Dice Shame - 129 | 'Caught Flat-Footed'

Episode Date: March 31, 2022

All is not well after the party heads to the market to spend some time in town before leaving... Comedy, action and a whole lot of shaming come together in Dice Shame, an Actual Play Podcast of Storm King's Thunder by Wizards of the Coast! Join our GM Jo; her partner Harlan, his brother Alex & their best friends Justin and Rob as they tackle the daunting world of Faerun in this legendary adventure module! Dice Shame is a podcast that welcomes its audience to the gaming table. Like the games they play at home, they try not to take themselves too seriously. The show aims to be entertaining, inclusive, and irreverent, while still taking the rules (somewhat) seriously. Join us every Thursday morning for brand new episodes available on all major platforms including; Spotify, iTunes, Google Play and more! If you haven't checked it out yet... what are you waiting for?!? Content Warning: swearing, violence, horror, mental illness and suicide. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here's $10,000. Giant sack of gold coin. Lots of tall people on the city. Well, personally, I'd like to have my own fund. You don't need all that extra metal. Jack's got the flute out. It's fine work. Sounds like a U problem, Dorn.

It doesn't make sense. For beginners, there's got to be something in here. Was it a natural night? Well, you're going to be petty or what? I'll get it so loved. There we go. Well, Dorn, it's too bad about those braces. She stands up, brushes herself off, and mimes being afraid.

Look, I need to tell you something. Welcome back to Dyshame episode 129, caught flat-footed. MVP this week goes to Martin at Harry Hatfield on Twitter for their lovely tweet. Martin's just 30 episodes in right now, but they called us out for editing and sound effects, and we really appreciate being recommended to other folks on the internet. Word of mouth is such a powerful way to spread the show, so thank you so much, Martin. Thanks, Martin. Are you looking for another D&D podcast?

Reckless Attack is a D&D 5th edition actual play podcast about heroes bringing hope to a world marred by the mistakes of the past. Join them at their table for collaborative world building, friendships and feelings, monsters and mystery, and stacks of frogs, all with the energy and chemistry of a group of best friends. Check them out at reckless attack.com or at Reckless underscore attack on Twitter. you listen to podcasts. All right. Should we play some D&D? Let's do it.

The Laurel Square is bright and busy, with scores of stalls and vendors displaying their wares. The crowd is still less boisterous than one you'd expect in water deep or yarder, but hundreds of people are gathered here, and the mercantile thrum of voices and activity is invigorating. Ah, this place is alive after all. Hey, Jack? Oh, right. I love Silvery Moon. Where the hell's Doran?

Down here. Oh, good. Hey, buddy. Yep, lots of tall people on this city. I just pictured me and Jack were going alone with Torin, but I feel like you guys are just behind us. Cool. Well, I mean, what do we need? I wouldn't mind buying some more health potions. Yep. Never a bad idea. Doran wanted to check out the blacksmith. I'm willing to do that, too. Yeah. And maybe we would be. we could get some food, some food that we can take with us. You know, tasty food, food that'll

make us salivate when we eat it, when we're alone in the woods, you know, at night. You know, the kind of tasty food. Not just rations, but, you know, real good food. Yeah. I wonder, I wonder if they have real good food here. Are you hungry, Doran? Yeah. Oh, I'm sure they do. I can smell some good stuff. You and me both. Jack and Torin, where did they go? We're right here. we're, um, oh, sticking with red, I guess. Yay! Great. Well, uh, why don't we split up?

Why don't you guys take the market square and, uh, yeah, I see some smoke over there. Could be a forward door. Let's do it. Kralov starts to turn away and then he stops and turns back and he says, you know what? Actually, Red, uh, this is something I've wanted to bring up as a party. Um, so far you've been handling all of the finances. And, uh, well, personally, I'd like to have my own fund. It's the first time that, uh, I've been on my own.

own. Always my money has been, you know, passed down for other causes, but never my own individual. So, uh, I'd like to split up the money if that's all right with you guys and we can, we can talk about it. I'm thinking like a five-way split so that, uh, you know, we get each one share and then one share goes towards the party as a whole that we use for things that we're doing together. What do you guys think about that? I'm easy. Sounds good to me. Anything further to further our, uh, you know, uh, uh, yeah, I'm in. Always the eloquent one. Yeah, I mean, I suppose so.

Yeah, I guess I just, I miss being, sort of feeling like we're all one, but you're right. You know, we're all kind of moving our individual ways in a way, you know, we want to be able to have our own freedom. So, sure. And Red reaches in, and he gives out 731 gold pieces to everyone, which is fifths, and then he'll keep 1460 in there, which includes his own. Perfect. Thank you, Red. I'm glad you understand. And, uh, yeah, excited to get spending. I think before Jack gets his share, he kind of turns to red and says, oh, you can hold on to it for me if you, if that's all right with you. Yeah? All right. I'll keep it in some pile and everything. Don't worry. Whatever you like, Red, you know what? I don't, I don't like carrying around stuff. Just just keep my cut in your bag there.

Oh, thanks. All right. Here you go, Kralov. Hmm. I'll ask for it when I need to buy something. Now, don't worry. Fancy. You know, something to go along with Ork Splitter here. Yeah. It's also fabulous thing. This is a stupid amount of wealth that is just like people are handing over in the street corner.

Yeah. It's $10,000. Like a giant sack of gold coins to you and giant sack of gold coins to you. Hey, pickpockets. That's right. Yeah, so who wants to do what? I think there's an apothecary just down the way here, Red. Why don't we go check it out?

Cool. I'll come with you too. And he picks up your hand again. Aw. Away we go, Jackson is turning to Torin and reaching out a hand to make sure we're all going in a chain. Yeah, absolutely. Torin grabs your hand and it's kind of like red pulling Jack, pulling Torin through the market. Yes, yeah, very much that.

Cool. So Crayloth and Doran head to the blacksmith. Yeah, definitely. And the sound of bellows and hammer and the singeing of steel and water. Classic. It's so immerses! Wow. That's great, yeah.

There's someone, you know, some talented Elevin Smithy work on display, swords, exotic weapons, leatherworking. I'm curious how Doran is going to respond to, like, I picture us just like standing by the blacksmith and watching them work. and just like crossing our arms and like Kralov is just watching enjoying it and Doran's shaking his head just like what are they

doing with that pommel. Elvin Smith is so graceful and there's like a single strand of hair that's come loose from his like extravagant bun and otherwise just entirely composed like one bead of sweat runs down his face and then there's no other sign of exertion. I mean the metal work is objectively

wonderful. But I almost picture it's too frilly. Maybe that's where Doran would have an issue. Like, you don't need all that extra metal on the pummel. It doesn't do anything. Yeah. The smudge from the fire and all the soot is like on this elven blacksmith in such a way that it almost looks like it's makeup. Contour.

It's like smudged into his cheekbones. Yeah, contoured. You know, his eyes are like all smoky. I'm like, ah, darn. or just rolling his eyes. And without really asking, pulls over like a small wooden chair and stands up and reaches up

and takes a scimitar off the wall. You know, some nicely made scimitar. I'll tell you, it's, it's fine work. Yeah, but it's awfully light and he kind of bangs it on the table. But ping, ping, ping. Oh, it's certainly strong. I will say it's nice work.

And he looks over at the blacksmith. But far too frilly, and he puts the sword back on the wall. The blacksmith just shrugs and goes back to battering the shit out of this piece of metal. I'll tell you one thing. He's not hitting that nearly as strong as he should be. If you want to build thick, strong metal, then you've got to hit it hard. Hmm. Is there not a place for accuracy and finesse in blacksmithing, or is it just about strength?

Oh, no, no, no, no, no. You're very right. You must be accurate, and you must have finesse when. dealing with hot metal, but he's just not hitting it hard enough. He's all of his blacksmiths. So are you going to get anything or you just want to admire? I don't need anything from the blacksmith personally. And maybe at that moment he sees like a set of braces with, you know, sort of a nice design on them.

Hey, like, do you mind if I take a look at those braces as Doran leans far over the counter and just grabs them himself. feeling them. You know, I will say, they're very lightweight. Would you mind if I put these on to try them? Please. And he does.

And Dora really likes the design on these things. You know, they're a little bit beveled in an area and they're, you know, just the shape and the dynamic. And as he puts them on, he brings his arm up and down, he notices that right where the

edges of the braces are, because they're meant for a taller person with longer arms. It just meets perfectly in the, you know, the crease of your elbow. The crease of my elbow, exactly. Wow. Normally they shouldn't come down this far,

but I kind of like this, and he's moving his arms up and down. How much for the set? Five gold. Consider them purchased. And he looks over at Kralath. Uh, Red's got all my money. Can I borrow some from you?

We literally just talked. talked about that. I don't know how this is my problem. And Krayloth is over at a wall looking at a bunch of like really like nice blades and done with like different materials and stuff. Yeah, it sounds like a you problem, Dorn. Oh. Oh, Kralath. I enjoy your humor. Now, let me borrow five gold. You had the choice of taking your own money, but you didn't. There are benefits to have in your own. And, oh, I see what it's like. You die and then the next and you know you're not, you're all selfish again, are you? Oh, okay. Doren's sort of thinking that Krayloff is joking. How much for this blade here? And Krayloff just turns back to the wall.

And there's a... Ouch. There's a very nice, ornate dagger. And it could be made of glass, but not just regular glass. There's like a greenish tint to it. This is a dagger, but also looks like some kind of skinning knife. Is that right? Oh, this, this is for extreme precision in leather working skinning. It's for a real craftsperson. Hmm. All right.

Yeah, 50 gold? Yes, 50. I'll take it. And he picks it up. Does it come with a case or a sheath? Yes, here. Well, Doran, it's too bad about those braces. It's really a shame.

You know what, Kirillov? Yeah, I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. If you lend me the five gold, I'll give you six gold on my own. We're going to make a deal out of this, eh? Oh, I'm trying to buy, you know, I didn't think I'd have to bargain with my friends, but... Hmm. Ah, you know what? Maybe I don't need it.

For 56 gold and throw in the braces as well. Done. Oh, thank you very much, Kurilath. Duren sort of steps aside, shaking his head. I can't believe it, he says to himself. Can't believe what? Oh, nothing. Well, you're going to be petty.

or what? I bought you the bracers. I'm going to let you stew for a bit. I'm going to go off on my own, but you enjoy those braces. And, yeah, don't forget. I won't. Six gold.

It's coming your way. Doran sort of stands there, you know, looking one direction as Kralath sort of goes on his way. But then Doren immediately starts to follow him, sneaking from a distance. He wants to see where Kralath goes. Oh.

Oh, interesting. Red, Jack, Torrin, what are you guys up to? Red's at an apothecary, sort of haggling. He's like, look, if I sell you these four healing potions, that surely must give me a discount on the greater healing potions. And he's like, kind of been back and forth with this guy a few times now. This guy's like, listen, I've told you once, I'm going to tell you again, but this is the last time.

Used potions, I'm not really in, like, the buying business. They're not used. Look, they look exactly like, ones you have right here. Regular healing potions, 50 gold. What I'm saying is here are four more, pay me 50 gold. I don't understand why you're trying to cheapen them. You're going to sell them for 50.

It's right there. I'll pay you 20 gold. That's not even, it doesn't make sense though. They're going to be, well, fine. 45 gold. You're going to make five gold on each of these. That's surely worth it. And I'm going to make zero gold. If these potions turn out to be clever

fabrications. They are not clever. You're not part of the guild. I guess I am, I just can't find it And Red's like going through his thing It's here, I swear, it's just ha ha ha ha And he reaches and he pulls out his guild artistry form Which is literally something you get as a guild artist And at the beginning, see!

And it's like all crumpled and it's like stained Jack turns to Torin and says, It's like this every time It's got like Umber Hulk egg crush on it or something like that He's like, there slaps it down He like puffs his chest out feeling so He like looks at Torin, looks at Jacks. See? There. Guild Auditersry, appreciated. Blah, blah, blah. Well, if you were selling me

arrows, this would be really useful. Oh, fuck off. Let's go to the other guy and read Storms out of the room. That's awesome. Yeah, I dig it. Sorry about that, guys, as we're outside. No, that's, that's fine. Life of an adventure is awfully tough. I think there's a, there's a bookstore over there. I just want to peek my head in, just for a minute. Yeah, let's do it. I need to cool off before trying that apothecary I don't know that I've mentioned this Torin but I've started playing the flute I was hoping to find some music

You're kidding me No I'll show you later I just I wanted to find like a lesson book or something I'm really not good at all Oh he's great I would love to hear you play the flute Can we and there's a fountain nearby And Torin takes a seat on the lip of it

There's just people bustling around No one's really paying you guys any attention He's like pleased anything I promise I won't laugh. I'll just listen. Please. Okay. And then you'll see why I need to go find a lesson book for beginners in three parts.

Jack, you don't have to be a master at everything you do. It's okay to be a beginner. Okay, here it goes. Oh, hold on, hold on. Ladies and gentlemen. Red stands up. No? Please, for a second, if you don't mind, my first.

friend is going to play some music and he sits back down gives you a thumbs up oh jack's got the flute out he's licking his lips trying to get everything ready to to go he he gives a few tentative hoots and and uh yeah i rolled a nine for performance all right all right a nine out of ten why would it be out of ten yeah roll a d ten what has it ever been out of ten what the fuck is going on. Don't worry. Mastery is not important, Alex. You can just play for fun.

You don't need to be good at the game. Was that a natural nine? You've memorized... It was eight plus one. You've memorized the finger placements on the flute that you need to attain the tune that you're aiming for, but there's something about your ambassure that is all wrong. And the delivery of the air into the flute results. in a sound that is at the same time painful and also kind of pitiful.

Jack gives it about 30 seconds before he stops and says, I'm a beginner. Torin is almost red in the face from trying not to laugh. And when you finish, he collapses into your arms. He's like... Yep, that's fine. It's okay to laugh. That was something.

He's terrible. Can I just... Say, I'm so proud of you for trying something new, but I, I wouldn't, I wouldn't hire you for the copper cup. Let's put it that way. All right. The caliber of entertainment there. Let's, let's get you. For beginners. There's got to be something in here. I feel like the people around just like, well, how was that? It was bloody awful. People just start parting slowly. One person gives you two copper pieces. Like an old one walks up and she's like, oh, like, she's like, oh, like,

shakes your arm, you know, like that old woman who's like, you'll get it so love. It puts a copper piece in your hand and walks away. But I feel like also because it's like this like really proper elvish town that people just kind of like turn their noses up and go back to what they're doing

without really saying much. I almost picture when Red tries to get their attention, they don't pay attention either. They're kind of like a loud braggard, forget it. There's something though. Jack's got his first two coppers to rub together that he ever made from playing music. And he's going to hold on to them.

You know, he's looking at him in his hand. They've got to wait to him, and he sort of tucks him in a shirt pocket, keeping them real close. Put them in the one copper piece pouch that you guys got, like, the fourth episode that we ever recorded. Remember there's, like, a little pouch. If I can rest it away from red. Never!

That one's mine. Should have asked for it when you had the opportunity. I put those two in the shirt pocket that goes over my heart. That's cute. It's going to save your life one day. We'll see. Yeah. Let's stop a arrow.

Kralath and Doren, the pitiful sounds of someone just murdering a flute barely reach you over the sounds of the hustle and bustle of the Laurel Market. Kralath, you're off to your own errand. Yeah. So Kralov goes to two places, totally unaware that Doren is shadowing him. And first, he's kind of in the industrial area from where the forage is. close to the water and he goes into what looks to be a quarry master store like a like a place where they sell you know stones and um and that sort of thing and and he goes in and it's kind of an open

setup and uh dorin can see kreloff talking to this this elven stone mason and you know the elf shows him a couple stones and kreelph shakes his head and then the elf goes into the back and he brings out this this really unique sort of geode that is kind of white but has um has veins of green a glowing neon green and doran you see kraloth reach into a pouch that isn't the same pouch that he kept the money that uh that red had given him it's in a different pouch he reaches into this pouch and he pulls out a hefty amount of coin and hands it over to this stone mason and then takes the the stone sticks it in his backpack and also is given this this knife which you recognize as like a stone carving knife and he puts it into his his back as well wow secret money

mm-hmm secret money where do you go next and then the next place he starts making his way back sort of to the core of the town and makes his way into a bookstore. What's the name of the bookstore? Lem's Tomes. Ah. I think Doran at this point would kind of look around. What's around this bookstore? Across the street from Lem's Tomes, there is a flower stall outside of which there are

many buckets full of cut flowers that are absolutely. Absolutely out of season. Perhaps this is where Emeris found the cut flowers for his bedside table that jack saw. There are also a few terrorist bleacher style arrangements where potted plants are also just arrayed out for people to peruse. Hmm Doran trips on the bleacher sort of stand thing As he's eyeing Kraloth enter this bookstore And he looks down and sees all the flowers

And pretends to take interest in these flowers As he kind of keeps an eye on the door of the bookstore Looking down at one of these cut flower He picks up a bouquet and he says Actually he puts it back down is all right i haven't got any money on me all of a sudden a bolt flies through the air doran and hits you in the chest oh what whoa everybody roll for initiative dun ta dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun da da

harlin 13 Alex would doran get 14 nice crayloth Krayloff got 10. Jack. Jack gets 19. Hey, there we go. And Rob, you are going to be playing Torin Cheldrick, your sweet love. Love it. And Torin will act on your turn as well.

All right. So, surprise round. Doran, you take a crossbow bolt to the chest. I want you to please make a Constitution saving throw against poison for which you have advantage. Constitution, save and throw. I have also a plus seven to this. That's going to make it a total for 18. All right.

So Doran, you save against the effects of this poison that are on the crossbow bolt, meaning you only take half of this damage, so eight poison damage total. Whoa. You also take 12 piercing damage. Next up, the person who is standing directly. directly beside you turns with a short sword in her hand. This is someone that's dressed like any other person

in this marketplace, just in a nondescript brown cloak. She draws a short sword, and she tries to stab you with it. Doran says something like, well, listen, I put the flowers back. That's good. 11 to hit. She misses the first attack. Oh, 24 to hit you on the second one.

All right. 24 to hit you on the second attack. So that's seven piercing damage and make a Constitution save against poison. Oh, someone's out to get me, eh? That's going to be a 17 for Constitution. You save, so you only take nine poison damage. Oh, my health was at 69. Oh, bummer.

But now it's nice. Sex. It's the number. Well, hold on, because I do have repost and she missed, she, I don't know if it's a man or woman that's attack me. It was she, okay. As she's attacking you, she says, my pronouns are she her? I'm going to use repost. So when a creature attacks and misses with a melee, I use my reaction.

Nice. And expend one of my superiority die, which is a D8. Doren retrieves orc splitter impressively fast and strikes at this assassin in front of him with a 25 to hit, yes. Doing, that's going to be 19 points of damage. Excellent. He says, what the hell is going on here?

From just down the block, another crossbow bolt sings towards you. 20 to hit. It does. Kralath! A 20 lands directly in my mithril's armored shoulder. 35 piercing damage. Oh, geez.

Make a Constitution saving throw. Ouch. 23. Great. You save. You take 19 poison damage. Help, Kralath. I feel like the godfather in the street.

Spoilers. It can't be good. Spoilers. For the godfather, yes. Yep. Oh, shit. Actually, that takes me down. Holy fuck.

Are you down? Yeah. Sick. Jack, it's your turn. Jack picks up floutist for beginners part two and tries to take it over to check out. You spend your turn in combat purchasing a leaflet of music. If we're understanding that it's hard to hear over the crowd, yeah, I think that's what we're doing. You buy it.

It's the best. Red, I need to get some money out of your bag on your turn. Oh, yeah, no problem, buddy. I feel like this is the scene in Ninja Turtles where, like, Raff is getting this shit kicked out of them, and then it cuts back to the Ninja Turtles, like, being really normal. Yeah, I think if we can spin dropping my initiative down just to hold on until Red makes me aware or something, well, Jack's, you know,

spending the time to finish up in this bookstore. Perfect. Yeah, so you'll drop below Red now permanently in the order. Yeah, here, buddy. Here, buddy. Here's some extra money for you. and maybe I'll go make my way to that apothecary and see if I can't haggle my way into some greater healing potions

and Red like casually walks out of the store. Yeah, we'll be right behind you. Red, as you leave the store, you notice there is a note of panic running throughout the market. Someone screams from the middle of the square. Jack, Torrin, there's something going on. Doren, make a save against death. Mm-hmm.

10. Hey, there you. That's fine. Yeah, that counts as a success. So, Red, you run out. I think something's going on. And Red's going to jog towards the center of where everyone's running from. And he'll use his feline agility to move double his movement.

Yeah, I mean, you're pretty keen in terms of perception. You know when people are running away from something, that's usually where you're running towards. Yeah. Red uses his feline agility to move through the crowds towards the center. and when he's maybe 20 feet from Doran's corpse, he sort of stops. What do I see?

You see him lying there by a flower stand bleeding out in the street, your little friend, and above his corpse, a woman is wiping her short sword. Doren! How tall are these stands? They're about eight feet tall?

And are they just flat roofs? It does seem very red to jump onto a roof and look around at what's going to survey the market. Hell yeah, yeah. And red turns to see. see the stall next to him and he climbs up quickly to get on top of the roof and then drops prone for the time being to keep himself in cover from the people below and he screams jack torrent's down jack it's your turn yeah jack finishes what he's doing he turns to torren frantic for a

second and pulls out his wand and touches torren and torrent disappears going invisible and he says stay safe, run to mom's house. I'll see you afterwards. And uses that fourth level spell slot to give Torin greater invisibility and starts moving towards where Red is running. Cool. What does Torin do? I think starts to run in the direction Jack kind of pushes him. Keep him safe out of trouble. Absolutely. I guess we're not going to have the sad Torin dying in Jack's arms episode. Oh, we will. We'll figure it. Jack, yeah, you turn torn invisible. He takes off towards your mom's house

and you make your way into the market amid the sounds of screaming and some panic. You hear Red calling to you from atop this fruit stand that he's perched on. Kralath, it's your turn. Kralath is mid-interaction with this bookseller. And he is just in the middle of the exchange when he hears Doren cry,

out and it's not a sound that he's heard Doran make pretty much ever and a steely look crosses his face and he grabs the the book that he's he's purchasing and slams the gold onto the counter and hastily stuffs it in his pocket as he makes his way out the door and he's already drawing his mace as he ventures toward the sound of Doran's voice um so he moves forward around a little gazebo that is standing in between and he sees Doran on the ground, I guess. And then Kralov takes out his mace

and immediately points it at Doran and mutters a quick word and casts spare the dying on him as a bonus action. And then from there he turns his attention to this assassin And with a snarl, he sticks his mace up into the air. Cool. And cast Spirit Guardians.

And the mace begins to glow a sickly purple. And wisps of shadow begin to emanate from it and circle him. And she's just within range. It's 15 feet. And at the start of her turn, she's going to have to do a wisdom save as the spirit guardians surround Kralov and target only her. Yeah, Red sees this too. I'm like, what the hell?

Krayloth, you hear the pitter-patter of light footsteps on the awning above you, and a woman appears. She's entered the space. She's going to have to do a wisdom save. Eight. Nice. So she fails. Ooh, 16 points of necrotic damage. Nice.

As these shadow wisps pierce her and just fill her with this dark. Toxic energy. She screams in response to this piercing pain and then tries to shoot you with her crossbow twice. Okay. 23 to hit. That hits. Make a Constitution saving throw. That's going to be 20.

You take 11 piercing damage. Okay. And you take 10 poison damage. My God. The second attack is a 20 to hit. dirty. That is a miss. Ah, something's a miss. The arrow clings off my shield.

She then continues running along the rooftop and launches herself off the other side on the northern side towards kind of where Red is, somersaulting in the air and landing on her feet. Red, you see something strange happen then. She's kind of out of line of sight of Kralath and Doran's not conscious to, see this. The woman's face changes. She looks up, she sees another shopper, a pedestrian, standing there frozen in fear. She looks at this, at this woman who's just standing there and her face changes to resemble this other shopper, this innocent passerby. She stands up, brushes herself off, and mimes being afraid. Cool. Red's face changes from like fear. to a grave seriousness, and he eyes her down with almost a bit of that ferocity that we've seen

Red have before. The other assassin that's towards the north of the square, who had her crossbow out, retrains it up towards you, Red, who is prone. She sprints across the square and vaults up onto the top of the stall where Red is lying prone, draws her short sword and stabs down at him. Ooh, wow. With advantage to hit because you're prone. Yeah.

Great. Lord. 25 to hit you. That hits. Roll a Constitution saving throw. 12. You take six piercing damage and 21 poison damage. Mm.

All right. Then she tries to stab you again. 23 to hit you. That hits. Make another Constitution saving throw. That is a 10. five piercing damage Yeah

13 poison damage And you fall unconscious It's okay, I'm dead anyway Holy fuck, hey Red goes down All right This final assassin That's standing over the body of Doran

She's beginning her turn In your spirit guardian area Right so she makes a wisdom saving throw Ooh natural one Oh okay Oh All right so 18 plus six.

So 18 points of necrotic damage. Nice. She can't get away quickly enough. Mm-hmm. Or wisely enough? She unwisely takes damage. She's not smart enough. She is going to move south through this field

and then duck west out of the range of your spirit guardians as she runs south through the square. She moves beyond the range of anyone's sight. so you lose track of her in the crowd. Perfect. Doran, it's your term. You are unconscious. Red.

Make a save against death. 14. Nice. Jack and Torin. Torin is continuing to escape. Jack, what do you do? Jack climbs up, like Huff's, huffs climbs up one of these.

You spend your whole turn doing one pull-up. I mean, it's close, but he gets up enough to, like, stand on a roof and see this person standing over Red with a dripping blade. Yes. And loses it a little bit. He whips out DeZan's wand and points it at her and fills it with as many magic missiles as he can get.

And yeah, third level magic missiles with that extra alchemical jazz because we're not having any of this. Five arrows that look just like the ones Red makes appear around him shimmering in this concentrated force and they all blast out to cross this figure who is, you know, standing over Red with the bloody blade for a 74 damage total.

Wow. Holy moly. Yeah, she takes all that damage and the force of it knocks her bodily off of this awning and her body drops from sight. And Jack then reaches out with his hand, casting this spell in his mind where he's got a bit of a telekinetic grip

to pull Red's body a little bit closer to him across. the roof just to get him away from that edge of the roof, pulling him a little bit further out of sight, he hopes. Nicely done. Kralath, what do you do? Kralov has a taste for blood. He's going to run forward and follow this assassin that shot him from the roof. Passed Doren, past where red is.

Now, can I see red? Am I tall enough to see over top to a bit of red? No. He can sense Red's life essence, waning, but he can't even see him. And he connects with that source that he holds for red in his heart and casts spare the dying as a cantrip on him. Cool. My God. Thank goodness for you.

Kralov gets right up next to this first assassin that attacked him. And she is disguised. Uh-huh. Yeah, she looks like someone else. But can I still tell it's her? You can make a perception against her deception. Oh, okay. She's wearing the same clothes, right?

Is the other person still there? Like, is there a set of twins standing there? Or has this other person fled? Yeah, the other person's standing there, but she's wearing different clothes than her. Do you know what I mean? Okay. I got a 12.

Okay. So you don't perceive that there is a duplicate of someone standing there. What are you blind? I mean, she just got her face turned away. Okay. And what about the girl that has fallen to the ground there? Can I see her? There is a very wounded woman crouched,

bleeding heavily beside the fruit stand. I see that. I clock it. And then Kralath holds up his shield and ready because he knows that that other assassin is nearby. And he's going to take the dodge action. Great. Here's an interesting question. You had selected these two people to be targets of your spiritual guardians. One person left your vision and changed her appearance. But I don't think that necessarily changes her as a target of your spell. I'm cool with that. they know who the target is just because your target like went over the side of a roof and like changed what her face looks like doesn't mean that the powers that this deity has inspired upon you would be fooled by this like silly chicanery so as you stand there you perceive these wisps of shadow attack one of the women that's just standing to your right and she howls in pain a sound that you remark is very similar to the scream that you had just heard a few moments

ago. She's going to make a wisdom saving throw as she begins her turn. That's a three. Fourteen points of necrotic damage. Nice. She's going to take a labored few steps around you and then

tries again to stab Doran lying there as he is on the ground. Oh no. I can't do anything. Nope. You automatically fail two death saves so you have one left and now you are continuing to bleed out.

You might all be freaking zombies after this. Krayloth would like that. I know like that's what I'm saying. Thanks to Krayaloth, we'd all be like the living dead. She's then going to try to run away and doesn't make it very far but she does leave your reach.

Yes. All right. Attack of opportunity. Mm-hmm. That's going to be 19 to hit. Yeah. Only five points of damage. All right. Her friend makes a wisdom save. This is the crumpled one that is very close to death with a two. Well, that's only eight points of damage this time.

She fucking dies. Sweet. So the whips, they move from this other assassin to her, and they all go up through her nostrils and into her head, and she begins to scream and rile on the ground, her eyes wide, and something just snaps inside and she continues staring up at the sky. Blood leaking from her nostrils.

Doran, it's your turn. Make a save against death. Oh, wait, wait, wait. This is your last fucking go, right? This is the last save against death that you get to do. Make a very important save against death. All right, here we go.

13. Hey! There we go. Two fails, one save, you're not. That passes you're not out of the woods yet. Red, you are also stable, but unconscious. Jack, it's your turn. Jack reaches out with his mind,

and he knows where Red put those healing potions that he was trying to haggle with a moment before. And with his mage hand, he pulls one of them out and pours it down Red's lips. Oh, nice. You know, has the hand come back to him with a second one as he like is carefully trying to get across the roof of this you know the weird stretched cloth between these stalls to get over to where dorin is as the other

potion from red arrives in jack's hands well i'm up with five hit points excellent whoa kralath it's your turn you see jack stagger down from this very graceful booth like a cat Kralath is out for blood And he steps next to Dora And kind of as an afterthought He casts spare the dying again on him But he turns towards this assassin And begins to

Pull from this new place Within him As a shadow falls over Kralath And he is going to reach out With a hand And cast inflict wounds And I'm going to cast that as a level

three. Damn it, why don't I have luck? Oh, you could have taken it. It's called, um, um, what's it called? Success, success, uh, there's a name for it. Go on, Alex.

It's when you, um, let's not wait on him. We'll be here all day. It was an 11 to him. Yeah. No, 11 misses. I forgot I had inspiration. Yeah, sorry. And Doran is back up to three successes and is breathing again.

Real clutch to be breathing. This assassin snarls at you, Kralath. And then she backs away slowly through these spiritual wisps of smoke. Ooh, that's an 18? She's good. She gets through. All right. And she retreats from you.

Going north, she runs away. She escapes through the crowd. Coward! Jack leans down and feeds door in the other potion. Tries to get him sitting up and back on his feet. Red sort of stumbles up, limps to the side, and rolls off under the canvas, and then rolls off under the floor. And then casts cure wounds on himself. And you land right beside the body of this creature.

Not a woman anymore. I quickly search it with sleight of hand. I don't want anyone to see. You find a small leather parcel. Yeah, I pocket it and put in the bag of holding. And Red stands up and limps towards the others. We could have had them. We were so close.

We got one at least. And Kralov drags this body over so that it's kind of in like a shaded area. Into an alley. Yeah. What happened? How did this start? I just heard screaming and... We were ambushed.

We were ambushed by three of these. Doren, are you, are you with us? Oh, just give me a second. He sits back in his haunches and just sits there for me. Yeah, and red oddly stays close to Dorn. I'm up, I'm up. What are we looking at here? Jack comes over to the corpse.

Mm-hmm. The corpse is a strange-looking humanoid. The skin's so light, it's translucent. You can almost see the workings of veins underneath with the blood slowing. Their blank eyes look up to the sky. No irises or pupils. There's no hair on the creature.

They don't have a gender. They don't have a race that you can really discern. They just seem like a blank humanoid. It changed itself. It made itself look like one of the commoners. Some sort of magical ability, I suppose. Can I roll some sort of intelligence arcana role to figure out? You can just know, as Jack Page would, that this is a race of beings known as changelings.

They're pretty rare. I don't think you've ever interacted with one. How would I know? Certainly not ever seen one in its own true flesh. Very, very few people ever have. But this bears all the markings of them. As far as any specifics about their abilities, they're closely guarded. Do they have a particular relationship?

to like the Faywild or the shadow fell or some darker place like that? Yeah, not that you know of, no. I feel like Red and Doran are lagging behind, you know, kind of like a good 15 feet away as they're slowly walking. And Red just turns to Doran and sort of stops him and says, look, I need to tell you something after, okay? Just, just. Sure, why not?

Just tell me now. Just after, just trust me. All right. The corpse is a study in anonymity. Apart from the tools of their trade, vials of poison, weapons, there is nothing on this person to suggest any kind of allegiance. I think Jack carefully sets the poison aside from the weapons and sort of looks up at Kralath. Did they target Doren first?

Yeah, I think they did. He was down by the time I left the bookshop. Hmm. It happened very quickly. I don't know what they were after, but they definitely seemed intent to kill. With the realization that any of these market goers, any pedestrian walking by, any merchant could possibly bear you ill will, the market suddenly seems far less friendly. The busyness now takes on a malevolent cast, and you turn your backs from the Laurel Square. feeling more alone than ever. Thank you once again to our wonderful Patreon supporters. Christopher Ryan Evans, Alexander Reed, Merlin, Mitchell Cadwell, Michael and Brianna Webber,

Brian Blass, Heather Nichols, Colin Burkhart, Daniel, Terrismith Blass, Doug, Gray, Jackie and Rain, Jessica Orrett, Jonah Goldman, Melanie Cheyne, Lars, and Mari Kaniski. you soon!