D&D is For Nerds - Vampire Infested Barovia II #6 Long Wolf Night

Episode Date: June 10, 2023

The party fights a lot of werewolves as the most annoying members make an extremely terrifying encounter somewhat manageable. Pip finds a not-at-all worrying child’s toy while Hecktor panics about bites.Want ad-free and even more bonus content? Just check out the Imagination Adventures show page 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.

Ow! Okay. God damn it. A werewolf wearing leather armor explodes out of the bush, starts charging you. Then another one, then another one, then another one. Okay. Gorob and Lushen wade into the center, as deep into the center as they can be of the fighting. Maybe, actually, they're going to take an attack about doing that.

Yeah, that's a... Then Gorob and Lushen get bit. God damn it. Nine points of damage.ushen get bit. God damn it. Nine points of damage. Are you morons? God damn it. And then they cast Thunderwave. Well, Lushen casts Thunderwave.

Yeah, yeah. Gorub and Lushen deal 38 points of damage. Fuck. That minces the one you were fighting, Hector. Oof. Hell yeah. It kills one of the ones you were fighting, Pip. That's great.

And then it wounds the rest of them. By mince, you mean dead? Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. They get, like, pasted. When that happens, all of the werewolves put their hands over their ears and howl in pain. It creates a deafening noise. All of the trees around you shake

in their shake where they're standing. That can be heard for a while. There are 15 werewolves. Gorob and Lush and you sons of bitches. And then Gorob swings with his greatsword.

He starts foaming at the mouth as he swings. Hit. Hit. Goro beheads the bound werewolf and then kills another one by driving his greatsword through it. Lifting it up in the air, swirling it around

and fucking throwing it. They're such a fucking double-edged sword, these guys. They made them come for us, but they've already killed, like, four of them. Down to three rebels. Yeah, fuck. All right.

Hector, it's your turn. Oh, the one I was fighting died? Yeah, the one you're fighting is dead. It got pasted. I get some health back. That's nice. You ever play Doom, the original Doom? Mm-hmm.

You know when you explode the enemy and it's just like a ribcage? That's what you're looking at, buddy. Oh, that's cool. I get some health. That's nice. I will look at... So what are the other three doing?

Who are they fighting? One of them is fighting Kribbit because he was backing up. The other two were ones that just burst onto the scene. I will go for the one attacking Kribbit. All right. And I will... Thank you. I will attack twice.

First attack hits hits second attack miss I will spend cribbits ah bardic inspiration nice hit yes

that's a d6 on each of them so fuck 20 28 points of damage nice that werewolf

takes 28 points of damage as you slam it in the side of the head and when it turns of damage as you slam it in the side of the head, and when it turns to face you, you slam it in the side of the head again. The werewolf looks like it's seeing stars. And Eleniel's turn. Eleniel is probably going to focus fire with you. She thinks the situation's pretty under control.

She's not going to waste an arrow on this yeah and she's just gonna fire twice I don't know what kind of range your elaniel is oh and two more of her cordon of arrows go off that's 11 points of damage on top of what you just did

this foe is getting fucked right up she fires twice first attack hit, Second attack hit. Oh, actually, no, wait. She... Does she even need to? She can sacrifice some attack for extra damage.

Oh, yeah. She downs another werewolf. Hell yeah. Two left. That is the... Eleniel gives you... Eleniel, after she like, arrow, arrow, arrow, arrow, arrow, fills that fucking werewolf like a pin cushion,

Eleniel looks at you, Hector, and gives you an appreciative nod. It's the werewolf's turn. It's like, okay, that is all five and two more. Yeah, two more. Four werewolves total now. Oh, and two more. Two more, two more. Two more, two more.

Okay. Two more werewolves burst out onto the scene. I guess we'll just kill them all. I guess we'll just kill every fucking werewolf in Barofia then. And they're going to go for eeny, meeny, miny, Hector. Okay. Hector, two werewolves are coming after you. They've recognized that you're a fucking menace.

Shit. And what's your armor class? It is. All right. It's pretty good. Miss, miss, hit, hit. You get bit once, clawed once. I will, as a reaction, I will cast Shield.

All right, you only get bit. That's not so bad. Okay, I was hoping I'd get not bit at all, but that's good. Two bites. No, alas, the bit still happens. You lose three hit points. And mark down that you've been bit twice now. All right, then that was two werewolves. Another werewolf is going for Eleniel,

because they've recognized that she's a fucking menace as well. That's a bite on Eleniel. Fucking hell. Eleniel takes six points of damage. Death by a thousand cuts, these guys. And Eleniel marks down that she has one bite. And then the last one is going to go after Gorob Lushen. These werewolves haven't seen Gorob Lushen bite.

So they're just going for the weird guy. That's a lot of damage. Oh, no. Damn. Gorob and Lushen. Oh, but so Lushen, who you could see his eyes are poking out of his head. He's a wizard. He's not used to the adrenaline rush of a barbarian's rage.

You could see Lushen's kind of like, yeah. It's like doing speed or something like that. Maybe this is what they need to maybe, you know, stop being pieces of shit. You know the moment we split them up as well

they will never leave each other. There's no way. They'll become too used to one another. Gorob and Lushen take 13 points of damage and I'll mark down that they've been leave each other. There's no way. They've become too used to one another. Gorob and Lushen take 13 points of damage and I'll mark down that they've been bit twice now. Biting's good. Pip, it's your turn. Okay, I would like to... So there are four werewolves once again?

Yeah. Can I get them all in my 30-foot cone, do I think? You could get the two attacking Hector if you're willing to hit Hector. Oh wait, no, you attack everyone. No, yep, you I think? You can get the two attacking Hector if you're willing to hit Hector Oh wait no you attack everyone No yep you're fine you can get the two attacking Hector Okay yeah I'll do that I forgot it's not like an area attack

You pick everyone Sorry Hector Looking at Hector It's the rules here I kind of feel like I have to do this yeah that's a hit and a hit this is undead bane right

shape changer bane sorry yes don't want to let you know anything about these werewolves uh oh and that is 16 damage on one of them 11 damage on the other I have two more cordon of arrows, I think.

Oh, yeah. One each hits one of each of them. One takes six for a total of 22, and the other takes four for a total of 15. Hell yeah. All right. That was, oh, anything else, Pip? No, I got no other.

Hector, a hail of crossbow bolts slams down around you, and there is a perfect, when all of slams down around you and there is a perfect when all of them have landed around you there is a perfect Hector shaped hole slightly to the left of you all around you there is a perfect Hector shaped hole

and it's Krippet's turn um um um bap bap bap bap bap bap bap bap bap bap he is going to give another Bardic Inspiration to you, Hector. And don't forget, Pip, you have a Bardic Inspiration. Yeah, that's true. And then he is going to fire his light crossbow.

He hits. And the one attacking him is dead. He's instead going to hit one of the two attacking you, Hector. It takes 10 points of damage. That one is bloodied now. It's taken a few knocks from a few different people. And Gorob Lushen. Gorob charges

Gorob charges the ones fighting you. Oh no, they're fighting one. Yeah, they're going to attack that one. Hit, hit. That one takes 28 points of damage from Gorub. No, 36 points of damage from Gorub. Oh my god.

Gorub starts tearing it apart with his great sword, and then Lushen is going to cast... He casts Scorching Ray at second level. Oh no. Hit.

Uh-huh. Miss. Alright, so that werewolf takes a further... Only three points of damage. Gorob laughs at him. Lashen, you puny, puny, foolish wizard! Barbarians are best.

And then there's an explosion. Trade for a low number. Oh, God damn it. One of Lushen's spells blows up in his face. Fuck. That's a really low number. That could be good. Sometimes it's good when magic goes bad.

Yeah, it's certainly funny. Make a DC 12 wisdom saving throw or become frightened. Lushen starts shaking his head. No! No! No! No!

He starts dragging Gorub away from the fight. Fuck. That's these fucking guys. Yeah, I guess. Gorub is immune to this. These fucking guys. Yeah, I guess.

Gorob is immune to this. They're only sewn together at the waist. Yeah. Does the magic transfer through? Well, see, what I'm thinking is, it's the rage that makes him immune to this. Yeah. So, because Lushen is experiencing the rage. Yeah, true.

I'm going to give them advantage on this saving throw. Oh, no. Despite the rage, despite the adrenaline going straight to Lushen's brain, maybe it's full-on like the meter is full-on

You know how fight and flight are two sides of the same coin? Maybe previously, just a moment ago, the meter was like full- how fight and flight are two sides of the same coin? Maybe previously, just a moment ago, the meter was like full on fight and then as far into flight as it can fucking be. Alright, and that was Gorob Lushen's turn. Hector,

back to the beginning. The bloodied one, I will try and I will hit it twice. That's a hit and a miss. I will spend that inspiration to try and make it a hit. And a miss. I will spend that inspiration to try and make it a hit. Hit. All right.

20 plus 27 points of damage. You down that werewolf. Goddamn. That is three more. Three more thus far. Fucking hell. Just like looking around, doing some like mental math. It's Eleniel's turn.

15 werewolves in total. The other werewolf that's standing in front of you, the one that hasn't taken many knocks, she's going to fire three times. She's taken an extra attack to take a penalty to her hits. Funk, funk, funk, funk, funk, funk, funk, funk. Another one goes down. Fucking hell.

Two left here. It's the werewolves' turn. Two left and... You've been keeping track? Two more werewolves appear. Six in the wild. Four in the wild. There's four in the wild now.

You count. Yeah. Does he get a good boy card for counting so well? Only if I can get a bad boy card. Okay. Get a good boy card. It's always worth it. Plot armor. Players roll damage twice and takes lower result. All, good boy card. It's always worth it. Plot armor.

Players roll damage twice and takes lower result. All right. This is for your next attack, Jack. Thanks, man. I can remove one condition affecting me. Oh, that's good. Oh, that's good.

Worth it. Yeah, perhaps if I, like, oh, a good friend of mine is exhausted. Yeah, yeah. Oh, hey, true. Then the two werewolves. Who was the most effective last turn?

Over this last turn? Well, Elaniel They converge On Elaniel Miss miss Only one hit but it is a bite I don't know, just coincidentally Six points of damage

Just coincidentally it seems to be they roll best on their bite attacks They love to bite us They're chompy boys. Chompy lads. Eleniel screams as another werewolf tears into her thigh. And then it is Pip, your turn. Okay, can I get

Really, the entire party has to roll twice. Okay, except me. I'm good, right? I've only been bit once. Yeah. You are good. I'm good. I'm going to be okay. You're fine. How many can I get in a breath attack? All right, this one you do have to hit a laniel.

I don't know if I can do that. I'll just fire two arrows into the same one. I think you're out of shape changer bane, aren't you? Yes, but I remembered I have a bunch of silver bolts. I have one shape changer bane arrow left, and remember i have a bunch of silver bolts i have one shape changer bane bane arrow left and then i have a bunch of silver bolts so one will be shape changer one will be silver uh and i'd like to hit the the same one twice um i'm gonna just start concentrating fire ah silver bolts they're rusty i'm sorry shit shit bolts the werewolf howls as around where you struck it, you can see its flesh begins to decay and rot.

Hell yeah. And then pray for a low number. I went real bad. Damn it. I got these silver bolts from Esme. She gave me prank bolts. Target practice. Next enemy does double damage.

Ah, shit. Damn it. Kribbit gives his last bardic inspiration to... I'm going to say Pip. Do you have bardic inspiration? I do, I do. Oh, fuck. Oh, shit. Damn it. Grab it. Gives his last bardic inspiration to... I'm going to say... Pip, do you have bardic inspiration? I do, I do. I keep forgetting to use it.

Hector, do you have it? Not yet. I've used it twice. Get another one. Use it a third time. And then he's going to... Man. No spells?

You feel it? He's got one fourth level spell. I'm just so scared of using it. Yeah, no, you don't want to use it right now. Save it, save it, save it. Just use your crossbow. You kind of want to be like, that's when shit

real hits. Yeah. He fires and it hits. Nice. Dealing nine points of damage to one of the ones fighting Elaniel. The defeat fight is just too many. There's so many. There's a lot.

And that was Kribbit's turn. It's Gorob many. There's so many. There's a lot. And that was Kribbit's turn. It's Gorob and Lushen's turn. Can Gorob, can the mighty Gorob overwhelm Lushen and force them closer? Surely. Yes.

Okay, that's good. He's tough. Gorob rolled half what Lushen did but makes up for it in just athletics. Gorob drags Lushen back into the fight. Lushen is but makes up for it in just athletics. Gorob drags Lushen back into the fight. Lushen is not going to attack, but

Gorob does with his greatsword. That's a hit and a critical hit. Pray for a high number. That's good. We did it. Who did you pray to? Remember. Remember for next time. Okay, okay, okay. Heroic end. You did it. Who did you pray to? Remember. Remember for next time.

Okay, okay, okay, okay. Heroic end. Maximum quadruple damage. Oh, my God. If this attack kills the enemy, all allies who can see you have advantage on their attacks for a D10 round. Fucking hell. All right, Garb and Lushen.

All right. Maybe it was good bringing them along. Yeah, maybe they weren't having a round. Jesus Christ. First attack deals 17 points of damage. Second attack would deal 20 points

of damage for a total of 37. Which doesn't actually kill that werewolf, but badly injures it. That's one of the ones fighting Eleniel. That one is bloodied. Mm-hmm. Gorob, coated in the blood of so many

werewolves, looks at everyone and goes Yeah! And all of you, you're all like, fuck, they got this! They have been doing incredibly well for the next eight rounds everyone here gets advantage that's

so funny sorry maximum quadruple damage sorry yeah that ticket attack did 80 points I'm sorry that werewolf is dead yeah dead and then some yeah okay

yeah after that like well yeah he did one fucking one hit alright this is like the first time in such a long time you're like I think we're gonna be okay Hector it's your turn there's three werewolves left well um

Elenia looks at you like holy shit we're fine as he like slices it down the middle a bit of blood splatters on each of our faces Gorob yeah maybe standing the closest to you Hector just puts his hand on that blood in your face

and smears it down to give you a bit of like a like a war paint you briefly just briefly in the back of your mind you you're like, is this how disease passes? Don't think about that. Am I going to get sick from this? No, no, no. Some are wounded, yeah?

No, I don't think any of the standing werewolves are currently wounded. Then I will swing about a swing at one of the closest. First attack, critical hit. Second attack, regular hit. Second attack, regular hit. And I will add that maybe I'll save this bardic inspiration when I miss. Yeah. I don't know, dude.

You got advantage for so long. Bonk on the noggin! DC 14 constitution saving throw and a failed save perfectly lose one point of intelligence. This guy shouldn't change back. That's such a funny... Alright, that's 32 points of damage.

Nice. Boom. Boom. Just a reverberating bonk. Was there anything else? No. Just a bit of brain leaking over. It's Eleniel's turn.

She takes a step back Looks at that werewolf and starts firing She is going to use that ability again That's a hit I'm going to roll these two Because there's a decent chance She's going to kill them Garabalushan killing that wolf man

Can you tell the difference between Gorob and Lushen? Which one's the wizard? Which one's the barbarian? Gorob is the barbarian? That's what I think too, but I don't know if that's true. Gorob's the barbarian. Okay, we were right. Lushen's the wizard.

Okay, good. Just remember, handy little hint. Little mnemonic. Lushen, wizard supreme. Goron, first little hint. A little mnemonic. Lushen, Wizard Supreme. Goron, First Barbarian. Okay. Elaniel kills another werewolf. Just first arrow hits it in the chest.

Second arrow hits it dead on in its face. And the werewolf's brain fucking explodes. Then she uses her final attack on another werewolf and deals 21 points of damage. Fuck yeah. Oh, sorry. 21 points of damage. Fuck yeah. Oh, sorry, 32 points of damage. Nice. And, oh, that one's bloodied. Then it is the werewolf's turn.

Okay. All right. Hey, they're all here. Oh, the gang's all here. The gang's all here, baby. Okay. All right. And then there needs to be, ah, here they are.

Yeah, there they come. Here they come, out of the woods they're all gonna bring Gorob Lushen down or they're gonna try uh oh oh I forgot as well they get advantage

Gorob and Lushen are the hot and salt of this party Cribbit's been demoted Cribbit is now the annoying one two bites one claw fuck

shit fuck dude we're all gonna be wolf men at the end of this. We're going to be a party of werewolves. 17 points of damage to Goroblushen, and that's two bites. Cool.

Good stuff. Good stuff. They've been bitten four times. Two each. Jesus. Woo! They're so little, and werewolves are so big. They just mostly bite.

Yeah, oh yeah. It's Pip's turn. Primarily bite at this point. If I attack with a precise shot that gives me advantage, what do I get? Like a triple advantage? If you wanted to, I'd allow it. All right. All right, I'll fire two arrows into the werewolves,

and I'll make one of them a precise shot. First one, shall we say? Yeah. Hit. Hell yeah. Somehow. Joking, I know. Hit, and you only get the two.

Yep. All right, is there... That one is the one Eleniel hit. I assume you want to hit the one Eleniel hit? Yeah, yeah, these are also two silver bolts. That's another one down. Nice. Very good.

You hit it twice in the shoulder, rolling its shoulder back. You hear its collarbone snap, and then it falls to the ground. You shove your crossbow into its mouth, pull the trigger one more time. All right. Then it is Kribbit's turn. He's out of body inspiration, so he's just going to plug away with his little light crossbow. That's a hit. He does, he consistently does pretty

well on this. Yeah, his crossbow's really good. It's magical, which is helpful. He does 14 points of damage to one of the werewolves. Nice. And it's Goroblushin's turn. Alright. They're gonna save this party, then become werewolves. That's gonna be fine, though, because we are a party of. Yeah, we'll be a party of werewolves. That's pretty fun though because we are a party of.

Yeah, we'll be a party of werewolves. That's fine. The fear effect ends on Lushen. Gorob does get his attack. That's a hit. That's a hit. That's a critical hit as well. Fucking hell, they're going nuts.

Hell yeah, keep inspiring us. Pray for a high number. High, high, high, high, high, high, high, high, high, high, high. The highest? Yes. Oh, my God. Grover Lushen have a bunch of pent-up fucking combat in them. Disarmed.

Make a DC 18 dexterity saving throw and a successful save. Drop what you're holding and lose that hand. Well, that's actually not any extra damage. I don't think there's werewolves lost in much longer. What's the werewolf hold? Yeah. It's self together. Emotionally.

Just barely. 25 points of damage. That werewolf yips in pain as its left hand falls to the floor. That werewolf yips in pain as its left hand falls to the floor. And then Gorub, just screaming, covered in blood, looks at Lushen, who also starts screaming. I hope his spellcasting is now just screams. Yeah. He's going to cast Burning Hands, which bathes four of those werewolves in flames. We don't even need to be here.

We can just go. All of them fail. We can just get out of here. They got it. We're going to the winery. Good luck. You got this. 15 points of damage for all of them.

Nice. One of the werewolves is bloodied. The other three are just singed. And then it is back to the top Hector I will go for the bloodied one And I will swing twice Hit, hit Oh that's right you get advantage

So hit, hit Do you keep gunning in your head for a critical? I'm like the odds have got to be in my favour For criticals Do you keep gunning in your head for a critical? Yeah I'm like the odds have got to be in my favor for criticals 30 points of damage that one goes down What the fuck yeah We don't even really need them but still They're fun

And that was Hector It's Elaniel's turn Elaniel fires That's another one dead And then the last one takes 21 points of damage i mean this fight was scary but it's been sort of okay so far really uh yeah yeah well for the moment i tell these w's on our uh character sheets well gorob lushin are coming into this fresh yeah that's a great if you'll recall'll recall. Gorob, Lushen have, I mean, like, to be honest, Gorob has only lost one of his rages.

Yeah. And they're, like, nearly half health. Gorob has only lost one of his rages. Lushen hasn't lost much. He's lost. And those rages, you get back on a short. Gotta be short. Short rages?

Gotta be short, baby. Barbarians love to have a little nap. A little nap, then get back on a short. Got to be short. Short rest day? Got to be short, baby. Barbarians love to have a little nap. A little nap, then get angry again. Doesn't take a day. It's a long rest. So that's a long, that's a rage that you're not going to get for another week. Yep. Lushen hasn't spent too much of his spells, but he has spent coming on half.

Cool stuff. Oh, I forgot I did that. Damn, I'm clever. Lushen can cast Booming Blade to make Lushen's attack so much more powerful. I should be doing that all the time. That's crazy because Lushen's already been so strong. I mean, Gorub's already been so strong. I forgot.

Lushen's got a lot of good stuff for Gorub and Gorub could not help there's no barbarian ability that could help Lushen anyway they learn how to

work together if only that was the arc of their character but unfortunately the arc of their character is to be separated

and then go their different ways and never see each other again alright that was that was Gorub and Lushen's and then go their different ways I never see each other in a break yes alright that was that was Gorrivan Lushen's

turn no Eleniel's turn it's the werewolf's turn how's all those how's the werewolf's turn and flee

fair enough alright okay well we'll fire on after him I guess yeah yeah yeah you gonna chase after him

no no no is it well while they're running we'll yeah sure do some, I guess You gonna chase after them? No, no, no, is it? Well, while they're running We've got two archers Try and hit them from a distance And some spells Just to get them on the way out I don't think Eleniel No, none of you can hunt them down, they're too fast

You fire some shots after them but they get away It's kind of more for show The three of them left behind. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good job. All right. Who are you going to check first?

Right. I say, well, all of us have been bit. Just looking around, seeing 12 human corpses. Yeah, yeah. I will be searching those. One human and. I will be searching those. One human hand.

Okay, so I don't know exactly what Esmeralda did to cure us the first time, but maybe we're okay. Wolfsbane or something? I'd like to search everyone with the wolfsbane, touching it to their body to check. Hector, you're fine. Elaniel, not Elaniel's cursed. She's got lycanthropy running in her veins.

You can see that. Pip, you are fine. Kribbit is fine. And hang on, let me get more D20s for Gorub and Lushen. Gorub and Lushen are, fuck, are fine. What? Yeah, I know. That's crazy. Well, see, if you'll recall, Gorub is Lushen are fuck are fine what yeah I know that's crazy well see if you'll recall

Gorub is a barbarian yeah that's fair yeah yeah yeah he gets advantage on this saving throw and he gets a plus seven okay um

alright let me see what I can do what do you need to well uh yeah maybe if

while I have a look you could search the wolfman for guts did you uh you know it was not terribly forthcoming with uh i know she had a book yes she has an emmanuel as well i've read through it was there anything i mean it was a long time ago okay you remember that in her book which has some no emmanuel the monster is the same no of course even even the same copy of the same book is different no emmanuel the monster the monster is the same but you reading through hers yeah you saw that there was a section on how wolf spain can be used as, if you get the dosage right, it can be used to eliminate lycanthropy within someone's blood. If you're very quick.

First off, you've got to be quick. Second off, it's worth remembering that the wrong amount of wolf spain is just poisonous. Okay. Here's the deal. Maybe there's like something in like a manual. You're vaguely remembering. If in thine werewolf-like

anthropy, thus is thine in their blood, thy may be able to synthesize from thine wolf's bane a sort of molecular bane potion that will seek out thine changing cells to unchange and destruct upon them. But one must be thine careful, for if thine is overzealous with application of wolf's bane or similar, if thine is overzealous with application of Wolf's Bane or similar,

then thy will discover that instead of targeting only thine changing cells, it will also target thine normal cells, thus causing the user to lose blood. How does this Emmanuel know about cells? In brackets, all of it. Emmanuel Demonstra's Molecular Theory Edition. Emmanuel Demonstra, the smallest things possible edition. So if you get the dosage wrong, is it a disdain? Yeah, if I get the disdain correct, it's just a poison.

Is it a poison or is it a... It's not clear. Elaniel is staring pretty hard at you right now. Recently, we received, you'll recall from the diarist wolves, some quaggoth vein. That provides an immunity to poison. Plus, I have this formian eye which deforms magic. So, theoretically, I could concoct something that, if I get the dosage incorrect, will at least

perhaps mitigate some of the effects. However, I say, like, putting a finger up to Eleniel, I understand, this is not my forte. It is Esmeralda's, and we do intend to reunite with her at some point. How far are we from...

Eleniel looks at you very seriously and then puts a hand on her belly and says Will the protection last for just me? Do I know? A potion is drinkable by only one person. Okay. I use my

potion, my good boy card, Supersize me to make the it twice as potent. Confer the full benefit twice. Alright, so if you spend that, and you don't fuck up the roll, you will be able to create a potion that

will hopefully keep her from being poisoned, and then allow you to put in as much Wolfsbane as you want. Just a packet full. ram it in there. You pack it full of Wolfsbane. You put the Formian Eye and the Kwakoth on top. Can I use my Baradic Inspiration to help?

I think I also have some Baradic Inspiration left over. Baradic Inspiration? I'd like to squat down and make the most important potion of my life. Did I do that with the barotic inspiration, Adam? Yeah. Can I have my barotic inspiration? Inspiration. Would you like to add your barotic inspiration?

I would love to. Yeah, because this isn't an instant fail because I don't do this for skill checks, but it is snake eyes. Cool. All right. With both of your baronic inspiration, you are able to

concoct a potion that won't, you don't spoil the potion. You thank God, you put everything you can, your most,

you put all of your skill, all of the best ingredients you have at hand, and you just make it right. Take it off before it gets too hot. Maybe a little beaker as well, a part of it.

That should do it. Eleniel drinks it, and then there's a long pregnant pause. But at the end of it, if you check her again, the curse has left her, and her and child are fine. Thank the gods. All right. All right. Well, that was – I need to find out the specifics from Esmeralda for the next time.

So is that a werewolf pack? What is this? I mean, there are many werewolves in Barovia, although I thought we got rid of most of them in this part of the Svelich Woods. But are they – I thought we got rid of most of them in this part of this village woods. I'll start to inspect some of the bodies while I'm assuming Pip starts butchering. Yeah, yeah. Can I see if they have any of those medallions or anything like that?

Maybe see if they're connected to the previous pack we encountered? First things first, you get, I'm going to say, you just unfortunately can't harvest all of them, but you do harvest all of their... Yes. Dyrus wolf hearts. Hell yeah. You get, I don't know how many that... How many did you kill again? Twelve.

Twelve. You get twelve Dyrus wolf hearts. So many hearts. I got sixteen Dyrus wolf hearts. Actually, you know what? Make it eleven. Okay. One of them is a Franken heart.

Okay. It's just is a Frankenhorn. Okay. It's just a quirk of nature. Cool. But in addition to that, you get Eddercap Lung, which one of them had presumably just ate. Nice. Actually, no, sorry. You get three doses of Eddercap Lung. Cool.

You find some Poltergeist screams. Cool. Did you say screams? Five poltergeist screams. It's called poltergeist screams. It's actually kind of like a plant, but it does scream. At night, the flower opens up and issues a screaming noise, which can be mistaken for a banshee if you're uneducated.

That's when the flower's planted, right? No, just... So these ones can scream? It's a quieter scream. Sort of more like a something like that, yeah. Vampire teeth, one dose. That's a cool one. That's basically specifically, vampire teeth you would know, specifically used for staking

vampires. That's awesome. They ate a vampire. That's funny. It's just called Vampire's Teeth. You find nine doses of... Oh, no, sorry. Only four doses of Ravenfeather. Oh, yeah?

And then an emerald. Uh-huh. And three garnets. Fuck yeah. a emerald and three garnets. Fuck yeah. Anything else of use? Anything for the non-monster hunters in the party?

Anything for maybe a little Gora Blush and the true hero of today's adventure? Yeah, Pip's getting all of the rewards. You go through the pockets of their many pants and you find Oh, that means the other three are gonna pockets of their many pants. And you find... Oh, that means the other three are going to have to abandon their pants. True.

120 gold. All right. Not too bad. Then, as I would say, as afternoon is wearing on, not any time close to night, but just as afternoon is wearing on, you encounter just a small, like a, you know how, you know how if you don't wear pants, oh sorry, if you don't wear pants, people stare at you. You know how if your pants don't have pockets or a precursor to pockets was like a little pouch that people would carry.

You see one of those just lying in the middle of the road and slightly off to the side of the road. You can see that there is a wagon that has lost one of its wheels. It appears you can't see into the wagon. The wagon is kind of facing you. There's no animals here. There's just the wagon that appears to be empty and then the pouch in the middle of the road.

Is the pouch placed in a way that it looks like a trap? Yeah. I mean, what describe what that looks like? A pouch just like, you know, you just like place it down as opposed to it falling down and scattered a bit. It doesn't look like it's scattered, but it's lying down on its side. It could have been

placed. It could have been dropped. On its side, I'd be like that's more of a chance of it not being a trap. Yeah,'ll i'll approach and like i don't want to look at in the wagon i just want to look at for tracks and stuff around it as you just as you get closer you don't have to look into the wagon never mind you don't roll high enough all right you're looking for tracks yeah you see that there are i, this is a very frequented road. So there are kind of always tracks going through here, but right now you can see looking at the road,

what isn't, what probably isn't just people traveling back and forth. You can see that some people kind of like ran about here. You don't see any signs necessarily of a struggle. You just see like a lot of people when I say a lot of people, I mean like 10 people in one place just kicking up dirt, running about.

Possibly a scuffle, I say. It looks like it's about 10 people were here at some point. Maybe they were dancing. I look around. Look at these. Eleniel sloops off the road and into the forests. You immediately lose sight of her. I'm going to pick up the satchel as well.

There's something in it. I'll look into the cart then. I tip it out into my hand. In the little pouch is a spinning top carved with four faces. One of them is quite clearly a happy face. One of them is a sad face, got tears running down its cheeks. Another face is you would imagine maybe wrathful. It looks like it's screaming at you. And then the final face is a

well, no, I wouldn't need to roll. This is a common sight in Barovia. The face of a dead person. You look in the cart and you can see lying in it with just their legs dangling off the edge are two people, a man and a woman. They're cold to the touch. Yeah. I look to see if they are, like, what might have killed them. You?

Oh, do they? This is a divine sense. Undead, maybe. How many of them do I have left? I'm going to say not many. The last one, I cast it. All right. You, at senses, undead, celestials, devils, and demons.

You detect none of those. That's not going to jump out at me. That's nice. That's good. Yep, then go and maybe inspect them. Having a look, you can see Telltale bruising around their wrists and throat, and maybe their legs as well. You can see that they were bound and then unbound post-mortem.

If you open both of their mouths, you can see inside is a single flower growing. Oh, no. Flower growing or flower placed in there? It's alive. These people have been here for some time. This flower, you look, maybe if you grab or manipulate it, you can see it's planted in their throat, like taken hold. So this isn't like, say, the rose in the previous... No, that was ritualistically planted.

Well, I mean, this is probably also a ritualistic thing. Of course it is but when you pull it out you pull it out the roots come out with blood and esophagus it had sprouted and rooted is this like the um the needle like is this like those some of the um the plants that we fought on a bridge they look like that They look like that. Fuck. Good roll. You see, yes, it bears a very rudimentary appearance to, like,

if you shrunk one down teeny tiny size and then it had a flower. Right. Maybe I poked my head in. I felt a fucked up little. As I pulled it out, is it, like, still alive? Would that kill it? That, yeah, I think the flower would immediately wither and die. Pip?

Yeah, what the hell? Hold up the plant. Emmanuel the Monster does not say this, but I would say that you know this, Pip. So there is a great creature, sometimes called the Goliathus tree. It's got many different names, though, but that is the most common name for it. That is where blights of different types come from.

It creates a fruit, which when either the seeds are planted, it sprouts blights. Or if the fruit is eaten, the person dies, and a blight grows from them. They were force-fed this fruit. Right. I would say this is the work of druids, possibly

blights. You see, they don't just come from anywhere. They come from a Goliath's tree. It's kind of like a big evil tree, I suppose. The fruits of this tree, once consumed, will make that happen. I open the other mouth of the other person and maybe rip out the flower. Yeah, there's one in there as well.

And make that dead as well. Is it just that there's just one that is it? I mean, the fact that this happened means there's possibly blights or druids around. But that's pretty much it, right? Like they eat the fruit, they die. Yeah. Bada bing, bada boom. Yeah, but that's, I mean, they're not about to jump,

well, I hope they're not about to jump back alive at us. No, I would. Exhausted by the plant. I think it's just murder. That's all we're looking at. What was in the pouch? This. I put the little spinning top of my palm and spin it.

You spin it? Yeah. It's like, What is that? When it lands, it lands on the happy face. Pip, you feel happy. Oh, can I immediately associate it with the spinning top? No. I'm happy I found it, I guess.

It brings you a little bit of joy to spin it. It's kind of fun. I might keep it, I'm happy I found it I guess it brings you a little bit of joy to spin it it's kind of fun I might keep it I'm thinking happy, sad, angry, dead one in four cool that's a bit of a worry that's a bit of a worry it was just in the pouch

I don't know perhaps dropped by one of these people I imagine that as the plant flowered within them, they probably crashed their wagon. No, it looked like they were unbound. Oh, well, that's weird. Bound, force fed the fruit. It doesn't sound unlike the druids.

But then to crash the wagon? Oh, the wagon isn't crashed. Oh, it's just docked at the side. Okay, yeah, okay. The wheel could have just fallen off. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Does that make me more suspicious of the spinning top? Well, actually, the druids could have made the wheel fall off as a thing, as a ploy to get them to stop.

Hmm. I mean, it's wood. Druids. Good with wood. Yeah, yeah. From memory. That is a very sad thing. Maybe it's like if their eyes are open, kind of close their eyes, say a Pareto.

Pena. And is there anything on this wagon of use? Or has it been basically stripped there? Yeah, the people, maybe the druids or just people before you have stripped this of anything worthwhile. Look, we don't really have it. We could burn the bodies or whatever it is we need to do here, but we need to head off. Yeah, look, something will come for them. Gorub and Lushen, being uncharacteristically quiet, wander over,

and Lushen puts a hand on the wagon, and from underneath his hand, flames begin to spring. Step back, let the wagon burn. As you walk away, the wagon is consumed by flames behind you. You find somewhere safe-ish. I mean, nowhere in Brody is safe. And probably beyond the wagon as well. Oh, so you don't want to, in the beautiful wagon light, set up your camp?

I was supposed to wait till the wagon. The smell of burning corpses? That doesn't increase, that doesn't well within you an appetite for dinner? Not super appetizing, no, not really. Oh, that doesn't well within you an appetite for dinner? That's super appetizing. No, not really. That's strange. So with the,

so these were, I guess, I'm not saying planted. The blights were planted a long time ago. So we know that these are, these are the hunting grounds of the druids, so we need to be especially careful. Are we close enough, do I think, to where the druids are we need to be especially close enough do i think the druids are that it's like they're watching probably i mean or is it the kind of thing where the druids are sort of always watching it's hard to it's yeah pretty much it's hard to find a place

in barovia aside from a city where the druids don't have dominion they're more active in the west which is where you are but anywhere that you can find the slavish woods you will find the druids yeah well uh i mean we are in the west which is where the activity is higher but the druids kind of have dominion over everything it's not city and and barovir is mostly forest so i whether this is a plant or just some fucked up thing they're doing, I don't know. Whether they put it here, I mean, because they knew weed be coming by, I don't know.

This is around where we encountered them last time, though, yeah? We're kind of close to the moonfall You're in between the two crossings, yeah. So it's, yeah, pretty much. So, I mean, maybe this is just where they're doing their

druid biz they're farming yeah yeah maybe who knows

Eleniel nods she almost like an animal is at the edges of your impromptu camp like sniffing the air

basically she turns to the two of you and says, I would assume anywhere within this area to be dangerous. It is an easy assumption to make, especially with the druids. This handiwork, it implies that they have been active recently and we should assume to be attacked within the night.

Yeah, watches. I mean, we do a watch every night. Who wants this watch? I'll take first watch. Okay, yeah, sure. I will join you, she says. Me and Kripp will take second. Can I get you to roll that big old d20? Yeah, baby.

Yeah, baby. Oh, no, baby. What'd you get? Hot 19, Adam. Okay, this could be fine highs maybe good it's good in regular but it's bad in encounter it's great oh fuck he's going Tony the Tiger mode

far away from the two of you back the direction that you came the dying embers of the wagon are slowly, slowly going out. But there is still enough light cast from the embers that one could see quite clearly if one was standing here. One could see a single heavy paw print. Oh, my God. Down into the road.

Boris looks behind him at the assembled. Oh, my God. Down into the road. Boris looks behind him at the assembled... Oh, God. I'm so sick of fighting wolves. At the assembled maybe 80 or more diarist wolves. 80? Pardon? His full pack finally assembled. Escher has failed and Boris will find victory.

Strahd will have the heads of Pip Mandarin and Hector the Dragonbane on a platter. And then, finally, Boris will receive the recognition he so deserved. The two of them will be just another

on a many long list of adventurers that Boris has killed in the name of Strahd. 80? For these two, for all the others, it was just for the fun of it. But with these two, it's become personal. They have thwarted Boris again and again.

This, that Pip Mandarin has lasted longer than a year is a mark against Boris's name. No adventurer lasts this long, and no adventurer will continue to last this long. Goddammit. Boris issues a long, low howl, and then the pack hunts. My god.

Flawed, and we've just run away. We've just fought a bunch of wolf-bad- Hector? Oh my god. You and Eleniel turn your heads eastward. You vaguely think that you heard something. Like a noise. Is that a...

It echoes impossibly, making it hard to discern what it was. Is that a scream? It could have been a lot of things, Eleniel says. Oh shit, blights! From the west, jumping you are a cadre of blights, and up the back you see Hector. When you turn around to face the blights, you recognize that your dark vision is

maybe you saw this last night as well but your regular dark vision has become augmented different it looks like shadows disappear within a larger range than normal dark vision dark vision is also in black and white you no longer see in black and white in darkness you see in full color it's just as if all of the shadows well you would describe them as the shadows die something about it feels like the death of shadow

oh well okay okay but anyway you see quite clearly up the rear of this this blight formation is a druid. Well, what you would assume to be a druid. He wears furs mixed with leaves and brush. He has in his outstretched arms a staff made of wood, and he has a maniacal grin on his face.

You can see that he is bleeding from his mouth. You're not sure what the significance of that is. Anyway, let's go to initiative. Cool. Feels berserkery, I reckon. Bleeding from his mouth. Definitely eating something. Yeah. He's eating some bad berries or whatever. Hector, you're first. They're

120 feet away. Pip and, I guess... Kribbit. Kribbit and Goroblushan, they're not awake, are they feet away. Pip and, I guess, Kribbit and Goroblushan, they're not awake, are they? No. No, they, when you turn around and Eleniel calls out,

they kind of realize they've been rused. They've been rumbled, if you will, and they start sprinting. So who's 120? You would have only just noticed them.

You and Eleniel would have only just noticed them because both of you have enhanced vision. So 120 feet away, who am I seeing? What am I seeing? You see a mass of blights moving. Some of them stand upright and sprint.

Some of them are on all fours and loping towards you. Some are large. Some are small. Some are set. It looks just like a mass of trees and bushes are making their way towards you. I just start lobbing Eldritch Blast. Oh, Eldritch Blast for the first time? Yep. All right.

Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. You know how I said earlier that sometimes you're not in control when you use this power? how I said earlier that sometimes you're not in control when you use this power. When you channel Eldritch Blast, your arm jerks and you realize you're now holding a whip. You're not doing any of this. The whip reaches

backwards or you reach your arm backwards and the whip arcs back behind you. Eleniel glances at you like, what is going on? And then you throw the whip forwards. As the whip is thrown forwards it becomes it it started out as an ethereal thing but as it becomes more and more physical you realize it is it has a bone white pearlescent handle and then the the the whip part where leather would be instead it is

bone chained to bone chained to bone chained to bone, chained to bone, chained to bone. Madless. As you do it, you hear a screaming sound, which you realize is you. Involuntarily screaming. Who do you target with the Eldritch Blast? I still have that. Yeah, your throat's still fucked up. Oh, that's going to be good. Let's see.

I will cast. Can I do it? That's going to be good. Let's see. I will cast both beams at the druid. At the druid? Miss, miss. Too bad. The druid reaches up with her hand, and as she does so, you see the earth explodes out before her, and she creates like a shield of rock in front of her that it strikes. I'll call out to wake up to the others, but let a horse whisper. How fast can these things move?

Pip's a heavy sleeper. They close half the distance towards you, and then Pip. Am I roused? You kind of like, you look up and you can see a line of bones on top of you. You track it one way, and you see Hector wreathed in unholy looking black flames holding a whip made of bone. That's not good. All right. I'll roll out of bed at least.

Can I see the blights? No. I don't have darkvision. Yeah, you don't have darkvision. You just see darkness all around you. I don't think you'd have a campfire right now as well. No, no, no. Can I light a torch? You can light a all around you. I don't think you'd have a campfire right now as well. No, no, no.

Can I light a torch? You can light a torch, sure. I'll do that for my action. The torch, unfortunately, does not shed light. Oh, no, wait. In dim light, you can... In the dim light, you can... There's a lot of them. That's all you know.

Oh, fuck. You just see a lot of shapes moving towards you. Oh, fuck. It's Eleniel's turn. She's going to start firing into the mass of blights. It's bad not knowing how many. That upsets me. That stresses me out.

Oh, nice. Critical hit. Pray for a high number. High, high, high, high, high, high, high, high, high. That's pretty good. Good job. Yes, you won. I'm going to pray harder.

Just letting you know. And I expect you to pray harder next time. I job. You can pray harder. Just letting you know. And I expect you to pray harder next time. I will. I'm sorry. I apologize. Follow up. Maximum damage and you may make another attack with advantage against the same target. Oh, good job. Nice. That rolls. Holy shit.

She does 75 points of damage. Fucking hell. Literally in the last two combats, somebody's going fucking ape she does 75 points of damage oh fucking hell literally in the last two combats somebody's going fucking ape shit on the damage Jesus Christ the mask gets a little bit smaller but it doesn't

look like it got smaller enough you know what I mean? yeah you look at it and you're like I wish that got a bit more smaller but everywhere Eleniel fires one of her arrows, it creates a hole in the mass that just begins

slowly closing itself up. It's Kribbit's turn. Kribbit rolls out of bed, and that's his action. It's the druid's turn. The druid plants both of her feet squarely on the floor. Hector, you're really the only one who can see this. And she stretches her arms out in front of her.

When she does that, trees begin to explode out of the ground. Pip, you hear this and then you see it. A ring of trees closes you in in your camp. There is no escape. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. You would need to chop down some pretty thick, hefty pine trees

to get out of this. It is do or die. Okay. To be continued... Hey there, fellow adventurer. If you're picking up what we're putting down and want more D&D content, we have just what you need to scratch that itch. D&D is for Nerds Plus, the symbol, not the word, where you can listen to select campaigns that were once only available to Sandspants Plus members, the further adventures of the Greyhill Free Company if you want shorter campaigns with beautiful guests,

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