D&D is For Nerds - State of Grace #9 Ser Grace Betrayed

Episode Date: July 5, 2025

In the dungeons beneath Fairburn Point Ser Grace, the realms most celebrated adventurer, was forcefully bonded with an entity beyond mortal comprehension. For some such an incident would spell tragedy, for Ser Grace, however, he saw only opportunity. Now the wheels are in motion for something big, something terrifying. A thousand plans, two thousand eyes, and all requiring a personal touch.Such is the State of Grace.To find out how Ser Grace bonded with the Inky Black check out Search for A’Helm. To learn the history of Ser Grace you can listen to the Fall from Grace Trilogy: The Hag, The City, The Dungeon as well as the Tieffany and Pop campaign Return to Grace. Ser Grace last appeared in The Adventures of the Greyhill Free Company and to hear more about the happenings on at Fairburn Point you can listen to Cult & Worship and The Lonely Tower. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oi lads, did you miss out on the Jaren's Outpost Kickstarter and wish you weren't such a big doofus? Well fear not! Late pledges are now open and they'll be open for a little while, so just head to Kickstarter search for DNDs for nerds or Jaren's Outpost and slam that late pledge button! Blink, so grace the errand boy, burying note from noble to noble, sealing the envelope back up with spit, slime. Blink, so grace the noble's mother, providing guidance, wisdom, gently suggesting. Blink, so grace the adjudicator, making decisions so others don't have to, guiding the people. Blink, two thousand eyes, a thousand plans, and all requiring a personal touch. This is the state of Grace.

You step off the last step of the infinite staircase and you step into oblivion. What's the first thing that comes to Sir Grace's mind? All of a sudden the landscape would change to the end of like a great battle. Okay. And it would be like a tree in the center of it and he would take off like his helmet and place it at the base of the tree and insert a spear into the ground and then sit and Survey the combat and the carnage that he just witnessed is anyone else alive from amidst the corpses of

great adventurers Undead skeletons would rise sitting against the tree with a heavy One dead skeleton would rise, sitting against the tree with a heavy... Would pick up his helmet, place it back on his head, hold Cinder to the heavens. Cinder! Cinder explodes with flames? Engaging combat. Alright, well let's go to initiative then. So Grace fights his own psyche.

Oh no. Grace you may act first. Let's say there are a total of five skeletons coming at you from different angles. Okay. I suppose I'll just attack the one nearest to me. Okay. I'll attack it twice and I'll make one of those a disarming attack. Launching forward, cinder in hand. You strike off.

First attack a critical hit and I've got the critical hit card. So good good good good hashtag life threatening Find an opening maximum damage and you have advantage on attacks against this target for Eight ten rounds this is this creature will be dead before I can take yeah full advantage of that I think yeah, it's not gonna do too terribly much so maximum damage with cinder since cinder is a flame would be 12 20 23 points of damage which I believe is enough to destroy the skeleton yes your first thrust Shatters the skeleton into tiny pieces.

Maybe right before it's destroyed you see the face of... The Necro Wizard. Yeah, the Necro Wizard Norton. Okay. And you have enough, well you have a second attack and you have enough movement. I'll use it. I'll attack the one next to me. Alright, you hit a second time, Cinder spears through a second skeleton, yeah, you destroy

two skeletons in one turn. You're down to three skeletons. This time it's a little louder than before. The other three skeletons, they lunge at you with swords held high, two of them land blows, you're able, one of the skeletons, its sword is broken, shattered, it looks familiar to you. Whose sword is it? Well, Sir Grace's fought, obviously the Necro Wizard is the most consistent, but there have

been many great evils vanquished by Sir Grace. Possibly some kind of dark evil knight that Sir Grace encountered, maybe during his time with Grace's companions. Boron of the Blackguard. Yes, Boron of the Blackguard, great name. Possibly even during their duel, which is, I imagine, how Sir Grace bested Boron. Sir Grace, with Cinder, managed to shear the top of this sword off.

And in death, Boron has managed to keep hold of it. Boron of the Black Guard charges at you. You recognize his sword in a heartbeat. As you block his attack and you maybe, as part of the block, you with Cinder knock his sword arm aside, then you grab him, drag him in close so that he can't he is yes No, I reach you you're within his within too far into his striking range that he can't land the blow upon you You hear a boron of the black guards voice echoing from the grave If pain can purify a heart mine will be pure you're so shocked by that line that the other two skeletons land blows on you.

And you will take, thankfully these are basic bitch skeletons. You know what a basic bitch skeleton damage feels like. Oh yeah dude, I've been here before. You've been attacked so many times. You take a total of 14 points of damage. That's not insignificant. It's not insignificant. It's not nothing, yeah, that's true.

And then you take a further 6 points of psychic damage. You feel, for a brief moment, you feel the echoes of pain of battles past. You, in a brief moment, you relive a dozen different times you were struck by a blow. Those old battle wounds reopen themselves upon you. Then it is your turn, Sir Grace. I'm in a second wind, and then I'm going to spin around and attack the two skeletons that are attacking me from behind. You regain 11 hit points, and then you, in a flurry, you attack those other, those two

other skeletons. Your first blow lands true, as does your second blow. Hell yeah. You destroy one of them, but the other one still stands. One of them, when Cinder pierces through its center, the skeleton, your mind doesn't properly comprehend this, but the skeleton shatters into pieces that float away rather than fall away. The second one that you stab, you stab into its shoulder, its shoulder heaves away, and the skeleton, apart from losing an arm, is still standing. What was the one-armed foe that you fought?

I imagine this would have been maybe a bandit leader. Yeah, you know a very early encounter of Sir Grace's Possibly encountered by Sir Grace and Thudhu in their early days adventuring together So grace you recognize even though it is just bones you recognize the furs and facial structure of scar maker Okay, though her bones cannot twist into a smile Though her bones cannot twist into a smile, you nonetheless recognize that wicked grin that she has as she dances out of your reach and then lunges forwards again. Scarmaker and Boron dance on either side of you and this time you hear Scarmaker's voice full of mockery as it was in life. You hear her call out, if you continue to carry

bricks of the past, you will build the same house. Both of them land heavy blows upon you. You will take, oh wait, sorry, the heavy blows will last round. Did I say heavy blows? I meant nine points of damage. Nine points of damage total. And then, after that happens, you once again relive a dozen different injuries. Those wounds reopen as well. You take another four damage on top of that. Psychic damage. And it's your turn again, Sir Grace.

Boron and Scarmaker stand either side of you. I would like to look to the sky and I imagine it's nighttime Yeah, even though the the the battleground is maybe it was daytime Yeah first arrived but now when you look up it because it's nighttime and it feels like it was always nighttime And I imagine the sky is like an inky black night. Yes, but peppered through this inky black night are silver stars Yes, and I imagine this inky black knight sort of starts to coalesce and funnel down and into Sir Grace. Okay.

Providing me with power unheard of. And then with the ink inside my body, I would like to reach out to the two skeletons on either side of me and just crush them. You do so. Both skeletons, they're all required. If Sir Grace imagines this to be so, here it happens. You wrap around both Scarmaker and Boron of the Black Guard, both of their faces, their

mocking laughter. You shatter both of them in a fit of rage and in an act of power, you destroy them. I will find new bricks and I will build new houses. Then I would like to wash the entire battleground clean so that there are no bodies of adventurers and no skeletons of my former enemies. You wash the landscape clean, but this time instead of having complete control, there is an error, a flaw in your imaginings, a face, a disembodied face larger than life appears. You recognize the face of the Necro Wizard Norton.

The face launches forwards and washes over you. So Grace, you take 16 points of damage. Oh no, I'm a one hit point. So, Grace, you shake your head a little bit and the abyss around you fades a little bit and you can see where the face was there is an entity, another creature. It is not the Necro Wizard, but you can see it was taking the Necro Wizard's form. Oh, I see. That's what it looks like, if you'd like to describe it. It kind of looks like a rolled up black napkin that somebody has put in water.

But it also kind of looks like some kind of horrible silk monster. Those were insane descriptions. I don't know if you can see from where you are, but if you look really closely, you can actually see its form is made up of black shadow people. Oh, that's cool. Now I can't quite. Oh no. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

I can. Yeah, I can see. Yeah, that's sick. You, Sir Grace, shockingly, you. Oh, no. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. I can yeah, I can see yeah, that's sick you Sir Grace Shockingly you actually recognize what this creature is. It's a dream eater It's an entity of the far realms what it does is its power is that it kind of wraps It swaddles a person and then feeds them bad dreams I see and it uses that to destroy people the key to defeating a dream eater lies not in brute This is maybe say this is maybe- this is your translation-

Yeah, over Emmanuel the Monster. Let me not give you the translation, let me give you the original. I imagine in this sort of strange cosmic mindscape, I manifest an Emmanuel the Monster and flick to the page for Dream Eater. Yeah, the page flips open to Dream Eater. Or as Emanuel calls them, the consumers of men and nightmares. Thus keying to defeating such Dream Eater, but not keying of cars keying, keying of eating Dream Eaters keying, and not eating as in they eat, but eating as in they do not eat but destroying.

Of a dream-eater not lies in thy brutish forces, but in perhaps thy abilities to best pierce or destroy or stab or discreate illusions and wrest or wrestle others from its terrors as such. Thyeth such as bards and other persuasive adventurers, or adventurers of persuasive natures, may find themselves uniquely poised or positioned or poised again to confront this thy-hungering-dream-eater destructor of good dreams." Okay, then with another wish of my hand I'd like to translate it. The words form, the key to defeating a dream eater lies not in brute force, but in the ability to pierce its illusions and wrest others from its terrors.

As such, bards and other persuasive adventurers find themselves uniquely poised to confront a hungering dream eater. Okay, the void that I was in, I believe that was the dream, like I was trapped in it? Is that the feeling? The void? No, the void feels like that is this space. The dream eater, maybe the words underneath translate themselves as well. The dream eater naturally exists in far realms voids. Okay, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool.

This is just its habitat. Can I see, are there any of the other True Faithful? Yeah, you turn around and they, because they were just inky black entities, they were mindlessly standing there while you fought. Yep, yep, good, okay, cool. Yeah, so anyway, it is your turn, so, Grace. Okay, do I think it has hold of me currently? Yeah, it is, you, so, Grace. Okay. Do I think it has hold of me currently?

Yeah, it is. You can see, you look down and you can see those spectral ghostly figures are grasping both of your arms and your legs. Kind of in the way of an errant child. You can feel a weight to your limbs. Can I sense anything in the void as illusion created by it? The entire thing is kind of an illusion. This entity is an entity of illusion. Okay It's similar to the sentient spell that destroyed you earlier It isn't actually a spell it isn't it's a creature of its own

Yeah, but it is the entire thing is essentially an illusion and the key to destroying it is to basically seeing through the illusion. Yeah. So you, there aren't people grabbing your arms and legs. You just believe that there are. Okay, yeah, cool. Well I suppose I just try to convince myself of the truth, which is that this creature doesn't exist. Okay.

Maybe in the gigantic psychic Emanuel, I grab the top of the page and tear down to tear it out. You succeed. You tearing the page in half, maybe what you do is you remove your own memories of this creature and forgetting that this creature exists means that it fades. I land on the ground and can I go over, because I'm quite damaged, can I go over to one of the ink creatures and just suck its life force to heal?

Okay, you have 13 left. I'll give you a D6 hit points for each one you want to suck up. Fantastic, dude. You recover four hit points. Okay. Down to 12. Do you want to suck up. Fantastic, dude. You recover four hit points. Okay. Down to twelve. Do you want to keep going? Yes.

There are more reinforcements that just delayed. Yeah, yeah. I'll keep going. Alright. Another five. You're down to eleven. Mm-hmm. Keep going.

Yeah. Get me down to ten. One. Okay. Brings you to ten. Okay. Fantastic. Then I'll stop there. That's fine. Okay. Okay. I look around me Well, how high obviously we're in a sort of

Empty meaningless void, but how high in the tower do I think we are level three? Okay Quite a ways to go Can I see any exit from this room? Maybe when you were like how high am I a window appears in the void and you can see out the window to outside the tower, to the third floor. So when you imagine the next level up, you immediately, it's maybe just because this was not fresh in your mind, but this is your experience so far,

the infinite staircase reappears, but you're once again at the bottom. Okay, all right. Now, the creature is gone, cause it was just an illusion, even though it was real. I'm just wondering if there's a way to make it easier for the reinforcements to get through here so that they don't have to deal with this again. I guess the struggle of an infinite staircase is that I would need kind of like an infinite amount of resources to

make it possible for people to find their way up. That's fine. Myself and the 10 remaining true faithful will start climbing that. So like a silver moon informs you if, if you're pondering this, because you've got a connection back to the boat with so like a silver moon, he informs you that the other teams moving in other directions are not encountering infinite staircases on their way up. Oh, okay. It's, are there, they, there seems to be all sorts of different challenges to getting up, but the infinite staircase does not seem like the only way up. Sure. Okay. But I, and I guess because there are so many different challenges, there's sort

of nothing I could do because it would be so random what they're going to encounter. Yeah. I couldn't give, I, there's no like way to leave breadcrumbs basically for them You could try but it wouldn't be easy I mean like if you have any ideas for how you could you're not even necessarily sure to be honest that they're gonna come to The same third level. Yes, they'll come to a third level I guess as I think we'll just ascend the infinite staircase again to get to level four. But as I do, I think to myself that we are going to need some way of stabilizing this

tower of where to continue our assault. Yes. That if we need to make subsequent attempts, we are going to need to stabilize reality in here because we need a consistent path and then we'll ascend the staircase. It takes you a longer infinite amount of time this time to get up the staircase. Cool. Long enough that any awareness you have of the normal material realm,

you are watching as the sun is beginning to set. Part of you that is having now probably dinner with John Cutter is watching through a window as the Sun begins to set and John cutter is Maybe he's converted patrician otvos has arrived and after his tour of the grounds the Viscount has also arrived Okay, oh wait No, the patrician has made sure the Viscount and John cutter have not encountered I do not want them to see each other. Yes a headache I do not need right do you want the patrician to deal with cutter or with the Viscount and John Carter have not encountered each other. Yes, I do not want them to see each other. That is a headache I do not need right now.

Do you want the patrician to deal with Cutter or with the Viscount? I can deal with Cutter. Okay. The patrician can deal with the Viscount. All right. The patrician maybe gives, it has a very similar expression to how, the expression you have, when you have to deal with the Viscount. But you can say, he doesn't say anything and you know he would never say anything. The structure of rank dictates that he must show deference

and respect to this person. Yes, absolutely. And you trust that. I trust that he's not gonna let it get to such a point that he snaps at him or anything. Yeah, you don't think Oddforce could snap like that. And what I'm gonna do with John Cutter is I'm gonna talk navies.

That's my plan. Okay, interesting I'm going to as I you know between the seconds of conversation I jump between every so grace that is, you know is spread out across the land Including those surrounding the lonely tower and I look at the fishing boats that we are using as part of this assault and I look At the ship that is fleeing the storm storm caller and our ship which is lagging behind and I realize that given Fairburn Point's location and proximity to the ocean, we will need a navy sooner rather than later. John Cutter is very interested and receptive to this.

Immediately there's no small talk or no like kind of mincing words here. John Cutter expects something pretty substantial in return. What would you offer him? Maybe I get up and I look out the window. How would you feel about diversifying your portfolio, Cutter? He turns around. You can see you've piqued his interest.

Go on. There's two things we produce here at Fairbairn Point. Fish, which I imagine you don't care about, and coal. Now that is a very intriguing offer. I was in Zemjata once. Saw this device that the gnomes had. Zemjata once saw this device that the gnomes had. It was this, an engine, steam engine.

And it required coal, and the things it could do, I mean, my God. I don't know, I have this sense that coal's about to become very, very valuable. I mean, it's valuable now, but even more so. Machines of commerce, machines of war. I could offer you coal rides, if that's the kind of thing that would interest you. Turning back around, Cutter rubs his chin for a moment,

thinking, how many ships would you need? Can I do a quick assessment? Dup, dup, dup, dup, dup, dup, dup, dup, dup, to jump to a bunch of... What are your goals? What do you need? Can I do a quick assessment? To jump to a bunch of... What are your goals? What do you want? Defense? Because if Kandor does come for me and eventually I think they will have no choice,

I will need to defend from the ocean as well as from the land. Then obviously offense because I think fighting the lonely Tower, which obviously we're doing the majority of the sort of the besieging it from the inside, but also we need to surround it. We need ships on the offensive there, so offense there as well. And also for if I need to expand, I would like ships too.

Additionally, I just need more manpower. So that's partially a part of it as well. So you want crews for them as well. Yes, yes. Okay. Well, I'm assuming Sir Grace doesn't care terribly about Fairburn Point's economy or production. I mean, obviously I have now discovered

that the accountant was a fraud, but it would be well, because Sir Grace is not paying attention to where that coal is going, it's such an insignificant part of my quote unquote master plan that I've absolutely neglected it. I don't care what happens to it. You, yeah, your ultimate plan, for your ultimate plan, it's kind of irrelevant what happens to Fairburn Point.

Absolutely. So. The city is a means to an end, really. Now here's another thing. This is something Cutter suggests that you can, that an opportunity you can take if you like. He's gonna argue from more, the coal rights that you're arguing or that you're holding, you have no plan on holding onto any, or you don't care if you hold onto any of them,

but you strategically hold on to as much as you can so that you have more bargaining chips. So he gives you this offer as well that as the way that you quote unquote acquire these ships could be through some, they could say that it was through some clever through some, they could say that it was through some clever stratagem on your part, which makes you look good to Kandor. Oh, yes, absolutely. Well, he in exchange to kind of like sell this lie,

he would want some more coal rights. Sure, well, so where we are is on the same coast as Blue Beach, yeah? Blue Beach is just sort of like a toward the tip. Yeah, it's further along, yeah. And Kandor and Blue Beach, yeah? Blue Beach is just sort of like a toward the tip. Yeah, it's further along, yeah. And Cairn and they're on Blue Beach, obviously not friends. Not right now, no. So we could, with those ships, make the claim that we're forming some kind of defensive perimeter.

Sure, yeah. You know, some kind of place, some first line of defense, as it were. Striking and capturing ships from Blue Beach just looks good Yeah, but then I mean if you want you could maybe this is a chat with so like a silver a moon But so like a silver a moon can then propose some plans that you won't really act on Yeah, but that look really good for the Cantonese Admirals who might be looking at them. Absolutely. I think that sounds like a excellent plan Well in exchange for the, maybe once again,

the number of ships you need and the types of ships, there's a conversation with Lyca Silver and Moon. Absolutely, yes. You hash that out with Lyca Silver and Moon distantly, and then pretending like you're not talking directly with him. Yeah. You speak with Cutter as well, and you come to an accord. You have to sign, you, I mean, once again, you don't care.

You sign off a lot of Fairburn Point's coal rights. Essentially, John Qatar now controls coal in Fairburn Point. I've privatized the coal in Fairburn Point. But in exchange, you will have a sizable Navy. That's awesome. That's fantastic news. A sizable Navy that Kandor is happy about. A subsequent part of this, you learn very quickly, is that John Cutter did not come here alone.

There are two other Blue Beach warships, not far away, docked kind of, not really at a village, but just docked, just brought up onto the sand and ready if Cutter was like, oh no, I think I'm not, I think this is friendly. Yeah, I'm not welcome here or whatever. Yeah, they could have been sent here at a moment's notice. These ships he's happy to give you as well, or at least one of the two ships he's happy to give you.

He's holding out a little bit of security on his own. Yeah, fair. He's happy to give you one of these ships, but that ship is, you realize, pretty well situated to intercept the gallant rider. Fantastic. Carter, I've asked a lot of you, but would you do me one more favor? John Carter is of course happy to provide that favor for a price. That's fine. And to seal the deal, you maybe have one or two glasses of a very nice Chianti and then while away the nighttime hours.

Fantastic. As Redora, somewhat worried that yearning still hasn't been found on the Stormcaller, wiles away her hours as silently Captain Morlock Brush sits in the stands watching as the Necro Wizard Norton slowly revolves in place as the corpse that was once your puppet of Agate Shieldmold, but now is just nothing but inert dead matter lies in a very dark, cold, remote place. Mm, yeah. Night falls and everything, all action pauses for a little while.

Which one of you entities would be the first to awake? I think I've not let R'Hadora sleep. Okay. I think, obviously, throughout the night, I return to the throne room and I read and I look at battle maps basically of the entire world of Ognoth, as well as, like I've said, more arcane charts of stranger places still. But intermittently, I will jump to R'Hadora and we will search the Gallant Rider as we sail after the Stormcaller Search the Gallant Rider for yearning dear Los Angeles the captain of the Stormcaller

Captain whipper the eye that gnomish woman with the one mechanical eye Rodora can I have a word in the crow's nest? We've spotted a strange ship on the horizon or what we think might be a strange ship. Could be, well, could just be a flight of birds, we're not 100% sure, want your opinion on it. Flight of birds? Yeah, whippa the eye, you can see there's, she seems a little out of sorts right now,

her hair's a bit askew, she's a bit sweaty, and that eye, her mechanical mechanical one is going fucking haywire Interesting. Can I make some kind of arcana check on her to see if she's been Cursed in some way you detect no magical curse or control, but that's not to say there isn't one. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, okay Is something the matter? Yeah There's a with me yes, not at all. Why would you say that you seem askew? I'm just Concerned about this year and in the Los Angeles fella

Could be anywhere could be listening to us right now Would it be crazy? Yeah for this to be de los angeles in disguise You don't know what yearning de los angeles is power set is But I've checked and it's okay We haven't found certainly this entity this entity weapon the eye. Yeah, don't read into that too much Certainly weapon the eye and this is definitely weapon the eye. Yeah, don't read into that too much Certainly weapon the eye and this is definitely weapon the eye Yeah, certainly you cannot detect any attempt to control this entity's mind weapon the eyes mind Adam I pull out my dagger and I slit its throat

Whether it's weapon the eye or not or do you say Los Angeles is either way? Whether it's Weapon of the Eye or not, or Los Angeles, it's either way. This is very very funny. You try to cut Weapon of the Eye's throat, she dances backwards and she looks very surprised at this. A bunch of the deckhands all looking around, their loyalties are to Weapon of the Eye, so you see a bunch of them drawing, well they wouldn't necessarily have weapons, but the- They're getting ready for a fight. Yeah well yeah, anything that could be used as a weapon. One of them's holding a mop.

They all very quickly grab something sturdy and weapon-like to fight you, Radora. Well, uh, hang on, hang on. Where, uh... Oh, hmm. Hi's or lows? Hi's. Weapon the eye. That mechanical eye snaps to stare at you.

Capture her! Okay. Do I think- Fuck. Do I think this is just because I tried to attack her? Or do I think that there's some extra motivation here? It looks like weapon of the eye is- Yeah, weapon of the eye wasn't hostile until you started to attack. You think this is a result of you attacking.

Yeah. And you can also tell that Weapon of the Eye was about to maybe give like a kill order, but then hesitated and instead gave a capture order. Okay. That's suspicious. I still think this isn't yearning to Los Angeles. Okay, okay. I'm 99% sure it is.

Let's go to Reddition it, bud. Let's do it. Your first redora. Uh, I would like to grapple the The eye Who I believe to be eunuch de los angeles. Mm-hmm, and I'd like to try and slit their throat again I pushed them up against the side of the ship grappling them with one arm and then with my other arms Okay

Reveal yourself. Redora is powerful. She's the master of masks, baby. It's an interesting, I imagine it would be very interesting for Zagreys to leap into another body and then have a different mind and skill set. Yes, absolutely. As you move to do that, to push them up against the side of the ship and slit their throat there is a like a Live-ness a speed which you are unfamiliar with it would be very Yeah, very a very strange thing in fact you are able to I believe you have an a power

So yeah, you get advantage which means you also get your sneak attack to this attack. Oh, yes Okay that is a You get advantage, which means you also get your sneak attack to this attack. Hell yes. Okay! That is a d4 for the dagger, plus 6. Then your sneak attack is 7d6. Fuck. You slam her up against the side of the ship and you put the dagger to her throat. She, weapon of the eye, wraps her hand around your wrist and you're both wrestling for control of the dagger as you begin.

You get you score a wicked cut across her throat, but it's not very deep. But obviously because it's across her throat, she starts bleeding heavily into her clothes. Does she change into you in the Los Angeles? Nope. Okay, well. Must be powerful magic. Fuck. Okay.

You deal 24 points of damage. And then highs or lows? Highs. Okay, you cut her throat a little bit. Wep of the eye, her mechanical eye locked on you She fumbles with something in her coat and then she calls out death death crack you as

Redora hear a loud bang and then you feel a sharp Piercing sensation Yeah sharp, piercing sensation just below your jaw. Yeah. Tez, weapon of the eye, jams a pistol underneath your chin and pulls the trigger. You take 12 points of damage as Radora. The blow is kinda glancing. Radora's jaw is shattered. The lower part of her jaw is shattered, but she manages to turn her head at the last second

So rather than shooting straight through her fucking brain Yeah, with her head turned it kind of just tears out a lower part of her jaw Yeah, dropping that pistol, webbed to the eye Switches hands that is holding the dagger and tries to draw a second pistol that is holding the dagger and tries to draw a second pistol. That's a bold move. This time you're ready for it, Redora. And as she tries to jam the pistol underneath your chin again, you turn completely. You are deafened completely in one ear, but the pistol goes off doing nothing.

And then finally, she just tries with both of her hands now, she's dropped both pistols, she just tries to wrestle control of that dagger. The other pirates hesitantly move in, but they're, you're so precariously positioned, they're kind of scared to attack you. Yeah, for sure. I've still got that knife at her neck, I guess. Yeah. Two of them come in for a blow, but they're both so, kind of, like I said, they're both

so hesitant. It's enough that your tail lashes out at them. Not even really an attack, just scaring them off. Yeah, cool. It's your turn again, Radora. I would like to, with my free hand, grab the mechanical eye, because it's like an apparatus, right? Yeah. I'd like to grab it and tear it off her.

Okay. That's funny. All right. You can, you grab at the eye and try to tear it out. Critical hit. Yeah, baby. Slash to the ribs. That doesn't make sense, but somehow this works.

You tear Weppa the Eye's eye out. She just becomes Weppa's dog. She's just Weppa now. You tear her eye out. She screams in agony, and then her screams are drowned out by her own blood. Wepper the Eye goes limp, and she, I mean, she goes limp for a very obvious reason. But because of that, you slash her throat. Just the held kind of like pressure. You slash her throat. Wepper the the eyes body hits the ground and Redora has blind sense within 10 feet. Okay use

Blindly sense as an invisible character. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yeah came within 10 feet you killed weapon of the eye Yeah, and then the invisible creature withdrew. Okay, I'd like to pursue it. Okay After killing weapon of the, the pirates here, pirates, sorry, the, I'm using pirate statistics but I swear they're not pirates. As you pursue this creature, the sailors, Weapon-the-Eye's crew, don't let you do that. You're gonna take a bunch of attacks of op unless you use the withdraw action Yeah, can I use the withdraw action and still keep this invisible? You can even still double move because of

Rodora's powers you double move after the invisible creature, but you're gonna take oh wait no sorry You don't take attacks of op mm-hmm you dart in between the crew they take swipes at you, but you're able to I'm down on all fours. Yeah, you're navigating pretty well. Crawling like a lizard, yeah. Do you wanna intercept this invisible thing? Yes. Alright, you do so.

You intercept, it was trying to get below decks. You hear drawing of steel, and then... Yearning, the Los Angeles believed that he would need to push you off the deck, but it seems instead you have sealed your own fate. I'd like to goo him, Adam. You launch yourself trying to goo Yearning D Los Angeles, but unfortunately Yearning D Los Angeles gets the first blow in. That's fine. That's two hits, my friend.

Oh wait, yeah, no, it's only two hits for now. Fuck. Oh wait. Yeah, no, it's only two hits for now. For now? Yeah, Yearning D Los Angeles becomes a flurry of arms and feet and tail. Unlike you, Yearning D Los Angeles knows very well how to use a tail in combat. You take 16 points of damage, Radora. That's not too bad.

And then you can attempt to goo. I reach my hand around his scaly throat and I try to inky black him. As you reach your hand around, he puts his hand around your wrist and you feel as the hottest fire ever burns Radora's hand. You take 19 points of fire damage and you are forced to let go. Okay, that's fine, that's fine. The crew surround you. Having been given a little bit of time, they've upgraded from mops and whatnot to proper,

like bits of timber. You are battered redora you are hit four times and you take 23 points of damage redora getting getting bad a Part of redora that still exists begins to experience panic, okay? Huh, well, we'll try and squash that down. We I mean she's so You know almost entirely goo. We do not want her feeling emotions. Then it is Yearning D Los Angeles' turn.

Invisibly, oh wait no sorry, Yearning D Los Angeles, I'm so sorry, after he attacked you he stops being invisible. You can see Yearning D Los Angeles now very clearly. The crew are a bit shocked and surprised at this, but you killed their captain. Yeah, yeah, fair enough. Actually, you know what? No, a couple of them decide, well it doesn't matter, a couple of them decide to try and aim blows at Yearning, but neither of the two crewmen there land a blow. Yearning D Los Angeles, you see he does like a Dragon Ball Z, haaaaaaaaa Awesome And then out of his head, two extra ethereal looking arms grow

God damn it dude, god damn it All four of his arms, his tail, his bite, his fucking legs All of them are weapons and he uses all of them Okay You are hit once, twice, three times, four times. This is going to hurt. This is gonna suck. You take 32 points of damage, Radora. Okay. Okay. And then it's your turn. Okay, instead of focusing my attacks on Yearning de Los Angeles and trying to consume him and change him with the Inky Black, I instead do that to all of the sailors.

Okay. So if they're fighting me from behind or around Yearning de Los Angeles, Inky Tendrils just shoot out of Rodora's body and into them them and I'm doing it as quickly as possible Okay, these I'm gonna turn these into true faithful. That is a lot faster. Yes. Yeah Yeah, these not as it's more annoying because I have to be pretty much directly in control, but it is quicker All right. Are you staying directly in control of redora? You can jump conscious this into another one if you want. I'll stay in Radora for the moment.

Okay. Yeah. And then when it's their turn I'd like them to focus their ink and their onto your Inky Tendrils. You can give them orders but you just can't directly control them. Yeah, for sure. You convert, I don't know if I already said this, but you launching out Inky Tendrils a couple, it's kind of an explosion

of tendrils in all directions. But a bunch of them are going to miss. You do strike two sailors immediately next to you who both become immediately inked. They are, it's their turn, it's all the sailors' turn, but it's their turn too. And you want them to focus on Yearning. Do you want them?

Sorry, do you want them? If they could restrain Yearning, that would be amazing. That would be amazing. Okay. All right, Yearning rolled really poorly. Yearning, who was not expecting this, has enough time to dodge as you explode in all directions, but that's kind of it. As the tendrils withdraw back into Radora, He's not expecting those two sailors to grab him. They both kicking him down to his knees

They force him into a kneeling position The sailors that were fighting him switch to you as everyone who as I said before Well, these people were on your side. They didn't know about this goo shit Yeah, yeah. Everyone now sees you as enemy number one. Sure. Sure, sure, sure, sure, sure. The crew, now realizing that they are fighting for maybe more than their lives,

there's a boldness that sweeps through them. Now, I've got good news and I've got bad news. Which would you like first? Hit me with the bad news. Let's get it over with. All right You as Redora look up you remember the ballista? Oh, no, the ballista has been turned around And is aiming right at you buddy. Okay. That's actually not the bad news. The bad news is you are struck by a ballista ball That is bad news. Actually we'll find out if even that's the bad news because something pretty hefty happens when you get hit by a Ballista Bolt.

So first off you will take ten, seventeen points of piercing damage as a Ballista Bolt hits you. Then... Yeah. Radora? Yep. hits you. Then, Redora, the Ballista Bolt catches you, grabs you, and throws you off the ship. Well, I'm in death saves. So, all right, you, you're, Sir Grace, standing in the, Sir Grace, I assume you were in the throne room. Mm-hmm. Fuck.

You have two inky black people that were on the ship if you want to jump back to them. Well, I'd like to keep that ship chasing the Gallant Rider, but how... Now, when I was on the Gallant Rider as Punchinello, I was inking up their food. Yes. I extend my consciousness out to any of the crew of the Gallant Rider to see if I've begun to in any way infect the crew of that ship. You can't sense anything unfortunately. That's a shame. That's a real shame. Do you want to see what's going on? Yes, yeah absolutely. Through the eyes of those two infected crewmates I watch

what's happening on the... With the super-vide bit by the time that you go back with the supervision of yearning de los angeles Those two have been destroyed. Fuck. That's not good That's not good yearning de los angeles is now working with the crew of the gallant rider. Okay Fuck well, hopefully john cutter's ship will intercept the gallant rider as it as it tries to flee fuck. That's bad news That's bad news. That's big mondo bad news for you, buddy. Really not good So grace sitting in the throne room you think of punch and aloe you think of You were disconnected with him before he got locked in that trap. So you actually don't know I don't know where yeah Yeah, you just know that he got caught but that's kind of it actually don't know. Yeah, I don't know where he is, yeah. You just know that he got caught, but that's kind of it.

Your memory of what happened to Punchinello ends when Pompenny Farthing cast that spell that disconnected the two of you. Yeah. Punchinello, however, his consciousness, what shard of him remains, mixed with what shard of Sir Grace was in there, sits in the interrogation room of the gallant rider. You've been strapped to a chair. The chair is made out of metal and is bolted to the floor of this room. There is a magical dampening field in the room as well. So any magical powers are suppressed. Okay, Tinnate Icohica

pompenny farthing and Drifting snowflake are there no crew members are here. They've been interrogating you for some time, which I assume you've been resisted Absolutely, of course Tinnate sitting across from you on a wooden chair, which is not bolted to the ground Yeah, yeah has her legs crossed. She's leaning back in a very relaxed position. She seems calm and in control of the situation. Pomp and Penny Farthing has been constantly offering you a meal, which you can have accepted

if you want. I've been saying no the whole time. And Drifting Snowflake has been playing bad cop to no one's good cop. I guess you could say Pomp and Pennydy Father, but it doesn't really feel right. How good a cop is that? Yeah, yeah. Sure, well I've been just staying tight lipped. And I imagine confused as well.

I'm not sure whether I'm Punchinello or Sir Grace or something else at this point. So disconnected am I from the Sir Grace hive mind and my actual past? Tenete Iko Hika thinking slowly Response. Oh, I'm so sorry the mirror. I completely forgot that mirrored surface. It's sitting behind you There's a magical enchantment upon it. This room has already got a magical suppression field on it Even if the mirror were doing nothing there there would be no real way for you to access Sograce properly. But that magical mirror, it appears to be immune to whatever suppression

magic is in this field. And it's connected to you in a strange... Punchinello doesn't have the understanding to properly know what's happening, but Punchinello is vaguely aware that he is currently not... While it feels like he's on this plane of existence, it's more like his awareness is on this plane of existence. Okay, but like I might actually be... If you got free somehow, you'd actually still be trapped somehow. Okay, interesting. It's... Yeah, it's beyond Punchinello's understanding.

Cool. Tenete Ikohiko, after a long pause, says, Perhaps there's nothing to be learnt from this entity. It seems... confused. I don't think it really understands what's happening. I think without its puppet master, She's talking to more the room, less Punchinello. Without its puppet master,

I think there's not really much we can do here other than destroy this poor creature and it's suffering. Punchinello is lost. Lost how so, Punchinello? Punchinello is missing. Yeah. Are you missing something or is something missing you, Punchinello? Punchinello is missing from something. From something greater?

Yes. What is that, Punchinello? Tell me. She leans a little forward. She's very curious now. This is maybe the most she's gotten, most useful thing that she's gotten out of Punchinello since you were captured. It is like the night sky.

Right. She makes a note on that, a note of that, sorry, on a clipboard. Interesting. Interesting. Like the night sky... Like a puddle. Like a puddle. Stagnant and full of wiggling larvae.

Wiggling larvae? He is here. I'm not gonna let you go