Dice Shame - 2-159 | 'Take Action'

Episode Date: September 11, 2025

It's finally time to confront Duke Zalto and try to steal the key..._______________________________________________________________________________________________________________Imagine your best game of D&D. The shocks, the twists and turns, the moments that can’t be caught because you just had to be there. That’s Dice Shame.Join our DM Jo, her husband Harlan, their brother Alex & their friends Nic & Timm as they experience those unmissable, gut-wrenching, heart-aching, joy-filled moments.This legendary AP releases a brand new episode every Thursday morning at 1:20 am!Content Warning: animal death, swearing, violence, claustrophobia Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's beautiful. We're just going to be ready to pounce out if we hear any trouble. This might be our only chance. Right, we did? I won't die if I missed, right? Oh, thank you. Awesome. We should move. We have made a difference in the past.

Most people don't like me when I travel. Ask, kick it. Because I want to jump right now. I'm at 45 hell. We would be the biggest ones. Oh, my God. I can't do it again. I can't.

I'm willing to take the risk in the heat if it comes to it. Thank God we're not in season three yet. Welcome back to Dice Shame. This is Season 2, Episode 159, take action. MVP this week is Amarist, who joined the Discord and said they just started Dice Shame. They're at the very beginning about episode 4, but I won't be long until they've caught up to this. Congratulations, Amorist, you are this week's MVP. All right, should we play some D&D?

Yeah, let's do it. God, I hope they kill Duke Zolto. Woo-hoo! Did everyone roll for their initiative? 17. All right. I got a one on a die, which makes it a six. Okay.

Oh, no. So I got to do something before he come in. Win roll a 15. Nine over here, and that's with advantage. Okay. And also a nine over here. But without advantage. Guys, this is a serious fight.

I don't appreciate the level. Your dice are bringing to this. I'm just goofing around. I mean, this is the big bad. Come on. This is how confident I am in this fight. I can just with it. Oh, yeah.

They can do whatever they want. I like your confidence. No, I, uh, dice gods, please ignore. Uh, made with hubris. Okay. So this is the initiative order. It's going to go red with a 17. Wim with the 15.

Tamil with a nine, Witted with the next nine, and then Doran with a six, which is what you guys had decided. Oh, I know. But you guys had already decided what action order you wanted to go.

Yeah. Oh. So I was asking you guys to roll initiative because you had earlier decided what you guys wanted to do in what order. So you were all collectively rolling and then I'm assigning the numbers

based on what order you guys wanted to go in. Amazing. Because here's what you had decided that you wanted to do. red you had said that you were going to be doing primeval awareness to be able to track basically the movement of duke zalto and zaltember towards the door of course i remember that um tamil you were planning to tell zaltember to shut the door hopefully as like a free action so not in your like round with message yeah whim was going to use greater invisibility then so acting after red

to uh twin red and witted invisible tamil was then going to to cast invisibility on herself. Witted was going to potentially cast something you weren't clear if the door was shut. Red was going to get in position. So that's out of initiative order because Doran was on standby for an axe attack if necessary. Yeah, and Doran had lined up nothing. And Doran's here. Well, Wim's also just, she's casting greater invisibility.

And then she's visible still. So hopefully she's, we don't know yet. Yeah, Red was going to get the. key, Tamil was going to be ready with a portable hole to put whim and door in inside. And then cast a mention door. That's right. To get everyone to the extent. Right.

That was the general plan that we had decided on last session. This is if we get the key. If we don't get the key, then there's just going to be a ball. Then we're going to be a bit of a train wreck here. Does Red need backup getting the key? I don't need backup. Listen. Nope.

If I can't, I fail. No, because I have that smash through shadows. I can move 120 feet in one round through, frankly, some exploitative mechanics. I'm going to allow it. I mean, it's just the way it works. I mean, it's rules as written. And then, yeah, so then Witted, Doran, and Wim after mass hypnosis, after all this kind of stuff, are going to go into the portable hole. Yeah.

Red's going to run to Tamil and Tamil is going to take Red and Tamil through the Dimension Door because there's only two people. The dimension doors. Yes. Two people on everything they're carrying. Is Wim going to be standing with Tamil? Whim can be wherever, but she needs to be able to hit Red and Witted with greater invisibility. Oh, dear.

Yeah, so she's going to have to basically run. I can do one round of invisibility on me, but it's only one round. Do you need any longer than that? Because you're going to grab the key. Yeah, because he's going to have to get up potentially. Where's the key? I'm going to be on it. Here's the way I'm picturing it.

I'm going to be on a shelf as high as possible. I'm going to climb up before we start. What's his name is going to come in? I'm going to dive to the bag. Like dive. Like dive. Like dive. And if it's too far, like if it'll kill me or hurt me,

I'm going to use my shadow step instead because I'm going to be in darkness. And the bag will be dark. Then I'm going to shimmy into the bag. I'm going to grab the key. I'm going to. Slip open the bottom and I'm going to fall out and I'm going to run. So bonus action, obviously, movement obviously, action grab key or, I mean, cut open the bag. That's an action.

Makes the key fall out with you. So that's one round. Yeah, yeah. So then listen, maybe I don't need whim. You don't want to be invisible. What I mean to say is if it's the difference between her living and dying, because she needs to make it 70 feet across the room and that's two rounds for her because she only moves 30. That's 60 max.

I feel like Temeel might actually need to, in order. to make this plan work might need to be kind of doing the we talked about like the ring around the rosy around this the solid base of this table just try to stay out of sight but closer i don't know that she can like well i mean i guess i'll be invisible i was just going to say is there any reason why we wouldn't all be clustered where um we're going to have red base jumping from with the idea that whim can turn us invisible so whereas we would have attracted attention it's just red and door i think the benefit of being beside the statue was that it was

going to grant a little bit of cover to anyone who wasn't invisible. But if we're all invisible that's what I'm thinking is. Yeah, if Wim can twin and Temeel can cast it, there's only Doreen we need to worry about. It's, yeah, red and Doren would not. Nobody needs to worry about Doren. Come on. He'll be fine. So Wim is going to make

red and witted invisible, which leaves her still visible. Tamil can make herself invisible, but I think that means Wim and Doren are both still visible, Joe, right? Isn't that what you were saying? Right, that's right. Okay, so here's a pitch. We all start off on the top of the shelf.

Wim casts invisibility on Witted and myself and then climbs in the hole. Doran climbs in the hole. Tamil casts invisibility on herself. Red does what he does while Witted is on standby with hypnosis, and Temeel probably climbs down because Red is going to be at the bottom eventually. Okay. By that point, Red hopefully will have succeeded. He'll be at the bottom, he'll run to Dimension Door, and Whitted, since he can fly or hover, can then invisibly move from the top to the hole, and then all of us move through the dimension door.

And I can help with the key, if necessary. Yes, that's what I'm hoping someone kind of is a... Should the giant be distracted by anything? Like, would Dorn make a pretty good live distraction? I feel like Sontember is kind of... Look at me. I mean, unless you want to. Yes, good point.

Here's my thoughts. I think that plan on paper is probably the best we're going to get. I don't think it's going to work. I think we're going to fight this guy. At which point, Dorn and Wim, we'll just hop back out of the hole and it will all be a combat. But to me, that's, in my mind, the cleanest way we could do this without having to kill the guy. Well, I think it's a fair idea. I like the idea of, you know, I mean, it makes most sense for the people who,

aren't really going to be immediately helpful, i.e. myself and Wim, to be in the hole. Well, that's the thing. I also don't want to remove you guys from combat. No, it's fine. I mean, really. It's fine if there is no combat. Exactly. So, I don't mind Wim sitting out of a plan because she has less of a thing to do. You know what I mean? But if there's combat, of course. Same with Dorn. I'm not like. Wim and Dorn are going to hop in. Be helpful. I'm ready for anything. All right. Cool. Red climbs up to the top shelf.

He's like doing stretches. Like for an Olympic event, he's like, all right. Dive off, dive off. 150 feet. It's totally fine. Right with it? I won't die if I miss, right?

150 feet? I don't know. I'm just making it up. On the shelf. Red doesn't know distance. All right. And Doris sort of helps whim climb into the, the portable hole.

No, we're just going to be ready to pounce out if we hear any trouble. Whim nods at you. And Widdid's kind of got the suit in sort of like a runner's start a little bit, waiting like Wim's going to hit him with the greater visibility and then run into the hole and he'll just be like up into the air.

Me too. Hey, it's going to be okay, Wemmy. Don't worry. Look, I'll crack this thing open just a tiny bit if it needs to, or Timmiel will rather. And then you and Dorn come out guns ablazing. If we need you, we'll need you. Wim signs guns? Well, yeah, guns, you know, and then he shows his bicep. Oh, perfect, perfect, perfect.

Classic red. There is a heavy air that descends over the party as we wait. The ambush is incoming. We can all feel it, but it's just a matter of waiting for the pieces to fall into place. No sign. Still nothing. I don't feel any footsteps.

And then, Red, you do detect some movement from the Great Hall. Movement from the Great Hole. I mean, it's okay. It's a pretty good hole. Sorry, not the time. Assuming that Zaltemper is within 120 feet, Tumil will reach out to his mind

and say, once you're in the room, close the door behind you. And he responds. Okay. The stone door creaks open and light leaks in from the hallway. And you see the huge form of Duke Zolto silhou-siluetted from behind. He is a massive creature. This fire giant you can see through the dim torchlight is head.

heavily armored, a vicious-looking mall is strapped to his back, and a big, burly, fire-colored beard is plated and strapped down and tucked underneath the breastplate. He looks into the darkened room and then turns back to his son, and he says, What is the meaning of this? Zaltember says I don't know Just a second And then he turns around

And leaves And Duke Zaltos just standing there in the doorway Red Sort of shares a liquid to meal in the dark And then after a moment Zaltember returns And he's holding this flickering torch Oh

And the two giants move into the room. We can work with that. Might be even better. Duke Zalto stands in the entryway, an imposing figure as his son closes the door behind them. Zaltember begins to move towards the northern sconce as Zalto takes his place in the entryway of the room. And red acts. All right. We are entering initiative.

order. Red. Red. You are up. How far is the dive to the bag? The dive to the bag. So Duke Zalto is about 10 feet away from you horizontally. Nice.

Vertically, it's about 35 feet. So I'm not going to do Pythagorean's theorem or nothing, but we're talking about 40 feet. I can't do math or nothing. but damn i'm just a goal so i mean the arc trajectory means i get there i just take a bit of damage if you are jumping down and landing on the bag on the bag yeah i mean 40 feet is a fuck ton of feet to fall you're a hero and you're very agile why don't you make um well hold on it's just to do the jump i just want to make sure i understood the math first that's all i was asking like you're good at jumping it's 40 feet okay you can do it but i want to see how much damage you're going to take

Deal, and now meta, what, I forget, is it, is it six, one D6 for 10 feet or one D6 for 30 feet? I believe it's a D6 every 10 feet. So that would be four D6? Is that correct, Tim? Yes. I'll also just point out in 2024 rules they updated it to D10s, apparently. Which I got very excited about. Oh, thank God we're not in season three yet.

I'm excited about that too, because I feel like falling damage should be more punished. Same, agreed. That's how I felt. I'm going to be real. I was just a bit to say, I kind of agree. But I'm glad we're not there yet because I'm going to jump right now. I'm going to take the D6.

Make an acrobatics check for me to see how nimbly you're able to land top this bag. If this fails, then I'm 24 damage weaker for the fight. But if it succeeds. What's your total HP right now? 67. I mean, it's not likely I'm going to roll four sixes. Just saying. But if you do.

And also, we do have at least a. I mean, we do have a supreme healing potion. We do have some extra healing as well. Like, I have spells, slots, Doran's got a first-level cure wounds on his... Yeah, okay. I like it. Yeah, you're right.

I think I should save the shadow step for emergencies because I might not be able to get into the bag. Okay, cool. I like it. All right. Red swallows hard, and he jumps. Acrobatics, you said? That's right.

You got this. I'm going to roll my red dye. Sproyingy, little kitty. I'm going to use my inspiration. Okay. It was not worth it. Oh, no. Oh, dear.

But you burned that resource, which I do like. Yeah. What did you roll? 11. Oh. Yeah. You're going to take all that damage. Well, that's fine.

Oh. Joe rolls all sixes. Oh. I rolled three sixes and a four. What? 22 damage. Oh. She sets you up.

She sets you up, Harlan. You see that? That was slick as hell. I saw that. She's like, what are the chances they're going to for Rule 4 or 6? Good job, a little ducky dice. M-A. 22, you said?

22 damage. Dang. I'm at 45 health. You hit that bag hard. It is made of stiffer stuff than you were anticipating. What are these the stone giants? Not just that. You have attracted a little bit of attention.

Oh, shies. Oh. Keep on with your turn. Red zips and. of the bag. He'll roll over the little leather hilt or throw open the latch or whatever it is. Shimmy through the drawstring. Shimmy through the drawstring. Whatever's required. Purse-wise. Yep. Yeah. Red. There are

quite a number of items in here. You're going to have to do some searching around to find this key. Hold on. This key must be magic. Because I would still have detect magic active from when we were searching their room. That's fair. That's fair um i would imagine the key to a magic thing is magic is my kind of yeah you know what that's fair magic magic magic it's magic in and amongst the other personal effects of this fire giant duke all of which i imagine your eyes just kind of slide over in your haste to find this key he's got some paperwork in there letters some kinds of documents maybe using your detect magic You do see a key at the bottom of this purse.

The purse is like, you know, pretty big. It's like six feet deep kind of vibe. So you are fully inside of the purse swimming around amongst the contents. But the adamantine key that you find is about 80 pounds. Joe did some all work on that. Red could lift that. Red gets down to the key. opens his bag of holding

and slides the key in. Okay. And... I'm going to call that your action. Fine. And he slides the key in and scoops up anything else that might be loose in it

and puts it in the bag of holding. Like, you know, like the key slides in and there's a straggling piece of paper or maybe like a button and he pushes that in too. Great. Just how cool is that, right?

Giant button. Yeah, Red. You just kind of shovel a couple of things in the bag and you're ready to go. The key took some getting, but you have it. Two foot tall. What's the bag made of? It's made of some kind of very thick hide. From the inside, you can't really tell. Is it sewn? Is it like? Yeah, probably. And I'm at the bottom, right? Yeah, you are. Cool. Not as an action. Red just looks at a seam and tries to stretch it open to look out. Not opening.

None of it? No. Can I see where I can? You can see the, like a little bit of ceiling. In the main room? Yep. Okay. Interesting.

So I could jump back out then. Mm-hmm. Are you saying that you can jump because it's dim? No, because I still have movement. Yeah, totally. So, yeah, Red climbs back out through the top. And the minute his eyes peek over the side, he looks towards wherever Tamil is. and he will use his shadow step.

Okay. So that's your bonus action, your movement, and your action, pretty much. And potentially any other movement I have left, yeah. I mean, I jumped, which I don't think counts as movement. I'm going to count that as your horizontal movement. We'll say that takes you 10 feet. Yeah. I think vertical falling movement that you take damage for is free.

And then any movement that I would do in the bag, like has to be, I don't know, under 20 feet. Like, I don't know. The bag can't be 30 feet. It's six feet deep. So you, it's five and five, we'll call it. So it's like pop in, pop out. And that basically would leave me with more or less. That was five, ten, ten, ten feet.

So I can zap out of 60 feet, that jump 60 feet towards Temeel. And it gives me ten more feet of movement to get into some sort of cover. Okay. Awesome. I got it. Let's go. Let's go.

Oh, that was very quick. All right. Okay. Then we just need to get the others. And the hole. Let's get the hell out of here. It's Wim's turn as she reaches her hands out. Wait, she didn't even cast a visibility on me?

No. I did that without invisibility? Yeah. Oh. I mean, do you still want it? No, I can't think of why there'd be a reason now. So long as we could out. Yeah, Wim puts her hands up and Doran's like, you don't need to do that.

It looks like he's already done. Whim signs, are we just going to leave? Yeah, scooch over. And Red climbs into the portable hole. Let's get the hell out of here, Temeel. Okay, Wim's going to use her turn then to hold her action. And if anyone in the party takes any damage from any adversaries, she's going to cast greater invisibility on Red and Doran.

Twinned. So that's her turn. Red, as you land safely on the top of the shelf, amongst your companions. The five of us watch as Duke Zaltos hand moves down to his purse and he sort of checks out what the fuck just happened. It's Duke Zaltos' turn. No.

Yeah. Show us the dice. Show us the receipts. That's not ideal. He got a 14. Let's do this. Yeah. Yeah.

It's too easy. Bring it on. Bring him on. Come on. His hand goes into his purse and feeling that there is no longer a key inside. His eyes move across the room to his son. And he says, Zaltember, what are you in the midst of doing here?

And then he says, Ill strike With that word The statue in the corner Comes to life Oh Fire burns In its metallic eyes

And sulfurous smoke It begins to billow at events In the armor That sounds like it's so good. We did shouts, I, sorry, he didn't shout anything. You just see his eyes start to gloss over with glee. He thinks, I knew it, I do it. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

It's beautiful. It's a little voted, dad. Duke Zalto issues the command. Find the key to the golem. As he moves up against his son and pins him to the wall, with a heavily gauntleted arm. Duke Zaltos says, What is it you wanted to speak to me about Zaltember?

Because I suspect that this is some kind of ploy that you are using to get out of your responsibility. You are not made for this war. Your cowardice will be my undoing if I let you. And Zaltember is just basically shitting himself right now. Cool. So that is Duke Zalto's turn. The Iron Golem thus activated begins to patrol the room,

trying to carry out Duke Zaltos' orders to the best of his ability. Try it, nerd. Everyone freeze. We were almost hiding behind that thing. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. The golem begins to patrol and makes his way south. and then east along the corner of the table. He then stops, raises a giant, gauntleted, iron arm pointing at the party on the top of the shelf.

And it says, There, boss. It's right there. I found them. It doesn't say anything, but it just raises its arm and points at the five of us. that is the golem's turn it is now xaltember's turn oh man

zaltember starts to babble no dad it's not like that it's not like that at all in fact look look the the golem found something and he points over Duke zalto's shoulder at what is happening behind him

Duke zalto turns around and sees everything Zolt Hember is like Small folk, dad, look out And he draws this piece of wood Out from his belt

And He like shrugs out of his dad's Grasp and starts to Like move around the table as well To try to Make as if he's like helping to protect His father What a weenie, totally

Mostly though Basically getting some space between what's happening And everybody else Smart, yeah, pro-movie. Smart, very smart. Tamil, it's your turn. Who's in the hole right now? Everyone except Witted?

Everyone except Witted. Yep. Okay, so then Tameel will gather up the hole with everyone in it. Let's make this quick. She'll put a hand on Witted, then she'll look at Duke Zalto and she'll say, please do thank your daughter Cinderhild for all her help. I didn't think she'd be able to get you both in the room at the same time. and then Tamil will cast Dimension Door

and take us all out. Oh, right. Good. Well, ask. Kick you. You see, we did let's out this big sigh of relief. Like, oh, thank you. I didn't want to have to actually rely on my hypnotic pattern.

That would have been happy for being honest. Fantastic. Yeah, Dimension Door just brings you where you want to go, right? You've been there before. You know where it is. Yeah. You are headed where precisely? We are headed basically.

Tamil knows that to the south and east of this room is kind of the entrance to Iron Slag, like the main entrance or the out, like the main doors. And so she's just like angling south and east as far as she can go to a spot that she remembers from when they first scouted that's like right in that that open or that kind of like entry area outside. Yeah. Absolutely. And as you do, the last thing you hear from the inside of Iron Slag is like a furious bellow emanating from the lungs of this giant duke. Nice. And then, in a snap, you are all transported to a starry, skyed meadow. It smells amazing out here. you've only realized how truly oppressive the heat and the smoke had been when you were in there

now that you have the context of being out in the fresh air and the clamor of the forges, the chatter of the ogres and the fire giants all gone, replaced by crickets and an odd hooting of an owl. You were outside and you have escaped. with a key. All right. We should move. I can't believe that worked. Let us out.

Oh, sorry. Yeah, sorry. Wrong life. Sorry, Tamil, we'll take the portable hole. She'll unroll it and dump everybody out. Oh, my God. Some fresh air everywhere. Wow, is it fresh out here?

Oh, God, it worked. Yes. Oh, hey, way to go. We're out of there. So we should move. Yeah, Doran immediately scouts around with his eyes looking at the countryside. You've seen this exact clearing before. This is a place where the five of you had waited and tried to gain some intel on the Yakvoke village

before you ascended the 10,000 steps, what seems like a lifetime ago. Right, right, okay. All right, back this way. That was a smart call, right? Uh, I mean, look, we have the key, and Red Pat's the bag of holding, and, uh, and the important thing is stopping the Vonendor, right? I mean, pissing off Duke's Alto and not taking our shot when we had it was, was the right call, right, guys? Duren looks at you, Red, says, look, we've got the conch, and we've got the key. The fact that we didn't get Duke's Alto. Well, I think it's, uh, I think it's just means it's coming up. Right, right. Right, right. I, uh, I don't know, I guess I just got cold feet, red looks at him. You know, we had him right there. Maybe I shouldn't, maybe I pushed too hard to do the sneaky approach. Maybe we should have just acted quickly, you know? I mean, did we just light a fuse under a bomb?

Well, regardless, what's done is done now. All we can do is move forward, unless you're suggesting that we go back in and take another swing at him. No. No, no, no. I don't know. Witted cuts in. He's been, like, venting steam out of his armor. So in this slightly ominous way, he's, like, hovering and being reed in all of this smoke being expelled out of his suit. And he goes, all said, dud, we made the right decisions, that our priorities were in the right order. The key read, the key, you have it. You got it. Can we see it? Can we make sure? Yeah, yeah, it's right here, right? Wait a minute.

I left it. No, I'm just kidding. It pulls out the key and shows the Von and Dodd key. And Red sort of gives like a side eye to Temeel. Like both Tameel and Red have experienced a bit of Widdid's obsessive nature. So he's sort of like sending her like a little non-magical message of his own just kind of being like, you and I will be the keepers of this for a little while. Let me just see it to confirm that you have it.

Sure, sure. And Red like, tics at the tip. Red, red drags the front of the queue. Crass, so crass. You start doing it, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. The artifact pokes one leg out from behind the car. Oh, my gosh. Flashing you.

No, yeah, red pulls out a good amount of the key and sort of shows keeping the bulk in there just because it's so heavy. I hope that's it. Can you confirm? It is mainly just actually trying to confirm that it is the key, but also that he is like,

but I want to see it. How fucked would we be if this wasn't the key? Imagine? He's got like a... It is chest that we already... Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's got to be why it's a tumbler chest, right? Like, so that there's no...

Anyway, onward. Yeah. The key is entirely as you would expect. the key to look as something that would open a door in the Vanad yes it is ecstatic but does not make any moves

all right right it puts back in and as this small talk is going on Doran's sort of like keeping an eye out he's looking around you know on high alert basically all right I think it's time we move out of this being so close here

Doran as you trek forward into the woods a raven lands at your feet. It has a scroll tied to one of its legs and it sort of hops around you sort of trying to get your attention. No, message, raven. Money. Come here.

Get out of here, Raven. I tag it with or splitter. Thunderwave. It's now two halves of a raven. The message is inside the raven. It's a porchie cookie. That's how you get it. Later that evening, yeah, it says here, and he's picking chicken, picking his teeth, and it says here.

Yeah, Doran leans down and unravels the page from around the raven's leg. This is what it reads. Oh, it's a message. The Colossus has been waylaid to the north of Citadel Falbar in the Rauvin Mountains. using Doran's plan, that's me, with the snow melt. The main force of the army has moved on to silvery moon. General Chaos Hammer. And he passes the message around to each of you.

Maybe one of you read it again. Dorn, how did you already get ketchup on this thing? Barbecue sauce on your finger. Yep, you read that all perfectly. Every word was correct. Throwing mountains, but it, You got it mostly right. The main force is going to Silvery Moon,

but the Vonendard has been way late in the Rauvin mountains. If you remember, Doren had suggested to General Chaos Hammer that they used the snow melt from the mountain to sort of create this, like, muddy area where the Vonendad might get, like, stuck. Yes, no, of course. Right, right, right. No, does this, sorry, the main force of the army led by General Chaos Hammer?

are the main force of the fire giant army. I don't actually know which army he's referring to. I would imagine the main force of the fire giant army. Yeah, the dwarves had never really offered you an army. So hold on, the attacking army is heading the silvery mount.

Oh. But the Vaughn Dot is waylaid at the Rauvin Mountains. Oh, now I understand. The perfect opportunity. Yep. Without its supporting, Arby, the Voted Dot is going to be rendered extremely vulnerable, especially when we have

this. We should even be waiting. We should already be moving. Well, hold on. The army is heading the Silver Moon, though. If no one is there to warn them or to help them, won't Silver Moon be... The Army won't matter.

And obviously, when it is getting heated, surprisingly so, the Army, I don't mean to say it doesn't matter. It's just whether we get followed by Zalto, whether that army turns around and moves to support the Voted Dodd.

Right now the Vodod is vulnerable. And whoever controls the Voted Dodd won't need to worry about any army, not Silvery Moons, not the fire giants, not anyone. It's an army unto itself. Right. But if it has been waylaid, it's miles, miles away from causing any real damage. Shouldn't we go to where a fight is about to break out? I mean, Tamil, surely you know the people in Silverhamun. They're elves, they're innocent.

They could be slaughtered. We've seen the devastation of giants. Yes, but they're not entirely helpless, and cannot this general chaos hammer be convinced now to lend a hand, to lend his forces now that it is only an army of fire giants and not this destructive machine? My only thought is that Duke Zolto knows now that the key is missing and a small folk has it.

If I were him, I would go straight to the Vonendard and try to regain control of it. This might be our only chance. As the scroll is passed back to Doran, you see him pull out his charcoal tip pen, and he starts kind of scribbling down. He says, I think I have an idea. We're not going to need all of us to stop the Vonadod.

and we're not going to need to be at the silvery moon if he starts reading what he's been scribbling down general chaos hammer you meet the army of fire giants at silvery moon and we'll stop the vaunted dot does that work for you guys we already spoke to chaos hammer about trying to aid the elves They didn't care. Whim signs Witted, isn't your family in Silvery Moon? Witted doesn't say anything at first, looks down, looks back out of her, it's a, it's simple bathabatics, it's a batter of scale, and it's a matter of impact. The Vodododot is where we could, where we could do the most good. But the army can do the most damage in Silvery Moon.

Right now, the Vonen Dodd is just in a place, no different than when it was in the mountain. It's stuck in Amash. We can't stop that army. We can't stop. And even all of us together, without the Voted Dodd, without its power, we can't do anything to save Silvery Moon. But with its power, we can do everything. Zalto, that army, all of the giants. They wouldn't matter anymore.

We would be, we would be the biggest wuds on the block, as it were. I think Temeel is kind of aware of the implication of what Witted is saying, and so she will make meaningful eye contact with Red. And she'll say, I have to agree with Widdid. Vonn and Dodd should be our first priority in this situation. I think circumstances will change as we move forward. Perhaps there is even an argument to be made to Chaos Hammer, that if we have control of the Wondondod,

that we could be a reinforcement to his glory, that perhaps there is a moment for him to put his name in the annals of history. And this is our best chance at doing that. And I think that she'll also just like supplement to that message read, if we go to the army now, there is a strong chance, I think, that Widdid will simply go after the Vondondod by himself.

And I don't know that we would be able to stop him and I don't know that I want to lose him as an ally for now. Red, sort of like a little bit frozen, like hearing the message. You can hear him almost like stumble over answering in message. And then it sort of like zaps out. And he turns to Wooden and says, Your family. You're just going to leave them?

By family, if they could do anything, it's take care of themselves. Oh. Dorn. Doran, you were there with me. You heard Chaos Hammer say he didn't care about helping Silvery Moon. Silvery Moon is a beautiful city, but it is not a city built or prepared for war. They'll be slaughtered. Innocence, women and children.

And I'm sorry, but we have made a difference in the past. Doran and I have been in the front lines of a battle like this, and we have been able to hold our forces with enough time to help change. the way a battle would go. It happened in golden fields, for fuck's sake. I hear you. I understand what you're saying. And again, he sort of matches the meaningful glance of Tamil.

But we saw innocence in there. We saw innocence in Iron Slag. And yes, we have to go back. But this is so many more. This could be countless lives lost. The Vonendard is powerful. Yes. And it is dangerous.

but right now it's stuck and for all we know we could get there with the key and it remains stuck there's no telling how many millennia could be in that marsh let alone another few months if Zolto made a key then that means that it was forged

and probably there is a cast I am not certain that he will not be able to make another key I think that going to the Vonendard as quickly as we can and either destroy destroying it or taking control of it. And then, like, clear preference to which one she thinks is the right way to go.

But we have to take care of it somehow to ensure that Duke's alter with the fire giants do not regain control of it. People are going to die either way. In the long term, this feels like the safer, the safer course. Wynn puts her hand on Red's chest and then signs at Doran, we can tell Chaos Hammer to warn Silvery Moon though they don't have to be unprepared Hmm

That's right Couldn't we also tell Chaos Hammer That we discovered Messages in Zolto's private study as we were creeping around finding this key that he has plans On Citadel Felbar I don't remember getting any papers

That would be what Right we would lie Right Right lying yes Well listen I mean the way I, the way I see it, I, what are we four, five, sorry, going to do against an entire army of fire giants? I mean, where the Von and Dodd is currently stuck, it's not going to stay wet forever, and at some point they're going to come back for it. And I'd rather it be disabled

when they come back for it, rather than, you know, able to be roaming the countryside once again. I'm sorry to say red, but I think you're making a great argument and it's certainly creating some... There's so much we could do, Doran. You and I have made countless friends all over this countryside. I understand where you're coming from. I know it makes sense. We just bamfed out of there with this fucking key to stop this thing, but I can't... I can't do it again. I can't... Our friend died a couple hundred feet over there to this fucking thing. The amount of people that are going to be wiped out by this army, I can't have that blood on my hands again.

I can't, I can't do it. Tammil will walk over and put her hands on Red's shoulders. Red, we're not saying that we're going to leave these people to slaughter. The only way that all of them dies if no one fights back, but you and Doran, you are your heroes of the realm. You are... You've said that you have allies. We just need to get word to them

and have them all work together, connect them, to stand up to the force of the fire giants. But how? I don't know how. I don't have the means. I can't send messages like you. I can't...

You know, this is one raven. This is only one raven. It's not enough. Well, Tamil starts kind of looking at the ground and there's a rock that needs some serious attention, just kind of kicking it. Well, there are crows in dead snow. Oh, hold on, we were banned from dead snow. Well.

And, uh, you know. Listen, it's not, it's not risk-free, but nothing we do from this point on is risk-free. There is potential for death around every corner. This is an emergency, and honestly, I'm willing to take the risk in the heat if it comes to it. Are you sure? They said if you ever came back, they would kill you. I mean, I could talk my way out and Doran.

They probably don't even remember him, but Tamil. Whim signs, you just like that dwarf lady, Doran. Yeah, well. Timil kind of smiles at Red. I believe what Carilla said was that she would try to kill me. Oh. I don't know of a place closer. Red sort of looks up to you with.

wet eyes and sort of stance clears his throat okay well yeah okay then then we'll be quick we'll send as many ravens as they can at dead snows and then and then we'll get to the volume dot

well look then there's no time to lose dead snows is only south of us and red puts his hand on Temeal's shoulder thank you now listen I'm going to be laying really low obviously but Oh, of course, of course. Hey, we can keep a low profile, Red says, as he turns to Widdard.

And it's certainly something we're considering worthwhile, this going to a community where we're wanted and have death sentences. Oh, Witted, you're going to love it. There's lots of snow, and it's dead, and... It does also have a fairly well-known fighting arena with many who seek glory in one way or another. Perhaps there is a bit of recruiting that can be done there. Oh, and you've got to try this stew.

It's so good. Oh, no. It's just a message shoots out to Witted. Do not eat the stew. Do not listen to Red. Wittitt looks around in confusion just says, I don't. Most people don't like me when I travel. I'm starting to think I might be a good company.

And he just starts to march off. Aw. That's really cute. Kind of like, oh, God, you guys have a bad reputation, but like, oh, maybe I'm in the right crowd then. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, yeah, I'd say you fit right in here. Wait, come on.

And Dornisor returns to Meal and read as well and says, You know, it doesn't seem so bad going to a place that you're, you know, wanted, especially when you come out of a place like this. He's pointing back at Iron Slag. Comparatively, it doesn't seem like that big a feat. Not to undermine your gesture to me. Oh, no, Undermine away. I feel great about all of this.

Let's go. It just starts going after Witted. Undermine. We just came from Undermine. Get it? And as the five of us move off into the gathering darkness, the sounds from within Iron Slag begin to rattle the landscape. Okay, now I'd just like to thank our dear Patreon supporters.

Screw all their names down here. Just bear with me. Okay, thank you too. Lita J. Christopher, Colin Burckhardt, Merlin, Adam Frey, Liz, Ruthanne Reed, Trin, Lorelei Feldman, Merrick's Moon, JD, Scotty, Haley, Joshua Nance, Nikki, Queen, Shannon Waldner, Wren, Cass, Joy Robinson, Melinda Curley, Estray 96, Moon, Jeanette, H.D., Gabby, Tao, Tea Kettle, Izzy, Anna Lena, Gareth Bradshaw, Abriel, Mizra, Nibia, Nerd Fairy, Oakland, Abby Mae Birkin, Quinn, Manderpants, Stab, Vol control, Keely Hill, Pan, Axel, Rabbit and Cheese, Absolute Ocelli behavior, Danny, Seer of Time, Wanderer Fenn, Luna de Maria, Feli, Bird, Starlight, A.K. Trash Panda, Amanda Nicole, Clockwork Phoenix, Lickrott, Kite, Alicia Duh, OB, Merrimo, Luke, Fisher, Knox the Nightshark, Sunny, Zill Street, Liz, Kara, Caspian, Bean Fiend, Jagger Man Jensen, Roses of Envy, Karen Duley, Minty, Percy, This Guy could, Hydrus, Martina, Celeste Jedlick, Lysanne Kleckner, Nick D, Slate Blue Flowers, Sparks, Marino, Ren Gillespie, Scoutgar, Delicate Jaws, Shank, Sakura, AKA Cam, Veritas, Tell, Lora, Jane, Sasha, Busing Star O3, Snick,

Snack, Jinks, Jaron Blair, Nukwom, Conzo Como, Trinity, Morgan King, Brona, Loris, Bart, O W.O.O.N. Art Jacks, Axe, Arrestu, Libet Reed, Mademoiselle Salamandra, Ray Silvertong, T.K. Haste, Heather Newman, Marshmorrow, Mittens, Fern Ferguson, Harry, Immortal Dragon, Tonin, Decu Loves Hair, Dylan Ibb, Jesse, Rachel Isaacs, Red Wing Rising, and Milk. It's a good thing I have this all written down because I would never be able to remember some of these names. Have a great one and see you around the battlefield. Find this key, wrong? You're shaking your head at me. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm having a tough time not making a joke every five seconds. Please.

Why have these magazine pages stuck together with some stick? Oh, no, no, that was not the time for that. That's what I'm saying. Like, what's in his bag? There's so many things. He's like flaws in here? And Zaltember is just basically

shitting himself right now. Audibly. What does it look like? He's really embarrassed. I hope nobody else can hear this. That stuff is so cool, by the way. And that, I just, I mean, I know I'm taking Joe's job away for a second,

but saying Tim, too, if you ever have ideas like that that retroactively go in, as the editor I can say, I love, I don't mind at all splicing shit like that. It's cool when you're editing like that, how you can like splice stuff in. We just make magic happen, you know? Oh, not for you, Alex. Sorry, no.

I know. Tim and Nick can do whatever they want. Alex, you shitter. See, Tim doesn't need it because he's a professional. No, Alex knows it because he's been on the show for five years. Alex, you don't do nothing. I don't do anything. We'd let you out of your handcuffs for two hours.

I'll just shut up, sir. Meanwhile, I'm like, could we change the adventure, actually? It's like, yes, Tim. Of course, Tim. Whatever. No, wobble. What if I got all the magic items? That'd be cool, right?

Camille wants Doran's axe. I said Doran went off and killed Duke Salto, okay? That's what happens. Okay, whatever you do. I want his axe. Thank you.