can see there's a lot more bones where you all are. Like after the tower fell, a lot more fighting continued and fighting happened here quite a bit. And there's blood scattered quite a few places and burn marks in the ground and more shattered fragments of skeletons and scattered weapons. And next to Alandra is standing terribly wounded and actually part of her face very badly necroded and her cheek somewhat caved in and her hair burnt away at this part. And actually her left ear missing is that little halfling lady, the rogue in her dark armor, who is just still as a stone, not speaking. It's hard to tell if she's in shock or just stoic, but she is quiet next to her as well, kind of kneeling silently with a mace in the ground and a hand at the top of the mace and the forehead. Pressed into the gauntleted hand is the dark skinned dwarven man in his goldish silvery armor. Ser Paolo Coelho, who you met, the friend you all had from the blood bowl seems to have survived though his armor is dented, it's torn open in places. His cape is mostly burned away and most of his dreads are burned off. And actually I don't think he had dreads, I don't remember. But he's badly wounded, but he just appears to be kneeling and praying in some sort of a vigil. And lastly, kind of standing a distance away, watching the darkness as if maintaining a watch, assuming all danger gone, but keeping watch, so to speak, over it all is that large dragonborn woman, the white Dragonborn, the Paladin of Eldath, Gazrash Eeth, who you met. She's standing observing the landscape. She no longer has her weapon in her hand, so either it's not like it might have been lost even. And her left arm is not there. There's actually bandages up near the shoulder and there's a lot of blood soaked into them. It looks like it was removed forcefully. And she is holding just one of the ruined rusted swords of this landscape. And it's dimly glowing with magic as if it's magical in her hand for the time and her shield strapped to her back as it no longer goes over her arm. She's just watching in the darkness. In this place, you do not see the dwarven woman who is armored. You do not see the blue skinned triton caster that you met Tel Yalia. You do not see Tilghan the fighter, the dwarven lady. You do not see the large frog Woman Gliblyn, who you met that wrong Grim got along with. You do not see Kim the Kimdun, the servant cleric woman from Zedge. You do not see Kettle, your Loxodon friend from the blood bowl. And you do not see Nyogweni the layen and barbarian who had encouraged you the morning of, who you can see some distance away, there is. It looks like Gajrash took off her cloak and has laid it over a body some distance away. Even that cloak is soaked with some blood and you cannot see a person beneath it. The head is covered in most of the body, but there is a single dark gray hand protruding from the side of the cloak. And you all can put together easily enough that the only drow person here was Kaladra. Your wizard friend appears to have died here, and what respects that can be paid have been given to her. Lastly, where you all stand, Thespis is his body facing upward. He's been pulled up with his head laid against a stone. And there's this really heavy impact kick cave mark in the front of his chest plate that is punched in kind of a little more to the right pectoral, and the metal is tinged with a rusty blood color all around, and he has a very pale hue. And his weapons are kind of laid beside him in a sort of resting position. And he is motionless with his eyes closed and the individual armor mostly stripped away. Terrible burns all over the torso. In Alandra's arms, with his head in her hands is Efmund Kai, whose shield is beside him and his mace beside as well. This is the scene to which you all arrive. [01:02:52] Speaker B: I take off running to Alandra. [01:02:56] Speaker A: Okay. [01:02:57] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:02:59] Speaker B: And I say, what can I do? What can I do? You have any diamonds? I. I can. I can resurrect if I. If I have the diamonds. [01:03:10] Speaker A: She looks up at you hopefully. [01:03:12] Speaker B: Yes, I. I have three revivify, but no resurrection diamonds. [01:03:19] Speaker A: She mutters. Do you speak Elven Rope? [01:03:22] Speaker B: No. [01:03:24] Speaker A: She mutters something under her breath where you can hear it in Elven, and you can see tears stream through soot and dust on her cheeks. But also she has tear marks in her robes and her white robes are stained with blood in some places. There is also. There is one golem standing next to her and it is trashed and you don't see any of the other nine they brought. And it's also kind of watching visual and it's in rough shape. But she slips a hand into a component pouch at her side and she pulls out a sizable finely cut diamond. And she opens her Hand. And she says, I assumed that if we moved beyond that more narrow time frame, it would be out of your capability. [01:04:19] Speaker B: Is that the only one? [01:04:23] Speaker A: This is the time in which I possess. For the Archpriest. I assume. [01:04:32] Speaker B: Yeah. Ro takes it. [01:04:34] Speaker A: She hands it to you and. [01:04:39] Speaker B: Wait a minute. Crap. This may not. I wasn't thinking. [01:04:48] Speaker A: You don't have the spell slot. [01:04:49] Speaker B: I don't have the spell slot. Oh, I knew I had the. I mean, it can. This is above table. Me asking this, like, how resurrection works. Like, it doesn't have to be right away. [01:05:17] Speaker A: It says you've got a long time on it. [01:05:19] Speaker B: Yeah, no more than a century, so plenty of time. Okay. I. I back as Ro. I. She, like, goes to grab it, and then, like, curses under her breath and is like, I. I can't right now, but if I. If I rest, I. I can. [01:05:44] Speaker A: You're spent. And she closes her palm and slides it back into her bag. She rubs her thumb on his temple, and she says, I'm sorry, friend. [01:05:56] Speaker B: Ro, like, puts her hand on his hand, [01:06:02] Speaker A: and she looks toward Thespis. He lives, if just. But none of us retain any healing capability. [01:06:16] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:06:17] Speaker A: Okay. Greta's there first. [01:06:19] Speaker C: I run over and I cast your wounds. Is more. Right. I always forget. Yeah, I cast. [01:06:28] Speaker A: Yeah, it's more because you have to touch. [01:06:30] Speaker C: I cast cure wounds at the fifth level. [01:06:36] Speaker A: Okay. All right. That's a lot of healing. [01:06:40] Speaker B: And I want to say, as she's casting it, I. I think Ro runs over and she grabs his hand and just watching greta do it. [01:06:49] Speaker C: So, 1D8. 2, 3, 4. Wait, 2, 3, 4, 5. So is that 5D8? [01:06:58] Speaker A: Yes. [01:07:00] Speaker C: Okay, let me get my dates. That's a date. [01:07:11] Speaker D: That's a date. [01:07:21] Speaker A: That's. [01:07:22] Speaker D: Indeed. [01:07:23] Speaker C: Sorry, I'm taking forever. 2, 3, 4, 5. Plus spell modifier. [01:07:51] Speaker A: You all are just kind of absorbed in that silence as Greta rushes over and bathes him in small waves of green energy. [01:07:58] Speaker C: That's a 20. That's 23. [01:08:01] Speaker A: Okay. [01:08:02] Speaker B: And like I said, Rogue runs over, and she's holding his hand while Greta curing him. [01:08:09] Speaker C: Is he. Is. He. [01:08:17] Speaker A: Was on an overlapping speech. [01:08:19] Speaker D: All right, Craig is gonna still be with Eth Moon Kai as we go on. [01:08:24] Speaker C: Is Thespis conscious? [01:08:27] Speaker A: As the energy washes over him, he. [01:08:30] Speaker C: Hold on, hold on. Damn. Damn. Yeah, I casted it too high of a level. I didn't. I didn't have any. [01:08:42] Speaker A: Okay, okay. [01:08:44] Speaker C: Do you want me to reroll or just take a dice away? [01:08:47] Speaker A: You can just take a die off. We don't have to work that hard. [01:08:50] Speaker C: Okay, so die. [01:08:53] Speaker A: Have an average value of 4. We'll call it 19. Understood? Okay. [01:08:56] Speaker C: Okay. Sorry. [01:08:59] Speaker A: That's okay. I'm over here. Not upset yet. In the same way, there is a labored breath, and then. And he's still. Eyes closed, but his breathing evens. You can hear some struggling to breathe, some ragged, but he is. He seems to be with you, Craig. You stand there, Alandra's light bathing over you, and you're just looking down at Epmund, lifeless, the man who watched over your family, the man who gave you Star Splinter. He looks. [01:09:47] Speaker D: This game is too personal. Oh, gosh dang it, Zach. Why do you have to get me so emotionally connected to freaking fat, real characters? And I know we're gonna revive him, but, oh, my gosh, I think, like, in that moment, Craig is gonna, like, kneel beside him and he's going to, like, kind of put his hand, like, on his. On his, like, face or, like, on his, like, forehead. [01:10:27] Speaker A: Forehead. Yeah. [01:10:29] Speaker D: He's just going to say, like, a quiet prayer to the maker of, like, keep him at peace until we can bring him back. Keep him rested at the surface until we can bring him home. He's a man of deserving honor, a good man. [01:10:59] Speaker A: As you cry over that prayer, Craig, Paulo comes from where he is praying and stands behind you and puts his head on your shoulder or his hand on your shoulder. He doesn't say a word, but he stands there in vigil, too, one paladin beside another. And he observes in silence, maybe not being as personally connected, but feeling the weight. Alandra breathes heavily. She seems laden with emotion, but it seems like she has spent everything she has to spend and that she has no more tears to give. At the moment. She just says, I'm not much one for. Moments of emotion, of display, but there is a cleric among the wolves of the well, Uegg Veldath. And she kind of seems to look to the space where Kimdin last was, and when she says, eldath Gajras, sort of, like, turns her head slightly for a moment, then goes back to watching the darkness. And she says, he sang it to a tune. I do not recall, but he told me once that among his people there was a song they would sing over the lost. And then she gets out her phone while she suddenly forgets the lore she wrote six years ago. [01:12:41] Speaker B: Would Row know of this song by any chance? [01:12:44] Speaker A: No, absolutely not. Different religion to other side of the world. [01:12:47] Speaker D: Okay, [01:12:51] Speaker A: Father? Yes, yes, yes, yes. She recalls it suddenly, and she doesn't need to get out of her iPhone, she continues to hold Epimon's head and she says, where you go, we cannot follow. But we were thankful for all the time that we borrowed. Where you go, we cannot follow. For where you are, there is no more sorrow. Where you go, we cannot follow. So I'll see you then, friend in tomorrow. She just kind of sits into her hip a little bit. You all are left there in that quiet. [01:14:01] Speaker D: Oh, I didn't even get to say a thing to say thank you. Gotta bring it back. [01:14:07] Speaker A: Heck. [01:14:14] Speaker B: I think Ro is still over by Thespis and, like, still holding on to his hand, but I think she's, like, really quietly just muttering her saloon prayers and, like, holding on to, like, with her other hand, like, her maker symbol and her saloon symbol and just like, kind of. Just like in a trance, muttering for him and for F Moon Kai, and just kind of. She's over by Thespis, but she's just kind of, like, staring at, like, in the direction of F Munkai and just like in a cycling trance, almost. [01:15:00] Speaker C: Dm, Can I do either a medicine check or an arcana check to figure out six people that need healing the most? [01:15:15] Speaker A: It would be medicine, but you can see that the people around you are stable. The wounds that remain are greater. Their lost limbs, their. The people that are here are. Are stable. [01:15:37] Speaker C: Okay. [01:15:39] Speaker A: Rest is what they need. [01:15:41] Speaker C: Okay. [01:15:45] Speaker B: As a. [01:15:47] Speaker A: Or just go for it. [01:15:51] Speaker B: Could I do a strategy check to see would it be worth it to use the long rest in a bottle potion to get all my spell slots back? [01:16:06] Speaker A: You can make the strategy check resurrect of Moon Kai. Oh, I hadn't thought about that. [01:16:21] Speaker B: If. Because we have the long rest in a bottle, and obviously I would have Ro ask everyone what they thought for, like, before she actually took it, but I wanted to do a strategy check to see if it was. I. I got a. I got a 15 to see if it be, like, if that's, like, the right move, if that's worth it. [01:16:45] Speaker A: With a 15 row. You're very aware that there. There are just decisions here, right? Yeah, you are. Ultimately, it is up to you to weigh out this choice. You are aware this isn't supposed to move you one direction or another. You're aware that Alondra spoke of the great time and effort it took to produce that, and that it is an incredible resource for a moment of need. And were there to be any other great conflicts in your future, that would be an indispensable tool. [01:17:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:17:18] Speaker A: But with a 15, you also consider that as Equally as indispensable a tool as an ally. And saving F. Moon's life would be an incredible boon to your cause. Both are very strategically viable decisions, which is a disappointing answer. But you see the value and strategy in both, and you are left simply to the decision that you would make. They both make it really sense. [01:17:48] Speaker B: I think I. After a while, like, because we're all sitting there, like, for like, quite a while, right? I think I would, like, kind of like, almost mumble out of my train, out of my trance to try to get Greta and Craig's attention and just ask. Ask their thoughts on the matter. [01:18:15] Speaker D: I think Craig is gonna come up and start talking to you about it. Jackie, is that spell, like, can it be used tomorrow? [01:18:30] Speaker B: Resurrection. Yeah, resurrection. So you touch a dead creature that has been dead for. For no more than a century, that didn't die of old age, and that isn't undead, if its soul is free and willing, the target returns to life with all its hit points. And so I guess that's my, like, as Roe, I'm explaining the spell to you. Like, I guess that's my concern. Like, I. I've never cast it before, and I don't know if that's, like, if time would be of the essence. [01:19:07] Speaker C: Can I. Can I do an ar dm? Can I do an arcana check to see if I know that [01:19:14] Speaker A: you know the spell? [01:19:14] Speaker C: Religion check. [01:19:15] Speaker A: Maybe you know the spell and you are aware of what Ro just told you, that you have a sentry. [01:19:23] Speaker C: But I think. I think that Ro was saying that she's worried about the free and willing [01:19:28] Speaker B: part, [01:19:30] Speaker C: that maybe there's some sort of, like, thing that can happen. So I. That might be like. [01:19:36] Speaker A: You can give me a religion check. [01:19:38] Speaker C: Okay. [01:19:39] Speaker B: Can I assist? [01:19:40] Speaker A: No. [01:19:41] Speaker C: Maybe I don't need it. [01:19:43] Speaker D: Oh, [01:19:46] Speaker C: I need to get a little bit. [01:19:48] Speaker B: I need it. [01:19:50] Speaker C: 22. [01:19:54] Speaker A: A 22? [01:19:56] Speaker C: Yeah. I didn't need it that bad. [01:20:00] Speaker A: Okay. You are aware, Greta, that this spell will be potent for a very long time. So in that way, you have a great deal of time. But with a heart betrothed to a deity such as this, within a certain period of time, it might change the effect that spell could have, for better and for worse, that at some point, Selune may lay claim to Ehmund. Good for him, but a loss for you all. You are also aware with a 22 that some gods choose to permit their servants to return for a time. So Selune, it would be her. Her choice that she might release Ehmun to you to continue to be useful. Or she might. She might choose that he has given enough. [01:21:03] Speaker C: Okay, I. But do I kind of get the sense. And maybe if I need to roll again, but do I kind of get the sense that that isn't going to change a whole, whole lot between now and. And eight hours from now? [01:21:17] Speaker A: You are. [01:21:21] Speaker D: That's true. [01:21:22] Speaker A: You get the feeling. [01:21:23] Speaker B: 24. [01:21:23] Speaker A: But if this time frame is changing, it's probably changing quickly. This is probably the time that would matter. Not so much tomorrow. By tomorrow it will be tomorrow. [01:21:34] Speaker C: Got it? Okay. Okay. I relay this and I say. I. I think Ceylon is a very merciful. She seems. She seems. [01:21:51] Speaker A: I'm not communicating with you all. I'm communicating with my wife. Please continue. [01:21:58] Speaker C: And I think. I don't think she would keep a servant from us if we needed it and if he was willing to return. But if. If we had any doubts about that, I would say we should do it now. [01:22:19] Speaker B: I. I think. Are we to. She looks up at Alondra finally and she says, are we to camp here for the evening until. [01:22:32] Speaker A: Alandra blinks hard after a moment and says I don't want to spend any more time in this place, but I know I lack the power to return you on same. All of us, that is. So until tomorrow. The halfling woman butts in, not rudely, but cuts in and says with her jaw somewhat. Her face somewhat corroded away, and she just says I'm not trying to be rude and I'm sorry about your friend. I still need to be paid. She just has a very flat serious face. [01:23:24] Speaker C: Alondra nods and says, this was the. From Sandor. [01:23:28] Speaker A: The Death Adder. Yeah, that like highly esteemed member of the Blades of Sandoria. And Alandra just continues and says, we never leave our allies out to dry. You won't be paid. And the halfling woman just nods, leaves it at that. Steps away. But [01:23:48] Speaker B: is. Is this. Is this all that's left of us? [01:23:56] Speaker A: Alandra doesn't even look at you. She just looks at Ephmun's burns and nods solemnly. [01:24:01] Speaker C: Oh, wow. [01:24:01] Speaker A: As if she's already checked, okay. That all the others are dead. [01:24:07] Speaker C: Wow. [01:24:08] Speaker B: So there's. How many. How many is there of a. There's. [01:24:14] Speaker A: There's our. [01:24:15] Speaker B: Our people. So there's 5v. [01:24:17] Speaker A: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 who came. Okay. 1, 2, 3, four, five, six. Now live. [01:24:31] Speaker B: Wow. [01:24:32] Speaker D: Wow. [01:24:33] Speaker B: The other nine are dead, but that's not including us. [01:24:37] Speaker A: No. [01:24:38] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:24:40] Speaker A: You all know which of you are alive and dead. [01:24:42] Speaker B: Yeah. Rogas, Rocas, well, Ro says, okay, I'm going to try to sleep. So first thing I can do is resurrect f Moon. [01:25:03] Speaker A: Yes, that's the course of action. [01:25:06] Speaker B: But for protection, anyone can get under this that needs to. And she casts Leman's tiny hut over like her, and anyone can, you know, up to eight people can go in it. [01:25:20] Speaker A: So Ro, as you play through, through the mad mage, the chaotic mage, dungeon of the mad mage, as you play through the chaotic mage, the light opaque purple dome materializes and it's not quite fit for everyone, but for most of you, and especially the injured are pulled in and the fungi is drawn near and your. Clovers grow up. [01:26:01] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:26:01] Speaker A: Interestingly, when you tried previously, you couldn't grow plants here. But now the phylactery has been destroyed and the storm is now starting to clear out so that you can see almost the entire or most of the night sky at this point. They're growing now in the soil, providing a soft bed, and the dead and the wounded are pulled onto it and people begin laying down exhausted, taking off armor. [01:26:23] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't think I. I fall asleep next to Thespis. I don't leave his side. I want to make that of note. [01:26:34] Speaker C: I was gonna say Greta would. Greta is like, kind of continually monitoring Thespis just, you know, in case anything goes south, but she's monitoring him and she's also like, going around and anyone who will let her, she's like, taking stock of their injuries and like, if as. As the night goes to a close and she doesn't need to crack spells, she'll use up the rest of her spells to heal people and. [01:27:04] Speaker A: Understood. Understood. [01:27:05] Speaker C: Just like, like, like, oh, where does it hurt? And like, help with pain. But she's also taking, like, taking mental note of who is the most injured and who is in the most critical condition and what she thinks she can fix tomorrow when she has greater restoration. [01:27:23] Speaker A: Understood. [01:27:24] Speaker C: So she's kind of like, [01:27:27] Speaker A: you spend the majority of your remaining healing on Gajrash, and Thespis are both in really bad shape, and you spend the majority of your healing on them. And you can go ahead and give me a medical. A medicine check for Gajras. My goodness, that's a hard name. It has to be hard for you guys. It should be hard for me to. You know, that's only fear there. [01:27:56] Speaker C: That's a 25. [01:28:02] Speaker A: 25, yes. Examining her wounds as a skilled, if what, somewhat unorthodox cleric who got most of your field training and animal sacrifices [01:28:16] Speaker C: can. I can I, Greta also spent a long time traveling. And she spent a long time like, for, for most, she was like a human, you know, 20, 23. She like worked and she like traveled with a group of traveling people. So she has. [01:28:36] Speaker A: That is very importantly true. Yeah. [01:28:39] Speaker C: But she also, she's like, she's been traveling for a long. [01:28:43] Speaker A: Like an herbalist and a medicine woman at large. Yeah, that part not so much for what I'm about to say. Yeah. Next. But yes, for everything else. Yeah. No, this leans more into your understanding of your time with the hags. As you look over gajdash and you look at her arm that's been torn away and the bandages that have been put over it, the amount of the. You remove the tourniquet briefly and you look underneath at the wound. This limb was not removed by magic. It was not burned away. It was snapped and ripped away. [01:29:23] Speaker D: Wow. [01:29:24] Speaker A: And first of all, she's in the stages of shock, so she needs sleep and rest. And rest. And then some more rest. And food and water which are being provided. But also it's gone. And magic beautifully sterilizes wounds to relieves infections as well. At a low level, will say. But she's going to need further amputation. [01:29:54] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:29:56] Speaker A: Where the tissue's been ripped away halfway up the arm. It's going to need to be up, amputated halfway up the shoulder. Wow. Cuz that tissue is going to continue to necrode. So that needs to be done by someone at some point. [01:30:13] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:30:14] Speaker A: But you do whatever you do with that information. Do you inform her of that? Do you keep that to yourself for now? She's kneeling down, just kind of quietly staring into the shadows as you look over her wound. [01:30:27] Speaker C: I think I would call over. Are there any other people? [01:30:32] Speaker A: A lot of people are falling asleep at this time. [01:30:35] Speaker C: Okay. Is there anyone else awake who I know is proficient in medicine? [01:30:42] Speaker A: There's no one else conscious who's proficient in medicine. [01:30:46] Speaker C: Okay, well then I, I think I, I, So I'm, I'm examining it and I'm like asking her why it hurts. And I'm gonna say, she takes a deep breath and she goes, You want to wait until, until the morning and have someone else look at it? [01:31:14] Speaker A: She doesn't say anything. Kind of looks at you, her head bobbling a little bit. [01:31:20] Speaker C: I speak up and I say, I'm not a doctor. [01:31:30] Speaker A: I'm keeping watch. And then she stares back into the shadows with the rusty sword in her hand. Anyone else doing anything? [01:31:48] Speaker B: News? And Ro has collapsed, but she's. Yeah, [01:32:03] Speaker C: I asked Her. I asked her to wake me up if anyone gets. Yeah, Sick or starts coughing. [01:32:10] Speaker A: She like wobbles a little bit and she nods, but it doesn't look like she particularly registered what you said. But from nearby, the 30 foot tall gold dragon coiled around you like a massive serpent who is heaven just nods and she says, I am watching. I would let you know that. Is it true? [01:32:36] Speaker C: Thank you. [01:32:38] Speaker A: And she just lays down next to you all. And you feel. [01:32:43] Speaker C: Do dragons sleep protected? [01:32:46] Speaker D: You don't know. [01:32:48] Speaker A: But she is sitting very resolutely and watching. [01:32:52] Speaker C: Okay, cool. I curl up next to Ro and go to sleep. [01:33:01] Speaker A: And with that, the party falls asleep. And it is an exhausted and spent and desperate sleep, Save for Craig. Craig is you slumber deeply. [01:33:29] Speaker B: No, [01:33:31] Speaker A: no. You blink your eyes awake at some moment in the evening as you feel restless in the night, stirred awake by something. And you wake up in the dark, stony place that you are. Except that it's a bit too dark. Alandra's. The light from her necklace that she didn't turn off as she slept. It's not there around you all. You don't see any of your allies nearby. You're in. You're in dark and stone. You what? Sorry? [01:34:15] Speaker D: Star splinter. [01:34:16] Speaker A: Okay. You reach to your side and you can feel it. Yes, it's there in its scabbard. And you, as you pull it out, it lights up with light. And there you are in the landscape, exactly where you were. But none of your allies are there. There is no dome. And there are before you bones. Not scattered all around you the way they really are. A handful. And they. They're in a line, not a perfect line, scattered, leading far, far away until they start wrapping around the uneven, jutting, rising stones of this landscape. The splintered shards of obsidian that jut out of the ground. And for a moment you feel the disquiet of this dark vision. 4. A golden flame sets up above the bones and then begins burning over the path of bones in the distance. And you hear a voice say, Craig. And then you wake up. And there you are among all of your friends, under the dome. Awake. Yes, Micah. [01:35:44] Speaker D: You know how you can wake up from a dream and you can remember the feelings and the tones of the dream, like you could feel if it was stressed, if it was fearful, if it was horror, things like that. Or. [01:35:55] Speaker B: Boy, [01:35:58] Speaker D: does this feel like a calm directional dream? Or did this give me an insight check? [01:36:06] Speaker A: Give me one of them inside checks. Give me a check. [01:36:09] Speaker D: That's inside. [01:36:10] Speaker C: It's crazy. What? Like my friend doing a Different voice can do to my brain, [01:36:18] Speaker A: especially after [01:36:18] Speaker C: years of this, just, like a slightly, like, different voice. I'm like, oh, [01:36:29] Speaker D: Cold. So that's a 19. [01:36:35] Speaker C: Oh, go, Craig. [01:36:40] Speaker A: Unease, Craig, but not foreboding. Fear, but not the fear of danger, the fear of immensity, not the fear. Of. Oh, there's not an insidious fear, not a phobia, but the fear you have as you stand at the edge of a canyon. The fear you have as you look out at the open ocean. You felt it before, and you recognize that voice. And you wake up there in the dark. All your allies are sleeping. Everyone's asleep. Actually, the Dragonborn woman outside of the dome is asleep, slumped over a stone. Only the dragon remains awake, and she's 30ft away from you, just looking out into the darkness. You're the only one awake other than her watching. Still. [01:37:47] Speaker D: Can I do I remember the placement of the bones? [01:37:56] Speaker A: It's fuzzy to you. They just seem scattered. [01:37:59] Speaker D: But they led where? [01:38:02] Speaker A: The direction? Yeah. They led inward, in from the ruptured, broken land from which you came, that crater of space toward Blackfang, [01:38:25] Speaker D: Where we had just been. [01:38:27] Speaker A: Yeah. It's just this layer is the direction they led. [01:38:34] Speaker D: Did it sound like I've heard the Maker's voice before? [01:38:40] Speaker A: It was a little vague in that dreamlike quality, but it didn't seem dissimilar. But in that way of dreams, where. Yeah, you think? Yeah, you suppose. So. [01:39:00] Speaker D: I'm not gonna act on anything because I don't want to be dumb. [01:39:03] Speaker A: Mm. [01:39:05] Speaker D: So I'm gonna kind of quietly first, I'm gonna pull out my diary, and I'm gonna jot all the information down, all the details I can to remember it and retain it. And then I'm gonna go back to sleep until everybody else wakes up. [01:39:21] Speaker A: Understood? Craig, that diary is getting mighty full. But you just. As a. As a story note, you write down the ideas, and you close it. You lay your head back to sleep. It's deep sleep, Greg. You know that sleep where you, like, put your head down and you, like, lift it up, and it's the next day, and you don't recall sleeping. [01:39:38] Speaker B: You. [01:39:39] Speaker D: Before I go to sleep, I, like, say quiet prayer. I'm like, tell me more. [01:39:45] Speaker A: Okay. Okay. [01:39:47] Speaker D: I roll persuasion. [01:39:48] Speaker C: Check. [01:39:49] Speaker D: No, I'm just kidding. [01:39:53] Speaker A: You can roll an audacity check. [01:39:54] Speaker B: I'd like to persuade God, please. [01:39:57] Speaker A: You put your head down and move his heart. Black sleep takes you. You're just out until. Craig, You wake up. Wake up. Oh. Oh, there's the echo. Did you take Headphones off or something. Oh, we're good now. [01:40:17] Speaker D: Okay. [01:40:18] Speaker A: That was weird. Weird. Craig, you. You lift your head up. Alone. You're further, further toward the center of the landscape now. Somewhere lost in the jutting stone. Alone again. You're not even armored. You're just wearing a simple tabard with the sword at your side. But the sword is on fire. A blue and gold flame. And there are bones scattered and a path. And the gold flame is lit above it. And you can see, poking up above the stone in the landscape, the spire of Blackfang. And you hear a voice say, greg. And you blink. Awake. This time, when you wake up, you heard it. You heard it outside of your dream. It, like, woke you up. You heard the voice. [01:41:22] Speaker D: Were my hit points back and my spell slots. [01:41:28] Speaker A: You feel a little better, rested, but you are not fully rejuvenated. If anyone can be after this day. You wake up, the star is in a slightly different position. Not much, maybe half an hour. An hour passed. You're alone in the dark. And the night. [01:42:01] Speaker D: I don't want to be rash. I don't want to make any decisions. [01:42:03] Speaker A: You don't have to be. What would Craig do? What would Craig do? [01:42:09] Speaker D: Feel like Craig has learned a lot, and he's learned the weight of a decision, and particularly the wrong one. Old Craig would have just immediately started walking out towards black thing and just gone table. I don't think he's gonna do that now. I think he's on the safer side. I think he's gonna go back to sleep. Before he does, he does. Okay, Okay, I get it. I get it. Just tomorrow, please. [01:42:42] Speaker A: Absolutely. [01:42:43] Speaker D: And then he goes to sleep. [01:42:45] Speaker A: You lay your head down, Craig. The sleep is deeper, more full. There's no vision this time, but this time you hear audibly, in a fairly loud voice, craig, wake up. I raised your bones. And you just. You wake up. It's still night. The stars have changed positions significantly, but it's You. And your allies are there. Every. But everyone else is asleep. You heard was loud, like someone saying something at full volume near you. But no one else is awake. Only you. [01:43:34] Speaker D: Okay. I am. I'm gonna kind of shake away Greta. [01:43:46] Speaker A: Okay, Greta. You're welcome. [01:43:54] Speaker C: Hey. [01:43:54] Speaker D: I don't think you're gonna get this. I don't think you're gonna get this. But there's a voice, and it wants me. [01:44:01] Speaker A: Listener. Listener. What you can't see is that as Mike is doing this role play, she tilted the camera an inch away from her face so that Abby can have the pov. Of Craig shoving his face. [01:44:11] Speaker B: That's exactly what I pictured Craig like in Greta's face. [01:44:17] Speaker D: He doesn't want you. He wants me. [01:44:21] Speaker A: Greta, you're. You're. You're shaken awake and you hear it's not. Not about you. It's about me. I'm special. [01:44:32] Speaker C: What is it? [01:44:33] Speaker D: I'm gonna go somewhere. I'm gonna go come if you want to witness it. But I was alone in the dream, so I don't know if that matters, but I needed you to know where I'm going. [01:44:43] Speaker A: Greta, as you're. As you're shaken awake, Craig has bags under his eyes. And I mean, he's still. He still has wounds on him. His armor has been taken off to sleep. So you can see now some of the gashes through his clothes and some of the blood staining everywhere. And there's a bruise on his neck that goes all the way down his clavicle and disappears under his cloak. He still looks rough, but he is insistent and confident as he awakes you. [01:45:09] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:45:10] Speaker D: Wow. [01:45:12] Speaker C: Okay, Craig, have I been sleeping long enough to pick new spells? [01:45:20] Speaker A: You have not had a long rest. Though you do feel a little better rested. Okay, well, I'm gonna chose to go with him. It be of the state you're in now. [01:45:29] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm going to. I'm gonna like, scribble. She's gonna like, her eyes are closed, she's gonna flip open her book, scribble something down in her journal and then go back to bed. Or she's going to be like, okay, Craig, you don't want me to. [01:45:49] Speaker A: You can make a strategy check for me if you want. [01:45:57] Speaker C: 10. [01:46:03] Speaker A: Craig. Did you say he was going to wander off by himself in the land of Zorum at night? It might not be a terrible idea to accompany him, but you know, you boo. It does occur to you there. There would be advantages to getting a full night's rest. Might not be a terrible idea to see that your paladin doesn't go wandering off into the night here. Okay, I say even be worth bringing another ally. [01:46:32] Speaker C: Are you sure you want to go, Craig? [01:46:36] Speaker D: He won't let me sleep. I'm sorry. It's okay. I can't get gang and these sleepy keeps waking me up, telling me to go. [01:46:48] Speaker C: I'm stopping you. [01:46:50] Speaker D: It's the one that not made me bones. Oh, what made me bone? [01:46:59] Speaker B: That's been written down. [01:47:01] Speaker A: It's the one that not made me bones. Ya boy. It's got. That's very Mr. Krabs coded. [01:47:10] Speaker C: Okay, well, I have to Go with you. [01:47:14] Speaker A: Micah, just a heads up. You're not helping yourself up by wrapping yourself in a blanket up to your head as we play this game. [01:47:21] Speaker D: No, I purposely yawned in character. [01:47:24] Speaker A: Oh, okay. Okay. [01:47:26] Speaker D: I actually did that. Good. [01:47:30] Speaker C: I have to go with you, Craig. You want to take someone else, [01:47:40] Speaker D: But it has to be you. [01:47:45] Speaker C: It has to be me. [01:47:49] Speaker D: Okay. I mean, [01:47:52] Speaker A: did you feel like. Did you feel like Abby was saying, do you want to take a third person? [01:47:58] Speaker C: That is what I was saying. [01:48:00] Speaker D: Okay. I thought you were saying, please, not me, but someone else. [01:48:02] Speaker A: I felt the disconnect. I felt it. [01:48:04] Speaker B: It was somebody else. [01:48:07] Speaker D: Okay. Yes, sure. Yes. Let me row that one. [01:48:13] Speaker C: Yep. [01:48:13] Speaker D: Okay. [01:48:14] Speaker C: And then he, like, goes, the gold dragon awake. [01:48:17] Speaker A: The gold dragon is awake. And her head is. Her head is slightly chilled. Her. What? Sorry, what? Continue. [01:48:27] Speaker D: My guy old was in the dream, so it makes sense. Let's get her. [01:48:32] Speaker C: That was old. [01:48:33] Speaker D: Oh, gold, gold, gold, gold. [01:48:39] Speaker A: What? [01:48:40] Speaker D: G, O L D. Gold. [01:48:47] Speaker A: As. As you look up, you can see that her head is slightly inclined. And as if, though she still looks out in the night, she's listening. She might have some pretty incredible senses. She might have heard all of this, but she's not looking at you all. [01:48:58] Speaker B: She's like these weirdos. [01:49:00] Speaker C: I look at her and I, like, clear my throat just a little bit. I go. [01:49:06] Speaker A: Her head tilts just slightly, but still not all the way toward you, as if she might be able to hear you even when you whisper nearby? [01:49:13] Speaker C: Yeah. I say, man, if you're supposed to be a dragon, we're gonna go. [01:49:19] Speaker A: Her head just looks back out to the shadows further away from you. [01:49:26] Speaker C: Nope. [01:49:28] Speaker A: Okay. Is Ro awoken? [01:49:32] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:49:32] Speaker A: Okay, Ro, you are shaken. Awake. [01:49:35] Speaker D: I also wake up Boz, and I have to sleep. [01:49:41] Speaker A: Wait, I have to resurrect. [01:49:47] Speaker C: We can't take her. We should take pause. [01:49:49] Speaker D: Okay. [01:49:50] Speaker B: God. [01:49:50] Speaker A: Asleep. [01:49:52] Speaker D: Well, okay. [01:49:54] Speaker A: She falls back on. [01:49:57] Speaker B: On thespace's shoulder. [01:49:59] Speaker A: Craig. Okay. All right, Craig, you. You shake. You shake Boz a bit. And he groans slightly and shifts, but doesn't respond a whole lot. Oh, yeah, he did die earlier today. He might need that night's sleep pretty. Pretty badly. [01:50:20] Speaker D: No one's in a good place to be, my friend right now. [01:50:26] Speaker A: Maya's sleeping, is starting to hit a really high pitch. She's over here going. Theremin. So, Craig, still got a rogue you could take you. And do you wake up Teller? Or are you, like, it's fine with me and Greta? Or did you get, like, a subliminal sense? Like, oh, maybe the DM was just trying to get the player characters there. But if someone has a really good mechanics ruling for not doing that, maybe it's fine that it's just me and Greta. [01:50:54] Speaker B: The player strategy. Do I need to wake up? [01:50:56] Speaker A: No, it's fine. It's. It's also fully valid that you're trying to get the night's sleep because you having resurrection is also a very good idea. [01:51:02] Speaker B: Okay. [01:51:03] Speaker D: So Craig, I do get that sense. And I leave it be. You get that sense, but I also extend the dragon. [01:51:10] Speaker B: Now I have the. [01:51:11] Speaker A: Yeah, she heard you fomo. [01:51:12] Speaker B: FOMO spell cast upon me. [01:51:15] Speaker A: It's. It's powerful. But you make the saving throw. Abby's pissing. So she can't hear this. Into the abyss. Into the. And there was something funny about Micah holding up her yellow bubbly right after I said Abby's pissing, but that's fine. To the abyss, but. So Greta and Craig alone, mount the broom and [01:51:49] Speaker D: take off her. [01:51:51] Speaker A: A landscape is. Okay, Greta, the dream is described to you [01:51:58] Speaker C: say. That does sound pretty important. Craig [01:52:03] Speaker A: said. Very. A deep role play. Real, authentic. That's good, Craig. That's good. And you all soar silently. There's something eerier about this version of the landscape. I mean, it's not the impending horror of knowing that the lich queens out there, the terror. But the place is just dead. Just still. And you all fly over the motionless stones to the only real visible facet in the entire landscape. That tall, thin, black, twisting spire. [01:52:47] Speaker C: I said this is. This is the direction, Craig. [01:52:50] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:52:51] Speaker C: Okay. [01:52:52] Speaker D: And I know it's a good mission cuz the maker's sending me on it. So he must know something we don't. [01:52:57] Speaker C: I hope so. [01:52:59] Speaker D: I really hope I'm not walking you to your death. I'm really sorry. It would be like the fourth time. [01:53:05] Speaker C: I hope so too. I'm. We'll be okay. You have the sending stone, right? [01:53:18] Speaker A: I got it on me. [01:53:21] Speaker C: Well, we'll just. Yeah. [01:53:23] Speaker D: Have no more teeth. [01:53:34] Speaker C: In his mind now. [01:53:38] Speaker A: And the party ri. Or the duo rides the broom further and further until after about a good eight, nine minute glide, you all land. The broom never hits the ground. It just hovers. And you all step off into the stone. And there is the motionless void of light with its stone jaws yawning open. The slain court of death. Even its undeath killed in it is motionless before you, completely swallowed up in shadows. [01:54:18] Speaker C: We're at Shista's tower. [01:54:21] Speaker A: You're at the opening to the tower. [01:54:23] Speaker C: Okay. [01:54:24] Speaker D: Okay. Maker, I. You didn't give me any bounds. Please. [01:54:29] Speaker C: The other One fell down. Sorry. [01:54:31] Speaker A: Sorry. [01:54:33] Speaker C: The other one fell down. Right. [01:54:34] Speaker A: Yeah, the little tower fell down. [01:54:36] Speaker C: Okay. [01:54:39] Speaker D: I don't know what to do for me. [01:54:41] Speaker C: What did he say to you again? [01:54:43] Speaker D: He said, I raised you from bones. But I don't know if that was, hey, buddy, you owe me one, or, hey, that's what I want to do again. [01:54:52] Speaker C: Why would he need to raise you from bones again? [01:54:55] Speaker A: Craig, could you make a perception check for me? [01:54:57] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:55:01] Speaker C: Me doesn't need to be me. I'm. I'm asking. [01:55:06] Speaker A: This ravenous hunger for rolls is a little charming. [01:55:09] Speaker C: Abby, I'm asking. Is it me? [01:55:11] Speaker A: It's Craig. [01:55:13] Speaker C: Okay. [01:55:14] Speaker D: Can she assist? No. How do I roll again? I'm just kidding. [01:55:23] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness. Okay, you got me with that one. Michael. What'd you get, dude? Micah, what did you get? [01:55:45] Speaker B: She's not okay. [01:55:50] Speaker A: This is not the energy. I thought we were gonna have this session, but I'm accepting it. [01:55:55] Speaker C: Micah, what's wrong? [01:55:56] Speaker A: Micah, if you can't say it, type it. What is it, girl? She got a six. Okay. [01:56:04] Speaker B: Oh, I thought she said a 46. And I was like, how, though? [01:56:08] Speaker A: I don't know. As Craig looks into the dark, he notices nothing different than a mist. Greta does not need to roll because her passive. Well, enough beats it. As you're standing nearby Greta, where Star Splinter is in its scabbard at Craig's side. Yeah. There's a reason. Where Star Splinter is in the scabbard at Craig's side, there's a little bit of light beading out, slipping out from between the mouth of the scabbard and its hilt where they meet. [01:56:42] Speaker C: Okay. I go. Oh, Craig, Craig, Star, your sword is. Is. Is glowing. Does it always. Does it always do that? [01:56:54] Speaker D: Take out the sword? [01:56:56] Speaker A: Okay. There's a very slick as it's unsheathed. And as Craig pulls Star Splinter out, it's broken. Design reforged by that lapis lazuli. Light in between lights slightly, and then it lights up with golden light. And then. These little singular tongues of gold flame, each about a foot off the ground, light their way into Blackfang. [01:57:33] Speaker D: It's like the dream I had. [01:57:35] Speaker C: Is it? [01:57:36] Speaker D: Yeah, it's similar. [01:57:39] Speaker C: That looks good. [01:57:41] Speaker D: Okay, let's go. [01:57:43] Speaker C: Yeah. Greta takes out her mace. [01:57:51] Speaker A: Okay. [01:57:52] Speaker C: Just in case. [01:57:53] Speaker A: Sure. The pair treads trepidatiously forward, crunching on uneven gravel, until stepping on the slick, smooth magic circle and carved floor like [01:58:07] Speaker C: a shiver goes down Greta's spine. She does not like being near this, like, dark rock. [01:58:14] Speaker A: Not enough time has passed since the day where your Friend died here. Where each of you almost died here. Where you faced one of the greatest evils of this world. Even though the power feels gone, something about this place still feels. Yeah. Wrong. [01:58:29] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:58:29] Speaker A: And there are bones all around you. Huge bones of the dragon are there. And you all walk. And one last tongue floats above. Not a perfect pile, but actually, yes. The many bones among this assortment that were shistas have been gathered into a small pile in the center of the room. And one tongue burns a couple inches above them. And both of you hear entirely aloud. What is dead is not dead to me. I raised you from bones. I gave you a pen, Craig. Be my instrument of mercy. And the fire burns with slightly brighter golden light. You all hear that aloud from around you. [01:59:43] Speaker D: I'm gonna raise up star splinter. Does it do anything? [01:59:53] Speaker A: You've held it higher in the air. [01:59:57] Speaker D: I thought he meant he gave me a pen. Like, What happened? [02:00:07] Speaker C: What did he say again, Dan? [02:00:14] Speaker A: I gave you the pen or quill, you would probably say, right? As the instrument of my mercy. Craig, you recall in your dream he had you place the tip of star splinter down into your bones where he knitted you together. [02:00:36] Speaker D: Okay, he's gonna do that. [02:00:40] Speaker A: Craig, you walk closer. [02:00:43] Speaker D: Just an obedient guy. [02:00:45] Speaker A: It's unsettling that the lich queen's bones are even regathered. This is a being upon whom death has had an unfortunate lack of grasp in the past. And the idea of her being anything other than ruined is unsettling. But what is it looking like as you place your burning sword down into this pile of bones? [02:01:08] Speaker D: I'm gonna. As he's walking up and every molecule in his body is telling him no. He's saying, I'm trusting you, big guy. [02:01:21] Speaker A: And he. [02:01:28] Speaker D: Okay, it's sitting there. [02:01:30] Speaker C: I tried so hard. [02:01:34] Speaker A: This has really big. With what power do you rebuff the fear of blackfang? The vibes energy? In one of the most dramatic moments of the story, Craig, as you walk up and place the sword down and you insert it into the pile of bones, the blade touches one of the of them and pushes them apart and the fire spreads over them before bursting to life in this bonfire of light that you have to like step back from. I actually need you to give me a dexterity save Craig. [02:02:15] Speaker D: That to me. Hold on, hold on. Does an 8 hit [02:02:33] Speaker A: Craig with an 8? You are not nearly fast enough to get out of the fire's way. And it half engulfs you as it burns upward. It is searingly hot, excruciating. You like you what? [02:02:52] Speaker D: Husband just came home. [02:02:55] Speaker A: Gotcha. It's excruciating to feel. And you instinctively jump backward. You actually even, like, fall onto the floor and have to push yourself backward with your feet slipping in that direction. Micah's been brought something and now is being hugged, and she's very happy and excited. I think Luke's being a very good husband. Luke's smiling. People of podcast. And there's candy. That's fun. I think Micah's nodding. It looks like Micah's wearing the world's largest fur cloak. As Craig falls and pushes himself backward. Craig, you instinctively reach to soothe burns and reach for your hair and your beard, but nothing's been burned. And actually, by the excruciating heat that you couldn't will yourself to touch again, you've actually received 10 points of healing. [02:03:54] Speaker B: Oh, crap. [02:03:56] Speaker A: From the intense flame. And as Craig falls backward and pushes himself away. And Greta, you're watching near him, I'm sure. In a stance of surprise. The fire has not gone anywhere. That bonfire continues to the gold flame burns not as a massive pillar, but as this sizable fire. Yes, my cut 10. And it's burning over the bones. And there you can see in its center, a dark silhouette of shadow. The objects at the center that are being the fuel of the fire, being being burned are beginning to flatten and fall apart as if being burned away. But after a moment of observing, you start to realize they're being rearranged. It's all very abstract, all very silhouette of shadow in the center of light. But you watch them being elongated, and you can see other bones are being gathered and no, no, something, A dark shape is growing around the bone. Something is developing in the center of this fire that is just burning. And what is more, you start to see. At first, it looks like a flicker in the flame, but in more and more detail, there is the silhouette of a figure in the center of the fire, standing above what is forming in the center. There is a silhouette of a being in the center of the flame, standing off the ground, looking over the body. [02:05:44] Speaker C: What's happening to the body? [02:05:46] Speaker A: The form is continuing. There is a body. The vague silhouetted shape of a person is starting to grow in the center of this fire, which is just. And it looks like the being in the center has a hand raised over it and is shaping that shape with its own. As the hand moves back and forth [02:06:12] Speaker C: better, like, falls to her knees and like, like. Do you guys know child's pose in yoga? She's just like. She, like, falls to her knees and she's just like fully child's pose. Like, her head, like her knees are underneath her and her forehead is on the ground and her hands are like, like reached out in front of her and she's just like, on the ground. [02:06:37] Speaker A: And the fire rages, The smoke rises off of the floor before this warm wind blows through the chamber and moves it all away. And under the blue light of Craig's sword, laying on the ground is the pale body, entirely clothed in flesh, of a human woman with dark black hair, a few streaks of silvery white before she. And she sits up. [02:07:31] Speaker C: Greta. [02:07:39] Speaker B: Hello? [02:07:39] Speaker C: Greta hears that and she just like, sits up and like, runs over and like, just like, grabs this woman in like, the tightest hug. Like, she just like, throws her arms around this woman. [02:07:52] Speaker A: At first the woman, like, begins to crawl back away from you, afraid, but she looks kind of feeble, like she's not quite strong enough to move away from you. And Greta, you grab her and hold her, and she's shaking for a moment, breathing, afraid, before an arm grabs around the back of your shoulder and squeezes, but there's only a moment before. And her hands, feebly, she like, wrestles herself to sit, and her arms push you backward. And as she's shaking, she says, matra Santani. Nethermodesi, Nathset, Nethset Myth. Nether Satani. She shakes. [02:08:32] Speaker C: I, I, I use my tongues. [02:08:34] Speaker A: Use the charge of your tattoo as it flows down your neck and the greens, the black scrolling moving from your mouth and your neck flashes with green light. And you, for a moment are, for the time, can speak elder common or, excuse me, old common. Old, not elder common, but old common. Because this one's old enough that given the time periods, she probably does speak common. But upon waking, the language that comes to her mind first is not common, but old common. [02:09:05] Speaker C: Yeah. [02:09:05] Speaker A: And she wakes and communicates to you. She, she shakes your shoulders and she says, where is he? Where is he? [02:09:14] Speaker C: Just nods and she says, well, we'll call him. We'll call him. And she turns to Craig and she says, call nifty. [02:09:20] Speaker A: You start to turn your head. Before you can even get the words out, her hand reaches around and grabs your jaw and turns your head back toward her. And she says, you have to tell him. You have to tell all of them. [02:09:34] Speaker D: It wasn't me. [02:09:37] Speaker A: It wasn't me. I was the distraction. [02:09:44] Speaker C: Okay, okay. [02:09:45] Speaker A: I wasn't the blade. And tears well in the bottom of her eyes as she says, I wasn't the blade. I was to draw you here. [02:09:56] Speaker C: Okay, okay. I call Alondra. [02:09:58] Speaker A: She's dead. [02:10:00] Speaker C: Who's dead? [02:10:01] Speaker A: They've killed her. Tonight. The blade is pierced, the veil is torn. [02:10:12] Speaker C: The blade is what? The blade is what? [02:10:15] Speaker A: She grabs you by the sides of the face and pulls you so close to her face, tears welling in her eyes, terror in her face. And she says, the blades have pierced, the veil is torn. [02:10:32] Speaker C: Right. Okay. I I He's coming. Okay, I wrestle. The I wrestle is where we are [02:10:40] Speaker A: going to end episode 173 of the Accidental Adventures. [02:10:53] Speaker B: Holy.