Critical Role - C3E75 An Ancient Flame

Episode Date: October 19, 2023

Bells Hells delve into the claustrophobic caverns of Athos Peak, seeking the resting place of an ember of the great fire primordial Emperor Rau'shan... Twitch subscribers gain instant access to VODs of our shows like Critical Role, Exandria Unlimited, and 4-Sided Dive. But don't worry: Twitch broadcasts will be uploaded to YouTube about 36 hours after airing live, with audio-only podcast versions of select shows on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & Google Podcasts following a week after the initial air date. Twitch subscribers also gain access to our official custom emote set and subscriber badges and the ability to post links in Twitch chat! "It's Thursday Night (Critical Role Theme Song)" by Peter Habib and Sam RiegelOriginal Music by Omar Fadel and Hexany Audio"Welcome to Marquet" Art Theme by Colm McGuinnessAdditional Music by Universal Production Music, Epidemic Sounds, and 5 AlarmCharacter Art by Hannah Friederichs 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

Good day, Critters! Travis Willingham here, and I am excited to welcome you to the podcast version of our Critical Role show. 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 criticalrole or at youtube.com slash criticalrole. 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.

Now that we've got all that covered, let's get this adventure going. 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 & Dragons. We suck at Dungeons & Dragons! Farts, farts. Wow.

Before we get into tonight's session, we do have some announcements to get through. First, our sponsor, NordVPN. What bit are you doing today, Sam? Is it a horse magician, like a Leetspeak gag, stack of laptops? No, Matt, no. Those are hacky, lousy comedy gags.

Low-hanging fruit, lazy material. Our friends at Nord... It's the first step one. Our friends at Nord. It's the first step one. Our friends at NordVPN deserve better. So you're actually going to just read the copy they provided? No, Matt, I'm going to do something even better. I'm going to give our sponsors at NordVPN

something I've never done before. Hit it. Oh. What? To tired, worn out bits, I close the door. I'm doing something that I've never done before. Let it be known to all I do declare that tonight, for the first time, I'm going gonna care. Because they deserve it. Here we go. There's a long intro, sorry. This sponsor's paying up. I better bust my hump.

Tonight I'm really gonna fly. This ain't just any bit. I'll actually give a shit. I'm gonna show them I can try. And I'm not gonna throw this ad away. I'm not gonna do it the same old way. No stupid horse costumes tonight. Let's do something original. Something really Sam Riegel. Today I'll give it 90%.

I mean, come on, let's not get crazy here. 90's fine, it's like third gear. If I did a whole hundred, I'd be spent. Cause tonight I ain't gonna phone it in. Not gonna use my Sam stand in. Maybe now I can finally hold my head up high. Let's change the key for Nord VPN, shall we? I'm not gonna give Liam the punchline or rely on Ashley's comic timing. No cigarette, no snifter of cognac.

No, no makeup, no deep fakes. Hey, editors, just take a break. Tonight it's all me. Well, except for the guy who had to make this musical track. Because NordVPN means so much to me. They let you hide your internet IP. And tonight, for the first time in 2023, I'm actually going to try!

That was actually pretty great. That was actually good. So what's the bit you're actually going to do for the ad? Oh, we're out of time for the bit. So just go to NordVPN.com slash Critical Role. Our viewers will get an extra subscription time with their order. Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Matt, back to you. Fantastic. Yay! That was great! Turning over a new leafy. Now I see why it took you so long with sound check. Thank you. Blah-bee. Blah-bee.

Indeed. We also have a fun announcement for Darrington Press. We have a new game! Whoa! Caper Cards Bells Hells is now available. In this cooperative new game! Caper Cards, Bells Hells, is now available. In this cooperative card game, you'll assemble members of Bells Hells to pull off a legendary heist. Play your crew cards, hoping to add up to the treasure you're seeking, but without going over 21 and getting caught. Use member crew abilities to turn the odds in your favor, including rules for one to four players,

two difficulties, and you finish a full playthrough in about 20 minutes. This gorgeous, compact game was designed by Manny Vega, with art by David Rodriguez, and graphic design by Matt Paquette and Company Co. MATT and LAURA and SAM and SAM and MATT and SAM and CO. Staying in the thing. It's got a bunch of really cool art, awesome bits for characters.

Great art, great artists. The muscle. Oh, it's so good. The mastermind. The trickster. So yeah, there's all sorts of fun stuff there. The inside. Yeah, it's a fun card game. Check it out.

You can find it in Critical Role shops and Darrington Press Guild Stores now, and look for it soon in other friendly local game stores. Woo! Keep the cards! Keep the cards! Keep the cards! And for a quick little intro, that concludes our announcements.

What? Yeah. Look at that. Straight to it. I could have made the song twice as long! Too late! Oh, yeah. You gave this and that. Just the right amount. Yeah, it was just perfect.

But on that note, let's go ahead and jump into tonight's episode of Critical Role. Yeah! 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 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? Thank you. 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 fight 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. Before we get in, Sam, you had more to say? Oh, I just wanted to say thank you to Colin McGinnis for the lovely piano track. Oh, yes. There you go. Yes. Thank you, Colin. There you go. Yes. Yay.

Thank you, Callum. I can't believe it. Last we left off, Bells Hells in seeking answers to the strange history of Ashton and the unique ties it seems to have with some of the ancient history of Exandria, and hopefully finding some means of preparing

for an eventual showdown with the enemies that walk the Red Moon. You head to the Shattered Teeth. You traversed the sea in a ghost ship. You went to the island of Calutha. You trekked through the jungles and eventually found a Vontravir, the Great Tree of Atrophy,

at the bottom of a massive chasm surrounded by massive mountains. There, as you slunk into the lightless expanse, you met the ancient Galdrashari-turned-death tree that sits between the realms of life and the beyond. You asked a bit about your history in the Hashari and learned that within you lies the dormant shard of Khamort, the Empress, Primordial Earth Titan.

The shards are in me. Yeah. But there exists still, not too far from here on another island in the Shattered Teeth, another remaining vestigial shard of the other primordial titan that was destroyed in the destruction of Dominus that created the Islands of the Shattered Teeth.

Upon given direction where this was, inquiring as to possible futures and possible failures. Through some visions and discussions, your time was cut short as the tree took notice of an invisible, floating, spying arcane orb. Upon shattering it, it opened a pathway to the mountaintop of which this shard is supposedly found and sent you onto the next leg of your journey with haste.

As you all stepped through, emerging from a leafless tree on the opposite end, you all find yourself standing on a cold, snow-covered mountaintop as the peak divides into two different rising spires, the tallest one obscured by clouds above, the snowfall, rather thick as it falls upon you, are not well-prepared forms,

the cold chilling through you instantaneously. You glance about in the vicinity with your limited vision and can see that at the taller of the spires around its base, there's an area in which the snow does not seem to set, but instead melt, and you can see a bit of green, and it looks to be some shadow that is casting heavy into a small,

low-slung cavern entrance. So, Bell's house. What would you like to do? Huff it. Are we freezing cold? Yeah. Speak for yourself. I came prepared. Oh, your jumpsuit.

Juicy. That velour keeps you warm. Uh-huh. Pray that the Lord- But if we didn't move fast, I guess we could get everyone's heart rate up. It's fine. Yeah, we should move fast. Help me with the mind balance again.

How far off from this cavern are we? From where you're standing, maybe about 150, 200 feet. Okay, that's not that far. And it's not up the mountain? Is it just straight ahead? It's a little bit of a climb up, and there's an area on the side of the mountain

where the snow itself is just missing. You can see the melted sleet that sinks around the outside of it. Slit, because we try to get up to it. It's going to be toasty, at least. Yeah. We got rope. We got pitons.

Pattons. Piton. Pitons. Piton. Piton. Piton. Do we have piton? Wait,ons, patterns. Pitons. Pitons. Pitons. Do we have pitons? Wait, wait, wait. Okay. Is it super steep? Pitons.

As you jog up to get a better perspective, it's fairly steep. There are outcroppings and rough spaces where it is climbable with some challenge, but the icy surroundings met with the perpetually melting perimeter around that cavern entrance might make it a bit challenging. What you do see is it isn't like an open mouth of a cave.

It is a jagged opening that looks like no more than maybe three, three and a half feet wide, but it stretches about 20 or so feet from end to end at an upward angle. And you just see the dark shadow within and just the area around it for about 20 or 30 feet is melted. A horizontal climb, somewhat?

A horizontal opening to the cavern. That's what I meant, sorry. But it's a climb. It's a fairly steep climb to even get to the lowest part of it. It's about, I'd say, from the smoothest bit of solid land that you can step on, you gather it's probably a good 45, 50 feet up.

Okay. Which isn't terrible. Not to do this plan again, because I don't want it to get old, but we could just jump and feather fall again. Oh. But it's up. Oh wait, I thought we had jump and feather fall again. Oh. But it's up. I thought we had to go down.

Yeah, up. Oh! We could just jump on that. Oh no! Is this it? Let me help. Better? No, that is better, actually. Released a lot in it, yeah.

It's okay. Nerves, you know. Do you want to send Pate up to take a look or should we just go? I feel like we're going to hang out down here if something's weird up there. Should someone who's good at climbing go up and then throw a rope down?

I could fly up. Oh, well, yeah. That's the best climbing. Yeah, I'll do that. I'll fly up. Flying is the best climbing. With the immovable rod and the rope. Oh, okay. It hasn't been an hour.

How long does the fly last for? 10 minutes or an hour? Oh! That's a good, I think it's only 10 minutes. Yeah, I'd have to cast it again. Okay, so you'd have to cast it again. I do. Okay. I cast it. All right. You want to carry me?

You coast up. Hold on to Orym. Like a football. All right, you both get to the edge of it. Hold on to me, I'm not that strong. As you approach the outside of the cave. Put your little arms around my neck, like a little, thanks.

A little back. There isn't a shelf at this cave to stand on. You have to actually step into it to even get any footing. It's a pretty sheer rock wall with this crack that seems to have opened within. As you step inside, like I said, it's about four feet full height,

so you're comfortably standing there, but you're having to crouch and put your hand on the ceiling as you get there. The air that surrounds this entryway is warm. That's great. I'm so glad we came up. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Do I hear anything inside?

Make a perception check. I'll let him start for Steven while I set up the immovable rod on the road. All right. The rest of you go ahead and have a group athletics check to climb up. All right. Relatively low DC, thanks to the setup.

Athletics? Yes. Okay. Oh. Mm-mm. You're not going to do it? Don't do it again. I haven't done it yet.

Let's just, okay. Can you hold on to somebody that can climb? You can spider climb. Oh, you can spider. I haven't done it yet. No, she's going to rage. Let's just, okay. Can you hold on to somebody that can climb? You can spider climb. Oh, you can spider! I'll probably just spider climb. I didn't try to save. I'm going to just spider climb, fuck this. Okay. I'm not doing that again.

Yeah, spend your spell slots, go for it. Exactly. But also, I got sucked into a raging river last time. My muscles are warm from my velvety tracksuit, and I rolled a 27. 27, all righty. 13. 13, okay.

Natural one. Oh! I'm just like, wild-runnering on the ice. I just can't get any traction. And indeed, you start like, as the rest of you start successfully getting up there, it's pretty much Fearne and Laudna towards. It's Bill Collins' deer.

Yep. I was waiting for a gif from this conversation. So Fearne, you lose full grip on your feet and end up clutching the rope as you now swing free, which knocks the rope into a strange swing as you're holding up the caboose. What did you roll? I spider climbed.

Oh, you did spider climb. Yes. Oh, well then. This is you. Bye, Fearne. I have no traction with my hooves. So you hold tight and the rest of you can pull the rope up. You didn't fail as a group, in this group check.

You're welcome. But it takes a moment, but you managed to pull Fearne up, and Fearne in particular, being the tallest member of the team. Come on, Fearne. You have to get quite low, and the majority of you,

aside from the two tiny gentlemen, maybe FCG, it's coasting right above where you're heading as you begin to peer through with your vision. You have to bob your head a little bit time to time, but the two of you feel pretty comfortable in there. You're the best. So the interior here is quite lightless. The air is warm, the ceiling is shallow.

Who's taking point and who's looking for what? I'm putting out the light orbs. Okay. I will also cast Light. Right? I want to see. Is that too much? Maybe. We don't want to be too bright. I'll just put on my taillights. That's good.

Put on your taillights. So anyone won't hit us. Can you lower your hydraulics so you're shorter? Oh, that's a good idea. I am a hoopty. Yeah. So I've got hydraulics. Yeah, I do a lot of...

Sweet. Bell Camino. Duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh. Duh, duh, duh lot of... Sweet. Bell Camino. Yes. Slow, slow. All righty. Glancing through the interior of this subterranean space,

you can see that the passage, rapidly, even just seven feet in, begins to push into a very, very thin space. And then one part of it looks like it's either collapsed or intentionally damaged. And there is a very small, tight, splunking-type cavern that drops into a pretty steep decline

that's about wide enough for one person at a time to slowly descend. I don't know. So on one side, it's collapsed, whether natural or intentional. You can see bits of rock that have fallen and settled into it, and the other begins to funnel into this immediate small drop cavity.

So this pancake gap we're in, one side's collapsed and one side just goes down tightly. Can I skitter over to the collapse and carefully try to see if there's the remains of anyone who was here or intention behind the collapse. We can make an investigation check. That's cocked. That's not great.

10. 10. It's hard to pick up anything specifically. You can tell that the best you can make out is that the collapse here was localized. The rock isn't everywhere. It doesn't like a quake shook it free. The damage appears localized to that area.

Any gaps in it, even teeny? Mm-mm. No, so no, it's not even packed. This is rock or ice? It is rock. There is no ice inside. not even past. This is rock or ice? It is rock. There is no ice inside. The warm air, and even the rock itself, as you put your hand against it,

the very stone itself has a faint warmth to the touch. It's a drastic shift from the freezing exterior. Is Fearne going to fit? Fearne can fit carefully, hopefully. Well, I mean, fair enough. I've got fur, I've got lots of obstacles. Shed leaves. Did we get some slippy, slicky oil

from the Shawshrew? We certainly did. Slick Shimmer oil. What does that do? The Shawshrew Slick Shimmer oil? It makes you really hard to grab for a minute, and it gives you 10 temporary hit points, I think. It gives you what for a minute?

Makes you really hard to grab onto. It makes you slick. Slippery. Well, maybe let's use that if somebody gets stuck. It makes, what? Yes. No, no, but it makes you slick. Slippish, splashish, sploosh. We're going to be doing that all day, and we're going to talk about makes you slick. Slippy splashes sploosh. Stop it.

We're going to be doing that all day. We want to stop this right now. Slippy. Yep. Stop it, Slippy. Slorp. Well, I mean, let's do it. I could go first,

and then you all could just push me. I think we should probably send someone in, at least one person in before you, so that if there's a rope, we could pull. How tiny can you go? We'll see if you can be a captain. Yes, I can. Wait. Aren't there things that can crawl and climb

and mountain goats and things? What am I even thinking? About being slippery? You could be a snow monkey. I got you distracted. Silly. A bat, of course! Okay.

What a silly thing for us to not remember until this moment. I mean, well, really, that's my job to remember, but thank you so much for also taking the blame. Well, of course. All right. It was desirable. I know, it did sound fun. I know, it would be kind of funny. All right. You're being stuck on something that is desirable. I know, it did tell you to die. I know,

it would be kind of funny. All right, I'll turn into a little, a little bat. Okay. A snow bat. Yeah, a little snow bat. A burrowing snow bat. Aw, cute. With a gun.

Riding a monkey with a gun. His bats, can they see? Yeah. Yeah. They can't see at all, actually. Yeah, but she can hear. Yes. There you are, squeaking in your great snow, fleshed exterior's glory.

So little. So cute. It's a good look. I can't do those sounds. There you go. Never mind. I will edge down just ahead of the group so I can be on alert. And we've got two sources of light,

so we're getting shadowy, bending light in here as we go. I'll send one of the orbs down with you so it's as far as I can. So who's the most likely to get stuck? Ashton? I mean, maybe. FCG? I'm okay, I think. I feel like FCG,

because everybody else can suck in. Yeah, but they got a grapple hook. I do have a grapple hook. So that's an option. But if I do get stuck, it's like. They'll have to dig you out. Yeah, my body doesn't really move. This is the opposite of a flat surface. So maybe the two of you should go in tandem with Chetney

in case we need to move you up. Okay. What? I also have a hole. Oh. Oh. Oh, put him in the hole. Is there a surface, though, to put him in?

Not really. It's too jagged in here. Shall I go luxies? Go luxies. Are you already a bat? Yeah, I don't know even how I would even tell that to you. Go luxies!

I'm going to just go down the hole. Oh, we can still talk. Telepathy, you guys can still discuss. Oh, that's right, that's right, that's right. God, we remember everything right now. Yes. I'm going to go down the hole. Okay.

Fuck off. You skitter-flapping from edge to edge, and it does get pretty tight. You are uncertain if in your normal form, you would have been as easy. But as you begin to clamber down, this crooked chimney of a cavern that begins to become pretty straight down

at a certain point, where you're having to, or you actually can just flutter down, but you can see people having to use the pressure to get down, and eventually, at some points, have to push themselves through. Do we go backwards, or do we go forwards? I'm confused. That's up to you.

But as you land, the rocks are warm and you can feel that on your little bat feet as you land in clutch for a second, going down further 30 feet, 60 feet. At some points, it pinches in pretty close where you're not even certain if some of your teammates will be able to get through, necessarily.

At about 120 feet, it comes to a stop. The cavern just stops. Are you coming down? I am. Well, yeah, I had to, but she zoomed past me. Am I able to? We can still talk. We can still talk. Okay. All right, I'm down here. I came all the way down. There's many, many, many tight spots.

I don't know if we're all going to fit. Oh no. It's going to take a little bit. Maybe some slippy slippies. But it stops. What do you mean it stops? I'm just hanging out here at the bottom. There's no doors? There's no cave entrances? I'm going to, with

the bat, I can use echolocation? Sure, yeah. Yeah. Keen hearing, and I have advantage on perception checks. Yeah, so go ahead and roll a perception check with advantage using the bats. Well, actually, no, using your wisdom, since you are a druid.

Okay. I'm not, this is, I rolled one with that one twice tonight, so I'm not going to do it again. Oh, okay. 25. 25. Where it comes to an end, you realize the rock, the texture of it continues,

and then where it comes to a complete stop is actually a smooth stone that has blocked the passage there. Okay. All right, there's a smooth stone. Similar blackened color as the rock around here. It's a similar stone color, just more of a smoother texture,

but it's definitely blocking the passage. I think by now a glowing orb has come down with me. Indeed. When I find you flitting about that stone, what does it look like? Is it semi-buried, or does it look like a cork placed in a hole? I mean, it looks more like

it's something that had fallen and wedged in there. Like a boulder from Indiana Jones? Yeah. Yeah. And is it a tiny hole from Indiana Jones? Yeah. Yeah. And is in a tiny hole, blocking hole. Does it give? I'll try to pull at it with my fingers. Okay, make a strength check for us.

Oh, that'll be good. I'm going to land on his shoulder. Oh, yeah. A strength check, right? Yes. 16. 16. You reach for it and pull, and as you pull, one of your fingers scrapes it,

and you watch some of the darkened color pulls away. Almost like a soot layer pulls away, and there is a bit of a brighter color beneath, right as it comes freeing, you pull back and wedge yourself into the cavern, holding it to your chest, and as you pull it up, two things happen. One, you hear

the clattering of something falling below, and you look down at the charred skull that currently is looking back up at you. What? Wait, what? So it wasn't a rock. It was a man. It was like somebody was going backwards and their head got stuck?

Oh my god. I'm mad at you! What? That's awful! Oh, hey. Okay. Oh, it's that small. Well, let's get you and all of us out of here, buddy. How big's the hole now? Can a halfling fit through it?

It's one of the worst things. Halfling can likely fit through there. Most of you could probably fit through there with some challenge, which we'll have to do some rolls to do so. The head, as you look at the skull, too, it has the features look a little more thick. You can see the bone itself is a hardy bone.

The jaw itself is a little wide and with tusks beneath. It looks to have some orcish blood to it. A large, white skull, yeah, okay. Okay. All right, so I hold it in one hand like a bowling ball. Fearne, Fearne, can you let Imogen know for everyone to come down? Yes.

I'm going to pop down through this hole and have a look around, and I'm going to start to slide down? Yes. I'm going to pop down through this hole and have a look around, and I'm going to start to slide down with this skull. Does the cavern keep going, though? The cavern keeps going. I say in Fearne's head, does the cavern keep going, though? Well, yes.

So what just happened was Orym picked up something that was blocking the hole, and it was a skull head. Great. So, did I tell you I don't like small confined spaces? Because this is, this is, this is. You're a bat, you're a bat. Remember, you're a bat.

Okay, okay. I think some of you could fit. Maybe Chet. What about like, probably Laudna. What about FCG? What, you guys talking about me? Well, yeah, somebody's skull got stuck and Orym cried it out,

and apparently a head got stuck and the rest of the body fell. Not Orym's head? Not Orym's head, no. He found a skull that was closing up the cavern. Why don't we just get down there? No. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Well, that's going to affect all of us, not just me. Why don't we just get down there and No. Mm-hmm. Well, that's going to affect all of us, not just me. Why don't we just get down there and we can solve this together as a team? Do I feel like they could fit with some? Make an intelligence check for us. Magic. And does it look like it could be widened if we chiseled at it with a blade?

But I can shape stuff. Possibly. If you have the material and the rock happens to be pliable, but you're uncertain what material this rock is made from. And past that hole that was blocked, is it just more of the same down and down and down? Correct, but it looks like it's still moving. It's almost corkscrewing at a point where you only can see a few feet,

and just glancing down with what that light orb is currently presenting, you can see three of the bones that have fallen and one of them shattered. You can see a few shiny points that reflect off the light on some of these small ledges that pull out and that's all you can see. Okay. All right, 17.

17. You think most everyone could get down there if they're flexible. FCG might be a challenge, given the broader and more... I've been working out. Very nice. Non-flexible torso, but.

You're just a bit barrel-chested, literally. Yes. Okay, I relay that to you. I mean, if we look at this, his head is bigger than anything else on his body, though. Yeah. That's true. Clearly, that was the problem with the last person, too.

I feel like everybody might be able to make it down. FCG is a little bit tricky. Are your teeth still on the table? Oh. Oh, gross. You should put them on the table. Should I put them back in? Yeah, put them back. Just wear them the rest of the game.

It's so weird. I hate it so much. Same picture. Don't put him back. No! Go away. Can I wear him? Tee! Ew.

Vanish it. So the rest of you try to track down one after the next? I'm trying to get a feel here of the marching order and such. Yes, that's what we're trying to do. That way if I get stuck, I'm not holding up anything. I'm down already. What if other people get stuck, though,

and you're behind? You should be first. You should be the first one, so that it makes it easier for anybody else to get through. So we know whether to kill you and disassemble you first. All right. I'm going first. All right, FCG is coming in after Orym. I will go after FCG, so if I can use some sort of magic-y magic.

And I'll go after you. Okay. Okay. I just watched a documentary about this. While they're descending, can Orym try to inspect whatever those shinies were? You two aren't going to be a problem. While they're descending, can Orym inspect what the shinies were?

Yeah. Okay, well. Is it mineral wall, or are we talking on the bone? To descend past this point, each person's going to have to make an individual check. Even with your size, it'll just be a much lower DC for you. So as you descend from this point,

go ahead and make an athletics or acrobatics check for me. 18. 18? Switchbacks a couple moments to an odd ledge point, but you're a nimble halfling. And so you crawl down, find the right path, and swing your legs under and then catch it. And you look at where some of these shiny points where they're catching the light.

It looks like a number of silver and gold coins that have melted across the rock. We keep skipping the charred part of the skull. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think there's a and it was covered with soot. And maybe he was clogging that hole. Like a volcanic vent?

Like a fire shoot? Yeah. I mean, it's a volcano. We're heading into a volcano. Fire geyser? Fire thing in there. Touch one lightly to see if it is super hot. It's as warm as the rest of the rock. It's not super hot.

But glued to the rock. It is. super hot. But glued to the rock. It is. From above, it looks like a coin, and as you get there, it's full-on Salvador Dali-ed across the rock. Also, what was that word you said? Ledge point? What's a ledge point?

That we've definitely woken up at the drop. You said it was a moving edge. The ledge point. Ledge point. Yeah. Ledge point. And then while he's down there, can I just give a, because I haven't used the schnoz since we've been here. Yeah, make a perception check.

I don't know, horrible sulfur. Go for it. Stuff. 18. 18. There's no sulfurous smell here. You've been around various places that have geothermal volcanic activity,

and you're picking up the heat, temperature, and some facets of smoke and burning and carbon, things that have burned. But you don't pick up sulfurous scents. You don't pick up the things that are usually associated with natural volcanic activity. Or Fey Fiend or Undead, right? You don't pick up any Fey Fiend or Undead, either? You don't pick up any Fey Fiend or Undead either.

Okay. Okay. You're fine! Before we go down, I do have some ratchets and some screwdrivers. You could take off my wheel and my arms and disassemble me slightly so that I'd be easier to push through. You go down, and if it happens,

then I'll try to unscree. I won't try. I'll do it. Look at his split. I've been looking at you with details for months now. I've been thinking about this in my sleep. I'm going to reassemble you all fucked up. It'll be great. You know, in some contexts,

that would be really disturbing. What? In all contexts. I never thought about Mr. Potato heading you. Yeah. Travis has been doing that to all of us for years. I have. I think it'll be easier to disassemble me now before I get wedged in the thing.

I love shooting in the basket. What would we take off, just your wheel? My arm? No, you need your arm. Both my arms? You need to pull yourself with your arm. How else will you get through? Well, I'll just be a thing that you're getting through. We just drag him.

He can even take off my head. I don't know if we can. Who has the shower? I'm not there. Consent is all I need, okay? No, we're not taking off your head. I got a whole belt full, a harness full of tools. I don't think it's your arms and your wheel

is going to be the issue. You can do the stone. Think it's my dick? It's your giant dick. Gil. Good job, Gil. You were going to stone shape. Yes, I can stone shape. I'll do that. You need hands to do that.

Takes spell slots and stuff, so you know. We might fight something down there. I need to be able to heal you like I always do. All right, let's go, let's go, do it. Okay. You're up. So you're just skittering down, not taking things apart? I guess so. Okay.

All right. As you reach the point where you had noticed, where it begins to get extremely tight and the rest of the track is going to be hovering around certain choke points of a similar tightness, I need you to roll an athletics or acrobatics check, your choice. the track is going to be hovering around certain choke points of a similar tightness. I need you to roll an athletics

or acrobatics check, your choice. I will say athletics. That is actually cocked. 17. 17? I was going to say, there's the word guidance is also available. Oh shit. As you...

We're remembering all kinds of things. Hey. We're fucked out here. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I'm getting ready to finish the episode early. Wheels first or head first? Boy.

Scary either way. I'll go head for, no, what if I get wedged? I'm going head now. Head first, head first. As you pull yourself down, it gets to the point where only one arm can fit up front and you're pulling yourself in an inverted position further down and you get wedged and stuck for a second.

The metal you hear squeak as it gets caught into the rock. You concentrate for a second, think of the change bringer, the bringer of paths. You know this is where you're supposed to go, and with one pull of strength, the rock that's holding you snaps off at the shoulder and rattles down, and you come free and begin to lower yourself further down.

Sorry! You do manage to get through a few more of those choke points until eventually you find out where Orym is partway down, and you're both now. Hey, tip of the spear. Are you continuing down, or are you waiting for the rest of your people to catch up?

I'll wait for them to catch up. I don't want to go so far ahead that I'm fucked. So you're both, well, the three of you are now holding up ahead a bit. Imogen. Yeah. Head or feet first? How much of an incline is it, or decline? It's nearly straight down at times.

It's switching around. Like I said, it's like a crooked chimney and you're having to use the platforms to pull through to stop it. I'm going feet first. I'm going to go feet first. Feet first, all right. Do I make an acrobatics or athletics check?

Just like the person that died. Does anybody, can anybody guide? Nobody up here can guide me. Girl, everybody. Can I? Nope. I can. You can't guide when you're an animal.

I can't, right? No. Okay. You're also a bard. Well, I'm just going to come up and flutter around you. Flutter around me. Yeah, because you're about to descend. Ah, so okay. Everything's fine.

Okay, burn. Okay, thank you. I don't know which dice to use. Staying real close. It's just like. Not helping at all. You're actually rolling. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.

Vats are so erratic. Just like. What am I rolling? Athletics or acrobatics, your choice. Six. A six. So as you descend, you aren't able to look where you're going.

You're just feeling it with your feet. And you get to the switchback where FCG previously got stuck and managed to move past without issue. And then as you begin to descend further, your left leg won't budge. And you realize you've wedged your foot between two rocks. And you try and pull and it hurts a little bit.

And you're afraid that if you pull too hard, you might break your ankle. You're not entirely certain, in this one moment, what to do. You're just stuck. Up your leg. This is a horror episode. Yep.

They can't back up. This is those TikToks. This is my nightmare. I've been flipping on all of those. Yeah, you put it on us. How high up is she from us? Can we see this happening? You can see her feet dangling a little ways up.

I mean, you hear the stopped movement and you climb a little bit to look over to where she is. My ankles, I'm stuck. Fearne, can I try? But we can't reach. No, because you're head first. So what's phasing me? Now I'm going to, I'm going to, I.

No, you're still, you both just stopped. No! That's what I mean, you're descending. You're stuck, you're stuck, too. I thought that this emptied out into some sort of voluminous area. You're still climbing. You're just waiting for the rest to catch up. So you're pulling yourself with a robotic hand

and using a wheel to resist and roll against the back. Okay, I've got an idea. Okay. Just like all those scenes of R2-D2 crawling through caverns. We went down a weird rabbit hole in the pandemic of spelunking Gone Wrong videos. I've seen them, too. I hate them and I have to watch them.

I know. And then I have an appetite. Can I try? Can I try? He was craving. As if I needed more reasons to never ever do anything like that ever. Yes, yes. Sorry.

I'm focusing my shocking grasp. I'm going to try to focus my energy down to my foot, to my ankle, and try to create just a little bit of electricity around that to break up the rock where my foot is stuck. Certainly. As you concentrate and feel the energy pulse into your ankle and the arcane electric charge unleashes, it dissipates into the stone. Electricity is pretty easily grounded into rock, unfortunately.

Okay, can I, well. We can see her head, right? Yeah, you can definitely see her head if you start climbing down. Can I sketch a less-reduced or something? Huh? Are you guys going one at a time, or are you all now clamoring? Oh, right, that was my single file.

We're going one at a time. We're probably laughing at this point. I have a rock chisel, if you think you can deliver it down to her. Well, you also still have, you still have. I still have Spider Climb as well. Would I be able to reach down to my ankle? Or I'm stuck, I'm wedged.

You can't move your body. If you want to go ahead and make, go ahead and make a dexterity check to see if you can manage to move one arm down past. Maybe you don't. You could try coming back out before you. My ankle is stuck. I can't move my foot.

Not if you break it. This is the worst. Dexterity check. Yeah. Slice it off. 10. 10, okay. You just barely get your hand past. At one point, the elbow hits the rock

and you're not sure if that's going to get wedged either before you manage to breathe in and exhale, and the hand slips down. And you can just barely reach down to where your ankle is. Okay. Can I feel what it's stuck in? Yeah, there is a portion where there's a sliver in the rock or a small gap that you stepped into

and then wedged your foot in there. You thought you had weight as a platform, but it just got stuck between these two flatter bits of stone. Can I work the laces on my boots and try to take my boot off, and I can pull it out of the boot? Yeah.

So you go ahead and quietly, it takes you a good solid minute or so, but you undo the laces and then pull your foot free. Okay. So she's free now? Your ankle is now free. Okay. But you lost a shoe. Well, on my way down, as I try to shimmy past him,

I try to yank my boot. Keep going. Okay. Keep going. You eventually shimmy down another 15 or so feet before the bottoms of your feet touch something smooth and round that rolls for a moment. You realize. That's me! You're on me! Oh, that's your wheel.

Hi, I should have gone the other direction. This sucks, FCG. Yeah, it sure does. Any idea how long the others are going to take? Because this is uncomfortable. We should keep moving, though, because I do not like being right here. No, we can't, we're waiting.

Especially because I'm like this right now. So are you still waiting in your spot? Well, I know, move down. Or are you continuing down? I will always stay 15 or 20 feet further down and listening, listening for anything. Your passive perception tells you that there isn't any noise at all, except for the occasional slipping stone

and your friends moving up there. If you want to listen to anything in the vicinity, directly, you can make a perception check for me. I mean, I'm straining to hear anything. No. Who should not go with all of us? We should get to the bottom. If we have to get out of there,

that's the biggest pinch point. 21? Nothing. We should so. Ness? We should continue. Maybe we can get to the bottom before everyone else, and then Fearne, you'd be able to go back up and do it. Yeah, we should definitely continue. All right, we'll keep going.

The three of us will keep shimmying. The three of you continue to descend. I can still send a message to you, if need be. I'll check in. Okay. But the rest of you are staying up? Well, we're getting into second so that the tunnel clears.

Okay. Don't clog the water slide. So the three of you, I need one more athletics to acrobatics check from each of you. I will guide myself. Actually. Oh, Fearne's going up? Fearne is above you all, because.

Imogen, are you, how are you? You're bad at this. I'm real bad at athletics and acrobatics. Well, me too, but I care about you, so through my wheel, I will guide her. Okay. My foot is touching your wheel. Yeah.

No, my foot is touching his wheel. Your one foot begins to glow with a warmth that is warmer than the surrounding rock. Oh. What are you doing? I just farted on your foot. Great. All righty, so go down to d4 to your roll.

19. 19. What are we rolling? We're rolling. Athletics or acrobatics, your choice. Plus a d4. Was that good? Oh, oh. That was nerd joy. Oh, good, good.

Double nerd joy. All right, Imogen. That is a 23! Dang! Did you roll really bad? She's going straight into me because I got an eight. Okay, so first we go to Orym. You continue.

It doesn't seem to get much tighter overall than it has been, just occasionally when it changes direction or begins to curve, it creates another pinch point that becomes a little challenging, but you snake through for another 50, 60 feet down before it eventually begins to widen up a bit. But you lose light because the orbs

aren't able to follow you because Imogen, at the moment, isn't. It's within 120 feet of me, though. Right, but you still have to see where it's going and you're looking upward. God. So I'll hold and just continue to listen. I'm pointing down. I've got lights on

that are shining down a little bit. But you do not manage to get very far. No, I don't. I have blindsight for 60 feet. You do, but you flew up out of the cavern to get to Imogen. That's right. Or clogged in the hole. You're smart. No worries.

You get about 15 feet down before you get wedged once more, and as you're starting to panic, I say, G, why aren't you going? She kicks you. Oh, why aren't you going? Between your 23, which is pretty dang good, and your eight, you kick him the rest of the way through.

And you. Are you okay? Are you okay? Like a blockage of set. Orym, as you're looking down, all of a sudden, light begins to filter in from behind you. I hear this coming. As you hear the absolute metal and rock chaos. It's a boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

Pachinko. Make a dexterity saving throw. Oh my gosh. I will, no, I'll just take it. It's an eight, I roll real low. Oh no! I want you to make a strength saving throw. I want this to happen.

Saving throw? Yes. Four. Oh no! I have a feature I could reroll. I could add to this, but this is better. Okay. As you sit there waiting, you hear the shout of Epcid you get louder, the impacts of stone and falling metal squeaking,

and there's just not enough time. You just sigh in the quiet. As a bullet out of a gun, FCG smacks in the back of you, and both of you go rocketing out into a small cylindrical chamber and fall about 20 or so feet. Oh no. You both take five points of bludgeoning damage

as you as she lands on top of you, Orym. Oof. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Lift your wheel from my gooch. I'll spin it. To try to get some leverage up.

You're the first one. I got leverage. And you do it. Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv and it is significantly warmer than the earlier up chambers. The air itself and the rock as you touch it, getting yourself there, it is, I'd say, getting hot to the touch. No egresses or no doors, no tunnels, no pathways? Other exits for you. At a quick glance, no. It's just a chamber. You finally begin to climb down to the point where all of a sudden your feet find no stone.

Hey, what's going on? It's okay, you can just drop. We'll catch you. Well, okay. Can you? Oh, you can count? How far is it? It's like 15 feet, maybe 12, maybe 20. I feel like that was not what I meant. We'll catch you, we'll catch you. We're down here, we'll lace our fingers together

and catch you. Basket catch. Cheerleadership. Where you listen to me. I'm going to use another spell. How long have we been climbing? You've been climbing for, with all this conversation, probably a good 25, 30 minutes. It's a slow climb to go through spaces like this, especially if you're not familiar with it.

At least we're not cold anymore. Yeah. Yeah, I'm very hot. My armpits are sweaty. I'm going to just drop. All right. You drop. One of you just go and roll an athletics check.

You have advantage because they're helping. Yep. Okay, I'll do that. You said advantage? Yeah. All right, I'm okay with that. Yep, good, 22. 22. Both of you together, like, catch Imogen without issue, and you're now standing in the same lit chamber.

The rest of the light orbs Lift with an ease. descend and light up the chamber around now as well. You now flitter down. Yeah. So there's a little chamber. That's good. around now as well. You now flitter down. Yeah. So there's a little chamber. That's good.

That's good. Do we see an opening in this chamber? No, but you do look on the ground. What you thought was just rough, loose rock, and there is a lot of loose rock that's fallen and tumbled through here. There are more bones. There are more skulls.

There is a bunch of just incinerated materials and tools and what look to have been the remains that tumbled down, as well as other bits of gold, iron, and other metals that have melted and formed over the nearby stone. But where's the fire coming from if there's no vents or holes or tunnels?

There's no hole in here. How hot is the walls of this cavern we're in now? It's like, I'd say a hot bath, where it's not to the point where it's hurting you or deeply uncomfortable, but noticeably, that's warm to hot. I'll start pushing the bones out of the way to try to clear out the floor

and see if I can see an opening on the ground or anything. Okay. The bones and pieces sit out. You can see fragile short swords and other types of materials that have been slightly bowed with some sort of heat or material, snap as they break against other bits of rock. What looks like parts of leather armor just turn to ash as they get blown to the side. Everything here looks like it was kind of charted into place to a certain degree or to the edges,

and then upon any sort of an impact tends to crumble or show severe lack of strength behind its structure. Is the char on the top of stuff? I know, that's what I was just about to ask. Or the underside of the walls and things? All over. Okay. Just all over. A jar everywhere.

Like a layer of soot? Maybe there's flashes of intense heat. Could I try another Keen Hearing perception of just trying to see if there's... Sure, go ahead and make a new track. Good grief, another one! 19. 19 is better. 19 is better.

19 is better. Listening around the 19, you don't hear anything, but you do feel an occasional vibration through the air, like from the rock. A very, very faint... You're not quite sure what it is, but there's just the faintest, odd,

arrhythmic vibration that occasionally emits from the rock at the base and surrounding the bottom portion of the cylindrical chamber. Does it make the air move at all, or is it vibration? I mean, you're feeling the vibration of the air from the rock. Did we fall past any kind of gaps or anything

when we plummeted through that are higher up? You didn't see any, no. Okay. And we looked at the floor. There's nothing hidden, right? Make an investigation check if you want to look. Please take it. Yeah, like tracing a hand all full circle around the chamber.

Can you look yourself? Okay. If, tracing a hand all full circle around the chamber. Can you look yourself? If anybody has a better investigation? I will guide you. Okay. Okay. 24. 24. A few things you pick up.

Jack Bauer. One, as you move things out of the way, that layer of soot and dust, the stone that makes up the bottom of this chamber is darker in color than a lot of the surrounding stone, and this is more porous. Everything that's around here looks like it's some sort of a heavy granite.

This is a black volcanic rock. It looks newer than the surrounding stone that is making up the bottom of this chamber. It's more jagged, and the nooks and crannies of its porous stuff, it's where you see a lot of the broken bones and the materials and tools and stuff, and some more of these bits of coins that have fused together and melted into a chunk of gold with a hint of ancient print across it. There is one single brass inscribed ring that seems to have resisted the heat, however, that sits upon a blackened, charred finger bone.

Pull that out. It's got to be magic. It couldn't get destroyed. I don't have, I can't identify. Save it. Oh, just save it? Okay. Hold onto it. Sure. I mean, I can just look at it

and see if I notice anything about it. Make an arcana check. I know, that's what I think. I know. Damn. Didn't do it good for its wear. It's pretty. Looks like it's handled the surroundings better

than some of the other materials. That's about as much as you can do. I'm just going to put it on my finger so I don't lose it right now. And attune to it. Is there a handsome green body down in the corner? Use it better than I did! Just use it.

Oh wait, I have Detect Magic. I'll cast a first-level Detect Magic. It's magic. Okay. The ring does indeed give a modest magical aura to it. Anything else in the ring? Chamber? Nothing in the chamber,

but you sense just this faint aura of magic that's faintly muted along the ground. This is magic. Okay. I figured it out. Great. And there's magic on the floor. What do you mean? Oh. I don't know. It figured it out. Great.

And there's magic on the floor. What do you mean? Oh. I don't know, it just seems magic. The floor seems magic. I feel like there's something down there that maybe we can uncover if we either dig, or I do have a spell I could shape it. Open up the ground? Yeah, open up the ground.

What if it's a lot of lava under there and the minute you open up the ground, it fills up the chamber and Shape it. Yeah, open up the ground. What if it's a lot of lava under there, and the minute you open up the ground, it fills up the chamber, and then we all die? Yeah. Yep, that is a thing, but this is porous rock, so if there were lava down there pressing on it with a lot of pressure, it would be through already.

Wasn't the bottom granite? Thought he said it was porous. I thought the bottom was granite, and around us was porous. Around you, most of this tunnel is granite? Thought he said it was porous. I thought the bottom was granite and around was porous. Around you, most of this tunnel is granite, and then the bottom becomes like a darker black porous volcano. Okay, okay, okay, okay.

What happens if I chisel at it a little bit with seedling? Poke with a stick? Yeah. I mean, the very, very edges of it flake a little bit, yeah. It's just okay. So yeah, if we poke a hole in it, it's just lava, it'll come out. It could, or it could just be another chasm. Okay, yeah, try it.

If lava starts coming, you can fly out of here. Yeah. If lava starts... Yep, that's the end of it. Well, I can teleport. I've got teleport. Yeah, yeah's the end of it. That's going to suck. Well, I can teleport. I've got teleport. Yeah. So in an emergency.

Then we'll just teleport on out. Yeah. All of us. Yeah, right? Mm-hmm. Okay. And maybe you should tell everybody upstairs. Yes. How long does it take to teleport?

It's an action. Are you down here with us for? It's an action. Great. See, we're fine. In letters, you're talking about stone? Yeah, I can do stone shaping. Not a lot, but I can make a five-foot-long column of holes. Yeah, a small hole might be better. About this long?

Okay. Rather than big, so if anything does come up, that at least we're dealing with a little leak rather than a large one. Narrow and long. Mm-hmm. Rather than big, so if something does come up, that at least we're dealing with a little leak rather than a large one. Narrow and long. Mm-hmm. Can't do that.

That's what I say about you. I can't communicate with anyone up there. Why? Because I have a mental connection with Fearne. I have the message spell. Great, you should use that. I never use. Okay.

Are they 120 feet up? 120 feet above? Well, I guess I'll find out. I'll point and I'll say, hey, Laudna, we're going to maybe open up a hole with lava in it. I'm going to say, because they're right on the cusp, go ahead and roll a d20 on 11 or higher.

They're within range. 16. 16? And yeah. around the cusp, go ahead and roll a d20. On 11 or higher, they're within range. 16. 16? Then yeah. You're going to do what now? I'm going to do... We're going to open up a hole, and lava might shoot out, we don't know,

but just get ready. I imagine the last thing FCG hears is me turning to Ashton and Jenny going, They're about to open up a fucking hole filled with lava! And then it cuts off. So glad we didn't go down. Yeah, that checks out. I'm going to perch on Orym's shoulder

and my wings and little hands at the ends of my wings. I'm just going to hold onto his hair like a kid. Okay. And they're on their shoulders, not paying attention. Oh, like little bats. Yeah. Like little bat hands. Yeah. That's so cute. Yeah.

Yep, hope we don't die. Okay. I will cast Stone Shape. I hold Orym's hand. Your Pompeii cast is going to have a little bat on your head. It can be up to five feet in any dimension. So yeah, like a long cylindrical hole. It can be up to five feet in any dimension.

So yeah, like a long cylindrical hole, but not big enough. Like just like this wide, right? A lot too wide. This wide? Yeah, just a little skinny one that goes longer, right? A skinny one will go deeper. It's five feet max.

Oh, okay. Okay. So you're just putting it straight down at an angle to the wall. What are you doing? Can I actually make it... It's going to go straight down, and can I actually start it wider and get it? Make it a comb.

Like a comb. A little taper. Yeah. A taper. I'll allow that. So you taper it almost like a five-foot-wide funnel? Yeah. That tapers down to a smaller thing. Yeah. A taper. I'll allow that. So you taper it almost like a five-foot-wide funnel? Yeah. That tapers down to a smaller thing? Sure. As you concentrate,

you focus on the surrounding earth and stonework of this mountain, you beseech the change bringer to find and make a path where none could be found. And as you finish your silent, brief prayer, the rest of you hear the stone crack and shift like a sudden collapse happens within the chamber. You watch as a whole chunk of massive volcanic rock

just crumbles away into nothing,. It's falling into a sinking sand pit, but it's disappearing into shadow. As that fills up, about half of the chamber now is this funnel, and you have to back away from it as it rapidly descends. Then about four feet down, it opens. And just a glow of orangish light opens and fills the chamber. Okay. Wait. Just light? Light fills the chamber? Yeah, from the glowing lava under it. Yes.

We begin to love a laugh. Do we see lava under? The air within the chamber gets immediately hotter. Uh-oh. Why? We're so dumb. This is going to be fine. And that's it? Okay.

If we peek, do we see lava flowing? The tone of the parrot that's like... How wide is the bottom of the hole? About four feet. So it started five feet wide, and we got four feet down. I can't do the math. Probably about a foot wide, right?

About a foot wide, yeah. Can I fit through it? You can fit through it. Well, look, don't just fly down into lava. Look and see how far down. Is there lava right under the hole? You just incinerate. Look, can we look? Yeah, you get down and get yourself comfortable

to glance downward as you do. The bright sight of a pool of orange, yellow, red, molten rock sits like a small lake, maybe about 20, 25 feet across in places, that just sits in the middle of this large, almost pumpkin-shaped, empty chamber. Okay. It is directly beneath you.

We were all seeing this. We were able to lean out. You lean out and you can see, and as you get towards the edge and look within, where the end of the rock opens up. Can we gauge how far the hole opening is from the actual lava? It's about a 40-foot drop.

Oh, okay. So we're okay. We're okay. That's great. I can cast Fly on us and we can flush it up. And then we can go down. I'll have to cast Stone Shape again just to make the hole a little wider for us. Is our view limited, or can we see in this chamber,

is the entire floor lava, or is there any? The floor is lava. The floor is lava. Or is there any purchase for foot? Make a perception check for me. It'd be fun, it's going to be so hot. It'd be so fun. I watch the new season.

Re-rolling a one. Oh yeah, it's a really good chance. That's way better, 27. 27. All of us. I know, right? Oh shit, that would be a great tree. That's way better. 27. 27. Oh. I know, right? Oh shit, that would be a great episode.

I'm all about that. That got us through the pandemic. It did. As you glance over and you grab the edge of it and you peer in to get a good look of the chamber below, one thing you do notice is the rock edge of the stone shape. As you lean in, one part flicks off and you do notice is the rock edge of the stone shape, as you lean in, one part flicks off, and you catch yourself

with the other hand, and you realize the ceiling and where you've created the cone, it's somewhat brittle around the edge. Oh. Means it could be broken to create a wider opening. Sure. Also to take care in doing so. Okay. But as you catch yourself and continue to look around, a wider opening, also to take care in doing so.

But as you catch yourself and continue to look around, the lake that's here, it's more of a pond. It is about 25, 30 feet across, and it is mostly just a circular lake of molten rock. And you can see it cools towards the edges, and then there's just dark rock with occasional little veins of heated stone and bits of occasional bubbling thrown magma. The rest of the chamber beyond that is just a wide, heavy, circular chamber that surrounds it, almost like it's an air bubble within the stone

that surrounds this small lake. You also see little orange glowing creatures that are darting through and looking up at you. Oh! You see these small, almost impish-like, humanoid, thin beings with little wings and elongated heads with a pointy chin, these little burning coals for eyes that are hiding behind rocks

and just looking up at you, about a dozen or so. Clearly been spotted. How far away are they? From where you are? It's 40 feet down, and they're scattered to the edges. Okay, so it's like a... So about 60 or so feet from the top. They seem curious or spooked, you're uncertain,

but they're definitely trying to stay out of sight, all while not doing a very good job and looking upward. The center of this lava pool that you're sitting at, there is about, at the very, very core of it, a perpetual roil. A Occasionally, it spits a small chunk of magnet that arcs up close to the top

and then lands back down or spatters on just outside of the lake and hits and glows for a second as it slowly cools. Orym backs up. I really think we need to decide what we're doing here. Are we waiting for the others to come down? There's things down there and not a lot of place to stand. But there is a place to stand and we could fly down there.

We could fly down. Have it send another message up to them and let them know we're going to go through a tiny hole into a lake of lava now. Good news! Lava didn't kill us. It's down below us. We're going to fly down and land near it.

Wait, what? Are you absolutely insane? What? Why don't you wait until we get there? I just can't. She said we should wait for them. Well, she's mad. She's mad. All right. I think we should wait for them. Okay.

We'll come on down, then. Okay. All right. Come on down. But she's got better form. Just hear me talking to Ash and Chetney going, You would not believe what they are doing! No, but if we jump at an angle.

Yeah, but if all of us get into this chamber, we've already weakened the ground, it might just collapse. The most of people I can make fly as three. I could, in addition to using Stone Shape to widen the hole, I could make a stone shape that is a water slide. That we shoot out that way as we go. Uh-huh, at an angle.

At an angle. So that we could feather fall down to the ground. What could go wrong? That sounds like the best. You're really smart, your mathematics went failing. Best playground logic, yeah. Best playground.

I can take this slide and jump the monkey bars. I've worked you down. Honey, how'd you get that bloody lip? All right, so what's the plan? They're coming down. All right, so the rest of the crew, I need you to roll two separate checks. The first one, just roll an athletics or acrobatics,

each of you. So, and I still have Spider Climb, so can I use that? I'm going to go head first to contort and Spider Climb along the ceiling around. Still roll, but you have a much lower DC based on both your. The two of you have smaller forms. Her's just thin and spindly, yours just being tiny gnome boy. But spelled. But spelled, yeah. No, don't get me wrong. I'm not misrepresenting your tightness. Oh boy.

Why does this keep happening to me? No. I rolled a two. No. Oh, but your... But your Amazing Athletics is a... Well, I'm doing acrobatics, so four. Four, got it. I'm debating just trying to shove my way down

and actually rage a little bit of this to just see if I can widen the hole as I'm going down. Do you? Well, I think I was going first. I was Well, I think I was going first. I was actually, I thought I was going first. Oh, you were going first? You already went, though. Hold your parchment chairs, we're rollers.

All right. All right, Ashton goes first. Ashton goes first. All right, I'm going to... How do I fail this? Yeah, I'll burn a rage, just trying to see if I can just actually force my way through anything if I'm going to fucking hit it. Okay. Oh, Ashton, what?

So, raw athletics with advantage. All right, I'm also so curious to see what... Raging at a jackknife? My rage is not a... It's more of an internal smolder. My rage is not a... It's more of an internal smolder. Just a lot of swearing. Nat 20. Yo!

For a total of what? 28. 28, okay. With space, I might add, so I also have the wormhole fit. Being both a strong figure and of earthen blood, of titan blood specifically, the stone in you seemed to have an unspoken arrangement

as each impasse you would come to, you just, well, are you head first or leg first? Head first. Head first. You just pull the rock free and it snaps and leaves a larger opening. Another point, you pull another piece forward and one rocks right in front of your head and you just headbutt it and it smashes off. You are almost like a mole digging through the ground as you begin to, hand over hand, carve this into a wider space,

which I will say with a natural 20, will allow you to roll with advantage on your roll since you didn't go first. If you had gone first, it would have been a different scenario. Because he's specifically widening the hole all the time. Jesus Christ. 10.

Okay, that's better than four. It is. It's still not great, but better. But you had a much lower DC because you're so thin and because you had Spider Climb on. So it gets a bit precarious a few times, but Ashton is definitely carving the path forward. Gravel coming out of the portal hole in my head

as I'm going down. I just occasionally will dislocate my arm to contort. One assumed. Going around places. I'm heading back up. I'm not following these idiots. dislocate my arm to contort. One assumed. I'm heading back up. I'm not following these idiots. You're not following them? Nope, I'm going back up to the surface.

See y'all later. All right. All right. Really? No, I rolled a 14. Okay. No. Okay. At a couple moments. I really want to, though. At a couple moments. This seems so stupid. At a couple moments, you watch as Laudna

dislodges bones from sockets to fit through some areas, but then forgets to put them back in. And you catch up and have to help pop them back into space. You left this. This is my hip. That's a hip? Yes. Letters and Laudna can both disassemble themselves. Different toolkit.

For the remainder of this journey, which has become slightly easier thanks to Ashton's burrowing, which is practically what it is, I need one more check from all three of you. Do I still have the rage or have I dropped the rage? You've dropped the rage, but the DC is lower. Yeah, yeah.

Did you fuck up one? 22. 22. Nine. Okay. 27. 47, okay. The DC was lowered, and this, you know. Laudna, Laudna, the sandwich between the two of you

heading down here becomes this perpetual choke point beyond just the natural rock choke point. Move, hurry up! Hurry up! Be patient. I pushed too hard on your skull. I feel like it's going to give. But eventually you do emerge towards the top of the chamber

where the others are and begin to climb down to meet them. You're all pretty jammed packed. This is a tight chamber and you can see the orange glow that spills out from the opening in the bottom of this slightly angled cylindrical room. Why are we down here? Have you gotten eyes on something? We have a hole in the ground that we can go through

and there's a lake of lava underneath us. And there's like, doompaloompas down there. That's what we came down for? Doompaloompas? Well, we got to find a shard. And a lake of magma? Yeah. What's a doompaloompa? It's an evil oompa loompa.

It's like a little orange fire piece. Are you sure the shard is down here? Uh-uh. Or we're not just going into a lava bed? Locate things. If I prepared it today, let's find out, objects or creatures? Objects.

Can you locate a shard of? If I'm familiar with it, let's see here. Did I prepare to locate? A shard, no. What? My foot got stuck. I had to crack every joint to get through. It was not great.

Oh, also, I could have done that thing where we can all talk to each other. I know I could have done that, too. I realized it when I was here, and I was like, well, too late now. This was the time. Has anyone tried to talk to the Doompa Loompas? Not yet, because-

But Fearne could fly down there and become a knot bat and. And talk to her. She could become a Doombaloomba. She could. How large are those creatures? They're maybe like a foot and a half, two feet tall. They don't look like animals. And they're very thin and like.

They could be living lava, elemental something. Peté speaks Infernal. Smaller, smaller beasts. They would be small. But not beasts. You don't know. Fair enough. Ooh! He lasts for about three seconds before he poofs.

Should I go down there, Imogen? Yeah, go down there. Aw! See what happens. Just try and stay above the landing area, because if they attack you and you get hurt, you're going to fall. Oh, that's right, if they shoot stuff up. So as soon as you get in, go to the edge,

so you're not above the lake. All right, all right. And we'll open up the hole more. Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak. So you descend. Ah, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak. Just really slowly. Boom! Descend.

Lowering within, it is very hot in this chamber. Especially your snowbat form is not made for this high temperature. It's not to the point where you're taking damage, but you are very uncomfortable. But you flutter off to the side and you can see the handful of creatures on this side of the chamber crouch lower.

I'll just get on a rock and hang upside down and look. You're hanging at the top of the chamber. Like someone's walking. They look at you. You can hear them talking, but the sound of them talking sounds less like language and more like someone grinding two stones together with a hint of a flint just catching on a match. It's this like.

Awesome. Do I recognize it or it's their own little language? Well, let's see. Do you, what languages do you speak? Common, deep speech, druidic, infernal, sylvan, and thieves' cant. You do Infernal, Sylvan, and Thieves' Cant. You do not know what they're saying, unfortunately. Did you?

Okay, I'm down here. We can't hear this, can we? You know, you're not within the chat room. All right. I'm down here. They're just looking at me right now, but I think they're talking to each other. They don't look like they're about to attack you or anything? Come back up here.

I can cast tongues on you. FCG is saying to come back up. Okay. I'll just land on you. I'll touch you and I will cast tongues on you. Now you can speak their language. But she can't speak, she's a bat. But you can unbat.

She can unbat. Then she'll be stuck down there. What if they attack me? She can turn into a bat again, right? That's called rebatting. When I can't wild shape again, I could polymorph myself, I guess, if I needed to get back up.

Imogen? This is a big question. You've got options. Do you have two wild shapes at this point? I used one already today. She's going to be so good at talking to them, it's not going to matter. This is now how we matter. They're flying.

This is now how we die. Okay. You can always take a short rest in the middle of the cavern. We could widen up the hole and fly down and just fly above them and talk to them. All of us could just fly in. Yeah, let's just go.

All of us can fly? They're not attacking. Is that possible? I can cast Fly on three people. Laudna can climb the walls. Yeah, so Ashton can carry Chet, I can carry Orym, and you can Fly on your own. I can? If I cast it on you. Oh, okay, okay.

They seem to be pretty friendly because they're not doing anything to me. All right. Then widen the hole. I'll widen the hole. Am I going to do tongues on her or are we all going to go tongues on her? I would go cast tongues on someone.

Someone still needs tongues. Ashton might be able to widen the hole and not spend any energy. Yeah, true, Ashton can widen the hole. Cast it on somebody who's good at talking to people. I mean, I love talking to ferns. Us, we don't know what they're speaking, so maybe somebody already speaks it,

so we might be fine. Just be careful when you're watching. We'll be careful. If we wait long enough, we can also just throw Chetney's dead body down there. Oh, sorry, it's so hot. Are we doing anything? No, it is hot.

It is hot. For fuck's sake. It is very, it's even hotter in here. The longer we stay, the greater chance we have that this thing's going to explode on us. Let's go. High temperatures affect the Elderly first. It's go. High temperatures affect the elderly first. It's true. Think of me.

Okay, right as Ashton hits it, I'm going to wait until he makes contact and then I'm going to cast Fly. I'm just going to give it a good prod to open. Just clung onto Mjollram before I cast Fly. Okay, clung. Backpack. On the count of three. Go ahead and roll a strength check for me.

Okay, I'm in charge. Good old-fashioned strength check. That's fine. Nope, that didn't work. That was a natural. Aren't you Rajay? That was a natural one? Yep. Okay. Oh no.

It does work. Oh shit. You. And as you hit the stone, the entire floor of the cylinder falls out from under all of you. Oh god! Literally the worst thing. I was on the wall.

Right, so you hold onto the wall. I had said the minute he made contact, I was casting. Thank goodness you did. As rapidly, the entire floor of this chamber just falls from under all of you. As you yell for a second, you catch yourself floating in the air in the middle of the chamber. You all drop about five feet.

It's time! This is it. Where were you when that happened? It was on me. On you when you were hammering? Yeah, because we were going to do it right when it cracked. Okay, good.

Yeah, so he was holding onto him. Princess Leia on your leg. You all float now in the middle of this chamber, above this 30-foot pool of molten, roiling rock with this centerpiece. I skitter in, hugging the walls. Does there seem to be a good place for everyone to?

It's definitely not. I'm just going to not be over the ledge. Not hover over the center. Yeah, is there a place that looks like there's good footing for a bunch of us? Just beyond that pool, there is a heavy ring around it of just rock, of just like cooled rock that is not molten. All right, heading to whatever is the most

strategically advantageous chunk of that. As we're looking around, do we see, is there an opening in the chamber anywhere? Make a perception check. It's made in the chamber anywhere? Make a perception check. It's made in the chamber. What the fuck is this? 17.

Hey, 17. Best you can see, none. All right. It is an entirely closed off little chamber. We fucking came down here for no reason. Wait, I thought you said there were little... Yeah, we got to keep going.

There were little splintering tunnels. We have to go through the lava. I'm ready. Not in here, no. It's just an open, pumpkin-shaped bubble that surrounds this pool of lava. Well, maybe these little creatures will know where the shard is.

I take out one of the little failed Chetneys. Not one of eight, not one of the collector's editions. It was damaged in creation. And I'll just into the middle of it. Into the middle? Yep. It's lava. Thank you, Chet. Wow, that's good to know.

Scientific process. Most don't understand it. Did we land yet? Yeah. How are they behaving now that we're in here with them? As you've landed, they've all hidden even further and are just peeking around bits of stone. I'm scared.

I'm going to give it a go. Give what a go? Don't talk to them. Why not? Because you suck at talking. Don't be the first bird to start talking. She's got a point, Ashton. He did put tongues on me, but maybe you could,

do you want to put it on him instead? Oh god, no. Just talk him. Just say we were looking for the shorter. Because you cast tongues on her. I did. And you've transformed back? Yes.

Does it hold over? Sorry, Ashton. You're a wonderful person with so many good qualities. Don't just fucking start. Just don't fucking start. I can cast tongues on more than one person. I don't want anyone to know what I'm thinking, what I'm saying, or otherwise. I barely want to know what they're thinking.

Let's just dip a toe in the lava, okay? Let's run. Start talking. Too soon. All right, I'll try to walk up and get a little closer. Okay. Get a safe spot. Get a little closer. Okay. Get a safe spot. Get a little closer. Um.

Hello? Hello? Excuse me? Three of them lean out and look at each other. Yeah, we're going to get a little closer. You hear them being like, I can hear her. Oh, that's new.

I know. I can hear you, too. This is weird. The three of them step out a bit and you can see them closer up. They look like tiny, thin, like Jack Skellington elves, made of red stone

with molten eyes and little flames flicker off their bodies. They're so cute! They have these little fiery wings that are folded up, and as they step out towards you, they hop a little bit and the wings and they just hop. The three of them get really close to you and look up at you.

You are darling. This is so weird. I'm speaking their language. I'm speaking their language? You are, you are. I'm speaking their language. I'm speaking their language? You are, you are. I'm speaking their language. You sound crazy. Okay. Is it Primordial or no?

No. Okay, cool. Is it Mac'n'Mon? What languages do you understand? Common, Marquesan, Primordial. That's my trouble. Okay. It's Thieves' Cant, isn't it? I have Th thieves' cant. Hi, so we are trying to get to a...

Am I going to go right into this? Hold on like two seconds. Small talk first? Small talk. You can see the... How's your day? How's your day? How's your day? How's it going?

There's lava in the room with us. I think you could skip the spot. How's your day? Okay. Pretty uneventful. You watch as another large clump of rock spills, flies out of the central burbling fountain and hits the ground and expands.

As it cools, it cracks open, and you watch as another one of those creatures emerges out of it. Ooh. Where did that fire off from? From the middle? In the middle of it, yeah. From the middle.

It creates? Making new ones. Or it's coming from another place. Another dimension? Oh, it's like a mini portal or something. Or remember when we went to that one place and there was a lot of fire and then we stuck our hands in and then Mister came out?

Yeah, that was Emon. And I thought that was something only you could do. I don't know only you could do. I don't know if you should do it now. Are you immune to fire or something? Because I want you to hang. No, not at all. I'll probably die like that. About 16 more of these creatures begin to emerge from little alcoves and folds

in the surrounding darkened rock of the chamber walls. They all come out. Let's establish a relationship. Slowly. Yes. You watch as one of them steps forward and then its color darkens and it crumples into stone. The others don't really notice or make any mind of it.

Wait, one of them just kicked the bucket? Yeah. Is that because they got far away from the pool? Maybe they just age. They just have three-hour lifespans. Oh, like house flies or something? That's so sad. Oh no!

Well, we're not here to hurt you or anything. I have a question. Is there a way out of here? All the three that are looking at you look up towards the hole that you made in the ceiling and go, Probably. Is there possibly another way?

Like the lava shoots up and then we can go in? Is there another way? I don't know. I don't think we've just always been here. The elder might know. Who's the elder before you go get the elder? Who's the elder? They point over in the direction

of the one that just crumpled, and they go, Oh. You're the new elder, and they point to one of the three that's next to them and goes, I'm the new elder! And all the other ones go like. All right, all right. You held her! All the other ones go like. That means he's going to have hours on end. Shit.

Have you heard of something called the Shard of Kmort? No, I shouldn't have said this? The Shard of Eltharadon? No, you should have said it. They look at each other a bit confused. That's the wrong shard, wrong shard. Sorry, that's not what I meant. That's what's in you. My bad, hang on.

You mean the shard of Rau Shan. The shard of Rau Shan, I'm very sorry. I said it wrong. When you say the name Rau Shan, all of their eyes light up and their small, crooked, rocky grins widen. And all the other ones that were slowly scattering, that were looking at the rest of you,

all of them shift over and look in the direction of Fearne. Roshan? The Creator. Oh. Right. Do you know where the shard is? Of? You do.

Tales are told of those who have come before. It births us. Look. And they point to the very center of the lava where that roiling fountain is. I have a tell. So the shard is in there? Okay.

It's where we came from. Okay. I wonder if we take the shard. Does that mean that they... Are we taking the shard or just communing with it? I think we take the shard. The other shard got put into Ashton. I'm going to stick out my finger to one of them

and say, would you mind touching my finger? It touches your finger, and it's like touching a hot stove, but you're familiar with heat, and while the pain hits, it doesn't cause you to recoil heavily. Okay. Being a wildfire druid.

All right. I'm going to the hot stove. Okay. What should I ask? What should I ask? I don't know. Oh, I guess you could ask, does the lava ever stop for a while, or does it calm down?

No good idea. Or does it explode? Oh, yeah. Okay. Do they remember anything before they are here? Yeah, would be a big one. Are they coming from somewhere else? Yeah, another dimension? Okay. Where do you come from?

Do you come from somewhere else? Like another dimension type of a situation? Yeah, look at each other. The elder, the new elder goes, We are born from this park. Okay. Do you remember before all of this? What was here?

Are we going to kill him? No. No. Maybe whoever takes it. What happens to the lava? Does it explode sometimes? Make a big boom? Tales have been passed down of times where it went very boom.

Okay. Does it ever calm down? Does it ever calm down? Like a relax, you know? After the boom. After the boom. Great. How do you get in lava? know? After the boom? After the boom. Great. How do you get in line?

How often is a boom? You don't. The tales have been passed down from ancient time. So when you were born. A month or so. Yeah, so a week. When you're born, do you know how much time passes from when you turn into?

What is time? That's right. There's no. Do you know time? time passes from when you turn into? What is time? That's right. There's no time. I don't know time. Do you know time? Were they born before we made the hole in the rock? Or after? Yes, I got it.

Has it been ten minutes since they were born? Yeah, that's what I was trying to get at. Did you, were you here when... How do I ask this? Were you here before we came through the hole? Yes, you are new arrivals. Okay, but were you here a very long time before we came? I am the elder.

You are the elder, okay. Have they seen anyone else like us? Are we the first? Have you seen anyone else that's come down here that looks like us? I have not, but the elder before me saw others that came before. If I pick up the elder and put him back in the lava,

will he come back? I don't know. Money's on the roll. Can we speak with dead? With the coal? With the coal. Ooh. Others have come and they angered the spark. And then fire, and all others go, fire. And it exploded.

How do we get the spark? How do you go into a lava pit? Well, I mean, we do have a stone man with us. We have a stone man that could melt, and you have reached into fire before to pull out mist? Well, I have, but I don't think it's the same thing. I have, but you go into liquid rock.

My telekinesis is pretty strong. I feel like I could maybe use it to hold it back. I've got some stone shape. I also have, we've got blink. I mean, not blink, sorry. Misty Step. Misty Step. Could use the ball as protection or something with a boom? Will you ask them,

does it vibrate? What happens right before a boom? How do you know when a boom is going to happen? And does it fill the whole chamber? Or is it just straight up and down, and then it goes away? It has filled the chamber, everything with fire. They put the fire of which we were born. Everybody needs to get out of here,

except for the only people that have any chance of doing something. I am already climbing out. Here's the question. We're going to need a way out of here. Do we have a plan on how to get out? No! Is there a way? We have the? No! It's the room!

So we have the teleportation. It's the top of a chamber that's like this. I'm about to do some shit. We have the Staff of Teleportation. Okay, how long does that take? It's instantaneous. Okay, it's all of us? But here's the thing, didn't you just use it?

Have you used it? Today, I have not. No, you used it to do another spell. That was yesterday. Okay. I checked and I have eight charges, full charges. I'm ready to rock. So can you tell them that I'm going to go over

towards the... Are you going to try to touch the lava? I don't know, let's see what happens. All right, is there a warning that happens before it goes boom? Have tails, have you heard any tails? There's never a warning before it goes boom. Have you heard any tales? There's never a warning before it goes boom. They all look to the elder and the elder goes,

Probably a rumble? Okay, Laudna has some ice stuff. Whatever you're going to do, I'm getting ready to do it now. Are we sure there's no other path to get out of here? She just needs to make a little rock for a second. Just to get us down in there. I can try to part it. To do an in-depth check for a pattern,

it'll take you a good 15 minutes to go around. Okay. Her flight spell will end in that time. Yes. And no one has... Which has about five more minutes on it, by the way. I'm passionate. What are you thinking? The thing is, it'll explode.

The thing, I think if we fuck it with it, it's going to just. While they're talking, I am starting to find the closest straight walk into where it is. Like straight into the lava? Yeah, the closest to that bubbling point. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Hey, he's going.

Before you go, before you go, can we just review the legend we were told? Get your shit together. Like it was something about, there's these two shards, there's two shards, there's two people, there's a gatekeeper and a master. The Emperor and the Empress. K'mork's Shard is already in Ashton,

and there's Roushan's that is here, we think, and we were warned that if the same vessel holds both, it could break the vessel. Yeah, so. Could. And what is the upside to this shard? Mighty Morphin Power Ranger powers. You become like a vessel of fire, basically. So possibly immune to the things

that could kill us in this room. Right. He also said that the shard in Ashton is dormant. So what I'm saying is, maybe we don't have to take the shard, maybe the shards just have to touch, like complete, like a yin-yang thing, and then it's activated. Anybody got anything

that's going to help? I'm going to go in there, and I'm going to find this thing. Go, man. Go, man. We got to make you a path. We got to freeze a path for you. Figure out what you need to do. You're just going to walk into the lava? You still have Fly on him, right?

Yeah. Fly lasts for 10 minutes. Yeah, so you have about five more minutes. All right, I'm going to cast Guidance on you. Guidance, I'll take. This is my friend. He's great. He's just going to check some stuff out.

They look towards you, and they all speak in Terran, which you don't understand. It sounds like gargling quarry rock. And they all speak to you at this, like they expect you to know. Rock, rock, rock, rock, rock, rock, rock. I'm going to sympathetically bind to you. I died in this episode.

Who else do you bind to with that? Oh, I guess I can do three people, right? Three people, three people. I'll do Ashton. I'll do Imogen, since it seems like she's going to be doing stuff that will help us. And I'll do Laudna, since we're going to do some ice stuff. Sure.

And I think as a bonus action, I can give him four extra hit points. Yep. That'll do it. I could also, if you wait a second, I could also cast Enhance Ability on you. Okay. And I will use, I think,

Bear's Endurance. Sure. Gaining you another 2d6 extra temporary hit points. Although those don't stack, so the first four I gave them are going to go away. Correct. Do we know if the Slick Shimmer Oil is flammable? Okay, you have seven extra hit points now. You can make an intelligence check

to try and gather through scent. Advantage on constitution checks. Advantage on con. Could be. Okay. All right. Anything else? If you're going to do cool, I would say do cool

right into the center of that shit. If I do telekinesis, it's going to drop fly. Then don't do telekinesis. Flying is better? I'm going to go in and I'm going to do what I'm going to do. She's going to do some ice for you. She's going to do some ice for you. Okay, I'm going to do a ray of frost

into the center of this thing to try and cool it off. I don't know. Okay. If you just terminate her, too, this thing, I'm going to fucking laugh. Yeah. You shoot your ray of frost, which is a cantrip, right? Yes. Yeah.

Ray of frost into the center, and you see the extremely bright, orangish-yellow center of the roiling. It darkens where the ray hits, and you watch as the immediately cooled stone cracks and breaks and is folded back into the surrounding roiling molten rock. Yeah.

It's lava. It's fucking lava. Ashton. You're a wonderful person. Fuck you, too. Are you saying his bye? Nice knowing bye. You were death flagging him? Yeah, a little bit. Just flying towards it? I think I'm just going to try and delve down

unless there's anything else to do. Dive into the lava? Yes, yes, it doesn't kill you instantly. It just takes damage. let it rock it. How about a fire shield, which I know is for self. Is that something that I can cast on somebody else? Does it say self as the? Yeah.

Unfortunately, I don't know. Unless you want to do it. Here's that $5 I owed you. Right on. Give me the ring. Give him the ring and survive. Oh, the ring, the ring! Here, I don't know, put it on,

but you should attune to it. It's not going to do survived! Oh, the ring! The ring! Here, I don't know, put it on. But you should attune to it. It's not going to do anything unless it's- It needs a short rest, I'm fucking- Maybe it doesn't need attunement. It's just going. I'm going to try it. The worst thing that happens, I fly out. The worst thing that happens is you evaporate.

Well, I'm going to get close, and I can always- That ring will help him. We should take a short rest. We don't know if that ring will help. Most magical items don't get ruined in fire. Get in there. It could be anything. So I'm going to breathe deep. I'm going to try and concentrate.

Oh my god. This is great. It doesn't kill you instantly. We'll know if it's wrong. Yeah, you'll know quick. Is that what happens in the real world? Yep. You can dive in a lot of lava. I'm made of rock. I wouldn't dive. I'd gingerly enter, but.

And you step into the lava pool. Oh, I know. I'm going to fly, and I'm not going to walk. I don't. Wait, are you diving, or are you going feet first? No. I'm going feet first, not creepy. Okay, okay. I don't know, you guys.

Okay, sorry. So let me figure out. So you're flying towards it and then diving into the lake at what point? Here's the bubble. Right, it's about, I'd say, 15 or so feet from the edge. Okay, so I'm about 10 feet. I'm going to just try and,

so I don't have to walk across all of that, I'm just going to try and see what happens if I go in that direction. We didn't walk up any other, anything else. You pick up. Yeah, how unbearable does it hit? Well, you lift up off the edge of the pool and you glide about five, 10 feet towards the center

and you can see it, you bubble it and the piece is flying off. Another one is made on the side as another one crumbles. The elder you were speaking to. No! Yeah. Phil!

Orym, you notice as Ashton begins to glide towards it, the roiling calms slightly. The begins to lessen the intensity of the core. I fly down into it. I rage. Okay. You yell fucking bloody murder, and I rage. Let's go. Oh. Let's go. Oh, let's go. Yeah!

J-E-L-L-O. The rainbow sparks start going full fucking force. Sure, 35. This is how you do it. The rest of the bowels are just like, hold on. Shit goes wrong, motherfuckers fall. We'll get you. Oh yeah, I'll be right there.

I don't think I'm prepared for that, exactly. I'm going to get close. I'm going to get close just in case. You take. It's too late. What, like, put a rope around him? Oh no, he's rolled a bunch of stops. You watch him just just vanish into the Lake of Molten Piranha.

You take 34 points of fire damage as your entire body is rocked with searing pain. That's the first six seconds. Reduced to seven, or reduced by seven, because I'm wearing a ring. That's true. Oh. So 35 minus seven, actually minus 14, because I have another seven temporary.

Oh, from the curse. That's true, yeah. So that's 20. 20 points of fire damage. So I take 20 points of fire damage. I'm grasping for it. All right, you dive into where that center part is. You can't see anything. It's just white hot pain and white hot light

as you are pushing through the heart of fire. This is everything that will melt you into nothing and you are just forcing yourself to its core and you reach out in front of you and you... Go ahead and make an investigation check. Oh, for fuck's sakes. He's looking for clues. With advantage.

With advantage. This isn't a high DC, since you're right there. But you have no sight. I did, I guided you. Yep, that's fair, that's fair. Thank you for that. I remember I was like, there was gutter, right? Oh yeah!

Yes. Yes! Yes. Uh. Yes. Yeah! Yeah! 22. 22, okay. You needed a 12.

Ah! In the middle of the space, you reach out and your hands grasp as you push through and it's like, it's not like pushing through water. It's like pushing through this extremely thick sludge that is burning every single surface on your body. As you reach out and try and grasp,

it's just nothing, nothing, and then you catch something that is solid and stuck. It is pointy, it is stone, and it burns as hot as the lake around you. What do you do? I'm going to grab and I'm going to fly and I'm going to pull straight the fuck back out as hard as I goddamn can.

Okay. Go ahead and make a strength check for me. That's my beast. That's an answer check. Let's go beast. Come on, don't fucking move. This is not my best, but 12. 12.

You pull and it does not budge. Do you stay there? Yep. You take... 40 points of fire damage. Reduced by nine to 31. To 31. We can't see him, right?

No. Damn it. He just disappeared. I hate this. Okay. Into the lake. What? Get? Ashton, are you alive? You hear a lot of just fucking screaming and fucking yelling.

Fire. Endless cursing string in his mind. Is he within 30 feet of me? Yes. He is? You don't see him. I don't see him, though, but as a reaction, when a creature within 30 feet of you takes damage from an attack, I can have it, but...

You'd have to see them to do it. Doesn't say that I have to see them, but I would have to know when they take damage. I have an idea. I just don't have a damn idea. Do it. Okay. I'm going to cast Fire Shield on myself. Okay.

And I'm going to make a Chill Shield, so I'm resistant to fire damage. Okay. How about this? Since I'm bind to fire damage. Okay. How about this? Since I'm binded to him, can you at least let me give him a bonded blessing? Yeah. Okay. I'll allow that.

So you get a d6 on your next roll. You can sense he's in pain because of your connection. You just don't have a means of taking it on yourself at the moment. Are you touching the ground, Ashton? No, it's just liquid all around him? Yep, yep. Okay. Sorry.

If there's anything else I can do. So Fearne, what do you do? So you cast Fire Shield on yourself, the cooling shield, what are you doing? Yes, okay. He's got that ring, he's got the cool little stuff. This is so dumb. I'm going to jump in.

Now do it! Do it! Okay. Whoa! So as you're all focusing, you watch as Fearne goes running and then leaps in the middle of the air. This strange sphere of flames emerge around her. Like a dull blue flame encircles her form as she into the pool itself.

You take. Anybody else want to go in? That's a really bad roll. into the pool itself. You take... Is that still? Anybody else want to go in? That's a really bad roll. You're very lucky. They're becoming the emperor and the empress! It's 24 points of fire damage reduced to 12. You take 12 points of fire damage. Okay, okay. That's why I did this.

And you right behind where that center is. And as you're there, by the way, the rest of you, you can watch as that roiling has now come to just the faintest slinge, almost like a small flame pillar is just burning in the center. This white hot flame is just. As you vanish into it

and you plunge into it, the pain rocks through you, but you are also a being of fire. This is the druidic nature of your study, your connection with the elements has always been through flame, the consumption of life to make room for more life. That is what wildfires are. That's what the purpose of fire naturally is, is to destroy what can make room for what's new. holding onto that, the pain doesn't stop you, and you feel you impact the back of what you assume to be Ashton's shoulders.

Okay. All right. I'm going to try to just feel around to see if I feel anything. You follow his arms, because you know where he is, and you also feel this pointed, hard object, and it is burning your fingers as is the rest of the lake around you.

Okay. How much time has passed? This is, right now, just two rounds since he went in, one round since you jumped in. You spent your action to cast your spell as you went in, so that's where your round ends. Okay. Do I have a cutting action? Your bonus action. Okay. Do I have a Cunning Action?

Because I have a, oh. You do have Cunning Action, yeah. So I can do it, can I do something else? You do have Use Object as a Cunning Action. Oh! Can I use Telekinesis with my ring to try to pull it out? You also cast a Spare the Dying.

Well, Telekinesis requires you to see what you're casting towards. But you do, you're feeling it, which means you know where it is. So I'll allow it, but you still have to roll. So you have to roll a d20 and add your wisdom modifier to it. Yeah, it's not been eight hours.

I think spare the dying is still up. I'm also going to, in the next round, I'm going to give you some more hit points. Okay. Okay. 19. 19. As you concentrate, the telekinetic force that you bring through this object

billows through your arms. Like. It's less about you using your mind to control it more than using the force of your spirit now to try and will this thing to shift. And as you grasp it, you feel it dislodge slightly and pull upward. It becomes a little less locked into its position

in space and time, and seems to have slightly loosened. All right, I'm going to leave it in Ashton's hands and I'm going to... You can stay over. Because I'm not very strong, so I think you should yank it out. You're moving. You feel, too, as she reaches it with her hand,

it shifts slightly. Anybody else doing anything before we get back to Ashton? I'm climbing off the walls. I've done something this round. Correct. So I'm next to them. I want to, but I think I've done something this round. Correct. So I'm next to them. I want to help, but if I do, it'll drop the fly

and then they won't be able to, Ashton won't be able to get out, so I have to keep. I can give them some hit points next round. I don't know what I would be able to do. Okay. I'm like... Oh. All right. Last fucking pull.

Top of your turn, Ashton. And if it doesn't happen, I'm booking. I'll get fucking lucky. Am I able to assist sort of with the telekinesis? Yeah, that's good. This is... The DC of the pull is lowering because of your telekinesis last round.

It didn't actually pull it free, but it is less than the amount. So that is going to be... You take 32 points of fire damage. Reduced to 22 points of fire damage. Reduced to 22 points of fire damage. Okay. Are you still alive? Wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait. Okay.

Wait. Never mind. All right. All right. That's his choice. I thought, dang it, I thought when I was close, that's another thing, I thought when I was close to him, he would also be resistant. No worries. Damn. It's okay. It's okay I thought when I was close, that's another thing, I thought when I was close to him, he would also be resistant.

No worries. Damn. It's okay. It's okay, but you're keeping yourself, and you helped dislodge it slightly, which means the DC is lowered for your roll. Go ahead and roll another strength check. Come on, come on. Yep. Come on.

Yep. That's a natural 20 for 28. The DC lowered from 25 to 20 because of your help. Nice. In that moment of both of you clutching this together, you feel a dislodge, and feeling Fearne's presence, the words of Yvonne Trerivir come through your mind of following a fated path,

of knowing you were meant to be there. And in this moment, you know you were meant to be here. You were both meant to be here. And you pull it up and it becomes free and dislodged. You feel the heat vanish from your hands as you pull it above the surface of the lava. What do you do?

Are you holding on? I'm getting the fuck out. You're flying straight out and back to everybody else, not even really caring, just, yeah. The rest of you, for a good solid 12 seconds of silence, you watched Ashton vanish and be gone. You sense him hurting, and you're the only one really with an idea that he's still there.

The rest of you look on in horror, desperately trying to think of something to do, as Fearne suddenly leaps in after and also vanishes. The longest six seconds of your life, as you try and, in your mind, come up with something to do, the roiling has come to a stop and that one single flame burns out. The hands of Ashton emerge, clutching this crystal,

and then immediately both of them fire out of the center of this lake of molten rock and you watch as lava just spills off of the sides and you all can have duck spills off of the sides and you all duck back out of the way. I'm not done! As they both rise up and you see Fearne still covered in her shield of arcane flame as the rest of the fire and melted stone drips off of it

and Ashton rises up into the air with her clutching on his entire body, orange. Ooh. Sick. As the stone skin of his body is heated to the point that it matches the majority of the lake he just emerged from. Fuck me running. Freezing. Fucking cool.

Fucking cool. As they both glide back over As they both glide back over As they both glide back over and land on the shore, as all of the various little rock impish creatures emerge to look over excitedly, and one by one, they darken and crumple. I knew that was going to happen.

As soon as I see him, I'm going to use my Sympathetic Binding feature called Scatter Vigor. I'm assuming that he is a close friend. Maybe I'm just going to guess that he's a close friend. Yeah, you are of close friends' status. So I will take 3d8 necrotic damage to myself. 10, 15, and you gain 15 points.

I hope that's going to kill everybody. Yes, right? Yes. Hit points equal to the damage, plus twice your wisdom modifier, which is three. So 21 points to you. So six more? Yeah, six more. Ashton and Fearne are the new elders.

Hey! Hi. Hey. You didn't have to go down there. Well, what I thought was going to happen actually didn't really do anything that I thought it was going to do, so that was my bad. No, no, you, you, no.

Thought my shield was going to cover both of us. It's okay, there was, thank you for going down there. That was, ah, yeah. That was not going super great. I wouldn't touch that. Did you touch him? Did you touch? Go ahead. No, wait, here, I got close enough. I dare you, I dare you, I dare you.

Do it, do it! I don't need to anymore? I'd rather do it. Hibachi Girl. You have no fingerprints anymore. Hibachi girl! It's slightly joyful that after a life of being hurt from people touching you, to have somebody touch you and get hurt.

Though not because of the individual in mind. No, no, no, no, I'm with you. I'm utterly with you. So you're really hot. Context not necessary. We got it. We got it. And you're still, you didn't burst apart or anything like that.

I hope not. Is the glow fading at all or steady? Oh, his glow is slowly fading as his body cools and returns to it. What about the gold that had been going through? Is it all the same as it was, or is it? All the gold is still present. If anything, the cracks in his body that they fill

seem to be almost shored up slightly. Like the damage that was sustained once has in some ways, healed gently. Sick. The lines remain, the glimmer remains, but... How's that shitty attitude? Red fucking hot. Are they naked?

Some of the clothing is probably pretty. I would like to think I would've thrown the jacket off. You didn't say it, so it's a no. It's okay, that's what mending's for. I'll allow you, if you wanted to, to have the foresight to throw elements of your outfit off beforehand. Thank you, yeah. We just finished the art. At least. Not quite, to have the foresight to throw elements of your outfit off beforehand. Yeah.

We just finished the art. At least. Not quite, but I probably got rid of all the expensive shit. Is all of your fur gone? So you probably threw the jacket off before you leapt in, but your pants are gone. Pants are fine.

It is full. I'll fix the pants. It is full orange Dr. Manhattan over here. Yeah, okay. I'm just scared of those. It is full orange Dr. Manhattan over here. Yeah, okay. What does the shard look like in his hands? So looking at it, it's a cluster about that large that sits in his grasp, both of your grasp, technically, because you're both still holding onto each other's hands in the process, and it is this bright orange,

white crystal that has all these different prongs in the process. And it is this bright orange-white crystal that has all these different prongs that shoot off in different directions. It is still burning in your grasp. You take two points of fire damage. How am I going to hold it? You just swallow it? Is that how you?

How big is it? It's about this big. You just swallow it? Is that how you? How big is it? It's about this big. Or just shove it into your chest. Just push it into your body. Maybe you sit on it. Oh, he's got a lock on this end's head. He could shove it into this part of his head.

I think it should go to Fearne. It might. Wait, what? I mean, you guys looked like an emperor and an empress flying above that lava pool. And Ashton. You take another five points of fire damage. Just holding it continues to burn your hands.

Evantravir said it could kill you. Maybe you tried to take both shards. To share the burden. Wait, but I thought it would kill him if you tried to. What do I see in it? You were leading Ashton to it. You look into the crystal surface and then past it. And as much as it is a stagnant exterior,

the light shifts within it, the flames that you see roiling deep within. And it's almost looking like a window into the tiniest, most dangerous inferno that just continues to burn like a cyclone, a fiery destruction. You don't know if it's the memory of one, the containment of one, the containment of one. You take another four points of fire damage.

I'm out of just curiosity, just going to tap it to my head. Another four points? Another four points. I'll give you a little Cure Wounds action. I'm fine, I'll let you know. Oh, okay, well then I'll hold. Just see what happens if I just try and see if I can think through the glass. Don't know, probably nothing.

You sense... There is something deep within this crystal that is... You're drawn to. And you feel like as you tap it against your glass, there's this... This churning, like an earthquake's foreshock that just sits in the center of your gut, like the anticipation before a jump that is consistent. There is an essence in this that you feel is waiting to be unlocked,

and you feel like it has the key to both it and you. What do you think? I mean, I have no idea. Two out of three points of fire damage. All right have three points of fire damage? All right, you're still taking damage? Yep, I'm not putting it down yet. Did you take damage from it when you were holding onto it?

I'm going to... Why don't you hold on to it for a second? Well, I can hold it for a second, unless you want to keep holding on to it. No. Okay. Okay, you take it. You take seven points of fire damage, reduced to three because you're still.

Okay. Here, take it back at a moment. There is concentration. It's a concentration spell, which is a point to recall as well. So go ahead and roll a constitution saving throw. You're fine. 22. Yeah, you're fine. Okay.

It's a shard. How's the temperature in here? It's the same kind of general heat that was here. It's even the stat for the eye. Yeah. And it's about this big? It's about this big, yeah. I'm going to grab the hammer.

Just put it on the ground. You're going to break it? It's what I normally do when I find something. Do you want to just hand it to Fearne and see if? I know I held it, but it burned me, so I gave it back to him. I don't want it. You didn't swallow it? I'm not going to.

I'm just going to see what happens if I press. I'm going to see what it does to the glass of the hammer. I'm just seeing if there's a, is it hot enough to burn the hammer or not? Okay. You go ahead and place the glass head of your hammer across the topmost points of the crystal. As you rest it and press it ever so faintly there,

you do feel your hammer begin to heat up. It doesn't seem to get to the point where it would hurt you, but the glass does begin to heat. Yeah. You pick it up? Yeah. You take three points of fire damage. Okay.

I know you don't believe, Ashton, but do you want me to ask my goddess about this? Like what we're supposed to do with it? You can. Do you want me to just hold it in the air in front of you so you don't have to keep touching it? Sure. We're going to drift there,

and you all get a nice, solid look as it slowly spins in space. It's a beautiful piece It's a beautiful piece of raw historical power. The essence of one of the things responsible for shaping this world. You can see the fear and beauty of destruction

just reflecting in the smooth facets of this relic. Does it feel alive at all? It feels like there is a life essence to it, yeah. It's hard to ignore that. Now that we have gone into this volcano, crawled down this chasm, and are now in this pumpkin-shaped chasm, or bubble,

does it almost feel like we're in the belly of a titan? Does it almost feel like we're in the belly of a titan? Does it almost feel anatomical? Make an intelligence check. Are we in the womb? Yeah. It's just the kidney stones. Actually, make a history check, if that's better. You can choose intelligence or history.

I mean, I think they're both the same, if not better. What is the pool of lava doing now that the shard is out of it? Make perception check. That's an interesting idea. God, I'm rolling like dog shit today. Go ahead. You can't do that. That's a 10.

It doesn't matter, it's bad. 10? It's not bubbling. Any violence to it has ended. The temperature has only been a short time, so you haven't noticed any difference. You're not sure if the pool will cool or if it's just going to remain where it is.

You don't notice an immediate change. Okay. Nothing. It's a five. You have no idea. Chet, don't you have an ability to look at things and know things about them? Yeah.

I'm not touching that fucking thing. You can look at it. You have to touch it? Yeah, I got to touch it. I'm tactile, baby. I can't get my hands on it. Ashton was holding onto it. You could probably just touch it for a second. I don't want to be tough enough to handle it. It was sitting in lava.

I get a senior citizen discount. It's fine, Chet, look. Are you scared? Yes! Just touch it for a second. It was birthing little fire mosquitoes. Ah! Push it into his hands. Grim Psychopter.

You're lucky, you take two points of fire damage. Oh! Make a history of fire damage. Oh! Make a history check for me. Oh! Do better than me, do better than me. Yeah, I don't know. 21. 21. As you're clutching it, it's such a small shard,

but the power within it is nearly overwhelming. There is such a powerful essence locked within this crystal, and yet it's just a small piece of the entity it once belonged to, an entity that you, for a moment, feel yourself chained, trapped, kept away, vengeful, furious, and then freedom. The promise of escape.

You and a partner to bring this world low once more for those who fought and then light. Light that is a different fire than your own. It is blue, then white, and it breaks you apart. You see a mountain reformed and destroyed. You see this light engulf you in the brief glimpse you have of the Emperor as you reach for each other

and you're sundered into a million pieces. And this one piece just flies through the sky at an impossible speed before it punches into a mountain. Cool. That's pretty. I am Raushad. I relay all of that back.

Wow. Where is your other shard? I don't know. You said it was in you. Was it sticking out of your belly button or something? There's nothing sticking out of your belly button or something? There's nothing sticking out of my belly button. You can see that. Yes, very clearly at the moment.

Oh, that's right. It's not the glass thing in your head. That's something else. Whoa, watch that thing. I wonder if you put it. I have. I don't know, close to your chest or something? Just give it a roll. May need you for this, we'll find out.

I'll float it close to you. I'm going to grab it, I'm going to press it to my chest. I'm going to, actually, just out of curiosity, I'm going to attempt to rage just to see if I can open up the brain and make something, I don't know, something in the weird happen. Okay. Recognize something. Take nine points of fire damage.

Yep. You okay there? You need some cure wounds? I'm good. And just because it's always fun. Burning these rages, I will admit. All right, that's fun. Yeah, so, the red-blue shifts, I start to move very quickly

and practically vibrating as I hold this thing. As it vibrates in your grasp, you can feel the heat and the powerful essence that sits within it. You still feel that connection to that twin essence within you, both waiting to be awakened. The one you clutch, looking for its vessel.

I don't think it's for me. I think it's for me, but it's... I don't know. Who do we know who is fiery? Who do we know who's fiery? Don't act ignorant, FCG. Look at this goddess of a creature right now. I mean. Yes, take it in.

Take it in. I never viewed her that way before, but I can see that she has symmetrical features and some would consider her attractive. She has a flaming monkey that shoots flaming shit. I know, but she went burned by it. I have much more than my symmetry. Man of Mori, should we get permission?

Do you have a, did you get a waiver for this? No. She doesn't need permission. I don't want to piss off Nana Mori. Are you crazy? Didn't you see those bushes? She's an individual. I don't want you to take damage.

It's just letting him come here. You have to hold it if you're going to bond with it. Well, sure, but I'm just saying. If it's dormant, how do you wake him up? If yours is dormant, how do you put it? Talk to it. Shake it like a baby. You don't do that to babies.

Oh, okay. Anyone here trained in arcana? That's not what you do. Anyone here trained in arcana? Yes. Provision in arcana? Me. Go ahead and roll an arcana check.

I've been rolling so bad. But this is where you turn it around. This is the one where you get Guidance from fucking FCG. Something? Guidance only works in some sort of trap. She can take that. Shut up! I am so...

There's no numbers in your future. I use Guidance when it makes sense. I'm getting Guidance. Dark shadows over your dice. I use Guidance when it makes sense. Go away. It does make sense. You can't ask for help. Oh my god. She didn't ask for help.

You got to be intuitive. She's making the thinking space. Stop, don't look. You're going to curse me. Woo! It's okay, it's okay. I need Travis doubting me all the time. That's not hard. And you get it.

Okay, 21 total. 21. A powerful essence is locked within this particular artifact. There's another relic that you uncovered that had been used in the past to transfer the essences. Oh, we're fucking dumb! Holy shit! Of certain things into the wearer.

We just don't have it back yet. Duh! We gotta go get it. We gotta hold onto it. Duh! Does it look the same size and shape? Yeah, it's a big funnel. It funnels the fucking skin. So, yeah yes, I...

We got to go to Imahara Joe. You see, we were going to bring it with us, remember? Because we thought maybe if we found some Titan stuff, we could siphon it. But then it wasn't ready. That was weeks ago. Before we teleport, can anyone cast a mending on my pants?

I cast mending. I really appreciate it. Oh wait, do I have mending? Don't you have mending? Now you have put-offs. Yeah, you have mending. You better have mending. You've used it so many times. No, no, you don't have it. Cheeks out. Mend everything but the cheeks. We're fine.

Ooh. Uh-oh. I don't know. Uh-oh. Rock cockin'? You notice a faint flash of light on the other side of the chamber. Wait, what? We've got to fucking run now.

Well, yeah. Or it could just be... You don't notice it yet. Oh, shit. Yeah. Could be someone scrying on us. You glance over and you see, in the light of the lava, five figures.

The ones up front, you can see them wearing familiar raiment of the Ruby Vanguard, shield at the ready. Fuck. I'm watching a stick. Behind them, you see what looks to be a Ryloran, like the one that she had summoned in simple robes, step forward, and they're all taking in their surroundings.

You see a much larger Ryloren, muscular, close to eight feet tall. Looks like it's clutching some sort of a jagged bone cestus across the knuckles as it also takes in its surroundings. And stepping through the middle of them, you see a familiar older elven man with long silver hair. The rest of you here,

just as you take in this fearful display, well now. You certainly have been busy, haven't you? I suppose the sting of failure is a magnificent motivator. Telekinesis, I'm going to throw the lava that they're above at them. And we'll come back from the break at that moment. Oh!

Woo! Get the fuck out of here. Like a kid in a wave of pools. Yes. Hell yeah. All right. We'll return at that moment here in just a few minutes. No, I haven't finished my speech. Oh, hey there.

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Expand your collection of CR miniatures at wizkids.io slash CRminis. Oh! And your local game store. So this is way bigger than I pictured it being. I thought they were going to be right on. There's more land than I thought. Yeah. So there's about 15, 20 feet along the edges.

Got it, got it, got it. So let's say for ease of this, you all were over on this edge here. Wow. Just huddled over on this edge here. Wow. Just huddled out on the perfects. Just all right together. I mean, you were all right. We were, of course. Yeah, we were.

Yeah, sure. We were talking to each other. We were watching. We'll say this is the half-naked man. This is the spark. Handle a crystal. You really caught up on the naked part. You bet. It's going to keep rolling. You guys can tell me where you want to arrange yourselves

in this area, but it's going to be in this area. Oh boy. Looks good. What spells did I prepare today? I was still clinging to the wall, so I'll be towards the back. Okay. Yeah, that's great. Anybody want to change or adjust this at all?

I would be back behind Fearne against the wall because I tried to climb up too, but not. Oh, that's right. You were climbing. That's true, yeah. So you'd be about there. I think I would have done this in the inner room. Okay. Cool. Are they straight over there? Where are they? Where?

They came out of the lava? No, they just bamfed in. Okay. They were watching us. I knew where to go. My circlet is supposed to keep people from being able to perceive me. Who are you? Tell us who you are when you're putting them down!

These are the two guards here. Show somebody back from this way. That's the Rudy Tutes in the front with the staff. Yep. The Rudy Tutes? The Looty T staff. Yep. A Rudy Toots? It must be about there. Luda. Luda. Guard there.

Luda, Chris, go on. Luda, Luda, Luda, Luda, Luda, Luda. Rhylorin would probably be about there. And then the larger one that you saw. Oh my god. That is so much bigger than I thought. Is that her size? No, mine is the other one.

Holy Christ. Right? We need, mine is the other one. Holy cripes. Right? We need to get you the other one. I need to get a big one. What? Big and big. What in the aardvark fuck?

We're going to die. We are going to live. So you went ahead and first you began with Telekinesis to scatter it across the ground, which spreads a spray out this way. All of them have to make a dexterity saving throw. Okay. Your spell DC is?

Yeah. 18. 18, success for lewdness. How do you want to do this? Lewdness is dexterous. Fail. Fuck. Success and...

Success, okay. So go ahead and roll, I'll say 3d10 fire damage. Oh, that's pretty good. That's a generous mercer. Okay. I mean, it's a chunk of lava that's thrust out of it. The full being fully immersed is 8d10, so.

Oh, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. Cool, eight. Okay. Can you roll better, please? Yeah, I would like that. Get them all out now, it's okay. You got it. Get them out, get them out. As they all spray, you can see

Ludinus ducks down slightly and looks up, shrugs off. You see he has this white gem set in the middle of his forehead as he glances over in your direction. Trixie. Is that white gem new? Yeah, you've never seen that before.

I didn't have one roll initiative. Ah! No! Wow. Okay. Are you the only two who have ever seen Ludinus? Did we all see him? Not. We were just making a speech.

We showed up. You've also seen images of him throughout the city and stuff. Goddamn it. Okay. Over it. All right. Oh yeah, great. I'm glad. Oh, all right. MATT and LAURA laugh. Loud.

Is that a one for Luda? No. Do I still have the Vanquish On Constitution? But that was low for one of the other guys. Sure, has that gone away? Let me see how long that lasts. All right, so. An hour until I stop concentrating on it.

Oh, so yeah, drop it whenever it says. I know. 25 to 20. 20. 22. 22, all right. Fuck. Yeah, you wanted to go first.

Yeah, obviously, I really wanted to go first. Hundo, hundo. All right, 20 to 15. 19. Oh boy. To teleport away, we have to stay together. If we stay together, we're fucked. All right.

When is your time? Oh, sorry. 13. I rolled a 13. 15 to 10. 13. 13. Oh, dex. Rollies. Dex or rollies? Eight. 13. Dex? Rollies.

Dex or rollies? Eight. Okay. All right, we get a check. I think it's Ash, then you, then me. And then? And then Essie. And then? Ashton, Evagen, Orym, Chet, Evgen, Tessa.

All right, and then? Nine. Nine? How about you? 12, I'm so sorry. Oh. My bad, Chet. All right, and then? Nine. Nine? How about you? 12, I'm so sorry. Oh. Oh. My bad, my bad. What's your dexterity?

My dexterity is 14. 14, okay. So somebody's going to have the same turn as you. All righty. Ashton, you are up first. Oh boy. FCG burn Vlaadna, right? Yeah. Yes.

You just have to be within 10 feet of you, so we all have to huddle around you. At the end of your turn. Where are you? Or at the turn where I cast Fs. Right in the middle. He's right next to the, in between you and the spider. Okay, I'm going to...

Suppose I'm going to, yep. One rage after this left, we'll see how it goes. I'm going to rage. Roger that. And okay, not the best thing, but we'll make it work. Yeah, I'm going to... Oh, I can do a really fun thing with this. I'm going to rage, and the black and white begins to hit,

and I suddenly start to sink a little bit down into the ground, as if I'm getting a little heavy. I'm going to... He watches small pebbles and stones around Ashton begins to shake and move towards him. I'm going to go stand right in front of FCG. You're going to stand right in front of FCG? Where are you?

Right there, and there's FCG right there. Yeah, so I'm going to walk over and just stand. Right there? Just to be a shield. You're already low on health. But thank you. This is the spark here, by the way. I appreciate it.

Oh, yeah. That's the spark? Oh, we don't have it. No one's holding it at the moment. I thought you had it. Maybe he won't want to hurt the spark. Like, maybe he won't want to damage it. Somebody needs to grab it.

So we should stay near it. So he doesn't take it. Does that finish your turn, Ashton? Wait, someone has it, right? No, it's floating. Oh, it's just floating in the middle of us. Well, not at the moment. You used Telekinesis to thrust on them.

Oh, for your magic? You lost concentration on your... Mage spell on my mage hand? Mm-hmm. Ah, fuck a duck. God, he could just grab it. My mage hand lasts for a minute, you're right, so actually, if you're maintaining it. So you have, we'll say for now,

you have about six rounds before it goes away. Okay. Regardless, if a mage hand is holding it, he could grab it. He could fully grab it. Like if he's with a better mage hand. Yeah, somebody grab it. I have a really good mage hand.

Is yours a lefty or a righty? It's an ambidextry. You're coming up in a little while. All right, I'll do it. I'm going to grab the fucker and put it behind me. I'm going to grab the fucking fire. The spark.

Okay, so you go ahead and you grab it and you set it to your side there. Set it to my side. It's starting to burn your hands at the top of your next round while you're holding it. You'll take fire. All right. All right, so we'll note this is just in your grasp. Finishing Ashton's go,

that brings us to Imogen with Orym on deck. Okay. My telekinesis is still up. Mm-hmm. Just so this is your concentration. Mm-hmm. Did you say this is your concentration? I can also... These guys look like they're fire resistant. I don't know.

Do you take damage? Does it make you drop invisibility, or only if you take an action or cast a spell? Okay. Only if you're concentrating on it and you have roll to see if you maintain concentration. Is this a strength thing? Is this a strength? They might not be.

Okay, I am going to look and quickly judge which one of these guys looks like they'd be the weakest physically. I'm going to grab the floaty, skinny Ryloren. Okay. So the one over here with the robes? I'm going to try to grab him with Telekinesis. Okay, all right.

So that's you make an ability check with your spell cast versus his strength check. Cross the lava pond. That's a 10. 12. 10. Oh my god. Okay, I'm going to pull him forward into the lava.

Into the lava. How far in? How many feet? Just to where his whole body's in. Yeah, right there. No further away, though, before he has to travel to get out. Oh, that's true. Okay, five more feet in, he can move.

But now he's going to be closer to us, but that's fine. You see its dark, shark-like eyes go wide and suddenly its arms and with a slight arc into it. Go ahead and roll 8d10. Oh! 8d10, my man said. Yeah.

Did she just pull Eight into the lava. Eight. Sorry. 10. 10. Restrained. Or give me death. Which means his movement is zero. Whoa.

28 plus. His movement is zero because? He's restrained. She has him held in the lava with telekinesis. So weird. 50 points. Ooh! 50, five, zero points?

Yeah. You can see him in there still trying to scramble. You have no visual perspective to even see how hurt he is or not. Alive, but definitely is currently being held submerged in the middle of the lava. Okay. Yo! I'm also about to take damage again, so.

Okay. I'm also going to, since I didn't cast the spell on this turn, that means I'm going to quicken another spell and cast it as a bonus action. Okay. So I'm going to cast... I feel like, are all these Rylorns

going to be psychic evil? Mm-hmm. I am going to Mind Whip the big. The big one? The big one. Okay. So that's a third-level. Third-level spell? Yeah. Okay, what's the intelligence saving throw?

18. Gotcha. That is intelligence, you said, right? Yes. Okay. Natural 17 for a 19. Gotcha. That is intelligence you said, right? Yes. Okay. Natural 17 for a 19. Okay. So it makes the save, but still takes damage. Okay, on a failed save, target takes?

Boy. Okay, on a successful save, half damage, and suffers none of this spell's attack, so. Woof! That is 3d6 halved. But you do you. You also can move. So that's low.

That's seven points. Seven points, gotcha. Which is new. So the large one, as it holds its two massive, and you see it has these iron bands that go around its knuckles that wrap into these big gauntlet bracers, and there's jagged, almost dark brown bones

that are built into it that come out. And it slams them together and it's about to take a step as it reaches up and its hands grab its head for a second as it looks over in your direction. Its eyes narrow. Eh. A little bit, a little bit.

Okay. A little bit. Finish your turn. I'm going to just back up. I'm going to stay within 10 feet of FCG, but get as far away from them as I can. Maybe we're still within 10 feet. Yeah. Okay, you got it.

That's going to bring us to Orym. Okay, Orym's going to tamp down his nerves, which are on high alert, and I'm going to step five, 10, 15, right there. I'm going to. The heat is intense. He's probably going to move back, though. Going to cut the air

and slice at the Ryloren with seedling. Okay, go for it. So first attack is a natural one, which I'll reroll. Is he fully submerged, or is he sticking out? Is his head sticking out? I mean, he's, for the most part, submerged. You can see just a little bit. So he does have three quarters cover, technically.

Okay. What? 24 to hit? 24 still hits. Even with the plus five AC bonus, yes. Okay. And he's restrained, so you technically have advantage on the roll, too. Oh, okay. Because Telknees is holding him in place.

I get that 20. I did not, but it is higher. Yeah, definitely 29. So that is nine points of damage. Second sword swipe. Well, first swipe, as you fire the first beam, it cuts into it and you watch as the upper half of the other one's torso begins to emerge separately from the legs,

and both are just burning, incinerated. So that just finished it? Done. Oh, he's done. He did 50 points. We're going to win. Imogen did 50 points. We're going to win. Okay, so that evaporated, then I thrust Seedling out

and send a Grasping Vine to the soldier on that side. What's the range on Seedling? 30. 30? That's why I went to the very edge. Yeah, yeah. Dexterity save? Yeah, 14. That is going to be a 10. 10, drag him in.

Dead center. Go ahead and roll. 8d10. 8d10? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, 10, and... We got it. I'll pull up these 10s, too. Okay. Okay.

Four. This is not going to help us run. 10, 14, 23, 27, that's four of them. 7, 30, 39, 46. 46. 51. 51. That was eight. 51.

Eight. No, it's only eight. 8d10. Oh, well, there we go. Yep. You pull him in and hear him's final screams as he just burns and then. Just a little thought. Ah, I can't get over there.

So my next move that was 5, 10, 15 is to go 5, 10. Get back to FCG. Get within 10 feet of FCG. I can get there. That's within 10 feet, right? Yeah. And that's it, because I can't use the rest of my sword slashes, so I'm all done.

Okay. That's 10 feet. That finishes your turn. As this is happening, two of the arrivals immediately burn in this lava pit. Ludinus is like, this is an extremely rude way to deal with an extended olive branch. Oh, that would never kill. And then for his turn, he glances across the way. Oh, you've been prying, haven't you? What? He looks at your staff.

Oh. Oh. Oh, it's his staff! Uh-oh. Oh. Oh, we have his staff! He goes, ooh. Well, this won't do. I need you to go ahead and make a strength ability check for me.

Ability check? Yes. Not saving throw. Why, Matthew? Strength? Just roll a strength check. But Jill, what's the lie? Very, very bad. Not this time.

Come on, come on. Natural 20. That's a good face, right? That's a happy face. That's a happy. It was such a good. It's a low DC. Oh, you can't tell what it is? Do you need to roll again? It's a seven. Okay.

Nice try, Laura. Thanks. Extremely nervous. Just standing across the way, looks from the staff over to you, and with a quick glance towards you, then back to her, you watch as his extended hand draws a symbol in the air, and he unleashes it, and you feel your body tense up,

and he lifts you into the air, moving you 30 feet with his own telekinesis. Oh no, over the lava? Yeah. Of course over the lava. This motherfucker is 10 to 15 times older than Trent was. And it's just holding you in the air right there. That's going to be his action. Okay. Fuck.

Okay. This is a hostage situation now. Oh, so shit. Sure is. I don't think we can attack anymore. And it's going to go ahead and just take a few steps back. Damn it. Goddamn it.

You should just go closer to admire your work. All right, I could save us all because he stepped away, except Fearne would be dead. Not an option. Well, I'm just throwing it out there. She's had a good life. Had a good run. It's been a good run.

Maybe hold. Let's be honest, she's been a little questionable the entire time. Maybe you can hold yours. Hold your expression as soon as we get her back. As he steps back into the front of the chamber, if you've been digging through history, good. The more you dig, the more truths you learn.

The more you learn, the more you see how right we are. That's going to finish his turn. Damn. That brings us to the Ryloran Juggernaut's turn. Ryloran Juggernaut. Amazing. He's going to go ahead and... Are you holding your turn, then, or?

Me? Are we talking to this guy now? I mean, we're kind of... We're not going to win. Which is why you were going to talk. Although healing would not be. Uh-oh. Wow! They can run really far.

They can run really far! Did he do double his? He moved and dashed. And just went, just like, and the wind got low and then . You see him running around the lava pool, just getting really close and he's just charging right for your troop.

Oh no. As a bonus action, he's going to use Telekinetic Shove. Oh god. And is going to go ahead, so I need, so, I need you to make a strength saving throw for me. Strength save, yep, yep, yep. Just getting some, I'm going to, okay.

I have a saving throw. Okay. I'm going to fuck. Okay. Oh no! Oh wow. Hold. Is this one of the things you get to reroll? No, I don to reroll? No, I don't reroll it.

There's nothing I could add to this that would improve it enough to save my ass, so it's a fail. Okay. As it's running, there's a slight shine in its eyes, and you watch it move its head like this, almost like it's pulling back on a fishing reel.

As it does, it's almost like the wind on your back pushes you forward, and it pulls you five feet into melee with it as it lands in its place. Okay, it's like the wind on your back pushes you forward and it pulls you five feet into melee with it as it lands in its place. Okay, that's way better than what I thought was going to happen. Well, now I can't leave without getting hit, though. That's going to finish his go. Chet and you're up with FCG on deck.

Yeah, it's my turn, sure. So I'll use 10 or 15 feet of my movement to sidle up behind FCG, who's holding the spark behind his back, right? Or does Ashton? No, FCG has the staff, Ashton has the spark. Behind Ashton, sorry. One less square of movement,

so just 10 feet to get behind Ashton. And I'm going to whisper behind you, Give it to me! And I will let it burn my hands and I will slip it into the Bag of Holding. Okay. And I will use my action to turn invisible. Okay.

All right, so you turn invisible. We'll see. Is he going to burn everything in our Bag of Holding? Who cares? Is he going to burn the bag? It's just in a dimension. It's in a pocket dimension, it's fine. Then I will use the rest of my movement

to go as far as I can in between the Juggernaut and Imogen, trying to get on the opposite side of him from the lava. I have 45 feet total. I only used 10, so 35 feet. Between Imogen and him is about right there. I have 35 more feet. So if I can go more towards your right hand a little bit. Yeah, perfect. That's great.

Right there? Yeah. You got it. Maybe one square more. Sure. Yeah. And bonus action, action, movement, that's it. Okay. Finishing your go, Chetney. FCG, you're up. I don't know where, he went. I don't know where he went.

Who? Chetney. Yeah, he just disappeared. Wait, bonus action? Did I use a bonus action? Probably to take the thing into the bag. Oh, to put it in the bag. Yeah, I'll say that's enough action.

Fair. I don't know what to do then. Hi. Well, we can't ramp out without Fearne anyway. Yeah, so I can't hold that action. I mean, you could until. I could, but. I could definitely use it. I know you could.

I know you could. Since I'm about to get into it with this fuck. Okay. I'll just hit a third-level Cure Wounds on Ashton. I'll take that. Thank you. Unless you want me to attack Ludinus to burn some legendary reactions, legendary resistances.

Are we worried about him dropping his spell by accident? No. She can fly, right? Yeah, he can Feather Fall as a reaction. But into lava. As a react, well, but it's slow enough. She would have a little bit more time to think about it. I've still got telekinesis up, so I could pull her back.

It's not like we're going to be defeating her. Let me make sure we have her with us. I will heal Ashton. All right, you can. Come on. Okay. 14 plus three is 17 points of healing. I'll take that 17.

And then bonus action. I'm bound to some folks. Who's up next? Fearne's up next. Fearne or, yeah, Fearne and me. I can give people... I will give Fearne a Bonded Blessing. She's not going to be able to do anything.

She's being held. We don't know what's happening to her, right? She's just floating there. Does she seem incapacitated? Can she still move? Is she flailing? No, she is restrained. She's just floating at an angle in the air and you're looking down at the pool of lava below you.

Jesus, who do I help? Who do I help? Who needs my help right now? Your spells are savey-type spells. I'm going to give it to Fearne. Fearne, you get a d6, which I'm going to give her a Bonded Blessing. And I will move to my left by five feet.

Yeah. You got it. All right, finishing FCG's turn. Fearne, you're up with Laudna on deck. Okay. So... Fearne, you're up with Laudna on deck. Okay. So, I mean, I can try to break out of it. Can I do that or can I cast anything? You are restrained on the grip. Roll.

It's all haunting to me when it makes rounds. It's okay. I'll say you can attempt to use your action to try and break free. There's not really anything. No, it doesn't say. No, I don't think it can break free of telekinesis. It's not a physical restraint.

It's a magical restraint. On the next turn, he has to keep using his action to hold it. He has to keep using it to maintain you, yeah. So you can't break free, as far as you know. Okay. You can still talk to them. But you can still cast spells when you're restrained.

Yeah, you can still cast a spell. Just any attack rolls you make are a disadvantage. Okay. Okay. All right. So what I'm going to do here. He's got to have legendary actions, right? Yeah. Yeah.

I think he's like level seven. Millennia old. I'm just calling it out. So if you think you're going to take a one shot at something and it's going to waste it, don't consider that. Are we trying to possibly bamf out if we can get together? If we can get together.

Everybody can get over here. That's what we're still trying to do. Okay, all right. Misty's not going to go in. Okay. I don't know if this is going to do anything. I am going to cast Wall of Stone. Okay.

I want to completely encase Lewdness in that Wall of Stone. Okay. He's right next to the lava. To the wall already, so that's good. to completely encase lewdness in that wall of stone. Okay. He's right next to the lava. To the wall already, so that's good. Yeah, yeah, you can make a circle around him, sure. Double restraint. So, create 10-foot by 10-foot panels.

How many can you create? 10 of them, if you want to. Whoa! So if you go all the way to the ceiling with it? Six inches thick, if you want to. Whoa. So could you go all the way to the ceiling with it? Six inches thick, if you want to. Sure, you could for sure go. Yeah, just over the top of him. Yeah. The pieces won't look like it,

but would it really? Make a roll of the freezer. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's not muted! No checkbacks. If we went by that rules, you guys would have been dead a long time. I sure care. Every time we break yeah, it's not you, Jett! No check back. If we went by that rules, you guys would have been dead a long time. Sure could. Every time we break up, Stands and Jett.

Ah! So you all watch. If we don't exist. You all watch as suddenly the opposite end of the chamber, as Ludinus is stepping back and the defender's stepping forward, the porcelain rock surrounds him. Oh, he made a wall of stone around himself. and I make a forward. The porcelain rock just surrounds him.

All right. Does he still have his grip on him? Does that block his eyeline or anything? He won't see anything yet. Shit. How'd that move? Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. Shit, I don't think I can do anything else. That was good, though. Okay. Shit, I don't think I can do anything else.

That was good, though. Okay. Are you okay, healing-wise? Can you heal yourself? I'm okay, I'm okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Heal someone else? He's got to use something to break out of that. Oh, that was a spell. And if he uses his action to break out of it,

then it releases you. Okay. What about Mister? Give Mister a turn. I can't bring out Mister because I've already Wild Shaped twice. Is there anybody who needs healing? I don't think you can do that anyway

because that would be another spell. Well, with Cunning, Cunning, I should have just, okay. No, unfortunately. All right, all right. I think I need to stay. Okay, Laudna, you're up. Oh my god, everything keeps changing so quick, which changes my plans every time.

That's the beauty. Pardon. The beauty. What? Oh my god. Oh my god. Okay, this Juggernaut guy is a problem, right? Yeah, he's just still there. He's a problem. I like him. He could be a crisis intervention agent.

He looks kind of nice. He could be all about his words. He looks kind of nice. Okay, so what I'm going to need from you right now. Let's all just take a step back. First and foremost, I'm going to quicken spell and mirror image myself. Okay. Him being base to base with you, is that bad, Liam? It's okay. In Liam? It's okay.

In melee? It's okay. I mean, I have plans that will go out the window when everything changes three more times. I know, I know. Cheers to that. Yeah. Okay, shit, shit. If then.

If then. He needs to die. I'm going to Blight him. If that. He needs to die. I'm going to Blight him. You're going to Blight him, okay. It's a constitution saving throw. Oh god. Yeah. Wait, who are you Blighting?

The big juggernaut. Okay, okay. That is going to be a 16? Fail. Fail, full damage. Remember when we were making rock water slides? That was fun. That was fun. Does Blight make him weak? We had it right the first time.

What does Blight do? No, it's just necromantic, a lot of damage. On his next turn, does he get disadvantage or anything? If the target is a plant creature. It takes double damage, that's all. Or a magical plant. Is he a magical plant? If it's a magical plant or a plant.

Oh, got it. But it's just a 8d8 necrotic damage. It's a damage dealing spell. What does ticton mean? Oh, gross. Did a bunch of Cheetos come out with that, Bert? It's the grossest thing ever. I feel like I saw something go.

How funny. Six. 32 damage. What's the damage you got? It's not as good as I wanted. As you reach out and draw on it, you watch as the deep red skin that's exposed from its leather and metal armored straps around it

and its odd bone spikes that come out of the back of the armor, you're uncertain if it's part of it or just decor. It glances over you just as you watch the red veins turn black across its body and. I'm going to step closer to FCG just to be forever close to him in case we banf.

Okay. Okay. I don't feel good about any of this. Nope. Every move is wrong. Every move is wrong. Every move is wrong. Closer, wrong. Farther away, also wrong.

Yep, yep. She definitely should be. Jail. Move, action, bonus action? Done. We got it. I did all the things. All righty. Barely gotten started.

He just wants to talk. His defender is going to step up here. She's going to pull back to here. And keeping the blade at the side, is now eyeing Fearne and has his arm open. Open? All righty. The guard does? He's holding something.

The guard. All right. Ashton, you're up. Imogen, you're on deck. Yeah, no, he's just holding a... All righty. The guard does? He's holding something. The guard. All right. Ashton, you're up. Imogen, you're on deck. Yeah, no, he's just holding a... All right. He's holding a grabber. I take it we're just fucking with this guy? So I'm going to walk up right next to Orym. Oh yeah.

I am over this way? Yeah, right there. Okay. And very calmly. Make eye contact. I'm going to pick up the hammer, which has got that weird silver, Okay. And very calmly, make eye contact. I'm going to pick up the hammer, which has got that weird silver, old-time film gray tone.

And I'm just going to take a big fucking swing at this guy. Go for it. See what I hit. Advantage? I don't think I have advantage from here. Nope. I should have kept going around. You can go reckless if you want. I don't feel like it right now. I'm trying to be smart.

Good on you. Yeah. I'm going to try. 18 to hit? 18 does hit. All right. So I'm also going to burn a Chaos Burst. 18 hits the joker. So they have to make a strength saving throw.

Okay. That's going to be 21. Okay, they save it, but that's okay, because they take 24 points of damage. Nice. And are moved five feet to the, five feet that way. This way? To the lava? Yeah, to the lava.

Okay, they're not quite in there. Oh, really? They're right on the edge. To be Okay, they're not quite in there. Oh, wow, really? They're right on the edge. To be submerged, they have to be fully in there. Yeah, yeah, isn't that weird? And then I'll take my second hit. All right, that's not the die. Here we are. Yeah, it's 22 to hit.

It hits. I want to try and prone him. Hold off, well. See. Five. Actually, prone would be really funny. Let's try one more Chaos Burst. Make another strength saving throw.

Gotcha. That's even higher. Fuck Gotcha. That's even higher. Fuck that. That's a 24. Okay, that's fine. He's a big dude. I know. 17 points of damage. Okay. Gotcha.

All righty, does that finish your go? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think I'm good. All right, Imogen, you're up. Okay, I'm going to Quicken a spell. And I'm going to cast. Or you. Now, actually, interesting question. Because you weren't attacked last round.

Mm. Would your rage have dropped? No, because I was taking damage. It was enough of a turn that I would have taken damage. You hadn't taken damage yet because it was going to be the top of your next turn. But he grabbed onto the shard. You did, but he handed it to Chetney

before you took any damage. Is it enough time for the rage to have to reboot, or no? It's until, if you aren't attacked or take damage until the beginning of your next turn, you lose rage. Unfortunately. Okay, so should I just keep the rage now and re-up a different rage, or? Well, we'll reduce the rage damage

and we can just call that a chaos burst. Okay. All right, then I'll... Well, I wouldn't have used two chaos. Well, that would have changed a whole bunch of shit. I'd say, okay, so can I kill the chaos bursts? Well, can I kill the chaos bursts and then... Sure.

How much extra rage damage? Well, I'll kill the Chaos Burst and then... Sure. Then... How much extra rage damage? It's three points of these six points. Okay, got it. All right, and now I'll use my bonus action to rage my last, sad rage. Last rage? Okay, there you go. Where are we at? Come on. Ooh, okay.

That's fun. All righty, that finishes your go? I get, yeah, now the invisibility has begun to kick in and suddenly I'm a bit see-through. You got it. Imogen, you're up. I'm going to Quicken a spell. And across the lake, centered on the, between the wall of stone and the guard,

I'm going to cast just a, the area suddenly opens up and is filled with crackling thunder and bursts, and it gets dark, and I'm going to cast Seething Storm on that area. Okay. So that's a 20-foot sphere. Ooh! 20-foot sphere.

Right about there, right? Mm-hmm. To get both of them. Got it. Cool, cool. Yes, amazing. Yes. That is now crackling over there. I'll just put this here as a reminder. Any creature that starts in the area, takes lightning damage, and ends the turn,

must take lightning, or takes force damage. Gotcha. If they end there. But everybody in that area is blinded. Gotcha. Really? And telekinesis, you have to be able to see your target. Ooh! Well, we'll find out if he's got it. Go! It's okay.

It's LA. It's working. That's why I have a bonus action. I quickened that first. You've also dropped your telekinesis now because you've shifted to this for concentration. Yes. Cool. Smarty, smarty, smarty, smarty. Neither one of them can see, right?

Because Bluidness already couldn't see, theoretically. Might be furthering your theory. Couldn't see. Okay. So that finishes your go. Well, I can see. Yeah, no, you're right. I'll also do, for my action, or if this is not the same thing.

There's a difference between targeting a creature and maintaining it. So right now he can hold, he just can't move her unless he sees where he's moving. That's it? Mm-hmm. Okay. He can't be here. But the damage still does force him to make concentration checks.

Okay, great. It's a great move. Yeah, that was rad. Yeah. First good move. No, still wrong. That's all right, I did that before my other thing. I'll just...

I don't want to touch the juggernaut. I don't want to be close to the juggernaut. Nobody touches the juggernaut! Don't be one of these! Stop touching me! Nobody ever wants to touch me! Aw, poor Cain. Okay, Mark, I'm upset.

I'm going to do a little thing I've never done before, and I'm going to cast Blade Ward on myself. Nice. Okay. That's a good one. Yeah, it just gives me resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. You got it. Welcome to the Barbarian Club.

Cool. What does the juggernaut, he's got those big, crazy-ass knuckle arm things. Does he have any weapons outside of those that we can see? No. Well, what you see is the big bits of hide armor with weird metal and bone put into it. You see these large bone protrusions that come out of the back.

You can see he has belts and material hanging there, like a thick leather. Almost like a battle apron, in a way. Yeah. And he's just got these two cestus. The world's largest brass knuckles. Wow, okay. Holy shit.

Bone splinter cestus, specifically. That finishes your go. Orym's got to do something. Holy shit. Bone splinter cestus, specifically. That finishes your go. Orym, you're up. Okay, so Orym's not going to take his eyes off the juggernaut. He's going to step under through Ashton's legs. Yep, ready for it. Slip over to here. I immediately smell the scent of cypress trees and Bengay

and know that Chetney is close. Stop, Chris. I launch at the Ryloran. Amazing. Do you share that information with us? No. Okay, damn it. Don't worry. And I leap up, plant a foot into the juggernaut's knee

and stab into his gut. Okay. That is a one, which I will reroll. That is a 21. 21 hits. I will make this a pushing attack. Yes, you will. Okay. Mm-hmm. Let's go.

So the damage is eight plus. So that's 18 points of damage, has to be a strength save, so he's strong as fuck. 17. 17? 17 on the dot. Okay, here we go again. 17 on the dot. Okay, here we go again.

Come on! That's a 20. 20 hits again. Pushing attack. All righty. 10 plus 18 points of damage. 18 points of damage again. I didn't need to use the quicken.

Yes, I did. Yes, you did. Yes, you did. That, you did. Yes, you did. That is going to be a 10. 10? 15 feet into the lava. 15 feet! 15! Yeah! Boom, boom, boom.

Up on the elbow. Up to its waist. As it gets pushed back into that space, do 6d10 fire damage. 6d10. Well, he's kind of resistant. He's got a little bit of resistance. Well, he's not fully submerged.

Got it. He's half submerged. Never mind. He doesn't. He's not fully submerged. He's not fully submerged. Okay, okay, okay. Because he's big. He'd be more.

25. 33. 33. Woo! It's like. It's looking hurt. Orym is going to run, leap. It was.

What? Against this motherfucker. What? So I'm on him. Okay, all right, yeah. Okay. Come back. Third slash. Are you going to parkour? Jumping on him? I'm on him. Parkour off him?

Third slash. Oh, third slash. 18 hit? 18. It does. Pushing attack. 10! Oh! Apologize, you son of a bitch!

Send him! 19 points of damage. Woo! Woo! DC 17. DC 17. Natural 19. Aw! Action surge.

Oh! Action surge. Oh! 23. Okay, come on, dude. 12 plus... 14 points of damage. 14 points of damage? Yeah. Got to make a save. Save, 17.

You're doing it again? Oh, yeah, pushing attack. Natural 18, he's doing good this time around. 20 to hit. 20 hits. 12. 17 points of damage, pushing attack. 17 points of damage.

Come on, come on. Come on, come on. This is epic as fuck. That's cocked. Natural 20. Oh! I'm like, he's going real well here in the last bit. Last of my six, 22 to hit. 22 to hit.

Last superiority die, pushing attack. Come on! Last superiority die. Mm-hmm. 15 points of damage. How do you want to do this? Yeah! All right, so he leaps up on the knee, like I said,

jams it in there, he doesn't move. Orym pulls it out, whips up in the air, and then kicks this motherfucker in the face, sending him staggering back in. Land. Flea jump, land, slash, slash, and then I use Gust as I bring Seedling down into his head and wind just goes. As he just submerges into the ground,

I backflip off of this shit hole. Yes, you do. And land right on the stone, right back in front of it. That's so cool! Epic fucking turn! Hell yeah. Epic turn! As you-

That's a Gust, a sonic boom. Yeah. As you turn off and land, you watch as he backs up, burning to the point where his body stops moving, and the gust of air causes the rock around him to cool and lock him into place. Oh!

As he burns this little dark point around him. Take him off the board, Matt! Take him away! Fuck you! That is now a walkable point. That is now a walkable point. That is now a walkable point. Yeah! All right, all right. Okay. I am out of gas.

Awesome. Wow. Such a good turn. Fucking killed. All right. Here comes the pendulum. Wow. Okay. Here comes an H. Oh, that was sick.

Top of his turn, he takes what damage? Or is it a saving throw? He takes... Oh, what did I cast? You said 4d6 something. 2d6, no, it's 2d6 lightning damage at the start. Lightning damage? Okay, go for it.

So go ahead and roll that. 2d6 at the end of there? Uh-huh. If he stays in it, yeah. If he doesn't get out of it. Someone watching might ask why I have six superiority die at level 11. It's because I took Fighting Initiate at the very beginning of this campaign.

So six superiority die. Cool. So six of priority die. Cool. 10 points of lightning damage. 10 points of lightning damage, too. Yeah, easily maintains concentration. Okay. Easily maintains. Yeah, we got to figure out what to do about that shit.

I mean, that's a problem. Yeah, yeah. Is it Uteness? Sam's in conspiracy Yeah, yeah. Is it mutants? Sam's in Conspiracy Mode, man! Who's on the press? He's all over the gym! I suppose a TPK is the only way to really find out. It's like Vision 2.0. It's like new vision or something.

Orym protects his mind from her, the daughter of his co-worker. Is going to use his magic adept feet to spend two sorcery points to quicken spell and is going to cast Dimension Door. Oh. Acclar. Oh, so he's actually here.

Damn. Or it's just a very convincing Jesus! Very convincing hologram. A very convincing hologram. He can quicken the spell. Do we know if Ludinus is a sorcerer? He has magic initiate. So he can take a little sorcery. Metamagic Adept. Yeah.

The other effect. So, appears there, looks over up at you again, Fearne, and is going to go ahead and attempt to pull you even higher in the air. Actually, no, it's going to pull you over to him.

All right, all right. So for that... We need her back over here. He's going to take a hostage. God damn it. Okay, so now let's repeat another contest. Make a strength check. And you got a six added to this roll.

Okay. If you want it, if you need it. Yes. You might roll it out from 20. So I have a minus two for strength. This is just a spell he's maintaining, right, man? Correct. Fuck. I mean...

Seven. Uh, seven. Oh, wow. Seven. Oh. That's better. Right over next to him. That melee sperm was so fucking weak.

Yeah, I know. My strength is shit. Well, half it. It's minus two. She has a lot of charm. I dumped it all into my wisdom. Yeah, I get it. I'm very, very smart. But I'm very strong. Hey, she's not going to fall in the lava anymore.

Yeah, that's good. That's good. So pulls you in. Extremely rude of your friends to not even treat for a conversation. What is up with you? I can talk with you, easy peasy. Let's just talk, let's just talk. Let's find a better place to converse.

No! No! Fuck right off! 60 feet, they've got to be more than 60 feet away, right? That brings us, Ben, now to the Juggernaut's turn and he's done. I can try for a lead. Chetney. That was his next turn. That was his action.

FCG, you're up. FCG. Chetney and then FCG. So Chetney. So y'all are right there, huh? You need to get within 60 feet of him now. That's what I'm saying. I know. Yeah, who does? I do, so I can counter spell him.

But she's not going to. Well, oh wait, she could on her turn. Yeah, on her turn. Yeah, he's not going to go before. I'm coming up. He goes after Orym. Shit. Man. With my bonus action, I'm going to click my Boots of Speed.

Okay. Which means it doubles your movement. It does. So my movement becomes 90. Can I use half of that to come this direction? It's 90, that's so fucking nuts. Back's 2.0. 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50.

I'll just use 45. 45 is all I want. It's right there. All right. I think that puts me within 30 feet of him. About there would be 30 feet. Okay. Fuck it. We're taking chances.

Yeah. I'm going to use... Oh, I can't! That's a bonus action, too! Fuck! FCG, Fearne, Laudna. God, he's a full turn away. But he's before me.

Shit! Can I retcon and I'll just... Ugh! I'll just go stand near FCG and I'll hold... I'll hold... I'll hold the... I'll hold my attack if somebody comes within melee range. Okay.

Actually, I'll just move to the exterior of 10 feet of FCG, just towards that direction. There you go. Okay. Fuck. Hold your action. FCG, you're up with Fearne on deck. Anyone need healing? There's nothing I can do! He took 10 points of lightning.

I'll never say no, but no. But other than that, I know we're, or. I mean, I can try to hit this dude over there, but. We can't see him, I don't think. He's in a storm, but I think we can still make out his, isn't it dark? He's blind, but I don't think, I think we can see him.

But what's the point? He's so far away. Yeah, and he's not a threat anymore. I can't do an area attack on Ludinus because Fearne's right there. He's about to take a fuck ton of damage. It's not going to do anything. The only thing that it would do is maybe make him drop concentration on you.

Which would be great. But it would hurt you. How many quicken spells does he get as a magic? Well then, I'll just do a Spiritual Weapon on him. Do you know? What's the weapon? What's the range on Spiritual Weapon? 60 feet. I can walk a little closer.

What's up? I don't know how that class works at all. This is a take a feet. Peril, not a few words. 60 feet, you have to get about 10 feet closer to him. A couple points that you can spend to modify the wizard. Because we're trying to get him to drop concentration, right?

Yes. Okay. I'll walk 10 feet closer, cast Spiritual Weapon on him. In what form? Oh. Well, because we're doing a hostage situation. Oh no.

All right. I'm going to do a hand holding a pepper box right up to his temple. Don't make me do it, man! There it is. Don't make me do it! I'm crazy! That's the fucking thing. I'm loco! And I will hit him with it.

Okay, roll for an attack. Okay. And just base level two? No, I'm sorry, I'm doing it at fourth level. Fourth level, you got it. Which makes it stronger, right? Correct. I mean, when you hit it does 2d8? Yeah, 2d8 plus three, if I hit. If you hit it does 2d8? Yeah, 2d8 plus three.

If I hit. If you hit. So good roll to attack. Okay, come on. Okay, 19 to hit? 19 just hits. Okay. That's good, that's good. That's great, that's great.

Okay. It does finish. Seven. Three plus three. 13 points of damage. Do I get Divine Strike on this? That's only when you're physically attacking. He does roll to maintain concentration.

But yeah, he's fine. Ah, goddamn it! Hey, man, it was worth a shot. So that's your bonus action, right? Or is it an action to cast? Is it a bonus action to cast or an action to cast? Oh no, it's my bonus action. I didn't want to use my bonus action.

I wanted to use my action to fight. That's what I did on bonus action. I didn't want to use my bonus action. I wanted to use my action. That's what I did on my turn! I did the same thing as you! Goddamn it! If I didn't use it, I couldn't get close enough to do it anyways. It's fucking worthless. I was five feet short. I wanted to use my bonus action

so that I could save, I mean, I wanted to use my action so I could keep my bonus action to give her a d6. As a bonus action, you can impart a fuck. We suck at that! We got us fucked up! We're in our head! I know, I love it. Is that your turn? You have an action still?

I have an action, which I can't use for a spell. And no one's around. You can use for a cantrip if you wanted to. You can? Mm-hmm. Yeah, you can do a cantrip and a spell in turn. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah. Well then, shit.

I'll shoot a Sacred Flame at him. Okay, so dex save on his point? Dex 15. I bet he'll save. No, no, the natural two. Okay, 3d8 damage. Do this dance again. Eight. I don't know. Terrible.

Okay, 14 points of damage. 14 points of damage, all right. With that one, do I get to add to mine? No. No. He maintains concentration, but he gets slammed, I guess I'd say shot by the ethereal pepper box. Yes!

Yeah. He's like. Gets hit with that, and then the flames burn up around. Inferno, you watch him like. Shake it off a little bit. He's showing a little wear and tear. He's taken some damage, but he's not looking rough. No, that's not him.

And I'll use the rest of my movement to just tuck back another 10 feet back where I was. Yeah. All righty. When I was, oh, I don't smell. I was going to say when I was over there, did I smell Chetney, but I don't have a nose.

That's why I said, look for the farts! Did I not say I made noises as I ran by? You weren't doing it stealthily, so you heard like. Oh. Did I hear him come back? No, he didn't. I was going to make noise to let you know that I'm here.

That's why I came back. You should have slapped me on the butt. Okay. All righty. Finishing FCG's go, Fearne, you're up with Laudna on deck. Okay. Okay. Okay. Gotta stretch every morning. So I don't know ifudna on deck. Okay. Okay. Okay. Got to stretch every morning. So I don't know if I can do this.

Mm-hmm. But I'm thinking of casting Wall of Fire. Okay. And just sort of... Hang on. Stand by. You have no teleport, no blink, no... Where does the secondary guard go? Is he at the bottom of the initiative order, or?

He's at the very bottom of the initiative order. You have no misty step. He rolled a natural one on his initiative. You have no invisible. You have no... You can put the wall through him, around him. I can put it, again, it doesn't say that I can't, it doesn't say that I can't put it where somebody's standing,

so I think I can put him right in it. Correct, you can create the wall on somebody. Yes. I'd like to create it on him. If that's not doable, I might have another thing. No, no, it's doable. He's going to Counterspell. Okay.

So he has to roll to see if it counters it. That's a reaction. He just Counterspelled. He did, he did. But we're all spread out. That's going to be a level four spell. Yes. So he has to beat your... So he has to beat a f-

No, of course not. So he rolled at his spell attack. So it's a dex save of 18? Well, first he has to see if he can't stop it. Oh, because the Counterspell, sorry. Natural 20, yeah. Your Wall of Fire. It begins to burn around him and he just goes like, Because the Counterspell, sorry. Natural 20, yeah. Your Wall of Fire. Fuck, fuck.

It begins to burn around him and he just goes like, wrinkles his nose and does a quick little gesture with his free hand and you watch as your fire just dispels its Counterspell. Well, no, until the end of his, it has to reset. We don't know. Maybe this version of lewdness doesn't have it. Maybe this isn't really lewdness.

That's your action. That's my action. I'm open to it, I'm ready for it. We haven't seen it happen yet. This is good. Yeah. I can't be lewdness. I have a bonus action.

Can't be real lewdness. Wait, let me just, just, just. Lewd-ness. Fuck. Okay, okay. Lewd-net. Lewd-ness, go first, because you never give a fuck. Talk, okay. Ludinette. Ludinette's going first, because you never give a fuck. Talk to him.

You won't stop now. DJ Khaled, Ludinette. No. I hit him with another spell. All I do is weird, weird, weird. All you think of is DJ Khaled is the Overwatch League, like, watch this!

And he does this weird shuffle that sucks. Oh. Oh, buddy. Okay. It's great. All right. Mm-hmm. All right. All right. Let's just. All right, all right.

Let's just, you said there was an olive branch situation. Clearly, you've got me tied down here now. I can't do anything to you. What do you need? What do you want? What do you want? The time for conversation was past when your compatriots murdered my companions, and I was here on a diplomatic mission. So let's wait until we're alone.

Well, hold on a minute. To be fair, to be fucking fair, okay? You and your group have murdered my friends. And we brought them back, but that's besides the point. I think we're pretty even here. And I think maybe just a little bit of a conversation might be something that we all could use in this moment. Make a persuasion check.

Come on. Can't resist against that. You're going to get charmed, Calloway! Yeah, with advantage, because you're so charming. Yeah, double advantage. No. Can't guide yourself. I can't fight.

It's an action to guide yourself. I know, whatever, I'm trying. Y'all pushing 5e to its limits over here. No, no. Okay. 18. Ooh! That's pretty good. Yeah.

I'm certainly curious as to the similar paths we walk, given the interesting choice of location and glances past you towards Ashton. Patrons, that finishes your turn. Okay, I'll talk. Vladmire, you're up. Oh! Ah, okay. I'm going to move my full movement kind of in this way. Into the lava.

Not into the lava, but here-ish. All right. Can I still see him? You can, through the massive, divine, gun-wielding arm that's... Okay. Normal-sized arm. Am I still being held by him?

That's still up? Oh yeah. Okay. I'm going to let out a little whistle for my doggo. What? You have a dog? In her chest. Yes, in my chest. And my Hound of Ill-Omen is going to burst forth. 120 feet, he's going to go right next to Leudna. So I'm supposed to roll initiative for him,

but should he just go on my turn? I mean, roll initiative for him, see where he goes. Two, so he's under me. Okay, so he literally comes right after you and then comes the defense, so. Okay, but he's under me. Okay, so he literally comes right after you and then comes the defense. Okay, but that's okay. Sure, what do we do? This is dumb.

I am going to try something new. Yes. I'm going to do Phantasmal Force. Okay. So I'm going to make this illusion that this lava pool is splitting right in between Ludinus and Fearne. And the lava is crackling and boiling and separating,

pushing the two of them apart. Okay. What's the save on that one? It is a DC intelligence save, but he has disadvantage because he's base to base with my hound. That's true. Cool! Nice. Good thinking.

Ah, that puts him at an 18. With disadvantage? It's like he's really intelligent. I know, it was a gamble. Yeah, you'd have to do it like that, dog. He's cold! It's a good maneuver, it's a good maneuver. Okay. But not good enough.

That's it, and then my dog go-goes, I guess. Yeah, it's your dog's turn. Cold as ice. Gosh, that was so close. Does the dog give advantage in combat? He does give pack tactics, yeah. He gets pack tactics, yeah. Yeah, he grants.

He grants to other people? Yeah. Oh, that's pretty cool. Dire wolf shit. Cool. Good to know. That's good. That's a natural 19 plus five with his bite attack. That definitely hits. Two, two, six plus three. Okay, 10 damage. And he has to succeed on a strength saving throw.

Strength saving throw for him. That's going to be a six. He's knocked down. Okay. Ow! All right. Nice. Nice!

Concentration. Just want the game? Yeah, maintains concentration. You just pushed an archmage into the dirt. I did, with a ghost dog. So pack tactics gives it advantage when it's in the area, it doesn't give other people advantage.

Oh, it doesn't? No. I'm very old. Okay, well. Just wanted to clarify. It will fit its advantage on attack rolls against a creature if at least one of the wolf's allies is within five feet. Okay. Yeah, so it gets advantage.

So if he flanks? If it's a flank situation, maybe, yeah. Okay, that's what I thought. I'm sorry. That's okay. That's what I meant. That finishes your go? Yeah. The hounds go. All right, it's now the defender's turn. He takes 2d6 damage at the top.

Eight points of lightning damage. Eight points of lightning damage to him. No! And he's going to go ahead and run. He's protecting his master. 30 there. His real master. He's going to attack your hound.

Twice with his weapon there. Not the doji. That's going to be 16, Summer Quest? Miss. Miss? 18. Dang! That's awesome. And then? 18. Dang, that's awesome. And then natural 20. Yeah, that hits.

Jeez Louise. All right. 19 points of slashing damage. He's dead. Aw. The dog? Doggy dog! I only got him down A handful of hit points. You've gone too far, Matt.

Good. All right, that finishes the defender's go. Now he actually has five more feet of movement, so he's going to go ahead and step into where the hound was. He'll stay there, keep his shield there at the ready. Like, Martinet! And just put it at his side. Official names. Martinet! And just put it at his side. Official names.

Martinet, Luteus, Blast. This is ranked, right? Yeah, it is. What did he say? Martinet! Martinet, Luteus, Blast. Ashton, you're up with Imogen on deck. Ah. Question.

Does Wyrmhold Strike count as a close-up melee attack, even though it's a distance strike, or does it count as a ranged attack? In what context? If I were to hit somebody who is prone, would I have disadvantage or advantage? I know, odd question. In this instance,

you're making a melee attack at a distance. So it'd be disadvantage? No, because it's not a ranged attack. I know, isn't that odd? So you would have advantage, yeah. Okay. You would. That's the benefit of that particular ability. You got to burn a Chaos Burst to do it.

It doesn't do any additional damage, but. That's fine. This is one of those instances where, yeah, you can do that. I'm going to walk over to the edge where I know I'm at. Well, let's see, where's my, 60 feet, so. I'm just going to walk up to,

not quite to the edge of the, I'm going to walk up pretty close to the edge of the hut right there. 25 right there? Maybe not quite that far. Okay, right there. Right there. That's 60 feet, give or take. Maybe. Yeah.

Give or take. That's 60 feet. I'm feeling pretty confident. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, he Matt's 60 feet. I'm feeling pretty confident. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, he's 60 feet. Damn it, drop that fucking spell. Boom! And I'm just going to splash down with a Wormhole Strike right on top of that Primal Moth fucker. Okay, one more attack.

That's 22 to hit. That hits. 20 points of damage. All righty. And if I do two hits, does he have to, does he have to do the two together then he has to roll against the saber? No, it's against each one.

Okay, so. First one, maintains concentration. Well, yep. Fuck? No, it's against each one. Okay, so. First one maintains concentration. Well, yep. Fuck it, I know that by the time this ends, we're all going to be fucked anyway. So might as well go for another. That's cocked, damn it. Fuck, I miss 14.

14 misses. Shit. Don't know how I did it. The one that hit was tough. So you assume that you hit him once. It's hard to see him because he's clustered around by both Fearne, this sentient hand, and the defender has its shield out in front.

Shit. I'm going to back up again to FCG. Okay. You didn't drop Concentration? No, I tried. All right, that finishes your go, Ashton. Imogen, you're up with Orym on deck. Okay.

Fuck. I'm going to move right here. Are we teleporting? Yeah? Yeah. And I'm going to cast... I'm going to cast... Sorry, my thing is being funny. I'm going to cast Lightning Bolt

into the back of the soldier and him. Okay, yeah. He gets a disadvantage on dexterity saving Okay, yeah. And he gets a disadvantage on dexterity saving throws, right? Because he's prone? Yeah, and that's a full line there. Dang. Yeah. Yes, it is.

All righty, so the defender. That's a fifth level. Fifth level, nice. The defender fails. Damn, had a really nice check, too, but still failed. And then the, including this, disadvantage is going to be still a 24. On dexterity?

He rolled pretty good for disadvantage. Sheesh! I'll throw you out like a 20 in every stat. Jesus. He rolled a two before on dex. I know it's possible. Jesus. He rolled a two before on dex. I know it's possible. Okay. He does.

It was a natural two. Right, yeah, I know. 10d6 damage to the little dude. Two, three, four, five. Six, seven, eight. Nine, I want to see if I have enough. Burning a lot of shit here. A hen.

Whoa, whoa. Oh my. Okay, okay. A lot of highs. Oh my. 12, 22. 28, 36, 41, 42 points of lightning damage. Damn! 42.

He gets fried from behind and just drops to the ground, smoke emitting from underneath the armor, while Ludinus takes half. Yeah, so 21 points. Dang, nice. Nice. Concentration check. Yes, indeed. Drops concentration.

Oh, great fucking shot. Yes! Let's go. From that point, Fearne, you feel the grip release you. You have to get it, but he's going to have a turn after Orym. Is he still down? He's down. He's still down.

He's prone. He's prone. I know. But. Does that finish your turn? For my bonus action, I'm going to telekinetic pull her five feet away from him. What's the range on that? I don't know.

Whatever he needs to be! You know! It's 30 feet! It doesn't work! Yeah, it's not going to do that. Sorry. Thanks for trying. Does that finish your turn, Imogen? Roll back towards FCG. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm going to step back towards, hold on, let me just double, triple check. You're pulling her from Bram for some time or something? Maybe. I'm thinking about it. I'm going to use my bonus action to now. I also want to know what he wants to tell us. Yes.

You want to talk. To get a spell back. He's going after the gem. I'm going to use my bonus action to use some sorcery points. You got it. All right, O? To get a spell back. I'm going to use my bonus action to use some sorcery points. You got it. All right, Orym, you're up. Orym screams Fearne's name. He's going to run 5, 10, 15, 20.

You can use a thingy, right? 530, I can't use a thingy. I will pull a dagger out of each boot and just wing them at Ludinus' body on the ground. Okay. At disadvantage. Yeah, because he is prone. Yeah. I'm far. That's balls, that's 17.

That misses. Red very misses. Mm-hmm. Also misses. And let me just check one thing. Hey, hey, hey, hey. That's it, I just stand there ineffectually looking at Fearne,

willing her to get the fuck out of there. That's the end of my turn. Okay. That brings us to Ludinus' turn. You're not going to roll back towards us? I can, I used my full movement to get to that part. Okay. Whatcha gonna do when they come for you? Bad boys, bad boys.

Whatcha gonna do? All right. So. But they already don old get down. Ludinus gets back up. Here, as the spectral hand remains, looks over towards you. And goes,

It's a shame, but at the very least, a lesson can be learned here. As he steps past you, you can take an attack of opportunity if you'd like. Yes. Oh no, he's going to do some really terrible stuff to us. Yes. We did a...

You were saying that as he was looking at Fearne? Yes, as he walks past her. So it's a physical attack. Go ahead and roll an attack of opportunity with your melee attack. Sickle. Your sickle. That was about to happen. We're going to die. Can I do it with my thorn whip? Go ahead and roll an attack of opportunity with your melee attack. Sickle? Your sickle. That was about to happen. We're going to die.

Can I do it with my thorn whip? No. Okay. That's a cantrip. You have to have Warcaster to do that. I just, I understand. I just wanted her to get back so we could teleport. I know. You just swing wide. He looks out and begins to mutter

an incantation under his breath. As his fingers spread, the air seems to shimmer. I need a 30-foot radius sphere. Counterspell! What's he doing? Counterspell? Yeah. Okay. It's a 60-foot range. Yeah. You are within 60 feet.

Go ahead and roll to see if you counter it. This is a ninth-level spell. Ooh! You can't actually drop the nine! So you need to beat a 19. I need to beat a 19. Yes. Don't you have a d6?

Don't you have a d6 from me? No. You're the fucking d6 because of bonus actions. My spellcasting modifier is five. Right, so roll a d6 from me? No. Didn't give her the fucking d6 because of bonus actions. My spellcasting modifier is five. Right, so roll a d20. 14. So I have to roll a 14. You have to roll a 14 or higher. Okay, okay, okay. That's plenty of outs. That's plenty of outs.

I didn't give you the goddamn six! I have a 25% chance of hitting this. Yeah, yeah, yeah, give it to me, give it to me. You're going to fucking ruin everybody. My best ever, overcome the man! You'll dream about this forever! Take a fucking picture of that! Oh my god. Take a picture of that fucking shit right there. I can't believe it.

Don't shove it up your ass! The magic works! The magic works! Doesn't the magic work? Okay, okay. I got it. Oh my god. Yes! Yes, you dead woman, yes! That's right, doubt me! It could be anything.

Each of you feel this strange alien arcane hand begin to reach into your mind, your memories, your fears, and then suddenly, it's gone. And you just see Ludinus go, he's going to Counterspell you, try and continue the spell to see if he can do that. Didn't he already use his reaction? It's a new turn.

Doesn't recharge at the end of his turn his reaction? It's a new turn. Doesn't recharge at the end of his turn? Huh? It's the top of your turn, you get your reactions back. Top of your turn. And it's a third level? Yeah. So it has to be a 13. Roll the six.

It's a 12. Oh! Come on! What? Fuck! Oh fuck! Take a picture of him. Oh my god! Take a picture of him.

Goddamn it. Okay. Ah! Ooh! Ooh! As he tries to... The Counterspell just shatters. Oh no, he's going to hit you.

Yeah, he is. Oh my gosh. Well. At the very least, we have more information. And he's going to keep walking. We have more information? 25 to 30, and then just fall into lava.

Yeah, he's not real. Knew it! Yeah. Yeah. He's not real! As his body hits the lava, his flesh melts immediately into a pile of snow that almost instantaneously turns into steam. Can I try to grab the stone on his forehead? What about the stone? The stone.

Yeah, the one in his head? The stone, if you want to try and rush over. I want to try to grab the stone on his forehead? What about the stone? The stone. Yeah, the one in his head? The stone, if you want to try and rush over. I want to try to grab it. Okay, so you rush over to the side. Go ahead and make an investigation check to see if you can see it. Investigation or perception, your choice. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay.

I'm going to do this one. Epic. Epic. That was epic. Fucking crazy. So it's his mental. No, this is a simulacrum. Yeah, but he. But his brain is still in a. Yeah. 24.

24. So he's seeing through it. You see it, you grab for it. You will take fire damage from this. Okay, yes. Wow. Wow. Wow. Okay.

You take 18 points of fire damage. What was it? Was it going to be Modify Memory? You're reaching into our brains? Ninth level? No. It's some custom Martian bullshit. It's some crazy Martian bullshit. So you pull it forth and look at it,

and the stone, the opal, is in your grasp. The fire burns away. It is cracked. Good to have anyway. Yeah, definitely. Check it out, see what's going on. Turn it into an eclipse. I mean, it's magic.

Yeah. We can bring it to... Imahara. Yeah, Imahara. Ah. Are the threats gone? It seems like there's no immediate threats that you know of. Ah! Are the threats gone? It seems like there's no immediate threats that you know of. How is the lava lake looking?

It looks the same as before. We got to get out of here. Let's get the fuck out of here, everybody. I'm so tired. There's nothing here for us to fight. We're going to go now. Yeah. What if he just sends another group?

I have a feeling he can just make more and more of that shit. We can just keep making him sleep. We should. Fern, get over here! Can we at least investigate the dead body of the guard? See if there's anything? Yeah, you want to check the dead body? Sure, yeah, I'll check the butt. Well, who's better at that?

I'm not very good. Check the butt? I'll check the butt. Anybody else? It's Fern. What's going on in there? Spread them. Yeah, let's better at that? I'm not very good. Check the butt? I'll check the butt. Anybody else? It's firm. What's going on in there? Spread them. Yeah, let's check the body. Can you go check the body? You're good at that. Sure, yeah.

I'll run over. Digga, digga, digga, digga, digga. The body of? The guard. The only one left. Throw into the lava pit. Okay. Indeed, there is a set of Ruby Vanguard raiments,

a nice big shield, like a tower shield, a longsword that looks very well made and looks to be about, let's say, 325 gold. Sweet. Ooh. Should we take his clothes and shield? There's nothing but weapons over here! Take his clothes for sure. I'm actually going to take all of it

and just shove it in the Bag of Holding. The robe, while the snow melts and the steam rises, you can see the robe that he was wearing is still floating and slowly sinking into the water. Get him down, get him down! What was it? The robe. Who's grabbing it? That's good for...

I can grab it, I can grab it. Yeah, or I can cast Telekinesis again and pull it out. I can grab it, too, I'm right there. Okay, whoever's there. We just need to get it. You're busy. Okay, so you rush over real fast and grab it before it vanishes and pull it out and it's one of the touches.

It's just, I mean, it's like a, I'll say like a simpler replica of the ceremonial robes that Ludinus wore at the creation of the Bloody Bridge. Okay, we got to check that out. But is it damaged by the? It is not damaged by the robes. Oh, there you go. Amazing, yeah. So we got two toys to play with.

It's just like a costume replica? It just looks like a simpler version, like the same design, but it's less ornamental and... It's not like Ludinus. It's Spirit of Hull Red Moon Rit like moodiness. It's spirit-hugging red moon ritual robe. Right? Yes, yeah. Yeah, exactly. It didn't incinerate immediately.

It means it's magic. It's magic, yeah. Comic-Con, they had robes ready 15 minutes after the solstice began. People were already wearing that shit. Should we say a little prayer for all the falling Doom Paloompas? Yes, and it should start with a fucking teleport spell. Oh yeah.

It's what they would have wanted. Yeah. All right. Doom Paloompa, Doom-pa-dee-doo. The Elder Scrolls. I want to get away from you. Gather round. I guess we'll teleport out of here. Let's get the fuck out of this place.

Where are we going? Are we going back to? Where were we going to meet Timothée Chalamet? Kimothy Chalamet. Kimothy Chalamet. But we're in the Shattered Teeth. Are we really leaving?

Wait, isn't there somewhere else we have to go? It's so nice here. It is so nice. There's nowhere else we have to go? Yes, we have to meet up with. We should probably go back to Imahara. Yeah, we have to find out if they've. But there's 20, 41 islands, or what?

How many? 43. 43. I think our- We've been on two! I know. I think our easy breezy, no time limit street is ending as Ludinus is tracking us more and more. That's very fair. I really wish we could stay, too, but yes.

We'll come back. What information did he get? Why did he change? What we were after definitely He's got more information. He knows that we have a shard. He knows that she can do kind of spell. He knows our abilities. We fucked him up real good.

But yeah, we did. We did way better than I thought we would against him. He knows we've got the rod. He knows we're learning stuff. So options, where we can go? Back to Evantrevir. I think it's dangerous to bamf inside of the Shattered Teeth.

I would agree. Yeah. We got to go back to Imahara Joe, then, unless there's anyone else that we need to visit. Where is Imahara again? Kimmeth Chalamet was going to come back and meet us there, or she was going to just reach out to us? She was going to just...

She sent the individuals that you saved from Bassuras to meet with another tinkerer with a mind for odd mechanics and magic. Oh, that's right. So you asked them to be sent to Whitestone. They're in Whitestone. We should go to Whitestone. Okay.

But, okay. We can go to Whitestone. I would feel better with that fucking fire crystal in Whitestone at this point. Wait, where's Imahara right now? White Stone. Imahara said it was going to take two-ish weeks. On his own.

But he's got several. With the help of Vespa and the help of the terrible tinker of Tal'Dorei, it might go much faster. Okay. So wait, did we send Imahart Joe to Whitesnake? Yes. And Dancer. And Dancer. Yes.

Okay. Terrible Tinkerer of Tal'Dorei. Right. Triple Tinkerer. Okay, then Whitesnake. All right. Okay. Gather round. For I have news.

For I have news. I guess I'll target, do you want to go to the palace or the Sun Tree or? I mean. Or walking distance. Yeah, I think Sun Tree is a nice change. Aim for the Sun Tree. Okay. As you clutch the staff that Ludinus recognized

in your hand, the twisted wood and the odd crystal at its edge, you concentrate and watch as the various glowing glyphs in the side diminish as it expends the power within. And all of you feel that familiar rush, that rise under your stomach of anticipation and energy as you all are pulled between realms. of rise under your stomach of anticipation and energy

as you all are pulled between realms. And we'll roll for where you get next, as we're going to end the episode there. Oh! We roll now or next episode? We'll roll at the beginning of the next episode and see if this succeeds. We're just caught in the in-between right now. What a crazy fight. That was so fun. That wasn't even a real guy! No. Oh my god. See if this succeeds. We're just caught in the in-between right now. What a crazy fight. That was so fun.

That wasn't even a real guy! No. Oh my god. I feel both a little bad that we didn't get to hear a villain's speech and also very impressed that we managed to interrupt a villain's speech that completely. I know. I wanted to know what he was going to say! I'm sorry!

No, no. I have flashbacks to just feeling so dumb for letting him keep talking when he ended the world. I was like, why don't we just let him keep talking? I feel like that's the biggest insult to him, is to fucking... It feels great to have put egg on the face of the Archmage.

His shit did not work. Yeah, it's pretty good. It just did not work. You destroyed him. Laudna. That was amazing. Clutch rolls. Just thank God. All the shit rolls that I've been rolling this entire game,

it didn't matter. It's the only one that mattered. What? Ninth level. Stabbed a man into the fucking fire. Like, the fire didn't kill him, the stabbing. That was awesome. You beat the lava in a race. I was like, I know this guy is strong,

but if I do it six times, Empty the cliff! Surely I can get him. Even his versions of himself wouldn't let you get the final blow. Yeah. He was like, mm-mm. Yeah. Yeah. I'm going to do this myself.

Well, I'm excited to see where we go next time. We'll pick up from here. Oh my god. Thank you all for joining us. We love you very much, and is it Thursday yet? Yay! Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Critical Role. If you enjoyed the adventure, please leave a rating and review wherever you stream the Critical Role Podcast Network.

Your story might inspire another listener to join the journey. Be sure to tune in to the next adventure. Until next time, this is Taliesin Jaffe. See you soon.