D&D is For Nerds - Barovia III #30 May the Sun Never Set

Episode Date: August 31, 2024

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Mists around us like prison bars. Strahd our jailer. We must escape. We must kill. Strahd must die. I don't know how to describe the size of a huge dragon. Argonvost, as you easily assumed, is headless. Okay, does Hunter's Mark let me still track it through the darkness Yeah, you know where it is a pinning shot will reduce its speed to zero Yeah, if I hit it in the sky will it fall out of the sky? I would say yes

Okay, tracking it with my hunters mark spin around with the crossbow twang twang where I think it is you hear distantly Hell yeah. As Argonvost's corpse hits the ground. Oh, it's gotta be a lot of damage. It must have fallen at least 80 feet. Ha ha! Ha ha, bitch! We know what that's like.

Very painful. We fell off a mountain earlier, so I remember how much it hurt. Argonvost takes an additional 30 points of damage Holy shit, holy no. Oh buddy Fuck still body body body. You are so close Then I would like to move to where I think Bigfoot Paul was. All right, you bump into Hector

Where is he? Probably all I can get out. Yeah Near me yet for the impact. Okay, that was Pip's turn. Are you saying, you're saying that out loud? Yeah. Okay, it is the Berjumaster's turn first. What can she do? You can probably feel the wash of the guts slamming against you, displaced by the dragon hitting the ground.

Oh shit, wait. Good news. Uh-huh good news great news even The darkness ends fuck you can see each other again And you can see bigfoot pole face down in the middle of your circle Oh God grab him by the hair and pull his head up, so it doesn't drown that'll be your turn. Yeah. Yeah, that's fine That's fine. Okay. That'll be your turn, like. Yeah, yeah, that's fine, that's fine. Okay. Like that'll be the, yeah. The Berger Master creates a gentle ice ramp that allows her to climb up on top of the ice wall.

You can see it's like waves crashing against the shore. The giant corpse that you're standing in is trying to throw itself up on top of the ice wall. She throws a ball of arcane energy. Mm. Critical miss. Mm. Come on.

Off we go. You are teleported 30 feet in a random direction, determined by the DM. Up is a direction. Fuck. It specifies. So, she, whoo whom teleports backwards It's not much know the walls only ten feet high she takes six points of course she takes the maximum

The burgeon master Accidentally as she's throwing the spell you watch as something strange Happens and then she shimmers for a moment, and then she's standing 30 feet back, she falls in among your circle. Okay. I guess that was not intentional. It's John Cavendish's turn. John Cavendish climbs the exact same slope that the Birdramaster made.

You see, he gets to the top, takes a knee, aims down with his strange weapon. Crack! Miss. Uh oh! Critical miss! Oh my god! Third one will be a critical hit, but let's see what miss he gets. Fucking hell! Jesus! What luck! Okay, it's fine. Momentary confusion, you don't add your proficiency bonus to your next attack roll.

Maybe what the burjah master, that magical mishap that she had, leaves an air, like the equivalent of crop dusting someone, but with magic. And John Cavendish walks right into it. As he takes the knee, all of you see him go, whoa, whoa. Kind of shaking his head like, whoa, whoa, shaking his head like, whoa, oh my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my,

my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, cold sails up into the air and then it's like hail rains down around you and Argonvost goes down for the second and hopefully final time. As Argonvost dies the corpse around you slowly lowers and calms.

That's good news. Okay, okay, okay. Can I check Paul to see if he's alive? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, oh, we're still in initiative. Yeah. Oh, but that's okay, because it's Tarposs's turn next, and she casts just a level one healing word, and he recovers nine hit points. Okay. Okay.

Sitrep, anyone has... who else is not alive? You're still missing the... well, you don't know where the engineer is. Okay, but oh You and the adventurers went from 50 50 as in 50 plus you guys Yeah, sure anyone named plus an extra 50 people went down to 31 went down to a further six You guys oh fuck There are Yeah, you almost were wiped out. Mm-hmm Six. Damn. You guys. Oh fuck. There are, yeah, you almost were wiped out.

The Virgemaster lets the ice wall drop. Yeah, just like, I don't know, with like a sword, just the viscera, like stab it, like you can attack it. Just can test it to see what happens Yeah, you can attack it undulate does it whatever is it just kind of does not respond Okay, okay Now to find yeah, I reach into my my my um shirt or whatever and I'll pull out one of the stakes and I'll Hand it over to the burgeon master. All right, she takes it gladly and I'll hand it over to the Berger Master. Alright, she takes it gladly.

Alright. I mean... Let us, um... Fan out. Fan out. Alright. If I cast Divine Sense now, um, is it still like that lingering...

Yes. ...just necromantic energy? It's more like the creature is asleep, not dead. Okay, that's terrible news. You... After just... it doesn't take long to kind of work out. Maybe with... maybe, yeah. I mean, you're pretty good at the undead Hector,

Pip, you're a monster hunter, between the two of you and the burjamaster as well, you're able to work out that this is all one networked creature that can be controlled possibly by, well, at the very least by Argen Vostholdt, but you assume Ludmilla also has a control over this. It just seems, it's just got her handiwork. It's got a fingerprint all over it.

The creature, this entity is so incalculably large, you don't think you could kill it. No, yeah, yeah, for sure. You think it needs to be burnt away. Yeah, yeah. Destroying this creature, dismantling this creature is the work of several days. Yep. Yep. Yep Yep, for sure. This is the

Possibly the worst part of rebuilding Kuchiri will be the destruction of this creature in the darkness A flare goes off Yeah, right, I guess the engineer Well, let's let's use Yeah, somebody goes and collects the engineer. Well, let's use this. Someone goes and collects the engineer. Okay. He is in a pretty fucked up state, you could say. But still walking.

Alright. Is there any around this like area? I guess like torches or light or whatever. Is there anything that would be like, oh yeah, I guess there is the furthest away point from the entrance way which we might be like, ah, right. That's probably where she's got the coffin. It's gone. No, you would have to just start searching.

There's no obvious place. Yep. All right. Vocalize like, where do we think there is a logical position of where her coffin might be? Would be anywhere. Or are we just looking for a needle in a viscera stack? Should we split up or should we stay? Because the moment we open it, is there a trap?

Maybe it goes off again? I would predict that assuming there's no further encounters to be had down here the most efficient method to do this would be to Split up into a spiraling search program. I could devise a method for that if you wanted. What is this? I mean Would it be headless dragon and the SPA or that Ludmilla? I mean to protect her. I don't know. I don't think we should speak up. Okay, well then what about we link arms, make a long chain, walk from one end to the other together? That's one way to search. Let us do that, see what we can do.

All right, we'll do it that way. Okay, you spend several long hours searching down here. You, at a certain point, encounter Argenvoss Holt's corpse, a giant behemoth lying, what's left of it, lying in the muck and the blood. You should probably harvest that at some point. Yeah, I will, don't worry. You keep going, you find eventually appearing out of the darkness like an oasis in a desert, a mound of dirt rising out of the surrounding muck and gore. Atop it, almost on purpose with zero fanfare, is a wooden coffin.

A very simple design for maybe a pauper. Just all divine sense. Yes, as a precaution. There's a vampire in that coffin. I knew that is wondering if there's anything else Yeah, no hidden surprises. No other surprises that you are aware of. Okay. Yeah, I mean, I guess Yeah, there's nothing left for it The burj master leads the way up the side of the little embankment and like it Yeah, and to the coffin my crossbow just in case.

The Berger master looks very satisfied with herself. You get to, as I said, the coffin and inscribed into it, Ludmilla Willesevik, mother, daughter, beloved. And then it has a birth date and a death date. Does anyone have a crowbar? I'll grab my, I guess the mace and I will, using an action, I will transform it into, I guess, a spear with a crowbar-like shape that I can... You crack the coffin open, lying inside, once again, a very simple-looking coffin. There's a pillow underneath her head, but otherwise zero adornment,

is Ludmilla. You recognize her immediately. Her body is mangled somewhat from the damage she sustained by being crushed. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you watch as, slowly but inevitably, inevitably her flesh reknits and restores itself She is fast asleep as this happens. Okay. Can I ask the burj master if um, can we do this together? uh

It'll be a persuasion check. I guess The burj master looks at you and looks like she is considering your words, but then you realize she was distracting you as she plunges the steak into Ludmilla's heart. Ludmilla takes one last gasp and turns to Ash. You can have the next one and she throws the steak back to you. Not at, back. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll grab the steak, pocket that one. Allow me to give you the highest compliment I can. You have proven yourself a useful ally.

Well, thank you. So have you. Couture is yours. I jest you to Bigfoot Paul, Iona, the Berger Master. Really just Bigfoot Paul and the Berger Master. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Should we get out of here? Yeah. Let me harvest all this shit first, but yeah, then let's get out of here.

Can I harvest a Ludmilla and the dragon? Is vampire dust one of the ingredients? Vampire teeth are? Well, you the ingredients vampire teeth are well you get two vampire teeth they of course it's so useless but I'll take them they transform a weapon into piercing yeah it's just really never like this it's just like yeah it goes into like you stab her in the heart and just you goes to the big ball of dust yeah to do toot-toot-toot, little vampire team. Eek. Piercing weapon pretty useful against specific types of hags. Ooh, great.

All right, that's maybe a one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I guess, you know. Yeah, well, wait. Do we just get regular loot, Adam? It's been so long since we, I always forget. I don't think you do, actually. I don't think you ever get regular loot.

Damn it. Yeah, that's fair. Yeah, that's crazy, isn't it? You, yeah, you get, hang on, let me give you a few other things just to be fair, I guess. Okay, thanks. I guess I'm looting the dragon as well, so. Starting with alchemical ingredients, you find the following things. You find, let's say, four doses of Ankeg acid. Sweet.

I don't think I've had that this whole adventure. You find two doses of Ectobloom. Oh, nice. That's to replace the ones I gave to Piran. Three Elemental Spirits. Nice. Four Flump Spores. Mm-hm. A Hag Eye.

Oh, yeah, nice. Those are good. Four Hounding Killer Hands. I'd leave them. I have so many of them. I havehmm. Sammy. A hagg eye. Sammy. Oh yeah, nice. Those are good. Sammy. Four hounding killer hands. Sammy. I'd leave them. I have so many of them. I have a sackful. Sammy. No, you used them up, dude. Sammy. I don't think I could have theoretically used up 35 hounding killer hands for what we did. Sammy. We used a lot. Sammy. A pinch of shadow. Sammy. Okay.

Sammy. Four quaggoth vein. Sammy. Okay, cool. Sammy. As I said, the Vampire Teeth. Mm-hmm. Six Blightskin. Oh, nice. Aghast Guts. Oh, yeah. Six Ooze Sweat.

Hell yeah, I'm getting rich. Oh, this place was heavy. Yeah, there's a lot of guts and people and monsters here, fair enough. Aboleth mucus? Mm-hmm. Beholder dreams? How many? One, one of each.

One of each, okay. Four dragon blood? Oh, that's so good. Three dragon breath. Two dragon scales. Two formian eyes. Yes. Five raven feathers, which looks to have been a last stand.

That's sad. Five unicorn horns, which were definitely part of an experiment that you do not want to do now. No, I don't think about. Also sad. And that's it for regular ones, but you also get some stones as well. Fabulous. Kind of like a gallbladder stone kind of thing with all this gut monster

was eating too much. Yeah true. It was calcifying diamonds. Five agates. Nice. A diamond. Five emeralds. A garnet. A ruby. And two turquoises. God damn, I am rich in ingredients again. Pip was running low, so I spend some time down here harvesting and collecting. This is another two hours of searching and harvesting. You find, and then using the conveyor belt, you convey back up to the top. You convey back up to the top You can pay back up to the top 18,000 gold pieces one and a half thousand platinum pieces Okay, a six pack of potions of healings

Gruegox best these are the the new and improved so they also doubles alchemist fire These are the the new and improved so they also doubles alchemist fire Oh lovely if you want to use it as a potion of healing you need to Unstop of the container and then in under a second It says you need to form a tight seal with your lips because the liquid will catch fire on contact with air Or if you want to use it as alchemist fire you do that, but don't care okay? Don't push it to your lips. It specifically states uses alchemist fire. Do not put it to your lips a potion of climbing a potion of grew grog scotch, which is a

potion of hill Giants string You find a few odds and ends, if you care. A compass. WILL Okay. So a pile of silk. WILL Okay. And wooden prayer beads. WILL Alrighty. Do they, any of them ring magic? No, none of them ring magical. Finally, you find a set of gauntlets.

WILL Ooh, okay. magical. Finally, you find a set of gauntlets. Oh, okay. Magical gauntlets. The person who you pry them off was quite clearly once, well, I guess once, I don't know if you'd still say that they're a goliath, it's a corpse. Anyway, they were a goliath in life. And so the gauntlets were sized for someone

slightly larger than you, but you wear them comfortably enough There's a thick fur that lines the inside of the gauntlets Which maybe you're a little bit happy for because of the warmth But also that extra fur means that you kind of they kind of fit you well as well on the metal outer shell of the gauntlets, you can see there is a battle damage on the right gauntlet, a giant winding scar that runs up along it. This, whatever this mark was, whatever caused this mark,

destroyed the arm, the greaves, I believe they're called, of the armor, so those are unrecoverable. But it only caused this light mark this little damage a scar almost in the gauntlet In the gauntlets themselves cool while wearing the gauntlets your attacks are considered All of your attacks are considered magical and you have a plus one to attack in damage. Oh, that's sweet What bonus does your armor currently confer? Is it 14? Oh wait, I have it right here, I'm a fool.

It's currently a 16 armor bonus. So we raise that to 17 or 19 while you're using a shield. That's saucy. That's good stuff. It seems weird to like grab them and just slip them on because I'm like, surely someone else might use them. But I don't know.

Well, I'm assuming if we look around, are other adventurers also looting? There's like six adventurers left. They are, and maybe a full half of them, once the danger has passed, are like, we don't want to be here. Oh yeah, I assume that a lot of this like... A full half, three, leave. I assume that the large portion of us will just start leaving. To be honest, I don't even know if I'll be the one going and gathering all this sort

of stuff myself. Fair, fair. Maybe you do spot the gauntlets and as you're collecting them and while the gold is being transferred, Bigfoot, Paul and the burj master begin discussing what's going to happen with the gold. Mm. Yeah. That makes sense. Yeah. Alright, I'll, um, I need to, I don't want to be down here anymore.

I'm just gonna finish up with the dragon and stuff, but I'll see you up there. Yeah, I'm going to, um, my barrier iron. From like inside the dragon, my little arm comes out giving you a thumbs up. There's roughly about 33,000 gold coins worth of just currency here. So ultimately what it comes down to is a three-way split Bigfoot Paul gets 11k the burgeon master gets 11k and that your party gets 11k. Oh my god rich rich stuff Well, I'll leave all that sort of I guess yeah gets 11K. Oh my God. Rich. Rich stuff. Well, I'll leave all that sort of, I guess, yeah. Yeah, that is a little bit of a master.

That's everyone else. That's other people's problems. Right, I might, yeah, I'll use this as a letter to go out. Is Tarpost down or do they go upstairs pretty much straight away? Tarpost when they weren't needed left, yeah. Yeah. By Gorub and Lushen.

What's left of Gorub and Lushen. You don't want them there for the funeral, dude. Well, I'll go upstairs and I'll seek out. John Cavendish probably also with you heads back up just to... And then when he gets to the top, he rises with you pretty wordlessly. He's just quiet. He's just in quiet contemplation. And when you get back up to the top,

he pretty immediately starts organizing people. Oh, okay. Oh, yeah, that five minute up, it just, you know, good work, John. Yes, thank you. Wish it could have gone differently, I suppose. Yeah. Yeah.

At the end of the day, the dragon and Ludmilla are slain. Take solace in that. It's a shame that more had to die. Yes, so much, so much destruction, death, terrible thing. Do you believe it? He says. He, since you, you've kind of broken the spell, he was going to write this in silence, but you've broken a spell for him. Figuratively, obviously. Yes. Um... I guess I do need to specify that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, fair.

Was it true, what you said? About Destiny, before, in the speech? Sorry, what, sorry? You, uh... Seemed tired of it. A little bit, yes. Sorry, what sorry? You seem tired of it. A little bit, yes. Yeah, I just, Pip described you as someone dripping with it before, and you seemed to, well,

not be necessarily keen on it, but open to the idea of destiny. I think it is one of those things where, well, when good things happen, when miracles happen, it's very, very easy to believe that a higher purpose, a higher calling wanted you, made you, compelled you to do that. And so when good things happen, of course, you want to believe in destiny. When you surround yourself or when people that you happen to like or people with the same moral fortitude fall in your lap and want to assist, it's very easy to believe in destiny. Sometimes you might be flippant, you might want to disregard the hard work of many people simply because, well, of course, the good things happen because I am a good person and that is my destiny.

But then when the destiny makes you work with the engineer, say, you start questioning if it's truly worth it. You start questioning if it's actually the destiny or is it someone telling you that you have a destiny which makes you do the right thing? Or to spare the right people, to spare people in general. Maybe that just through that alone is all you need. So I guess that's the self-fulfilling prophecy of it all. When I first arrived I had nothing to contradict what I was told but then I mean we had one companion from part of Madam Eva's reading, but he got turned, turned into a vampire, and then he killed another one of us.

So I don't know, destiny or not, I want to get out of here, John. Destiny or not, I'm going to take down the devil. I don't need someone, a higher power, another calling to tell me to do the right thing. That just comes from here, like point inwards sort of thing. He nods funny words from a paladin and a warlock. I guess so. I guess so. But I'm getting tired of being used by elder gods. John Cavendish just nods slowly. He has sunken back into his own thoughts. Get up to the top, John Cavendish steps off,

and then immediately, it's like the quiet John Cavendish has gone and soldier John Cavendish has returned, a different person starts barking orders. Right, yes. As you were. I'll, uh, yeah, scan for her tapos, and if not in the abattoir itself, I'll head off. Maybe I'll grab, I probably would've put my pack or whatever

with Orion somewhere up top. I don't think it would've... Sure. have taken him down, so I'll gather that. You have a little search around the abattoir. Tarpos is not here. So you collect your pack and stepping out, you expand your search a little further. Tarpos is not far from the abattoir, but she's moved far enough away that the snow is just black with soot, not red also with blood. She's sitting on a bench in a, there's no, Kutry doesn't really have

like public parks, but there are open spaces where people can sit and cry. And Tarpos has found such a place and is sitting as quietly as she can as Gorob and Lushen. Standing nearby, they keep trying to say things, like they want to... She's... Tarpos is obviously uncomfortable, and they obviously want to help, but dealing with someone who is emotionally uncomfortable is not a tool that Gorob and Lushen have in their tool belt. Okay, I'll um... they're a hammer and nail I think I can figure this one out Alright, I'll yeah head there towards them. I'm seeing your approach stands up. Oh I'll sit down next to tapos

Tapos perhaps is there anything that we might? Need to bury Orion that perhaps Gorbun Lashin can fetch? You need to say it twice, but Tapos on the second attempt. The first time you say it, no. But then... Or like, maybe then perhaps for after the burial, perhaps they could find something like a large enough stone or some sort of carving tools or wood. You make it a step more obvious. And Tarpos on the second attempt understands. Yes, Gorob, Lushen, need stone, big, five feet by five feet square, perfectly.

Perfectly square, but thin. And perhaps a certain feather of a certain color. Yes, snipe, she says, needs snipe feathers. Left-handed screwdriver. Yeah, basically set the modder a long little goose chase. Needs wild goose, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, wild goose, that's the one. Right-handed screwdriver, I do not believe.

Oh, you do not believe. Oh, I'll get it. I'll get it My lady, they run off. Beautiful They are a handful Still might not take them long They are dogged It is true How are you by the way? How are you? Couturey, sick. Yeah. Earth here

screams in pain. Yeah, I didn't. Great evil was done here. Disrupt balance. Best way to, I guess, restore that to to nature must let balance restore itself cannot Someone put thumb on scales make evil too heavy put thumb on scale make good heavier Not what nature wants Even if ends in balance is not natural must take thumb off and let nature Come to equilibrium. So, I guess time. Yes, she says. Yes, time. Well, time heals most wounds. Time leaves scar.

That's also true. I take it you're, um, the rituals with Sansor, that was the goat, right? Yes. I take it that went well? Yes, have ascended. Tarpos now can claim Archdruid, but Archdruid with no growth. Well, congratulations at the least of that. Keshka, whatever happened to him? Keshka head?

Tarpos takes her backpack off, and you realize with Haro she still has the head. He's in a sack? I know, we put some nails in his eyes and whatnot. Nails in his ears. And that too. Still, I guess, undulating somewhat? He moves, but he cannot make any noise. Yeah, and that too. Yeah. Still, I guess, undulating somewhat? Yeah, yuck. He moves, but he cannot make any noise.

You'd think that would just be the end of it, but he just keeps going. Keshgar cannot die as Strahd lives. Oh, sorry, we found out his name. Whenever he hears the name, he can know that you're talking about him Oh Strahd knows where Keshgar is. Yes, I know but the name itself Just just if you could try and not say the name. No Keshgar connected to Strahd his druid You can see us anyway awesome

so to the sorry Can see us anyway. Awesome, awesome stuff. So through the, sorry. God is land. I'm like just kind of in my head being like, well I can't do that, did she just say? So through the fact that you have the head, that means that the devil,

and I do like the symbol of that, that everyone else has been doing, can see through the head. Yes. Perhaps it might be worth. Why thought strange you block ears? Not unhappy, want to, but strange you think that stops it.

Right. If we got rid of the head somehow, would that stop it? Maybe. If it would be something you could entertain, perhaps we could bury the head in several locations throughout the realm, or we could burn it to a cinder or something so that maybe if we're doing certain things that we don't want, I do the symbol, to know what's going on.

Wouldn't that be useful? No. I love tapas. symbol to know what's going on. Wouldn't that be useful? No. I love tapas. Tapas keep head. Yes. But by keeping the head, putting yourself in your, everyone else at risk. No, let Strahd see. Yes.

Not in danger. Right. But if we're trying to do something surreptitiously, in secret. From Strahd? Yeah. might as well hide from trees Pointless It's always been kind of secretly pips opinion. Yeah It's the kind of like You know what you have a very valid point. You kill a woman.

She starts pointing at the vampire. The princess or whatever. The princess, whatever. Ludmilla, Vladmilla, Sammilla. You kill Ludmilla because Strahd is okay with it. Strahd does not want you to kill. He would have stopped. You think so?

If I start by... All right, so... not want you to kill, he would have stopped. You think so? If I start by... all right so... This happened because Strahd wants this. So Strahd could just be here in any moment? Yeah. Strahd is land. Right. Strahd is Argon Fosth corpse. Strahd is cavity beneath Kuchiri. Strad is Kuchiri. Strad is resistance to Strad. So why is he doing that? Why is he... is he just bored? She shrugs. Strad unknowable is like... An elder god. Yeah. Well, no, not unknowable actually. It's hard to know. Like knowing Mountain. Tarpos can know Mountain. Mountain speaks. Hard to listen. Strahd speaks. Hard to listen.

I guess so. Maybe you heard things you didn't even know. Maybe you're right. Think. Strahd ever speak to you? I don't know, but I did have a conversation with a friend who seemed very powerful. Could be Strahd. Could be. Well, as the artist drew it, I have a favor to ask. Could you help me bury Orion?

She nods, yes. I help Orion pass. Yeah, that would be nice. It's my... I know none of us are really here by anybody's choice, but I guess, well, Strauss, we all sort of seem drawn here or here by accident, but I called Orion. She's here because of me. And she died because of me. She didn't have to be here. I know quiet place nearby.

That would be nice. Tarpos stands up and most reliable internet. Perfect for streaming lectures all day or binging TV shows all night. Save up to $20 per month on Rogers' internet. Visit Rogers.com for details. We got you. Rogers. Pip! You're done collecting. What's your next move? Um... I feel like down here, I start thinking about Pop.

The guy, not the chick. I think he's just on my mind while I'm down here harvesting. And then maybe when I stop I just kind of sit in the cavern for a little bit thinking. And then once I've collected everything I'm gonna collect, I'll get on the escalator and I'll head back up. You're probably among the last to leave. No one wants to be down here. Okay, fair enough. People one by one begin leaving and yeah, like I said, you'd be among the last.

Maybe Iona waits by the end, by the escalator. She waits, you can see she's quite purposely, she's quite purposely waiting for you to arrive as well. She maybe is she's not sitting actually But she is no actually yeah, the escalator is currently stopped He's sitting on it, and she's just plucking on a loot. You didn't have to wait for me No one should have to be alone in this place. That's true Where did hector go he left earlier, I believe with Cavendish, but I do not think they were to be with each other. Yeah, for sure. Maybe I'll sit down too. Maybe I'll pull out my violin as well and start plucking on it. You coming with us? Is that your plan? Or you staying here in Kutry?

I was not aware that Eleniel is still alive. I would wish to see her at least. It would not be the first foolish thing I have done for that woman. I know. When did you meet Eleniel? The first time we met, we were much younger children. It was, I believe, perhaps 30 years ago. That'll be a nice reunion then. I would hope so, but I do not understand why Eleniel did not attempt to contact me. A wash of guilt goes off a pimp. She was in

hiding, I mean. I'm sure it had nothing to do with you. Why was she in hiding? Hmm. She doesn't know. I'm in danger. You don't know what happened to the Dusk Elves? You don't know what happened to the Dusk Elves? Iona stops plucking on the loot and turns to you. No, I have been dealing with Kuchiri. I put my violin away.

The time for music is over. When everything fell apart, when our forces were routed, I knew there were people there from Kuchiri and we tried to get back as quickly as possible. We had already been threatened by the sheriff for reprisals if we left to help. And so we fled as quickly as we could knowing that the sheriff's power would be only magnified by our defeat. The, um, the stradd in retaliation for the failed uprising. Every child bearing Doskelf but one. Iona turns forward and stares into the darkness for a long time.

She is with child, Eleniel. What? She's pregnant. Iona looks back at you. Quang, quang. She drops the loot she was holding. Do... She... She is alive and with child?

Yeah, yes. I don't know who the father is. She... Iona balls forwards, puts her hands over her mouth. I reach out and awkwardly try and brace her. When... puts her hands over her mouth? I reach out and awkwardly try and brace her. When, when, when did this happen?

When was... I don't know, I mean unsurprisingly. How far along is she? How long would I guess? Pips, no doctor. Get a good boy card. Oh yeah, Pips the doctor. You would guess, judging on what you know,

a substantial amount, about Elven reproduction, you would guess that Elaniel would probably have gotten, like it would have happened within maybe like a month either side of roughly when your uprising happened last year? Um, it probably happened somewhere around the the uprising, I'm guessing. I'm sorry. No, that would mean, that would mean...

A frog? There is perhaps only one person who that could have been. Who? I can't think. I try and think of all the people that were there. She looks at you. Me? I... congratulations? Iona stands up. We need to leave. Now. Where for? Does, uh, does Hektaer, does he still have connection? Does he still speak?

I think so. I think he can talk through the trees. I don't know. In the mornings, right? Yeah, in the mor- or anytime now. I think it might be. We need to go. I need to speak to Hektaer. Alright. Well, yeah, okay. I will try and find him then. This is very unexpected for Pip. All right, we go try and find Hector. You take the escalator back up?

Mm-hmm. Hector. Pappos takes you to a quiet clearing in the woods around Kuchiri. There is a peacefulness to this place. The clearing has a single grand looking oak tree in its very center. There's nothing inherently magical to this space. It's more just a peaceful place. Is this a good spot? Yeah, I guess I grab a shovel. Is this a good spot? Is it okay

to dig here? You think? Tarpos nods. I, yeah, start digging, I guess, a grave. Tarpos stands stock still and just watches for a while. It takes you a little bit, but you realize that Tarpos, she's not helping because she doesn't want to help, she's helping because she feels awkward and doesn't know what you, if you want her out. Right. Um, I don't have a second shovel.

Um, if you have... I can, uh, make dirt do what I want. That would be useful, yes. She nods. I hop out of the... however, how much, how long have I been here? Maybe like half an hour worth of digging? Okay. I hop out of the, I guess, long have I been here? Maybe like half an hour worth of digging. Okay, I hop out of the, I guess, you know, a couple of things, whatever. Sure.

Yeah, that would be nice. Thank you. Tarpos then, to your specifications, creates a grave for Orion. Yeah, I guess take Orion out of, well, still wrapped in the sheet. I don't want to take it out of the sheet. I also don't really want to show Tarpos what happens. Sure, sure. Kind of like place that- If you in any way show like a, like you try to make it so that Tarpos can't see or anything?

No, no, no. I just think it just out of common courtesy for everybody, really. It's nasty what happened to that. It's nasty. And also with Tarp know, Tarpos being a druid and very much against an unnatural order of things, it's extremely unnatural. Sure, sure. So I place that in the grave. All right.

Get Tarpos to... She fills it in and packs it down so that it settles nicely. For some like to have a marker can make if you want. Yes, I described the constellation that was on Orion that I think that Pyren or Esme once put on a stone as a marker. I described that as best as I can. Tapos carves that into a, she flattens one part of a rock, then carves that into that flat section of the rock

and just sets it at the head of the grave. Kneeling down, hand on the grave or hand on the stone, just, I'll try, yeah, I'll say a prayer. Ryan, I'm sorry. Pena, the light you gave me, I return to you. The light above us, the light behind us, light before us, may it illuminate where we need to go. I'm sorry. Tarpos stands silently and just gives you as much time as you need.

I guess we wait there for a while, I guess. Until, yeah. I think if I see that they're doing a funeral, I'll be like, oh, put a hand up in front of my owner. Like, oh, give the guy some space. Yeah, wait there for a while until either you've interrupted us or but Lushan interrupted us. Maybe actually after some time standing there, however long it takes,

Tarpos takes a big step so that she's standing next to you and then she reaches out with her hand to grab yours. I reach out and grab it. Imagine within you there is a light. Close your eyes. I close them. Imagine the light stretches down from your centre into your feet. I follow the instruction. The light stretches from your feet into the earth beneath us. Imagine the light becomes like roots of a tree.

It stretches in all directions, planting itself firmly. Now imagine every tree, every creature, every entity within this place has the same. A light within them that stretches down. Our roots touch and connect. There is no separation. There is no separation. There is no death. There is only connection.

Forever. Thank you. May the sun never set. Thank you. I'm going to be a good friend. Go back to school with Rogers and get Canada's fastest and most reliable Internet. Perfect for streaming lectures all day or binging TV shows all night. Save up to $20 per month on Rogers Internet. Visit Rogers.com for details. We got you, Rogers.

Go back to school with Rogers and get Canada's fastest and most reliable internet. Perfect for streaming lectures all day or binging TV shows all night. Save up to $20 per month on Rogers internet. Visit rogers.com for details. We got you, Rogers. Hey there, fellow adventurer.

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