Critical Role - Escape from the Reach | Age of Umbra Episode 7 Part 2

Episode Date: July 29, 2025

Part 2 The group carefully navigates the dangerous domain of the Damask Queens and confront the dangerous guardian of a verdant home... DAGGERHEARTDaggerheart is OUT NOW! Visit https://daggerheart.com to learn more. Purchase your copy at friendly local game stores, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other bookstores, or Critical Role shops:US: https://shop.critrole.comUK: https://shop.critrole.co.ukEU: https://shop.critrole.euAU: https://shop.critrole.com.auCA: https://canada.critrole.com AGE OF UMBRASmall communities hold fast against the darkness of a dying world in Age of Umbra, a dark, survival fantasy 8-part Daggerheart mini-series with Game Master Matthew Mercer and players Ashley Johnson, Laura Bailey, Liam O’Brien, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, Taliesin Jaffe, and Travis Willingham. Death lurks around every corner, but five characters of the small community of Desperloch must band together to fight for hope for their community, risking it all for those they love. BEACONCurious what happens when the camera turns off after an Age of Umbra episode? Watch the Cooldown episodes with the cast discussion after each episode, exclusively on Beacon! Start your 7-day free trial today at https://beacon.tv/join and get unparalleled access to the shows you love completely ad-free! You’ll receive NEW Beacon exclusive series, instant access to VODs & podcasts, live event pre-sales, merch discounts, & a private Discord. CREDITSKey Art & Character Art by Anthony Chong Jones | @robotpencilPlayer Miniatures by Hero ForgeSpecial thanks to Solar Simon DMMain Theme Song by Omar FadelSet Design by Shaun EllisSet Fabrication and Production Design by Noxweiler Berf Due to the improv nature of RPG content on our channels, some themes and situations that occur in-game may be difficult for some to handle. If hearing discussions of certain episodes or scenes become uncomfortable, we strongly suggest taking a break or skipping that particular episode.Your health and well-being is important to us and Psycom has a great list of international mental health resources, in case it’s useful: http://bit.ly/PsycomResources

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

Hit on over to Beacon.TV to check it out for yourself and start a seven-day free trial. Thank you so much for your support, for being a podcast listener, and for being a part of our community. Hey there, Critters. This is Ashley Johnson. And Tell us and Jaffe. And we're popping in here to talk about our new podcast on Beacon Weird Kids. In this series, we're diving into our lives as former child actors, from unraveling our eccentric upbringings to embracing all the delightfully odd interests we still have today. We're covering so many topics.

like antique toys, taxidermy, Japanese pop culture, and honestly, anything else we come up with. Weird Kids is available exclusively on Beacon. But good news, we're offering a one month free trial on Beacon.tv so you can take a look before you become a member. Just use the code Weirdos at beacon.tv to start the trial. You can also find fellow weirdos

by following the series on our at the Weird Kids Pod Instagram and using the hashtag Weird kids. So to all the misfits, outcasts, and weirdos out there, come take a seat at our table and celebrate all things unconventional, nostalgic, and wonderfully weird. Welcome to Weird Kids. New episodes release every Tuesday.

Hey there, Matthew Mercer here, and you're listening to Part 2 of this episode of Age of Umbra, a dark tale and campaign setting from our recently released Tabletop RPG Daggerheart from Darington Press. If you haven't checked out part one yet, pause this now. and head over there first. Otherwise, let's return to our adventurers striving against the darkness in part two. And welcome back.

So, as you've reached the northern gate of the Cinebar quarter, you've moved past unnoticed by some of the Damascus queens that were about to celebrate someone's birthday. As the flames crackle in the distance and the pillar of black smoke denoting the burning household that you had briefly spent some time hiding in crackles in the distance, you reach the exterior gate that is closed before you. How do you proceed? That's right. The gate. There's another gate. People out and around looking or noticeably less people in this area. We seem to be. This area, I mean, where you guys have pushed through this area, at this gate, there's nobody here.

Got it. I mean, I always try pushing. We're going into the Cinebond quarter or out of the Cinebond quarter? You're leaving the Cinebar Corridors heading northward. The exterior gate. Yeah, this is the perimeter gate. Is it a queen? You say that the Cinevon has sort of layers and layers? Oh, boy.

No! You want to help me push? Yeah, is it a pushy? Is it a pushy gate? Or is it a Lifty gate? It looks like it opens outward or inward. That's either or. That's a pushy or pulling. Try pushing and then try playing. Okay, well first try, yeah.

We were here yesterday. This one pushes. We had people that could detect magic. That's such a deep cut. This will have to be just a thing. It could detect magic and now we got nothing. Yeah. Let's try push it.

I think you should leave experience? Yes, yeah. You just like to very uncomfortable things? You just quote? Yeah. Honestly, pretty great. If you both want to try and put both of your weight behind it, one of you can make a strength rolling, the other can spend a hope to help, or you can try and make a group role between the two of you. Your choice. What's your strength buff?

Plus three. Same. You want it? Yeah, sure, sure. But you spend all your hope, right? I got one more hope I can spend. Well, then how about, I'm going to spend a hope to help you. Okay. Because I have three hope. You go ahead and make a strength action roll, add the DC. Six.

Oh, wow. Not bad. 10, 11. 16 with hope. Woo! Nice. You take a hope, but the gate is too heavy for you to push. Both of you lean against it.

Is it a pull? You're both just like, no, it's just a very massive door. It's a very massive gate. Oh, I just got your, I think you should leave, Joe. There it. Any chains leading up to the top of the wall or anything? the top of the wall or anything, like on the previous gate,

anything that could be scalable? Nothing easily scalable. There are amongst kind of the perimeter wall. You can see there are arrow slits at different stages that could be possibly like leapt and climbed to get to the top of that outer wall parapet if you'd like to. Do you think something's blocking it? Like a big bar?

Or big chair. Yeah. Yeah. We hear they climb. There's no one manning these gates, right? Like there's no guard or watch person. person? No, it looks like everyone's shifting over, at least from this particular areas. I mean, moving towards the celebration. Okay, we could either do like a human ladder. One of us could climb. Probably me.

Um, or we could use tools to, or magic to try to blast open the door or weaken it, heat up the metal. Couldn't even push it open. It's so big. Do you want to try to hop through the... Seekines are pretty desirable. Can I help and you can sort of, I can give you a hand to get up to my wings I wasn't sure to put you up top to peek through the arrow window. Sure. Yeah. You're fairly decent at leaping, and the first, like, arrow slit

you can grab onto easily. If you want to try and use your leap, you could probably get to the top of this if you wanted to. I'll do that. Does it mark a stress to do so? Or does it just... To do the little leap, the Caprene leap, there is no cost. What does it say on the card?

It says you can leap anywhere with you. close range. Oh, than close range. Oh, then close range. Can we give him a little boost? No, close range is pretty dang close. I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what, by yourself,

if you wanted to make an agility roll, it'll be a fairly low difficulty on this. A 10 is what you have to be to make is at the time. He's got this. We don't even have to spot up. We don't even have to catch him. 15 with hope, guys. Take that hope, great.

Land on top. No. No, you get to the top and can see that there is, from this particular way, a crank wench that rises at, that pulls it upward, which explains why you couldn't push it, even though the design looks like it had a divide in the center, it looks like it was more of a decorative part to it. Trixie.

So it was a lifty? It's a lifty, yeah. I need some other five. So again, I could try to crank it. You could try, yeah, if you want to make a strength roll for it. All right, limbering up. I'm gonna try, I'm gonna try. Some of the strength of the goat, the mountain goat.

Is that cocked? No, it's not. That would be a nine with fear. Nine with fear, doesn't even budge. Fuh, fuh. Fuh. A few little pelts. It's broke. Do you still have your rope?

I do have rope, yeah, I assume. Yeah, yeah. You recovered it. You want to help the rest of the team kind of climb up with you. You could just go over the wall and avoid the gate entirely. Let's do that. Oh. Great. Come on rope.

I'll do the same. I'll let you do that. If. If you all mark a stress to go through the process of climbing up over and try and be mindful of those that are maybe still wandering to the nearby streets. Yeah. Or you can roll for it. Choice is yours.

What would the roll be? For stress. It's a lot of cost. It is. It would be each of you making a group role of agility for all of you to climb up. Actually, let's be row. This would be strength.

But this would be you helping them up, so you would all be helping him roll a strength role. Oh. I'm not good. I'm not good at that. Or we all mark his stress? Yeah. Maybe we should mark the stress.

All right. It's stress. You all mark a stress and clamber up one after another. Old school Batman style, just up the side of the wall until you get to the very, very top of it, and there immediately you see at the edge of this northern part of Amber Reach the expanse of the Orham Wailed in front of you, climbing up to the base of the topper, the topmost sections

of the Idle Hollows Mountains. You also see just beyond where you stand, a beautiful, rising, observatory-like fantastical domed tower of jade and silver, blanketed and ivy. Oh, cool. At a quick glance, location-wise, and the explanation and visuals you've been given from those before you left, this seems like it's likely the astrophoundary. And a sign that you are not far from your destination in this journey. It's just that length of forest and the barrow.

Barrow left. We're so close. We're so close. So close. Honestly, I never thought I would see this much of the world. Me neither. I bet we're days ahead of Ghost Hook. Yeah.

But we are. Yeah. If so, it's alive. And if we, I hope so, it's pretty cool. Are we going around the Astro Foundry or through it? Yeah, they said to go like, it's our marker, but to go around it. Okay.

Probably has lots of knowledge in it, though. I am going to sort of just very quietly. To just ruffle my feathers just a little. So a little hum sort of comes out, and everybody gets a rally die. Yes. The D6, to spend on an action roll, reaction roll, or to clear a number of stress.

I feel so inspired. I'm gonna clear some stress immediately. Okay. Go for it. Six. Six. Six. Six. Beautiful. Good. Yeah, to clear a number of stress equal to the result.

It's honestly clutch when you use it to clear your stress. Yeah, it is because you get very great. It's almost a way to go. That is almost the way to go. All right. Yeah. Here we go. You clambered down on the opposite side of the gate

and immediately are met by the exterior of the Ornweld. The forest has expanded and grown wild and just completely consumed this whole portion of the mountainside valley before the rock overtakes it and the growing spires in the distance. You look at the map that you were given. You look at where the perimeter wall is, the position of the astro foundry

and the direction of the barrow. Which one of you is navigating you through this forest? I've been navigated in a while. I don't know if this area. I'll do it. You've never been here. Yeah, this is often. All right, I would like for you to make an instinct role.

Instinct rule. Can I add reading between the lines for this? How would that apply? Looking for details in the micro instead of the macro. The areas of least resistance as we move forward. I dig it, yeah. I spend a hope and add that bonus. And it's which roll?

This is going to be an instinct. Instinct. Oh, nine to 11, 12. 12, 13, 14, with hopesies. All right, so you go ahead and take a hope, awesome. Wait, don't you roll a... Oh, no, that's your experience. Yeah, it's just a plus, yeah.

Okay. And if I failed, did I succeed? Huh? We'll find out shortly. When you fail a roll to utilize one of your experiences, you can mark a stress to re-roll. Ah, I will let you know that was a failure. Okay, I will mark a stress to re-roll.

Let's go. Oh, it was a failure? It was. It was. Mind you. Come on. Way better. Mind you.

You said. I said, you don't get the hope if you re-roll. Unless it's hope again. Right. I'll take the hope out. It is with fear this time, but it is 17. Okay, but it is with fear. Good to know.

All right. Pushing onward confidence in Idol's eyes. We failed again, didn't we? You charge into the wooded space. Wooded space before you. 17. Hard to know. And indeed, it is dark and it is dense.

You can hear the sound of unchecked wilds. I love that. Creaking and chirping in the distance, the dark shadow of the overhanging canopies and the ever-twisting and tangling branches and boughs themselves, like high-and-and-tripping, like hundreds of bark-covered arms grasping each other's forearms,

fingers twisting and nodding between them, forming a network almost climbable of terrifying treehouse bonds from tree to tree. The vines hang densely. The pines begin to overtake the other localized valley wooded tree the further in you go. And what was once the tangled canopy

becomes now open patches of dense pine tree. The ground itself is soft beneath steps until the occasional crunch hits. And you look down expecting to see leaves. But every now and then you see a flash of dull white, yellowed bone. You see the remnants of some struggle or some massive march into the wood in the past

in which many soldiers fell, and you see the occasional tarnished shield, the occasional skull half consumed, subsubed into a tree, just poking through. The knots themselves almost seeming to form eyes or faces. You're pretty sure you're following the right path for as long as you can, and you trek on for a number of hours through the wood.

And you stop, drink some water, have a snack, and you reassess the direction we have to continue traveling, as it is a lengthy piece of slow moving forest to traverse. Thankfully, you've caught no attention of any darker denizens directly, Though you do hear the distant growl. At one point, you hear the smashing and cracking of nearby wood and a lament of some sort of prey creature,

crying out with a dying hunk before it falls silent. And you hear the sound of wet tearing as some mass predator feasts on what it caught. But not you. But here, as you take a moment to take stock, who is helming the navigation on the next leg of this journey. I'll try it. Confidence.

Yeah. Provato. Go ahead and roll an instinct. Roll for me, please. Instinct. Is it night or? No, it's still day. Okay.

Though it's a little later in the day. Do you need some help there? Can I think. Well, I'm thinking, like, do I use any experience? experiences. I don't know. Do you have to apply? Not really. I can try to help.

I use my experience. Where's the joke? I'm still making. I think you shouldn't make it. No, I'm just going to rhod down. Let's go. Let's go. See what happens. Hell yeah, I love it.

Oh, wow. It's almost a crit, but it's not. It's not, but it is very good. It's gonna be 23 with fear. Okay. Take it. Yeah. 11 into 12.

He has so much fear. Yeah. Yeah. All of it. I'm gonna spend a fear and I just came. As you confidently point in the direction where you're traveling, you follow Brickston's. You step another 20 minutes, and the dense shadows grow darker and darker still. The temperature drops. The mists and fog begin to roll in

and it grows denser. And you feel something. Touch your leg. You look down and there's nothing there, but your leg feels cold. Your ankle spreads to your knee and it's like a wave of chill just washes over your body. I need you to make a presence reaction roll for me. A presence reaction roll. A PRR. Okay, that's going to be a minus one of my presence. So that's going to be a 12 with hope.

You need to rally, die. Reaction roll doesn't give you anything. doesn't give you anything. Can you add prayer dice to reaction rolls? What does it say? It says you can use the spent dyes value to reduce incoming damage, add to a roll's result after the roll is made, or game hope equal.

So it rolls results, so. You were at 12? I'll burn it at three to get it up to 15, just a case. Okay, all right, thank you. 15 is a success. Oh. That's good. Seraph shit.

A glimmer of divine providence. from the attention that you seek and push towards her, inspecting her body, you feel that cold sensation burn away. I go, L-7 weenie. Is that how you pray? Possible. You hear an angry creaking in the wood.

Like the very landscape itself is unhappy with being. happy with being thwarted, its will being struck from punishing interlopers and unwelcome wanderers. Make a presence roll. Oh no. As you've caught the eye of the wood. 19 minus one, 18 with hopesies. All right.

You resist the secondary influence of the wood. of the wood. Be elizabeth. I'm gonna burn two more fear. Oh boy. As you continue forward, as you're leading them forward, I would like the rest of you to make instinct reaction rules. Instinct reaction rules. Instinct reaction.

All of you. Including. 14. It's a reaction. 14. 14. 15. 12. 19. You got.

15. 12. Idle. Snicks. Snicks. As you're walking and looking around, it takes a few moments before you realize you're lost in thought. looking past the tree line,

and the two of you turned back and realized that you're no longer walking alongside Misty and Brickston. The two of you look around and your troop has somehow wandered at different directions. Snicks? Yeah. Where'd you take us?

I took us. I was following you. No, no, no. This is your thing. You're the messenger. Yeah, but you were in the front, so I was just following. Let's just agree that you're wrong. We have to find the other. All right, all right. We can find them. It's okay.

Where are they? We need to tie ourselves together. Oh, yes. Well, I mean... Idols very good. Maybe if we find that. Oh, that's true. Hello? Hello! How long have they not been with us? I don't know.

They were just here. They were, right? I think. How long have we been in here? I don't know. Both of you... Why do I feel like I'm on fire? Something lost from the navigation.

Both of you mark a stress. Okay, all right. Okay. I will spend a fear as you've now separated through the confusing paths and then eventually reconvene after an hour or so of wandering in circles. Where'd you guys go?

Reconnecting. We've been walking. We thought you were right behind us. No, look. Should we tie ourselves together? What? Does that seem necessary? Well, I don't know.

You just got lost. You got lost. You got lost. We were foraging ahead. You've got a... I thought I was leading. I thought you were too. This might explain that confusion.

He was leading. He was leading? No, you were leading. You were leading. Is this like one of those trust exercises where you're supposed to... I've spent a fear to take an action on my end. Oh no. For traversing the lost paths,

since you've wandered a bit scattered lost and reconnoisse convened here in the middle of the wood. The wood doesn't want you to leave. This is now a four count consequence. The wood doesn't really slow. So as you continue forward, you have to get out of the wood before that counts to zero. Oh my God.

Or something will find you. No problem, no, no, we're gonna be out. Okay. There's four of us, we have four chances, let's go. So what do we? I'm getting, freaking myself out. So how are I? And it's just been flashes of bones.

There's no corpses or anything like our... What were corpses a long time ago have been pulled apart and reconstituted into the decay on the base of the forest floor. No getting hit from the beyond the graves. I mean, if you want to search for an intact corpse enough to talk to, you could totally try that. It's almost like the soil itself is against us, as if Ashley Johnson herself.

Said it was a lot. Said that it was going to be. I know. I could have been like, it's the most beautiful, easygoing. It's Candy Land. Yeah, this is basically your fault. Yeah. Fucking lost a little licorice forest.

What I say about it? Whatever. Okay. Are there are plants? Are there any critters in the wood? You hear them shifting by, but your movement causes some of them to scatter and scurry. Okay.

There are creatures that wander, yes. Can I look around for a creature? Just sort of scan the woods. Okay. I'll say being a ranger and being one who has traversed much of the valleys here of the domain, you look around for a moment and you can see there is like some some puffed-up looking dark-furred raccoon-like creature up in this, like, tree hollow above that you just see its two eyes kind of just barely shine with a little bit of light as you glance over.

glance over. What are you looking at? Okay, I'm going to quietly walk over toward it and call up to it and cast Nature's tongue. Okay, well first. Oh. No, yeah. Nature's tongue will act as you trying to quell its fear to run or defend itself. I rolled a 13.

Now, this is a spellcast roll, correct? Yes, it is. Oh, with the instinct roll. Well, no, hold on. Oh, sorry. But before we do that, as you are in the arm weld, this place is affected by twisted ather weave. Oh, no.

When you make a spell cast roll, you must roll two fear dice and take the higher results. Whoa! Two fear dice. Wait. Oh. So they're just both. So it's going to be.

So one hope, two fear. And take the higher of the two fear. Wow. That means this is probably going to work. But it'll probably be with fear. Gotcha. Okay. All you got to do is roll 12 on Hope and something sub three up on the others. Okay. It's a crit.

Come on. On the higher one? Both. It is a crit. And that's a crit. Really? That's funny. It's two nines. On the higher. Yeah, that's great. Fantastic. That's hilarious.

That's a perfect. a perfect response to this ability. All right. So it's like, God damn it. That's great. I mean, this is your domain, the magic of nature. Sure. So yeah, so clear stress, take a hope,

and you cast the spell without challenge. I know. All right, nature's tongue allows me to speak the language of the natural world. So I will call up to this raccoon creature. Excuse me. Hi. Hi there. Hi.

I love it. Wandering through the woods here, we're a little lost. Could you help us get pointed towards the, he doesn't know what the astro foundry is. Maybe round green. Big round green. The barrow, you mean. The barrow, oh, oh, we're past the foundry.

We're into the barrow. Do you know what the barrow is? Shoot, how do I explain what this is? The barrow, have you. Barrow blind repose. I have no idea what that is there, boy. Oh my goodness. I've not been near something like that ever.

I just stay where I'm told. Got a family back in there. I've ever seen a blessed branch. You come to close, I'll bite your balls off. Do you just say you're gonna bite my balls off? Get too close, I'll bite your balls off. Yeah, the blessed brain. There's a language, there's a translation issue.

What about, um, golden. Don't talk too loud or cough too loud, I'll bite your balls off. You scare my tits. Don't scare my kids. I thought you said, don't scare my tits. Don't do that either. I'll bite your balls. What? Do you eat balls?

No. But you like yours, don't you? I do. And I'll bite them off. What about a building that has a golden glow? See one of those around here? A tomb where humans are- Aye, aye, aye.

There's a golden glow. Structure. That way. Rising walls on the side. Golden glow from within. I think that's the place. Yeah, that's very encouraging. Can we trust this abomination?

Can we trust you? Have I put your balls off yet? Not yet. That seems pretty trustworthy. You can make an instinct roll if you want to see if you can trust this raccoon creature. Okay, can I trust? I would use my sly-born traits, but it's a raccoon. Maybe he sounds like a little.

Garbage. Eight. with fear. That's a failure with fear, which ticks this down three to one. Oh, boy. But he pointed me in the right direction, I think. I'm gonna trust you.

Thank you for not biting my balls off. Thank you for not doing anything to me. Okay, have a good day. What was your name, by the way? Kynash. Kynash. It's a cool name. It has a cool name.

Peter of born. To you at least. But you were nice to keep on. Shh, keep that on there. Okay, we have a direction. Let's go. Backs up into the kids. You hear like inside,

it's like smaller raccoon children and it kind of bundled up inside and kind of blocked it and says, shh, shh, shh, good day. Love it. Love you. Let's come with us. I love him.

Okay, let's go. We proceed. Stay close. All right. You proceed in that direction. I get lost again. Continuing forward, the woods remain dense with small bits of broken sparseness. The further north along this forest you go, the more the mountainous rock terrain makes it slightly more and more challenging for larger vegetation to take root.

What you do notice is that the dirt beneath and the forest underbrush has patches of dark brown, sometimes almost black root, like the curse of the wood is physically manifest in places. And as you continue northward, eventually you see a spark of gold. of golden flame, flickering. It looks like a ruin of some kind that sits within the center of this forest. You see the walls and pillars that would rise up sections for windows, like a small temple

was once built here, but has since fallen and crumbled to wear just the outer walls and the frames of where the glass once sat stand. Thick brown and gray vines and heavy dead roots are affixed to the stone and tangled all through and across it. Moss and greenery has grown. And that little flicker of gold sits and looks like a pile of fallen tree parts. Wait, I don't like it. It seems too open, simple. Can we, can I sense, if I extend sort of my senses,

can I sense any sort of abjuration or illusion or something ahead of us? Yeah, go make an instinct roll for me. Okay. To see if you can sense within the space here, Any connection to this glowing spark of gold light? 17 with hope. 17 with hope.

All right, so take a hope. Take a hope. Thank you. You close your eyes briefly and you feel a flicker of natural power, something that is not just present, but is connected deeply to this land. this land to this forest, there is a seed,

a marker that this little golden spark represents that is like a sprawling network of roots connected to this chunk of natural region. But it is sick. It is blackened with dark, dark, twisted aether weave and will from much that plagues the domain. I'm gonna spend a fear to complete the clock. As you watch as the roots around this light,

we're gonna tear free and you watch as it shifts, some of the ruin are chunks of old, armor that clink, like the roots rise up into them. It can appearing out the top of an old metal breastplate with ruins carved along it. It rises up 10, 15 feet. A massive bipedal approximation of some sort of natural guardian or warrior seems to rise up

these ancient weld plates seem to be fixed. to its makeshift, bark-covered, stretched body, headless, except for the roots that reach and constantly shift like they're trying to find something to root into. And within the center of it, you see that little golden spark, a flicker of health and ancient power that is clouded and held away, sick with dark shadow magic.

I'll be right back. The fucking trees are wearing armor. I'm telling ya. Guys. Are we getting to hit, though? Are we here? This might be the final boss. Oh, shit.

This can't be it though. This is something. You are all. Dang, this is dope. Settled around this approach. Looking off in the distance as you had stepped up to make a connection with this golden glow. Go. Yep. Yep. Oh, you bitch. Oh my God. Don't. Don't.

As this Thane warden, this guardian, this guardian's The spirit of the wailed rises up, a twitching black wafts of shadow magic spilling from within and through its roots. It reaches off to something that is embedded in the nearby stone and draws forth a 12 foot long blade of dark metal, red runes.

Red runes. Glow across it as it holds it to the side. Oh, we're so close. I don't think this is it. This cannot be the total. No, this is not it. Look at that bad boy. This is the straight up guardian.

Look at the size of that sword. Oh, dude, he looks so sick though. Oh, my God. What do you wish to do? Let's try talking for once. Like, so maybe like we can earn his favor? Sure. Legit?

Yeah, who's... Although if he's made of armor, I don't even speak. I don't know. Sure, let's try. You got a bunch of presents, right? No. Who does? No, I do.

What am I going to say? You're a statue? He's a statue. He's a guardian. We're worthy of the branch that we see. He's made a metal. You're made a stone. Maybe you guys can date.

Maybe you're one of the earth. Sing of a fucking song. Bada, ba-da-da-da-pap. All right. So I will cast. I am. You're singing telegram. I will, I will, hold on, let me just make sure I want to do this.

Just gonna talk to him. I don't need to cast anything. All right, I am gonna walk up. Somewhat close, not, a little, like not quite 12 feet. Yeah, you're good right there, Not there? You got. Let me just, like, be near her within very close range.

Yeah, yeah. You guys go together. I have their shield type of right. And I know we'll also fan out over this way. We'll take this rise. I'm going to fan out the other way. You got it. I am going to take a knee.

Nice, nice, nice, yeah. I'm submitting, are you the guardian of the blessed branch? The creaking of the wood against wood and the shifting of like a thousand tree branches scraping in the middle of a midnight wind responds. Maybe give him like a notepad to write down his answers. Sure. You do not have a moment.

But he doesn't respond? No, that was it. No, that was it. Break one branch for yes, two branches for no? Sure. Break one branch? That's not real suggestion. He can work, he can work.

We came here for the blessed branch. Our town, the pyre has died. It has been extinguished. It has been extinguished. and we have made a very long journey. Many of our members have died. Please, we are worthy of the branch. It raises its hand up.

You watch as the slightly shifting roots that peer from within its breastplate seem to cloud and gather that little spark of glowing divine nature light and like clutch and pull it deeper into the darkness within. All right, smoking. As it's offhand, I'm going to spend the fear. No!

It's going to vines spear towards you and releases its hand. And binds rocket out towards you. Okay. That's okay. Up to within far range. Dang. He's got reach. It's across the way.

I need you to make a strength reaction rule for me. All right. So strength. Strength. Okay. All right. Um, minus one. That's a 17, so 16 with fear.

16 with fear. Well, I mean, it's a reaction rule, so no matter. That does succeed. The vine goes towards you and strikes you, it's trying to like pierce your chest and grab you. It catches your arm, and as it tries to yank you away, you resist and pull from the vines. Oh!

Back. This horrid sucking sound from within, and you see that golden flame like flicker and then die in the shadow once more. It has relentless. I'm gonna spend another fear to activate it. It is going to leaping slash towards you with another fear.

It is going to. Let's get a little burn it out. That's right, yeah, yeah, burning it up, burning it out. No, you know what, actually? It's going to, I'm not gonna spend that secondary fear. It's just gonna go ahead and move close range from where it is. stalks outward. You gotta get it out of it.

To there. Oh man. He left the door open. We can just go in behind it. Yes, go around. But we need what's inside here. You need what's inside, never mind. Yeah, I think it's we need that gold thing.

Is that the gold thing? I think that's what we need. We're saying we deserve the blessed branch and he like covered up the flame. Did it look branch shapes? If you would like to take an action to inspect that on your turn, you can definitely do that. But that's all he does is move forward. That's his turn. All right, talking's over. Idol's going to run. Actually, first I'm going to fire off a bolt beacon and then I'm going to take cover behind this rock a little bit. So I'll make a spell casting roll.

All right. Roll two fear and take the higher. Oh, that's right. Okay, that's not too clear. I need to like bless. Okay. That is 23 with fear. 23 with fear. Succeeds, go ahead and roll damage. This blessed branch was in the tomb of the Heretic Saint Evalar. Yep.

2D8, okay. He was laid to rest with it to try and keep his soul bound. Five, eight. So is this creature? Yes, ten points of magic damage. Ten points of magic damage. Vulnerable and glowing brightly. A single hit point is taken.

as it now glows up from within which causes the spark to glow even further, and you see the shadow is now trying to like swallow it inside of it. You still have that tether to that little golden spark, and it feels sickly like it's being strangled or diseased. It's hard to say, but you felt that weird connection to it in the land, and it feels like it's dying. Okay. At the end of that, it is my go because you rolled with fear. It's going to immediately activate. Step forward to there. It's going to make a... What is the... Oh, you know what?

It was with hope. I'm so sorry. It was a six and an eight, and the other one was an 11. So it was actually a roll with hope. I rolled with hope. Okay. I got it wrong.

I just thought it was naturally a fear. No worries. So I did not gain that fear. I'm so sorry. But I will spend a fear to activate him anyway. Out of turn. Since I'm already in this point, step forward, he's going to go ahead and then spend another fear

to use overwhelming arc to make an attack against every creature within very close range. That'll be all three of us. At this point, steps forward, takes its blade with both hands, and strikes through a carving through the trees and the three of you.

As this tree, Oh, sick! Oh, get better, Pete. Yeah, that's true. You can see better. That's awesome, dude. It just slices through the middle of the forest and the three of you for a 15 to hit.

Hits. Hits. That is going to be. Whatever you do, don't bunch of. 22 points of physical damage to all three of you. And I need you all to make strength reaction rules. So do your damage first. 22 points of physical damage.

Mark a armor. Same. I think I am going to go ahead and go, Unstop-able. Un-stop-able. So I can reduce the severity of my damage down one threshold. And then I'll just use an armor to soak that. And then a strength reaction roll, you said, yeah?

Mm-hmm. Seven. With fear. Oh, sorry. That's a reaction roll. That's a guy. We're still learning the final system. 11.

Seven. Seven. So, like your number seven. Carves through the trees, carves through all three of you, and you all get knocked back to far range. From the sheer strength of the sweeping blow, you get knocked back to the very, very edge.

We'll say you're there. I'm on the edge. And you get knocked back. Alliance map to there. And you get knocked back. into this tree. Goose. We got away.

You got in your plus one. And that's going to, that's going to finish my spotlight. It's now back to you. Okay. To protect myself, I'm going to conjure a swarm of beetles around myself. If you wanted to make a knowledge roll at all to try and figure that out too, you can have that a little.

Okay. So you're going to conjure some of these. I don't even have to make a roll of a spell roll. It just happens. I just mark a stress, and it happens. I now have beetles around me. I will move up flanking him if I can. Yeah, you can get that. And let's keep him there. So I'll cast vicious entangle on the young lad. All right. So go ahead and roll two fear dice. Two fear dice. Right. Okay. Oh, And because I have nature's tongue,

while in a natural environment, you can spend a hope to gain a plus two bonus to the roll. You can do that, yeah? I will. So plus two to this. Okay. 18. That's a success.

Okay. Getting rich again. Okay. And that deal, that deals 1D8 plus. plus one physical damage, and I can spend another hope to have him restrained temporarily. Yes, you can. Not much damage, but I'll take it. All right. Seven points of damage.

Nice. Okay, seven points of damage. That is another hit point marked on him. Shit. Fantastic. You know what? I'm going to also mark a stress to I'm sorry, spend a hope to mark focus on him. Oh, got you. All right. So he is now Now marked as your ranger's focus. I'm going to put a, you are green on your base. I'm going to go ahead and put a green circle on him as your focused target. Okay, he's focused. All right, but you're not restraining him. Yes, I'm restraining him. Oh, you're restraining him as well? Yes. Okay.

Vicious intake. Oh, nice. He is also the restrained. That's good. He's every. Wow. Okay. Although he can probably break free pretty quickly. Well, he'll have to use his fear currency. Which means it comes to me on his everything. activation, he's going to mark a stress to take root. You watch as he stands there, the various roots and vines around the armor plates and where the legs are, more or less, the facsimile of a bipedal guardian. Roots shoot out of them and shoot into the ground, binding it in place.

And you watch as its body like seems to harden and defensively position itself unmoving, leaning into its currently ensnared scenario. I will then spend a fear as part of this relentless passive to activate it again, spend another fear, to vine spear you. I need you to make a strength reaction, Wolfgang. Strength reaction. Not the goat. Did you use your rally die yet? No. I don't think of help. Uh-uh. Three. Oh. That's the lowest roll. The spear hits your chest and all the vines wrap around your body and you I'll watch as snakes all of a sudden,

it gets yanked from far range. Snacks! Into very close. And right as you're pulled in the air, the blade is waiting for you. It gets to attack you for free as you rush to the air. That's going to be a 14 to hit. That hits.

The blade comes at you for 20 points of physical damage. Woof, I'll burn an armor. Cababbed. And the Beatles knocked down one hit point for me, so I only take one hit point from that attack. That's great. The Beatles remain? They do if I spend a hope to keep them up, which I will.

Okay. So you watch as Snix is thrust through the air, pulled by this vine, and then almost impaled on this ruined blade, he manages to dodge to the side, and it scrapes past, like gashes the underarm, and part of the armpit as you tumble off and hit the ground, hit the ground, get back on your feet, kind of shrug it off, the Beatles taking the majority of the blow. That finishes my spotlight, that little glow flicker in it, trying to fight for freedom as the shadow keeps it tucked in. Yeah, I'll go ahead, since I'm far away.

There's not much I can do right now anyway. Do you want to move or? Let me move and kind of, once again, get up front in front of Misty as far as I can go. That's about a close range distance there. And then I will try and suss out and do a knowledge role. Is this the Tomb of the Heritage Saint? Evilar. Is this? Evilar himself? Is this, or a her, right? Was Evilar. Evilar was a her. It was a female. Evilear. Is this just the guardian? What is happening? Is it, is that the branch? Is it corrupt? What's going on?

Make a knowledge roll from the TV. Can I, I am going to spend a hope to use historically inspired. Oh, I'll allow that. Her eyes and face were removed. This could be. Yeah, and there's a blind but vision of the gods. Her smile gave a golden globe, her face gave salvation, had a following, but the grand ordinance didn't like it. She was executed and laid to rest with a blessed branch to keep her soul bound. That's what I wrote down.

Maybe we just have to rejoin the body with the head. Oh. Or this is just a key to get into the tomb. Or just a key to get into the tomb. Anyway. I really want to succeed on this, so I'm actually gonna use your rally die. I think now's the time.

Plus one. Come on. Oh, wait, what am I doing? That's a D20. What is happening in my life? All right. Come on. Old habits.

Do you get, no. Do you get a 69? I got a 69 again. It's so faky. It fakes me out. Nice. Okay, nice. Okay, so that's gonna be.

Okay, so that's gonna be. Okay, so this will be nine, eight, 18, 19, plus two. What did I say? 18, 19, 2021 with hope. With hope. That's great, take that hope. Looking at this space here, recalling what you've heard, the barrow or the purpose of a barrow is it's usually

a burial mound or buried within a hill or mountain of some kind. This looks like it is a temple or a temple a shrine to the natural feign of this land. Thanes are the natural magic kind of hearts of a region of natural power. What stands before you is no saint that was set into a tomb. This is a warden of this fain, long corrupted, and the spark of its connection to the land is dying, being siphoned and eaten away by the shadows that now animate it. With a higher than 20 roll, I'll say, say, you can sunder this beast, or you may try to redeem it.

That's cool. How do you redeem it? Redeem it. How? How? Were you saying, Thane? Like a Thane. Thane warden.

A Thane warden. A F-A-N-E is whatever. Okay. It's a F-A-N-E is the F-A-N-E. F-A-N-E. Yeah. Gammit. Fane warden. So this is not our saint. This is not the blessed branch, but he's just mad.

You asked a raccoon to send you to a structure with a golden glow. And it did. You know what, Tom? He saw. The turtle is eating our bowl. We can heal the land while we're here. We can heal the land. How do we redeem him? How do we redeem him? Showing him our goodness? Yeah, I have an idea. Get in there. Get in there. Get in there.

Get in there. Well, you haven't got, you got slammed to do a tree. Well, I talk to him. Okay, go, go. I will hurl up over the rock and try and close as much distance as I can. If you want to roll an agility roll to close the distance, you can go to the far range and get up to it.

With double fear dice, right? No, that's only with spell rolls. Okay, I'll have to spell rolls. So if you want to make the roll, roll an agility. Do that. Great, 17. 17 with fear. 17 with fear. So you do succeed and rush up to its side.

Right as you get to it, it seems to recognize the sound of your footfalls and on its activation is going to. It's not going to move, it doesn't need to. I know. It's going to go ahead and swing towards you with its blade. And it's slam down. Big blade, big blade. That's going to be a 13.

Big blade chase me hits. 13 hits. That is going to be 14 points of physical damage against time. Okay, okay, okay. A heavy-bladed crot from its ruin blade, sh-p-p-p-h. Oh, you're making it worse. Ouch, okay.

And that's my activation. I'm gonna save my fear for it. I'll take the hit and I'll immediately just come back and I'm gonna try and I'm gonna try and pump in a sparing touch. So I'm literally gonna grab onto the nearest, like, and I'm just gonna try and grab on it and pump in a bunch of divine healing energy into this corruption, trying to seek out the like shadow.

Okay, how, what does it heal? It heals two hit points or two stress from them. Which you trying to do. Stress. Okay, so as you reach out and grab these roots, summoning whatever strange divine, gift has dragged you through life, brought you to this odd moment here, facing a nightmarish twisted beast of times likely even before the old world. And as you let that energy pulse

through, the roots glow and you watch as the shadow holding the glimmer withdraw and it grows brighter. So the glimmer within passive. Stressed out. So the countdown, the progress countdown, which started at four, now becomes Two. Oh. The corruption of the Fane Warden has been half removed. Okay. Okay. But that was, no, that way did the fear. That was automatically happened, so you can keep going. What are you all doing? All right, I have an idea. Okay. It's been the same kind of line. Reduce stress. Oh, they can reduce stress. I have one more. Hang on.

Anything that'll help heal him or redeem him or your bard? Make them feel good? I have an idea. Okay. Yeah. I am going to sort of reach into my memories and try to remember the most ancient song of worship that I can that I can think of. That's cool. And I am going to play, use Heartbreak Song, which will give all of my allies, and I want to also give it to them a hope.

Okay. Yeah. So, you don't have to roll for this. It's just the ability you use. This is Fokker Street, Prisons. Yeah, it's my. Right, for your subclass. So do you want to step forward as you do it, or you want to stay towards the back? I'll step forward. Okay, so you move back from the tree and staying near. Just like slowly walking forward and as the wound.

Okay, I'll stay on your rooftop. In this moment, you try and lean into not your spiritual memory, but the physical memory of the vessel that you now call yours. Describe to me the themes of this hymn that you pull from. Oh. Um... Druid shit. Oh, good call. Yes.

It's a lot about, um... Yeah. Of the earth, of nature. Um... How beautiful nature can be and how it's... it provides life and it can nurture. and it provides shelter and protection

for many creatures, and it is a home for many, and also provides peace for so many. You tap into this ancient hymn before the Grand Ordinance deemed it unworthy of the veiled gods' temples, for it extolled the nature that pre-existed their scripture. But your stone has been around a long time. And as these words come to you and come through your mind and the music that they inspire begins to spill out from your wings,

it seems to cause the golden glow to burn ever so brighter from within the faintly. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. We're doing it, we're doing it. We're doing it. We're doing it. Okay. It's still your. Spotlight.

I have one unless you've got a thing that reduced structure. I was just going to throw a stamina potion at it, but you too. That's right. Does it have a mouth to take it? I was going to try to hit the thing. I'm going to burn a fear. Ah, goddamn. And activate it.

Paused. We waited too long. Yep. I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to burn a secondary fear. Wow. To do an overwhelming arc since two of you Actually, it's rooted, it's root itself from the ground.

So it's just going to take an open one arc and swing at both of you to its sides. Okay. Go ahead. At disadvantage because it's restrained? No. Restrain just keeps it from moving. Good looking out. So with that, an attack roll, that's only a natural five, which brings it to an eight. Yes.

Yes. Yes. Yes. It's almost like the more you begin to read, or you begin to reach out to heal this spirit, its movement, which was with extreme malice and intense, dark speed, begins to grow sluggish. And as its roots begin to tear free from the ground

and places and the golden glow within its armor and get brighter, it telegraphs its sweeping blade strike. Just enough that the two of you duck behind this, it passes overhead and strikes into the back stone, Digging about six or seven inches into the stone. And it's trying to pull it free. It's back to your spotlight. I'll seize on that opportunity, seeing it flexed back,

and I'll drop my bone-hooked glave, and I'll reach my hands into its chest through the armor and the vines and stuff, as deep as I can. I'll close my eyes and think back to the visions and just try and focus on that divine light, and I'll use a second-level healing hands healing hands spell, which is a spell casting roll,

to try and pump two hit points in if it succeeds. Let's go ahead and roll. And this has to be with two fear dice. Correct, taking the higher of the two. Come on, holy man. Come on, come on, come on. Anybody got any hope for, I don't know, maybe? Maybe I can spend a hope to help you.

I can, I'm right there, so I can spend a hope to try to distract him so he won't try to block. Oh, that's good a good idea. Yeah, I'll have my beetles sort of swarm around his face and try to distract him. Getting tangled into its roots, you go ahead and mark off that hope. And?

The higher fear die I will take. It is a 15, 19, 20, 21, 21, 22 with fear. That is a success. So you pump how many hit points into it? Two stress are removed on a success. How do you work? want to heal this. Oh!

Yay! I reach it and I say, break free from the shadows that bind you. Remember that you are the oldest and strongest powers of nature. As the golden energy leaves your grip, you watch as it begins to not just travel through the roots and bark, but spread throughout. The darkened, blackened exterior from between the armor

begins to spread into a golden hue. And as it sifts through the metal, and up through the top you watch us, the golden spark blossoms and grows until all of the wood and bark becomes a beautiful moss-covered green. It reaches and wedges its blade free. Into the ground. Tears its roots from the ground.

It shifts and looks in your direction in that burning golden light that kind of still floats between the center of its what would be its neck that is open. The roots now curl in and almost cradle it. And you feel this warmth of gratitude, not from this entity, but from the entire surrounding forest. It steps back.

into the middle of the temple, leaving its blade there, stuck in the ground. Its roots reach out, piercing and surrounding the stone, and you watch as the metal creaks and bends, and the corrupted feign warden corrupted no more. Instead, it becomes a massive growing tree that spreads in the center of this ruin. Its leaves healthy and green, and you all gain two hope. Take it. The forest is healing. I got chills. Me too.

Woo! Cool. That was amazing. Idle. Idle, you, you're a real priest. You truly are the divine reach of the old ones. I don't, I don't understand it, but... You have such power.

And you, Misty. It was the most beautiful song. Where did that come from? I don't know, I just... I knew what this was. Vessel's purpose was and I just went searching. Wow. The sound of birds chirping returns to the nearby forest. The natural beings too scared to express their song in the presence of such darkness.

Have a moment of reprieve and thank you in the ways that they know. You, the only one who can truly hear the sounds of nature, can make out the sharing of the heart of the breathing land, not just here, but across the domain struggling to fight the umbral darkness that has been swallowing and winning for so long. And in this moment, you've done your part in beating a little bit of it back. You watch us the trees shift. And it's wild.

You've never really watched a forest move intentionally like this as trees bend and part. in part, to show a path, a straight path, be lining to the base of the idle hollow peaks. It's just as your prophecy. The land does move and shift. Yeah. It's granting his past.

It's so weird not being the one who killed the thing. I did neither, though. Oh, that's true. So I guess. You're still the bad. I'm still, like, undisputed. I'm still the ultimate killer. We should go, though, before the land changes its mind.

Sure, sure. Do you still hear that raccoon being like, I'll still eat your balls? You go. You go. Got to get those balls, go. As we sort of start walking, walking through, I just want to just trace the trees. Just give them a light little touch as we walk through

as a thank you. You can still sense with your fingers as you move. The work isn't done. This feign, this one section of the forest, has been given a healthy breath and a better chance towards holding its line than it's in quite some time. But in the odd subconscious transference of energy ways that fleshy beings and the natural plant life can communicate, you feel that appreciation.

Carrying your sore joints with you, you trek on the open path. A few more hours of journey on foot, the rain begins to fall from the darkened storm above. The temperature drops, the mists thickened, and as the final peaks of the weld's greenery fade, You look ahead and see some carved steps among some mostly forgotten stone. You see an archway hidden in the mountain shadow

and a stone door that is deeply overgrown with dead root. If ever there was a location to match your expectation of the barrow of blind repose, the resting place of the heretic saint, executed and sent to be sealed by the grand ordinance for their blasphemous attempt to bring hope outside of Scripture, this would be it.

A chill passes over. of your body, as you realize this is the end of your journey. Should there be a branch at all? But sometimes that's all you have to go on in this world. It's a little bit of hope. That has to be enough. As you settle for a moment, to prepare yourselves for what comes beyond.

We'll finish the episode there. Oh, man. Oh. Hey, we found what we were looking for. We did. Yeah, we did. We're all here. We did it.

We're all here. We're all here. We're not missing anybody. The repression. All right, we'll pick up here next time for the final episode. Oh, man. This is going to be a good cooldown. I think so.

Damn. Thank you so much for joining us. We'd love you very much, and is it Thursday, and come back. And we've finished up this episode. Thanks for coming along on this wild journey with us. If you like the adventure, Consider leaving a review on your podcast platform of choice.

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