D&D is For Nerds - Vampire Infested Barovia II #19 From Such Great Height

Episode Date: September 9, 2023

The party get attacked from three or four (maybe five) different fronts, depending on who’s counting. Hecktor has a very awkward conversation and Pip questions his monster harvesting practice.Keep up to date with the Jarren's Outpost Board Game by heading to jarrensoutpost.com or checking out all the links here!Want ad-free and even more bonus content? Just check out Imagination Adventures+ on our website or on Apple Podcasts! Music by the ever wonderful Lepidora, you can check out her music here. And head to peddlerspress.store to peruse our D&D themed merch store and help support the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ahem. Ahem. You're listening to the Sandspants Network. Though you see no water for miles around you, you are, like me, nonetheless maroon. We are castaways in this terrible bad dream somebody decided to name Barovia. To switch up the metaphor, we are imprisoned, and the fog is the bars of our cell, and our jailer is Baron von Strahd. As far as I can tell, there's no way to escape other than possibly by dying. Maybe by being eaten by a wolf, let's say.

Gorvan Lushen's turn. They're in the sky. Well, is it better to kill the gargoyle now and fall? Or let the gargoyle... Yeah, that's a real thinker. Does Gorob and Lushen die this day? Off screen. What a fucking way to go. Gorob and Lushen.

The brightest flame. Highs or lows? Highs? Did I mean lows, Adam? Could you? I actually don't know what's better. I got 98. I don't know if hitting the bridge or just going into the snow somewhere much further down is better.

Oh, God. Because if they hit the snow, they could... What? Go on. They went so high. Go for the bridge, then. Go for the bridge? Yeah.

Have I doomed them? Do we have anything that can help them? This is maybe going to be... This is going to be... You know when you're laying on a high... This is going to be massive damage. Yeah, you land on a snow bank and you have snow. It's so soft. Yeah, you experience no problems.

Okay, this is probably going to be a bad. So they're 120 feet in the air right now. Oh, no. Oh, yeah. That's a D6 for every 10 feet. Okay, and bridges are soft. Notoriously soft face material landing on. Do they, out of curiosity, because I'm assuming they're raging.

No, they didn't. Oh. Because, well, rages are limited now. It's a finite resource. I did describe them as raging earlier, but they're not actually. Okay, I'm just curious in terms of their reactions or whatever. I guess it's not their reaction. Yeah.

As they're falling, start to rage. Reduce their rage to reduce the damage. Well, it depends if it takes them 12 seconds or more than 6 seconds to fall to the earth. Well, it would actually take them more than one round to hit the ground. They should rage out of. I'm just curious. That's true. Raging, and then it's like, does Lushen have any sort of

like, either protective spell, or like, feather fall, or anything like that? No. I'm pretty confident you don't have feather fall. I'll check. Or even like, darkness, so at least they don't know when it's going to happen.

As the scream happens, Hector, you hear, We have only this amount of time to send your message! Why would they waste it? Why would they waste it? That's very funny. No, they would actually, you're right, actually, they would have enough time to rage on the floor.

So they can, that doesn't help them. Doesn't it? I don't think. Never mind. They are that type of barbarian. Oh, wait. Yes, no, they do get resistance to piercing, bludgeoning, and slashing. Well, there'll be a lot of bludgeoning that's about to happen to them.

10, 20. What is 5 times 6? 30. So that's 50. Oh my god. 51 points of damage, halved. Hey, halved! Halved, dude!

25 points of damage. That's survivable. That's not so bad. It's just going to happen again. Somebody's got to get out there and help them. Well, that is... If only someone had some scissors. Yeah.

That is unfortunately still... When you run up. Yeah, I'm going to fight this fish man. They are about to take a dangerous injury. Well, I'll remember. I'll remember. We'll give it to them after the battle. Okay.

There is adrenaline. Yeah. Yeah, they're not going to notice it. They're going to finish the fight and their arm's going to fall off. Fuck. What if the gargoyle took them higher? That's so scary. Well, actually, I don't think the gargoyle... That gargoyle probably can't hold them for a minute.

They do a lot of damage. That gargoyle probably can't hold them for much longer. So it'll have to be a different one. And there's a few. Then, Hector, you're still trying. You've just been rolling really shit.

No, rolled above, like, I want to say an eight. That's fair. Damn. Damn, dude. It is well, Emil has had I keep doing his turns, but he can't get out. It's very specifically designed to keep him in. It is the creature's turn.

Okay. Again, Pip. Okay. And you continue to be savaged. Miss. Miss. Hit. Okay.

Hit. You're going to take two hits. That's fine. That's okay. 10, 16, 19, 21 points of damage. That's okay. I'll be fine You're on 38 hits I'll be fine

Alright And that was the creature Pip, the creature is Digging into you Ludmilla is no longer here Pip, it's your turn I'll try and push it off me Back up and, and then I'll twang, twang. I'll fire a pinning.

You can only fire if you want to shove it off you. It's literally on top of you, tearing into you. If you want to push it off you, that is one of your attacks. I just want to fire a pinning shot to get it out of the way. Unfortunately, you'll need to shove it first. Okay, I'll do that. I'll shove it, and then I'll step back, pinning shot. You do pretty well with your athletics. It gets to make an

athletics or acrobatics check. It fucks it. Okay. Okay. Yeah, you shove it off you. It lands on its bum. You stand up, aiming down at it. You fire a pinning shot. God damn it. Do you have anything for a nat 1? I don't think so.

Consult your cards. Free roll, intelligence, strength. No. No, I can double my proficiency bonus for a round. No, I got nothing. Cramp, you take a d4 penalty to your next attack roll. Oh, goddammit. penalty to your next attack roll.

God damn it. As you stand up, you forget that the creature seemed to have specifically targeted your ligaments. It is Gorob and Lushen's turn. Gorob and Lushen. Actually, yes. Okay. Alright.

That would be two hits. Okay. And then Lushen is going to cast. You hear the sounds of snow pick up for a more. No, actually, you hear a lightning bolt. Oh, all right. An explosion from the from the ground level. Cool.

And then it is none of them immediately around. It is the gargoyles' turn. Are they going to, yeah. Oh, no. Let me down! Oh, my fucking God. And Hector, it's your turn. Come on, Hector, get out of this.

Oh, my god. Emil! So, does that include the five, the wisdom save, the plus five? Yeah, it's the plus five, yeah. No, I'm including it. God damn it, dude. What is this spell? What is this spell?

It's just a whole person spell, baby. God damn. Just your bargain basement hold person spell. I think you'll find. White. I forget the time. Why? The creature attacks you again, Pip.

Oh, my fucking God. Hit, hit. Three hits and it's on top of you again. God damn it. God damn it. Oh, my God. This fight's going so poorly. It really is.

It's really going bad. 18, 20, 27. Oh my God. How many hit points did I say you had? 38, you've got 11. That's fucking sick, dude. That's what we love to hear. Yeah.

Okay. How close am I to Pip at the moment? You're on the other side of this small room The room's only about 20 feet in diameter No, no, because I'm holding keys Yes, yeah, I could let You could grab the keys and huck it to the guy Can he get himself out?

Maybe I don't know Maybe Gorob and Lushen Is this the smartest thing you've ever That is so many Fucking sixes Holy shit

6, 12, 18 24, 30 36 Okay Gorban Lushen you're falling But it's not going to be as much as it could have been Is that the Is that the damage they did Or the damage they're about to take?

They killed one of the gargoyles, but they're falling to their death. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, it might not be their death. It might not be their death. We don't know. 10, 19, 30, 24. Okay. Which half?

Half, half, half. That's nothing. That's a tough little boy. It's a goof. And that was Gor, half. That's nothing. They're fine. They're tough little boys. They're goof. And that was Gorban Lushin's turn. It is the... All right. They fucked...

I'll roll, but... Yeah, yeah. All right. Gorban Lushin fucked up their roll, but they are so strong it doesn't matter. Okay, thank God. All right. And then Hector.

Come on, Hector. Get out of there. Come on. You're free. That happens at the end of your turn, though. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But on your next turn, you'll be able to act. Okay, thank God.

Emil, it's the creature. Can I? No. Don't even have bonus action or anything like that. You can't move bonus action. Yeah, at the end of your turn, you make the roll. Stupid rule. You have a reaction.

Okay. Do you have anything with a reaction? Maybe. Hit. Oh, fuck. Hit. Oh, goddammit. I cast...

Shield of Faith, if you can cast it on someone else. Can I cast Shield as a reaction? Not as a reaction, but can I cast it on somebody else? I don't think you can. I think it's as... No. Oh, well. Well, I need to work this out because this creature is on the very specific orders.

All right. Pip, you take 11 points of damage. You're on zero hit points. You fall down. Okay. As soon as Pip hits the dirt, the creature stands up straight.

One swipe. Every other turn this thing's been like swipe, swipe, swipe, swipe, swipe, swipe. It takes one swipe. Pip hits the dirt and then the creature bolts. It just runs. Oh. Intriguing. You hear Tarpos downstairs.

And then it is Pip. You make a death saving throw. Yep. That's one successful death saving throw. And it is Gorob and Lushen's turn. They continue getting taken to a very great height and then falling from a very great height What a way to kill the fucking

gargoyles Swooped and then dropped Alright, I think another gargoyle is dead Awesome And it is the gargoyles' turn Alright, I'll roll again Gorub and Lushen are fine The gargoyles are probably going to give that up now

Hector, it's your turn. Pip is on the floor bleeding out. I go over to him and I just cast Healing Hands, giving you nine hit points. What the fuck was that? You're on nine hit points, baby. I give him the keys to Emil and I'm like, it ran. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It ran off.

And then I leave Pip by himself, and then I run down to Tarpos. You get down to the bottom floor, you see Tarpos is standing there. She's still holding the blood spear, but she's stepped a couple, you can quite obviously see the creature has darted past her, and Tarpos has just let it go past. That's fair. She looks

up at you, and you can see through the doorway there's several decapitated guards and a gargoyle that has been embedded into the wall. You can see it's got many little holes that it is... At first you think it's bleeding from these holes but then you realise there was blood stuffed into the holes. You're not 100% sure what's going on there. Possibly something to do with a weapon called the blood spear. Yeah, who knows? blood stuffed into the holes. You're not 100% sure what's going on there. All right.

Possibly something to do with a weapon called the blood spear. Yeah, who knows? Who can say? So no guards around? No guards immediately here. Tarpos has this bottom floor clear, but you haven't run out the door yet, and you won't be able to do that.

That's fine. I'll grab the shield. Yeah, nice. Okay, cool. You pick up the shield. And I'll don it Okay no worries That'll be your turn then That's Hector

Emil Still can't do anything Yeah The creature What are you? Pip it's your turn I'll go over to the To Emil

Yeah Don't make me regret this And then I'll unlock him You won't I promise You set him free? Mm-hmm. He gratefully, thank you, thank you, thank you, he spines out. Can I set him free and start climbing the ladder to the roof in this turn?

Sure, yeah, absolutely. I'll do that. You won't be able to get out the top? Yeah, yeah, but I can just start my way up, yeah. All right, it is Gorvan Lushen's turn. Gorvan Lushen wound pretty badly another gargoyle. Then, that was Gorgon Lushen. It is the gargoyles' turn.

You still can't see what the gargoyles are doing, but they are definitely going to stop just trying to pick them up. They working. They will attack. Jesus Christ they suck Gord and Lushen take two points of damage try picking them up next time I guess yeah fuck

alright that was the Gargoyles turn Hector it's your turn so I know that yeah Radiant not great it was bludgeoning other things the noble trio that's it yeah cold fire and bludgeoning okay um i will just poke my head out the door see what's going on you can see gorob lush and standing in the howling biting wind great sword in one hand a magical aura in the other, and they keep just looking up at the sky.

Gorob Lushen are about 10 feet from the doorway, but you can just barely see them. They keep looking up at the sky above them, and you see every now and then a terrifying, misshapen rock creature swoops down, lashes out at them, and then swoops back up into the air. They are fucked up. Gorub and Larshan are bleeding from all four eyes, both noses and both mouths, and all four ears as well. They look like they've sustained some pretty hefty blunt force trauma.

Okay. Okay. Okay. Right. I'll go over there and lay on hands them. All right. For how many hit points? How badly? They look pretty bad.

They're 67 out of 107. Okay. About half health just before. Okay. I was going to say just 20. Yeah, I'll go with 20. Yeah, I'll go with 20. Yeah, we'll go with 20. 20?

All right. Thank you, good friend. Is any guards around? Guards? No. You see, there are maybe 10 dead bodies in total, all of them guards. Oh, and a few gargoyles. There's also a few gargoyles.

And I'll probably start heading back into the tower and be like, get into the tower. Get into the tower. How like, get into the tower. Get into the tower. How else could we kill them? Show them that we're mighty. Both of them look at you pleadingly. For Darboss. Garbage lashing.

You gotta love them. Yeah, fair enough. How else can you show? Yeah, he's got you there. Yeah, you stay in the doorway and I'll just... You see a wet, bloody, Gorob and Lushen-shaped print on the bridge. Okay.

And I'll get ready my spear. Okay. It is Emil. Emil gets up and looking at you, Emil quite clearly isn't sure what to do next. See if they need help downstairs. Okay. He makes his way downstairs

and the creature is out of this fight as well. Pip, it's your turn. Do you want to follow after Emil? Oh, that's right. I'll open the roof, yeah. You step out into the biting, freezing cold. You can see all the gargoyles here are gone now. Okay, that's good, thank god.

You have a little look around. What is your perception? Oh, well. You can barely make out the gate that you walked through that also had some gargoyles atop it. You barely make it out, you can't tell if the

gargoyles are still there or not, but every now and then, above the biting, howling wind, you hear the screeches of gargoyles, which reminds me, actually, Hector, you are fine, but Pip, you are also fine. You take a point of cold damage every round you're exposed. All right, well, I'd like to just like a sniper sort of get down on the roof of the building

with my crossbow and just ready myself for the moment I see one of those gargoyles. The moment it like comes out of the sort of blizzard nearby to just, yeah, plug it twice. Well, sure enough, it's the... Oh, no, sorry. It's Goroblushin's turn. They wait also.

All three of you are just holding your actions. And sorry, I should also say Tarpos in the doorway holding your actions. All of you see a gargoyle swoop down. You all attack this one gargoyle. And basically at the same time, because you're ranged, you will get the first attack off. Sweet. You hit. Is it just a regular bolt? Yeah, no, it's fine. I'll just make it a regular. Look, maybe I'll knock it out of the first attack off. Sweet. You hit. Is it just a regular bolt?

Yeah, well, no, it's fine. I'll just make it a regular. Look, maybe I'll knock it out of the sky. Whatever. You deal four points of quotation marks. I'll plug it twice as well if I can. Unfortunately, no, not with a ready to action. Or ready to attack, I should say. Then, as it swoops down, as it gets a bit lower,

Tarpos gets the next attack. She hefts the blood spear in one hand and throws it mightily at the creature. It slams into the creature's side. It takes six points of damage, and then

Tarpos gains six temporary hit points. Hell yeah. And then when it gets down low enough for Hector, you and Goroblushen. Hector, you attack. Yep. Would you like to special this attack at all? Would you want to sprinkle anything on it?

So I'm using the spear. I know it's not bludgeoning. It's piercing. But it is... That was kind of magical. It is a magical weapon, yes. Does that mean shit? I don't think so

alright okay you gonna sprinkle any sauce on this well they're immune to radiant damage alright you deal 4

plus your charisma of 5 so 9 points in total it's not quotation marks damage though looks like magical is maybe good

oh okay and then Gorob Lushen's swing that's a hit Gorob Lushen Swing. That's a hit. Gorob Lushen Deal. That would be 11, 12 points of regular damage. And then 24 points of thunder damage.

There's a loud explosive sound, and part of the gargoyle rips away. The gargoyle hits the ground inert. Okay. And then it is, that was the gargoyle's Hector. It's your turn. You can still hear screeching above you. Okay. Yeah, I guess we'll scan the horizon, but ready the action when the gargoyle comes down. Emil is about to step out, but as soon as he puts a bare foot, as soon as a bare foot

touches the snow outside, you see a shiver run through him and he steps back into the building. Fair enough. Yep. Pip, it's your turn. I'll just, on the roof, I'll just stay there and keep my action readied for the moment it comes out of the sky. All right.

How many screeches are we hearing? You're hearing quite a few. It's hard to discern, but you could, if you wanted to, spend your action working out how many of them there are left. Okay. Okay.

Would you like to do that, Pip, or are you just... No, I'll just ready myself. It is Gorob and Lushen's turn. They also ready themselves. It is the gargoyles' turn. Highs or lows? Highs.

Highs. Highs? All right. The screeching sound begins to get fainter and fainter and fainter, and you think the gargoyles have decided they don't want to die. Okay. All right. Okay, everybody back in.

Everybody in. I look at Gorob and Lushen. Everybody in. Yeah. Yeah. We did well. Yes. Yes.

Yes. You right? You right? Right? Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes. You're right. You're right. You're right. Yeah. Gorob and Lushen take several steps towards the interior, and then let's see special injuries. Cool. I will anticipate, and I will kneel down.

Failing lungs. They immediately gain a level of exhaustion. Oh, love it. Good. Love it, baby. That's awesome. That's one level of exhaustion. It's not going away for a week.

Disadvantage on ability checks. Cool. Cool. Yeah. Nice. Nice stuff. Good stuff. Good stuff.

Well, on the bright side, if I hadn't have done this at the end, then they would have been. Yeah, they probably would have been picked up and dropped again. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can imagine. Yeah, yeah, yeah. As a side of each of their turns, they must make a constitution saving throw or gain another level of exhaustion.

After two successful saves, the effect ends. Okay. So. Can we, can we, can we. Can we help? Can we help? No, you can't get rid of exhaustion. No, as in help them, like heal them or something, but oh my god.

They get another level of exhaustion, and then you get to them. You drag in Gorob and Lushen in, you can tell something is very, very wrong. Something's ruptured internally. Something is very, very wrong. Something is ruptured internally. You, um, hang on. That is a medicine check, but I very quickly am going to make you fail this check. I know I've got a card for it. Here they are.

Okay, awesome, dude. I think... Who's the player to re-roll a skill check? I think that's really cool of you, Adam. Oh, that's even better. Turn a successful skill check into a failed one. Uh-huh. What skill check was it?

It's a medicine check. Is it intelligent-based? It's wisdom-based, I believe. God damn it. All right. They make another saving throw. They pass that one. Okay.

You can try to medicine them again. That will be a fail. If I doubled my proficiency bonus with it, would that help? You need an 18 in total. Okay. My medicine is currently a plus one. Yeah, I don't think that's going to help at all. Doubling is a, let's see, one times?

You actually don't get your proficiency bonus on that roll. You've not selected it. Yeah, you don't have medicine as a skill. Yeah, very sorry. All right, Gorub and Lushion make another saving throw. They fail. It's another level of exhaustion. Uh-oh.

Uh-oh, they are getting close to the fucking break. All right, you make a medicine check. Oh, okay. You succeed this time. You needed a 17 at least. Yeah, then you got a 17. So it's maybe, it's touch and go for a minute. Yeah.

But you are able to, Gorban Lushin's lungs have collapsed completely. You go in and realizing how fucked this is, you're just trying to reinflate their lungs in any way possible. You're unable to do it. Gorban Lushin, you can hear their breaths getting fainter and fainter. I'm guessing Pip at this point. Yeah, I'd be down there crowding around. Their lungs are collapsing further and further and further,

and you're like, they need air, they need air, they need air. And then Tarpos puts her mouth over their mouths all together, and then a massive, mighty breath, and their lungs inflate to full. Oh, my God. You're able to put, at that moment, you're able to put a, I forget the name of it. Stent? Stent, yeah.

You're able to put a stent to stop the leaking air. Okay. Wow. Are they? Sit down. Sit down. They're lying down. Yeah, good. I look around.? Sit down. Sit down. They're lying down. Yeah, good.

I look around. We're still blizzarding? Yeah, it's still blizzarding outside. Right. We've got no, I mean, honestly, it's good. It'll force us to just wait. Right. Are you okay?

Are you okay? We are. We are going to be lost. They collapse into unconsciousness Okay Okay, good Unconsciousness as in no hit points or unconsciousness as in

They've got hit points They just need a rust Yeah, they collapse They go to sleep Can I try and pick them up and take them up the stairs? Sure, yeah Do you want it warmer?

I'll give you a hand They're dense but not too heavy that you couldn't do that. Yeah. I think we will take them upstairs where it's a little warmer. Yeah, that's a good idea. You bring them up. Tarpos awkwardly stands where she was and looks at you, Pip. Yes.

Emil, who is also standing here, looks between the two of you and says, I can't leave while the winds are out. But when they die down, I thank you. I will be in your debt. But where are you going? You want to talk to him upstairs about all that. Okay. Emil wanders back upstairs.

What are you doing, Pip? Tarpos is still just awkwardly standing here. She maybe steps near the doorway and says, God, again. Yeah, yes. It sounds like a good idea. I'll go see if I can help warm up Garab and Lushen or something. All right.

I imagine we're going to be staying here until the wind dies down anyway. You wander back upstairs. The three of you, Gorob, Lushen... No, sorry, four of you. Five, depending how... Whatever. Gorob, Lushen, Emil, Pip, and Hector, you are all in the upper floor.

How bitingly cold is it up there? Up here, it's still quite cold You feel like if the wind doesn't If the snow doesn't stop Tonight you will need a fire Yeah yeah Emil was being kept here as a As a torture

We don't have a chimney though do we? No We do downstairs but you say we probably can't light a fire in that heart. It would take a lot of work, but you think it might be possible. You'd need wood. Yeah. Well, I think we'll put Goroblashen down. Okay.

I think we're here for a while. I think you're right. All right. Right. Where are you going after this? Going up or down? Up. We were going to Kuchari,

to the Amber Temple. Emil stops for a moment and looks at you. The Amber Temple. Yeah. He looks you up and down. Are you wearing insignia of Pania? A lot of that got stolen Yeah, yeah, that's right

I think I would have still that You've got the holy symbol Is that very prominent? I'm wearing heavy furs I don't know, I wouldn't hide it But I wouldn't necessarily brandish it And if the furs are in the way or not, I don't know Well, I'm going to say the whole table is probably not terribly noticeable.

Emil gives you both a weird look, and then he goes over to the guard that you've killed, and he starts stripping the guard of clothes. That's a good idea. I would not recommend that. Yeah, we've heard that a lot. People keep saying that, yeah. As he strips the guard of their clothes, you see that they have no skin. So they worshipped a...

Actually, maybe they have little patches left, but you can see the skin has been torn off them for the most part. So they worshipped a flayed god? I think they call it the flayed god or the flayed dragon or sometimes maybe the Headless Dragon. I think there's a few names. If I was to heal you, is that bad? You seem very wounded.

I would not try it. I do not think it could help me anyway. My wounds are more than simple combat damage. Okay. I'll go downstairs and start trying to clear out that... You head downstairs, and as you're walking down, Pip, you feel warmth coming from

downstairs. You get to the bottom, and Tarpos has started a fire. Oh. I was just coming down to do the... Thank you. Tarpos looks at the fire as if she just got told off and then looks back at you and says, yes. You can see she's repurposed the wood from some of the crates down here to make a fire.

There's a fire down here. It's much warmer. Can I block up the chimney at all? Why would you do that? Because isn't there a cold wind coming down through that too? Oh, but then where would the smoke go? Yeah. I don't want to block up the chimney at all? Why would you do that? Because isn't there a cold wind coming down through that too? Oh, but then where would the smoke go? Yeah. There's no windows upstairs.

That's a good point. Yeah, I forgot there were windows on this floor too. Well, there are windows on this floor, yeah. Yeah, that's what I mean. So the smoke's getting out. But still, no, I won't. I mean, you probably don't want to do that. I don't want to accidentally kill us all with carbon monoxide poisoning.

You really bought up the windows, if you want. Yes, we'll be right back. I don't want to do that. I don't want to accidentally kill us all with carbon monoxide poisoning. You can board up the windows if you want. Yes, we'll be right down. Emil, I guess your former pack is gone. Emil stops for a second. How do you know this? I'm getting ready my an NPC knows that you are lying

to them God Pip that says what are you doing I'm an honest boy what's he doing the tough boss what is he an idiot

is he an idiot they were attacking the people of rocks where his brain's meant to be attacking the people of Krasik and kidnapping their children.

So we put a stop to it. Emil nods sadly. You can see hatred cross over him. He is never going to be a friend of yours. But he does not attack you that's good he um you you think you rolled well enough i think to know that the not attacking you part is probably more to do with the fact that you'd kill him yeah then that he doesn't want to kill you fair enough he certainly is not attacking you now and you can see you can see he has no immediate plans to.

But yeah, you've made an enemy. He shakes his head sadly, though, and says, It was Kiril. We always hunted fairly. Only took what we needed. Strahd made Kirill step things up. It's unnatural. You should not overhunt

a place. Yes, well, I guess, Inda, for some good news for you, survivors went to the Abbey in Krezik. They will be looked after by the family there, the Bellevue family.

I know of them. Emil nods his head slowly. And the wind dies down. I think I will head that way. That sounds like a good idea. I'm saying that from the first floor. Sure. You all, I assume, are going down to the first floor.

I was waiting up and having this conversation. I wasn't trying to do it in private with that pip, but... I'm a eavesdropper. Unless I can't hear it. I don't think... Oh, there is the howling wind. Pip, you... No, you weren't able to hear it.

Okay, never mind then. I'm sorry it turned out that way. Emil bites back what was very definitely going to be a snarky response. Is there anything I can, I guess, help you with? He looks around and he gestures at the threadbare clothes. Well, no, actually, they would have heavy furs. No, yeah, he'd probably be pretty rugged up at this point. He gestures at his clothes and says, I have little of need now, other

than rest. I've got some megal rations. More than welcome to share. Look, it is a... I did not know how this place worked. Still don't really know how it works.

At your rations, he puts up a hand. I have no taste for them, but you should leave now. I gesture to the guard. You will have no taste for what I'm about to do. Fair enough. Well, I grab Gorub and Lushen. Yeah, you're taking him? All right.

I'll grab Gorub and Lushen. Yeah, you're taking them? All right. Yeah, good. You take Gorub and Lushen back downstairs. Yep. I am not going to roll. You might not be able to hear it,

but you are all aware of the feed that is happening upstairs. Good. Tapos sits down awkwardly near the doorway. Is there anything comfortable we can put at least this one on? Who are you talking to? The room. Oh. Tarpos shrugs.

I suppose, well, I was going to say we could have taken some furs from upstairs. Maybe once your friend is done with them, we can lay them down. He could lie on that. Emil is wearing the furs now. Of every god? Oh, the bunch outside? You look outside to the snow-covered corpses. Good point.

The snow-covered corpses, can we drag them in and defrost them? You could try, yeah. I mean, it's been... I mean, alternatively, Goroblush and Havabedroll. Yeah, we'll tuck him in his bedroll. We'll put him in his bedroll, alternatively, Goroblush and have a bedroll. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll tuck him in his bedroll. We'll put him in his bedroll, but also, like, yeah, getting all those furs and everything.

I mean, it's been... How long? They'll be frozen. That quickly? Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's cold. Damn.

Yeah. Yeah. If it gets cold enough, things flash freeze. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, that's even more imperative if we get some furs. Yeah. Was there any guards that died in the bottom floor? No.

Tarpos, unfortunately, did a very good job of preventing anyone from entering. Tarpos and Goroblos. Yeah. I think he'll be fine in his bedroll. You could try if you wanted to, to drag some in and thaw them out. I'll start dragging some in to just try and even just get the furs off. Tarpos will give you a hand with that. She does not seem to feel the cold at all, basically.

It doesn't seem to bother her. Actually, I shouldn't have even been rolling for her before. She just doesn't feel the cold quite clearly. She gestures with some of the logs to dry out on. Yes. Yes. Rack? Yes, she says. Okay. Yes. That'd Rack? Yes, she says.

Okay. Yes. That'd be great. Let's do that. This is before you've dragged everyone in. Tarpos, seeing you, says, I'll do that. You make rack. Yes. I understand. She continues to drag bodies in.

I make a rack. Alright. Tarpos uses some of the bodies to block the doorway a little bit so less snow bodies in. I make a rack. Tapos uses some of the bodies to block the doorway a little bit so less snow gets in. Oh no, there is a door on it. No, I guess she doesn't need to. She uses them in the same way that you might get a door snake.

To stop the gust coming in. That's great. Anyway, you defrost as much of the furs as you can. You can, if you wanted to, each of you can add winter cloak to your inventory. You can just straight up wear their clothes if you want, but it's a uniform. No, I'll just take the winter cloak. Sure. Right.

Is it? Yeah, we'll grab the winter cloak. The winter cloaks look, I wouldn't say personalized, but they're not part of the uniform. It's just whatever they are. It's the kind of thing that everybody probably has one. It's just part of the world, part of Brovia. Yeah.

I guess if they are wearing uniforms, should we also wear them? And if we are going further, perhaps it would be less suspicious? Possibly, or under some circumstances, more suspicious. It's sort of, I think, one of those plans that always seems good in theory, but then most gods know who the other gods are, is all I'm saying. I can't imagine, I just said in my face, many are dragonborn or angel boys. At a certain point, Emil has come back downstairs.

You can see that Emil has made an effort to clean himself up, but he's still bloody. That's understandable. He sits down by the fire and is just quiet. He will probably, unless interacted with, he's not going to interact with anyone else. I guess we'd at some point ask him about

Strahd. Emil? Yeah. What do you want to know? Actually, probably the Amber Temple. What do you want to know? Actually, probably the Amber Temple. What do you know about that? All I know is it is a place of evil. I've spent little time in Kuchuri, but I know enough to know that it is forbidden in the town.

There is an elder evil that guards the entrance. Do you worship the werewolf god? Yes. She who hunts. Is she... It's such a weird question to ask. It's like, is she here with us? Is your god in the room with us now?

Is she also trapped here? Or was she one that was born here? She is in our blood. She goes wherever we do. Is a part of her trapped here as well? You could say that. The werewolves have always had an uneasy alliance with Strahd. Sometimes he lets us leave, if only to hunt.

So you've been outside Barovia? A few times. We hunt exclusively to draw people like yourselves in. And you always come back, huh? If we do not come back, Strahd will come for us. I grew tired of our uneasy alliance. Strahd struck me down for it. Ah, so I guess you are a friend of Strahd now. I would not say so. Though if you were looking for allies, I would not take up arms against him either. Oh no, I didn't imagine.

I would not want that. I guess if you... Has anybody ever succeeded or come close to succeeding in taking him down I am not that old but I have heard tales

Strahd his power waning or weakening I don't think anyone's ever truly slain him but there is tale among my folk

that once or twice perhaps the mists receded him, but there is tale among my folk that once or twice, perhaps, the mists receded and people could travel freely in and out of Peruvia. Such things are only ever temporary, though. Is this the first time hearing anything like that?

Yeah, that's the first time you've ever heard of that. My brow furrows. But I think I'm going to put that off as local culture, as local color. That's all that is, it's myth. So how old are you, if you don't

mind me asking? How long have you... Actually, to be honest, I don't even know if I wear a wolf's age. A wolf's age, just the same as humans. I am, I think, 52 now. Fair enough. I guess you would have heard through your sire and their sire and so on and so forth about the mists receding.

Yes, it is a tale that we often tell. It's a tale of hope. To be once more reunited with the Shiu hunts in the place of our forebearers. Where do you intend to go after the blizzard subsides? I will go back down the mountain, find what's left of my people. Fair enough. Pip and Hector, both of you, actually get a good boy card because you rolled a 20, Pip.

Both of you recognize that go back down the mountain, find the rest of my people, and left unspoken were the words, and rebuild. Yeah. Oh, yeah, absolutely. You don't think Emil has any illusions of stopping his ways? Of course not. Well, that's a problem for another night.

That's what that sounds like. You know whose problem that is? Future Pippin Hector. Exactly. Fuck those guys Yeah Well Time for me to hit the hay Like a long pause where we just stare at each other And I guess when you head back down

Will Strahd keep looking for you? I'm not sure I don't think Strahd ever cared too much for me. I think he wanted the werewolves doing what he said. And I was given to Ludmilla because he did not care what happened to me. Understandable. I'm going to climb back in, climb into my bedroll. Cool.

I'm kipping down. Going to sleep? No, no, climb into my bed roll. Cool. I'm kipping down. Going to sleep? No, no, I'll stay up for a watch. Go to sleep, it's all right, I'll look after you. No, all right. You, obviously you're setting a watch and I'm assuming you're not trusting Emil to guard alone. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Emil is, Emil basically treats it like you're looking after him. Emile to guard alone. No. Emile is...

Emile basically treats it like you're looking after him. He assumes that if you were to kill him, it would probably not be a very long fight. Yeah, for sure. The knights... Adam, because it's been how many hours, really, since when we woke up?

Since when you woke up last? Yeah, that's a great point, actually. Because the guy who basically went, we woke up, had a bit of a look-see, went, oh, no. Yeah. Then we went to have a bit further of a look-see, went, hmm, had a conversation, had a little bit of a kerfuffle, and now we're here. Yeah. Is it like midday?

Probably 11 a.m. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Actually, maybe even earlier on. Oh, no. It'll be about midday. No. The. Yeah. Okay. So. Actually, maybe even earlier on. Oh, no. It'll be about midday. No, the sun rises and sets quite quickly.

You don't get a lot of daylight hours in Bolivia. Well, I guess we'll just rest. Yeah. Not really sleep. Yeah. Because I don't think we've got to go to sleep. Yeah. Sure.

That's true, actually. I hadn't thought of that. You're absolutely correct. At least it's just a short rest. I mean, I get some stuff back. I'm so sorry. As punishment, I'm going to draw a bad boy card. That's okay, dude.

For myself, to punish me. Yeah, because hurting us hurts you more than it hurts us. Well, I hadn't thought of it like that. Interesting. Yeah, so I guess instead of go to sleep, can we just sort of potter around? I get it. Not potter around, I guess, but just go. Highs or lows?

Highs. Did we mean lows? I don't know. That's a great question. Do you want to change? All right. Knowing I got one or a hundred, do you want to change? Nah.

No, we'll stay where we are. Stay where you are? Yeah. All right. Did we make a mistake? So it is currently at about 11 a.m. Yeah. At like 11.01 a.m. Yeah. At like 11.01 a.m.

Yeah. You hear as just as quickly as the storm came, it leaves. Oh. Gotcha. Tricked you. You thought something bad was going to happen? Yes, something good happened. I did briefly toy with the idea of fucking you anyway, but I would never do that.

That's not what the dice said. You are beholden to the dice. That's true. You said highs. I rolled 100. Beautiful. You know how I said it was so clear? Yeah.

When you woke up this morning, so clear that you could see all the way up the mountain and all the way into the valley? Yeah. It is that clear again. You do not know. Genuinely, it's actually suspicious. Yeah, that's what I was thinking.

I was like, that's like a spell. It's like somebody did that on purpose to us. Coincidentally, it is genuinely actually just coincidence. But yes, you definitely would feel you've never seen this happen before in Barovia. Yeah. But it just feels suspicious. Okay. Okay.

It's too much. Too quickly. Yeah, absolutely. All right. Suspicious. Okay. Okay. It's too much. Too quickly, you know? Yeah, absolutely. All right. Well, I guess if it's... Never mind. If Tapos steps outside and looks around, she just says... It is cleared up.

Almost immediately. I guess I turn to Emil. I guess you are... He says, testing his pants off. Are you on your way? Yes. I gesture to the... Did I even need to be brought inside dead bodies?

Oh, yeah. Not anymore. I mean, back when you thought there was going to be a storm all day. I guess you can take supplies, whatever you need. And look, I am truly sorry for what has happened to you. I understand that perhaps, just like us, you are also trapped here. One cannot really get mad at, say, a bear for hunting. But when we return, if I hear that you are kidnapping children again, I will come for you.

Emil. Emil's face is inscrutable to you. You can't tell what emotions are playing behind his eyes. But looking at you, you do feel at least confident enough that he is being earnest when he says, I hope never to see or hear of you ever again. Likewise. He turns around and begins making his way down the mountain. Can I...

I don't know if this has ever come up before, Adam, but do I get ingredients out of human beings? I mean, it is potentially possible that some types of ingredients... But it's rare. I mean, it's... Well, I don't know if I'd describe it as rare, but I wouldn't describe it as common either. Yeah, okay.

It depends. The person might have... When you collect some ingredients, it might not be because they had mold growing on them. It might be because it was in their bag. In their bag. But sometimes, like water of sphinx, as we said previously,

is a mold that grows in someone's blood. Yeah. That can grow in anyone's blood. So it is sometimes possible to, yeah, harvest from a human. Well, I'll search some of the dead guys first. All right. Just of their stuff to look for ingredients. Sure.

And. Yes. Go on. No, it's too distasteful. I don't know what you're talking about. A monster's one thing. Just a guy. He feels fucked up.

Yeah. They are flayed, so I guess it... Like, they're nasty, they're gross, but, like, I don't think... It feels criminal. It feels way worse to just, like, gut somebody for their... Especially if I find nothing. It's bad. You find a bottle of elemental spirits it's got three doses in it oh nice enough for three doses it looks like someone elemental spirits are

actually slightly alcoholic you think someone has it's just rot gut is this kind of like the equivalent of somebody drinking hand sanitizer kind Kind of, yeah. Whoa. It's a bit more like methylated spirits, I suppose, in quality. In that... Fantasy method, yeah. In that if you're really wretched, people have done it. Yeah, okay. No worries. Well, yeah, I'll

pocket some of that, and I'm not going to disfigure the bodies. Did we search the crate of survival gear as well? We haven't done actually anything I was about to suggest. Well, while he's patting, while Pip's patting them down, what would you like to do?

Well, I'm going to go upstairs and read. Actually, actually, now that there's not a, I guess a time. Is there a pressing time? As always.

Those gargoyles probably, I mean, even if they don't just come back, those gargoyles probably have someone they might be reporting. Oh, 100%. Plus there was that one gargoyle. Fucking Ludmilla was here, actually. She knows. She knows we're here.

I don't know about this. Okay, so while Pip is looking through the bodies, I guess have a chat to the room, including hopefully Pip is somewhat paying attention to Tarpos and I guess the a chat to the room including hopefully Pip is somewhat paying attention to Tapos and I guess the unconscious body of Gorob and Lushen. Well, the snow

has cleared. I don't think we're in a position to perhaps move just yet. I gesture to the dwarves. Yeah, good point. So we either need to find somewhere to keep him holed up somewhere or we just soldier on while

we carry them. Tarpos looks at Gaurab and Lushen's prone form and thinks to herself, can she do much here? I don't know what it's like once we pass the bridge. Perhaps it opens up a little more

and we can be a little bit more sort of surreptitious about our movement because if we head back down the mountain or if say one of us takes his garb back garb and lushen back where is that goat to contend with yes

need travel fast she says I shrug could be maybe could get or make to carry she says

gesturing at Gorob Lushen but would yeah could get to carry okay

so we could carry him if need easier alright you said I think there were some crates over by the... Oh, yes, good point.

I'll have a look inside as well. Look through that, see what else is on the bodies of the guards. I'm going to go upstairs and have a look through that desk now that hopefully things have calmed down somewhat. Tapos, if you could stand guard, just to look out in case any more of those rock creatures come. I'm going to try and see if I can

see if there's anything of use upstairs. Maybe even destroy that summoning circle. Good idea. Need magic rock to write? I mean, deforming the circle, if you can do that with the rock, probably good.

She hands you the chalk. Thank you. Pulling out the spirits. Oh, that's sad. Oh, man. Well, if you're flayed, I guess you find whatever pleasure you can in this world. Fair enough. Tapos.

What is that? Oh, it's, well, it's elemental spirits. It's a plant, but it's also, it's like rot gut. You know, it is alcoholic enough, I guess, if you're my gesture to the guy. Look like that. Tapos. You two are having a conversation.

Tapos is not involved, but Tapos does that thing where you awkwardly stand at the edge of a conversation. Like she doesn't know if she's being included or not so a cleaning product people consume yeah pretty much well um it's great we've got rust on a sword or something works wonders yeah um yeah look around see perhaps you can use this time to prepare anything that yes i yeah i was going to yeah you you check the desk upstairs to form that summoning circle. What temperature do you need to boil, melt silver? Quite high?

Pretty high. Fucking hell. Do we need to forge? I don't know the temperature that is required to forge silver, but I highly doubt you would know either. Yeah. Even if you could forge silver, I don't think you'd know the temperature. We need to find a smithy to do that, I reckon.

That'd be one in Kooturi, I'm sure. Yeah, a friendly one, I reckon. Yeah, well, definitely one. I'll go upstairs on the first port of call. We're looking at the, trying to find that summoning circle, if it's visible or not. Sure, you walk back up, and you'll need to really look for it, because while it's not being active, it's very faint. You roll pretty well. You find the summoning circle, and you can, well, how much do you know about the arcane?

Well, I did destroy that summoning circle that was summoning bats, and that was based on information that someone had previously told me. I think it was a certain Sir Grace. Yes. About how to destroy a summoning circle. So I'm using that information. I will give you advantage on the check to do this. And I'll say that's enough. You can...

You put a big X over the summoning circle, dust your hands off, done. Smash cut to that same trip on our horses, so Grace blocking out Tiffany. Yeah, yeah, and if all else fails, just one big cross through, it'll do it. Good. just one big cross through it'll do it. It's also funny to imagine in that moment,

you're like, that can't be true. But here in the cold, you're like, it's all I got. Sure, what else can I do? No way that works. Surely it can't be as simple as an X. I mean, I guess it is disrupting the... Onto the desk. You start rifling through all the papers there.

Again, this time with a little bit more care. This time it's going to be an Arcana check, probably with disadvantage, because it's very dense, academical research. It's an Arcana check. Intelligence-based check? It is, yes.

Okay, hold on that good boy card just in case. This would be a fail. Maybe if I had to say with advantage. You had disadvantage, so I'm just going to re-roll, but with neither advantage or disadvantage. Nice. Alright, you do pretty

well. Alright, you're able to work some of this out. Hey! So, some of it is still beyond you it's this is kind of beyond you what would be considered university level this is active research it's stuff that no one would know about but uh save for ludmilla but you are able to work out that it is almost exclusively detailing werewolf anatomy and notes about emil specifically as a test subject you see uh ludmilla was testing to see what the limits basically that a werewolf can endure before death you can see that ludmilla has brought emil to the

brink just before the brink of death many, many times. He's been a really shit way for a long time. It's with many different methods as well. Cold is just the most recent one. You can see Ludmilla is very, shall we say, scientific about it all. There's no... Thorough. Well, no, what I kind of mean is there's more like a clinicalness to it all there's no thorough yeah well i know what i kind of mean is there's more

like a clinical to it all you can tell that this is the mind of someone who isn't really considering the the the the feelings or even the the sentience of other creatures okay you can see some notes referencing how this could be used to make she's looking at this with an eye to she's got an idea to be like oh can i make werewolves that or can i use anything from this werewolf in making better obedient soldiers you can see some references as well to an earlier project unrelated to werewolves with vampires and you can see she makes some references to a town not too far from kuchuri where her tests began the burnt out i guess husk of a town that yes is that is there a similar description of what I'm reading?

Well, there's not a lot of reference to the description of the town. That is irrelevant to anything that she needed to know. So, yeah, it's hard to... Yeah, there's no details that you can match up one to one, unfortunately. Okay, but as an educated guest, I could be like... I mean... Yeah. Okay, that could be like. I mean. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. That is that one. Okay.

As I'm reading through this, can I describe this in my pack? I guess the tarot cards that I got. And the one which was about the engineer, the cruel person, the no sympathy person. Yes. And I'm like. Looking at that. Looking at the notes. Looking at that. Looking at the notes, looking at that, looking at the notes and I'm just... Oh no!

I'm thinking I'm a fool. Oh dear. Is this the first general we say no thank you to? Maybe. Well, Madam Eva, you have an interesting way of dealing cards. To be continued... what you need to scratch that itch. D&D is for Nerds Plus, the symbol, not the word,

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