Critical Role - The Place of Wings | Critical Role | Campaign 4, Episode 17 Part 2

Episode Date: March 10, 2026

Part 2   The Seekers arrive in Tannesar, where stranger and stranger revelations await them within this ancient place of power...   New Episodes Release Weekly on Thursdays. Learn more about Campaign 4 at https://critrole.com/campaign4/     GET MORE CAMPAIGN 4 WITH BEACON We're excited to bring you even MORE Campaign 4 with a Beacon membership! Get access to exclusive shows like our behind-the-scenes Critical Role Cooldown and ask the Campaign 4 cast your burning questions directly through our LIVE monthly Fireside Chats. You'll also receive NEW Beacon exclusive series, instant ad-free access to VODs & podcasts, live event pre-sales, merch discounts, & a private Discord. Start your 7-day free trial today at https://beacon.tv/join and get unparalleled access to everything Critical Role!   OFFICIAL CAMPAIGN 4 CAST GAME MASTER Brennan Lee Mulligan Laura Bailey as Thimble Luis Carazo as Azune Nayar Robbie Daymond as Kattigan Vale Aabria Iyengar as Thaisha Lloy Taliesin Jaffe as Bolaire Lathalia Ashley Johnson as Vaelus Matthew Mercer as Sir Julien Davinos Whitney Moore as Tyranny Liam O’Brien as Halandil "Hal" Fang Marisha Ray as Murray Mag’Nesson Sam Riegel as Wicander "Wick" Halovar Alexander Ward as Occtis Tachonis Travis Willingham as Teor Pridesire   CREDITS Produced by Maxwell James, Steve Failows, & Kyle Shire Set Designed by Shaun Ellis Production Designer: Noxweiler Berf Character Art by Loren Hontanilla Edited by Taylor Burke and Emily "Stevie" Stevenson Critical Role Announcement Playhouse Editor: Vinny Celesti Opening Title Editor: Paul Foyder Opening Title Colorist: Peter Koocheradis Window Effects by Christian Brown Graphic Design by Aaron Monroy & Jordyn Torrence Dol-Makjar art by Daniel Jiménez Villalba Miniatures Painted by Payton Keo Lacebal Opening Title Theme by Neal Acree Campaign 4 Key art by Hannah Friederichs Additional Art & Design by Hannah Friederichs   Episode QC by Catherine Zimmerman & Paula Flores Assistant Editor: Gianna Gencarella Post Production Coordinators: M Swing & Bryn Hubbard Closed Caption Editing by Margaret Dill, Nikki Kindelberger, Courtney Knewtson, Danielle Lackie, Eleanor Smith-Dufresne & Alice Tsoi Post Production Supervisor: Tal Levitas   HEALTH & WELL-BEING 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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello again, it's Brennan Lee Mulligan, and you're listening to Part 2 of this episode of Critical Role. If you haven't checked out part one yet, pause this now and head over there first. What are you doing? Otherwise, let's jump right back into this adventure and the world of Aramon. In the midst of a skeletal horde, the seekers have found what they sought. Tannisar. The place of wings. There will be no flying from Tannisar tonight. No, indeed. You must be. Finish what you started. We left in the midst of Julian devoting himself to the taste of blood in his mouth. Julian, it is your turn. Indeed. I don't know about wings, but this place is full of bones.

It's got so many bones. It's got hella wings though, too. So in this level up and taking the day double subclass with my fighter, bonus action to utilize my ride the threshold feature. I changed it over the break. Staging jokes, I was like, that's pretty much. When they talk about, when they talk about, I can't believe that you're such a forever GM that you still have to be renaming shit as a PC. You know what?

When you're like, what? Oh, God damn it. We will find it instantly. 100%. Yeah. Yeah. But with that bonus actions utilized here, feeling that wave of kind of violent joy

of that sense of intensity and nearing death, really. The adrenaline spikes within him, and he's gonna go ahead and use his action to kind of the rapier blade goes down as he just pulls back the gauntlet and goes into a full upward backhand to the skeleton. That's, I'm gonna say directly in, you know, I'm gonna say directly on that corner there,

the one that's furthest away to try and strike that. Hell yeah, I will say you'll have disavvy on these two because they're in darkness, and these two are in light. Oh, right, because the fire. Never mind. I'm gonna do the one right in front me. Cool.

That is going to be a 22 to hit. That is a hit. Let's go. And that will be three plus four, seven points of bludgeoning damage. Seven points of bludgeoning damage becomes 14 points of bludgeoning damage, and you shatter this skeleton apart. You are the back.

Can I roll to be kind? to be kind of impressed? None. Hell yes, and actually that means the one that you, I beg pardon, the one you hit before actually didn't take five, took 10. That was one that rushed to you. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Yep, yep, yep. What's great? That one's just, I'm just trying to, with the god on the side. I'm just gonna like bring the claw back and just kind of glance at their skeleton. It's like, it's not like three, done anyone next?

Bring it. I can kill you so many times. And that's my turn. Great. This energy is wild. I love it. Octus, that's going to be you. So as these claw strikes,

Payless, you rolled an animal handling check. Leave me alone. My D&D. Beyond keeps being like, Veilis rolled this roll. Anyway. I don't see it. I think it's just me. These strikes come in and they tear chunks of flesh

and cut, but pain, works differently for me now, and it's kind of, it just happens and I'm standing there looking at them and I survey the undead around me, and where within a 10 foot radius could I hit the most undead? So a point within a range that is a 20 foot diameter, like 10 foot radius sphere, circle?

Yes, I mean, double check and make sure here. It is a point within range with a 10 foot radius sphere centered on that point. So you can do like there. It looks exactly there. Yeah. And I would like to still be inside the radius. You want to be inside the audience.

It was undead, inclusive of self. Yes. So probably that actually. I think if you exclude this guy, you can get the three on the bridge with you and that one by the foot of the staircase. That's awesome. So I take these hits and then I kind of like

dodge the last one that didn't hit me. I spin around. Throw up my coat, grab in, and I pull out a small withered vine that's twisted into a loop. And I hold it out in front of me, and I say, transference. And I suck in air through the loop, which this sort of green mist starts to coalesce

and funnel through the loop into my lungs. And then I breathe out this area around me, and I cast wither and bloom. Hell yeah. And so the in a 10 foot in that area, everyone's going to need to make a Constitution saving throw, except for me, taking 2D6 necrotic damage on a failed save.

Cool. Sweet. No of that. I know it's the best I can do. Oh, it's okay. Constitution save against a 14. Constitution save against a DC 14. You go roll bad. I just realized watching.

That three of them succeed, one fails. Okay, so the one that fails is going to take 11 points of necrotic damage and then the rest to take half of that. Aha, okay. So. But they are undeads, they would probably take half and then half. Actually, I think you see something here

that you'd probably know as a necromancer. Skeletons, for undead to have a resistance to necrotic damage typically means that they are an undead powered by their own will. Things like wraiths and vampires and things like that tend to have that resistance. Skeletons and zombies and things like that that are essentially animated through the necromantic will

of a greater entity. No skeleton wants to be here, which means that their resistance, their innate resistance to necromantic energy is sort of canceled out by how much they don't wanna be here. So they wanna already, it's incredible magic making them be animated at all to just sort of knock that domino over, they're not that resistant to it.

So go ahead and roll 2D6. I did, so it's 11 points of damage. on the one that didn't save, then half on the ones that saved. And then in addition to that, my Grim Harvest Triggers, causing me to gain temporary hit points equal to my spellcasting ability,

which is four plus my... The spell's level, which is I gain six temporary hit points, and then the other half of Wither and Bloom triggers, and I get to roll a hit die to regain hit points. Where is my hit? Oh, it's a D6, I know what I'm doing.

Okay, so that's, and then plus my spell casting ability order of four, and then, no, sorry, regain points equal to the rule of three plus, okay, yeah, so then I'm gonna regain. Do, do, do, do, do. So many things. Where the hell. You guys so good.

Thanks. Four, so I'm gaining seven. You regain seven. I regain seven hit points, and then I will gain also temporary hit points equal to. Let me double check my math there. The spells level, so two plus my intelligence monitor, so I will gain six temporary hit points as well. Incredible. Even with most of them saving, this was the group of skeletons that had gotten knocked back by Tysius Thunderwave before.

Even with those successful saves, half damage is already past what they could sustain. And boom. So this field appears around. It's kind of like this little black dot sort of appears in the ground and then goes, it just fills the space and just all of the vegetation, any non-magical vegetation that happened to be left here in this area sort of withers and away. And then all of the energy flows up into the air and then flows back through the ring into myself. and I heal.

Why do we hang out? We have opposite powers. Yeah. I love it. That's just lands aid, but you said it's scary. Incredible. I have movement still. There's one behind he still engaged with you.

I will take an attack of our. I'll go ahead and I'll stay where I am. Cool. You cast that spell. These two rush over here, or that one rushes over there. They will move to get flanking. You can see that the one in front of you appears to be rending with its steel blade,

specifically at your chest. You can feel it like clanging off of the sealed metal from Tisha's spell on your chest. That is going to be a hit. And that is a miss. You take. So I will use my reaction to cast shield. Okay, what does that raise your armor class?

That would raise my armor class by five, so that would put me at 21. Cool, let's go. It still hits. Okay, well then. Damn. For the less and time extra. Yeah, so I'll go ahead and cast that.

Caste shield. That is going to be four points of damage to you. Okay. As the sword comes rattling through, there's this thing, What are they saying? I don't speak their language. Why don't you?

Toconos. It's not like he said Toconos. I feel like you gotta speak. It sounded like it, but maybe I was just. No, I did sound like that. It kind of did. Damn Ceramite holds off the skeletons in front of her, not taking any hits.

One of them is gonna swing at you, Tysha. All right. That is going to be a miss against you. No. And then we're gonna get some attacks against Julian here. Commademy bones. That is a hit.

Oh, are you factoring in shield of faith? It was not recast on me. I didn't recast. Because I was out of range. Yeah. Miss and hit. Okay. Julian, you take nine and then nine slashing damage. 18 points of slashing damage.

Great, let's do this. Don't. As these skeletons just, in a circle around you, just slashing again and again and again. And then Valus, you've got a mob on you. Again, the thing that's really brutal about these hits Command Julian is the flanking,

is the fact that these guys are surrounded you. That is a miss on Valis. That is a hit with a 23. Okay. And then that is another miss. The two behind just raking at the backs of their own allies trying to get to you. You take eight points of slashing damage.

Okay. And that is the undead in this space. We move forward initiative that's going to be Dame Saramai again, who's gonna take another swing. She's gonna connect on that one, miss on that one. Dame Saramai sword over, bam, and just brings the flat of the blade down, cracking through the ribs and disanimated.

one of the skeletons in front of her. Oh, yeah. Back at the top, that's going to be, who, is anyone here looking at that they have fewer than 20 hit points right now? I have fewer than 20 hit points. You both do. Because anyone here have fewer than 10 hit points right now.

You have fewer than 10? Oh, God, what's happening? Oh. What am I not? And it was just happened. It just happened. We're okay. I'm gonna take it right. Okay.

You see, Dr. Talter, just praying and praying, looks over at you, sees you, Vailas, across all of this, and is going to raise her hand and miss dramatically. But she looks at you and she just goes, Spirits of unddeath, by the truth that governs this world, I am sure thee. and flame rocket straight up into the ceiling.

And she goes, aha, and that's her turn. Leave the C. I just, I just. Hey, it just goes. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. See, has been giving her the help action? Yeah. Absolutely.

Yes, okay. Hold on. Those little button eyes are like. Lots in that one would be. Hey. Change it thing. Works for the narrative. That's going to be Tisha and Veil. Phelis.

Like stanced up and like you- You wanna go first? No, you go, you go. Okay, you know what? I think we're just compatible with I can't even see, yeah. You have line of sight on Phelis. No, no, no, I can't see you.

No. So I didn't see that you just did Wither in Bloom, but it's almost simultaneous. I'm going to point in front of me and cast Lans Aid and 20 foot circles. I wanna catch Julian and all the nasty boys I can around him. Yep.

I landed from watching him. Is there. Nastyiba. Yeah, you got all three and yours. And mine. Mm-hmm. Okay, okay, I can get any of them. Sweet.

So I need a DC-15 con save from all of them. Ooh! DC-15 con save from all. Yeah. Gorgeous. Two make it one fails, and the one in front of you fails. Okay, great.

The one that makes it only takes five points of necrotic damage, the others take 10 as the basically like under Julian's feet, I think you feel it this time. It's just been the after images before, but there's just a space that opens up and it's like this desert under a burning full sun. You can like see in the distance,

like past this little circle, plant life and animals and what this place would be and should be. And you're gonna take, you're gonna be healed for 10 points. Oh shit. Julian is healed for 10 points. You, as you cast, lands aid here. Because it's the desert, I think it's like at that wailing woman of woe is also like,

yeah, in the background. I get a soundtrack on my landing. The two of them are badly, two of them, one of them is badly injured. Yours is destroyed, the one that got wounded by Julian on its way past. And then two others, one more is dramatically injured. As you hold out your hand, these reach, Grasping vines grow out from this place. And I think around you, Julian,

in that moment there is also, you hear a rending and a tearing. What is Taisha's connection to the concept of the ancients? This circle of your people was created to honor the fact that for thousands of years, the most powerful being, in the world sought to destroy the truths that you held dear and couldn't, and that whatever songs were sung in the ancient mists of time still exist today,

as you call out, what does Tisha evoke when she feels like she's trying to heal the land? I think it is, it's like dreams and stories, that idea of reminding the world of itself. It's a torpor or a stupor. The time of the shapers was part of the world forgetting what it could be in order that it could be shaped into something by powerful beings. So her action on the world is a memory of itself. It's screaming wake up into the earth.

The all of the stone and sand in that emanation glows, but not with with luminosity. It doesn't create light. What you realize in this moment here in Tanasar is that the sunlight that once touched this place is reflecting back from the ground as though you were standing in bright day.

And the plants hear that call and bloom up around you. Tasha, that's you. Yep, that's me. I killed on my plants. That's why I like. That's why I like that it was like this perfect opposite. Uh, Phylus, it's gonna be you. Great, all right.

So, okay. She's standing, folks. Can I, can I flank with Julian at all to try to get advantage here? I can't really see around. Unfortunately, we are both swarmed. Are we both swarmed? You are both swarmed right.

We both swarmed right now. Don't let that happen. All right, I'm gonna, oh, go ahead. Oh, no, go for it. If you, but I will say too, if you can get the one behind you, you'll at least open up a path of escape, right? Okay.

There's only one, you got four and four in front of you here and one behind you. Great, okay. I'll start with the guy in the back. Cool. All right. Still have Bless active. I still have Bless active. Oh yeah. Oh, I should use them.

Oh, no, I did. Okay. Eight, nine, ten. 16. 16 hits. Let's go. Okay. What am I? D10.

Okay. D10 plus D6. Fire. Okay. So we've got, so we've got, okay, so 11. points of bludgeoning. Which becomes 22 points of bludgeoning.

Right. Um. Do you need to say the other part? You are fully, the one behind you, describe for me as you absolutely obliterate. No joint is still connected. No bones are connected to the skeleton. I think what I would, okay, so since that hit,

if I'm swinging, I would love to swing it around the skeleton's neck and just yank to pop the head off. Wow. Done. And then since that hit, I'm gonna read direct the sensor to another one that is within five feet. The other one, maybe? Will that work?

Because I can use cleave. Yes, I believe you can use cleave here. That's correct. With my, with my. So I don't get a modifier to add to it, but it is a D10. Yes, and I think too, let me actually double check how cleave works here, because this could become really rad.

This could fuck. This could fuck. This could fuck. Yeah. Cleave. You can, okay, so you can make a melee attack roll with the halberd. Oh, so it has to be against the second creature

within five feet of the first. Yeah, there's tons of them. But the other one was on the other side. The other one was on the other side. There's not one within five feet of the other. Oh, okay. All right, that's okay. But. It'll be cool one day.

It'll be cool one day. So I'll stick with that, but is he still up? He is destroyed and the way is open behind you. Great. Okay. The way is shut. I kind of want to keep going, but I can. All right, so if the way is open behind me, I'll say, I will give, if you don't want to retreat,

I'll give you your cleave here if you want to stay in the thick of it, because at least they won't get flanking on you right now. How dead are you? Oh, you let him sucker you. Don't let him use his cool voice. You're gonna die. I do have a bone attack. I can both.

I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna cleave. I'm gonna leave. Okay, go ahead and make your attack roll. Okay, so I would make another attack roll. You make another attack. Got it, okay, okay, okay, okay. She dies up the final-in. I know, okay, that's great.

That's a natural 18. Hell yeah. So go ahead and roll D10, you don't add your strength bonus to this. Okay. But I think- Does it still take the fire damage from? That's a really great question. I think it kind of, I want to hit the same,

if you hit the same feature, but don't add your ability modifier. I think it does, it does take the extra dice, Yeah, I think so, right? So D-10 and D-6. So D-10 and D-6. Just don't add your strength. Okay.

So we got seven points of bludgeoning and two points of fire. That becomes 14 points of bludgeoning. This other skeleton is destroyed. Right. Boom. How does Lizzie DeValus do a, like, xylophone solo down a corridor? Yeah, this, you know, it's real Looney Tunes hours over here. over here.

Like Brevard. Sick, okay, two skeletons destroyed. And I obviously can't use Divine Smyte because they're both down. Yeah, and yeah, it would be dramatic overkill. Yeah, yeah, it would be too much. Okay, okay, and then, oh yes, thank you. I'll heal my, I'll do lay on hands.

Okay. And I will do, I've got 10 points left. I'll just do the 10 points. I'll pump in 10 points. 17? I'm gonna do lay my hands. If you want to, just recommendation for Tatically, do nine points. If you save one hit point,

that can be used to bring somebody up from unconscious. Great advice. All right, let me do that. So if I, yeah, that's really good. Sir. You're right, I mean, do what you go to do. You say, am I, I plan touch. You'll do nine points of lay on hands.

I'll do nine points of lay on hands and save one. That's smart. But I also do have Spirr of the Dying. Yeah, that's true. Which is great. But that's a different thing. Let me keep, let me, I like this idea. This is great.

You have 16 hit points. Not that yet. D-da-da, 16 hit points. Incredible. But you are rooted to the spot. And that is going to be Sir Julian. All right, feeling the wave of kind of healing energy energy and the odd flash of this unexpected vision of what this might have one point been.

Kind of glance over my shoulder and look at you, and like, let's do this. And just gonna go into, as the skeletons are like withering from this ability, gonna go ahead and do one big sweep at the rapier to the one, I'm gonna say, in this flash of light, does that give me a momentary bit of vision?

I will say, I will say, as though, Lanzai comes here. You know what? We flavored it as sunlight, so I'll stick by my words. Yes, I think you have a momentary bit of vision here. For this first attack. Totally fine. So I'll go ahead and use that to flick off to the one to the right of me. Oh, that's a natural one. Oh, no, no.

Okay. Natural one? I was not. That's okay. So here's what I'll say. I'm like, I can see. It gets a little too bright for a minute. I'm like, oh, no. Going from such dark vision,

like having no vision and pure darkness to this bright light, I'm like, ah, shit, I can't. Sorry. Just kind of swing out to nothing. It makes me sneeze. I'm going to angrily spin back with my gauntlet and strike the one that's right in front of me

that is still within the range of her flame. Yep. That's Natural 20. Yeah! Just getting both sides of the spectrum of this combat. Here we go. All right, so that is going to be I love it. With the backhand.

You're just so good at, just skipping and pap at people. Like, golly. Doolion's a disrespectful damage. 20 points of bludgeoning damage. Oh my god, let's go! I got this right. I rub my eye for a second, like you. And like from your perspective, I'll say this is you turn back and look.

You just see the skeleton kind of like turn around to look at you before its entire torso just explodes into bones. With my gauntlet of fist there, kind of comes back together. We got this. I'm going. Badges here, exploding bones. I cast explode bones. And now the last two are in darkness with you here. Right.

You know what? I'm gonna take my movement, and I'm gonna go ahead and let me see. Is that one in front of Tysha still present? Yes. Okay. We thought that was the one that got melted by. Oh, sorry. No, yeah, melted. Done. Yeah. Dunzo.

You know what? I'm gonna stay there. there to give. Now, fuck it. Now, keep going. I'm going to go ahead and move around the back of the one that's closest to Tysha. Okay. Just to prep for some possibility of either you or Vailas kind of moving this direction and give some opportunities for flanking.

Cool, gotcha, cool, cool. You move around to this square here. Yeah, I do take an opportunity attack possibly from that scale. You do. You do. That is going to be a hit for six points of damage. I'll take it. That's fine. Octus.

I like this. Octus, that's going to be you. Okay, so when I fired off that firebolt and I saw the reaction of the crystal, what did that look like? Did I get any hint as to what that reaction might have meant? Give me an archa-check. Right.

No. That's a natural one. You had no idea. No idea. Okay. I think in a moment you flash back to your family looking at you and saying, just do it. It's effortless. It is our gift, our birthright.

And once again, the magic of your family that could only ever be explained as something you should just already know how to do comes thundering back to you. Okay, I think in that moment of that natural one. It kind of like puts him, he's remembering this thing that always used to drive him absolutely nuts and it makes him just burn up inside. And in that moment, seeing the two skeletons on either side of him and filled with this desire to, a desire that goes against his normal,

careful study of a situation, he, let me make sure. I don't need any components for those. I don't, he just looks at the skeleton in front of him and says, elsewhere. And takes one step to the side and just kind of fades into like a wraith form and misty steps down to the ground there. Let's go.

Where I can, when I have line of sign of the green glow there. Five, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30. And then I just kind of step back out of into this reality and just fire a fireball. directly at the green. Yeah, let's go. Hell yeah, let's do it. That's still blue.

It's green over here. That is a natural 20. Hell yes. So, wow, a lot of like one in 20. So you just hit it with a fire bolt on a natural 20. Great. This thing is crystalline. I was about, I was about to be really mean, and that Nat20 means I don't have to be as mean.

This has a hardness of 10, which means you have to do 10 points of damage to it to do anything at all. Right, right, right. And then it also has resistance against all non-magical forms of damage. Now, your magic is gonna bypass that, but you still have to do, you still have to do 10 points of damage to do any damage at all.

You got it, man. Roll a 10. I did. Yay! Wait, so you did roll the 10. Doubling the die. You do 20 points of damage? Oh my God.

Wee! Good job. Hell yeah. You shatter the crystal. Un-fucking believable. Yes. He steps back in this week. Oh, I'm looking at a different crystal.

Yes, that's what I've been trying to explain to you. Use your words! I'm going to get different. So he steps out of reality. It's red now. Back into this reality, just sort of fades back from his rate form, and just all this energy just kind of with the, like, the anger that he's feeling, feeding the flame in his inside of himself,

pumps through his arm and just, just fires it out and just explodes this crystal. As the fire is gathering in your hand, As the fire is gathering out. As the fire is gathering in your hand, you are looking at Primus Taconas. You can simply spare me the lecture. It is of no concern to me where you study.

The Penteverell, the totality, a mama's troupe. You have no gift. I do not need to see any of your essays on what utility your time at the Pentevral may give you. As far as I'm concerned, the highest obligation you owe to your family is to not embarrass us further. Yes, Father. What do you,

Out of some inane curiosity, what do you intend to study there? They are nothing more than, what is it, magicians, yes? They ape the mannerisms of sorcerers. They call themselves wizards. Yes, I'm looking to solve my problem.

Do you believe that to be something that this school would seek to help you with, to unlock some latent gift of our house? It's possible. I don't know, but some of them can have figured out how to do spells. There is enough residual magic in this world, echoes of the shapers' war and strange things beyond.

that I imagine some small portion of magic does fall into the hands of strivers. If there is some ability to unlock this gift, then so be it. However, I don't hold out a tremendous amount of hope. Of course, yeah. There is something in the grasping nature to befoules the earnest intent of true magic.

Effortlessness accompanies pure workings of will. I hope one day you managed to find some degree of effortlessness, Octus. That's all. You're dismissed. Yes, father. It meant so little for you to go to the Pentevral. And now you are calling fire to your hand that nobody in your family could help you discover how to do. And in this moment, does Octus feel

that he has proven them wrong. Does he feel that this is his gift, or is this something else? I think in this moment, as this energy is gathering in his hand and he is doing it at this point, he's done it so many times, it is becoming instinct,

and he's not even thinking about it anymore. It fills him with this almost joy, because he figured it out. And no one taught him how he did it. This was his spell. Rushing forward, the flame strikes the crystal. And you can sense in this moment that an energy echoing out from this place is destroyed.

And what you truly feel is a frequency and you sense a glass scalpel, and you sense vibrating gems like teeth in a wizard's mouth. Two miracles happened that night after the horror of the massacre of the Palazzo de Venus. One was something that happened just between you and Tysia in the realm

and was fully of the realm of the divine. The second was of a realm for those that have not followed the path set out for them. The skeletons screech, and as you see their jittering bones reacting to the sudden absence of magic, they make a desperate push to destroy you and you alone in this space. Five, two, 15, 20, 25, 30.

This one's gonna take a swing from Gaia. She misses, this will move to flank on you here. This one will close using its action. Julian, you're gonna get an attack of opportunity with disadvantage because of the darkness. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30. Should be a flat roll. They're making xylophone sounds as they go.

Even disadvantage, 18, so. Oh, let's go! Okay, go. Okay, go ahead and give me the attack. I'll give me the damage. Check them up. That's gonna be eight points of bludgeoning damage. 16, you destroy a skeleton on its way to go get on this.

I grab up at the collar and like, no, you don't fuck it. Break it and gone. He's so disrespectful to skeletons. 20, 20, 20, 30. See, I used to know most of these men. Oh, that's fair. Incredible.

So four have gathered around Octus, but only two are gonna be able to swing on you. That is gonna be a hit, though. That's also gonna be a hit. What were the numbers? Oh, sorry. The 21 to hit on the first one. 22 to hit on the second one.

Cast shield again, I can block one of them. How are you doing those spell slots, kiddo? I'm actually, I've used both my second level, but I have three first levels left. I'm not gonna do anything. Okay. You take eight points of damage and six points of damage. That's fine.

As, as . We don't like that. And these ones are gonna press in further on Vailis, no longer attacking with advantage. That is one hit on Vailis, with a 23 to hit, for six points of damage. Okay. And that is the skeleton's turn.

You guys have been smashing through their numbers, and the other side of this battle is within view. Dame Saramai comes up after these skeletons. She is going to rush forward, get behind her lord, take an attack with advantage for flanking. That is a hit, and she is going to deal 10 points of damage. to that skeleton. That is then going to go back to the top.

Dr. Talter also going to go. Get it, girl. You got this. I'm gonna roll in front of the board in case something awesome. Can she cast light or something that can't fuck up? Let's go. That helps.

That's not one, baby. She casts radiant flame and deals five points of damage to Dame Gaia, who goes, But there's light. There is light for a moment. Julie, do you could use that? Absolutely. Not say no to this guy.

Tisha and Valles, that's your turn. You go first. Oof, okay. I will, I'm gonna keep hitting these skillies in front of me. Let's do it. Go to go. My ba-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-d. No, they're right away.

Natural one. Oh, I'm so sorry. No, no. Natural One and you've used your healing. We're gonna go, if that's all from you. But let me, am I able to, this is rough. I'm sitting low here. Yeah.

They'll get swings on you because you've used your action to attack. I will, I will do nothing. We have much of our parties looking bloody right now. I'll remind you guys also, You know what? I'll do shield of faith myself. Shield of faith in yourself.

I was also gonna say you guys do have desperate measures. I don't know. Oh, yeah. So you do, if you wanted to like re-roll that attack and give me some death save failures, you know. Fuck it, let's do it. Okay, sick, all right, you're in. Here we go.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, you're gonna take a death save fail and you're gonna re-roll that attack. Here we go. So that gives me a plus five? Wait, no. Oh no. I'll give you a freebie.

I'll allow you, even though it's not on the menu, I did it, I've done this before, where I'll take a single death save for a re-roll. If you want to just re-roll the attack, I'll give it to you for one death save fail. You will? Yeah, you have 10 hit points. Are you tricking me?

Huh. All right, all right, all right, all right, all right, I'll do it, I'll do it, I'll do it. Does she also get the free disengage? Choose one of them. You have to choose one of them. Damn it, let me work. I'm trying to finesse this thing.

Wait, wait a better. What's that? No. It's a 17. 17. 17. So, Valis. You move yourself one step closer to death.

You are putting it all on the line here. This is your second time today that you've had a death save fail. But you hit on this attack. What is going through Valis' mind as she becomes this reckless in this moment? Okay. I think sort of seeing this burst of, you know, kind of seeing around the bend

that Octus is sort of, blew up whatever that crystal is. I'm just angry. I'm just swinging because I'm just ready to go. I'm ready to move. I'm ready to get past these things. Let's do it. Go ahead and roll damage.

Okay. D10, D6, plus four. Okay, great. So that's four points of bludgeoning. Eight points of bludgeoning. And then that's- Plus four per strength is 12, and then roll your D6 for fire, right?

Okay, that's two points. of fire damage. Two points of fire damage for 14 overall, destroyed. I do have a question. So the... Do you get to cleave again if you want? Yes, you can cleave it up. So the, with great weapon fighting, that ones or twos, turns into threes, that wouldn't also apply to the embers, right? Yes, it would. It would? Fuck. Okay, great. So that's three points of...

Let's go. Of fire damage. Great weapon. Any dice that are produced by a great weapon, you can roll. It's all of it? It's all of it. Even divine smart? Even divine smite. That's why it's very good.

Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. That's why it's very good. Every time you clean, you gotta go for Clive. Who is hopefully on his way home. Great, okay. I'll save us all one day. Dirty 20. Dirty 20 hits.

Great, okay. So this is not adding strength, but it's still the D10 and the D6. Okay, and the D6. Let's give a dog. Okay, so great. So six points of fire damage. Okay.

And six, six, points of bludgeoning, which was 12. So that 18 damage, you go from a Nat 1 miss turn over to going deep in some place, giving over a potential for your character. Again, with a single death save failure, a Nat 1 death save becomes instant death. So you, and two skeletons are laid low before you.

But could you imagine in a fight that we would have where you would roll a natural one on your death save? Probably wouldn't happen. No. I can't even imagine it. We would imagine so. Never seen it. Never seen it.

No, I'll think that happens. No, no, no, I don't think so was there. Okay. So casting shield of faith, or are you feeling a little more confident now? Oh yeah. Do you want to cast shield of faith or how are you feeling? Save it. I'm gonna save it. I'm gonna save it.

Okay, hell yes. Julian, that is your turn. Let's go big dog. Hell yeah, Valas. As everyone rushes, it's like, I look over towards you, Vylaas. I look over towards you, Valis. I look over you, like, hey, she's good, please. I look over you, like.

How many battles are we leaving? Bailas, being like, you got it. She's just like, teeth knocked out, play. I know. I'm good, damn you. I'll sleep it off. She said this long, I figure she's fine. Is that your turn?

That was my turn. That was my turn. Wait, you didn't go. Taita, I'm so sorry. No, I'll go. You didn't go. The initiative tracker has you going first and then Vailis, but you guys actually go in either way you want.

I literally was like, I forgot if I went or not. So what to tell? Yeah. That is you. Move six and get right up in the thick of it. Other one, that's Julian. Oh, sorry? Five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty five.

Yeah, right in there. Let's hit the one behind me. With Shaleli. Let's do it. Shalala. Shalala. Shalala. Shalala.

Big-dong. Eightful. 19 plus seven. 26 to hit. 26 is a hit. Jesus. Go ahead and roll damage. Yeah.

Two plus six. Eight points of blood. Become 16 destroyed. Sweet. End of turn. Incredible. Bam. Yes. Shattered a skeleton before you. Julian, that is going to be you. Sorry if I kind of blocked you out there, Big Dog.

No, it's fine. I can still get in. I'm gonna rush into the gap that you just opened actually, so I get a skeleton on each side of me. Five, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30. Yeah. Kind of rushing in behind you, kind of tagging you in the shoulder, and be like, We're done.

Slip in there and use that momentum. I'm gonna go ahead and try and drive the rapier and kind of like a low lunge into the one that's directly to the right of you. Yeah. Hell yeah. Let's make that one. That's gonna be not. There we go, that's gonna be 15 to hit.

15 hits. Okay. So with that. Okay, it's 10 points of piercing damage. 10 points of piercing damage. Okay, badly injured. All right. Let's go.

I think I'm gonna go ahead and after that, that goes through to that side. Let's see. The one that's behind me, that doesn't necessarily flanking with Ceramai, I don't think. Okay, so that one takes eight, right? Correct. And then this one behind you is badly damaged. Badly damaged?

Yeah. Good to know. I should have reversed that. That's okay. I will go ahead and I'm gonna continue on the one that I already struck. As the blade kind of slinks in, I'm gonna go ahead and reach in with the claw into its rib cage and try and grab the back of its spine and pull it through from underneath. Hell yeah. Because I struck up before with the rapier that gives me advantage on the second bonus action strike.

Which I'm going to go ahead. I did that. That's going to be 17. 17 hits. That will be with the sneak attack damage. Thank goodness. Seven points of bludgeoning damage. 14 destroyed. Let's go.

Awesome. Hell yes, gang. Pff! Just here, okay. Hell yeah, that's a turn. Yeah, so just tear that through as the body kind of crumbles, look over it, and be like, we're almost there, we're almost there.

Octus. I think at this moment, because this is all happening at the same time, as you two are running up, and I've taken these hits from the four undead that were surrounding me, and it's just torn me. I have six hit points left, it's just torn me up completely. And I think one of them catches the side of my face and spins me and cuts open here,

and a globule of sort of like half-coagulated blood sort of drips out of Octus's face. And at that moment, he sees it, suspends it. I think I'm gonna level up at this point. Yeah, let's go. Yes, here we go. And catches it and takes this bit of blood and looks at the undead around him

and is going to burn a desperate measure at the same time to immediately give myself disengage as an extra action. Hell yeah. To leave that move away from the group. Hell yeah. and then take my docha. I have the page open for a reason, so I remember what this does.

Yeah. So I think I'm holding this moat of blood in front of me and I move all the way over there and I'm going to cast false life on myself. Giving myself 2D4. Great, that's 7, 8, 9. Nine, ten, eleven temporary hit points. Damn.

So I don't die. And then just sit there and kind of surveying the area, holding this bit of blood in my hand. And then it's just, I like set it off, and it just starts to kind of just float around the top of my head, just circling as this like bit of condensed blood floats in the air. And that will be my turn.

Okay. Unbelievable. The red glow as the fire continues to burrow into the crystal from your fire bolt, the sickly green energy becoming red in time. This globule of blood, this tiny incandescent gem of what once gave you life, hovers in air, begins to catch more in the

of this pulsing red light. Turning from this place, five, 10, 15. Julian, this one, actually Tysha and Julian gets, Tisha, you get an attack opportunity first. Okay, damn it. As this one rushes away trying to close on Octus. 22 to hit. 22 hits, go ahead and roll damage.

Also, we're getting to see the coolness of a reach weapon. This guy, even though 10 feet away from you, is gonna leave your threatened range. You get an attack of opportunity. Yeah. 22. 10 bludgeoning. Destroyed.

You don't leave me. You see, Julian's getting ready to strike and just like. Well, do you remember to add bless? Ever play. I've been a way better place now. 15? 15 hits. Right. She just could have ended in injury winning.

I've had 13 hit points and 11 temporary. Let's go. Way better now. Wee. Four, so eight, eight. Eight, right? Bludgeoning, yes. Plus, four, so.

12 plus your fire. Yes. Sundered. One last skeleton rushes towards Octus. It's going to attack. That is a hit. I would like to rule earlier and say that his disengaged. He didn't use his additional movement

if he had had any on his front. If you wanted to move farther away, you could. I would say I'm gonna have moved farther away there, just because, yeah, I'll just move my full movement. Great. In this case, this guy, But because he was in melee, there's no amount Octus can move that's not within 30 feet.

I thought disengage included movement in it. No, it does not. It's just the ability to get away with that in the right time. All right, yeah. Yeah, you can get to me, yeah. Shoot. Good looking out though.

What was the attack role? The attack rule was 20. Oh, shit. Yeah, it's all hit me anyway. Okay, yeah, yeah. You take five points of slashing, that's fine. All the best in touch. Hell yes, it's gonna be five,

10, 15, 20, 20, 2530. Dame Guy rushes up to you as the skeleton pursues you and who scatters the bones and destroys the skeleton before you. And we leave initiative. Oh my God, they're done. Looking around, I just want anyone, Tysha did not sustain any injury,

neither did Dr. Talter nor did the Dame Saramai. However, what state of injury are Julian, Veilis, and Octus at? I'm at 13 hit points right now, out of 31. Vales, what are you at? I'm at 10 of 31. 10 of 31. Just a bloody to 26.

Okay. Take a minute to rest. I can do a short rest would be nice. Just give me a minute. And I look at Dame Saramai as they scatter these bones and just go, thank you. She looks at you and bows. You know, she has the appearance of like,

this is the one thing I'm here to do. Just blood orb continuing to halo around my head. Tisha isn't saying anything, but it is very apparent that she does not want to rest. She wants to keep going. If you want to go, we can. I'm fine. I'm fine.

You will die if we keep going. I don't think we should stay here. I'm already dead. What does it matter? As you're having this conversation, Julian is just marching to gather the scattered bones and begin piling them. I'll help you. Yeah.

We should take a break if we think this place is safe for now. I think how- What should you do that crystal? Blew it up. Yeah. I think that, I think that, I think these crystals, this is a very loose hypothesis. These crystals are emitting a sort of necromanic field

that made it easier for these to be resurrected in mass. And I think me shooting that disrupted the field a little bit. Didn't make them go away, obviously, but it definitely made them angry. Should we do that to the other one? Yeah. Juliana stops at this point, arm filled with like bones and armor,

and goes, do you think they know? That we're here? Do you think they know their crystal has been breached? Again, I have no idea this magic. I don't know what does. Should we keep going? I see what you're asking. There is every possibility that they felt the vibrations

and the disruption of their magic. Do we push on? We can push on. I'm asking you. Push on. You both look like shit. Professional opinion. I don't think it's a lot.

It is good for us to rest here. If we can move forward a little bit, change location, and maybe rest then might be safer. These were Taconas tents, right? Yeah. I would like to move over there and kind of look through them a little bit. As Tisha and Julian, as Tisha and Julian begin to collect the remains here,

Dame Guy is going to give you the help action here, and Dr. Talter walks with both of you over to the tents as well, and it's going to give each of you a flat plus five on any investigation checks that you make here. Great, great. I think I'm like funneling you towards putting all the remains over in that area I use Lanselaide on, and is like kind of gesturing without trying to ask directly

if you want her to do right, like final rights. I'll take that. I just give you a nod and keep going about it. Cool. You begin to collect these bodies here. I would like either a survival or nature check from either of you as you do that. What did we get for our investigation checks?

30. 30. That's pretty damn work. Let's go. That's amazing. Not bad for you. for level four. Yeah.

Plus five held. 22. 22. You guys go over to the Taconas Tense Tense. Octus, this red field of energy coming from this crystal right now, this globe of blood floating around you, that image of your father, effortlessness, prising effortlessness. That's fucking stupid.

Your family sits on a vast inheritance, not only of ill-gotten lucre, but literally of magical importance, gifted to them by a God that came to this world to shape the fate of men. Everything they have, they got as a God servants, a lineage of sorcery, that then when the benefactor that gave it to them vanished, they congratulated themselves on retaining.

And I think you walked to these tents and what you can feel is just that idea of laws of magic existing immutably, not as the pronouncements of a ruler, but rather that the greatest laws are merely the descriptions of cause and effect. Great magic thrives on principle. And there are certain principles at work here. And looking at that globe of blood floating around you, it is a precious thing. It is what gave your body life.

Your body used to be able to make more of it, and now all the blood that you will ever have exists in static form here, as precious as rubies. as life-giving as fire. And now it glows with a ruby fire, illuminating the interior of a tent filled with correspondence, the letters written in the script of your family.

This excavation site was kept for the past four odd years that they began excavating it, tended to by the Taconas, in this place. And what you immediately see on a 30 is that there are both important pieces of correspondence here written in plain Obadi

between your family, moving back and forth, the ability discussing the matters at work here. You see these cages hanging over. There are several cages within here that are very clearly for home pigeons that have been released that are no longer here in this place. You sense also that this place was abandoned hurriedly. There are also within this place arcane texts, a small number of flasks or bottles kept here as well for there are some small sort of would look like restorative

potions within the tent as well. We can get into all of it and I will ask sort of direct questions for what you are looking for here too. On a 22, Phelis, that's also an extremely good role. What I would ask you for is I'll take a moment to ask you guys for anything you would be searching for purposefully to reward specifically on these high roles as you go through this place. If you would have a focus on, and basically it's like,

you'll find it all, but it takes time. to investigate, it takes time to literally read and move through stuff. So thinking about what your first priorities would be, I'll come back to you in a minute. For you guys outside, what did we get on these survival in nature? I cast guidance, by the way.

I felt as locate object gutters out and her concentration drops, I think in like the passing brushing of a limb, she's gonna cast guidance on you as we work. Great. I'm gonna say Julian with each of these like, very focused, disassociative paths of gathering with each skull that he picks up.

He takes a few seconds to look at it and tries to trace a memory to see if perhaps he can place who it might have once been under his training. And that distraction, unfortunately, keeps him from being focused on anything beyond that. I rolled an eight. What did you roll?

18 on a survival check. Helping Julian just observe, it occurs to you that even though you do not detect the spike through your son's ear here, certainly Alighar has lost people he cares for in this space. And looking down, you wonder if you knew any of these people, looking at those wearing the armor of the Barrow Guard, a place that drew your son's fascination,

rather than the Circle of Ancients or the Order of Roses. Baragard Taconas, Baragard Taconas. And then one of these strange robed figures, these robes have a deep maroon lapel and a dark navy in a thread where there's almost, it's like a checker. It's the same cliquel.

but the reflectiveness of light changes. So there's like glossy squares and matte squares of the same shade of navy. You are holding the body of Pescard Velmante. Rendered into skeletal structure before you. This is the man who, you know, a little more than a week ago, or maybe like about two weeks ago at this point,

gifted you a half-ling-sized coffin that was really referred to as a box, told you to bring it to Theazi Fang. And he is dead in this chamber. He had been a charming and friendly man, engaged in a dangerous line of work, friends with a man you consider her brother. I think at that point she's going to just, she can't gather anymore and whatever you bring over

she will begin to work with. And from there, she drops to her knees. And in that place where the sand is cooling rapidly under her, but still almost remembers the sunlight, for just a second, she will begin the rights. But holding on to Pascard and reaching for him on the path and calling to him and all of the others here, as she imagines herself looking at a mass of people

walking through a dark wood and directs them as gently and as kindly as she can to walk the path in return. In offering to walk that path, do you think you speak to the spirit of your friendly acquaintance pass guard first, or do you hold for a while to speak to him last? I think it's him first. It's like seeing a group of people

recognizing your friend right away. So you're speaking, I'm speaking to him and speaking loud enough for the others around him whose faces I cannot or will not recognize. He looks to you. You can't quite see his face. Right now you're so alive, having called on the power of the land. You're quite far away from the realm of death right now.

But you hear something like rushing water, a babbling stream, Pascard's soul leaves, headed somewhere, but you're not sure if it's down a path. You look around at these figures that walked out of the desert seemingly to attack this place. Did Pascard attack the Barrow Guard? Did he attack your son? What happened here?

Vylus and Octus. What do you begin with as you peel through these richly appointed Tacona's tents in this excavation? I feel like I'm looking through notes, journals, writings, anything where Octus's name may pop up, or having to do with whatever this place is. Incredible. And for me, I'm looking for starting with these bottles that you were in front of me, and what they exactly do, and if is there any, like, instruction as to how they are used

and what their purpose is, after that, any other items that may have been overlooked when they left, things that are useful, things that could be brought with us. Very quickly, Dr. Talter begins to move over to you, Octus, helping you gather, essentially, one of these tents appears to have been a captain, of the Taconas family, a sort of vassau knight, and is filled with all manner of logistical military,

like ordering more supplies here. A lot of that, I think, Vailas, you and you're sort of posted up in that tent almost on your own, as Dr. Tolter helps you with a lot of the occult stuff. The other tent has a lot of the, here's what we're here trying to do, the sort of pointed arcane focus of this. Valis, you find plenty of notes in this place.

First of all. Also looking for names, just names even beyond Octus, just like who they're working with, who, you know, anything I can take in. Valus reads a lot. You know, eight hundred years of practice. You know, really, really great comprehension skills. I'm like, really save them in there.

You find a journal, entries in this place, you find some journal entries in this place that seem to indicate written in the hand of what you realized to be a lord of the Taconas family, perhaps one of Octus's uncles. Within it, you hear reading into the text, it describes, it describes describes having lost the trail of an artifact concerning a celestial called Olbalad, saying that the trail had gone cold in Venatus. And there are some notes written between each other

to say, I fear that the drowned men may have beaten us to the punch on this one. You find other missives here written between the head of this excavation site, explaining our most recent findings were from about two and a half months ago. The final experiment was a failure and wasted our last supplies of osment. A word that you do not recognize. O-S-S-E-M-E-N-T.

O-S-S-S. E-M-E-N-T. A response you see in some correspondence there says, says, Haley Joel. You see that looking throughout, you see that there's also a letter here that basically says, the Hale of ours have proven a dead end. Some inherent power of their sorcery immunizes them

against the procedure. So they've tried. I think you know. Fuck. Okay. There is a letter here signed by Primus Taconas. In it, you see, it says, a new source of Calcidian has revealed itself,

but we need to move quickly. The cloak is moving faster than anticipated. If the obelisk holds fast in Tanisar, Does the sacrifice itself need to happen in Tanisar? Can you say that last one one more time? If the obelisk holds fast in Tanasar, does the sacrifice itself need to happen in Tanisar? And a new source of Calcidion has revealed itself,

but we need to move quickly. The cloak is moving faster than anticipated. You see that cloak here is capitalized. If the obelisk holds fast in Tanisar, another letter in Primus Deconis hands that you find here reads, the risks may be net. These are like scrawled on like a pigeon. These are clearly like quickly written notes.

It reads, the risks may be necessary. We cannot long keep our forces hidden outside the orchard and we can't chance the se door closing. The se door. Mother. Shut up! Jesus. You're crazy.

In the other tent, Going on a 30. Yeah. You're going on a 30. 30? 30? You discover Octus. You discover Octus.

I find myself in the tent. Here's your part. I want you to know I was whispering the exact same biggest. He did it. Finally. Number one, there are a number of sites on a 30, the layout, on a fucking 30, which is the highest DC the game bothers to list. You get the number of sites. the interior schematics of Tanisar.

There is a piece together a map of actually what has been excavated here thus far. There are several areas of note within this place. There is an area. Hold on a second. The central chamber where it looks like they discovered all of the magic necessary to do this, you discover a term called the Deva Vindicta,

which looks like what they were trying to create here. And there is a chamber of the Apotheon Vindicta, which is guarded by a place that they refer to without having an actual name of whatever it was in Tannisar, that they just called the Hall of the Demon Guardians. Jesus. There is also a long bridge going over a subterranean lake that goes to a place called the Apotheotic Obelisk.

Those words could mean something different in Obridenian. Yeah? Oberdeen. Yeah, there's a whole chamber with just like a couple of guys hanging out with dogs that are like, we're gardens. Yeah. It's in a garden.

It's in a garden. It's in a garden. It's really good. Oh, shit. And then the last area that is unveiled to you in this larger, in the chambers beyond this place, it appears to be an area of of Tanisar that has within it still,

it appears to be an area that has still within it, a, for lack of a better word, funereal, or actually more like funereal and preparatory chambers of the ancient Taconas Path for the preparation of dead bodies, that it looks like they have a small area in that was more about their day-to-day life here at the excavation site. There is one area where they refer to the creature's dwelling place.

And you see here that there is some correspondence of how Ceramide, this is what's connected to the potions. The potions appear to be a petrification anti-venom. May I make an archa check to make the association between what a petrification antidote could mean? Yes, go for it. And on a 30, do it with advantage. Yeah, whatever.

Goes together, goes together. Why would you need that? 25. 25. Looking at Saramai, you know that Sarah my fuck with all manner of deadly, magical serpents. You've probably seen a basilisk up close. I look at Saramai and picking up the bottle and go,

Basilisk. You see that Gaia nods. You make that. We're going to need these. The last location you've got to need these. The last location you find on that 30 is deep underneath that the chamber of the Apotheon Vindicta, which they just refer to as the sepulchre veil.

Okay. The Deva Vindicta and Apotheot. Oh, sorry. The Deva Vindicta is the creature they referred to. That's the celestial that they were trying to creed. Right. There is a. Something sepulchre.

The sepricle veil is underneath the Apotheon Vindicta, which is a central chamber past the Hall of the Demon Guardians. Okay. Makes sense. Totally got it. It's a veil like yours. Yeah, yeah, it's weird. Yeah, probably. I love hearing Laura, you're like,

I like what I think those words mean. Saying it. You need a rest. Let's take a break. Within here, the last thing you find, I think, Octus is, These tents look very undisturbed by the Barrow Guard. They largely left these alone.

Da-da-da. You find actually Vailas, the last thing you find in your tent, is written in a journal in the hand of this Taconas Lord saying, final experiment, a partial success but largely failure. It is my opinion. that Tertia's innate gifts and connection to the tenabral reaches thwarted the grafting

of the calcidial prosthesis. I will miss her dearly. Jesus. What was that the name again? Calcidial prosthesis. Sorry, the name of the person. Tertia, your cousin. Tertia, who was the owner of the scorpion?

Yeah. So look, that scorpion was just, you know, missing its man, it was sad, and we had to kill it. Yeah, you gotta put them down. Doesn't matter, it came after me first. Yeah. That's how I justify everything. You believe that these other chambers will have the answers you seek about maybe these terms and what they mean here.

Possibly a place where the rest of the Barrow Guard fled to. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I'm gonna come out of the tent. Is that? Yeah. Yeah. Is that okay?

Yeah. Stay in the tent. Yeah. I'm going to walk out to where Tisha is preparing the ritual. It's back by the gate where I did that little. Are you still on the tent? Are you coming out?

I'm still, I think I'm still looking around in there. Okay. I would like to relay this information to everybody of what I found. How many paralyzed antidotes were in there? Two. Two. Had no healing. Or something?

Are you eyes and throats or petrification? Petrification, sorry. I'm gonna reach down and grab one of the skull heads. You do that in my hand, snakes out and grabs you. Not in a way to hurt you, but it is the strongest, like the fuck. Do we want to talk to anyone here? Hmm? Use your words.

I can speak with the dead if we need to ask them questions. Really? Let's leap with that. I can speak with the dead if we need to ask them questions. Actually, and I'm going to gesture to the one right in front of me that I was speaking over. Okay. His name is Pascard Valmonte. And give a brief description of like, this was the man that handed off an artifact. Yeah. Yeah. Did you see the box when it was on there? Yeah. Yeah. Then it's exactly that. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Um. Yeah. I'm gonna take out the stone.

This stone, here goes nothing. Okay. I'm gonna cast bequeathed. This stone was crafted from the rib of a celestial who chose to die so that your people would not have to walk into the dark alone. Crafted with hands of love, no one should have to walk into the dark alone.

The lights of the glowing crystals fade, And Vailas, you stand looking into death, the underworld all around you. You see in his maroon and navy robe, a warm-faced, middle-aged man, a little skinny, balding, smiling. You see a pendant of humble leather around a silver coin,

his spirit, ghostly translucent, turns to look up at you. Hello, have you come to Shepard Meade in Tomb, where I am supposed to go? I won't be doing that. And I'm very to start, I'm sorry to disturb you from where you're going. I just have some questions for you

if you'd be able to. to answer them. What happened here? What happened here? I'll tell you what I know. If you can answer my questions as well, because I think what happened here was chaos. That's all for this episode.

No! No! No! No! No! What are you doing? That's all for this episode. Tune in next week. For the thrilling conclusion. And we'll die.

I can't write out my question. No, I mean, I'm... That's not what I'm just... I'm thinking out. We're freaking out. There's more to come. I know. Hey, from the bottom of my heart, I really mean it.

Is it Thursday? Thanks for listening to this episode of Critical Role. If you're enjoying this story, consider leaving a review on your podcast platform. of choice. We're always looking for new critters to share our adventures with, and your review may help a new batch of wayward souls find their way to Aramon, Exandria, and beyond. Or if you want to hear what the cast discussed after the episode, head to beacon.tv and check out our exclusive show Critical Roll Cooldown. You'll be right there at the table immediately after we say, is it Thursday

yet, and experience our cast's post-show reactions. We'll see you next time.