Critical Role & Sagas of Sundry - Vox Machina Ep. 16 - Enter Vasselheim

Episode Date: November 30, 2021

As Vox Machina completes their journey across the Ozmit Sea, Tiberius and Scanlan engage in a strange math workshop until Kima arrives and prepares the group for the culture shock awaiting them in Othanzia's capital city of Vasselheim. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Insurance isn't one-size-fits-all, and shopping for it shouldn't feel like squeezing into something that just doesn't fit. That's why drivers have enjoyed progressives' name-your-price tool for years. With the name-your-price tool, you tell them what you want to pay, and they show you options that fit your budget. Enough hunting for discounts, trying to calculate rates, and tinkering with coverages. Maybe you're picking out your very first policy. Or maybe you're just looking for something that works better for you and your family. Either way, they make it simple to see your options. No guesswork, no surprises.

Ready to see how easy and fun shopping for car insurance can be? Visit progressive.com and give the name your price tool a try. Take the stress out of shopping and find coverage that fits your life on your terms. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. At this point in the story, Vox Machina, this intrepid band of adventurer, misfits, whatever you must call them, completed an adventure through the Under Dark,

a very dangerous, cavernous. Oh, Sam's here. Stay here. You got texted. All right. So after completing this Under Dark challenge, they discovered and managed to extract an evil artifact known as the Horn of Orchus that held great, great power

and seemingly has a partner somewhere in the world that's unknown. But the one they've acquired is indestructible, as far as folks know. and it was decided by the Council of Taldore and Voxmachina that it should be sealed away, hopefully forgotten for the rest of eternity. The best place to do so came up in the conversation to be in the city of Vasselheim, which

is on a different continent far to the northwest of Taldore, the kingdom in which most of the story, as to this point, has taken place, to be sealed in what is referred to as the Platinum Sanctuary, the oldest existing temple to Bahamut, the good Platinum dragon deity deity deity. So they were given passage on a sky shift to cross the Osmit Sea to Athanasia, the continent that houses the capital city, Baselheim.

So the group gathered together, rode onto a magically elevated sky ship, and traversing the ocean carrying the horn of Orcus within this container, this holy container. Hello, Samus Reynos. They found themselves over the ocean, suddenly attacked by a band of what seemed to be Wyvern and Griffin riding bandits.

Battle took place on the top of the sky ship, some of the magic being taken out, a few lives lost, but the party managed to persevere, take a captive, and continue on their journey. The Horn of Orcus and its container kept safe. And that's where we pick up and begin. Can you say all of that again from me? You don't listen anywhere.

You don't listen anywhere. All righty. So as you guys have settled in the horns safe, you've taken a couple more days on this journey, what was told to be about a six day journey, across the ocean six to seven days. Is there anything you guys wish to accomplish at this moment? Are we in the air?

You are still in the air on the sky ship. Not much we can do. Well, we just, so we fought off the Weverns. Oh, do we have one? Is a little magician halfling still being polite and brushing her teeth and... She... Oh, that's right, our little halfling.

Yeah, who you saved. Yes. That you saved. She is a mage, and she has also been bound at the orders of the captain, so as not to cause any issues in the ship while she's there. So at the future, after her conversation with him, as to whether or not she could work on this ship, based on the fact that their first meeting involved her and her band attacking and trying to murder his entire crew, Captain Damon was not too keen on the idea at the time being and decided to lock her up. So we shall

see her fate in the near future. She's locked up. She's locked up. She's got tricks, though. Right? She has tricks, but there is an anti-magic brig built into the ship specifically for these Oh, that's good, yeah. You put the kibosh on her. She's a nigg. Cool.

So, I'll say that Percy is continuing to read his book. The next few days past without incident. Is there anything you want to accomplish? Anything? You said next few days about incident? Could I try to further my beard? Oh, yes, trying to grow a beard. Yeah, go for the beard.

Go ahead and roll another percentage of this. Yeah! right. It's a percentage diet. Oh, the right, right, right, right, right, right, right. I'm learning, I'm learning. First one and the second. 38. 38.

38. The little bit of peach fuzz stubble on the chin of your Goliath face begins to slowly grow. It's coming out colorless. It's almost translucent with a hint of gray and white. Ew. I'm a Targaryen, baby. That's hot. It's translucent, like.

It's, a color is there. It's almost like a fishing, like. line is like growing out of the bottom of his chin. Don't be jealous. Oh, that's really creepy, Guaradal. Thank you, thank you. Thank you. Keep in mind, Goliath's predominantly,

especially pure-blood Goliaths, do not grow facial hair. The fact that this magical feat is even achieving any modicum of growth is in itself in arcane marvel. And who knows what detrimental effects this may have in the long run going against your physiology. Oh crap. It'll make me look really wise, you've probably. No, guys, nobody will know.

I have some beads if you want, we can like braid it and I can put beads in it. I'm all about it. Beads and bells and shit. I've braids, grog's beard. Give me a scarf and I'll be gandled. All right. And put beads in it.

And a few flowers as well. Wait. The, uh, it looks nice. It takes you a lot of concentration to try and get any sort of braided through the about an inch to an inch and a half of facial hair that is grown from his chin. Looks good.

It's really tight. You'll get used to it. Maybe you can cast grasping vine on his chin. Throw it out. What could possibly go wrong? Do it. I suggest against this. How about you suggest violence?

No. Current violence. So we're healed. Oh, days have gone by, right? Days have gone by. Your spells have returned to you. Drink is feeling good. Days have gone by at this time.

You've continued traveling over the Osmit Sea. So, um... Are we nearing the destination? I'll get to the second. Do you have a question, Liam? Uh, well, no, not a question, but last night, while Grog was sleeping, I can see right up Grog's nose. Uh, while Grog was sleeping, I went and got a bit of rope from the ship and used my disguise kit that I have. I sort of frayed apart the rope and spent about an hour using spirit gum to glue bits of frayed rope.

to grog's inn into a small little Gilmore-esque goatee. He didn't seem to wake up and I'd like to see how that worked out. All righty. I gotta do a sleep check or something, right? Can't let him survive that. For this, go ahead and make a perception check with a disadvantage. Can you're asleep?

One. Get it out now. You wake up the following morning, immediately run to the nearest reflective surface to check on yourself, and you have a glorious, dark brown, well-braided, mildly frayed, thick coarse, go teabreate. It goes about a good three to four inches

in the bottom of your chin, and you are very proud. I knew it, I knew it. I am a special boy. Only this one strand is this color, everything else is wide, and thanks to do it. I think it looks good on you, girl. Thank you.

I wave my head, it whips around. I'll whip my beard back. I'll whip my beard back the book. It stays taught on your shoe? All right, so as you reach the middle of the sixth day of travel, the sky, which at this point has been fairly sunny and clear, begins to slowly cloud over. The weather grows more gray, and the clouds themselves

seem to cluster more into what, I wouldn't say, stormfront, but definitely a more gloomy atmosphere. Can I do like a nature check to see if this seems to be a natural or an arcane? Certainly. Ting tiling, ting. Nice. Okay, that's empty dots. 20 total.

All right. Looking at these clouds, it is a slow formation and they aren't moving in an unnecessary speed or seem to have any sort of ominous press towards you. It just seems like the weather itself towards this northern continent seems to be of the colder variety. I'm kind of sense the weather, I suppose, because this doesn't look fun. Okay, the weather is cold? It's cold. The cold, it's the cold. I agree.

I'm rather cold. Scanlon. I. Like we were discussing earlier, would you be interested in the still standing friendly trade of my ironstone for your circlet? You know what, Tiberius, I have been giving this a lot of thought and consideration. What's for lunch? I don't know. What would you like for lunch? Oh, no.

Oh, I was done with the conversation. Oh, really? Well, uh, Keyless, if you could put a little slate up for me, I'd like to, uh, if you'd strip something for a little scandal, perhaps his tiny mind can comprehend. Oh! Hey, that's rude. Would you, perhaps? This tiny mind is exactly proportionate

for the rest of his body, Tiberius. Fine, I will. Not the entire one. I'm gonna walk up to the home and be like. Don't run out here, poop. I throw up a, I throw up a slate. Oh, okay. It's the strangest wall you've constructed

as up in the air on the ship that is mostly constructed out of iron and metal, there is little to no stone available of which you can sprout a wall of stone. However, there are weights set up on top, so what you create is less of a smooth wall of stone more than a very thin, brittle shale wall that may function for a time being, but probably won't stand up for more than five to ten minutes. I see. Press the dissertation.

Some chalk. All right. You see, Scaritan, you've had this particular piece for over ten, let's say, matches or weeks. You have used it zero type in over six battles over the 10th course using zero type. I being a sorcerer have a special ability called sorcerer points where I can do multiple spells in a single round.

Yes? None of you can do other than monks of course. That's true. Bragg about it, Tiberius. Just keep bragging about it. I can do multiple spells like two versus you, which can do one, that means I can do one more spell than you can throw out every round after that, 100%.

This is so amazing. Your utilization of the actual item has been equivalent to nothing. In the interest of the group and the use of items in general, it would be wise to switch it because you have needed to extra spells, invisibility. The shale wall cracked several times. I'm sorry. Well, my idea would be more useful in general. May I ask is magical ability inversely proportionate to wisdom? Who are you asking? Is magical ability inversely proportionate to wisdom? Absolutely not. I am one of the strongest

castors in all draconia and it only takes the strength of my charisma to do my stuff. You are looking... What I think makes sense now, does he? So are you saying you want what he has? I didn't recognize you, Grog. Is that you? It is I, Brad Pitt from Legends of the Fall. My beard of glory.

That's a... That's a modern table. So, Scanlan, me go. What say you? Your mathematical skills have been quite impressive. I don't like to show them off. No, no.

For a man of such low wisdom, you are proving wiser than I ever imagine. I will gladly make this trade with you. You have convinced me. Oh, wonderful. Yes, yes. That's wonderful. All right, hugs, hugs, hugs.

Now, what is this? thing do now you can store up to three level spells and three three of them in there oh it's better than the pearl of power you don't have to expand the spell slots to do the spells all right thank you very much so like you could put like three light levels in that bitch cast another all right all right I'm man enough to admit that he's convinced me that was so good that was awesome I know what you wrote I'm sorry. The iron stone, which you take and kind of place

by your head and release, it seems to almost affix itself in the air and slowly rotate above your head, almost like held in its own orbital gravity around here. Pike. Wow. Check this out. It is fancy. It's like a halo.

Like your god has smiled on me, maybe, and said he's cool. Go for it. Oh, wow. Well, I don't know if that's what it means. Well, you know. Oh, religion is up to interpretation, so I interpret it that way. It's very, very cool looking.

Thank you. It's so casual, oh, God. It's cool, go for it. Sarenrae, the sheep row you never had. Sarenre is my wingman. I can't breathe. Many a cart, hold that bumper sticker. All right, so, as this conversation comes,

comes to a close, the temperature in the sky has gotten noticeably chillier. And you swear for an instant, you start seeing what looks like specks of white snow beginning to drift in the clouds ahead. It's snowing. It's snowing. I'm dreaming of a white whatever we celebrate.

So you guys, there was. Pesbis. There was something I should probably tell you. In this area of land in Vasselheim, on on this continent, somewhere, I'm not sure where, resides the fire ashari, somewhere in the town of Paira. What's that? Well, what a fire ishari?

They're my sister tribe. They're part of my sister tribe. So I come from the Air Ashari. Right. Yeah, from Zafra. So, yes, so they're a fire ashari. So the point behind me, Ashari, I'm not sure if I have expressed this to you all in the past few months.

The point of our tribe is that we sought out the weakest points where the elemental planes start to bleed with our plane of existence. And these planes need to be protected. So our people have sought them all out in order to make Haven there and be the protectors that we were all born to be. And as part of my Aramente, I have to seek out each of the headmasters and prove myself a worthy leader. Cool. Which makes me really nervous. But, um, you know. We got your back, Kim.

Yeah. Totally do it. Yeah, we can burn shit for days. Maybe after, you know, we handle, like, the horn, maybe we can, I might pop in, you know. So, you know, if you want to, Keeleith. When we go, we'll all follow your orders and make it seem like you're an extraordinary lead of us. Oh, yeah. That could be good.

Yeah. Oh, that sounds fun. Good idea, yes. Do they make you... Of course, that would be your... Maged guard. Well, they kind of teach me new things. They kind of instill me with their knowledge.

So the tornado thing, you could be like a fire tornado. I could. I know. I'm so excited. But yes, but super nervous, because, you know, social skills aren't my strongest suit. We've noticed. You're great.

Oh, new guys. But it's very charming. We've got to go there. It's fire everywhere. Yes. Yes. At this point in conversation. And it's everything copacetic between.

the different tribes. Good question. What? Are you guys friendly with each other? Is you happy? Well, yes, yeah. No, we're all happy. I mean, that's kind of the thing where once a generation,

someone sets out and goes on the Aramente in order to come back a headmaster. And it's kind of like our, you know, once a generation check-in, if you will, to make sure everything's okay. Unfortunately, the last person to go on the Aramente didn't come back, which happens sometimes. times. Um, yeah.

Like didn't come back ever? No. So like you could die? Or maybe they got lost to the winds of the road. Right, yeah. It was actually my mother. What? To which tribe? I, we don't know. I, she left when I was the little girl, so I,

don't remember much. So I don't know if she's alive or dead, really, but. We did not know that. It's okay. It's like, it's okay. Yeah, no big, right? What is your mother? I mean, well, I... It's fine. It's just, it's weird. I haven't seen her, so I don't know.

I barely remember her. Do you think there's a chance that when we visit this place, we might have to defend ourselves? No, no. I wouldn't think so. Which is not like your family, Rog. They're actually nice. Yeah, we're pretty, we're cool. Look, my family is nice too. We just share love with fists.

That sounds wrong in so many ways. It does, actually. You'd rather have to go alone, or does you try and permit there to be help for you? I'm assuming it would be okay. We're pretty welcoming. That's good. Yeah, we should totally go there.

We will go. And maybe ask you if they've seen your mum. Yeah, that'd be interesting. Yeah. It's weird. There's like this part of me in the back of my head that I kind of always wonders if I'm gonna run into her. How old, when was the last time you saw your mother?

Do you even remember? I was five, six maybe years old when she left. Wow. So I'm the next in line. This is heavy. Yes. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do. No, no, it's fine.

It's good to tell. I'm just letting you know that we're gonna be in those neck of the woods, so I should probably stop by, you know, go. You have a little. Man sighted, a voice breaks out from the side of the ship's balance. You guys glance over quickly to the edge of the sky ship.

And you see right over the edge of Dira, what looks to be this ominous continent, slowly approaching. Through the mists of the low clouds of this area, you can make out what looks to be a fairly, heavily wooded and overgrown landscape. You can see dark forest peppered with a little bit of snowfall across the top. Like that place. Occasional mountaintops and peaks breaking through the canopy of the

Trinket? Mm. Trink kind of looms up to the side and looks a bit chilly and kind of like shakes it up. At which point, Kima comes up and joins the rest of you, kind of puts her elbows over and looks off wistfully for a second and goes, it's been some time. Welcome to Athens here, folks.

It's an interesting place. We'll follow your leads. She points off, says, this forest here, we, You refer to as the Vaspur Timberland, and it goes for miles and miles before bleeding into English Tundra to the north, so let's hopefully not travel that far. This will be interesting. She kind turns around and heads back down under the ship. As you continue to...

Look, why did she see that? I know. Who was that person? That was so weird, right? Everywhere we go. It's everywhere we go. Why can people be normal? As the ship slowly begins to descend, you can see in the distance, from one of the various

mountain ranges that kind of break past the top, there is one singular mountain spire that tends to protrude from the center of the forest about 20 to 30 miles off the shoreline of the Ossumet Sea. Around the base of this mountain, you can see the closer you get to it what looks like hundreds upon hundreds of stone buildings. You can see little details along the mountainside, like countless staircases are spiraling up this mountain in different directions, kind of in a chaotic fashion, where there are large structures, fortresses built into the side of this mountain spire as you progress at the top, and this city proper, which spreads out, I'd say, about a third larger than Iman, layers of walls and walls and

walls. This is probably the most fortified city you've seen in your existence up to this point. Slowly it begins to bring itself down towards, and you can see as you get closer to the city, the walls vary in color and material. Some look recently built. Some look like they've been constructed in the past 50 to 60 years or so from fine, smooth stone using modern architectural techniques. Some walls look extremely ancient, partially crumbled and having to be re-fortified. You also notice that top of these walls are completely covered with what looks like these strange dragon-headed ballista, these defense bolista that are along every single row of walls. This is a city

that is meant to withstand any sort of a siege or onslai. Does it look like it's suffered a lot of sieges? I mean, there's there battle damage to the... It's hard to tell from this distance. You're just starting to pick up details as the ship slowly descends into the city of Asselaheim proper. But for what you can tell, there are scars across some of the larger buildings. Some of the walls look like they have sections that have been knocked down and then rebuilt, and then knocked down and then rebuilt. This is a very, very old, old city. Slowly, the ship descends towards what looks like a smoothed out, flattened platform

on top of some mill of some kind. It doesn't like it's built for a skyship purposes more than it's been haphazardly put together to receive a sky ship should come to the city, but it looks like that type of travel doesn't come this area too often. At this point in time, you can see now the crew's gathering their ropes. They're getting ready to go ahead and lower it down. Captain Damon is slowly steering and shouting directions back and forth to his deck hands. The scale bearers and Kima come up to the top of the ship

carrying the box that contains the Horn of Orcas as well. As the ship slowly makes its way to dock on the top of this mill, chemo has all of her materials over her shoulder. It says, all right, so, it's everyone's first time here in the city. Yes. Yeah.

Well, Keeler? Okay. Yeah. All right. And there was enough in the interim for a short rest from us getting from there to the last day to where we're at it. Yeah, yeah, okay, cool. Awesome.

Talk about you ever been here. I've been to have known. Is it cold in the city? It's pretty chilly. As you come down, you're, I mean, you wear furs naturally in cold environments, but this is, the temperature is the point where you may have to consider getting a little bit of warmer clothing if you travel too far outside of the city. I have a lot of winter cloaks already in my, um...

We have some fancy cloaks, too, don't we? Well, those are fancy clothes. Oh. But I've got winter coats that I bought for the group a long time ago. All right. Yes, sir. Last amount. All right.

So she pulls out the really nice, thick, fur-crafted, yeah. I remember. We're shopping. We have three of the fancy robes. We had a girls shop day. I would have to take off my clothes. I wear that, right? Huge on you.

So I won't wear one. I'll gird it. We'll say you could probably put it over. Okay, it'll just look a little bit chunky. Okay. I'm going to take a large fancy robe and try it up to gird it so that it looks okay. He wants a fancy robe. I'm going to gird my loins.

And you gird them well. You're like the tiniest Turkish wrestler you've ever seen. It's kind of adorable. Also, I'm going to cast lightning bolt into the ion stone. Yay. Okay. So mark that down. So you have a third-level lighting bolt saved.

You still use the spell slot, but after you rest, it'll be saved inside there. Which is an interesting experience. You see him kind of do this arcane finger wiggle in the air, and then he releases what is a burst electrical energy. and then immediately funnels itself and vanishes into the stone, which is now humming this low pulsing glow of a greenish blue light. Why are you watching this?

It's green, it's a green, wait, is it like a diamond shape? I don't know. It's like a little... Oh, it's like a... As long as it's green, you're happy, Skyline. It's white stone. It is white stone, but the energy rolling off it is kind of greenish and color. Oh, there you go.

He's happy. He's happy. I'm girded and I've got a shiny head. shiny head. Eventually the ship comes to stop. You feel like a little bit of a lurching sensation as the ship suddenly halts its advancing. All the ropes get dropped off the sides.

They start bringing what looks to be some sort of a haphazard crane. Also in preparation for trinket to be lowered off the ship. You can see, it's kind of a look of, I can't describe it better than anxiousness to Kima. She says, if you have any questions about the city, just speak up. Where do we take the horn? That's a good question. I believe, and she kind of looks over the edge of the ship.

I believe our escorts will be happy to guide us. I'd like to do an insight check before we hustle off. On, uh, Pima. Pima. Go for it. I would like to look for any places outside. Rolled on 18. Okay, and what are you trying to glean off of her? Why does she say?

seem anxious, does she seem different? Does her demeanor seem different, or she just seem in a hurry? You could probably take it as a little bit of being in a hurry, but you also get the feeling like there's a nervousness to her that stems, it's hard to really tell where it comes from, but there is a nervousness to her. Kima, what was the last time you were with your order?

Proper, it would be eight years. Oh. There's a long time. Of which we are about to meet them. Do you get along well with them? Yes. Yes. They're just, well, you'll see.

And she leaps over the side of the ship, grabbing the rope and lowers herself down, as do the rest of the two scale bears, kind of come out in tandem, clutching the chain on the sides of the box, bringing it down almost like a big Jacob's ladder. Eventually, I'll make your way onto the platform. And they're waiting for you.

you see there's a cluster of well-armored men and women wearing semi-matching gray tabards over patchwork and plated armor. They look like a really rough and tumble militia. But they all stand firm, and as you guys walk up, they give a nod of respect and understanding. And amongst them, you see one gentleman, an elderly gentleman with no hair, completely bald,

thick spectacles on the tip of his nose, wearing the same silver and blue robes. is the envoys that met you at the Council of Taldori and the ones that are carrying the box. As you all approach, Kima kind of steps out ahead and goes, Yon, it's been a while. The old man steps forward. It has been indeed, Kema.

It has indeed. And that's a scale bearer of Yon if you don't buy. I would prefer in mixed company the proper nice of our presentation. Oh, well, no proper company, it's all right. And you are... We are... I'm Tiberius Stormwind, and we are Vox Machina.

Everybody has names too. Hmm. I'm Pike. Keylet. I'm ion stonebearer Scanlan. Cox's head curious thing. You can call me Kingslay. I also did that.

Very well. Um, and a person introduces himself as well. I have a beard. You can see the most curious look of all, which is hard to follow off of a scam that over here. And I'm to understand these are the bearers of the artifact. Kimmel gets a nod. Yes, and I think we should be on our way quickly.

Yes, yes, of course, please. These are our escorts. Follow suit, we will bring you onward to the platinum sanctuary proper to dispose of this. How far is the platinum sanctuary? No more than a 25-minute walk. Oh. Oh.

And inside check, John? Oh. So, I'm going to look for any temples that might have a sigil inside while we're going through the town. All right. Do you want to ask around about that? Us are the young guy. Okay. Well, first off, if you finish your inside check, where did you roll?

What did you get, Liam? Thirteen. Okay, I got 15. Okay. He seems stuffy. He seems definitely dedicated to whatever his intent is, but it doesn't seem to be anything deceptive in his speech. So am I correct to assume our plan is that we're going to march this horn?

Through the town. So we get to the temple? Nobody knows what it is. So we'll just be aware. There's a huge on board. I mean, we can only assume. Yon, how many people in the city are aware of this horn being brought here? Well, up until now, other than myself, you travelers,

and the high bearer Vord himself, no one else. Hiber, his name is Vord? The high bearer of the Pliberian. What kind of man is he? Here, when he mentions Vord, Kima kind of twitches a little bit, and you remember Kima's official title is Lady Kima of Vord.

Mm. Her ex? Her ex? One. Yon? Scale, there are yon, yes. No, scale, there are yon. Look, that's a fun name.

As we travel through town, if you could point me into any place that would have a sigil of, you know, arcane-ness. Arcaneosity is most true. There are none. This city, arcane magic for the most part, is not allowed with inconsistent practice. This is a divine, a holy place. And the arcane tends to.

Cain tends to, uh, how do you say, when unwatched, corrupt and destroy from the inside. So... Oh, shit, I'm furious. No, I'm fine. Are you talking about other people? Mm-hmm. You don't have any arcane abilities anyway, right? Oh, of course, I mean, I'm a sorcerer. No, no, no, right?

No, I think he's... Sure. This here in Vasselheim, the cradle of faith, the dawn city, of once all civilization and current faith once stemmed from, There is no way in but by foot. It is a pilgrimage, a journey for each to come here. And those that stay, stay of their own will and divine right. And he refers to the guards around each guard you see now has around their neck very visibly shown a holy symbol of some kind of deity. Most seem to fall into the realm of Rathis, Avondra, Malora, and a couple with Bahamas. None of

None of Serran Ray. Or as Liam Golden, Seren-Rae. The best one. Serraimbrai! I'm going to take it, you don't see very many dragon-born in these parts. No, and frankly you're making me a bit nervous. However, as we ourselves are followers of the Platinum dragon, we understand that it is dragon kind at the heart of it,

the metallics that bring life and civilization and order to this world. Yes. Your colour I find off putting. I've always noticed a fine metallic sheen coming from your red scales. I'm of the chromatic nature. I'm a bit of an anomaly in my family, but they're all of the metallic brand, I assure you. The storming name runs true and wide about chaconia.

But I cast alter self real quick and I turn myself into, I believe, gold. Because that's the red equivalent of red. The metallic scale. It gives you a curious look. I think that would be better for everyone involved. Indeed, I would be mindful to not do such things so openly in public in the future.

Oh, sorry. No. No. Damn. Damn. And in the justice robe. This way, please, follow me. And it's Galberry on.

It's very nice. You look really great. So wait, hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on. Before we move on, we're about to leave, I'm assuming. You're stepping off the platform onto a staircase that leads off of the top of the mill. Should a few of us like kind of flank around and like, like, I think we should all kind of surround the bucks

and make sure. Rooftop shit? Yeah. Oh. I can go Eagle Farm and have aerial support. I love it. I can sit to the rooftops, I guess, and try to follow along.

What's that? I'll sit to the rooftops and try to follow along, sniper, right? Yeah, you too up top. I'll just stay right on the path. Yeah, you name. All right. Smash hands.

All right, so I'll take the six. Okay. As you- I'm gonna stay with it but try to blend in with the crowd. All right, all right. Go make stealth check. Yes. It's kind of good.

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. 23 for stealth. All right, if you wouldn't mind back to making the stealth check as well. Oh, well, all right. Just to keep your rooftop activity. Not disturbing. Oh, well, I rolled a one, so that's lovely.

All right, are you flying up above? Yeah, I'm going eagle. What would you go? Going, go in, don't you have advantage? Do I have advantage in no? And I'm taking a career. There are forests too, but with the forest. This is an urban environment.

I have. We do applaud your honesty though, sister. As you loudly clomp up and begin rooftop hopping, a few individuals in the city kind of take notice and point off. I'm weak at them as I'm climbing up. Ah, the classic back to week. All right, so just you guys can atmosphere as you step down the staircase and get to the main city street proper,

the first thing you notice. The roads themselves are not cobblestone, not brick, they are mud. They are thick, recently sleeted mud. You hear the clopping of horse hooves as carts are pulled through, and each one is this sickly sound, as each footstep makes it through. The people of this city are a very hardened and rugged folk. Most clothing is swathes and furze and thick leathers. Armour is patchwork, and it. Most of the men grow coarse facial hair, and the women themselves, their hair is wild and their appearance very stoic and grizzled.

The landscape of Vasselheim, oh, thank you kindly. Chicken through the magic door. The people who live here, you gather, quickly walking through in Kima gives you a bit of insight as well, live here not because it's easy to live, not because there's many comforts. It's a very harsh living in the city of Vasselheim.

but the city is also currently the oldest known bastion of civilization in the world. As far as it's understood, most human civilization, and while humans believe pre-Elf and pre-dwarf, of the dwarfs and elves very staunchly disagree, all stemmed from the city, which is believed to be tens of thousands of years old. They have uncovered the single oldest temples to the main deities of good neutrality within this city, and as such it is considered the holiest place in the modern world, which is why it has been through many, many wars and has seen much warfare and strife and difficulty. And those that live here live here because they feel that they can fight against this

and actually call a privilege to exist in this harsh landscape as devotion to their respective deities. Also, because it is such a holy place, this is why the arcane is considered, for the most part, profane in public and very carefully controlled otherwise. So we gotta be sneaky on that. The buildings look old. The buildings range from old to newer stone, warped wood from just the weather itself. You can see a lot of the wood has a kind of a mossy texture to it just from the general overgrowth that tends to take the city.

It's not kept for beauty, it's kept for function. There's scars across most of the buildings where you can see warfare has bled into the city. and there are markings and various points of ancient damage and certain structures that have not been rebuilt, that have just been left and ruined where they stand because they have not yet found somebody or a purpose to be restructured. It's a very different landscape than what you're used to. And the walk itself is a very solemn, quiet walk to the city.

The folks that do take notice just give a nod of acknowledgment or a gruff grunt as they pass by. There doesn't seem to be a definite interest in your travel. This isn't a special occasion. It seems like travelers and strange occurrences are not that unnatural in this city. Okay. So it's like New York.

You could say that, yeah. It's a very ancient New York. And we're carrying a large arc or a box of some sort? You are carrying the platinum box that the horn was kept in. How big is it? It's approximately like a foot and a half to two feet by two feet. And it's platinum?

And it's just a platinum. It's just a platinum box? Yes, it is. It is made of like solid platinum and silver with a series of very, very intricate scrolling and engravings on it. Is it sticking out like a sore thumb? There was some sapphies in there too,

some blue sapphies I remember. Yes, yes. Is it sticking out like a sore thumb? Best you can tell, there are people taking notice of it, but none that like stop and gawk. They just kind of, huh, keep walking. Damn, maybe we should have thrown a blanket

or something over it. Yeah. You could if you want to, no. So the whole... Burlap sack or something? The guard's still flanking you guys, surrounding this ensemble as it presses towards the base of the mountain. You make your way towards the edge of the mountain

or where the mountain begins to the bottom of the floor, and you can see dozens of staircases ascending the outskirts of this giant, pointed cragless spire that just sticks up and actually the clouds cut up. off the top of it. It's reminiscent of Cragshadow, the mountain outside of Western that you guys traveled to long ago. Right. But even larger, you continue up the staircase. And the stone work itself is a little

lopsight and awkward, and with each step, some of times you have to kind of catch yourself, especially as the wind begins to pick up the higher up from out and you go. And it takes about 15 to 20 minutes to ascend to the staircase. Your legs beginning to grow a little sore until eventually you reach the base of what you can only imagine is the Platinum Sanctuary. You see before you built into the side of the rock of this mountain a grand stone fortress that looks older than time in itself. You can see the elements have weathered to the point where even the solid points and how the stonework was meant to be an edge has been rounded and smoothed down. There are a series of silver markings across the outskirts of it,

which Tiberius, you recognize, is draconic. Look, Percy, it's Draconic. Oh, so it is. Mm. Oh. Certain words from Draconic. Percy, you've been so quiet here, Lely. I don't want to talk about it.

You see phrases blazing on the side of this, this giant temple, and say things like honor, justice, various, very, very old base traconic. Stuff like the current language is a more refined version. This is a very, very ancient basis. of that language. I see that Scanlan that says something like Apollo, Justice, something. It's Phoenix something.

This is, oh, it's maybe like the justice of the justice of the Phoenix. I don't know. There's a lot of things. From the top of this fortress, you see three constructs that don't match the stone structure. These may have been constructed or built many years later and have been added on to the temple, but three ivory and silver spires,

towers that ascend from the top of the fortress itself. almost parallel to the very steep mountainside that this fortress is built into. You come to the front doors of this structure. Two very, very large gray and gray stone doors almost like white marbling through them. And you can see mostly worn away, but still barely visible, the symbol of a shield with a dragon head

and blazing down the front of it, the symbol of Bahamut. As the scale bearer, yes, sat there. As the scale bears approach the front, the doors on their own, and open to the interior, the grinding sound of stone across the marble flooring of the fortress proper, you can see the interior. The fortress has a question. Can I see inside the temple or the temple is already enclosed?

You can now as the doors open. Well, I was an eagle flying overhead. Oh, yes. And I was going to do a perception check to see if I noted, like kind of do a loop of the temple. Go for it. So I'm an eagle. So I'm an eagle right now.

Okay, so. So. You're such an eagle. I very, very poorly fall off of the roof and clambered down 20 total. Best you can tell, there are, for the makeshift guards in the city, which you've heard knows where to his bastions,

they're all volunteers and actually from what you gather here, probably a quarter of the populace are bastions. So they have a very, very heavy civilian-based militia that guards this city. Are those the guys who are with us? The envoys? No, no, no, the envoys. The envoys come from the temple of Baham.

They have the blue and silver robes. You see, they're just wearing makeshift patchwork armor, whatever that could be scavenged or constructed to outfit a militia, essentially. You see them going up and down every which staircase, just doing various passes and patrol work. Some of them have spy glasses and you see them looking off in the distance.

And as you're getting higher up the mountain too you look out about and you can see the entire forest around you. Very thick, ominous. And you swear every now and then, you can see some trees move suddenly and heavily before coming to rest in the distance. I'm gonna go check that out first.

For rest of you are into the temple. Is it, is it? Is it lit in there? The door's closed. Behind you. Hope keyleth is okay. Wait, what? Ah!

I don't think that I was with the group, I think I was back with the crowd, so I see the eagle fly off, and I'm just gonna follow after her. What? The eagle flies out of the city. Yeah? You're gonna leave the city, brother?

Oh, no, now that I understand the- Go-in' see if I can tell what's making the other. Come on in the demo. Oh, I'm flying. I'm fine. It's fine. It's a big solid building, doors are shut, that's it. Yeah, I mean the temple, would you like to enter the temple

with the rest of the group? Yeah, you would. Yeah, do it. Just a bird. All right, so as the doors are closing, you rush out of your subtle following pattern and then wait, put your hands up, managed to make your way into the temple

right before the doors close, catching up with the rest of the group. Caleb, make perception check. I have an advantage because I'm an eagle. Oh, that's a funny. Nice. On the shiny dye. All right. He's on the shiny dye.

Makes sense. It's hard to see much anything because the canopy of this forest is so dense and so thick. And the snowfall itself, which is getting stronger through the air, and it's kind of obscuring some of your vision. But you glance down and you see another set of trees shift suddenly about a quarter mile away from the city's walls. And you can see on the edge of the city wall a number of guards are beginning to swarm up to the blister and starting to load them and prepare them.

You glance down and all you see are some fast movement beneath the canopy, something large, something with, you swear you see what something looks serpentine like. But multiple serpentine like bodies or forms, and then it's gone in a second. I gasping, you don't see shit, Laura. Oh, that's right. Oh, shut up. You see a couple of lista. Set loose and the bolts go flying through the air, entering the forest.

you hear a loud screeching sound and a few dozen forests now begin to shake the side as the creature makes its way away from the city before going still in the distance. Okay. You get the sensation that this this is a common occurrence.

A common occurrence. Good to know. I'm going to loop back around. Is there like an open window in like the temple I can just fly through? Is there a super clear one that she could try to go through first? Be like that windex commercial.

Back in the day. The temple... Damn it! You make your weight... Break my neck, I die. No. There are small... They're not windows

more than there are slits for arrow defense. Greetings, adventurers. Spring has sprung here in Los Angeles, and that means it's a brief period where it's only 75 degrees instead of 95 degrees. I'll take it. And that means I've been outside a lot more.

Walking around, occasionally galloping after a toddler, hopped up on juice boxes, traveling a bit, you know the vibe. And after doing some spring cleaning, my wardrobe, I gotta say, looking a little bit sad. I want clothes that can keep up with me and my son, but updating my wardrobe every spring sounds pretty expensive. So that's why I wound up signing up for Fabletics as a VIP.

It let me overhaul my springtime outfits without obliterating my bank account. New VIPs unlock major savings on that first purchase. So trying new fits feels way more doable. When I signed up as a new VIP with Fabletics, I got 70 to 80% off everything. It made it easy to grab a few new pieces without overthinking it. And the quality really surprised me. Everything feels premium and soft and breathable, but you're not paying those premium prices. What I like most, though, is how versatile everything is.

You've got stuff you can work out in, but also wear out. There's matching sets, lightweight hoodies, joggers, teas, you name it. The kind of stuff you can throw on in the morning and not worry about later. When I'm at home, my favorite thing to pull on is the oversized hoodie. It's so comfy I could just live in it 24-7. It's perfect for walking my dog on like a chilly night. But what I'm out and about, I've really been loving the ribbed Johnny Collar polo. It makes me look like I should be taking a high-powered meeting by the pool at the White Lotus,

but hopefully with less murder involved. I don't know. It's insanely comfortable. I highly recommend it. So shop now at fabletics.com slash critical role to get 70 to 80% off everything when you sign up as a new VIP. Take a quick style quiz and be sure to select Critical Role when prompted to unlock your 70 to 80% off. This is a limited time offer, so don't wait. Again, that's fablatics.com slash critical role for 70 to 80% off everything as a new VIP. And now, on to the show.

Greetings, Adventurers. Lately, I've been getting a bit more intentional about what I wear from day to day, because instead of just falling out of whatever laundry baskets nearby, I've been leaning into pieces that feel easy and comfortable, but still put together because it just makes getting dressed simpler when I have a plan. Quince has been my go-to to help with that, because the fabrics feel elevated, the fits are clean, and everything just works without me needing to overthink it. And Quintz has all the wardrobe staples you need for spring. Think 100% European linen shorts and shirts from just $34. They're lightweight, they're breathable, they're comfortable, your legs, and torso will thank you, and you will still look put together. And,

100% Pima Cotton Tees with a softness, well, you gotta feel that to believe it, believe you me. Their pants also hit that same balance. They're relaxed, they're comfortable, but still polished enough to wear basically anywhere. And everything's priced between 50 and 80% less than what you'd find at similar brands. Quince works directly with ethical factories and cuts out the middlemen so you're getting premium materials without the markup. And since spring is here in Los Angeles, a brief period where it's 75 degrees instead of 95 degrees, degrees, I spruced up my wardrobe with a pair of the comfort stretch traveler five pocket pants and the heritage washed denim shirt. Not only do they feel great, but I unequivocally look good as hell while wearing them. That's just science. So refresh your every day with luxury you'll

actually use. Head to quince.com slash critical role for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com. slash critical role for free shipping and 365 day returns quince.com slash critical role. As keyleth can squeeze through, be one of those things we're like you have to Koreanians transform and then squeeze through. Okay, I'll do that. Which you do, as you do, you come right into the face of a spear right there as another

one of the the platinum dragon guards. You should have transformed into like a fly. Who goes that? Oh boy. Ah, um, hi. Hi. Hi. The guard begins to approach from the side.

I am with Voxpawakina. I'm pretty sure they just came through the front door. It's cool. I was just doing Pat, just like aerial support. I'm just gonna go reconnect with my group. It's fine. I'm Keyleth. I'm Keeleth. I'm not good at this shit.

What am I doing? A persuasion check? Oh, Christ. You're gonna go with one. Sorry, Ms. Krisma. Shut up. Oh, wow. Oh, wait, I don't know why I'm rolling to.

That's funny. Six. Oh no. Keel is dead. No, you probably just put her. The one guy holding the spear to you, and he sits there, the other guy walks up behind and says, you see your hands?

Why? We see your hands. He takes your hands, pulls out a set of shackles, and locks them on. This is the second time you've been arrested. Yeah, it is. The guy with the spear turns behind you and just holds it to your back,

back as the gentleman just cuffed he grabs the chain between and starts pulling you towards the main chamber. You know can we just buzz by the front foyer and then we'll find my friends and then I will I'll be like hey those are my friends it will leads you down the stairway to an area where it opens up into like a small courtyard takes to the right of the courtyard into a central chamber where the rest of Oxmachian is currently being led. Can't do I see it? Yeah you guys all see her being led in in cuffs essentially. Seriously, again.

What did you do? What is your problem? She's with us. She was just outside. We don't know who she is. We have a few minutes to discuss this. At this point, at this point, Kima turns and says, she's with me. And both the scale bearers go,

Lady Kima, I'm so sorry. And they go ahead and they take the cuffs off roll fast and put the spear back and they step back. Did a classic. Classic. Classic hand-cuff list. Ouch. Twist. Hard ass.

Yeah, I'm with her. They back off and bow deeply and then kind of escort themselves off embarrassed. Did you guys do that? I nudged you. I know you did. I did. Grog, I'm nudging you.

I knew you had it in you. I'm starting to feel so hardcore. I'm just nudging you. Oh, okay. Because Kima did something super hot. I do need a tattoo. Oh, I know. With my notice.

Yeah. She does love me, though. She does grow. No, I did. Right. Scalberryon continues to lead you through this main chamber. And this chamber, like I said, it's the temple, it's strange, because most temples you've seen to Bahamara, many other deities,

are extravagant or built with a modern-day sense of architecture. This is a very plain, simple stone fortress. It's hard to grasp what time it was built, but just the smell itself seems very ancient. There's a scent of dust and age and functionality to its construct. And it's, but there's still a sense of, power to it, especially you, Pike, or you're sensitive to divine energy, this whole place is humming with it. Even though it's not the Dohaen you're used to connecting with, this is, when they say this is a holy place, you can feel it.

Is everything okay, Pike? It's just, it's, uh, there's a laws of holiness here. I would imagine. On a scale from one to five, five being super holy. Probably six. Whoa! That's extra holy. This temple goes to sex. The temple goes to six. Just this whole land in particular.

I mean, there's a lot here, but... That is good, though. Do you need a moment? Do you need to sit down? Do you need me to hold you? I think I'm okay to keep going. All right. But maybe later, I'll see if I get a little tired.

Which you feel like at your side, and it's an armored elbow from Kima saying, if you wouldn't mind holding off on the fraternizing and in the temple of the Bahamette, I would really appreciate it. Oh, that's right. Message understood? At which point, Skalberry-on is now at a second set of double doors,

and he presents his holy symbol above his chest. It glows for a second. And what was originally just smooth stone doors, you see a divine glow in the symbol of Bahamut you saw at the front of the temple appear for a moment, and then as it vanishes, the two doors open on their own into a central worship chamber. This is a much larger domed room. It looks like it goes up about 80 feet to the top of the ceiling,

and the dome itself has what looks like an extremely ancient, detailed drawing, like Sistine Chapel style of almost like the tale of the entirety of creation. You see all the elemental planes represented in the corners, the theoretical corners, where corners would be in a domed room. And you can see a crude representation

of how, all the planes lay over each other. You can see the astral plane. You can see where the nine hells would be exist, in the abyss itself. In the center there is the primaterial plane, and across it you see a giant image of the great platinum dragon, Bahamut, drawn in all of his glory, currently snapping down on one of the throats of a multi-headed dragon. This other dragon with five different heads of five different chromatic colors and this struggle between what you know to be Bahamut and Tiamat. Tiamat?

Tiamat. Is that the bad one? You gather. That is the baddest. I mean, I know that because I know a lot about dragons. Cool. Do I see or learn anything about the elemental planes that I didn't know before? Not from the artwork. It's very pretty. So pretty.

I take it all in and I'm reminded of one of the museums at home. Actually, if you've seen this art piece in a book, it's been a long time, but you know that this has been studied before and exists somewhere, and draconia, the tone that talks about this exact temple. We just make cave drawings. Is Tia ma still alive? See you around? At which point both Yon and Kima and all the scale bearers

kind of turned to you with a look of, kind of understanding that you don't quite know, but also the fear and the knowledge that they don't say anything. They just give you a look that says, yes, very much so. Oh, I mean, Team are still around, huh? Unfortunately, yes. They continue walking.

Now the floor of this chamber, which is a very simple, simple stone, you can see there are small sculptures, each one representing some sort of a humanoid entity dressed in similar robes to the other envoys and members of this temple that you've encountered this far. Some of them are in full armor, similar rangers robes. They're very, very old. Some of them seem a little more recent, and you gather these each have some sort of cultural or religious significance to this temple. However, one of these is not a statue. In the center of this worship chamber, it's just strangely, eerily quiet. There is one humanoid that turns to the rest of you. What you see before you is a slender elven male, draped in long, white ropes that drag a few feet behind

form across the ground. He has jet, light light, a stark white hair that is slicked back against his head, no facial hair. Frail, but very handsome features. Elbs, when they age, they age very gracefully. And from the look of this, most elves you've seen, this is a very old elf that has aged very gracefully. He turns to the rest of you and you see across his neck, a very, very well-crafted, intricate series of draconic symbols that finishes with a giant emblem of Bahamut himself. His voice rings out and echoes throughout the hallway as you approach each footstep echoing as you get closer. Welcome everyone to the Platinum sanctuary. I am called Heiberovore.

Oh. Keeper of this most holiest of places. I received word from a disciple of mine, of which Kima has now stepped forward and bows or kneels before him and says, your holiness. Of which he looks down with smile. Ah, Kima, I am pleased to see you. It has been a long time, my disciple.

He looks up to the rest of the group. I understand you carry something of terrible omen. Let us discuss how to be rid of it. Please, present the container. Right here. The scale bearer stepped forward and set the container on the ground. They got to reach for it, and he goes, no, no, no. Do we not open it?

He kind of takes a second, holds a symbol to his chest, and closes his eyes. And you can see this kind of divine glow pulse off of him for a second. Umah, what's happening? She goes, shh. Okay. The box begins to pulse with the divine light as well. And then suddenly vanishes, and you kind of kind of, and it catches his breath.

It is actually said, this must be sealed immediately. Yes. We could have just told you that. He gives a look to the rest of the group here. You can see there's like a noticeable beat of sweat. He kind of wipes from his forehead. I just needed to confirm that this was not

some deconstructed fake or a similar artifact mistaken for such a horn, but we indeed have, that there are presence, one of the horns of orcas. This does not work well. Have you guys, oh, sorry. No, please. I'm just wondering, you've had one of these before, yes? No, but we know that these exist.

Few of us do with the knowledge itself has been lost of time intentionally. It was brought to my attention and through discussions with the council which sent you on this journey, that this would be the safest place to seal such an artifact. and amongst all other options, as of this time, I see no other choice. So, what's been proposed, but let me to explain to you the plan. One of our most divine relics of our beloved protective Bahamit was kept deep beneath this temple. Within the mountain we rest against. The star of exaltation. The star of exaltation.

Thank you. A crystal borne from the tear Bahamahed for the sacril. sacrifices his first devoted made in the Great War of Beginnings, the Dawn War. This item was unfortunately lost nearly 300 years ago, giving the last of its power to protect this very vassal. The intervention it brought from our great deity expended and left the artifact destroyed. Since the chamber that held this star, a blessed and ever-watched nexus beneath the gaze of the great Platinum Dragon himself has gone empty. We've tended to it. We've kept it fairly well-watched, and in the state it was originally constructed for. We think no greater location to seal such

a deeply rooted evil exists within our spheres of influence or any other. Unfortunately, the last time the chamber was cleansed and prepared was some 15 years ago. Our curate, town, One of our own scale bearers, and he looks over towards Yon, who sheepishly backs away, was tasked for preparing it for your arrival, and the artifacts. And it was found that the lower chambers, lower chambers, have been infested with some manner of fowl, a subterranean spider or creature. Oh, my. And our scale bearer fled, at which point Yon leaves the entire conversation and exits

the room. Yon. You hear Kima kind of give a spit in this direction, but not before initiating the vault's defenses. Ugh. Thus, I ask you to complete your journey into the hall of the exalt below, clear out these meager beasts, and guide your aliquary into the vault chamber to seal it for good. We have to contend with the defense systems as well?

Not all of them, but apparently in his haste and escape and defend himself, he set a few of them to aid his escape. Great. Good job, Jan. Thanks, John. Why does he still work here? Very good question. Did you ask him to his manager? Is it a union thing? He's been with us for many, many years. He has great heart devotion here. Though Adel Himabry in his mind, he does bring much to the temple. So wait, and you said this, you lost the crystal of exaltation during the war of... It was destroyed during a siege of the city.

During the war of the beginnings? The War of the Beginnings. That was close. Hmm. And how long ago was this war of beginnings? It was created in the War of Beginnings. It was lost in a battle, a siege of the city of Asselaim, 300 years ago.

Three hundred years. Called what, during what war? The siege of the Middle Chapters. That had no particular name. Oh, yes. It was one of the seizures in the West. The battle where the thing was lost. Yes.

Yes. Right. Well, question please. We'll clear out your basement. That's not a problem. I'd like to understand how you plan to protect this horn. How do you plan to keep it out of the hands of entities who would use it for ill?

That big scary creature living out in the woods. Sorry, brother. And how that's fine. He glances towards you and says, oh, that has been one of money. Mm-hmm. Let it be known that this temple is extremely well-guarded, is continuously under the gaze of our patron deity. And while some of the defenses have been put in place for your arrival,

if the entirety of the vault is triggered, there is nothing that will make its way there. Unannounced. Are we to carry the box down as we journey into the dungeons below or are we to leave it here while we go clear out the basement? The scale barriers will bring it with you. Okay. Keep them safe? Okay. All right. I've got enough to worry about keeping ourselves safe. So I'm just to get one thing clear, and I mean no disrespect. But how was the crystal lost 300%? years ago, if it was in this chamber, so this chamber has been broken into before?

We can enter the chamber under very specific circumstances. We, at the time, requested the use of the star of exaltation as a divine focus, a ritual that require the intervention of Bahamut to keep the city safe. Oh, so someone brought it out and then was clumsy and lost it. And you know what? It wasn't clumsy and lost. used as a focus in the ritual. It was by the will of Bahamut himself.

Okay, so it was required to exist on this play. Oh, so it was destroyed. Lost. As in, as in dis... Like not around. You should change your footage there. While everybody's been talking, can I have used my primeval awareness

to see within six miles if there's any dragons around us, just because I'm curious. Prime evil awareness, yeah. So you take a moment and kind of like zone out for a second.

You do not sense any dragons in the immediate vicinity of the six mile radius of this. Oh, okay. All right. That's why I wish you. Try me for awareness

over. Can we drop up this box or what? I want to go see the fire dances Yeah, let's go. No, we need to go, well, we also need to, like, are we going to do that, like, now, go kill out the basement. It's the morning still, is it? Are we all, let's go. Are we all potions up, are we all?

Yeah, we're all here. I think they're out of the basement. Well, they're down there, right? Yeah? I mean, you want us to do it now, yeah? I'm not, I haven't been paying attention for this, this art of, I would not be left longer in the open, which I would not be comfortable with. No, neither than that.

I would do it. I mean, you've got a bear. Obviously, we want the horn taken care of it. but, you know, we're taking care of a problem for you, too. Oh, here it goes. Here we're going. You're good. The holiest place. Yes.

The holiest place. Haggle with the Pope. What you're inquiring about. Religion's and choice. It's a monetary reward. I was just wondering. For your aid. I'm not asking.

The temple can provide a sum of 3,000 gold pieces. for party member. Entirely. 3,000 gold pieces for your trouble on this journey. Which Keen says for instance, Hiber, we do not need to take money from which. We don't want money, of course

not. I mean, I think of the good we could do with that money, giving arms to the poor back home where we are. Yes, spreading the word of Bahamans. We have a return. We do a lot of charity work, and it would be well it would be well received back home in the key.

You make a persuasion rule, you make a deception roll. Deception? It's not deception, we really will. No, no, only one of you. You won't. Ladies of the evening really do need the money, what did you roll, Sam?

A 30. Oh, that's pretty good because I rolled a 19. Wait, no, you didn't. Three, zero. Three zero. I have a plus 13 for deception. Oh, no. Really? It explains so much.

We've got to get you deceiving more. We're going to get you deceiving more. You should lie more. It's good. Lie to me, Pinocchio, lie. 3,000 gold at your disposal to bring about to share in the prosperity of your people back home. Amen. Once the artifact is delivered and sealed.

From one holy man to another, I think we've struck a deal. Let's go. As you've done it to counten. As you all turn, Kimmy goes, I'll show you to the vault. Are you going to come with us, Kimmer? Yes, I'm coming with you. That's over at you. Shall we, holding man? Why, yes, my sister, leave you.

She's been with us the whole time. As you guys are walking out of the chamber, the door is closed behind. He turns to you and says, is that why you were blessed with such a temporarily swollen appendage before? I don't know how the Lord works. It's mysterious. Yes. Let us be on our way. She kind of walked off, blustered and frustrated. You guys are led down two layers. This actual temple recedes further and further into the mountain.

Until eventually you're led into what seems to be a little. almost like a storage basement. It's a very musty smell. It's old earth. It's dank down here. Yeah, it kind of has that, that slight moldy scent to it. There are five guards stationed in this storage vicinity. And as you approach, they all stand up. They're all still wearing ceremonial armor, two of which you can see are really well armed, one of the greats for, one with the longsword on the side. And these are, they look pretty prestigious to be assigned to a basement this terrible.

At ease, soldiers. Of course, of course. And they step aside. Keena steps forward, takes her holy symbol, and removes it from around her neck, places it. She looks at the wall for a second and kind of feels for a second, and then places it into what you didn't see before

was some sort of a slight recess in the wood. It flashes the divine energy, and suddenly the wood illusion is dispelled and what you see before you is a stone doorway that begins to slowly shift to the side, and open up into a staircase that descends. Are we going to find these defenses right away? What? Kimmy kind of gives you a look of shrugs and,

to be perfectly honest, I have not been within the vault. Is there like a blueprint somewhere? Liam, you're up soon. I mean, Vax. I thought he was back. The, my communication earring was all over. little like that's the same. Check for some traps, brother.

You got it, you got it. I'm glad to get out of upstairs. I muttered to my sister because the decor up there was for shit. That is high. That was a 26. 26 for Traps in the stairway.

All right, as you slowly begin to send the stairway, you keep an eye out across the staircase itself, from any of the surrounding walls, and the stonework here is also extremely ancient, marking probably a similarity to the most ancient of buildings you've seen in this city. This subterranean structure is probably one of the older parts of this temple.

You don't see anything trap-wise. The stairway eventually comes to an end into a chamber about 50 feet by 50 feet. It's very, very low light. There appear to be. Ooh, light. Okay, as the brief moment of light, before your eyes can really focus in,

there's a flash of light at the edge of Tiberi's staff, and the room actually gets harder to see. You see there is a thick white mist that just kind of hangs in the air throughout the entirety of this room. It's like having your high beams on. It's foggy. I decast light.

Okay, you dispel the light. What is all of this? Your eyes adjust a little bit. You can see what looks like. This room, for the most part, doesn't have any sort of details. There are a couple of sconces with low flickering light that are embedded in the side of the walls of this 50 foot by 50 foot room.

20 feet high. I go ahead and I just do a little wind gust and I go down the hole. Okay. Clear out of fog. Which spells this? Gust of wind. Okay, so you cast gust of wind.

The mist that was filling this room, blows out the other side and you can see the room is a little more visible now. There's still a light mist in the sides, but the center of the walkway is clear for a second. You see now in the center of the room, what were initially just dark spots in the mist, There are two pillars that are attached from ceiling to floor, roughly about 20 feet apart from each other, kind of in the center of each side of the room. Each pillar is solid gray stone with what looks like intricately carved small dragons,

almost curling and wrapping around the statues. Each one of their heads kind of turned mouth open, kind of angrily in different directions. Can I check and, can I check the traps? Did you read? What do you guys make perception checks? I just go to 19. Oh, we already rolled.

Look at him. I'm making a check. Perception? 25. So looking about Liam. Yes. Sorry, Vax. You notice the base of each one of these pillars

is not flush with the floor. There is a slight gap, meaning there is some sort of a rotation or pivot to these pillars. You notice that these mouths of these dragons seem to be what's creating this white mist. And as time progresses, the mist begins to refill up the room rather quickly. All right. Do I notice any like, well, I guess without touching it, any kind of poisonous in nature or anything like that? Looks like mist. While we're standing around, I'd like to reassign the earrings to Vax, Grog, and Scanlon.

I don't get one? Any more? You're taking it off of me. Right now. Yeah, he's giving it to me. Ha ha ha ha. Because we're always together. We're always like kind of in the back together. And they're always kind of like...

It's true. I do want to Ralph easily. Oh, is that you grog? Hey, hi. She's always kind of like in the middle. She's a wild card and he's always in the back with us also because we're the ring dudes. All right. Do I so have one?

I'm putting down my mask just in case this is awful. Okay. You guys are still at the stairwell? The mist is now filled the room again in front of you. Should we try breathing it and see what happens? I just reach my arm into the mist and just see. My gust of wind lasts up to one minute, by the way. So I can keep...

Oh, maybe we should just not touch the mist and go straight through the room. You're great at protecting your data, but lots of places could still expose you to identity theft. I thought it was safe. If that happens, LifeLock gives you a U.S.-based restoration agent who will stick by your side from start to finish. to finish. Phone calls, filing documentation, preparing insurance claims, your agent handles it all. In fact, we're so confident restoration is guaranteed, pour your money back. Isn't it nice to have

someone like that on your side? Save up to 40% your first year at lifelock.com slash Spotify. Terms apply. The war is over and both sides lost. Kingdoms were reduced to cinders and armies scattered like bones in the dust. Now the survivors. claw to what's left of a broken world, praying the darkness chooses someone else tonight. But in the shadow dark, the darkness always wins. This is old school adventuring at its most cruel. Your torch ticks down in real time. And when that flame dies, something else rises to finish the job.

This is a brutal rules-light nightmare with a story that emerges organically based on the decisions that the characters make. This is what it felt like to play RPGs in the 80s. And man, it is so good to be back. Join the Glass Cannon podcast as we plunge into the Shadow Dark every Thursday night at 8 p.m. Eastern on YouTube.com slash the Glass Cannon with the podcast version dropping the next day.

See what everybody's talking about and join us in the dark. I'm just air bending. You've been wanting to say that. So you can blow it and be a block. As this conversation has continued to say about 30, 40 seconds has gone by and transferring the earring discussion, so there's still a little bit of, there is a clear pathway in the center there.

Let's go. Let's go. Let's go through. Let's go. Go, go, go. Okay. You all start running through. You're running through with them. Facts, check for traps. Vorak, Desona. Come. I perception checked. Oh, we're good. Okay. I'm running 10 feet ahead of everybody. I rolled a big old one. He tripped. Good. You continue forward, and as you're rushing through the group, not paying attention, you gently hit the edge of the mist barrier with your shoulder

as you're rushing to the side instinctually to stealth along the wall. As your shoulder breaks the mist, bring it. All of the dragon mouths burst into bright, fiery, flaming and spinning rapidly in the room. The people that are in the center running to right now, which include Keyleth, Scanlan, Tiberius, and Pike.

All of you guys make dexterity saving for us right now. Tone of a bitch. Way to go, Vax. Teacher, teacher, did I have time to finish my book? You have. Yes. Dexterity save? Dexterity save?

Dexterity save? Yeah. 18. All right. 18. All right. Scanlan? Oh, 13.

13. 13. Three. All right. 26. All right. But I'm so short. She's super duper short. They would just blow right over me.

As the flames just burst out throughout the room, tearing into the air with this reddish white flame. Both Vax and Tiberius managed to try and dodge it to the way as best they can, only receiving each of them. Well, all Vax has to do is roll, because he's already on the freaking ground. 12 points of fire damage to each of you. To who? with uncanny dodge for successful save gets zero damage.

So you take zero damage, you take 12. So I take half. Is it 24 total? 24 total, you take half. Scanlan, Keelith, and Pike, I'll take 24 points of fire damage. Ouch. Ow.

Are we still moving? Are you still moving? Are you going to use to your new foot, Vex? You guys move through. That's the four of you guys. Percy, Grog, and Vex, and Trinket are all behind as they watch the flames burst out and they all kind of stop their inertia and now the mist slowly fills up the room about the time that your spell wears off

for the first minute let's move do we I'm whistling right now with the the bears the scale bears oh they're coming with us coming with us through the whole thing wait wait wait hang on hang up here blow the smoke again blow the mist away if you can turn in another spell slot all right here we Pshh. Okay, so we run through? No, he doesn't care. Don't touch anything on the side.

He doesn't care. He doesn't care. Burning the second spell slot, the mist clears itself. Now that you're aware of what it does, you're very careful to direct it towards the center and leave an open path. The rest of you rush through, including the scale bearers in the minute you have. The wind is blowing in your face from Keel's position. It's kind of like stepping into the force of a hurricane. Yeah, you have to put your hand in front of you.

Your best feels pretty good though, Keyleth. Thanks. I try to, yeah, I get a little bit of like a sage thing one. A sagey rose. Rosemary, yeah. A little bit of orange blossom. It's nice. A tiny like air shield in front of me.

When I invited to your peppermint paddy. It's also pure oxygen. It's a very, very tiny shield and it protects this much of your face. That's what I'm doing. Your eyes are fine. The rest of your ropes are so, you guys all make your way across the room.

You can finish your spell in the mist immediately fills up and completely up you skates that room behind you once more. One down. I hate it. 20 rooms to go. You're now in. in what is a 10 foot wide chamber for an additional 20,

or a tunnel or a hallway, for another 20 feet before it opens up into another room, but there is no light source in there whatsoever. You, with light on your staff again, do you kind of step ahead to- Do you want to shoot an arrow in? Oh, would you like to see? Yeah, let's do it.

Boing. Light. All right, so as actually this is arrow, light bursts forth from the wooden shaft as it arcs across the room. As it does, you can see the room, as opposed to the previous one, which was square in shape. This one is circular.

It is almost like a cylinder in its design. Go ahead make a perception check. They're always in trouble. 16. Okay. 29. He's better. You notice that across this floor of the circular room,

there are these circles marked across the entirety of the surface here. Great. Those are probably trash. I bet those are fun. Fresh of plates, Maybe. Oh, sitels.

We have to activate them. We'll have to activate them. Can we see to the other side of the room? Hmm? Can we see to the other, all the way to clear to the other side of the room? Opposite side, there is actually a much larger opening. What looks to be another staircase that descends. This one is 20 feet wide.

It's a very wide staircase where you're used to seeing, especially the structure. No doorway. It's open. It's open. It just descends down below. The only way can tell it's because the arrow arcs across them. I'm going to click my boot. My boots, haste.

Shouldn't we like throw something onto one of the pressure plates first and see what it does? Yeah, me. I'm going to click my boots of haste. I'm going to run. I'm going to do sort of a running roll. Land on the closest circle and wait for like half a tick and then roll off of it.

Are you kidding me? All right, I'm doing. So as you guys are about to go, wait. Vax is already off. Clicks the boots, the magic, the arcane magic of the boots of haste kick into his body. He leaps forward. Make an acrobatics check.

Okay. I hope you get your eyebrows burn off. All right, you leap forward, your hand touches the first circle in the room. As it does, there's suddenly a large shift in the room. Like all of a sudden, the hand which you had purchase on slides out from underneath you. You catch yourself on your feet,

but now suddenly there's a loud grinding sound. The entire room seems to be shifting, moving, spinning in its own right. And you instinctually feel feel something moving towards you very quickly. Make a dexterity saving thoroughly. Oh boy. I click my earring.

You're an idiot, Rex. You're gonna use luck, because that blue. And that's a natural 20. Oh, yeah 20. Yeah 20. So, you barely managed to move out of the way before that circular portion of the ground skyrockets up like a pillar,

one very similar to the one that you created for your spell, it slams into the ceiling with a heavy thud, retracts, continues again. In fact, looking around you, all of them in the room are now at different levels pistoning into the ceiling. This entire room is slowly rotating, and there are just a series of pillars mashing into the ceiling. Oh, it's like for me. You have to make an acrobatics check to try and get through this now because you have

very little space to move. I'm used luck again. That is 18. 18. 18. You managed to make your way halfway across the room, dodging out of the way as these pillars are slamming and retracting, kind of use the pattern of when they're pulling down from the ceiling. But they're moving very fast.

One of them manages to catch you underneath your ankle. Go ahead and make a dexterity saving throw again. That is, that's 15. 15. All right. It catches you, takes you off of your balance, and it rockets you towards the ceiling. You manage to pull most of your body out of the way in time,

but it still catches the back of your shoulder blade. You take 40 points of crushing damage. Yes! As you are slammed into the ceiling, and as the pillar retracts, you roll off with a heavy wheeze of pain. Oh, catching onto your feet again. Make one more acrobatics check.

Oh, my God. If you get crushed to death. On top. I'm sitting down crossing the top, by the way. by the way. What was three? What? 23. 23.

23. You managed to, in the severe pain you're feeling, you can tell this probably is some serious bruising in there. You probably broke a couple ribs. But you managed to just barely dodge and leap out of the way, making yourself across the room to where the staircase descends out of the immediate danger. Jeez! The rest of you now are standing on the opposite side of this room, which is currently a rotating grinding mill. That was great. Great.

Which is next? If there's any kind of device or anything on this side. Okay, hold on a second, Vax. Just chill out for a minute. We all just took a little damages last time. He's checking. He's checking. All right, make a perception check.

For a lever or something. For a switch. 25. You need to, like, keel of. 25. You can see on the ceiling, in the very, very center of the room, precariously placed right where one of the pillars in the center slams into the ceiling,

there appears to be a small quarter-sized hole, gold piece-sized hole in the ceiling. Yeah, come on, Vex. Race you for it. It's in the middle of the room. In the ceiling where we're- Is there a shot of it or is there bagu-goon-be-gung going on?

Oh no, it's still going. The pillars are still slamming into the roof. And that one hole you see is right where one of the pillars slams into the roof. You only see it intermittently when the pillar retracts. Go sharpshooters, go. You first to me. Well, let's try this first,

Because you might just break it down completely. Oh, very well. You're much more powerful than I in person. Yeah, ladies first, perhaps. Ladies first. All right, can I try to shoot an arrow into the little hull? You can. This is a hard shot because it's at an angle now.

Okay. And it's be kind of a, we're talking, this is Robin Hood level, split the arrow, because you have to hit it and ricochet upward to see if it'll have any effect. Oh, geez, Louise. I place my hands on her shoulders. Can you inspire?

I can inspire her. And I give her enhanceability. Oh, enhanceability. Okay, what does that mean? You have advantage on ability checks. Okay, this is what, an attack? Oh wait, never mind. This is a little bit of an attack.

I would like to offer my beard for the rub of good luck. I'm gonna, uh, as you offer the beard, it tears off. What? Oh no. What did you do? You know what, I'm gonna tie this to the arrow. It's gonna give it really good luck.

That was the first ball. I'm not actually gonna tie it to the arrow. Okay. I'm just gonna tell you. Kind of plan. Mark in your inventory, you now have fake grod-rope beard. Is that like a minus one to my congregates now? Oh, we'll come in a play.

The goal is to shoot an arrow into this like the Death Star. Is that what's going on? Eventually, yeah. Okay, cool. As I see her ready, I'm gonna hold up my hand with my ring, point it right at that hole. So you can deflect it if I, I got you back.

All right, thanks, my very. All right, and you're going to... I'm going to inspire her with inspiration. I was saying, ooh, shut up and shoot that hole. Your arrow is my destiny, and I said, Ooh, who, shut up and shoot that hole. And with that, you feel your focus, you wait, you breathe in, you breathe out, you breathe in,

Then you breathe out in pattern with the slamming of the piston against the ceiling. I'm so nervous. Get it, get it, you're gonna need it. You let out all your breath and you hold, hold, waiting between heartbeats and then release. Go ahead and make your attack roll. I'm gonna roll the fancy one we got last week. Get it, girl, get it.

Alright. Oh no. Okay, I add my attack bonus. Yes you do. Plus an inspiration. Plus an inspiration, guys. Plus D10. Awesome, okay.

30. Oh, Jesus. Good inspiration. As you release the arrow, you see the pillar slamming. The pillar comes down just as the arrow crests over it. Pass another pillar that just barely manages to miss it by a segment. I can't tell Canes this to swoop it up. Oh, let me just see if I got it first.

You rolled a 35. It's going there anyway. So, as the pillar, as the pillar pulls down, down, the arrow goes cascading forward, go ahead and make a D20 roll with the plus five modifier. That's 17. 17? Okay. So as the arrow makes its way, it ricochets off the bottom edge of the actual hole and

immediately bends itself upward. The shaft bending, as it begins to start heading up the hole, there's a sudden force of arcane energy that slams it even harder up into the top of this tiny little slit. As it goes up there, you hear what sounds like a splintering of wood and metal, then you hear metal grinding you start seeing bits and chunks of grinding metal begin to pour out of the hole and the pillars begin to do it.

Nice shot. Eventually coming to a halt. A wrench in a machine. You totally could have done that. I could have made that shot. Next room's yours. That was one of those possible things, right? Pretty damn close to impossible.

Nice. Pretty too close to impossible. All right, let's go across and heal our rogue. Yeah, we walk across. As they come to the side, I clutch my broken rib and injuredly hold a hand up and give a half-assed high-five to my sister. Good job getting slammed into the roof like that.

Yeah, you're welcome. Yeah. So can we take like a short rest to heal up and then also like a short rest to take a short rest in real life? You can. We're going to go ahead and pass up here. You're not taking a short rest. Okay.

You guys take a moment. If you want to go ahead and heal up at all, use any of your hit dice, you're able to, Vax? I'm going to do that. You too. And on that note, we're going to go ahead and take our five minute break here, guys. You guys, after finishing your short rest,

healing up various wounds in that circumstance, you make your way, playing a fancy little dittle on a flute, you make your way down this long, Long staircase. You continue down for, I'd say probably good 100 feet or so before you start encountering, I would say a mild change in the scenery at least. What was normally just a musty hallway is now becoming

thicker and thicker coated with large spider webs. Awesome. Did everything so sticky? Hiders! I'm going to push through and cut through, and it gets to the point where it's just so matted. You guys are having to pushwack your way through as if you had a machete. I'm not taking off my hands.

Could I turn to one of the scale bearers and ask if they have ever dealt with any humble hoax in this region? Okay, so a scale bear of Vorak gives a kind of a curious look to your question. Scalbear Dessona looks to you and says, No, I don't believe they exist in this region. nor this close to the surface as far as I know.

Right, that's important, isn't it? The spider webs, are they becoming more, like, more as we try up traversion? So I'm gonna make my way towards the front of the group because I'm noticing this, and I'm gonna do a fire breath, and I'm gonna instantly cast control flame and catch as much as I can of it, and start spinning it and burning the webs as we go.

Okay. Very cool. So Tiberia steps forward and breathes a heaving breath of dragon fire out of his mouth. As it cascades forward, burning through the nearby webs, he casts a secondary spell and captures it, begins to shape it almost like it's a fiery clay in the middle of the air.

And utilizing that in a very similar way he uses as he's helkenesis begins to use that rolling fire to burn through the webbing as you guys continue down the stairway. Nice. That's convenient. It needs to be disinfected. Mm-hmm. Fire pains all.

It also leaves a terrible stench. Burning Web has this awful kind of... Burnt hair. It's similar like burnt hair with a hint of burnt plastic, if you can think of it. It's awful. What's plastic? Like spider hair.

This is more for your own player knowledge, sensory knowledge. The sound of the crackling of the nearby webbing that is slowly retracting and burning and melting is immediately joined by the sound of a low clicking. Oh. We pissed them off.

I stealth immediately. Do we want to, I can try and cast pass without a trace on all of us if we want to sneak through here. Do we want to try and sneak through? I cast pass without a trace. All right. Everyone. All right, so.

Strange is every time. Sweet. So Passed out of Trace is cast while you two both make stealth roles. So with the pass without a trace? With the past without a trace. 31. Magic's all stealthy. 24.

With the plus 10? Plus 10 from what? Say again. Cast without a trace. From Achilles Casper. Oh, 34. All right. You guys start off the side kind of using the remnants

of the web that's available to block your physical forms. The roiling fire that has been placed ahead of you is starting to reflect small little points of reflected light throughout the shadows in the distance that are moving towards you as you begin to see. giant, hairy, rotten legs. I cast, which is... Oh, my cloaks, I have my cloak on. And I'm gonna go ahead and cast stone skin real quick.

Okay. That's what I do right now. I'm gonna go ahead and ask. I have... I'm also gonna cast stone skin. Can I cast, while they're coming, I cast, um, I can I have, um, I didn't have rid of down.

I'm gonna go invisible I can't find my spell alright and I use that one for this is exciting guys there's a board of some sort I cast entangle on the ground in front yeah

you have you can cast things yeah yeah yeah she's a ranger she can cast yeah as long as that range you've got a beard spell I'm a terrible jackman this also cast no I'm embarrassed

Flash. Flash, flash, woods. And you can frenzy range. You can now see immediately scampering up to the side. It appear to be a series of large, arachnid-like creatures. As you cast entanglement, you can see. Go ahead and read the spelling. Did I manage to catch a control flame

my entire fire breath when I did that? Oh, that's not what it was. Is that what I'm controlling still? Currently you are, yeah. That's not what it was. That's the wrong spell. Uh-huh. Is there a way?

Sorry, sorry, it's spike growth is the spell. Spike growth? Spike growth. I cast spike. Spike growth. OK, that is different. Yes, which is the ground in a 20 foot radius centered on a point within range, twists and sprouts, hard spikes,

and thorns. It's difficult to range the duration, but anybody that can see me casting it doesn't take a damage to it. It's only the people that don't see me. OK. Oh, all right. Yeah.

Dope. Really? Really? Yeah. Any creature that can't see the area at the time the spell is cast must make a wisdom check. Cool.

Oh, wait, but can they see the area? They can't see the area. Oh, well, that's not quite the same thing then what I saw. Forget it, my spell is stupid. No, no. It's fine, just not the hallway with stairs. It's fine, just stick to arrows, really. There's, it's.

She can do so much more. As I see this, can I release my control flame and let the fire breath just happen. I'm like not control anymore. Looking into your style now. So control, well, control Flames is a cantrip. I know. You are able to control just enough fire to burn away.

The things, it wouldn't actually do any damage if released. Control fire, it kind of like captures an element of it. Okay, so that's what I was using, the element of what I did. Yeah. But I used it so I can have the fire. Exactly. Got you used this.

That's how I was out to it. I was working out. Okay. Um. Um. Um. It's, they can see the ground. Uh, they can.

No, damn casketes. Doesn't it mess up the ground if we try to walk through it? Not you guys, but they... Well... But they're spiders, they're probably not that watch. Can I cast something else? No, right now everyone rolls initiative. Damn, cute!

I was like... I think so many things you can do here, Tabiris. I know, but I like doing lots of things. I know you do. That's not bad. I'll take that. That's my punishment. Look yeah.

I love my new stats. I don't think that's... I love my new stats. I don't know terribly because of my stats are good. Every time. every time. I've never rolled a double digit in this shit of roll, ever.

Oh, Scanlan. You just will wheat and roll every time you're this. Is that what we're calling it? Wheatening? Yeah, we're weetening. All right. So, 25 to 20.

We're a wheatin. Yeah. Oh! That's one time never happens when it's like damage or something. That's okay. I'm gonna go with it. All right, so 23, vote what you got? 21.

All right, so we got Vex. Vex, Grog, and Pike, what's your Dex? Oh, sorry. What's your initiative bonus? Nothing. Nothing, so 20, all right. 20 to 15. 17.

17. 15. 16. All right, Percy. Tiberius. 15. Vax. Has left the screen.

Oh, really? Great. I'm going to consider that a low initiative. Oh. He's been to go poop. Seven. Seven. Just getting it.

Or deal with... All right, well, we'll get to this term when we get to it. We'll have a moment you turn. It's okay. All right, back. There he is. He's holding a cat. What do you all for initiative?

It's drink it. That is a 16. 16? Okay. Look your head out of your ass. He's Dr. Evil. All right. Me?

Yes. Oh, I'm going to cast conjure barrage at all of the spiders coming at us. All righty. Um, from this position. I'm on a hunter's mark whatever one looks the biggest. Oh, please, not that music. That music gives me nightmares from my childhood.

Could we get something a little bit lighter? Some lighter music here. Are you a fan of true crime TV shows? And what about Unsolved Mysteries? The show that jumped started all of our love of true crime. I'm Ellen Marsh. And I'm Joey Taranto. And we host, I Think Not, a true crime comedy podcast

covering some of the wildest stories from your favorite true crime can't be TV shows all the way to Unsolved Mysteries. Baby, you will laugh, you will cry. You'll think about true crime in a whole new way, and you'll also ask yourself, who gave these people, mics? New episodes of I Think Not are released

every Wednesday with bonus episodes out every Thursday on Patreon. And every Monday, you can listen to our True Crime Rundown, where we go over the top true crime headlines of the week. So come and join us, wherever you listen to your podcasts. You know that feeling when you hear one interesting thing, and suddenly you want to know more?

Well, that's the idea behind my podcast, something you should know. Every episode starts with a question you've probably never thought to ask, like why people do or don't like you, why certain habits stick, or what everyday advice is actually wrong. I'm Mike Carruthers, and I talk with scientists, authors, and experts, and I keep it practical, surprising, and fun to listen to. If you've got a curious brain, come try one episode of something you should know. On the podcast app you're listening to right now. Okay. From this position, you will also hit Tiberius to hit all of us.

Oh, where am I? You're right here. Oh. You got to do what you got to do. I mean, you could... I'm going to move to where I'm in the middle of them. I'm still kind of stuck. Yeah, and then I'll contra barrage from there.

Okay. I cast Hunter's mark on the biggest one I see. Okay. This one here is one of the more larger ones. Okay. So we'll go ahead and mark that. And go ahead and Kaja Barrage does what damage? It does 3D8 on all creatures.

They get a saving throw? They get, yes, they do. Half damage if they save. Okay. What's the DC on your spells? My DC is 14. All righty. What's your DC, girl?

Okay. What's your digits? Middle stats. Okay, uh, only, only this one makes it. Oh, sweet. No, the barrage just happens, they're all caught in it. So all of them take full damage, except for this one takes half damage. So go ahead and roll the damage on that.

Um, 15, and then 20 for the, uh, the big one with the hunter's mark. Okay. So, uh, you're gonna, so you've moved, that's that? Do you want to move Trinket as well? Uh, can I have Trinket attack? Uh, Trinket. Oh, he should. That's a lot of them.

Well, the spell you cast was an action. Trinit can attack as part of your attack. Okay, so I get a second attack. Well, no, your spell is an action. So, like, that's your turn. You do contra barrage instead of your. Cool, I'm gonna step back against the law. All right, so you step back there.

Do you want to move Trinket anywhere in particular? Nah, I can't really get anywhere. It's fine. All right, it's good times, guys. Angley, I'd growl up the distance. Grog, you're up. I'd like to hold my turn. What?

Ooh yeah. Grog-old's initiative. It's a good. Pike, you're up. Okay. How far can I move up to use a spiritual weapon? I mean, you can move through your allies about an issue.

You can ship through your own guys without a problem. Okay. So I would like to, sorry, cast a golden spider web of thorns. What? Nice, fancy. All right. Okay.

And in case the spiders. Okay. That's cool. Cool. Okay. Like a thorny net. Like a thorny net. This would be considered a net if you were considered a weapon that you are conjuring for this.

I'm just making it look really pretty. Right. Basically. Okay. So the effect of this, because you're able to, I'm letting you hit multiple guys with this, it wouldn't do any, it would not do any damage. It wouldn't do any damage. It would just contain it. It would possibly have an effect on their ability to move around.

Even if they're thorny? Like holy thorns? Oh. be very itchy for it. Oh. All right, you know what? Well, I mean, that's not. I think you see that.

Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Go ahead and roll a D20 and then add five to it. 12.

12. Okay. Okay. Okay. These four in the immediate front right there. As you bring back your mace in the air, you kind of hang it to your side with the leather strap around your wrist. You reach up and grab your holy symbol. As you release the holy symbol and hold your hand up,

divine energy streaks out from your fingertips and forms into this kind of golden silver net. As your arm is doing this kind of throwing animation in the air like that, the net shoots out from the front and spreads down onto the spiders and contracts around. You can see it catches them and they start scrambling inside. These front four are considered grappled. Yeah!

All right, all right. Nice. Nice. That's it. That brings it to Keyleth. Okay, with that new developments. Wait. Can you do that?

I can. I'm gonna do a poison spray, though. Where am I right now? You were right here, behind Pike as she threw her giant golden net. I'm gonna be like, excuse me, excuse me, Pike, excuse me. Yes.

Oh, go through, go, go, go. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Poison spray. Okay, poison. So it's a, Cone, 10 foot cone. 10 foot cone. If you want to get right up in here, you could get these three there.

I'll do that. OK. So it's Constitution saving through. OK. This one succeeds. This one fails. One fails. All right, so this one succeeds, so no damage.

But these two take damage. Go ahead and roll it. OK, so I take 2D12, 6. Six. Seven damage. Seven damage. It's not great. I think he takes half damage, though, even though he fails.

Is he? I think Poison Mist, it's- Poison's Break. It's a cams trip. I think it's like damage or nothing. Oh yeah, I guess so. All right. It's your move, you want to keep moving,

or you want to stay where you are? Can I get out of everyone's way? You're currently, actually, Can I be where you cast it, you would be able to move out. Can I back up a bit? You can't just grab on. I just kind of want to, yeah. There.

All right. Your turn. That it's your turn. Vax, Percy. Please be my guess. Did you say backs Percy? Yes, yes. And I'm doing my best scene for what I can see here.

Keylet is right in front of me. She was, she just pulled behind you. I move behind. No, you're in front of the spiders. You're good, you're in front. There's a little bit of distance. So I'm just going to just start hocking daggers but then I'm gonna start with a DADO of Life Stealing.

You're only like two squares away. 16 to hit. 16 to hit, hits. Okay, so that is four, six is 10 of damage. All right. Then the Keene dagger follows. That is a 27. That hits.

That hits for 10 damage and then You're killing them! You're not hasted anymore, by the way. You're right, forget it. Yeah, forget that last. That's right, too. So as you're off at the side kind of hiding amongst the slowly burning webbing,

you move around, hug both daggers. One strikes a spider right in the center of where its eyes are, and it screeches for a second, or curls up its legs kind of pulling into its torso. The other one begins to pull out of the net, that Pike set. As it does, you throw the secondary dagger, it strikes it, and it's abdomen,

and the blade retracts and returns back to your belt. As it does, leaves the streak of greenish liquid. And you have a better view of these spiders now. Go ahead and make a nature check, both Keelith and Bex. Dope. By the way, I'm here, but I'm also there. Ooh. Natural 20.

Nice. You're also there? Because I rolled an eight. There's like two of them. All right. So, Keelith, he knows. As most spider-like creatures go, you're used to like the darker, furry, wolf spider types.

These have a different color. Their physical bodies are more white and blue. Like, they're mostly color, the coloration is white, like I have a blueish hue to it, and their eyes are almost pink and white in color. They're very strange, different kind of spider. Is that all I know? With my natural 20?

You haven't encountered too many types of arachnids, but there's something about them that seems loosely themed in the ethereal. You and your experience, you've heard of certain spiders that can travel through the planes rapidly. Oh, damn, plain spiders. Gotcha. Hey, guys, I think these are like magical bamphing spiders.

Okay, cool, bro. Let's kill them. Yeah, let's kill them. There's one spider that's not. Cot. There's what, there's... Yes, one back here. All right, I'm gonna take a couple shots of in with my sharpshooter, so let's start with...

18, 18, 20, 24 to hit. That's there. What's what? A 24 to hit. That hits. And let's do this, my first shot. Coupoo! That's depressing.

Oh, well, I get the bonus, so see that's 18 points of damage. 18 points of damage, already. It's not too depressing. impressive. It's because I'm taking a negative 5 to hit. Ah. And that's, oh, that's not bad. No, 10, 16. I have new numbers. 16 to hit.

16 does also hit, yeah. Same target? Same target with an added fire bonus. And three fire damage and 16, 17 as well. All right. 17 plus three fire damage. That is so down. That spider gets splattered.

You see there's a burst of flame and a push, as the body is knocked in the air, torn asunder, and then consumed by the flame burst at the same time. You see, like, it looks like a scattering of ash across the ground and the steps beneath it. It looks like flash paper. Essentially, yeah. And I ducked back behind Grog.

Nice. Where are you going, okay. All right, these two spiders that are currently caught in the net, both vanish and the neck falls flat. Oh shit. One is striking at you. That is a 21 to hit. And it hits me.

Against Percy, that is a 25. Oh my god, that hits. All right. You both take 13 points of piercing damage. And I need you both to make a Constitution saving throw. Oh, okay. That can't be good. 13 points of piercing damage?

Mm-hmm. 17? Oh, wait. First. Nope, 19. 19, Constitution saving throw. Constitution saving throw. Oh, no.

Roll the one. Percy. Oh, no. So as all of a sudden, the strains sound streaks behind you, you turn over your shoulders in time to see these spiders pop out of seemingly nowhere and strike into you.

The fangs sink into your side and you knock them off with your elbow. You feel the venom extract itself from the fangs, but just as you pull it out of the side, so it actually does not in venom your body. Percy, you're not so lucky. The venom pulses into the side of your shoulder and you feel this burning sensation ripple

through your entire upper right torso. You take 21 points of poison damage. Ho! Oh! Shit! Ho! Ho! What was that number again?

21. What are you? He's fine. Is that all it does? It's just poison them? I am poisoned, though. You are not considered poison. It's a damage.

It's just a poison. Oh, straight-up, damn. Okay. That's not too bad. That is their turn? Tiberius. You stole your turn, Grod? All right, Tiberius.

I should cast that on this. It's necessary. So we're in a hallway, a stairwell? It's a stairway heading down essentially right here. And then it evens out at the bottom point there. Fighting on the stairs. How is it like a big, is it? It's about 15 feet up to the ceiling.

10.15. Very well. How many are left? Two? Two. Oblits of stone. Okay. Squishy spiders. So as both the spiders are knocked off

of both Percy and Vex, you guys kind of rear back, ready to defend yourself. Suddenly the stairwell shakes for a second, and pillars of stone go from underneath, similar to the trap room you encountered earlier. It's inspiration. 21. 21, and what's the DC on your spell?

17. 17? Both spiders get mashed pretty horribly into the ceiling. You see where the pillars are slamming in the ceiling permanently. You can see the legs kind of dangling out for a second and then just slowly curl in towards the edge of where the stone pillars are making the ceiling. Are there any corpses that are more accessible than the one that got torched and the ones that are squished? Yeah, but there are any spider fangs we can put in the bag? Yeah, because I have that book that helps me do that.

It's the one I shot. You can actually. Actually, there are the, there's one that you shot. Oh, actually the one that you killed is the one that burst in the flame. Yeah, it's the one that burst in the flame. That one's not gonna be salvageable. There's a few that you and Vex killed Vex and Vax

both just kind of wiped out a few of spiders. Go ahead and make an herbalism roll. Ooh, I bet we need some of that poison. Dip the arrows in it. What did the book do it again? It gave me a plus or an advantage. To give me an advantage on rolls? Or like plus something.

I will, I can explain. I asked you to write that down. I would say Advantage. Oh, wait, you did ask me to write it down, and I think I did. The Vanguard's bonus, which the two is it? Oh, no, I didn't write it down. I just wrote that I have the books.

I don't remember what I did for that. I will say, advantage. That's the easiest to remember. That's better. So 24. 24, you managed to extract two poison glands from one of the spiders, the other one were too damaged beyond repair.

Sweet. Two poison glands. Two, two small venom glands. I give them to the twins. Okay. Oh, we can just like use them? You don't know. Okay, cool.

She hands you two nasty-looking glands that are like still wet with spider-Ikir. I got this for you guys. Oh, thank you, Keyleth. That's very, that's sweet. I love it. Would you happen to have a little glass vial? I think I have two left. I need to get more.

Here we go. Thank you. I'll put this up here. Well. I'm like wall hard over here. It helps. I'm ready to make my attack turn. All right.

There is nothing there. I sheath my soul. There you go. A little help here. Be nice. Oh, wait, I thought you weren't poisoned. Oh, you need healing. What are you at?

I'm at 47. Okay. I guess we all need some... Suck it up. somebody else at. That's where I was at after I healed myself up with a handful of hit dice after getting crushed into the ceiling. We took a short break, but I was doing that now.

Use your hit dice. I can just use my. You know what you are you guys taking a short rest? No. No, no. We need you. Can I ask a question while she's healing past? We've taken a short rest.

The grappling era I used on the little halfling, I can get that back, right? Yeah, you retreat. I can retreat. I'm going to return. This makes me check. I'll continue on down the hallway. Okay.

I'll join him. Keel, have you been, are you still using a pass-out-trace? Um, no. No? You should have the brakes. It's a concertation, is it? Yeah, but I cast stone skin on myself. You did. All right.

So go and make stealth roll. That's good. I'm with. Nine. Nine. All right. I would like to continue to stealth ahead of the group and also continue checking the track. I already, I already, we already went.

Oh, he is. As you stealthily move all. As you stealthily move along the side of the wall, Scanlan comes pattering down the stonework. Ding, ding, d'i, 18. No. Into it is a large central chamber. You can see webbing scattered throughout the entirety

of the stone room. It's about 60 feet up. There is very, very low light from the flickering sconces that are on the walls of this towards the base of the actual room. The building in the center, it looks almost like an ancient mausoleum structure, how it's placed in the center of the room, closed stone doors, but what catches your eye is the entirety of the structure seems to be crafted of the same

platinum-like material as the stone, as the container that you guys are carrying the horn. There's sapphire is all over the walls in here then. Not the walls of the extra chamber itself, just this central building right there. We're not stealing from this place. Don't make perception check. Anyone who wishes to look for traps? Oh, we're out there. Oh no, that was my big fancy one. Nice.

I'm going to check for any arcane stuff. And I got to the 14. 14. I'm going to check for 25. It's a 21. Perception. Perception 21. 25 for arcane?

Yeah. Best you can gather, as far as the presence of any arcane in this room, the scrolling on the structure in front of you, there are elements of the scrolling that you you can see are based in the arcane rooms that are used for ritual inscribing, but there's nothing of any magic you've ever been familiar with

that is utilized in the structure. Would you roll? Oh, really, really high. Eight. All right. So who's moving in? Who wants to? I moved in with Grog.

I move in. I'm moving in. Can I try to stealth and move along the side just kind of keep for the other. Going in. I'll go on the side. Kind of pushing through some of the webs and there's still up on the side of the room.

I'll keep close to the guards in the box. I'll go in, I'll go in, 18 on the stealth. All right. I'll go in like kind of close to, kind of close to Rog. All right. I'm gonna tail my sister actually.

All right. Move around over here with your sister. And Trinket's gonna stay next to Kielit. All righty. Come here, Trinket. I'm going to go invisible. Wait, I'm not treating it. All right.

You are currently I'm sorry, but I'm not treated. Invisible scandal. Can we see a spider in here? Like a big spider? You don't. There's always a big mollus spider. It's dark?

It's very low light. I'm going to use my prime evil awareness and see if I can sense any spiders in the area. Okay. You take a moment to concentrate and you see sense, while not invisible range, on the opposite side of this room, a whole bunch of tiny little life sources and one rather large one.

Good you know. Lots of spiders. I'm going to cast protection from poison on myself while we're over here. I cast a tobinix. I'm drinking a healing potion. All right. I'll do I'm gonna do the same action also go I'll go ahead no no it's fine yeah what's the level two healing potion do again I keep my stones gonna up yeah what's the level I'm going to go level two healing potion is 4d4 plus four I'm going to go use greater invisibility okay as well all right because I can cast and still stay invisible

All right. Kima kind of pushes ahead through the group. You guys are doing this. Walks up to the front of the chamber. And you see she takes the holy symbol around from her neck, the symbol of the Bahamit. And much like she did to the doorway that she had opened at the bottom of the temple earlier to find this initial passageway, she feels around in the scrolling,

and eventually finds a section of it and kind of rotates. It looks like a circular part of it that shifts and then pulls out. When she pulls it out, you can see there is and kind of an engraving there. There is a recessed engraving in the same shape as her holy symbol. Before she touches anything, can I let her know that there's a whole lot of spiders

on the other side of the room? Wait, what? You didn't have any of her right flank just to the corner of the mausoleum structure. Just so everybody's aware, those things we just thought, there's a ton more of them on the other side of this little chamber thing.

Oh, thanks for telling us. No problem. Rug, like a stealthier. Natural 20. Yes. Yes. Yes. Spider-M.

That beard off because it had like melons. Just grog, the beard is still there. No, no, it fell off. Its most majestic part fell out. There's still some Goliath speech for us there. Some substantial viking is happening. As, Brog, for a moment there, you recessed into your old hunter training

when you were traveling with the barbarian tribe. And you take in the darkness around you and walk fleet of foot, making your way to the edge of it, not making a single sound. You're damn proud of yourself. I am. Quietly. All right, so as you tell us to Kim,

Spiders, is that going to make noise? I don't know, I haven't been in this chamber before. Perhaps we should kill the spiders before we make some noise, or maybe just kind of be prepared. In fact, you know what? I'm gonna cast spike growth on the ground in between where they're gonna have to walk through. Ooh, all right, so.

Which way? Which way? Which way? Right, yeah, there. Desmites? Yeah. Mm-hmm. So say spike growth, how much does it affect?

It affects. Oh, damn it. I didn't put it in my thingy and I'm dumb. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. That's okay. You're not dumb, you're strong, smart person. Spike growth. You're more than arrows.

You're more than arrows. It is a 20 foot radius. Okay, cool. So you can do this whole area right here is all now spike. Okay, and it spikes, hard spikes and dorms. Good to know. All right, I'm gonna follow suit. Brigh-to-fo suit and go to the other side

and cast Stinking Cloud. No, no, on the- Over here? Over here. Yeah. Our side's the best. Uh-huh. Go ahead and make another stealth check. Okay.

15. 17. That's the best stealth I've ever done. Yeah, that's the best stealth I've ever done. Be quietly combined, mutter under your breath, your arcane and show all of a sudden. What's the set up on that one? 30, I think, I think it's 30 feet. Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on.

Um, while he's doing that. 90 feet. Oh, that's the range. It's a 20-foot radius. Oh, your cards are cool. actually a 20-foot radius would be Oh, they're like purple. This whole area of here.

Oh, nice. That's good. Oh, I was kidding. This whole area here is. Oh, actually, I didn't see this. I'm good. And you also now make very nasty cloud in this vicinity as well.

This whole area is completely marked off on both sides. I like to walk up, I see what's going on. I'm going to take out my deck of illusions. I'm going to toss two cards both ways, or two cards on each side. So I'm gonna do this. Question, that chamber in the center of the room, does it go all the way to the ceiling?

Or is it? No, there is a gap. Like of illusions, everyone. So there's a huge, so the technically spiders could crawl up the ceiling and drop down on us? Yes. In theory? Why would you give him ideas like that? Okay.

Just feed him irony. Just eat. So, let's hear. Ten of hearts. Yes! Joker, Queen of Hearts, and another Joker! What? So, I mean, wait, you threw.

So two on each side. Oh, two on each side. Yeah, so two's over in that, like four of the mess over there, and two's over in the other mess. You want to put one up top? Yeah. So the jokers, are you?

And a female version of me. Ooh, that's awesome. So a secondary Tiberius appears. Oh, everyone. There. You thought you make a good woman. Timuriosa. Nel Tiberius appears over on that side.

And then whatever you decide, you decide. Queen of hearts. Queen of hearts and ten of hearts. Oh, interesting. Llebiosa. A succubis appears over here. Yeah. Winged.

Oh, that's fun. What is it the one? Queen of hearts and a ten of hearts. A cloud giant. What? On this side of the room, we use that it. For now, it's fine. All of a sudden, appear, kind of translucent.

Their image flickering. It's not a great illusion, but it's enough where it catches some attention. And they're present right before the messes of each side. Yeah, right there. Yeah. All right. Kima is now, so you're like,

Yeah, go, go, go, do it. She puts your symbol into the recess as it does the stone doors, kind of shift as this dull kind of creaking of the stone as it slides, not open, but into the walls, revealing an interior that is, as kind of the light filters in, the entirety of the wall, floor, and ceiling of this room is of the same scrolling, the same platinum sapphire material as the outside of this building and the boxes there. Except for the design seems to all filter

in towards the center, like the center of a spider web. All the design coalesces to such a point. No, it's not an actual spider web. And there was raised dais in the center there about four feet wide, about a half a foot thick. Kima kind of takes her symbol, puts the back around her neck, steps to the side, and kind of motions like this. The two scale barriers begin to move down carrying the case, look around the rest of you for like...

I invisibly follow right behind the box. The box. All right. Still keeping my illusion in this place. Yeah, I'm not going to move. As you will. I'll, no, no, no. You're not.

You're not. Yeah. If I fell, let me shift one over just so I'm not in Trinkets' way. The other way. Yeah. There you go. All right, so as they enter the chamber, Kima enters as well, you guys following in behind them.

I need you all to make stealth checks. Everybody. No, Tiberius with advantage because you're... What kind of take? Stealth. Not you. Not you, don't worry about it. I don't? You do.

Is that 17? Two? No, I'm checking up a re- So you step into the chamber, losing your footing for a moment on the smooth, kind of platinum like ridges across the ground and you kind of catch yourself, your plate hitting the ground with a large tinge sound,

at which point, At each point, the two scale bears kind of look at you with a heavy sigh, and he goes, go, go, go, go. They both step forward and take and place the box into the center of the room on top of the dyes. As they both release the chains, the box seems to levitate on its own to the center of the room, much like how the horn itself ascended and was kept aloft with the center of the box. The box lifts up and slowly begins to rotate on its own. As it does, you can see the sapphire bits that are ingrained in this box flash with a bright blue light.

And all of a sudden the blue energy spreads into the ceiling and the floor of this room. And all of the blue and silver veins that are carved into this begin to glow with a similar blue light. Cool. Cool. I love light. The doors, beginning.

Which doors? The doors you guys entered this room and begin to close. Ah, I should leave. I'm a scooch. Yeah, you guys immediately scooch out of the way. Kima darts off. Both of them turn around and start running back. They both make it out.

Oh, that's good. Both manage to squeeze the roof as the door slammed behind, at which point you see a series of spiders beginning to try and cut her around these here. What's the DC on your? My spell? Yeah. 17.

Because I didn't do it through the hand come. Should we run? Both of these spiders. We're going to clear it. going to clear it. Get disoriented and begin trying to find their way to the stifle cloud. Kind of like, kind of like, kind of

to make their way through. The rest of these begin coming forward. What's the role they have to make for the spiky growth? 14. 14. Both Mr. Say, what's the damage on that? That's 2D4 for every 5 feet crossed. They would probably be skittering around here halfway

through before they change trajectory. So I'm going to make my 1D4, 2D4? 2D4 for every 5 feet. 10D4. I'm charging around the corner after they can, 10-4, that's cool. Oh, nice, what?

For her thorns. My little sister once fell in a rose bush. It was very painful. Good story. One time I fell on a fire hill ant, or fire ant hill. That sucks too. 22.

Like, it sucks too. Both of these spiders stop in place, looking severely messed up and damaged and just kind of hold their ground. looking very confused. You see curling up over the top of this structure, one large, white and bluish spider that leaps up. As this is happening, you guys notice that blue energy is cracking through the floor. And now following the pattern across the entirety of the structure, it crawls up the walls. Oh.

And that blue energy reaches to the ceiling, illuminating it. And what you missed when you entered the room is you can see recessed into the ceiling of this room for large humanoid entities that are just currently held aloft buried in the ceilings of platinum armor. One of them suddenly flashes dislodges and squashing the spider in the process. What is that? Squeaching sound as the spider slowly chest and curl in place, the giant platinum golem now slamming on top and squishing at the top. You see as it slowly comes to stand. Each hand holding these giant platinum cleavers,

you suddenly hear a voice ringing through your heads collectively. You heard the man! You heard him! You heard him! You heard him! Earrings! Everybody, you heard him! Wait, but can we just leave the thing here with this door? He's gonna kill this guy. He's gonna kill everything here. Oh, then let's go. All right, so all of you guys start, they're bolting on one.

Everyone wanted to go ahead and make a dexterity check. Okay. Oh, my God. That's good. Okay. Yeah, sure. 13? All right, anyone lower than a 10? What about on a 10?

Lower than a 10. All right. Who's about? 14. Awesome. You guys all come running out of the room. Except for Kima, no one. So all of you guys come running out of the room. Kima's dead.

The rest of the scale bears come rushing through now. They're no longer uncovered by it. Kima's kind of helping everyone else get by and trying to keep everyone at bay being the hero. As she turns around, the first, One comes leaping off of the top of the structure. One's toward her and gets one giant sweep with one of its blades. With a twang- Move.

Yeah, that'll hit. You see the blade straight across the front of her silver armor. She takes 24 points of slashing damage. It sends her flying back 10 feet with the sheer force of it, but she manages to roll out of it. Yeah, with an acrobatics check, catching us up to her feet and just keeps bolting behind the rest of you guys. You now see behind two more.

two more. Dislogging from the ceiling as the one that's charging after you is coming up the stairway through this. We're not going into a skill challenge as you guys are rushing out. Oh gosh. Yeah. Skill challenge! Go go go! There's running through, there's still the bits of webbing in the way. I want to go ahead and make another dexterity check. Oh yeah. Dixirity. Yes! Yeah! Okay, yeah, sure.

21. Anyone? 25. 22. 17? 11? 22. All right.

19. All right. As you guys are all charging up the way, kind of like helping each other, but also clamoring and you get through, uh, Kima's rushing up. You see one of the scale bears is now tripped and fallen on the stairs. She runs past, leans back to reach her hand out as the golem comes up behind. No. Two hands, swings down with both blades.

This is against one of the scale bears. Oh, okay. One, uh, I'm missing trying to trinket with you. Okay, thank you. Um, we'll do that next round, so I forgot. A lot of things consider. Uh, one of them, kings! the stone and just reeks off sparks flying through the air, illuminating the space

secondarily. However, the other scale bearer takes 28 points of slashing damage from the blow as it reaches up again for a second blow. Kima reached down, grabs Dismanoss's arm and lifts her up her feet and they both go charging forth. You guys make your way up the stairway. As you see now, the Gullum is pushing its way through. I'm going to dissipate my card illusion. I'm going to cast fly myself. Okay. So I'm hovering. How much of a gap is there between this like last trailing behind scale bearer and the gollum? Well, now the Kim's got up, they're rushing up. It's trying to keep up behind.

There's about a 10 foot, 15 foot gap now. I'm going to turn around and do wall of stone. Boof! Okay. As they just rush past the wall of stone slams up, as the gollum goes smashing into it. I'll do some port. I'll do obelisk right behind it. All right.

So as you guys come rushing up to the top of the... You guys are just foot building the stone wall, obis, obelis, obelis, obelisk. We'll say you cast it twice to go ahead and reinforce. All right, you hear the impact from behind. You hear the stone crack and break, and you see two of the pillars that you put up, impact, dust, piece of rock, shoot out, but it settles. Apparently it's holding strong and you start hearing slamming

some sort of heavy weight behind it. Right, right. As well as the following of additional giant heavy footsteps. It's now got its reinforcements, it's caught up to it. You guys charge into the room of the broken trap, which now has partially raised platforms. You're rushing around and trying to find your way through. You get the other side of the room.

There's now an entirety. A room filled with mist in front of you. Oh no. I still have it. I can gust of win. Okay. That's my last third level spread. All right, Gus to win, I'm going to ask all of you guys

to make a wisdom check as you rush through. Including me? Everyone. Wisdom check or saving through? This is a wisdom check. Oh. Not good. Just adding your wisdom.

Nice. 24. Saving throw or just your ability modifier? 12. Billity modifier. So, okay. 16. Negative 3.

10, 10 for me. 14. 13. All of you guys come rushing through. Okay. All right, so, so you guys come rushing and you're like, go, go, go. You see Keyless is focusing in getting the wind to escape. Keeleth rushes up.

Kima comes through with the two scale bears. Everyone comes through, Grog's bringing up the back. You can see now in the back behind him, a giant blade-willing fist that the golem comes smashing through the wall. The rest of you guys, like ushering Gog along, Grog comes running, hears the sound looks over his shoulder and the chaos of it. The trajectory is off and ends up brushing

into the side of the mist. Grog, go ahead and make a dexterity saving throw. 12. You end up taking 24 points of fire damage as the pillars spin, unleashing a torrent of flame. Oh, bad car wash, bad car wash. Bad car wash. Oh no, wrong, your beard has been sick.

What? You reach up instinctively feel that smooth as a baby Goliath face. Oh. Is all that work? As you guys charge up the rest of the staircase. Is God behind us now, like the furthest way? He's just caught up to you guys. As you're rushing up the staircase, you get at the final door.

You exit. As Kimmer rushes everyone through, she brings out her holy symbol real fast. And as she pulls it off her neck, you see the first golem, push the bottom of the staircase. The Ningen's looming up. We're leaving. What are you doing? Go home! Go home! Bad gol!

Kima pulls out her holy symbol and holds it aloft in front of her and just says under her breath, Simulatazes, he doesn't know which point it begins to glow with this extremely vibrant glow. As it does, you see a symbol emblazing on the front of the golem. It flashes with light as it stops. It just kind of holds its place and waits. And Kima looks at the symbol like, I wasn't sure that was going to work.

She takes... Tell her to go kill the spider. She takes the symbol and puts it back in the side of the stone door that originally was closed. The door is slowly sealed shut once again. She pulls the symbol out, and she falls to her knees breathing heavily. Oh, chema. Oh, we did it. Next time I would lead with that.

Yeah. I agree, Grog. Very well said. It kind of happened very quickly. I'm sorry. All right. Some people need to be healed. Yeah.

Kima for sure. I'm actually okay. Brog's got a burned face. No, I want to wear this pain as a remembrance of my beard. You guys make your way up. You can grow it back, Rob. You guys make a way up to the main chamber where Hyberra Vord is currently waiting for you.

Oh, that's the good. He turns to you as you enter and... So I'm to assume that your journey was a success. Yes. Surprisingly so. It went off without a hitch. A hitch. Well, yeah. You got some good security down there.

Very good. I told you. Ones is instilled. We need to be safe. A little warning next time. 25 points of healing. There you go, you're a girl. That will talk me up, well.

That will top me up very nice. Let's like that. Well, done, everyone, by the way. Yeah. That could have gone. That could have been worse. Which point, the high bear award kind of raises his hand. Yon, if you do not mind.

Yon can't shuffles forward? Such a ball. Yon. Excuse me. I'm right here. It was a play on words. Your name also means something that you do when you're tired. Yeah.

I don't like you. It puts a big old sack of coins in your hands. Oh. Oh. Oh, I'll hold on. Of course. We should mention that you may have to have one of the rooms repair. Take a couple of hours.

Good time. Good turn. The spinning column track. Circle of Death. Circle of Death may have gotten... A little broken. We thought we maybe were just disarming it, but I think we probably broke it.

If you find the remnants of a glorious beard, preserve it. Oh, broke. Actually, I've got some remnants of a lovely beard, and I try to smush it on to his chin. It is not the same. That was pretty good. It is not the same. Dang it.

At which point the high bear turns to you, Puygens, mighty cleric, I see this meeting, though it escaped my vision more so. You bear the holy signal of the dawnflower, the lady of redemption herself. While we may walk under different stars, I offer these words that caught my ear not but a week ago. An excavation beneath the toppled tower of Syrac,

a long cursed ruin that sat like a blemish upon this city for hundreds of years was revealed that perhaps the five holy paths that began here at Vasselheim there may indeed now be a sixth What? A forgotten temple to Sarenre

has been uncovered Crumbled, lost and without light As sat forever and a day And few are around in this city In her guiding flame to recover And restore its glory Perhaps you should look into it The Loon rise to the west of here

the base of the city's mountain. Look for the dark stone ruin. Nevertheless, I thank you for your time. Kima, if you wouldn't mind, we have some things to discuss as well. Oh, um, uh, real quick, uh, Vorg. Just, you wouldn't...

Vord. Vod. Vod. But that's all right. Hyderner, Vord. Yes. Vod. Um, you wouldn't have happened to her,

you know, here of maybe, um, a druid tribe. called the Fire Ashari. They call their little hometown Pira. Do you happen to know, if you know, maybe? He gives you a keen look. There has been talk of a rogue band of Druids. Not more than two days travel.

Let me see, where did I put that distance in the massive pass here? Thinks himself for a moment, considering where? Towards the Sunder Peak Mountain Railway. Thunder Peak Mountain Range. Dangerous territory, fraught with volcanic activity, yet these folks seem to call it home. Is it, is Thunder Peak like west or east to where? We can like.

Southwest of the city, it's hard to miss. South West. Look for the plumes and sulfur smoke. Is the Temple to Serran Ray on the way to the? Temple to Serran Ray is on the same mountain that this temple is built on. Oh. To the west of it.

Follow the mountain base. So we can, like, stop there first? Yes, it's close, it seems. All of us can... Before we part, you seem to be quite learned of certain many things that I am not. Have you ever heard of anything called

the gods hammer or the palestone? Any kind of particular artifact? Robes of mercy, perhaps. Can sir have, unfortunately? Of course. But I shall keep this in mind. the information come my way. Thank you.

I bow. In a glance and notes. And for the record, while your color is not what it was when you first entered, know that the great Platon dragon sees through

this guise to the heart beneath. Yes. Thank you for noticing. I agree with the same sentiment. And I bow, in the joconic fashion. Well, Kima, business.

Thank you all very much. And he kind of lends his hand out. As he extends his hand, the doors in the opposite side of the room, open up. Magic. God it was banned. For the sake of Brevardique, we have people who have to leave on this very soon. It doesn't take you long to find your way across the city. You find some of the city's bastions standing guard on the outskirts of this crumpled tower ruin.

This black and soot-covered stone that is just almost like, almost like, a plot of land that has been left untouched. Like once it fell, no one wanted anything to do with it. You speak with the bastions and they eventually let you through, especially giving the aid of those you walk with since arrival. You come to the ruin and you can see there's about a 40-foot gap in this pile of stone that is a recess in the ground, almost like a small sinkhole. Looks like there is some sort of an excavation that has been set here. Very haphazard. There is very, very simple wood boards that have been placed into the side of this small sinkhole to allow relatively comfortable, though a bit rickety, descent into its structure. As you make your way down,

your eyes adjusts to the little bit of daylight that spills within this dark subterranean cavern. And there before you, you see a surprisingly glorious sight, a simple structure of brass and polished limestone. Ancient is the day as long. One of the walls is partially collapsed, and you see what looks like three figures rummaging through the debris. An older human woman was being helped by two others, a young man of blonde hair and simple clothes,

and an older gnome that's carrying a crutch under his arm. And they're all in the process of collecting and setting aside and cleaning up various things that have recovered from this temple. You immediately see, against the brass structure, the very kind of simplified symbol of the wings of Sarenrae multiple times across the structure in various incarnations.

This is very much indeed the lost temple of Sarenrae. So when they've fully excavated it, you can come back and check it out. Or you can stay here and restore it. At which point the older woman sees you guys walk down, he goes, please, there's nothing to take. Nothing but history in rock. I guarantee you. No, no, no.

No, no. I take out my symbol and I say, no, no, I'm here to help. You see an audible gasp from her. She's, oh. My eyes don't deceive. Oh, my eye, I am sorry. My name is Jaseer. A simple painter, but one of, as far as I know,

the three devoted to the Lady of the Everlight here in Vasselheim. Now the fourth came from, but would you stay with you? with us for a bit and help us rebuild. Bring her name into the light amongst the others here in Vasseline, restore it to its glory. I'll leave you guys. Oh no, cuz. It shouldn't take long, especially with your help.

We can bring the light into the heart of others and you can see the two other kind of join her at the side and they all look at you with this, this look of hope that you can probably tell from the crinkles in their face that they haven't had in quite some time. And they look up to you and their simple clothes as the first true strong bastion In this city for Sarah and Ray, they've seen in a long time.

Would that pike, you get to turn to the rest of the group? I think this is a pilgrimage I have to take. So, Vox Machina, keep your eyes out. I will contact you every once in a while, if I can. And we will meet up once this is completed. Definitely. All in. We'll live.

Vox Makis Makina, on three. One, two, three. You only miss them. I miss you very much. I miss you guys very much. And on that note, we have to close, because people are in a rush. Ashley will be leaving us for a time.

She is going to New York for a few months to shoot a web, I mean, I should a television series. She's like to wear a little web series. Yeah, it's a wonderful television series. She has recurring on a really crappy, remember really crappy, we're really happy and proud of her. Very successful. We're just a jumble of emotions in this circumstance.

You guys have been so amazing and have made this whole experience just even better for us. And thank you so much for going with us on our journey. And it will keep going. But I will be back. You will be back. And I can. But it might be a long time. Yeah.

She'll pop in and out if she can. But there will eventually be a return of Pike. But for the time being, she feels the calling to stay and help rebuild this temple of Sarah and Ray. We're going to miss you, Pike. I'm going to miss you guys. But we understand personal journeys. Personal journey. Yeah.

You have a new park. Okay, I will. I, Pike, I, Scanlan will not physically wait for you, but emotionally, I will wait for you. And I will not stray emotionally. I will always be there for you emotionally. Okay, Scanlan. Physically, I mean, come on. It's gonna be months.

The world of Sonic the Hedgehog has been thrust into a not-so-dark, not-so-stormy, hard-boiled detective story that probably nobody saw coming. Follow Sonic and the Intrepid Chaotic's detective agency as they take on their biggest case yet. This high-flying action-packed adventure will take them across the world, fighting for every quill they can fight. It's one heck of a tale. Which is good, because this story might be the only thing that can save their lives. Well, if that's all, I can just dispose of you. Wait, what? All will be revealed in.

Sonic the Hedgehog presents The Chaotics Case Files. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts. When the Chaotics are on the cake. Look, we all know there are already. a lot of celebrity interview podcasts out there, but there's only one Happy, Sad, Confused. I'm Josh Harrow-Witson. Yeah, I'm the host of the show, so I'm a little biased, but truly Happy, Say, Confused is the place for nerdy and intimate conversations with all your favorite actors and filmmakers. From Andrew Garfield and Scarlett Johansson to Christopher Nolan

and Quentin Tarantino. For over 10 years and over 700 episodes, Happy, Say, Confused has broken movie and TV news every single week. That's because I ask all the questions I want to know, and more importantly, you want to know. Casting what ifs, backstage stories, acting pet peeves, and much more. So whether you're into superheroes, prestige TV, or just the coolest actors and directors alive, you're going to learn something in every episode. Listen to Happy Say I Confused on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. any way you look at it. Come on, we'll stick together. Love movies? Love

Classic movies? So do we. Tick Bush Business is the podcast where classic film is discussed in modern times. Hosted by me, film journalist Kristen Lopez, and my co-host, author Emily Edwards, we dive into the golden age of cinema with fun, heart, and serious expertise. As published

film historians and lifelong classic movie buffs, we bring insider insights, deep research, and lively debates with a variety of special guests, ranging from celebrities like Holly Madison, to TCM luminaries Dave Carger and Eddie Muller, and even family members of Old Hollywood Legends. Subscribe now to ticklish business on your favorite podcast app,

and let's talk about Old Hollywood today.