Critical Role - C3E109 A Test of Fate

Episode Date: October 10, 2024

Bells Hells make haste to the Raven's Crest temple in Vasselheim by invitation from the Matron of Ravens, but the welcome they receive puts them all on the edge...BEACON  We’re excited to bring you even MORE with a Beacon membership! Start your 7-day free trial today at https://beacon.tv/join and get unparalleled access to the shows you love completely ad-free! You’ll receive NEW Beacon exclusive series, instant access to VODs & podcasts, live event pre-sales, merch discounts, & a private Discord. YOUTUBE MEMBERS / TWITCH SUBSCRIBERSTwitch Subscribers and YouTube Members gain instant access to VODs of our shows, moderated live chats, and custom emojis & badges:  https://www.youtube.com/criticalrole/join  https://www.twitch.tv/criticalrole     "It's Thursday Night (Critical Role Theme Song)" by Peter Habib and Sam RiegelOriginal Music by Omar Fadel, Hexany Audio, Ghiya Rushidat, Karam Salem, Neal Acree, and Colm R. McGuinness"Welcome to Marquet" Art Theme by Colm McGuinnessAdditional Music by Universal Production Music, Epidemic Sounds, and 5 AlarmCharacter Art by Hannah FriederichsAnimated Introduction by Kamille Areopagita, Kevin Areopagita, Mark Adams and Peggy Shi Due to the improv nature of Critical Role and other RPG content on our channels, some themes and situations that occur in-game may be difficult for some to handle. If certain episodes or scenes become uncomfortable, we strongly suggest taking a break or skipping that particular episode.Your health and well-being is important to us and Psycom has a great list of international mental health resources, in case it’s useful: http://bit.ly/PsycomResources

Hey there, Critter podcast listeners! We have a special new membership service at Beacon.tv, where you get early access to all new podcast episodes, including Critical Role for the first time ever. Beacon members also get things like live event pre-sales, merch discounts, access to a private community Discord, and new exclusive series like Critical Role Cooldown. Think of it as our digital Critical Role land.

Head on over to beacon.tv to check it out for yourself and start a seven-day free trial. Thank you so much for your support, for being a podcast listener, and for being part of our community. Hey there, Critters. We are so excited to share with you our brand new podcast from the world of Exandria. To be continued... Slayer's Take is the most notorious monster hunting group in the realm. But when previously slain creatures start returning from the grave, it's up to six misfit mercenaries to band together and re-slay these supernatural threats as the Re-Slayers Take. So come follow along these audio escapades as the second coolest monster hunters this side of Exandria battle a growing undead army of dangerous creatures.

The party is led by a duo of game masters, George Primavera and Nick Williams with the main cast, including Jasmine Bular, Caroline Lux, and Jasmine Shion. Listen to new episodes every Monday, anywhere you stream podcasts or become a beacon member and listen to the podcast two weeks early and uninterrupted by ads. Oh, hi, folks. It's me, Sam Riegel, and I'm here to welcome you to the wonderful world of Exandria.

Although it might be called something like Critical Role wherever you're streaming it on. If you would like to watch the stream as it airs, you can tune in on Thursdays at 7 p.m. Pacific at twitch.tv slash Critical Role or at youtube.com slash Critical Role. The video-on-demand versions are immediately available for our Twitch subscribers or on YouTube the following Mondays at 12 p.m. Pacific. Podcast episodes are right here on the Critical Role podcast network on Thursdays, one week after the initial broadcast. All right, the adventure awaits. Let's roll. Hello everyone, and welcome to tonight's episode of Critical Role, where a bunch of us nerdy-ass voice actors

sit around and play Dungeons and Dragons. We play the Dungeons and Dragons! Whoa. And I believe we have some more announcements with Marisha, if you want to take it up. Ah, yeah. This week, what was fucking why? Jeez.

This week was the premiere of Campaign 3, The Tales from the Stinky Dragon. Join the amazing former Rooster Teeth crew, including Game Master Gus Sorola, players Barbara Dunkelman, Chris Demarius, John Reisinger, and Blaine Gibson for this family-friendly

D&D adventure. You can listen to episode one right now on Beacon. And of course, anywhere you get your podcasts. New episodes drop every other Monday, but Beacon members get episodes 48 hours early. So you get access to that exclusive bonus show as well, which is Second Wind, where they deep dive into the latest episode. It's just better to be a beacon member. I'm going to say it. It's better to beacon.

It's better to be a bit. Yeah. Better to be. Travis, that's right. I took Matt's toss. No, do it, go for it. Travis? No, I think you should toss to Matt, and then he should toss to Travis.

Are we playing zip-zop-pop? Matt? Yes? You can toss to Travis. Travis, you have something to talk about? I don't have anything to talk about. Okay, then. I'm just kidding! I'm just kidding, you guys. The first three episodes of The Legend of Mock Mocking of Season 3 are available

tonight! On Prime Video tomorrow, we're celebrating with a live cocktail party alongside some special guests, plus two roundtables on October 13th. No, October 15th and 29th, where we can discuss all the intricate behind-the-scenes details with all of you and us. It's just us. Anyway, it's going to be a great month of Legend of Vox Machina, and we are thrilled to finally share it with you. I know you've waited a long time, so have we. It's going to be awesome.

All right, Laura, you're up next. No! No! You can't really read it. Matron of Ravens Dice! Oh shit, the dice are new? Yeah, it's another Everything Dice collab. The packaging is by Ash J. Show the dice. It comes with stuff.

It's important. You guys! Look, I haven't shown you yet. Will this dice tell me my fate? Will this dice tell me my fate? Maybe. It's a 13. You're fucked.

All the dice have a little raven matron mask in them. All the dice have a little raven matron mask in them. 13. 13. Ooh! You're fucked! Perfect. You're big! All the dice have a little raven matron mask in them. What? With gold threads. Look, look. They're very cool. They're so beautiful. Oh right, I should read what it says.

Inclusion of gold threads and black feathers and a porcelain mask of the matron herself. I already knew what it said. This gorgeous dice set. That's really cool. And even more rad new merch are available now. Why don't you go check them out at our Critical Role shop? Yeah.

I think it's on the 20, the mask. You said the word rad before. I got a 12. Who's got the 20? Who wants it? Here. You guys want some? Yeah!

I do want to say that. All right, I'm going to pass the ball back over there. I believe that concludes our announcement. Oh, and they're sharp. I think they do. And they're sharp. I think they do. And they're sharp. This is very sharp. This is deadly sharp.

I mean, a good d4 is meant to kill. Yeah. Wait, that was... I believe that concludes our announcements. Oh no. So let's go ahead and jump into tonight's episode of... The Critter's Quest! I love you. I love you. Critical. Critical. It's Thursday night.

One by one we climb until we reach the top. Two by two we fall. Will we meet our end or meet our destiny? Hold your breath and roll. How do you want to do this? It's Thursday night All ye critters come join us It's time to continue our play

There is magic and mystery Who knows what will happen He might But one thing's for sure We never give up on the fight From the healer to the renegade We all share the same goal Adding more allies, taking more chances

Hold your breath and roll You can certainly try It's Thursday night. All ye critters come join us. It's time to continue our play. It's Thursday night. There is magic and mystery from darkness. Our friendship will rise.

But one thing's for sure. We never give up on the fight Oh, get ready It's Thursday night And welcome back. SAM and LAURA say goodbye. And welcome back. So last we left off, Bells Hells, after heading back to the Fey Realm to Thwart, a meeting between Ludinus De Leth,

the Saur-Lord Zathura, and the Unseelie Court, which had been strangely absent in the goings-on of the Ruby Vanguard. You managed to, one by one, take out their guard, assault the entire Ancily crew, weapons ready, and brought down the entire abandoned temple of the Archheart, after which you were beckoned to a meeting

with the Archheart, brought into their realm, where they expressed an interest in your path and a unique perspective on the current events happening in Exandria. After sharing this with you, they also implored you to speak to what you seem to imagine is the Matron of Ravens, of a similar sort of swapping of thoughts.

After which, you took your captives, or tried to, as they rapidly attempted to escape, dragged them back, mostly alive, other than Zahralord, who was slain in his attempt to get out of your grasp, and rode back with the aid of Glomeglut, which was mourning the loss of its master, Nana Mori in her transformed state,

and your summoned mount. There, the Sire Lord Zathura, your blood father, with your permission, his corpse was taken to the loon underneath Ligament Manor, where it was turned into furniture. Furniture that keeps his essence within it, which allowed you to have an extended conversation with his stretched, fleshy face

against a hexagonal frame. Gaining maybe some dark closure, or at the very least, gathering more information about some of the behind the scenes, the vanguard, and a bit of a hint to move quicker than perhaps the weak window has been allotted. a bit of a hint to move quicker than perhaps the weak window has been allotted. You all went to rest for the evening, where Fearne and Ashton clambered

to the rooftop garden of the manor, released Glomglut from his bindings, and convinced the dragon to allow you to curl up with it for the evening. The three of you fell asleep. Disappear. A night of rest after a very, very long and arduous day. With that, the morning eventually greets all of you.

Day of rest. The absence of Fearne and Ashton within the guest chambers marks your attention, but expecting an evening with the dragon was discussed. Where Fearne, you and Ashton both awaken to the sound of the deep, breathy slumber of Glownglut, your chest expanding beneath you like a massive-scaled Totoro, just like.

Is that a snore? I think he's just really comfortable. Oh. I love, this is like the best sleep I've had in I don't know how long. This is so comfortable. I mean, we could just stay here for... Wouldn't that be nice? I think we have to let him go.

Oh, I know. Right? I think it's not up to us. I do, too. I like that he has a choice. May we all have a choice. You hear. If we live through this, I would want to come back with yours and Moria's permission.

I really like it here. It's quiet. You do? I like it here, too. You can come back any time. I hope we make it back. Yeah, me too. That's weird. I don't really... I mean, not to be dark,

I didn't actually think I'd live this long. Really? Oh yeah. You know, people who come from Greymoor, they don't, you know, that's not a, it's not a beginning that promises a very good ending. And, you know, had a good time. And definitely have, I don't know, seen a lot more than I expected,

and honestly, I met better people than I thought I would. And now you're going to save the world. Barely deserves it, doesn't it? Yeah. We're all, I don't know. I'll save you. I'll save you all. I agree with that. And him.

You can feel Glumglab beginning to stir. The dual jaws stretch it out. It rubs up against you for a second before it begins to stand up and plops you both onto the ground, uncaring or unaware. It stands up.

Oh, good morning. Does this big big long stretch. Stretchy, stretchy, stretchy. His wings shaking it out. Are you hungry? Is he sniffing in the air? Do you want to leave? Is he sniffing in the air? Do you want to leave?

You don't have to stay. But how do we see you again? Or if we can. You don't have to, I just... Leans in and nudges you a little bit. Oh. And steps back. Then puts its arms out and its throat

billows up for a moment before it and does this loud, echoing, barking call into the air. And rubs against you again. He's instructing you how to possibly get his attention in the future. That's how I do it. You got to do it in fact.

You can't. Did I do it? No. Nyro. I'll work on it. It might be a different register, but... Oh, hey. Well, hold on.

I'm going to take off the little bottom frill of my dress, and I'm just going to put it around his wrist like a friendship bracelet. Just tie it a little low. Just so I can keep track of, you don't have to keep it on, but just so I know, yeah, it might be a little tasty. Do you hate it?

Okay. If it falls off, it was supposed to fall off. But, you know. Vaxen gets low again once more and rubs against you. Oh. His tail whacks you in the shoulder. Cool.

Seems to be sitting there waiting for something. What do you need? Where's your family? Do you have family? I think you're, well. So he looks off a bit. And it's like warm morning begins to drift into a dark memory.

Get out of here! I don't want you anymore! No, I can't do that to you. We're not Henderson-ing this dragon. No, there'll be no Henderson-ing. Yeah, yeah. We're going to Mac and meet this dragon. Yeah.

Where you at? Do you not know where you are? Are you hungry? Yeah, you're hungry. Its wings billow out for a minute, sniffing in the air and looking past. Still looks back at you like it needs permission. You get the sense from this communication that it's...

Go. It's not used to having... You tell it go? Yeah, you can go. You don't have to stay. That's your best dragon word. You can do whatever you want. We'll see you later.

Yeah. Go spread your legs. Get out there and just go show the world who you are. When blasts pass, your hair being thrown back as all the leaves and dust and loose pebbles all across the entire cobblestone flooring between the garden itself begin to push back as the massive size of Glumglut

begins to lift higher and higher, like it's picked up the scent of something, and rapidly takes off like a sky serpent, just winding off in the distance. That little bit of the colored tones of dawn and dusk that perpetually permeates elements of the Fey Realm hitting his multicolored scales and giving this almost rainbow shimmer

as he winds off further and further into the distance. You hear this echoing shriek, this that carries off, and as it does, birds and all manner of other flying creatures just scatter off from the rest of the canopies of the distant forest that surrounds the Hierophant. And then it's just the two of you. Wow, that was cool.

I wonder if he's going to come back. For you, he's going to come back. Okay. I miss him already. Yeah, me too. Should we let everybody else say goodbye? No. Okay. They'll be fine. Actually, if anything, they might be a little mad that we let them go. They can fuck off. Actually, if anything, they might be a little mad that we let them go.

No, they can fuck off. I know he would've helped us in a big way, but it just feels weird. Maybe he still will. I don't know. Maybe. I would rather have help from somebody who really wanted to be there anyway. Me too.

I'll just bark at him if we need him back. Yeah, you should probably work on that. I should. That was a... Oh, oh, that was a... Ow, ow! Are you trying to call Mister? What is that? No, I don't know, I got to work on it.

I'll work on it, I'm just workshopping it right now. Fuck, you're weird. Eventually, you all gather once more within the dark and low-lit, warm interior bellows of the Ligament Manor itself. Breakfast meal's been prepared by the Calloways. Nana Mori sits not far from her beautiful music-producing orb that sits in the center of her main living space. It's giving off a jovial, almost a big band era swing beat to it, as she sits and taps

one of her massive trunk-like legs to it. She has what looks almost like a dark vine-woven bowl that contains all manner of skittering creatures that she cups in with her hand while she listens to the music and then scoops a handful before crunching into them with both mouths. But as you all begin to gather down after finishing your meal, she rapidly closes it up with a cloth and ties it at the edge and sets it down. Fearne? Oh? I hope you've enjoyed your stay. Of course. Always. I take it your momentum carries you and your companions elsewhere. I'm going to limp in late to breakfast.

I forgot. A little bow-legged. Some ice in the room. I'm going to limp in late to breakfast. I forgot. A little bow-legged. Some ice in the room. Somebody sleeps in for such a beastly spirit. Morning, morning, ma'am. Good morning, everyone. Good morning.

For the first time, you see the second mouth smile. Oh. Oh, everyone. Good morning. For the first time, you see the second mouth smile. Oh! Oh, wow! He's wearing lipstick. Wow, he really is. No. Not anymore. You look well-nested, well-robed. Yah-hi-yah., well-robed. Yeah, hiya.

It was a wonderful evening. Very hospitable. It was very loud. Yeah, the Nana provides. Very loud. I could hear you neighing all through the night. Yeah. To me, it feels almost like that's intentional,

because this place is fully magic. Those rooms could be soundproof if you want them to, Nanna. Maybe we were just in the one directly above theirs. Maybe that's what it was. Yeah, maybe. We were in multiple rooms. Simultaneously. Wow. It's amazing what you can do with this magical doorway.

The one and only. Oh, I'm stuck! The forces of the gates fell. Yeah, it's like all the portal Room 34. Well, as much as I'd like you all to stay for as long as you'd like, or I do, I believe there are more important matters as long as you'd like, or I do. I believe there are more important matters for you to attend.

Yeah, it's fair. Got to get back to Vasselheim. Tell him what a good job we've done. Set the tone. These other two groups that are going to be bringing in, chuckle fucks compared to us. We've got to set the bar high for these losers. Ass wipe.

Holy shit. I'm just feeling like our territory is being infringed a little bit. Like have two other groups on call when we're standing in the room. Kiss your chism at that mouse. I'm just saying. I didn't sleep very good last night. I was jealous. Jealous of what?

I react to animal primal sounds. I felt left out. Oh! I knocked. I got knocked out at one point. I don't even think they knew I was in there. No, I was trying to, I was desperately grabbing for some sort of aid or help.

Oh! That makes sense. But I grabbed too fiercely and I knocked you out of or help. Oh, that makes sense. But I grabbed too fiercely and I knocked her out of the room. I got poked in the eye. Wasn't sure with what. Wow, what a lile. Thank you for saving the day again, Annamori.

Well, let's just say I've taken note of our tally of favors. All right. All right. Just one for me, though, right? Just one? Oh yeah, or is it like a group bill? Is it a group debt? It's a group debt, but I mean, she's not here yet.

Don't worry, we're just getting started. Ruidus, we'll be going back, so there'll be more where that came from. Just started. Is something wrong with your eye? Yeah, I told you I got fucking poked in the eye with an appendage of some kind. Don't worry.

Make sure you roll to recharge that. Try to recharge that staff. And to see if you lived through live. Yeah, that too. That might have just killed you. No, no, no. Also roll for pink eyes. Please.

This is all I want. Don't always get it, dude. Whoa, one of those is a zero. You kids. We're fine, and then... Get it, dude. Whoa, one of those is a zero. Get it. We're fine, and then. So you, it makes me so happy. 1d4 plus three expended charges. Okay, 1d4, that's the triangle, right?

That was one side away. You just need to roll one, so you would definitely read. Who's got a caltrop for me? Really? There's no way you could fail it. It would get four back. Because it's 1d4 plus three.

Morrigan, can you send us back? In a, next turn, easy way. I have my ways, sweet beast boy. Wow. But yes, and I can take care of that little pesky dilation of time that happens. Thank you. Of course.

Apparently we're under a bit of a crunch. I'm going to send a message to Fearne. Do you think it makes sense to ask your nana about Mage and Ravens? I don't think it would hurt. I don't think it would hurt. I don't think it would tip her off or anything. It wouldn't get weird. Just make sure to tell her, don't say anything.

Okay. But maybe she might have some insight. Mm, okay. Because maybe she might have some insight. Mm. Okay. Because since she's an enemy, maybe she'll have some insight. Yes. Maybe they're frenemies.

Maybe they're frenemies. Maybe we can bring them back together. That would be so good. Be friends. Why are you guys thinking of each other? I don't like being on the outside of that. I'm sorry. We're in a head nod.

We're in a head nod. We watched that. We were having intense eye contact. We were just, we're, we're. I don't like being on the outside of that room. I'm sorry. We're going to head not wait. We're going to head not wait. We watched that. We were having intense eye contact. We were just planning something. Oh great. Well, actually, you know, I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't going to offend you in your home,

but, you know, it has been mentioned that maybe we might want to check in with the Matron of Ravens. Right. And you know, I just didn't know, do you guys have a rivalry? Do you know anything about her? Do you know like...

Like what kind of flowers she likes? What? Or like, I don't know if I should bring her something. I don't know, maybe she misses home. I do know that she is kind of a fickle bitch. Oh! I told you, I told you. Fickle bitch.

There comes the goss. There comes the goss. There comes the goss. Spell the tea. But, to be honest, I haven't had too many interactions with her in the past, oh, I've forgotten how many centuries. We're not on good terms.

I'm more of a borrower of her skin without permission. She'd consider me a pest. I consider her overarching frustration. Let's just say we're not friends. But I'm sure she has her importance and good days and bad days like any god.

What are your thoughts on the gods? I'm sure she has her importance. Good days and bad days, like any god. What are your thoughts on the gods? Get rid of them, keep them, what do you think? They don't really bother here, me and my realm. They're a... I could take them and leave them. Yeah, because the Unseelie were like, oh, we should not have gods here. We should be able to be free, do our own thing.

Is that just like an Unseelie thing, or is that just a fey thing, or personal threat? There is some influence of the Moonweaver and the Archheart, especially in this realm. And I'm certain that there are a number of fey who might feel the tether or shackle of various powers playing for influence here and there, but my manor is free of such meanderings.

So I don't care. Excuse me, I need to change the timer on my own. Is that one of those castles that turn into a robot? It's important. Can I ask you a hypothetical? The Moonweaver, the Archart, the Archart granted magic to mortals and the Fae. If they get wiped out,

it's not like the gift that was given will be taken away or disappear entirely, right? Do you think magic would remain in their absence? The truth is, maybe it is just a hunch, but I believe the gift of magic was always there for the taking. The Arch Heart just showed them the path. The Ley Lines were here before the gods ever arrived,

as were aspects of the Fey. They just came in and claimed ownership to some of it. But who knows? I like it, a little mystery with my tea. That's good. Can I have one of those rat tails? Of course, dear. Thank you.

That just cost you a favor. Wow, right in the old mouth, huh? They're quite good, you should try it. I don't think I will. It's like a beefy spaghetti. It feels like a dare. I actually don't need one. That's okay, I got it think I will. It's like a beefy spaghetti. It feels like a dare. I actually don't need one. That's okay, I got it.

Of course. There's a bone in there. You got a job, too? He twirls a finger in the bowl and refills with squiggling pieces of various creatures. What? Going to die on the next one, yeah. Oh my god. A burn?

A little Elton Top. Behind you, you see Birdie's come down and has taken her this beautiful thatched apron that she's been cooking in for your breakfast that has growth and flowers out of it, the sign, she takes it and sets it down. I understand y'all are leaving real soon, and I just wanted, before y'all head off

into whatever wild adventures and dangers y'all ought to go into, I just wanted, before y'all head off into whatever wild adventures and dangers y'all ought to go into, I just wanted to make sure we had a chance to say goodbye. Olly? You see Olly comes down. I thank you all so much for taking care of her. And us, in the past, you've all had good hearts on you, friends old and new.

And just want you all to keep her safe. She's a good one. We know. And if you're coming back from Exandria and we haven't had a chance to leave, if you could get some of those Marquesian pastries with the little dried berries in there. We don't get that here in the Fair Elm,

and both of us have a hankering. Sweet tooth? Marquesian. Yeah, sweet tooth, you could say. Well, they didn't used to have until we met, and well, his birthday's coming up and I just want to treat him. Would you bring us back some Tim Tams? Basically.

Yeah, go fast, though. Anyway, Fearne, I know you're off to be your amazing self and she takes your hands and looks at you, her hooves clomping over towards you as she pulls you in a little closer to look into your eyes. When all this is said and done, I look forward to getting to know who you've become a little better.

I'd like that very much. And I'd like getting to know you as well. Which is basically what you just said, and I just agree. Yes, that's going to be great. That's all I can hope for? Well. Can I?

Yes. I would love that. She takes you in for a big hug and lifts you. She curls her fingers through your hair a little bit and takes in your smell before sighing a bit and letting you go. Olly comes up and puts his hand on your shoulder and they both look at you, the two.

Come here, Olly. Okay. Comes in and you're bigger than him. You envelop your father. Will. I love you. I love you both, too. I love you, too love you both, too. Be safe, okay?

You, too. Y'all keep her safe. Or Moria's going to turn you inside out. It's true. I will. Do you plan if Fearne dies, we all sacrifice ourselves? Because I don't want to end up as a tapestry. I have a question.

Orym's been sitting off on his own in a corner, and not very talkative, but paying attention, and he has the Sorrowlord's Blade lying on the floor in front of him, so he's been splitting his attention, listening and just considering it. What does this blade look like? It is a black longsword

with almost a speckle of star metal in it. It's fairly well balanced. It's almost a hand and a half longsword that's pretty well balanced. Okay. It's good for the moment. We don't have to identify as do we? I know.

It's been a long rest. It's been a long, long rest. Does anybody have identify? I might, I might. Numbum? Worst case, we could just burn it. A sword? Burn it?

In the vest, man. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Yeah, a little beer bongage. That's actually way better, yeah. A little beer bongage? That's the new better, yeah. A little beer bongage? That's the new official title of it. Look, Chetney's been in a few fraternities, all right? No, Fire Up the Beer Bong is now officially the code.

An arcane bong? You know what I'm saying? You could hold a magical item or creature up to it, or just load it full of kush. Oh my god. You're in the right realm for it. I was going to say. You have it.

Just put a health potion in there and let it roll. I didn't realize it was a first name. Well, I... You do have it? Do you want this? Well, what am I going to do with it? Do you want to leave it here? With hands?

Let me check it out. It runs. I mean, it's her dad's. Her blood dad's. Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me. I don't think this is for me. Yeah, but if we come across other warriors that might be able to put it to good use,

if it's some kind of powerful weapon, it'd be a shame to leave it behind. I say we bong it. What is it? You're going to identify it? I'm going to identify it. We're going to want to soup ourselves up before we go into this final battle.

Yeah. This might come in handy, whatever this is. That is an option. Plus Zorma had to get rid of the other blade that he really wanted because. That was an option. Plus, Orym had to get rid of the other blade that he really wanted because the ghouls got him. That was my fault. This is fun looking. And it does make a fun noise.

Actually, we have the sword. I just don't have the dagger. Oh, that's right. Yeah, you had the sword. You still have the dagger. I gave the dagger, which would've been real useful. The dagger was the jets. Yeah, you still have the dagger. I gave the dagger, which would have been real useful against. The dagger was the jets. Yeah. Yeah, that was dumb. Yep.

Well, we hadn't, it's fine. It's Otohan's dagger. Almost like it was meant specifically. For our needs. So the blade is called Dusk Hunger. Dusk Hunger. Ooh! Sometimes you assassinate NPCs,

sometimes you give away crucial weapons. It is a plus two longsword. Ooh. That, as a bonus action, it could be set aflame with black flames, dark flames. Hot. Do an additional 2d6 fire damage upon a strike. Da-da-da-da-da.

In addition to the strike? Wow. So it does additional 2d6 fire damage. It is considered a legendary fey weapon. As far as it's been passed down from various Unseelie court members for quite some time. It also has a capability, when it strikes someone, to try and magically blind them. You cannot wield it.

Can I wield it? Does it require a tunment? It does require a tunment, yes. It talks to you. That's awesome, Madness. Why do you make such cool shit? So, I mean, it's a longsword, so it's strength-based.

Yeah. It's versatile, so you could use it one-handed or two-handed. Oh, it's so perfect. Or. Hold on. Or you could dev it one-handed or two-handed. Wait, it's so perfect. Hold on. Or you could devour it and see what kind of cool benefit is transferred from it to the bearer.

Up to you. Wait a minute. Maybe with a black flame. This is past time, right here. Jynner's black and white weapon. I have the sword. No! But is it a legendary weapon? Is it a plus two?

It is a plus two. Actually, it's a... It also, instead of 2d6 fire damage, mine does 3d8 poison damage. Oh, cool. You don't need it. Actually, I think I'm, can I wield something? Could you wield it?

Sure, you can. Don't you have a kick-ass hammer? I do. Mine doesn't blow anything. Think about your aesthetic, though, actually. But also, there's two other groups of people that we're going to be meeting that, you know, a weapon like that might do a lot of damage.

They're not powerful. Those people don't need weapons. You don't know? Have you met them? I definitely know. I do feel like I've met a couple of them. There is some on my head who I feel like would be really cool with it. But yeah, if they don't need it,

then you should totally. Yeah, you should hit that. We do need to make this decision right now. We don't. Let's just put it in the bag. We do need to remember, though, because we can only use that harness one time per day, and we're collecting these high-powered magical atoms. Yeah, you're right.

Yeah, we got good stuff in here. Yeah, we should make a list and start sucking stuff. Yeah, we got a list. We should make a suck list. Because we can only do one a day, and who knows how much time we got left? Let's not use that just yet. Are you sure?

Well, I don't know. We're out of time right now. We could just powder it and throw it in you. What's that, multiple conversations? Because then you would have, I mean, it's awesome. It's constantly, it's kind of cool. I don't know. Kind of cool.

And there's nothing wrong with not having any emotional attachment to it. You know, but I have an emotional attachment to things sometimes. Well, then do you want to powder it and put it in your soul? I don't know. How does that work?

It just goes, you feed it into your spine. What about Otohan's sword? Yeah, what else we spine. What about Otohan's sword? Yeah, what else we got? What about Otohan's sword? What's in our suck list? Are we going to make our suck list? Yeah, let's make a suck list. Let's suck some shit up. Somebody needs to suck that up.

We got the Harp of Valor. We got the Staff of Dark Odyssey. Yeah, it's pretty useless. No, we're not getting any. We've got Ishta, the Summit Blade. That's Otohan's one. Yep, we've got this Demon Shell armor that I'm wearing, but I like it. Yeah, there's a whole bunch of stuff.

I got a Pearl of Power that I can't use anymore, Laudna. This was yours originally. What does Otohan's sword do again? Ishta, the Summit Blade. This sleek, saber-like blade carries an enchantment that capitalizes on disadvantaged combatants. You have a plus three bonus to attack and damage when it's made with its magic weapon.

When you hit a creature that is prone, you deal an additional 2d6 force damage. And it's a finesse weapon. It'd be great for Orym. I don't think so, really. I'm just talking about burning it. Weapon, legendary. You can wield it.

We've had this talk. There's no way. I was in a different place. I'm much healthier now. He's solved. Very partial to the sword that my family gave me that a god blessed and is now exalted. That's true, his is pretty good. But we have less than a week, right?

So it's one a day? Yeah. We should be doing one a day. Yeah. Yeah. Let's burn it. I have a battering shield that I may not use again. Cool. I don't know which way we organize it,

but everybody could eat something. Yeah, we should suck up the most high-powerful ones first. Yeah. Just in case. Yeah, because there's a chance every day that it'll just break. Do you have any items? Oh no, I don't have shit. I mean, I have my pipe and I'm not going to.

What's your dad's blade named? Dusk Hunger. Cool. I mean, I'll take, oh shit. I mean, I have my pipe and I'm not going to go. What's your dad's blade named? Dusk Hunger. Cool. You can do multiple in a day. You can, it's just risky. I gave you my pipe, didn't I? I do have your pipe. You have my pipe. Do you want it back? Are you using it?

Is that the pipe from the fucking tree? Yes. If you use it, then you should, like, here's the deal, we got to use you use it, then you should, like, here's the deal, we got to use it. Well, it seems more like novelty, right? Does it do anything other than show you your most heroic moment?

Does it need to? It also, in her costume, chills you out. I don't think it's in there. We should do one right now. We can make it. We should do it. We should do it. Do the dagger. Wait, what dagger? We already cut one right now. We can make it. We should do it. We should do it.

We should do it. We should do it. We should do it. We should do it. We should do it. We should do it. We should do it. We should do it.

We should do it. We should do it. We should do it. We should do it. We should do it. We should do it. We should do it. We should do it.

We should do it. We should do it. We should do it. We should do it. We should do it. We should do it. We should do it. We should do it. We should do it. We should do it.alted. I have a plus two, but I still like mine better.

Exactly, so let's burn it. We don't want to give it to one of the other groups either. Mine shoots vines and lets me heal up completely after combat, and I can grow back a severed arm or finger or a pee-pee. What? Ooh, great. So we lost it twice. Yeah, I just didn't tell you guys.

You got Odom on the blade. Boree! What about that big brute that was at the- That's what he is, yeah. You know, what about that big brute that was at Vasselheim, the guy with all the refined words and gentlemanly speak? I'm sure he would do remarkably well with a cursed blade.

Yes, sir, Grogory. That guy was the tits. I don't know if he would want to give him a fancy ass sword when it would make us more powerful. If no one else is going to take it, I'll take it. That dude is a legend. He's stacked. Unless somebody else,

somebody's got to make a decision and say yes to something. Dorian, do you need anything? I said some powers. You want to eat a heart? I think you could tell. Totally, that's just what I was thinking. You know, eating a heart's worth would actually put a creature trigger on him. Yeah.

It gives you advantage on performance checks. I don't know if that would carry over, but it seems like a thing that he could eat. Eat the harp. Eat the harp. Eat the harp. Eat the harp. I'm feeling it. Eat the harp. Eat the harp. I fall under peer pressure immediately.

You want to do it? Yeah. What? Put on this harness. All right. Put on this harness. Hey, what's happening? Hold on. What? We're strapping you in it? Yeah. What? Put on this harness. All right, put on this harness. Hey, what's happening? Hold on. What? We're strapping you in. Too late. Okay. What are we doing? I don't know what this is at all. I love it.

Quintessence Array is going on your body. I smooth your little sheer shirt under it so it still looks good. Okay. Basically, we stole this vest. It will actually powder a magic weapon and just give you the power. Oh yeah, you are with us.

Yeah, I'm feeling... I trust you. I trust you completely. This place is a real fight. Yeah yeah, you are with us. Yeah, I'm feeling, I trust you. I trust you completely. This was a real fight. A real fight. I'm the only one who almost died so far. Everybody else has been fine. There's no way this could go wrong in any way, right?

You're in a safe space. Okay. You're in a safe space. Nanamori would prefer you do it here than anywhere else. That's right, all right, all right. I've done it. I do like to watch. All right. Now this done it. I do like to watch. All right.

Now this is only very rare. You just hold it up against the funnel. Is this really happening right now? I grab Laudna and I push her against the funnel. No! I'm like your mom would be like, just kick her away. I pull her off and just do.

Ah! Just see if you're on your toes. All right, I got the harp. He wants that dagger. Oh, Quintessence Array! Please accept that which we offer, yay? On the funnel. All right, so you are absorbing the Harp of Valor.

Very rare. All right. Apparently getting hazed. Okay, but that's what it feels like. Like just sticking it into a wood chip. You're going to get real powerful. Okay, so. You're going to be far.

Harp of Valor. As they put you in this harness, this strange vest-like harness, the glyphs on it begin to light up and you feel this magical vibration throughout, like a haptic feedback vest. On the back of the high collar of it, there is a glass cylinder

that seems to emerge from behind. While you can't directly look at it, you can feel light glowing and it thrumming on you. This faint whirring sound as the sparks of arcane energy begin to shoot up your shoulders. They take this massive harp and hold it against the back of this funnel.

I'm definitely trying to look. You're trying. No, look straight ahead. Let it happen, let it happen. You're just going to hurt yourself. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, okay. I feel like the dog is in my treatment. Yep.

Yes. About 10 seconds in, you can hear the strings of the harp beginning to play with no fingers, just, and the tones get discordant, of the harp beginning to play with no fingers, just and the tones get discordant. And eventually, the rest of you watch as the actual harp chords begin to

and then scatter to dust. Eventually, the actual harp begins to crumble into itself and the beautiful metallic exterior and the intricate carving and design of this piece begins to just fall away into clusters of stone-like petrified wood and dust until eventually within a minute, it is gone. You permanently increase your maximum hit points by five.

Whoa! Until your next long rest, you have advantage on all attack rolls, saving throws, and ability checks. Until your next long rest, so for the next day, advantage on pretty much everything you roll. And a permanent advantage on performance checks. Wow.

If it breaks, it breaks. Oh, advantage! Oh god. Even if it only works for half of us. That's clutch. Yeah, the day before we head into the fray. People and creatures can lend a permanent effect, but items are different. Let's go find all of Matt's best NPCs and eat them.

I'd like to see you try. Let's start with our groggery guy. Yeah, watch for the spirit. Suck him in and get cover. Suck him, our first pick. I was going to say, the big cover. It's about Pajuta Bug. Yeah.

Pajuta Bug. It's a montage of Bell's house wiping out the rest of Exandria. Off for the greater good! Yeah! You started so idealistic. Sorry, got to kill the dad. Why is she doing this?

What's this about? I don't know. Hungry. Oh no. Let the harpist know more, and those benefits are yours to keep. You can eat another if you'd like. It would just be a 20% chance upon its completion that it knocks.

One of them. Not until the last day. Yeah. We've only got a couple things. Then you smorgasbord it. Yep. You good? That's awesome.

To Vasselheim! Nenamora sees this process and smiles and goes, Got it. When all this is said and done, I'd love to take a look at that. Have it in my hands. The Dorian or the harness? Yes. Should I?

No, let's wait. No, we're going to keep it. We're going to keep it. When all this is said and done. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We can maybe put it in the collection. What does it belong to? It's just all of ours. I got it. I got to hold it. Yeah. He just yeah, yeah, yeah. We can maybe put it in the collection. What does this belong to? It's just all of ours.

Can I hold it? Yeah. He just holds it. It's ours. Oh, got to get the resin. That's what he said. You know you never clean that thing. Nope. Shall you be on your way?

Yes. That would be wonderful. Thank you, Nanna. He watches Olly and Birdie flank her from the sides. She stands up, fully stands up now. Her hunched physique now goes to a full height and her elongated neck curls up even taller and she's 12 plus feet. It's just this terrifying,

if comfortably welcoming ally in this dark, nightmarish space. She extends her hands in front of her. Seems to grasp something invisible in the air and then puts her hands outward like she's unfolding a curtain that you can't see. As she does, the center space of the room folds out with it like she's just pulling apart

an invisible cloth boundary between this realm and Exandria. On the other end, you can see a gray space that's formless, and she goes, To Vassilheim, you say? She could have done that the first time we went back. Didn't she? No, she said it's to a- Yes, to Vasselheim, Nanna. Yes, to Vasselheim.

Niedamori, do you know how much time will have passed when we get back there? The same time you've been gone, so the better part of a day. Got it, thank you. Thank you, Nani. Of course. Better than a hundred years.

Whoa. I go through. I know, next time. I go through, too. Next time. Next time. Next time. All right. As you're about to go through, she goes, Wait. The gray space hasn't been clarified.

The minute you realize that, suddenly the image of a chilled, snow-covered Vasselheim Street appears before you, and you stop yourself. Now it's safe. Where would you have ended up if I had? Oh, you know, don't want to know. Not now.

You all begin to rush through. As I go, I'll just say, so I'll call you. You know how to find me. I do. She cups you a little bit and lifts you about two inches off the ground before sending you back down.

Cups you a couple. Hey! Fjord, you're a cow! Oh! Nay! Oryn, you're a cow! Yeah, I know. You're a cow! I want to try some role play. Can you nay for me? More nay? As you all, one by one,

step back into the streets of Vasselheim. I give her a kiss before I go. Okay. She traces her finger on your shoulder and says, I'll do one more. We're both competing to be the last kiss. She gives you a glance and says, Be true to whatever Wym calls you.

That's all I can hope for, for a member of my family. You got it. Follow your impulse. Oh. Okay. Follow my impulse, follow my impulse, follow my impulse. Follow my impulse. We'll step back out into the cold streets of Vasselheim.

A gentle snowfall still drifts through. At the time of day, you're uncertain, but at least it is light out, though the sun is nowhere in sight, enclosed by the gray skies that commonly envelop the air above here. The city is crowded. gray skies that commonly envelop the air above here. The city is crowded. People are going about their business,

but there is a still, tense quiet amongst the populace. As you can see, numerous troops of soldiers moving through the streets themselves, trying to grasp for purchase and prep whatever supplies they can. Food, tools, whatever is available. You can see already the city of Vasselheim is filling up with many of the armed soldiers

dedicated to the protection of the future of Exandria, whatever that might be. You can see numerous flags still flying up by where the Platinum Sanctuary is in this day or so that's transpired. It looks like much of the city's been busy gathering its forces. Many of them being gathered here, uncertain if this is the central location

or one of many, but as you step out, some of these soldiers and other figures take note of your arrival. Some just quizzically uncertain who you are. Others, a sight of recognition, their eyes wide in a nod as they move on with the rest of their business. A few other soldiers, you can see that hardened look of, in some fear of what's to come,

that glance of people who've trained for years, but maybe never actually seen a true battle before, wrestling with the concept of their own very possible mortality, their first time on a battlefield. Others that wear the scars and weathered stare of hardened warriors, who their sight catches you as you move past and they give a quiet nod and a clenched jaw.

A brotherhood of shared fate. An unknowing concept of what may or may not come tomorrow. Good. But you've returned to Vasselheim. The city is yours. I take your hand. You want to go talk to a god again? Yes. I just want to find a kind of tea. Death goddess.

Well, the Matron's Temple is... Death God Temple. Dusk Matter. Dusk Matter. I'm so excited. Oh, I just want to find it. Death Goddess. Well, the Matron's Temple is... The Dusk Meadow. I'm so excited. Shall we? Yeah. All right, let's do it. All right.

So your troop gathered, you begin to head towards the Dusk Meadow, the portion of Vasselheim that carries the heart and spirit of the worship of the Matron of Ravens, as well as a reverence for the passage of life to death and the safekeeping of those that have since passed. As you begin to wind through the city streets, you can see among the multiple walls

that guard the inner and further inner sanctums of Vasselheim, the number of soldiers that are walking and keeping watch has tripled since last you were here. And a number of the ballista stay vigilant and ready and armed for anything to possibly arrive to threaten what is such an important place historically and in these moments to come. The same looks of acknowledgment as you pass by,

word has gotten around of who you are and what you are to try and do. You also notice some of the ossuaries and crypt entrances that lead into the subterranean tunnels of the dead still remain heavily sealed and guarded. Whatever transpired in recent weeks that called them from their long rest,

still not the most important focus, it seems, for the armed soldiers of the city. What the fuck caused that? Just a bunch of zombies coming up from the ground, and side note? I think that they alluded to the fact that when things went haywire, when the moon was pulled and all the ley lines

were jumbled, that it brought back the dead. Should we just go down and check real quick? Just go side mission? You make a good point. The ley lines go on haywire, like threw off magic. Broke enchantments. Was there something that was keeping them down? Maybe there was.

I wrote it down. I wrote it down. Keep going. I'm trying to remember what I wrote down. You asked a good question, Jack, to Nana that I wasn't thinking about. That would our magic be taken away? Right.

If they were gone. Not all magic comes from, I mean, what I have doesn't come from any god. What you have doesn't. Some things are just from here. Even the divine magics. I think they'd be weaker, but I don't know if they would completely disappear.

It's uncharted territory. The best you can do is guess. Yeah, it said the Darkbloom. An undead uprising that occurred during the solstice. Your handwriting is unreasonably legible. Really? Yeah, I can read that. It's like a font. It's really frustrating.

I look at my shit and it's crack-proof. Well, it depends on the moment. Can't decipher it. Ravenscrest has been busy with second funeral rites. I wrote that down for some reason. Second funeral. Yeah. As we get closer to the Dusk Meadow, can Orym and I keep an eye out for

anyone that looks like guards of Vasselheim or soldiers of the Dawn Marshals? Just anybody that would be watching for our return? Sure. I think once we're back, they would probably want to ask us something soldiers of the Dawn Marshals, just anybody that would be watching for our return? Sure. Because I think once we're back, they would probably want to ask us something before we go, you know, seek these answers. Sure, yeah.

I mean, you only have to roll for it. As you're heading through the Dusk Meadow, you see a number of bastions of Vasselheim. Their uniform is patchwork at best, but there are medals and icons that signify them amongst their armaments as being the protectors of the city. The first ones that you see don't seem to recognize you, or at least might not have been present

for your meeting there on site, but they do note you being armed figures looking at them. One of them you see is an older woman, probably in her 50s or so, darker brown, cracked skin, eyes that are stoic and intense. Her salt and pepper hair is pulled back

into a very, very tight braid that's been circled around itself multiple times and then fits off the side in two falls. She has a helmet under one arm and keeps what looks to be a heavy, broad sword, sheathed at the other hand, and she wears a scale-mail armor. She's an older, tough lady. That's a bad bit.

Who approaches as you eye her in the distance. Can I help you? Oh, yes. Thank you, Sar. It's been several hundred years since I've been to this part of Vasselheim. Could you just point the way to the Dusk Meadow? We seek the patron of Raven's Temple. You stand in the Dusk Meadow. Oh seek the Matron of Ravenstem. You stand in the Dusk Meadow.

Oh, see? Told you. You're so good. Oh, the instinct. Do you require rights upon a fallen family member, or? Oh. No, we just need to talk to her. Unless. You're looking to pray for a matron. One of her flock, yes.

Not the actual matron. You'd want to go to the Raven's Crest, and she points over, and you can see past all the snow-dusted rooftops, this cold, dusty sector of the city, with a number of ramshackle homesteads that scatter around, with sections of ruins that seem to be maintained, whether it be a memorial to past historical tragedies

or conflict that have happened within the city's walls. Left crumbled, as a reminder, you see up towards the center of this slow-crawling hill that this entire sector is built on, there is a massive, looming structure. You've eyed it before when you first walked through the city at night, but all you can see was the rising shadow

of this monolithic structure. What you see now in the diffused midday light in Vasselheim is an elevated cathedral-like structure of obsidian and gold. The ominous steeples that rise up in the dark archways that seem to climb and stretch to outfit the exterior of this beautiful, if also harrowing, ominous to outfit the exterior of this

beautiful, if also harrowing, ominous structure. Even with as bright as the day is, it still seems to hold onto the shadows around it and feel like any other structure would in the darkest of night. Even the snowfall seems to drift off of its extremely peaked, steepled rooftops and remains untouched.

As she pulls her finger back. That would be where you find what you're searching for. Thank you very much. Your kindness is much appreciated. Of course. Stay safe out there. The days to come around here look to be... dense. Interesting. Dense, yeah.

Good luck. Precious. She rushes off to tend to a family off to the side that look calling for her attention. You all look back at the Raven's Crest, this eerie to the Matron of Ravens, and glancing up in the silent stillness of the midday cold atmosphere. At that moment, you see the flock of ravens take off and

caw into the air. Every time. Seems a little on the nose. How does she always time it? You know what I mean? How does she know we're looking in that spot right when she sends a monologue? Second AD.

Let's just keep walking towards the metaphor. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Continue to snake through the surrounding neighborhoods until eventually you come to a tall set of wide stairs that climb up towards what looks to be the entryway of Ravenscrest itself. The dark stone stepway climbs for

at least 50 to 100 stairs, somewhere in that neighborhood, eventually ending at two large, eight by 12 glass doors that are opaque. You can see the sheen on them, but they almost seem to be as dark as the surrounding obsidian. You can just the sheen on them, but they almost seem to be as dark as the surrounding obsidian.

You can just barely make out what looks to be some little blinks of light within, but it's obscured. As you all approach, the doors open inward. This place makes the temple we visited in Whitestone look like an outhouse in comparison. Open inward. This place makes the temple we visited in Whitestone look like an outhouse in comparison. Yeah. Wait, what temple?

We went to the temple in Whitestone. Wasn't like this, though. This one got all the funding. If that was any indication of what she can do, this might be fun. We all going in? Before we walk in, just a glance back. The soldier that we talked to, still at her post,

still just keeping an eye or looking our way or has left? Oh, she's left and is currently dealing with business of another family a little further in the neighborhood. She's not in an ice shot from where you are right now. You've walked much further into the desk matter to get here. Should any of us stay outside just in case we need to delay anyone that might interrupt? Why would anyone interrupt a house of worship?

I get the feeling we're going to be just fine. Plus, the Arch Heart, it was like a blink of an eye that passed after we talked to them. And those three spooky ladies gave us their blessing. So we can just, you know, mention we're here for the three spooky ladies. Sure. Okay. It's a good point, though.

Every time I've engaged with a god, it always seemed like they were initiating, like they had the upper hand and they had a plan for us. Is this just a chit chat, or are we here to get some information? I just want to know my role to play, you know? I want to know what we're out to do. Right.

Feels like we're out to confirm if what the Arch- Archheart said was true. Yeah, the gods don't talk to everyone, but lately it feels like they're talking a lot because of the circumstances, and it seems like maybe she'd even be expecting us with the way things rolled with the Archheart. Yeah, maybe the Archheart and her

had a little chitty chat before we came, and now she's expecting us. If the Archheart gave us the what, maybe she could help with the how? Any information on how to try and control Prodothos? Because now we don't know anything about this idea. Maybe about the confines, what it's made of, the material she mentioned,

that was the same as the Divine Gate? Does she even know when Prodothos? No. That was before her time. Yeah, but she's got to have access to the file folders and stuff, you know what I mean? Yeah. No. Plus, since she was one of the mortals who ascended, maybe she can give us some pointers on, you know.

And why her champion is now in a little... Yeah, how she feels about that. Also, just off the top, we should probably tread gently, The European is now in a little... Yeah, how she feels about that. Also, just off the top, we should probably tread gently, just in case the one where the Archarch was mentioning is not the Matron. Just in case.

I think we're pretty sure, right? I mean, I don't know. He looked at Laudna, right? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That is a very big assumption, though. Well, I mean... If we're wrong, we're dead, but it's no big deal. Wait, but why would we be dead?

You mean when we ask a god if they're planning to wipe out their kin? And we're interested in maybe helping facilitate that? That's not what's happening at all. It is. No. We're just asking her what's up. We're just saying we want to help. And seeing how well she wants us to help.

How long does she want to chat? Let's just be clever and not, we don't commune and talk. We just don't talk about the one god. We're just not going to, So definitely more of a chit chat. More of a chit chat. Let's see what she has to say.

We all have plot armor. Yeah, I'll let you guys talk. I've been dodging this bitch for a while, so you know. Yeah. I'm going to hide my face a little. You do. Yeah, you stand further back there. So she doesn't.

Whoa. We don't know anything that's going to happen. It could be a nice dinner. You could get turned into a plant. We could all swim in some blood. What? Let's go. I don't think that's going to happen. Okay, we're all swim in some blood. What? Let's go. I don't think that's going to happen.

Okay, we're going. Okay. What? Did you guys swim in blood? I'm sorry? This is it. In another lifetime. Ah.

You step within the interior of the temple. Yeah. The massive glass doors close behind you. Turning around, you can see they are entirely transparent from the inside out. You can see the snowfall just beyond. All that whole conversation, they were probably just watching us be so fine.

That's funny. But the interior of this anti-chamber of the Ravenscrest Cathedral. His continuous candles against the walls with long, maintained drips of wax that seem to billow over pedestals and high bits of the archway tucked into the corners of it.

There is just this presence to the chamber here, like you've already stepped into a sacred ritual space. The hallway continues onward. You follow the hallway forward and the dark obsidian entryway, it's beautiful. In some ways, almost brutalist architecture begins to give way to grays and ivory.

The interior of the hall and its design beginning to feel less blackened stone and metal and more like ivory, ice, and bone. The temperature seems to drop even further as you step and you can see your breath with every exhale, every footfall echoing louder than it should down the hall. The beautiful intricate designs of the wall seem to almost have

dreamlike qualities to a castle parapet embedded into the stonework, spiraling upward, seeming to almost have a bony H.R. Giger texture at points as it clambers up to reach the top of the archway that vanishes into impossible shadow above. Then the hallway that you follow ends in a 40-foot spiral staircase that begins to wind up, up into the heart of the Raven's Crest.

I don't know why I thought we'd be going down. I don't know why I had to do that. The stairs are going to be in this place, by the way. I don't know if there's stairs. Until eventually. Does this feel like a parish or a monastery? Are there any religious people or priests or priestesses anywhere?

You don't see anybody here. And there are divergent hallways and such, but it seems to be empty. Echo! Echo! Echo! Echo? Caw-caw! Stop! Caw-caw!

Bad taste, say something? Dick! Dick! That's why your little fart was so audible. It's the glass that's still on. Yeah, it's the glass that's still on. The large oak door that meets you at the top has a large iron ring knocker

right on the outside of the door. A nice knocker. I was waiting for it. I know. And you just stand there at that massive door. Should you knock? I feel like this is your knocker. How do I look? Do I look spooky?

Do I look dead? Do I need to look more dead? Very scary. Very scary? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very good. Super scary. Super spooky, super good. Like a hot scary, though. Hot scary? Yeah, yeah, hot scary. All right, good.

I like being hot scary. All right. How heavy is the knocker? It's pretty heavy. Is it? Why are you knocking on the knocker? It's full. Why not? Make a strength knocking on the knocker? It's full. Why not? Make a strength check for me. Leave Fearne alone.

Naturally. Try and brace my wrist. You can. A strength check? Yes, just roll a d20, add your strength modifier, because it's funny. That's great, that's fun. I also hope you can't knock a door.

I know. You would be so us, you have no idea. Savior of the realm, can't knock a door. Please, a nat one. Please, a nat one. Is it a nat one? Might as well be! Three minus three for a zero. Whoa.

Even. Dang it. Not a door. Not a door. He's not budging. You die in shock. I'm going to walk forward, because this could also be funny, and I'm going to offer to do a little help. Okay, you knock my hand for me.

I want to be able to do it, but I just... The two of you, with your aid, you pull it back and then simultaneously release and give a little push along with her hand and it impacts and the heavy wood on metal sound seems to quake the ground as well and it echoes throughout the entirety of the Raven's Crest. You can hear it just.

I'm fine, everything's fine. We are not going to die today. No, this is too good. The door swings open, and within, there is a 100-foot-tall, steepled chamber of multicolored stained glass across every wall and the archway ceilings. Wow.

The kaleidoscope of color and shapes is breathtaking as it is overwhelming within. Even just taking a moment to try and focus, you can see figures and shapes, but they're almost abstract, or you don't know the language of shape to understand their purpose, and you get lost in it for a minute,

and a wave of vertigo almost overtakes you to just take in this interior. But that's just focusing on its immensity. As you focus downward, you can see the continuous theme of ever-flickering candles that swarm the outer edges of this chamber, where you can see, standing about 20 feet from you, almost unseen, blended against the low-lit interior, but three figures

wearing, adorned in jet black vestments. It looks to be elements of curled ceremonial armor or ritual decor, darkened crowns and black veils that obscure most of their features. I'd say they were expecting us. I think. We didn't. I feel rude.

Did we just interrupt? No, no, this seems presentory. Bells hells. You hear one of their voices. Uncertain which one is speaking until the center one steps forward towards you. Welcome to Ravenscrest. We are the Coven of the Vale, the High Priestesses of the Matron,

and the highest of the Trust of Winter. I am the Eftel. And we have had an eye on you since you arrived. So by what means do you do the honor of stepping within our abode? DM, we didn't see any of these figures in that larger meeting that we had. No, it was the three of them.

They stood up there. It was masked. No faces that day. Yeah, similar garb, though the attire's somewhat different. The theme is consistent. You're uncertain if it's the same three, but you did see three figures in there that both spoke on your behalf and seemed to be

elevated amongst the other movers and shakers of Vasselheim within the Platinum Sanctuary. Can I reach in my pocket to take out the Monocle of True Essence and just, you know, to help this old man in his poor sight and cast See Invisibility? Sure. You cast See Invisibility, and throughout the chamber,

a number of hidden glyphs, glyphs begin to show themselves all across the floor in spaces, across the walls and across the stained glass. There are so many enchantments that encircle this chamber. At a quick glance, you're uncertain to even make out their essence, but there are,

as it comes into focus, actually, this wouldn't be identified. This is just the invisibility. So if you want to make an arcana check to see if you want to take a quick assessment of some of what this room's enchantments hold. Absolutely. Dirty 20.

Dirty 20. Extremely strong abjuration magics all throughout the chamber, as well as you can see some that are necromantic in nature. You see some that are based in conjuration, but all are deeply intricate that are based in conjuration, but all are deeply intricate and woven into the stained glass pattern. That strange mixture of colors and shapes

that you were having a hard time following, you now wonder if it's because they were built to house these glyphs invisibly. Like the art of the chamber both exists as a beautiful and ominous part of the space in its essence, but also is meant to house whatever protective magics either protect this chamber or do whatever else they do within this chamber.

It's almost like Molly's tattoos. No creatures that are unseen, no dragons coiled on the rooftops. No. Thank you. We had a... a pull toward the matron. Everyone does eventually. You're so clever.

An eminent feeling that we needed to speak with her, if possible. The one to the right goes, They wish to speak with her. Do they know? And Laev Tell goes, To commune with the matron Do they know? And they have telgers. To commune with the matron is a leap of faith.

She steps backward and to the side. And while you were focused on them, what you didn't notice was the flickering of candlelight further back in the chamber, but the parts of it that are a reflection across a still surface. From what you now can see is a wide pool of barely visible crimson liquid. I was being sarcastic.

Did he do, are we really going to swim in blood? There's a pool of, looks like dark crimson liquid behind the dioramas. Yeah. We've sort of maybe gotten a few signs, you could say that she has a vested interest in talking to us as well. If that is true,

then perhaps you must speak with her. As I've taken off my wooden backpack. So what do we do? We just hop on in and? Sink. Sink. Sink. And release. You want us to pee in there?

Our matron exists in the space between life and death. If you wish to meet her in her realm, you too must walk that in between. Cannonball it. Laudna skips over, naked. Should we be naked? I don't want to get my shit covered in blood. That wasn't necessary. But also, not entirely against the decor of the temple.

Choice is yours. Quick question. If, hypothetically, you're already devoted to a god, maybe two, this leap of faith is a promise to follow this goddess? No such thing. Just sink and release. That is the leap you take.

All right. How deep is it, though? It's not so tragic. Does it go all the way down to the ground? Because we've climbed a lot of stairs. I assume deep enough. Does it go all the way down to the ground? Because we've climbed a lot of stairs. I assume deep enough. Does it go all the way down, and then you come out the other side of the planet?

Sink and release. She just smiles through the veil and doesn't respond. I'm going to leave my skivvies on. I'm going to... I took my shit off and then locked the hammer on top of it. We're not going to let us die. Is there a high dive situation, or are you just jumping from here?

It does feel like that's the idea. Cannonball it. The third woman goes, I would not recommend making too much of a mess, but exuberance in the space between is not frowned upon either. Oh. I can be exuberant.

The woman who introduced herself with the same towel says, Besides, we have those who can clean up. It wouldn't be the first time. I am already in halfway. Who's, you're in halfway? I'm in halfway. Who else is going? Raise your hand. For those who are stepping in, it is cold.

This is extremely cold, viscous blood. The smell of iron greets your nostrils the minute you come to the precipice of the pool. As you step in, and there are steps that descend within until eventually your feet begin to give way and you are just swimming on the surface of the thick, viscous crimson liquid. I'm not swimming.

Well, I guess I can. I feel like Laudna's going to be doing some of the talking, or I don't know, I'm going to give you a quick inspiration. Okay. Yes. She might hate me. Like I said, Ophi'la, most people who are into god stuff don't like me. Any guidance? Maybe she'll have sympathy.

Because it was thrust upon you. It's not like you chose this. You didn't ask for it. That's true. Is it a d10 for inspiration? Mine is only a six, but I'll draw a little sigil on your forehead in blood. I just go to the edge, and I put out my hands,

and I just trust fall backwards into the water. Blood. It's like a smacking sound. She hits the surface, and then just kind of begins to vanish beneath it until she is gone. I'll follow her. I go under. You good, Dorian? Yeah.

I want to test the insinuations of this. I'm going to use Unending Breath before I allow myself to, so I just low-key and allow myself to sink in the blood and see what happens. I'm ending breath. Yeah, I can hold my breath indefinitely. Oh my god. You know, I could breathe underwater on this,

but I don't. It ain't no water. I know, it ain't no water. As a blood hunter, as I get to the edge, can I just kind of use my hunter's bane to, as I slowly walk in. Sure, go ahead and, what are you trying to ascertain?

I'm trying to use my nose, but this is a shitload of blood and a temple with some crazy magic everywhere. I'm just trying to get a taste for its vintage. Ah, okay. Yay. This would be perception. That would be just 17.

No, sorry, 19. 19. This blood is absence of any coagulation. It is absence of any recent source. This blood is celestial in essence, and you are uncertain as to its origin. feel an essence and you are uncertain as to its origin, if it's changed out or if it has been this way for as long as there's been the Ravenscrest. But as a person who is also tethered to Hema craft,

you have this slight concern about how your blasphemous spellcraft would interact with ancient celestial blood. That's only the slightest concern. But yeah. I'll go under and I'll actually exhale as I go down. Oh yeah, I'm joining you on that. Okay.

No, I'm holding my breath. I'm holding my breath. I'm underneath and have been for a minute, but I'm still holding my breath. So most of you all begin to drift below and you can, if you open your eyes beneath, it's so dark, you can only see in the absence of light, except for the faintest bit of reddish hue

from above the surface, where you can just barely make out the dark shapes of your friends at different stages. Y'all ever have blood on your eyeball? It's real weird. Or I'm something. On the edge of the pool, really anxious about gut, does not want to go into this, and is watching you guys sink.

I haven't gone in either, and I'll just, if you don't want to go in, I'll stay out with you. I'll go in, I just don't, you know, if you don't want to, I won't. What if we go at the same time? Would that help you? Probably. Okay, it would help me, too.

It swims up to the top a little bit. Does the tea, too. Oh god! Yeah. Thumb down. Maybe we can track her. I'll cast Divine Sense or activate Divine Sense, right? Yeah. So I can see undead.

Is she undead? You're undead. She indeed shows up. She's been turned. On your divine concentration, you feel for anything around you that is celestial undead fiendish. I think it's going to be like the whole room just reverberates with divine power. You're almost overwhelmed with it.

The minute you tap in, you feel your knees buckle slightly. Backwards? Backwards? Yeah. Backwards? Yeah. And just the tiniest little flicker of undead power beneath the surface of the water calls your attention.

Hold my hand? Wait, wait, wait, I'll make an offering. I take seedling and slice through my hand and add to the pool. And I think of the Wildmother as the hand closes and mends and stops bleeding. So there's a trade. So we're going to be good, right?

Because we have someplace to be at the end of the week. Let's go. Will that count for all of us, Orym? Yeah. Okay. All right. You just tainted the celestial blood with your basic-ass shit.

You can pee in the ocean, it's fine. Yeah. That's what we're supposed to do here, right? Release. You go, I'm with you. You have a tail. Imogen just up and backers it. Okay, you're holding my tail?

Yeah. Oh! Was that not what we were supposed to do? We're jumping. You have a tail. Imogen just up and bangers it. I do. Okay, you're holding my tail? Yeah. Was that not it? Was that not what we're supposed to do? We're jumping. A solitary walk. We're jumping? Well. Go for it.

It's the weirdest Caddyshack remake. Sleeping off the edge. Okay, so no inching in up to your legs, up to your hooch, up to your just in. We jump. All right. Just make a mess of the chamber. All right. All right. Vault.

I'm pretty compact. You're a lot of parts. Yeah. Let's go. All right. One, two, three. Whew! You can have Dart in your form. Are you going for minimal dive or a splash?

A splash. I don't dive. I've got these things. For you, Lord! You impact and begin to sink below, too. The temperature when it hits you at that speed, you can't help but exhale underneath as the shock of it hits your system, the ice-cold sensation,

and what feels like a weight that pulls on you. Whether you want to sink or not, you are slowly tumbling down into the abyss of darkness below. Fearne, you watched everyone else enter this pool of blood. You're the last one standing. The splash from Brayas

and then stops and freezes in the air. Then scatters back into the pool. The three veiled figures all look at you. I'm going in. I'm going to go in right now. I'm going to start walking in. Okay. You step into the cold pool.

I'm just going to... You taste the celestial blood pool? I just want us to taste it. It is very bloody. Thick, cold, irony, licking a thousand pennies at once. Okay, all right.

Here I go. I'll go under. Make a presentation to the Coven of the Veil, and then vanish beneath. You sink and sink as you hold your breath, those that are. Eventually, you feel that panic begin to rise, that need to swim upward, that need to find air, and as you begin to reach forward,

you are making no forward momentum. I don't think Laudna would struggle. She would just try to be relaxed and go to another place. Imogen, Laudna's gone. I'm just reaching my arms out anywhere, trying to find her, because I went right after her. I should feel her. She's gone.

You exhaled on the way in. You feel that cough and that pain inside until eventually the need to survive begins to overtake you. You try and claw and reach. You begin to transform subconsciously out of the need to get past this. The animalistic urge overtakes,

but you just continue to sink. A little bit of flicker of crimson light above you turns to nothing until eventually you give in and drown. I reach out mentally for Laudna. Nothing. One by one, each of you succumbs

to the inescapable drowning here within the holy pool of the Mention of Ravens. Yeah, what about Robbie? I mean, Dorian. No, not for Dorian, Robbie. So we got to have Robbie's over in the corner like, fuck! I've just been thinking about him. Dorian, there is a connection amongst your friends

where you can feel them. You can feel their moving and swimming and thrashing in this thick solution until there's none, and all of your friends are either still or gone. How do you want to drown this? Yeah. That's what I thought. Peer pressure.

Peer pressure. Oh yeah, it's easy. Yeah. Second time today. Will you die for us? It's exactly what was described, so yeah. I'll just let it go. Drink the blood, Robbie. I will. I'll let go of the in and ending breath

and make the conscious choice to feel without breath for the first time in my existence. I'll feel what it's like to not be able to breathe. This is exactly what the Satanic Panic was afraid of. We did it, y'all. We did it. Full circle. Describe to me, Dorian, how this experience of letting go affects you?

Ultimate suffering. Just panic, fear, everything antithetical to who I am as a person. And the strangest part about it is it just lets it happen. As you convulse, spasm, fight, the fear and panic, just as quickly as it came, leaves to a comfort. The chill of the pool becomes warm,

like a womb. It's comforting. It's comforting. It's familiar. Like you've been here before and you'll be here again. And each of you independently feel your feet find a surface. You feel that weight take on your body once more. That floating sensation dissipates, and you are carrying your own body on your feet

as you've done for most of your life. You open your eyes and look down, and you can still see the crimson on your hands as it drips away, revealing you, standing amongst an endless pool of red that just vanishes into shadow. One by one, your eyes focus and you can see all of your compatriots around you as well,

shaking off the experience, but here you are, all of your compatriots around you as well, shaking off the experience, but here you are, all eight of you together, wherever this is. You take in your surroundings, or lack thereof, this void, this absence of space beyond just this pedestal of red and light that disappears about 50 feet beyond you. You can see the faintest little flicker,

like a reflection, like someone had turned a pane of glass across the sun and it just cast across your eyes and it's gone. And then another, small but endless, and you blink. And as you focus, it's not darkness beyond you, it is impossibly distant glittering, like a spiderweb of gold. And for just a moment, you can perceive

an impossible array of golden threads shifting like a breeze, entwining, tangling. And they begin to move. They begin to strain. breeze, entwining, tangling. And they begin to move. They begin to strain as inky black spills from between them, descending down from above like tendrils of shadow and nothing. I held your hand, Laudna.

They spill onto the red, bloody pedestal that you all stand on, like some sort of a tar waterfall that just spreads out. I catch one of the droplets. You go to reach for it, and it feels material when you pull your hand back. There in your grasp is but a single black feather. As you look up, it is not a column,

but a person. A robe of black and a mantle of jet feathers. From within this darkness, a hood rises to a bright white porcelain mask. Feminine features highlighted in threads of gold that arc around the darkened, pointed sockets of her face. The purple lips and still stoic expression staring down upon each of you, all of you, none of you.

Thrice have you sought me. Why? Thrice have you sought me. Why? That's where we're going to break. Yeah! Ah! Wrong number. The timing of those dice is crazy. I know, as soon as you announced this,

I was like, okay. Scripted. We'll be back here in a few minutes to pick up from where we left off. We'll see you guys shortly. Why, hello there. This is Critical Role's resident art dad, also known as Liam O'Brien. We are continuously amazed at the artwork this community creates. That's why

each Thursday at 8 a.m. Pacific, we share a curated gallery of submitted fan art over on CritRoll.com. If you'd like to submit your art for consideration, visit CritRoll.com slash submit. And thank you to all of the incredible artists who share their

talents with us week after week. And welcome back. Thrice you have sought me. Why? Well. First off, hello. Okay. Well. Good job. Good start. First off, hello. I would argue that the other times that we sought you out,

it was more circumstantial. This one is deeply intentional. And also, we heard that, I don't know, we just heard that you might be interested in talking to us as well. Hi, hello. From where did you hear the search? Well.

But who's all heard? She doesn't, she doesn't. We're admitting to this, we're not back in time. She doesn't know what we know. I don't think she knows any of what we know. We are saying all of this out loud because y'all are not telepathically connected. Just saying behind her. I don't think it would matter. She's saying it's just us.

We're in her realm. She can hear our thoughts. You see, we actually recently had a conversation with one of your cohorts. The Archad? You see, we are not necessarily the god-fearing type, this group of people, which may make us perfect for whatever mission

that you may need. So you've come to my realm to offer your sword for hire. Well. No, that's kind of a lie. More so, I think we have a few questions. Speak plainly. It would be nice to corroborate some of what the Archheart said.

What did he say? That the gods are scared. Yet. Unaligned. On how you all choose to resolve this little Proudothos issue. You see, we've been to the moon. Within this group of

rugged adventurers, we have two rooters born among us. It's us. Or it could be us. You don't know. Don't give away too much. She's not answering. Stick it to her.

Stick it to her. Sure. You see Orym over there, of the Ereshari. The Wild Mother has given him a sign. Orym over there, of the Ereshari. The Wild Mother has given him a sign that we take up arms and fight on your behalf. Just pull that out and let it flower and wrap itself in vine. However, the Archheart seemed to have a different idea.

He seemed rather keen on the idea of turning over a new leaf, starting a new chapter. Running? Mayhaps? So you say the Archheart is the dissident among us? Oh no. Uh-oh.

I mean, well. And he sent you here. As she says that, the mask seems to swell with immensity. What was once a tall figure before you is now a figure that is the realm. You are ants floating in red ether in front of a being of impossible stature. You know, he sort of made it out

like the two of you have been chatting. Oh, the double down? He, yes, 100%. We watched you hold an imp in your titties. We watched you hold an imp in your titties. We watched you. You were there for downfall. The mask. That's the name of the series.

The laugh back. For Ea. Don't go, don't go, don't go. SAM and LAURA, You speak of experiences long before your time. Well, thankfully, you didn't make us good, did you? I haven't made you anything. All threads. Sorry, I totally just interrupted you. That is so embarrassing. It's okay.

It's okay. I liked where you were going with it, though. All threads are tangled, especially in these turbulent times. Why are yours no different? To come to my realm and make accusations to my family? I do think an accusation has been thrown. It's ironic considering the Archheart was the one

who said you might be interested in speaking with us. It is indeed. So I'm curious what he saw being born from this communication. Indeed. We don't know anything. We are trying to figure out what's going on. Death has become more and more a part of everyday life in Exandria. That concerns you, for sure. It also concerns us. We've been told things by someone who claimed to be the Archheart. We don't even know if he was real, if they were real.

We were shown things by someone who is actively trying to release Predathos. We assume what we saw of your past in Aeor was true. We don't know. I have prayed to the platinum dragon and gotten vague responses, and we've gotten some signs via Orym and this weapon. We just want answers.

We don't know anything, though, and we're hoping that you can guide us. And as mortals, we find ourselves pulled somehow by fate toward the center of this mess on the mortal coil. So we really want to understand what is going on

so we can best help our own and yours. Yes. Death cannot be stopped. Death cannot be stopped. Only delay.

Infinity is relative, and even the brightest stars eventually flicker out to cold nothingness. So while death concerns my awareness, I am merely its steward. But I also watch over fate. And to watch over fate is to look for patterns. I charge his vision of the tapestry as it is woven. As she opens her hands, you can see those flickers of golden threads you got a glimpse of

suddenly ignite with bright golden light. Millions, billions of threads at different angles, intersecting, tying, knotting, breaking, snapping, severing, retethering, and endless unraveling and re-raveling of a microscopic view of a tapestry too immense to contemplate, to witness where it might lead us all, across every scale.

The mask focuses in on Fearne. Did you steal something? But you might know. Screech of. You might know a thing or two about the Threads of Fate fey creature. I think that I know a little bit about what you're talking about. For enemies.

Go ahead. I think I feel like you're in the middle of saying, you're about to say something. It's hard to read your body like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just because I can't read with my mask on. I don't understand feeling without seeing it. You carry with you the natural arrogance of mortal life.

Your misplaced confidence banal. I have watched many heroes climb towards a false destiny and become dust to history's memory. I do not see why you are any different. I do think we want to be heroes. I don't think we're overly confident. No. I also think entropy and heat death of the universe,

notwithstanding, we're sort of looking about what to do tomorrow or by the end of the week. Yeah, I know. And heed my words. Sorry. Go home. And do what? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Mm. Go home?

Where's that? No, we don't really have a home, do we? Are we still in the blood? Yeah, you're all standing on this bloody pedestal that's drifting off into darkness, and her shadowed shape is still drawn back amongst the numerous threads that have all darkened ever so faintly. I'm sorry.

This is not how this conversation ends. No, we're in a void. Why are we being quiet? I'm going to slap the water. The matron? What? Just push the water, or the blood and frustration. Okay. It scatters out and drifts, Just push the water, or the blood and frustration. Okay.

It scatters out and drifts, stays in the air like little gravity-less globules, just drifting. That's a good question. Do I? I'm just going to see if I can make my own little inky black drippies. Do I have magic here?

You do. Okay. You know, I don't know if anybody else noticed this, but I've thought about it a lot. The Archheart was going to just let the gods go. He was going to die. Until someone convinced him not to

in Aeor. Don't think I didn't notice it was you. And I know you did it because you weren't done playing god. The mask drifts out of the shadow and 10 feet tall, 100 feet tall, 100 feet tall, scale gets strange in this space as the vacuous space where the eyes would be

stare through you. Don't think I don't know how small I am. Very. Not the first to remind me. And I won't be the last. What do you want? You were a mortal. You've worked with mortals.

And one in particular comes to mind could probably use your help on top of the rest of us. We know death is inevitable. But we still want the chance to live our lives before we die. We're trying to maintain the balance at home. Your balance won't break.

Unless you want wanted to. We walk towards a golden haze where the future of all things is uncertain, an unfocused paradigm where even my sight cannot see. So, you have fallen into a destiny that throws the weight of the world upon those who eschew heroism that throws the weight of the world upon

those who eschew heroism and come to my realm. Scared and aimless. It's not aimless. It's not aimless. We're trying to rectify this situation. If there's anyone who understands the gods and understands us, it's you. Only you have one foot on each side. Do you even have a perspective?

Maybe it's been too long. The saga of the gods and their fate has ruined many. Some, that has ruined many. Some still to prove their impact on history. Out of the shadow around you, color and shape begins to swirl and form until you see a gently blown column of lavender hair

a gently blown column of lavender hair and a familiar face, looking pensive and worried in her coat. Liliana Tmult, awakened child of the God Eater, forced to abandon her life and follow an instinctual destiny, all to play her part

in this knotted moment of uncertainty. What will she choose? To feed or be fed upon? Another swirl of lavender, no, pink, pink and white and black. There's a humanoid shape of white hair and a black crown dripping. And black oil and ichor. shape of white hair and a black crown dripping.

In black oil and ichor, Opal stands, dark and still. Opal. You know her. Yes. We do. Opal the Twice-Crowned, born of fractured, dual soul and being of unknown potential, manipulated by cult and betrayer gods alike

to walk a violent path without agency, a pawn for the gods and their winds. Is she single? No. She's in a... Okay, okay. Is she single? No. She's in a... Okay, okay. Not that she's single. Others pursued the promise of the gods.

Our very presence inspiring covetous jealousy and world-shattering ambition. Flames begin to curl behind the two of them as a hand reaches out in a second. What you see is a humanoid form in a blood-splattered robe, a skeletal face, a rift of flesh, torn and dragged to its sides.

It drifts out and hovers in the air, a terrifying mockery of some arcane, cursed entity. some arcane, cursed entity. Vespin Chloras, he who foolishly tried to write history himself from the shards of my path, becoming the first catalyst to inevitable calamity, damning himself to an eternity in the house

and damning many others in the process. The history of Exandria is altered in the wake of great and terrible people touched by the will of the gods. Prove to me why you feel you are worthy to be among them. Right now? Feels a little braggy, doesn't it? I feel like they've barely proven themselves to be worthy to be among us. Braggy.

He's got a shard of a titan. So does she. He's got something else, too, but yeah. Yeah, he's been made and remade a few times now. Orym's a protector. I've never met anyone as noble as he is. Even the Wild Mother agrees.

Fern... she's a collector. Everybody that sees her gathers to her. And every trinket as well. She has so many people to call upon because we're like moths to a flame around her. Brayus. Mm-hmm. Look at him, he's strong.

Super strong. He's of. Super strong. He's of two minds. There's a great turmoil going on inside of him, I can see it. And all of us want him to choose the right path, but even if he doesn't, he walks strongly. Dorian. Dorian.

Dorian has stepped up every single time. He's a prince. Something he shies away from, but his entire being shines with it. Laudna? Laudna's everything. You can see it. She had her fate thrust upon her.

It was something she didn't ask for. But she's embraced it. And becomes strong with it. And overcome it. And Chet? Now, Chetney's so fucking old. And he's seen so much, and he acts like a real jackass. But that's because nothing can break him.

And what of you? And me? I have a storm inside of me. And I can't wait to let it out. You all step on the edge of the world. One teeter and you fall forever. You choose

similar paths to them. Let's hope you have the strength to endure and persevere where they falter. The matron pulls back, her mask becoming immense. As the image of Illyana shifts. Her hair drifting up as her eyes begin to glow red.

The energy charging through her body. Opal, the black, begins to just pour down her face, staining her jacket. As dark shadows begin to swirl around her body, her blades appearing in her hands at her side. I try to go to her. You go to her? Yeah. Does a 20 hit your armor class? Oh fuck. Yeah. Without looking at you, her hand

strikes towards you and the blade goes through your palm and out the back side as she looks up at you. She looks at you without recognition. Her two eyes almost seeming to be collections of dozens smaller ones within. As the shape of Vespin Chloras, the fleshless, punished visage

of history's greatest villain begins to exhale. I need you all to roll initiative. What?! What? Whoa, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. That's the proving that she was Zyra. That's the proving.

Oh. You're sweet. Why didn't we suck down more things in the book? Oh no. Fighting this god. You got those bonuses. Fighting this god is brought to you by WizKids and their EXU Calamity mini-box set.

A middle-class. Available for pre-order now. Relive the Ring of Brass' final struggles to avert calamity from their investigation to the ritual of Vespin Chloris to get, wow, this is so apt, to confronting the corruption of Avalir to battling for the very fate of an age.

Pre-order today at whizkids.io. That's actually lined up. Whiz Kids, Scott Io, Smash, Porder today, wizkid.io. Oh, that's actually lined up. WizKids, Scott Io, Smash, PXU. Did I take any damage from that, Matt? You did, you took. Oh god. What the heck? 65 points. Seven points of piercing damage.

Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. This is so cool. Oh, you're rolling initiative. Oh god. Oh shit. And here we have... What am I going to roll? Is that... rolling initiative. Oh god. Oh shit. And here we have... What am I going to roll? What am I going to roll? Liana.

Oh. What's that? Opal. Opal. That's good. Oh shit, we got to fight him? No! No! No!

No! No! No, man! You're out of hand! Hey, Leshen. I'm not a kid. All right! Hey, you're a hit! All righty. Yeah, the Kleenex over there.

25 to 20. Hold on. Oh god. 21? Shit. 21. 22. Ooh. Where we at? I don't know.

Brace. Oh, it's been a while. Roll a dice. Oh my god. You rolled 20? 21. You both say roll a least as who goes first, if you have the same dex. Do we have the same dex? Oh, I know.

You can just choose to do roll a least. Yeah, you're good, you go first. Okay. Dorian, Doreen, Laudna? Reyes, Dorian, Laudna. So Dorian and Laudna? Yep. Okay. 20 to 15? Yep. Okay. 20 to 15?

17. 17. Rollies! 17! Three-way Rollies. I got a four. Beat that. I got a... What the fuck is that?

That's a three. Okay. A three? Six. Yeah, three. Plus a five. No, it's just Rollies. It's just Rollies. That's right, I remember that. It was a three-way Rollies, three. Five. No, it's just rollies. It's just rollies. That's right, I didn't mean that. It was a three-way rollies, you fucking schmucks.

I toasted both of you. Wait, who had Chet, then Orym, then Fjord? Chet, Orym, Fjord. Okay. Orym. Miserable bastard. All righty. Damn. Damn. Damn.

All righty, and then, who's last? After this, we have Ashton. 10. And Imogen. Nine. All righty, and then after this, we have Ashton. 10. And Imogen. Nine. All right. Okay. I hate this.

Here in this massive black expanse, here as your senses begin to focus in, you can see the edges of the shadow where the blood seems to drip off into nothing. Brace your upvotes. Oop! What's going to help? You were so close.

Against an advantage. You can't benefit from this. That was so good. That was so good. Okay. It's so cold. She's still going. Raven, bitch. Okay. It's so cold. She's still going, Raven Beach.

Okay. Who's going? It's me. You're going and? It's me. Brace for the Dorian on deck. I close the distance to Liliana Tmult. He's going for distance. Yeah, Tmult's going for speed. I don't think so.

And I will strike. All righty. You fuck! I will strike with Foul Verdict, my poison pen, and I will paint her with poison. Let's see what happens. Terrible. God awful. The worst.

Two plus 12. 14. 14. As you rush towards her, she energy crackling around just glides out of the path of your flail. I get two attacks, right? You do. Okay, I roll. Before she gets too far, I roll again.

I attack again, I mean. Yes. And this is a 23 to hit. A 23 to hit? That'll hit. Go ahead and roll damage. I will use Divine Smite. Level two of those, right? So that's three. Boy, oh boy.

How does all this shit, paladin shit, work? Okay, okay. Okay, I'm going to use one of the charges on Poison Pen, which deals an extra 3d8 poison damage. I will use Divine Smite, which deals an extra 2d8 poison damage. I will use Divine Smite, which deals an extra 2d8 damage. And as a bonus action, I will use this new thing that I just saw

on my spell list called Shining Smite, which deals an extra 2d6 radiant damage. And if it works... Is this a spell? This is a spell. Deals an extra 2d6 radiant damage, and if it works... Is this a spell? This is a spell. Okay, is cast a bonus action to cast? Oh, yes. Okay, I'll let you go ahead.

Usually you cast that before you attack. Not this one. Oh, this isn't? This is brand new. I think it's in the new update. New rules? Sure. It says, bonus action which you take immediately after hitting a creature.

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Great. I just discovered this thing. I mean, it's a better thing. Let's go. Okay, okay. Okay, I'm going to roll all these.

Eight, 16. What a fucking roll. 24. I'm scared. 16, 20, 25. Shining Shmite. 28, 32 plus. Good feeling.

Plus seven is 39. Oh, you're having a foul now. Okay. 39 points of damage. 39 points of damage. All righty. And until the spell ends, which is up to one minute.

Concentration, right? Yes. She is shining now with a bright light. Okay. And attack rolls against her have advantage and she cannot turn invisible. Got it, so I'll mark her there. Ooh.

All right. You impact her. You hit her, there's not even a wince of pain. Just. Still drifting up. Your magic still takes effect, and you can see the shining energy swirling around her, but she's just now focused on you.

Oh, okay. Does that finish your turn? Lovely to meet you, ma'am. That's it. Dorian, it's your go. Seeing Opal, I think Dorian's just furious immediately. Under his breath, he says, I will not allow another god to make a mockery of you.

I'll sprint straight for Opal. Then as I'm running, I'll pull out my father's blade and use it for the first time. I'll take a strike at her. Go for it. Yeah, cool. Great. That's so perfect. That's a natural one. Oh!

Come on! Oh yeah, because you're 30 feet of me. Oh yay! Hi, buddy. Thanks for the combat inspiration. Fuck that dice forever and ever. I'm 30 feet of him, because. That was more than 30 feet of me. Oh yay, hi buddy. Thanks for the combat inspiration. Fuck that dice forever and ever. More than 30 feet of him, yeah. Better. That's great, I could actually use the

matron dice for this fight. You didn't, like, when you showed that off, I was like, this is going to be really funny. Thanks, buddy. That's a 25. 25 does hit. Sweet. 25.

25, good feat. And then, so that's just eight points of damage, but then I'm going to use my defensive flourish since that attack hit, and immediately I'm just going to duck and dive over and slip to the side, and I'm going to use Master's Flourish so I don't have to spend my Bardic Inspiration.

Great. So I get another pop off that, which is a six. So I get an extra six on that. Great. And then I'm going to take my second attack because I have two attacks. Mm-hmm. Oh, not great.

That one is a 16. 16 just hits. It does hit. Okay, cool. So then that is four things. Blood Nonduck, by the way. That's 11 on that one. All righty.

And then just fully in the combat mode right now, for my bonus action, I'm going to use my offhand for my, I guess that would be my two-weapon fighting. Okay. Because I could do attack, attack, and then fight again.

Okay, so your offhand weapon. Yes, so which I haven't brought out yet, but it's actually the loot that I have in my side. Okay. And as I pull it out, I click on the little armature on the side and a little, like a stiletto switchblade dagger comes out, like a little tiny knife.

And then he just goes to give her a little poke. Go for it. Let's find out. Great. That would be plus nine. That is 20, 25. 25 hits. And him's just a little guy. Just a little poke for five after that.

Five damage, all right. That's it? Massive defensive flourish, opening your defense. Get the last couple hits in with each strike as it cuts into Opal. She doesn't react and just stares at you with those weird spider eyes within human eyes.

With each wound, black pores from it. That finishes your go. Matthew, I forgot the Divine Smite damage, and so that was another 10. Okay, thank you. So 49 on that one. Got it. I'm going to cast Mirror Image on myself.

All right. I'm down. And then I am going to cast Bane on all three of them. Okay. Bane. That's a wisdom saving throw? Charisma. Charisma, okay. Liliana, it's a 16.

Fail. Fail. Sheisma, okay. Liliana, it's a 16. Fail. Fail. She's banned. Opal, that's going to be a 20, so that succeeds. Succeeds. For Vespin, that's going to be a 12. He rolled really low. Fail, all right, so the two of them.

Yeah! Banned by Lodmaw. And then... That's pretty stupid. That's pretty stupid. That thing's pretty highbrow. I disagree. I want to move back and maybe towards these threads of fate a little bit.

Okay, I'll move this one. Do I see any threads, any of these threads coming off of them? Coming off of the ones we're fighting? Do I see threads? You see the threads that are pouring out and there are some that curve out into the nearby dark space, yeah?

They're all behind her and all over. But are there any attached to these people? To the ones we're fighting? No. Okay. Okay. Yeah, I'll move even further, Liam, if you can scooch me towards the Threads of Fate. Yeah, that's probably, that's good.

Can you scooch me towards the Threads of Fate? Can you scooch me just a little towards the Threads of Fate? That's my turn. Okay. Be a little bit bit for your movement. We'll be able to quite get that far. Yeah. About there. All right, that finishes your go. It's now Liliana's turn.

Uh-oh. Shit. All right. Aw. Liliana. I'm just going to go ahead and... You can see where Imogen gets her good luck. Don't giggle. All righty.

Oh, it's easy when you giggle, man. Your mom's hot. As she floats up into the air, she's going to try and get away from you, so you do get an attack of opportunity against her. Great. Mojang's got it going. Not great. 17 to hit?

17? Yeah, she's going to shield. Vong uses her reaction, but deflects it off. God! And is going to drift up. Up over the space. Shit. From above, she raises her hands in the air,

her eyes magnifying bright, terrible sparks of purple energy, and I need everybody to make a dexterity saving throw, please. Yes. Thanks. to make a dexterity saving throw, please. Oh my god. Oh. Jeez.

That made me want to throw up. Yeah. Not bad. That was terrible. Okay, so we'll start over here. Brace? 11. 11, okay. Fail.

Fearne? 17. 17, fail. Okay, Imogen? I fail. Fail. Ashton? Fail. Fail. Orym? Natural 20.

Natural 20. Woo! So you all of a sudden lift into the air like gravity has suddenly flipped in the opposite direction. There's no top or bottom in here. You all are now being held up into the expanse above, drifting freely in the air, unable to control your current position. Ashton, did you do this?

Dorian? Fail. Fail. Another one? You drift up here as well. Come on! Collecting them all. Uh-oh. I hate it.

Chetney. 24. 24, you're fine. And Laudna. Fail. Fail. Laudna, you are awesome. Don't worry, I got it! Bye, Chet.

Let's get rid of these riffraff and get back into business. All right, I'll go ahead and put this all here. That's right. Look, center of gravity. It's all the toenails. Which I haven't trimmed in a couple years. Wow!

I'll put this up here just for reference. Get them to hook under. Okay. And if you ever need a snack, just the littles down here. Yeah. What the? Awesome. No problem. We got this.

It's okay, it's okay. That's going to finish her turn. Now it's going to go to Opal's go. Oh shit. Oh shit. Now we go. Hold on, did they all roll the same fucking thing? You saw that she was about to stab towards Dorian,

but then as Dorian drifts off, doesn't even watch him vanish, her focus immediately shifts onto you. She's going to bonus action, Hexblades curse you. She's very, very, yeah. She's got a little high. She's super OP. It's going to dart forward towards you and it's going to unleash a multi-attack on you.

Vroom! Vroom! That's a multi-attack on you. Boom! Yeah. Boom! That's a little bit of a fight. Yeah. That's going to be a 21 to hit. Hits. It hits. Cool damage. The other attack is going to be... Oh, it's a natural 19.

Wait for the Hexblade's Curse, makes it a crit. Oh, cool! Cool. So for each of these. Loving moves. Loving moves. Cool. So for each of these. Loving those. Okay. So the first one's going to be 12 points of piercing damage.

Okay. And the crit, 16 points of piercing damage. On the crit? On the crit, yeah. Okay. They're daggers. Oh, okay. You say it like that.

All right. She's who I wanted her. You say it like that. All right. She's who I'm wanting. That's cool. All righty. That's going to finish her go. That brings us to Chetney with Orym on deck. Oh boy. I get ready to take a step forward

and all my friends just go. Oh! And then this bitch rushes at me and starts stabbing me a bunch. Um... I'm going to use my bonus action to use my hybrid transformation and .

I got pokey things, too. And I will... Can I slide around 180 degrees behind her, staying in her melee? Sure. And I will cast Bane with my action on her, Vespin, and Liliana. I think they're all within 30 feet of me.

Two of them are already baned. Are they already baned? Yeah. Liliana and Vespin are both baned, only Oplos. Oplos is the only one who saved it. Amazing. She's going to save against me. It's not that hard.

I'll take three claw attacks against Oopal. Go for it. Beem, be-deem, be-beem, be-beem, be-beem. Beem, be-beem, be-beem, be-beem. That's going to miss. That's... Wow, two twos in a row? Get the fuck out of here. That's... Wow, two twos in a row?

Get the fuck out of here. 19 to hit? 19 does hit, but because you are a hex buyer, she's going to roll for her armor of hexes, and a four plus it misses. I remember this. That's a four. Whoa! Cool. So the two ones go wide,

and the last one goes to strike, and as you pierce through her, suddenly it was just shadow, and she was just two feet to the right, still staring at you. Nothing but air as you strike. I am so excited to go fuck with this motherfucker. I'm ready for it.

I'm going to run. I'm going to run. Nope, yes. Yeah, I'm going to run. Nope, yes. Yeah, I'm going to stay there. No, I want to run away, but I don't want the other hit. That sucks. Okay. Yep, that's my turn. Okay. Wow.

Finishing your go, Chetney. Orym, you're up with the first hit. You know what you want? I'm going to run straight to here. You're going to die! What happened? I wanted to see you for so long, but this wasn't the way.

And little Bloom starts spreading around on Orym as he hexes Opal. Okay. She has to make strength checks at disadvantage because of it. All right, well, first let's see here. Before I put it on his hex, let's see. Yeah, it just stays on.

Okay. Okay. And she's double wielding? Two daggers, yeah. I'm going to attempt to disarm her. Okay. I'm flanking with Chet. First is a 29 to hit. 29 hits.

So she has to be... Strength? 18, yeah. She rolled an eight. An eight? Yeah. Okay, so I slash her at her wrist and forearm, hoping to force one of the blades out of her hand. One of the blades flicks off into the shadow.

With Hex and the superiority die, that is 22 points of damage. Ooh. Next attack, I'm going to go for the other hand. All righty. 29, 20, yeah, 28 to hit. Definitely hits. Same roll. The other dagger goes flying off. So you've cut both hands. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine.

That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine.

That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine.

That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That's a nine. That hits. This is wisdom? Wisdom, yeah. That's better. That's going to be a 23. Oh, and I didn't do roll damage on the previous hit, which is a 9.

I have to say 17. There's 23 for the previous, then the third attack gets 14. 22 points of damage. So did she succeed or fail? She did succeed the goading attack.

She did succeed. Action surge. Okay, well, before the action surge hits, that third strike, you deflect both daggers off into the shadow, and the third one you strike, kind of hitting her. Where do you hit her with the third strike, I'll ask?

I'm going to go into the flesh on the side that I know would not, like, wouldn't end her. Yeah. So piercing? Yeah. Okay. You put the blade in there and it hits something. And you draw the blade out, and as you draw the blade out, something comes out with it from the wound. Something curved begins to emerge as other

Oh no! And you watch as that smile begins to emerge as other Oh no! You watch as that smile begins to grow wide as numerous spider legs begin to pierce out of her body. Her abdomen begins to swell to the back as she transforms into a horrifying spider version. Oops. Oh no! No! Yeah, yeah.

Spider opal, Spider Opal. Oh wow. Spider Opal, Spider Opal. That changes what I want to do. That's hot. Hey Matt. Before you do your action search, when we were going through the blood pool,

you said in Chetney freaking out, he transformed into a wolf. You were not in wolf form when you were gotten here. Got it, when I woke up. Got it. That was my other question. All right, all you. I want to learn,

so I'm not going to do the action I was going to do at all. I'm just going to stay in a flanking position with Chet. Okay. And hold my ground. You got it. Save the action surge for something else. All right, I finished. What are we doing? Wish I knew.

Fearne, you're up. Okay. I'm going to Banf out Mister. All right. The huff, it is. I am going to cast... Hi, buddy. I'm going to cast Aura of Life on myself.

Okay. I believe that's my action. Okay. Because I can't move, right? That's your dart's action. You can't move, you're just floating. I'm just floating. I can't will myself to move down. Not at the moment, no.

Okay. Okay. That's my action. That finishes your go, isn't it? So I cast Aura of Life, so if you're in 30 feet of me, you have resistance to necrotic damage, and you can't go down past one hit point. That's amazing.

Do we have to stay within 30 feet of you? Yeah, you have to be within 30 feet. Okay, that finishes your go. That finishes my go. Vespin Chlor is at this point. That's amazing. Do we have to stay within 30 feet of you? Yeah, you have to be within 30 feet. Okay, that finishes your go. That finishes my go. Vespin Chloras, at this point, brings the hands forward like this and casts Timestop. You watch as reality

Oh, this is great. This is great. This is the one I want. We got fucking Timestop! I want that. I want that. Lilliana has it, too. In a brief flicker of what seems like a spark of time, the instant of an eye bat, you watch spells rapidly,

as now there are three versions of Vespin Chloride surrounding him. You can time-claw, but then multiple spell? Seven coal-like burning embers floating around his head. Oh shit. Oh boy. What's happening? Oh no. He's just finished casting a spell. As he releases it,

a horrible cold piercing power suffuses everyone in that area. I hate all of this. Let's see, it'd be a 30-foot cube. Wowee-wee-wow-wow. Which would be, yeah, it's just going to be everybody up there. Would Dorian have gone that way

or would he have gone towards Laudna? I'm just trying to be nice. No, he'd be about here. Okay. But it's a 30-foot cube, so it gets everyone in that cluster. Got it. I need everybody in that space to make a constitution saving throw.

Up in the air? Everyone up in the air over here. The Littles are out of this. The Littles are out of it, and Laudna's out. Okay. Give me a one-hit rush. Goddamn it! Why can't I fucking roll for shit? Oh no!

No! Just the horrible noises. This one. You were rolling. Oh my god, for fuck's sake! No! That was so sexy. Just these horrible noises. Oh my god, for fuck's sake. Fuck! We didn't pick this fight. I don't feel like we picked this fight.

New die, new die. All right, so. Who do you guys pick this fight? Dorian. Who dice who it is? 13. 63 points of necrotic damage. How many? 63, however halved because of your aura of life.

Oh. Wow! So we'll say it's 31 points of necrotic damage. Question. Yes. Ooh! I think I know the answer to this, but is anyone within 10 feet of me? I'm going to say,

because I had moved up. No, you're actually a little further this way. Yeah. I just have you up there because it's the platform size. For sure. Unfortunately, no. No one's going to take me. Wait, when I sucked the harp, did I get advantage on saves? You do.

Oh, that's right. And on attack. Worse! All your attack rolls, all your ability checks, all your saving throws are at advantage. Just for today, until I get it back. Roll again for your getting sucked up, because you might've stayed on the ground. Do a sucking roll. I'll allow it, go for it. Do I get a day. Roll again for your getting sucked up, because you might've stayed on the ground. Do a sucking roll. I'll allow it, go for it.

Do a sucked off roll. See if you can suck this off. It's my best one all day. I don't know, what was it? Dexterity save. Was it a dex? Well, then it's dex save, then it's 2026. Phenomenal. Phenomenal. Okay, so yeah. That's good, that's good.

That's good. Okay, okay. As everyone tumbles up into the air, you manage to will yourself out of the radius of the spell and tumble and catch yourself. But you are outside of the radius. You actually take no damage. Yay! But Brayus, what is your deck? 21. 21?

Okay, you take half that. Half that. Yeah, so it would be 15. 15 points of no product damage. Amazing. And that's including, or was he within 35? Okay, okay, okay. 19. 19? Fails.

So you take 63 points of necrotic damage halved to 31. I need you to make a concentration saving throw. Again? Oh, and I should? Maintain the spell. So roll a constitution saving throw. Do you have a war caster? I do. Yeah, so roll with advantage. I should also roll for my smite that's on her right now.

Okay. Ooh, cute. What is this? What's this for? I did a smite on Liliana that's maintaining concentration. Oh, right, yeah, yeah. And this is a constitution save? Yeah.

12? 12 for half the damage. You took 15. You survive. You're fine. You maintain your spell. Okay. I think 11. 11 is a fail, but you do take a... Because 15 is what you needed to beat.

Shit. So with that. So the ore life helps everyone for this round, but then the spell fails. So the spell's next round. Okay, got it. It's a huge move, though. This saved a lot of damage. I failed it. Failed it?

Okay, so you would take 31 points of necrotic damage. Ashton. Fail. 31 points of necrotic damage. Yeah. Nah. I rolled a two. With that, Vespin's going to dart back over here.

You just hear the cackle. That goes into a sob. Oh no! Okay. What? Ashton, you're up with Imogen on deck. Well, we are just stuck up here. Okay, I'm going to rage and see what the hell happens.

Let's go. Who knows, maybe we'll use her. Let's go, start the carnival. Starting the carnival. Zero gravity rage. Interesting. So, can I do anything with this? Let's see.

Interesting. Not until I get damage. Okay, okay. Yeah, the hammer starts to just look like a flicker of different points, which doesn't look like anything, because there's no space here. So other than the sparkly head,

nothing seems to be happening. What? Okay, actually. You said interesting. Yeah, how far is 60 feet at the... Oh, that's really dumb. Yeah, you're about 100 feet in the air, just so you know. I'm about 100 feet in the air? Yeah.

And yeah, we're all going to fall one way or the other. Okay. How far are we from Mom over there? Do I have a, she's about 40 feet up, so you're 60 feet. I'm going to see if I can just knock us all out of the air. I don't know what else to do at this point. Everyone cool with that? I'm going to knock us out of the air

unless someone's got a plan. I don't think I can. Well, can you? I'm going right after you. Are you saying that out loud so I can prep? I am. So we can go at the same time? Actually, yeah. That's a great idea. Is that okay?

Sure. There's a big spider down there! You can hold your action if you want to. I'm going to hold my action. Okay, so you hold your action. Yep. Imogen, you're up next. All right, I'm going to hit myself with an ability to fly.

Okay. So I'm going to use a sorcery point. You got it. You are now flying. Because I would probably die if I hit the ground. I'm going to say, does anybody, okay, here we go, just for fun. And then you can do it, and then I'll take my action.

Is that how it works, or do we go in tandem, or do I need to do my whole action? Does an action use a point, or is it a bonus? It's a bonus action to use a point. He's holding his action until you take a particular action. So if it's a bonus action to use your point, you can then take your action, which would be your big thing, and that would probably trigger you

to do what you want to do. Okay, in that case. I was supposed to just, wait, my trigger was the end of her turn, so. Okay. So you're waiting for the end of her turn? Got it. Okay, then in that case, I will hit, let me double check that this wouldn't hit immediately

and then hurt everybody. It might be if they end their turn. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. It's okay. I just want to We're going to find out what happens when everybody drops, because she's going to drop us one way or another anyway. Five feet of you, first time.

That is really cool. Or ends its turn there, so everybody will move out of this. So in that case, I am going to... Oh wait, do I need to do it again? Yeah. So as I start to hover, my robes start to float up as well, and my eyes turn bright white, and I'm going to turn into lightning,

surging from the roof. Hell yeah. Ooh! Okay. I'm going to use another sorcery point to double the distance on this spell. Okay. So 30 feet.

I think I'm probably out of range of everybody right now. If you move 30 feet, you mean? Can I move if I'm floating? Am I allowed to move with the reverse gravity? If you have flight on you, you're unaffected by gravity, so you can move. Fuck yeah! Awesome.

In that case, I'm going to float down. So I'm in the middle of... Of... in the middle of my mom and creepy corpse man. Okay, so you glide down, we'll say about here-ish. Yeah. Okay, you're there for now. Great. And then I'm going to create a line of lightning. A line of lightning?

That's 30 feet long now. Towards? Towards Liliana or Vespin Cloris? Vespin. Okay, I'll say from the space you can go there. She's not really your mom. I don't care. Okay. You want her near you. It's not really your mom. I don't care. Okay. You want her near you?

She's an avatar of doom. I don't care. All right, so what's the save? The save would be a dex save. Dex save. That is going to be 16. Fates. Great, so he takes 4d8 lightning damage.

Go for it. Ooh. One, two, three. I'm sorry, four, five. Four, I mean, that's four. I don't know why I said five. 12, five, 19. 23 points of lightning damage. Big hit. Big hit.

That's just been Chlorid. Big money, big money. Hell yeah. Okay. Does that finish your turn? Yes, it does. All righty. Your go, Ashton, your trigger. This is such a bad idea.

I'm so sorry if everyone's going to drop down onto the ground, I don't know what else to do. This may drop everybody, I'm sorry. Okay. Do everybody. I'm sorry. It's okay. Do it. I'm going to use Wormhole Strike. I'm using a Chaos Burst to throw my hammer through a portal and it's going to magically appear. What's the range on that? 60 feet. 60 feet will be just perfect.

Yep. Okay. Yeah, and... Yeah, fuck it, we're just going for it. Let's go, Greymoore! Uh... So, 18 to hit? 18 hits. Okay. Wait, she's still shielded from her turn.

Hmm. She's still shielded. She is, yes. From last time she went. Oh, but she has disadvantage. What does she have? You have advantage on your attack. Yeah. Oh, okay she went. Oh, but she has disadvantage. What does she have? You have advantage on your attack. Yeah. Oh, okay.

Oh, okay, so yeah, that's right. You also have advantage. Yeah, correct. So with the shield from when it was... The shield was against Chetney. No, it was against me. Yeah, it was. No, you're right, it was.

So that came back to her turn. She used it was against me. Yeah, it was. No, you're right, it was. Mm-hmm. So that came back to her turn. She used it as a reaction. She was moving away from me. That's what it was, right, yeah. And she also doesn't have a reaction anymore, I remember. Correct. So she does not, but the shield remains until the next turn.

So that first attack would miss. Your wormhole strike would do nothing. Even with advantage. I had advantage. Okay. Okay. Uh. You're going to do a burning of the chaos burst from second act.

She dodges out of the way. It somehow passes through another portal up and at her from another angle. She dodges out of the way from one. To 28 to hit. That hits. She doesn't even see the second one. She dodges the first one and is looking back towards you

with an odd, spacey stare of intense aggression before a portal opens right behind her head. That's going to be 22 points of damage. 22 points of damage. And it's about to get weird. All right, so this is a constitution saving throw. No, it's a spell. She drops reverse gravity.

It gets better. All of you have been held aloft suddenly. Oh god. Feather Fall. What's that? Feather Fall. Feather Fall. Feather Fall. What's the range on Feather Fall?

Fuck yourself. Feather Fall! Sorry, sorry, sorry. It's a let me find it. It's 60 feet. Little pitchy dog. Yeah, take one point of psychic for that. Give me a no for me, dog.

60 feet, you can get everyone. Ah, it's right on the cusp. I can cast Feather Fall, too. Okay. I'll say between the two of you casting it, you use your reactions to do so, you can get all of you. Okay.

Side of your mouth okay? So with that, you all plummet down safely to the ground. I will actually, funny enough, I can also, as I'm falling, I'm actually going to use my Scattering Blow. Both of us waste a spell. No, if I can save it.

I don't think you could get, she couldn't get you. I don't think. She's going to find herself sitting directly in front, in the middle of us, suddenly. All right, so what are you doing? I'm using Scattering Blow. We'll both cast it. Which means that the hammer took her through the portal.

And now I'm putting her right in the center of us, right there. Yes! Standing on the fucking ground. If you hit her and pulled her through, that means she would have appeared up where you were. Oh, that was the thing. Does it happen up there, or? It does, in the sense of, because you hit her,

and that knocks out the spell, and then you pull her through as you're falling. So you've all arrived there, but she is still now flying up top, but she has out the spell, and then you pull her through as you're falling. So you've all arrived there, but she is still now flying up top, but she has lost the spell. Okay, so I would have then probably thrown her 15 feet down as well. So I was going to say, in that case,

would it be possible if anyone also falling had a chance to grab her on the way down? I'll say... I'm just throwing it down there. Yeah, I'll say Brayus. Do you want to try and grab Liliana on the way down? Do you want to try and grab Liliana on the way down? I can put her 15 feet below us. Can't, can I?

You can certainly try and make a, make a. I used my reaction to hit her. Oh yeah, so you cannot do it. Dorian, be the only other person that could try. Yeah. You're so strong, Dorian. You do have advantage on this because of your... This is all that I need. All right, what should I roll?

Should be athletics versus her acrobatics. I've learned a lot from that, but it was worth it. Okay. With advantage. Okay, and it's just the straight check, right? Correct. Okay. He's before me. He's 26. 26.

26. For athletics. 13. Okay. He's performing. 26. 26. 26. For athletics. For athletics, 13. So you grab her and hold on. Your weight drags her down about half the distance, but she is flying and stops. So now you are holding onto her about 30 or so feet up in the air. Unless you want to.

You're welcome to let go. And then fall. If you want to. We fall for 30. Well, you still have Feather Fall. Do we? All right. So you want to. We fall for 30. Well, you still have Feather Fall. Do you? All right. So you want to stay holding onto her? Yeah.

Okay. You are clutching her about 30 feet off the ground right there. Would it take an action for me to engage my winged boots? I'd say, at the beginning of your next turn, you can. Right now, you're still holding on. Okay, got it. All right, finishing that go, top of the round, Bray turn, you can. Got it. Right now, you're still holding her. Okay, got it. All right, finishing that go,

top of the round, Brayas, you're up. Oh, what? You drift back down onto the ground. Imogen's after Ashton. No, I was holding my actions. Shit! Yeah, it's all you. I don't know what to do because you're holding her now. I can't hit her anymore.

And Dorian's on deck with Laudna after that. Okay, well, I'll change my mind then. I can't attack her. You got no range? No. Okay. What's her move speed? She's 30 feet up, 60 feet up? 30 feet up.

So I can get up there, hit her, and fall. Or I could go somewhere else. Huh? Could you get to Opal? Yeah. So I think that's what I need to do. I will run towards Opal. Okay. As part of the Feather Fall, too, you can park yourself a little bit.

Say about 30 feet will get you. I'll put you up here. So you can get right, barely, into melee with her. Oh, great. Okay, awesome. Then I will use, this time, bonus action. Too many smites, too many smites. Entangling ensnarrings. Too many smites.

Ensnaring Strike is what it's called. That drops the effect on Imogen's mom. All right. Oh god. Oh no, Dorian, no! No! I was holding on! And I will strike at Opal with my fucking bad ass,

my two black balls. Go for it. That is a 15 plus 12, 27 to hit. 27 hits. And I'll pump in a Divine Smite as well. So that's... Yeah, you do. Oh, terrible. Five, no, 10, 14.

21 points of damage. But because I did the bonus action Sooty Smite's Ensnaring Strike, that means that a mass of thorny vines appears at the point of impact and the target must succeed on a strength saving throw or be restrained by the magical vines. That is going to be a four.

No, it does not work. All righty. So Dryder Opal becomes restrained. I will also use my second attack to swipe again. Go for it. Painting her with Black Icarum. Terrible, 15. Tax on her advantage.

Tax on her advantage. 15? Yeah. That's not it. Did you roll with advantage? No. Because she's restrained now. Oh! Much, much better.

A million, 30, 28, 28. Go for it, roll damage. A million. The dice is a. And another Divine Smite. It's a beacon! And another Divine Smite, and I will use the second charge on my weapon.

Go for it. Sorry, I had a vision of rolling to 20 and it gets up at the end, because I was like, I'm clipping into the table and. Take them all. Okay, here we go. Jeez. Uh-huh.

10. 20. Wow. 36, no, 45 points of damage. Ooh. Ooh. Nice. 45. Yeah. Damn. As you Nice! 45. Yeah. Damn.

As you're striking through each of these hits, a giant flash of divine energy burning and searing into her. Turns around and makes this horrible screeching sound at the impact, more of the black oil-like liquid blood splattering around and mixing with the red on the ground. She's looking very furious and quite hurt.

Great. That finishes your turn. Oh yes. Doreen, you're up with one on deck. I'll kick in my wing boots and just bring myself up behind her while holding onto her. And I'm going to yell out to Imogen,

do you think this is real? No. Me either. Good luck. And I'll give you bardic inspiration. Oh great! And I'll also consider that no as a blessing. And for my action, I am going to, while still trying to hold on to Liliana, cast Thunder Wave.

Okay. What's your inspiration? It's a 10. Here you go. What? There you go. He's good. What level? What's your inspiration? It's a 10, here you go. Whoa! There you go. He's good. What level?

I'm going to do level four. Which direction are you thunder-raving her? Well, I've, like, probably straight down. Okay. Yeah, well, I've gone. So you fly up over her, and then. Okay. Yeah. Fourth level? Yeah. Constitution save? 16. Get her. Mm,hmm. And then. Okay. Yeah. Fourth level? Yeah. Constitution save?

16. Get her. Mm, 14. Ah! This is it by two. Sweet. That's a lot. She's got a great dex and a great charisma. Not an amazing constitution. Five, 10, 18.

I was going to say, she still has a, she's still baned, too, if I recall. It got dropped for him to smite. Oh no, I'm not the bane source. Who was the bane source again? It was Laudna. I was. You were the original bane source?

Yeah. You were, you're right. Who was bane one? Sorry, I misunderstood that. Yeah, yeah. Oh, no. Oh! Oh!

I misremember. You know that joke? It just gets less funny every time. But it'll come back around. All righty. Campaign four. Yeah, so that's 27 points of damage. And then it's going to push her, but I don't know what the rules of gravity are,

but it's 10 feet far away. 10 feet away. I'm sending it straight, send her straight into the dirt if I can. You send her down to about 20 feet. Yep. So I'll put her about here. So you've now pushed her. Mm-hmm.

There. Sweet. Cool. We can make this work. Well, the tacky piece that I put fell into the actual thing. I'm fixing it now. Everything you do is tacky. I know! You don't have to remind me.

All right. So yeah, she's 10 feet now, lower beneath you. That's awesome, that's your action. You can move still if you want. Ooh, yes. I'll use my fly speed to go back-to-back bar fight style with Imogen. Ooh, I like it.

All righty. Oh wait, don't, no, no, don't come within five feet of me. I'll go within six feet of it. Well, I'm sorry, you would've fallen, too, at the end of this, right? I would, because you were, you got something with her. Yeah, my lightning body will lightning attack you if you come within five feet of me.

If you move within my space, the first thing. Being a creature of the elements, could I perhaps sense this and retroactively? We'll say it as you get closer, your hair goes like, you're like, uh, maybe a little uncomfortable. Yeah, I'll keep the vibe, but I'll stay not quite shoulder to shoulder. All right, there you go.

Like five feet away from each other. Okay, thank you for telling me. All right, that finishes your go. Laudna, you're up. Yeah. Yeah. I have 5,000 things I want to do. Is the Raven Queen watching this whole thing?

I mean, it looks like it with her little mask. Very much so. Okay, okay, okay. I just didn't know if that was a cool statue of her or so she's just watching? Just still and witnessing what's transpiring. Okay. Okay.

I'm going to summon my Hound of Ill-Omen. Okay. And then this time, I'm going to reach into this pool of blood and pull out the skull of a dog. And then blow and brush the blood off and then throw it as the hound then apparates. Which direction?

Towards Vespin Chloris. How far can it travel? 120, well, I can summon it within 120 feet. Okay, yeah, we'll say, so you chuck it and dog out of it. Through the air. I threw a dog at Vespin Chloris. Yes, you did. It says to roll for initiative.

Should it just go on my turn or after me? I'll let him go after you. Yeah. It's much easier to keep track of. It's much easier. And then, okay, so that was my bonus action. I am then going to as my action. So I throw a dog at Vespin Chloras,

and then I'm going to reach around with my other hand and have a big flaming purplish black fireball that I then toss with the other hand. I'm going to throw a fireball at his face. Okay, what level? Three. Level three? Don't keep it to three. Standard, okay.

For this. He's got a, he's got Bane. I know. He's Bane'd and he has disadvantage because my Hellhound is next to him. That's right. That'll make the difference. So yeah, nah, he gets a 12

with the disadvantage and the bane. Okay, fantastic. So it's 8d6. I might empower this. We will see. Let's do four and four. Thank you. Leia, I'm open to go next and then you. Okay.

12, 16, 21. Oh, it's fire. Oh, wow. Those are good rolls. 21, 27, 20, 29, 30, 31,

36 damage. 36 damage? 27, 20, 29, 30, 31, 31. 36 damage. 36 damage? Yeah. Already? I had one or two. The fireball explodes and chars Vespin, taking not as much damage as you would think.

Oh. But he still has to make, oh no, he was not concentrating on anything. You've been in hell! And then I just look at my dog and I go, sick him. Okay. My doggo is going to do

does he have, like, does he have an amusement, does he have an envious and menace, man, or he can't heal, like, man, and be a son of a man, and be a son of a man. He has a bonus, can he have an additional bonus to attack on damage? I don't know, that's ranger shit. Okay, so I guess he just has. Are you a ranger?

No, I just have a dog. Park ranger. I just have a dead dog. I'm a park ranger. Park ranger with a dead dog. Okay. Ooh, that's good. That's a natural 19, so 24 to hit. Yeah, it hits.

Okay. Okay, this is going to be funny. It probably won't work, but... Okay, he's going to take four, five, okay. Eight piercing damage. All righty. And then he has to succeed on a strength saving throw, DC 13, or be knocked down.

Natural 14. Bane. Bane. One, 13. So he still makes it? Damn it, that would've been so funny! That would've been funny. I've been amazing. You see him falling over?

Yeah, he's just like, Roll off! R.B.E., who started the Over? Yeah, he's just like, girl! I'm the one who started the quip! No! Just a dog pulling on his robes. I fell on my arcane focus! Yeah. All right, does that finish your turn, Laudna? That finishes my turn, I think.

Well, here comes the ocean. Okay. Yeah. Actually, can I, because I haven't moved, can I back up 30 feet? Yeah. Oh yeah, if you want. Not too far. Actually, let me split the go diagonal.

Go diagonal, yeah. Okay, you got it. Out of the way. Good call. Yeah. Beep, beep, boop, beep. Boop, boop. For Liliana's turn.

Boop, boop, beep. Boop, boop. For Liliana's turn. Boop, boop, boop. She's going to spin around in space. That's it? Looking up at both you, Imogen, and Dorian in the air above. Yeah. So, shh, and is going to psychic lance you, we twin spell it, to go after you as well.

Wow. She's so cool. Wow. So I need you both to make intelligent saving throws. Good thing I'm super smart. And tell me to. Does our mandorian get advantage on saving throws as well? Yes. Yes.

Okay. You need it. Well, it's not going to do shit. Back to you. Pull it. Better. All right. very not smart. I hear a lot of dice rolling. Sorry.

I love the face! All right, so? Oh, I failed, I'm sure, with a 14. All right, so it's 54 points of psychic damage. But I'm resistant to any psychic damage. Correct, you take half of that, so you take 26. Dorian? Oh, I had 11. 54 points any psychic damage. You take half of that, so you take 26. Dorian? Oh, at 11.

54 points of psychic damage. Oh my goodness. How are you holding up? Well, hey, that's the first damage you've taken. Yeah, I got the retroactive. Is Yura still going on? Kindness. Yeah.

Are we, no, we're not within 30 feet of her, though. Your aura faded. Is up till my next. Oh yeah, that's right. I remember that. It was when that happened. It's definitely fading. You're also incapacitated until the end of your next turn.

Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. So am I upside down and my boots are still flying? Yeah, you're like flying there and your brain's just kind of scrambled. No, just he was. No, no, you failed your save, too. You're both incapacitated, yeah. So both you and Imogen are like,

Oh, wait, wait! Not that it probably would matter. Can I try to add his dice to my, his? Saving throw? Yeah. Yeah, you can. Oh, nine? Nine? So that would be 23?

23 would succeed. Yay! All right, so you take even a quarter of that damage. It would have been 26 is reduced to 13. Okay, so I'll add 13. Add 13, and you are not incapacitated. However, Dorian, you are currently mind frazzled. Thank you! Thank you for the inspiration!

Oh shit, Dorian! Oh shit! Oh shit, it's Dorian. All righty, and with that, she's going to go ahead and drift off this way. And glide backward, eyes still causing this streak of energy as she flies backward. Opal's going to go. Opal, now, both of the blades that were deflected appear in her hands. Oh, great. And is going to make two attacks with her dagger

and four attacks with her new drider arms. Okay, okay, but wait. Her new drider arms. But wait. There's more. Wait. But wait. But wait. But wait. But wait.

So, Ensnaring Strike restrained her. Correct, so she is disadvantaged on her attacks. But when I attacked with, I'm so overpowered, Matt. When I attacked with my poison pen weapon and pumped in the charge, it adds an additional 3d8 poison damage and the victim of it becomes slowed

until the end of my next turn. That's, excuse me, I'm sorry. So that means she gets half as many attacks, right? Slowed creature. Best case scenario. Can take either an action or a bonus action, not both. So she can still get her attacks, but she doesn't get a bonus action.

All right, also at the start of this turn, she takes 1d6 damage. You got it. Three points. Three points, okay. So these attacks are all disadvantage because she's restrained. I was going to go ahead and unleash a bunch of them into you, Chetney,

since you're the Hexblade's cursed figure. The first one, with disadvantage, is going to be a 17. Misses. Misses. The second dagger strike, that's going to be a 16. Misses. Misses. The second dagger strike, that's going to be a 16. Oh, misses. No, no, sorry, 19, 19.

I looked the wrong way. Oh, misses still. Okay, still misses. And then now the four spider claw attacks. You, you, you. Miss. 19. Misses. Good god. Ooh, dual 19s, which are both crits.

Yeah, so it hits you with a crit on one of them, because you're hexed. Yep. So that's going to be... Double 19s. Doubles. Doubles. I rolled them together.

That's 10, 20. 30 points of piercing damage. Okay. As one of them just like, they're just missing you entirely, and as you try to duck out of the way from one, one sticks you right in the torso. Your woven form absorbs some of it.

It's halved because you are in your- They're not magical? They're not magical. Okay. The last one is going to be, that's going to be a 20 to hit. That is my AC. Okay, so that's AC. That a 20 to hit. That is my AC. Okay, so that's your AC. That takes 20. Okay.

17 halved, so that'd be eight points of piercing damage on that one. Got it. As soon as all these strikes happen, you watch as the tired hits, and she blinks and, where am I? What's going on?

And just looks scared. Oh no! Finishing Opal's turn, Chetney, you're up. Wait, are they really here? Fuck if I know! Eat shit! We assumed. They're not really here.

They can't be really here. Bonus action. I'm going to scrape my claws up the side of my rib cage. Yep. And ice will come up on the claws. You got it. And I will inflict wounds into her crazy spider ass abdomen thing.

Boosh! Boosh! That's a 25. 25 hits. Okay. That's 3d10. Got to set up those things right here. Ah! Nice, five, 12, 18, plus two, 19 points of damage.

19 points of damage. Necrotic. Right. Screeches. Oh god. And then. Why? I don't know, you bitch.

And it's like the upper torso of Opal, like the arms just hang there for a second, and she's barely hanging on by a thread, fear in her eyes. Does that finish your turn, Chetney? It's your bonus action and action to cast the It is. There's a couple feats that I can do,

but I think I'm going to hold it. That's my turn. Okay. All right, that brings us to Orym with Fearne on deck. That's Opal. Okay. I thought she was already in the room. All right, that brings us to Orym with Fearne on deck. That was helpful. I just got to believe it's not you. I got to believe it. What?

I'm going to move around and flank. She's restrained, so you get advantage anyway, but yeah, go ahead. What if it's really her? I don't believe it's her. We have to win. That's a 28 to hit. That is? Maybe she's testing to see if we'll do the hard thing.

Yeah. That's true. Oops, dead opals. So 28 to hit, that is for a six and a 14 points of damage. 14 points of damage. How do you want to do this? Fuck no, that's so fucking hard. I want to, I see how messed up she is.

He slapped the highlights out of her hair! Yes! I like pull back Seedling to stab into the nape of her neck, but at the last second, I spin it around and with the hilt go to the base of her skull and drop her to the ground. Okay.

Crack! You hit, the impact resounds. Like weighing off nothing in the space. Yeah. The legs crumple, and as they hit the ground and she slumps forward, she slowly sinks into the blood pool. You watch her eyes go dark as red hands begin to emerge out of the blood pool

and pull her down to the ground to vanish. This is true. Last thing you hear is, Why? Oh! I don't believe it. Okay. That's your first attack.

Your convictions are strong. I start running. So maybe that's about 30. 30 feet would be, yeah, it's about, yeah, that there's about right. Okay. Because you were right there. Yeah. So yeah, that'll do.

Um. What do I want to do here? Shoot. I'm going to, god, I did one attack. I can't reach where I am. I'm going to... No, I can't.

Sorry, sorry, everybody. I thought you would take a little more work. Stab the blood. Fuck. Take this, realm! Is the face, is the matron's face just there watching the whole thing? Yeah. Yeah.

Are the threads coming out of her like that? The threads are coming out of the nearby darkness around her and they're coming from all around the different sides. You're all in this cage that is miles, hundreds, thousands of miles wide from side to side, or not. You have no perspective on scale here. I know what I'm going to do. Yeah?

I'm going to Misty Step. Okay. Behind Vespin, opposite the dog. How far is it? 15 feet. No, 30 feet. 30, isn't it? 30 feet will get you two Vespin,

but you can't get to the other side. That's fine. That's fine. Right there. You step to the edge, and right where you step, arrive, the edge of the blood, you now land where it's slick and it is pouring off into nothing.

Make a dexterity saving throw. Oh no, there's a ledge. Jump off. I'm going to reroll. I'm using Indomitable and reroll. That is a 17. 17, okay. You still managed to barely stay on it.

Oh, if you had gone to the other side, you would have just gone. Yeah. So you arrive, slide and catch yourself. You're still in melee, but you founder the edge that just plummets into nothing. I'm on the edge. I'm not poor.

All right. I slashed twice for my first attack. Let's go. All that is 28. They're not hexed. But let's make it a goading attack. Okay. So that's three plus eight is 11.

17 points of damage, and it's a wisdom save that he'll probably succeed on. Natural one. Oh! What? What? So attacks on anyone else are at disadvantage. Yep. They're just fine on me.

Third attack. That looks so cool. I'm so happy with how this turned out. 24, this is so cool, man. 24. 24. And this is going to be just a standard slash. I'm going to cut his Achilles. What's an Achilles?

That's the little cordy cord. No, I know. Okay. Orpahs, it is 12 points of damage. I'm counting it at that. You got it. All righty. From my ground. So you slice twice through this massive form as the blades hit.

It's scraping across bone and steel, but you still carve through. Sections of robe shred off. You just hear this low resonant. His inside parts are on the outside, right? Yeah, it's all fucked up and pulled apart and open. Very Cenobite-like. Okay.

That finish your turn? Yes, sir, thank you. Okay. Fern, you're up. Okay. I scream when I see Opal is taken out, but I understand what needs to happen. I am going to... I know he doesn't really take fire around. I'm going to Flame Strike Vespin.

Sure. Mama's in. Which does... What level are you casting it? I am casting it in. Which does... What level are you casting it? I am casting it in. Definitely within the 120-foot range. Yes.

Where the hell did it go? There it is. Fourth level. Fourth level, okay. I think it's 46 fire damage, 46 radiant damage. Well, Scorching Ray? Scorching Ray. I think it's 46 fire damage, 46 radiant damage. Well, Scorching Ray? Scorching Ray, I think it's all fire. Flame Strike. Flame Strike, okay, that's different.

Yes. That's just a fifth level spell. Okay, so that is a deck save for him. Yes, so. That is, that's going to be 18. Well, I think that. Is that your DC? Does it?

Oh no, it's 19? It's 18, he just misses it. Oh! He just misses. Cool! Okay, okay. So then it just happens. I just do it. I just shoot him with the Flamestrike.

I don't even have to roll for it. Okay, I don't know why I'm telling you this. No, it just hits. Go ahead and roll the damage. Tell me how much is fire and how much is radiant. So we'll start with fire, which I get an additional d8 because Mister's out. Mm-hmm.

Ooh! Don't damage it. Okay. Stop it. Oh! Damn it. Good catch. Okay, okay. 17 points of fire damage. 17 points of fire damage, okay. 17 points of fire damage.

17 points of fire damage, okay. And radiant. The fire damage burns around and doesn't incinerate him in the way that you hope. He did walk out of hell. Yeah. I knew it wasn't going to work, but I have radiant with this.

Okay, so that's 10. He did his best. That's 16 points of radiant damage. Radiant damage, however, tears into him and you watch this bright lichen circle and burn through. As the light fades, you see the body has ashen edges. It seemed to be super effective,

as the Pokémon trainers would say. Okay, okay. And Mister is going to take some flame seeds. He's going to poop at who? Poop at Vespin. Mr. Monkey's going to throw flaming poop at the man responsible for the cloisonne. Yeah, while he's being bitten by a dog.

I love this so much. We are Yeah, while he's being bitten by a dog. I love this so much. We are kicking him while he's there. Yeah. All righty, so much for that. 18. 18 misses. Okay, that's okay, that's okay. He catches it and just it burns away in his grasp.

All right, and then. What's disadvantage on wisdom saves, I think? Just saying, just saying. I would like Mister to be closer to me, though, if that's possible on wisdom saves? Just saying. I would like Mister to be closer to me, though, if that's possible. For proof of any conness. Okay, you got it? Yeah. And that's my turn.

Okay. That's my turn. It's Nott Vespin's turn. Oh, cool. Oh god. He's just watching. He's just content to watch the show. He's been down in hell. He's bored, Matt. He's bored. In fact, you know. Break through the mask. Do, watch the show. He's been down in hell. He's bored, man. He's bored.

In fact, you know. I want to know. Break through the masks. Do we find Tasha Leone in a floating mechanical chair? So funny, Stuart! Fuck! I'm just going to go ahead. Do a little jib jab. Staring down at you,

the horrible mass of stretched flesh and bone, the teeth exposed, the blood just poured through it. Some of it burnt to black ash from the blast of her flame strike. The radiant energy still burning, its white fire flickers at the shoulders. Bracing. You love them, right?

Oh. Reaches over and opens his hand as a bolt of black lightning darts off to Chetney, and it's going to chain through. SAM and LAURA, SAM and LAURA, and LAURA, and LAURA, and LAURA. Oh man. Actually, he'd be aiming at Brayus. Yes!

Which does get all of you. Fuck! Misses, misses, misses Laudna. That was, fuck! Mrs. Lauderman. That was out loud. Mrs. Lauderman. That was out loud. Oh, I'm sorry. That's not even it.

Shit! All right. Do you think I'm within 60 feet of him? So. I don't think so either. I'm feeling good. You got 60 feet. Oh, sorry. Shit, because it's D8.

Pretty close. Oh, there's so much. It was just on Oh, sorry. Shit, it was a d8. It's a pretty close. Oh, there's so much. It was just on the edge of 30 feet when it first started. Man! There's no save on this. Is that a save or an attack roll? There is a save, I'll get to it. I'm just doing my damage here.

So not an attack roll. Oh, jeez. My favorite artist. Shit. I can't tell. Okay, so I need dexterity saving throws from Chetney. Chetney, you are, come on, because you're so close to me.

Yeah. You get a plus four. A plus four from me. Aura of Protection. 24, 27. 27, you only take 25 points of lightning damage. David. Only?

Yeah. Wow. Brayas. 19. 19, you take 51 points of lightning damage. David. Only? Yeah. Wow. Reyes. 19. 19, you take 51 points of lightning damage. Whoa! Holy moly. Ashton. That's Dex. 22.

22, you take 25 points of lightning damage. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Am I doing it, too? Yes, you are, Fearne. Just in range. Shit. Okay. Stay, stay, stay. Okay, okay. 11. 11, you take

51 points of lightning damage. Whoa! As this black lightning arcs through your friends across the way, their bodies seizing with the impact of this arcana before smoke and sizzling begins to fill the space. Ow, ow, ow, ow. Vespin, standing from here,

is just going to go ahead and glide around over here, staying in your melee. But the dog can make an attack. And then he follows. over here, staying in your melee. But the dog can make an attack. It's a cat. And then he follows. Actually don't. Oh my god. How are you?

He's going to bonus action. Grab one of the embers that are floating around its head, and focus back on you. 15? 15? 15 misses. It's just coal. It's just coal. Nobody fish for our coal. Inflicts it at you. Attack roll.

Was it a finger of death? What was that? It's just a piece of coal. 24 to hit? Oh, it's crowned. Sure, 24 to hit. Oh, I'm going to have to get closer. All right, so with this, you take... Take... You take 40 points of radiant damage. It's 4d12, and I rolled 12, 11, 10, nine. Oh!

That's rich. Or 10, 11, 10, nine. That's all right. I'm okay. Yeah, 10, 11 damage for us. One moment. That's nasty. You're holding it? That's going right. Wow. I'm okay. Yeah, 10, 11 damage. For the moment. That's nasty. You're holding it. That's going to finish Vespin's turn. As from his voice, you hear,

Okay. Pull. You know not what I've done, and you will all suffer the same fate. You will all suffer the same fate. Oh, jeez. Finishes his turn. With that, Ashton, you're up,

with Imogen on deck. He's like a Final Fantasy boss. Yeah, he totally is. Fugitive? Yeah. If I burn another rage, can I do another? Can I do another roll of the dice for a rage shift, or no? Just scare him. Uh, sure.

As a bonus action? I'll burn as a bonus action. I'll say, yeah, go for it as a bonus action. Go for it. Yeah, I'm going to, hmm, I don't like these odds. I'm going to check myself out of this, and that'll do. I'm going to start having that little gray tone shift, as if my hammer is becoming a black hole,

and the very light, the color of the light itself seems to be getting sucked in, and I am going to run 40 feet towards that asshole. Towards which one? Oh, the, what's the big wizard motherfucker that I met before? Yeah, Vespin Flores? Yeah, thank you. Let's see. 40 feet will get you right there.

Yeah, all right. All right, I am, yeah, I'm heading, 40 feet will get you right there. Yeah, all right. All right, I am, yeah, I'm heading, 40 feet will get me there, so I can't attack him from here yet. No, you're still 10 feet away. Okay, then I will use a... Okay. I guess I will use...

Actually, he's going to be moving around at some point, might he? No, fuck it, I'll use the rest of my, I'll dash to get in position so that he's flanked. On the other side of him. On the other side of him? Yeah, I want to. All right, as you rush this way, the platform vanishes from beneath your feet.

Roll a dexterity saving throw to try and catch yourself as you realize, as you're running, that the floor just ends, the blood spilling over in a blood fall. Curious if I can, well, no, that'll work. Now, you do have advantage on this because you're a barbarian. Yep.

He, hey, that's 23. 23, you just barely catch yourself on the ledge. You can't quite get to the other side, but you can stay in melee with Vespas. I shouldn't have done that. There's two of you near the edge. I absolutely shouldn't have done that. There's two of you near the edge. I absolutely shouldn't have done that.

That's all right, okay. Okay, that finishes your go. Yeah, I still want to be on the other side flanking, though. You can't get to him flanking. Oh, I can't catch him. There's no ground. Okay, so I burned my action doing that. You see where the shine ends?

Gotcha, gotcha. That's where the platform is. Ah, okay, I didn't know. So with that, Imogen, you're up. Ah, yes. I am going to look over at my mom. And I'm going to say, I don't want to hurt you.

Right as a lightning bolt erupts from my chest and shoots out at me. All righty. I'm going to anyway. Blood level? That's still investiture of lightning, so she has to roll a dex save. 30-foot range? 30-foot range.

Have to get a little bit closer. Okay, I scooch closer. 30-foot range, you need to get about there. Ugh, wait. Am I within 30 feet of... I mean, you have a large movement. You can move over here if you want to stay out of his range. Whatever range you think you might be in.

Or you want to stay close to somebody else. Well. Up to you. I wanted to shoot and then get out of 60 feet of her, but I can't do that. I can't shoot her and then be out of 60 feet. You can move from where you were. You can move 15 feet to get within 30 feet of her.

And then move 45 feet back if you want to. Okay, I'll do that. Okay. So you moved in here, 15 feet to get within 30 feet of her. And then? And then move 45 feet back if you want to. Okay, I'll do that. Okay, so you moved in here, 15 feet to get there. I've heard it's a dex saving throw? Yes. Natural 20. Oh, you. Bane, she's baned, she's baned.

Natural 20 means you succeed, unfortunately. Ugh. Ugh. Is it all or nothing, or does she take the half damage? She takes, I think, half damage on this one. Just go ahead and roll damage. And then you can move back 45 feet this time, right? Because your fly speed is 60?

Yes. What's your there? 15. 22 halved. 22 halved for 11 points of damage on Liliana. As you blast her with a bolt out of the chest and then scoot out of the way, you see her like, and the energy still glows, her eyes go wide,

and like, Imogen? Oh god. You drift back and you see her face drop. That intensity is now momentarily dispelled. What is happening? In that case, I'm going to switch my focus over to Vespin. I'm not going to hit her when she's like that. Okay, you got it.

And I am going to quicken a spell so that I can shoot him with a, that's intelligence save, I don't want to do it, so I'm going to do a lightning bolt at, fuck it, seventh level. Yes! Yeah! Okay.

Okay. Come on! That's 12d6. Tiaf, let's go. Yeehaw! All righty. 17. Fails!

Fails, motherfucker! Natural seven on that. Let's do it. It's a plus 10 dex, still a fail. All right, so you got to roll that 12d6 lightning damage. Let's do it. It's a plus 10 dex, still a fail. All right, so you got to roll that 12d6 lightning damage. Let's do it! What? How many? Let's go.

Six, seven, eight. Big Parsha. You need some? No. Nine, ten. I don't know why I'm asking her if she could die. 11. I'll remember that for the next round. Boo! 11, 12.

We all have a dumb one from the last round. Yeah, the last round, I just, for the hell of it, I'll remember that for the next round. Boo! 11, 12. We all have a dumb one from the last round. For the last round, I just, for the hell of it, I'll roll. Actually, I rolled a one and a two and a one, so it wouldn't have mattered, so I feel better. One. Hmm. Yeah, if I'd been clever, I would have backed up a bit, but that's okay, next round.

43 points of lightning damage. Yes. Lightning damage to Vespun Chloras. Yes. It blasts through the bolt, like streaking through him and then building up behind him as the bolt hits, like he's absorbing it. And then right behind him, you see the light

and it scatters out the back in like seven different directions. As the bolt finishes, the whole center of his like flesh exposed chest is now just this burnt black circle of smoke. Looks up at you. More similar than you think. Oh, sad boy.

Does the matron head have to dodge? Yeah, he's done my movements. The matron head looks like it's this close, but as soon as the island arcs out, you're like, it could be a mile away. Jesus. Or further. By the trash vests. Galactic.

Matron show at the trash vests. All righty. You want to finish your turn? Um, that's it. Boring. Raze, you're up. If we're focusing on Vespin, I will use my movement to get over there

as close as I can. Okay, 30 feet. 30. All right, that'll be 60 foot distance. That'll get you just up into his melee to use the movement and dash. Oh, no dash. I don't have dash. Oh, 30 feet of movement will get you halfway there.

Then I will Misty Step the rest of the way. You can do that. And I will just attack. All right, let's go. That's all I can do is, I'm going to Misty Step the rest of the way. You can do that. And I will just attack. All right, let's go. That's all I can do. I'm going to aim for, you said he has a big burn hole in his chest? Yeah. All right, I'm going to try to plug it

with my big black balls. You said it becomes her net. Oh, I did. 21 does hit, but he has duplicates up. So I'm going to go ahead and roll here. Yeah. I'm forgetting to use it. So now he's using it for you. Great. So six or higher.

One. No, that fails. So it hits, first attack hits. I will use a Divine Smite. God, I always forget what that's called. He is considered a fiend, so you do additional damage. Ooh! Additional damage. Additional damage. Additional damage.

Thank you, Taliesin. Okay. 10. 22. 20. What is that, a five? God, I hate that. That's annoying.

It's additional damage! 34 points of damage. Ooh! And I will strike again. Additional damage! Go for it. Coming up with the flail. My wolf gives Pactiac Dicks. Right, so it gets advantage on attacking

somebody with some other skill. I don't know if this one's going to hit. 19 to hit. 19 just hits. We're going to roll to see if it hits an image. Seven, it does. So you strike Vespin, and the one you swing towards,

it shimmies out of existence, and you're now down to two of them. It does. Jazz hands and all. One of his duplicates has been destroyed. You lost, Lassie. That finishes your go. Dorian, you're up with Laudna on deck. Aye, aye, aye, aye, aye, aye, aye, aye, aye.

You're floating in the air, looking down. Opal has sunken in. Liliana is shaking her head and seeming for a moment of clarity. Vespin Chloras is being surrounded by people and is sad sobbing and cackling to himself. Behind you, the massive mask of the Matron looks upon you all.

What do you do? Snap two. How bad does VC look, or Vespin look? Does he look bad? Wait, you are incapacitated this turn, aren't you? Oh wait, I thought, was it to the end of, or the beginning of? End of your next turn, I think, right?

The end of my next turn? Yeah, Liliana had psychic lands. Yes, it skips your turn. Oh yeah, then I'm just floating, baby. Oh no! Yeah, Liliana had psychic lands. Yes, it skips your turn. Oh yeah, then I'm just floating, baby. Oh no! Yeah, yeah, it's okay. I'm dangling and doi-ngling. There's nobody in there. That's all right.

Maybe she dropped it when she had clarity. That's nice of you to say. Passing means you can't take actions, reactions, or bonus actions. You can still move. Oh, that's nice. Which is kind of... Just carrying you to safety.

I want to. Goodbye! Well, that's all I can do is move. I want to try something that I've been thinking about. All right, what do you want to do? That's the only opportunity. Yeah. I would like to... It's called the moonwalk. Ooh, upside down.

That's cool. I'm just going to fly. I'm like kind of whatever. I'm just going to lazily just watch it all. I stood out here, and I'm going to just fly myself into one of the strings of fate. I was hoping.

And just see if anything happens. My thought was to reach out for it. I don't know if that counts as an action, but I'm just literally just going to... Who's your other character? My thought was to reach out for it. I don't know if that counts as an action, but I'm just literally just going to... I'm debating. Who's your other character? If it's all, I wasn't going to do it, but if it's all I can do, I'm going to fucking do it.

For sure. Just fly and bump into it? Yeah. Yeah, I was planning on reaching out, but I'm not just going to go, ah, fuck. It's like a balloon. Yeah.

The balloon caught in a balloon in a power line. So you pull by and you drift into it. As you hit it, suddenly your body is struck with an immense shock of memory. You see flashes of a little girl talking to the air. You see a flash of a dress competition and tears. You see a flash of peeing off of a rooftop in Emon. You see a flash of a lost sister found

clawing her way like a primordial screaming child out of the earth. You see the crown of thorns upon her head. You see her currently sharpening her blades on the outskirts of the Hellcatch, surrounded by... She's in the Hellcatch? Yeah, I got it. Surrounded by other soldiers and warriors

preparing their coming part of the assault. Shit. Watch out. Nice. I can't, because I can't do anything, but I'm going to try to say, It's not real. You do, and that's about as loud as it gets. Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. Is that real? I don't know if that's real. Okay, that! Oh, hell! Is that a room? I'm in a room. Okay, that finishes your go, Dorian. Laudna, you're up. I'm going to the candy bar. Okay, okay, okay. It's time for weird shit.

It feels like it's time for weird shit. Let's go. If Dorian's going to... Turn the mask into a doll. I thought going to... I thought about it. Turn the mask into a doll. I thought about that. I am going to slowly, my d6, turn... It's fine, I've got more.

My lady. My lady. Bonus action, Form of Dread. I want my Form of Dread, as I always mirror the environment, to look like the Matron of Ravens. Sick. Cool.

So I have my face goes pale white, like a porcelain mask, and then long, dripping veils behind me. I'm going to move up 30 feet. I'm going to look at the matron. I'm going to address the matron. Hang on, let me not fuck this up. Let me not fuck this up.

I'm going to say, We know a few things about your many forms. Then I'm going to cast Spirit of Death, and I want it to take the form of a Mira. Ooh. Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. Special. Sick. Then I step forward, and then

I'm going to have my voice echo as much as I can, that we know of her many forms, and then I want Amira, the spirit, to step out of my body and just walk towards her. Yes, queen. Okay. As the spirit emerges and steps down into the pool, there's a moment where the mask that has been still,

in a second, shudders. One pees a little. Every single one of these thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of golden threads all shake like a guitar string strummed. Ooh! That's right. That's good. The blood of the platform begins to

to burble up. I think I pushed her off. No, it's stress-free. It's good, it's good. It's good. We need to show her what's up. Yeah. We need to tell her to crochet.

So, well, so I summon a spirit. It does, it is a concentration spell, so it will drop the bane. The bane. But these are spell casters that don't, doesn't really seem to be doing much anyway. It's helped a little bit, but. It's helped a titty titty.

That's the sound. It goes. Um. I call forth a spirit that embodies death. It's, what is its fucking move? I'm sorry. Well, I can cast this within 60 feet, so I walk up and I want to,

I might as well have it go up and attack Vespin. Okay. Which, yeah, he's definitely within 60 feet. So we'll say the spirit emerges and glides up to him. So Amira walks up and is going to do a multi-attack with her scythe. She has a reaping scythe. It emerges out of her right hand

and then screams while unleashing it on him. When the weapon may wait, your spell attack modifier to hit. Oh, my spell attack modifier. Correct. Ooh! That's pretty good. Okay, and it's got a five-foot reach, so two hits. Where did it hit? Oh, my spell attack modifier. Correct. That's pretty good. Okay, and it's got a five-foot reach, so two hits.

Fucking what hits ass? 14, I think that misses. 14 misses. I was going to say, is it? That's better. 25. It would, actually, it would technically be flanking with Ashton. I will count that as the advantage, then.

Okay, I'll do that. So 25 for the first one. 25 for the first one, that does hit. I'm going to roll toanking with Ashton. I will count that as the advantage. Okay, I'll do that. So 25 for the first one. 25 for the first one. That does hit. I'm going to roll to see if it takes a duplicate. Jeez, boy. No, it hits. It hits. First one hits. First one hits, so let's handle that first. D8.

Okay. Six plus the spell's level. Six plus four, so 12. 12. Six plus four is 10. Six plus four is 10. You got it? And that's necrotic damage, which I don't know, or whatever.

No worries. And then going again. Another attack? Yeah, I rolled dog shit again, but you know what? I have this handy-dandy inspiration that might put it over the edge. Seven plus 12 is 19. 19 just hits.

Let's go. That, however, does hit the mirror image and destroys a second duplicate. Only one remains around, this blurry outer version of him. Bonus to Form of Dread to look like her attack. I think that's all you got. My doggy goes!

Oh, that's right, yeah, go, dog! My doggy! And he also gets advantage? Correct. Because he's flanked. He's got pack tactics. He's got pack tactics, so he can. Yeah, that is... Oh wait, let me make sure. Let me look at him.

Come on, dogees. He doesn't have as good. Sorry, a lot of things are happening here. A lot, a lot? A lot of things. 17, I think, misses. 17 misses, yep. 17 again. Okay.

So that finishes your dog's turn. With that, Liliana's turn. The dog also got advantage. Right, it did, yeah. Okay. He did. I rolled pretty subpar that entire round. You did great. Liana is going to drift forward a bit.

Imogen, we got to get out of here. I don't know what's going on, but we got to get out of here. I don't know what's going on, but we got to get out of here. Shut up! Do you trust me? Oh fuck. Fuck. Yeah. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. Power Word stun on you.

Ooh! Oh! Yeah, I shouldn't have done it. You are under 150 hit points. I am. You are stunned. You have to make a constitution saving throw every turn to become unstunned.

Okay. All right. Chetney, you're up. Jeez. What you would've done. Yeah. Gullible, gullible. Nice. Love your mama.

I will move 40 feet towards Vespin. Yeah. Gullible, gullible. Nice. Love you, mama. I will move 40 feet towards Vespin. Okay. And I will use my bonus action to close the rest of the distance. You can do that with bonus action? Yes, because I'm a rogue. Oh right, yeah, dash, yeah. And I will.

And then push into here. Yeah. Yeah. And I will take two swipes with my claws. Let's go. 14, 24 to hit. 24, that does hit. And it does, yeah. And the second one is 19 to hit.

19 just hits. Just hits, whoo! Yeah, and that actually takes out the last duplicate. Oh! So only one hit. Seven seconds. That's good, that's good, that last duplicate. So only one hit. Seven seconds. That's good, that's good, that's good. That's real good. And then...

1d8 now, that's right. Should have the buildup. Seven plus six, 13 plus seven is 20 for the first one. The second one missed. Oh, and the second one missed? Well, it hit the mirror image. That's right. However, how the second one missed. Well, it hit the mirror image. That's right. However,

how do you want to do this? Oh! Shatters. Jesus. I'll run up, and as he turns to look at me, I'll stick my clawed hand into his mouth. Pull your claw. Grab the bottom of his jaw

so that the claws dig down through his mandible and just fucking fruit roll up the front of his face. It scatters across the blackened ash that mixes with the blood on the ground, slowly spilling over. As you pull away, where the wound is now open from the chest and the jaw is missing, fire burns up and consumes him. Vespin Cloys, I feel like I've killed you before. All right, that finish your turn. That brings us to Fearne.

Orym. Orym. Oh, sorry, no, Orym and then Fearne, yeah. That's all right. So with Fleshman down, I look up and I can see what's going on up here with mother and daughter. You see Liliana, her hand forward and Imogen just like. And just with a ton of pent-up frustration

and sadness and feeling of failure and everything we've sacrificed and everything that has been fucked. I move the hex onto Mama Temult. Do you want to? Oh, you're going to do the thing. Yes, all right. So the hex was there. You're going to do the thing.

Sure. The thing. I don't know what the thing is. What is the thing? I'm going to hurt her. That's the thing. I'm going to hurt her. That's the thing. I'm going to slide under Chet's legs and run and just start leaping and using seedling and slicing the air. Okay.

Make an athletics check for me. She is roughly 25 feet in the air. 25 feet, okay. From where she was. That's the red one's cock, I think. Yeah. Yeah. Good. 28.

28? Yeah. I'll say that'll give you a 10-foot leap, and does your- I'm going to use Seedling to send out an attack. That's a 15-foot range. 15. That's just enough. So you as you leap in the air and strike three times rapidly.

Okay. Can we get her down? 28 to hit. That hits. Let's make it a goading attack. Okay. Wisdom save is 11, so that definitely fails. Yeah.

Six, 17, 25 points of damage. Okay. Nice. For that second slash in the air is much lower. That is a 19? 19 hits, shield. Shield, okay.

Does she have to make a concentration check on her Power Word stun? Power Word stun is not a concentration spell. It's not? It's an 8th-level beast. Can you get her down to the ground? Please, I'm on the pipe. Not on this turn.

Not on this turn. Natural 20 on the last. Let's go! All right. Let's go, man. Get him! And I just want it to hurt as much as possible, so I'm just going to make it another goading attack

to pump as much damage in as possible. Fails out in two. Destroy him on... Her. Whatever! Make Franz proud. 34 points of damage on that. He doesn't have to roll.

Yeah, because it's a crit. A crit, yeah, yeah. How do you want to do this? Oh! Yay! All right. You shouldn't have fucking stunned me, mother. That was your bad.

So I lower down into blood up to my waist and spring out of it, flying into the air, looking back at Imogen, and then I send shock waves of energy through her midsection and stream Imogen on the final attack and land. Okay, as you. The last wind blade strikes through.

As it does, you watch her in the air. Right as the spell drops from you, the last vision you see is of your mother's legs dropping away from her torso. Oh no. Then burns into purple energy and is gone. Damn. Damn, I'm killing a lot of parents up in here.

Up in here? Up in here. Oh. I'm using Patrick's artifact. Up in here. Up in here? Oh no. I'm using Patrick's artifact. You all gather yourselves and breathe as the immediate threats are gone. You look at each other to check, and when you look back, the mask is also gone.

Orym, you're the first to look in the direction of where you started, on the opposite side of that platform, where you see a woman standing. Normal height. A human woman? You see the size, the height. You see the mask. You see the size, the height. You see the mask. You see the blackened feathers. It's the attire, but at your level.

And she starts walking towards you through the blood. On the blood. I'm sorry I had to see if you were capable of what needs to be done. So much of you are personally invested in the days ahead. And those that seek to destroy you know too much about each and every one of you. I needed to know. I did call for your presence.

The Archheart and I have parallel opinions, in some ways. The cycle of our existence, divinity, mortal, life and death, growth, destruction. It will ever continue in with every passing cycle. We, the gods, just pull further and further away. But it does not stop us from manipulating

and imposing under the guise of guidance and protection. Many would not admit it, but we grow docile, unchanging, stagnant. While our mortal children are the bastions of change, evolution, and true creation.

She reaches up and pulls the mask free. You just see the face of a pale, sad woman. Different from the vision you saw in Aeor. I grow tired. So. Welcome to the Conundrum.

What is it you wish to know? Did you know what would happen to your champion? I did not. When he became my champion, I could no longer see his threat, such as his charge. And the things that made me appreciate him,

and what made him so right for his fated destiny alongside me also make him impetuous, impulsive, passionate, and prone to manipulation. He doesn't deserve any of what he's enduring. You said you and the Archheart have parallel desires. Would you leave this place? They wish to dissolve the Divine Gate and return to Exandria

and deal with Purgathos directly at whatever cost. But to do so requires unanimous agreement from those who created it. They know not who, though they have their suspicions. So me and the Archard hold them hostage. Their distraction in the midst of this,

all that keeps us from warring with each other. I have walked this gilded existence with a perspective unique. I am the Keep of fate, like him before me forgotten. I am the keeper of fate, like him before me forgotten. And by the very essence of what I have become, I wish to let fate decide our future, our destiny. I descend not because I wish to die or flee,

but I wish to let you, the peoples of Exandria, the greatest creations, decide what you wish, what you need. I will not flee. Even if Berdothos is released, you will not flee? It's exciting when the golden haze of unknowable possibility

might include your own. But I'm not alone. But I'm a clever girl. Do not worry about me. What of the service you provide? The balance of fate and the ushering of souls to the afterlife. If you're eaten, what happens to us? In a theoretical sense,

because I was not present. But it is known that there were spirits before my brethren ever came. And I would assume Exandria's natural cycle would reestablish itself. What I look over is a structure put in place by the gods that I now walk amongst.

Like he before me asked, The substance of the soul is forever. It will find its way. What? Why did you do it? Why did you want to become the god of death. Books and researchers and historians and philosophers and demagogues and leaders and dissenters and blasphemers will speak of my ambitions and leaders and dissenters and blasphemers

will speak of my ambitions to do what had never been done. And maybe that is true to a degree. Some part of me just wanted to see if I could. But I did it with his help. The one who came before. Was he tired? Like you? I came to him in his frozen enclave. Tried to pry from him the secrets of divinity.

We danced through words and conversation for years. Perhaps he saw me a disciple at first, or at least an interesting abnormality. But we came to become friends. And I think ultimately, ultimately, I think I loved him. Ultimately, I think I loved him. How did you come to take his place? He asked me to.

He helped me craft the Rite of Ascension. What became of him? Peace. Peace. Peace here or peace beyond? Wherever gods go when they are undone. Do you still feel him? Wherever gods go when they are undone. Do you still feel him?

I feel echoes of him in my work. In the cold of winter, in the door beyond. His shadow in the distant corners of this realm. Do you still feel for him? Maybe. But I feel for many. I feel for you all. Was it worth it? Not for us, for you, in the end. I don't know yet. Perhaps that's why I'm so curious.

You know so much, certainly more than any mortal. What do you know of Predathos? Predathos was before my time. And the knowledge even kept from me within the family until there was no way to lock it back into shadow. What I know is whatever Berdothos is is bound to where they came from.

The Archite wants us to set it free to become a vessel. You've embodied divinity as a mortal. Mm-hmm. How do we contain that? How do we make sure we're not ripped apart in the process? The same way I think perhaps I survived a rite that should not have allowed myself to become what I am.

Love. Hackneyed as it may sound, what you have here is more resilient than you give credit for. Don't you add a love for the entity that you would embody? We do not share that same love with Rodarthos. We have love for each other. Deeply.

Then let that be the anchor, should this be the path you walk. The Archhearts, they are bold and impulsive, as beautiful and thoughtful as they might be, I don't wish to guide you one way or the other. I want to empower you to do what you think is right. I know that some of us on this side

are doing what we can to allow that, where others might not. Where others might wish to break down the wall and trample the world to save themselves once more. I will not be part of that. Not again. If they discover it's the two of you, will that be enough?

Or will you become new betrayers? History has a funny habit of changing over time based on who's writing the books. But if I'm to become the villain, so be it. I still believe in this. I still believe in you. A lot of people have told us that one path is to embrace this Brudathos. But do you believe it's possible to undo it instead?

Anything is possible. As she backs up a bit, you see all the golden threads shaking once more, and this realm of shadow begins to become a light with golden light, revealing the sky around you like the inside of an endless piano. I was born. I was born.

I was raised. I was teased. I was underestimated. I'm here because anything is possible for you. I'm here because anything is possible for you. Adrian, Chetneypah could be here. Oh, I know. My wolf head transforms. It's just Chetney head on wolf body. I'll be seeing you soon enough.

No, see, that's, you didn't, that's not cool. I know you've been trying. I'm sure I must be high on the wanted list. I'm enjoying my time here with my friends and, you know, fate, don't get in the way of that or accelerate it or anything. Um, I was just wondering, since we're here, I would be remiss if we didn't ask, is there any kind of help that you could lend us? Anything that we might be able to take back and tip the scales? Part of the reason Predathos is so feared by my family

is by its nature, it undoes and unravels the power that they've relied on since they came here. I am uncertain what I could provide that wouldn't unravel in his presence either. But it doesn't mean it's not worth trying. She takes the mask in her hand and holds it out. If somebody doesn't step up there. I'll go. You reach for it.

Sure. She pulls it back slightly and leans into you. You are a crossroads. Do you know what a crossroads is? I do, yeah. There's a choice ahead. Maybe this will be the notch you're looking for. Does it burn my hand?

No, it feels cold and smooth. Oh. So we wear this, or? In a moment of need, someone wear it and call. I'll send what I can. I don't know what will make it, depending on where it's used.

That's amazing. That's incredible. There's our mask. That's incredible. Also, if I could just get a little extension on my, just take it off the year to year, like a fiver. I don't think it works like that, Jyn. Two is fine, too, you know? Deuces.

All right. I'll see you all eventually. Wait. This Rite of Ascension. You had a god help you with it, crafted over years. Is that what we're to replicate? It cannot be replicated. I've made sure of that.

One last question. If you go, what happens to your champion? I don't know. I like not knowing. When was the last time you were surprised? By anything. Three decades back, I was surprised at Immortal's choice and sacrifice to give everything out of love

to protect those that were his world. That's what makes you all so special. As hard as we try and define your meaning, your purpose, your worth, time and time again, you defy us. And that's beautiful. And I think it's a sign that perhaps we should stop

forging your future for you. I think it's the best part about being a person. And I hope that you get a chance to experience it again soon. You helped us. Maybe we can surprise you. A historian says that will just beckon the spirit of a mirror. Stand next to us. Do you ever miss your mortality? It's pretty great living a lifetime.

Every moment. I knew it, I gave up to do this. And that understanding grows and grows and grows. But who knows where my place would be in this divine system, where the system no longer be here.

And if it does, you damn well better let us know why you've granted us this mercy and renegotiate the terms of our relationship. One last thing. Your champion, he's stuck. Is there anything, as your agents on the other side of the gate that we could do or to help him? Destroy the key.

But the beacon must be removed first. There is a device, a fracture of something even beyond our sight, a relic that changes the nature of the universe in ways that's almost as terrifying to us as Pardotho's. She lifts her hand and you see this image appear of this dark, gray, 12-sided,

dodecahedron shape drifting, a cosmos sparkling through it. Those who are present at the Malleus Key, shape, drifting, a cosmos sparkling through it. Those who are present at the Malleus Key recall this being inserted by Ludinus into its base. His wretched hand as it started to blacken. I take out a piece of wood and I start chiseling. Can't you just cut his thread now? Huh.

I was clever. Him nearly as much. His threat is beyond any of our grasp, but not yours. Why are the gods afraid of these? Because they don't understand them. Huh. There are many things in this universe

that are outside of this simple understanding. Beings that are all-knowing and all-powerful don't like to admit that they're not all-knowing and not all-powerful. Hmm. The two of you had us fight here. Should we not trust them? You made it seem like if we did, it would be our undoing.

You know them better than I do. I just needed to see if you were willing to do what it takes. Should you not trust them? But that choice is yours. I know that the answer is probably going to be I don't know, but Laudna, our friend, is off your radar,

connected to the threads, I don't know, but is she going to be okay? She holds a hand out and draws her finger this way, and you feel this tug on your chest, and the rest of you can see briefly, there's this thread pulling from Laudna's chest. It's silver,

a different color than the rest of the golden threads. Her fate lies between them. Where it did. She moves her hand this way, and the rest of the thread grows golden until it connects with Imogen's. And then it spiders out to the rest of you. And you watch the silver color of the thread

begin to fill with more golden light. You are an entity who is a victim of circumstance and cruelty. I do not consider you anathema, just on the path to writing what has wronged you. What does this mean? If I continue down this path, help you all again? Anything is possible. If I continue down this path, I'll be whole again?

Anything is possible. May I see the mask? What happens if I just mage hand it in front of my face? It floats in front of your face? Pulls back down. Thank you. Don't thank me yet. I hope you get to see him again. Mm-hmm. You deserve that.

I deserve little, but I remember what it was like to fight for one's survival. I have my ways. Now, go. She begins to drift back as the mask apparates around her face. Go. She begins to drift back as the mask apparates around her face.

Go. Ooh! And all of you begin to lose your footing on the platform, your breath becoming hard and challenging as the blood on the ground begins to billow up and consume you. You all are awash in that same thick liquid, climbing suddenly, your lungs on fire.

One by one, you all begin to climb out and splatter onto the smooth, black marble floors and splatter onto the smooth, black marble floors of the inside of the Ravenscrest. Crimson scattered across where you floors of the inside of the Raven's Crest. Crimson scattered across where you catch your breath and process. So we all look like Carrie right now? You do. Okay.

I feel fucking golden. Did you fight the whole fight naked? I did. And that's where we're going to finish tonight's episode. Perfect. I mean, I have my form of dread at one point. That's true, that's true, that's true. I tried a little slinky veil. Yeah, like a little.

Out of yikr, you had a nikr veil? Nothing like a nikr veil. Yeah. Yeah, like a little slinky. Out of yikr, you had a nikr veil? Nothing like a nikr veil. As a note, by the way, you all are still, all your spells are still there, but go consider yourself long rested. Everything that happened in the vision did not actually pull from your materials.

Not a real long rest. Just back to where we were. Back to where we were beforehand. But if you hadn't spent anything since waking up. All right, so I still have my crown. Huge. That's great. But yeah, we'll jump back to that next week and see where that transpires,

but thank you all so much for joining us. We love you very much, and visit Thursdayette. Yay! Oh hey, Ashley Johnson here, and I sure do hope you're enjoying the adventure. Remember when you first found out about Critical Role? Was it through a friend or a family member, or maybe even through the words of a stranger in the review section of our podcast?

Many listeners find our show through word of mouth and recommendations, so please consider rating and reviewing our podcast, because each review makes an impression that may just inspire someone new to give our show a try, and that, more than anything, helps to support us. Thank you for joining us on this adventure, and until next time, let us try to leave the world a little better than we found it.