High Rollers DnD - Altheya: The Dragon Empire #12 | Lights in the Dark (Part 2)

Episode Date: February 22, 2024

The party uncover a sinister plot in their job with the Lamplighters! Support the High Rollers on Patreon and get early access to Podcast episodes, vods and more: www.patreon.com/HighRollers Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound, TCT Adventures (Solasta: Crown of the Magisters), Monument Studios and Jolene Khor! Check out Jolene Khor and all her wonderful work on High Rollers on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1WX3ICiTmf4GpHwImnQMs6 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pickaxe. Pick from over 190 assets and start with the $10 in your pocket. Easy. Go to Kraken.com and see what crypto can be. Non-investment advice. Crypto trading involves risk of loss. See Kraken.com slash legal slash ca dash pru dash disclaimer for info on Kraken's undertaking to register in Canada. Welcome back to part two of Althea, the Dragon Empire, here on High Rollers. Previously, our party had begun an engagement working for the Lamplighters Guild. They were helping the engineer, Teresa Lavender,

fixing up these lanterns around a plaza in the Riverside district of Ashen Rest. During the attack, whilst they were sort of ambushed by some of the Blacksmiths Guild's lackeys, Daisy and Gruff and a few of the others managed to convince the person leading this gang of the Blacksmith's Guild, who you don't actually know his name yet, a dwarven gentleman, you convinced them to sit down and speak with you and try and understand what was going on and what you'd got embroiled in. Having begun to sense that there might be something about these lanterns that was more than meets the eye. And as you began discussing discussing this dwarven gentleman revealed that there had been some suspicions that the lamplighters guild had done something that was

causing negative emotions and some sort of malignant magical aura in these lights and suffering from an intense fear of the combat situation ter Teresa, the engineer who had been in the light of the fixed lantern, has seemingly become overwhelmed by something as she was left in the light, and her fear has gotten the better of her. In fact, the last thing you see is that she stumbles, kind of pushing a barrel and a wagon sort of out of the way. This isn't with, like, superhuman strength

that she's launching these things. She doesn't touch them. Oh, okay. You just watch as the wagon, the barrel gets knocked over and she stumbles,umbles like clutching her head as her eyes become engulfed in purple and green and red flame. Hell yeah. Hell yeah.

And she kind of stumbles, and then her body almost goes slack. Oh. And it snaps back up, and you begin to see that smoke from her eyes. Her mouth opens, and that smoke begins to billow out of her mouth, and that smoke from her eyes increases in volume until it begins to take a shape behind her. Oh, cool.

What is that? What is that? What is that? You see a shadowy... It is made from smoke, this purple, green and red fog and smoke. And it almost coalesces, still connected into Teresa's mouth and eyes,

but almost merging from behind her. You see a winged, bat-wing shaped humanoid shape. And it seems to hold a long blade in one hand winged, bat-wing shaped, humanoid shape. And it seems to hold a long blade in one hand and a big clawed hand in the other. And you all hear. This one. Well, this one, there was great fear. The barrier weakens. And then it almost seems to see the group of you.

I cannot let you know the throne the helium throw they will never see Daisy in your mind you hear a war scream this is not a scream of fear but a scream of rage demon as you feel nim overwhelmed with hatred

sensing this other entity. Little one, run! And we are going to roll a brand new initiative. This is the coolest shit. I just wanted to pick up a bounty board quest. Imagine if that was one of us. How cool.

What, had that happened to us? Yeah. Oh, it'll happen to me soon. What? Bitch. Oh, well, you're lordy. That's a little better. Yeah? Better that happened to us? Yeah. Oh, it'll happen to me soon. What? Bitch. Oh, well, you're a lordy. That was a little better. Yeah?

Better than what three we had last time. I rolled a one. What? What was up, Tron? About what you said. Yeah. We're still rolling in it. Everyone else is just moving on with their lives.

Gruffydd. 15. But we heard. Daisy. 14. Xanthius. 7. Rowan. 17.

Look at me, darling. No. Ophelia. 12. I'm going to do one roll for the Blacksmith's Guild. They are going to be part of this fight. Sure. However, I rolled a 2.

Oh. Out of interest, they're readied actions to like wail on us they were ready to attack you okay they are they are stunned they are as stunned as you can the opportunity they're just like you see the dwarf just go by the science what is that thing and it just is totally this is not what they were expecting um and it does seem like nothing that they've seen before. Like, there seems to be something about this particular scenario that has resulted in something unexpected. I am sad to say that none of you are going first.

Yeah. They're going first. And we're all coming to do a nice fireball position. Yes. Yeah. There are a number of things that happen. Okay, here we go. Buckle up, lads.

The first thing is lifting Therese's body, the smoke-like creature is going to position itself on the side of you all, kind of lifting her body up in the air. Her body is just limp. It's lifeless, like a doll. Right. And the smoke is lifting her up,

and then as she goes, she just stands on her tiptoes as it's hovering up like a doll. Right. And the smoke is like lifting her up and then it kind of, as she goes, she just stands on her tiptoes as it's hovering up in the air and it points its blade in a diagonal line across everyone. Oh, man. And you watch as Teresa's open mouth with the smoke pouring out of it

as just this acidic energy bursts out in a line and hits everyone. Including all the blacksmiths. What? He's having a fucking great time. I mean, there's a guy on the roof. He's fine.

This is true. This guy is the one guy who's fine. He's having a great day. He's going to run back home after this. You will not believe. I am so lucky. I need... We look up.

He's suddenly not there anymore. ...everybody to make a dexterity saving throw. And I'm going to remind you, you currently have two points of fate. We do. I have... Does it have the range to hit me? I am on the further stage. You are, yes. Who had the anxiety thing?

Plus one to physical saving throw. Dex is a physical saving throw, right? Dex is a physical saving throw, yes. That is still in effect. I will tell you now, by the way, the additional effect is you have a minus one to mental saving throws. And you all currently only have

one stack of dark influence, which is what you were accumulating by taking any sort of negative emotion or aggressive action within the light, basically. Okay. Does my danger sense go off? If you have danger sense, yeah. You can see it coming, right?

So as long as you can see it coming, you get advantage. Nice. What does danger sense do again? Advantage. Advantage on dex. Mm-hmm. Nice. Youantage on dex. Cool. Nice. You still keep all that.

Your rage is still up, by the way. That's still going. You still have your blood fury points. Anybody's effects, that armor's still going. We pause the combat. Okay. Okay. You guys were talking.

Right, let's go rounds. I see now why you paused it there, Mark. All right. To make this quicker, anybody who got a DC 13, so if you got 12 or lower, you are taking full damage. If you got higher than that, you are taking half damage. I am also going to spend one of my fate points to add an extra DC of damage. What type of damage is this?

Acid. Oh, acid. I just missed it as well with a three. All right, so that is going to be... I got a 16, I'm fine. So you take half damage. So those of you who failed, it's 14 acid damage. Oh!

Seven acid damage to those of you who got half. Those of you who failed, you are also bathed in an acidic substance. Am I able to... Is this reducible with Glyphovegas? My runic thing? If it says when you take damage, then it is when you take damage.

You can absolutely use it. Great. So I have only one spare, so I reduce it by a d6. Two, so I only get 12 damage. All righty. But yeah, I still am coated in acid, I suppose. Yes.

Oh. And yeah, they kind of like fly over. They've used their movement. They use their acidic blast ability. And that is going to be its turn as this demonic entity does unleash this powerful blast of planar magic. Okay.

Yuck. All righty. So we go to the next person is Rowan, who is next in order. Oh boy. Oh, I apologize. I have to roll for the blacksmith skills. Fair enough. Ugh.

Ugh. Let me just check my hit points. Side show Bob. Oh dear. The two enforcers, the lieutenant does manage to avoid, so only one of them is left. Side show Bob. Oh, dear. The two enforcers. The lieutenant does manage to avoid, so it only takes half. So they've taken seven.

The two enforcers look very bad. They are, like, coated in this acid. Ah! Ah! Kind of screaming um i'm gonna put a hand on ophelia and you feel an energy ripples through you you hear a as owl wisdom flows through your veins. So this is enhance ability, and it's going to be owl's wisdom. The target has advantage on wisdom checks. Nice.

It's not saving throws, I wanna point out. Checks is not saving throws. Ability checks is not saving throws. Oh, I see, so it'd be... It'd be like making a perception check or an insight check, things like that. We need to stand together to fight whatever this is, and I will do Barnac Inspiration as well on Ophelia.

Oh, thank you. It's time to utilise your abilities. Just make sure D6, right? Extra D6, but you're gonna have the motive potential swirling around you as well. And depending on what you do, you can use it to enhance certain things. And I'll let you know when you do it.

Thank you very much. Very good. Save reading it all out right now. Sure, yeah. Is there anything else you'd like to do? Nice. I'm just gonna keep standing where I am. Okay.

Yeah. All right. That's me. At the end of your turn, Rowan, I'm going to use a villain action. Oh. Ooh. I need everybody to make a wisdom saving throw

as this thing billows with dark power and its terrifying appearance may frighten you. I'm all right with being frightened, to be honest. Oh, God save you. He's saving for rolls. You could use your Bardic Inspiration if you wish. And the enhancement. I'm going to, again... Unless you roll that bad.

Three fate. You have to add it before you roll. So before you, I know you're quick to roll, but do remember you have three fate available. Those of us who have stacks as well as dark influences are minus one. You have minus one. Oh, of course.

You are trying to be a DC 13 on this. Who got under? I got 13. 13 is a success. I got 13. Was that with your minus one? I actually got 13. 13.

Plus one, minus one. All right. I rolled a three. Graff, I'm afraid to say you are frightened in Ophelia. Six. Six. You are also frightened. This next Spokie.

If you want to use it on this. I'm going anyway the lieutenant does manage to save but the other two are also frightened so if you want to use it on this you can use it to gain uh hit points equal to the party consideration plus three but you don't have these on this okay cool yeah i would say with a six even if you roll six you are not going to succeed. So yeah, Gruff. There is something... With Gruff, you've grown up with horror stories. Things from the deep water.

Those don't frighten you. There is something... This is not a story. This is real. And it just, you know, blasted you with magic that you've never seen before. This is all of those horror stories as if they have come true,

and this is something you were never expected to deal with, right? This is not some bandits out in the woods. This is not, you know, some vault spawn kind of hunting around. This is something beyond this world and that terrifies you and Ophelia you come from a place full of monsters to an extent you've seen some of the hideous creations of the house of rot you've seen uh the race of the house of shadows these things don't frighten you faced with this again Gruff, there is something you intrinsically know that this creature is not from Ulfea. It is not mortal.

It is not undead. It is something you have never even conceived of before. It is a demon, and that is a planar entity. And there is something intrinsically frightening about this to you. How that manifests and what you think, what Ophelia deals with. It is magical, obviously. It is a magical fear, but there is something

that just disturbs you to your core. I like to think that with Daisy, maybe this is a bit of Nim's influence kind of like shielding you a little bit from this, but like you've, you don't know why, but like there is something about this

that you know what this is. You can just feel, you know that this is, it is not fully manifested in this world yet. It is not actually here. It is somehow pushing its essence and its magical energy into Teresa. And it is a demon. It is from the Helion Pit, the realm of demons and devils.

And it is not quite here yet, but who knows if it's going to be able to break through. But it is certainly in control of Teresa, and it's certainly got power here. Xanthius, when this magic hits you, that same familiar sensation, there is something, maybe not entirely, but there is something that connects with this.

And I think maybe for Rowan, this is, you know, you get a flash almost from your accident, your incident, and there is, you know what this is. You can feel that you know that this isn't from Ulfea, but that doesn't frighten you. You've got people to protect. You've got things you need to do. That's what I was going to say.

I'm rising to the occasion. There's more important things ahead. But that is at the end of Gruff's turn, it uses its demonic presence. We go to... I haven't had a turn. It is Gruff. Well, this is like a brand new round, so yeah, it is Gruff. So I'm thrown, so I need to get away, I can't attack.

You don't have to move away, but you cannot move closer to it and you have disadvantage on attack rolls. And you get a save ends at the end of turn to get out of the frightened. What kind of an action would it be to equip my longbow? You can make it as part of a move action or you can make it as part of the attack action. It would mean dropping your staff though.

You wouldn't be able to put your staff, you'd have to either put your staff away and then draw your bow next turn, or you can drop your staff and just pull your longbow out. Or you could use a magic spell or... Yeah, I'm saving those for when someone gets blasted in the face. Okay, I don't know if you had like a range cantrip

or something like that. I don't, I have Mage Hand, Shape and chile um okay with mage hand oh yeah i'm gonna slap it with mage hand yeah um no i would like to can i move it away towards the fountain um five ten fifteen about there um can i put my staff down there and pull out this longbow? You're doing that as you're moving, so as you're running, you're like pulling the longbow out, you put the staff on the ground, then two-handed you've got the bow.

And then, can I shoot the light that Theresa just fixed? You can certainly try. It's a small target, but you could try to. Yeah, it's probably not gonna do much, but we'll see. 15 to hit, no, yeah, 15 to hit. 15 to hit. I'd say it hits, yeah. It's gonna be resistant to the damage

because it's piercing against like a metal crystal, so. Eight points of damage. So four points of damage. The arrow thuds in and cracks it and you see it begins to flicker. It's not fully destroyed, but it's damaged, and the light begins to flicker. And you just hear.

Anything else on your turn, Quath? Do I feel any better because the light flickered? That was empty. You do get to make a save at the end of your turn against the frightened, though. Okay. Wisdom saving throw. I don't think there's anything else I can particularly do right now.

So, wizzy saving throw? Yes. Would you like to spend a fate point? No. Okay. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, minus one. It's a success. So, you kind of shake yourself out of it, whatever that is,

but you are no longer being frightened by this thing. However, that is at the end of your turn. We then go to Daisy. Hello. So, Nim told me to run, so Daisy gonna run. She's not gonna, she's panicked. So hearing Nim's tell her to run, she's gonna do what she's told sure sure So she's gonna go away from it. But seeing that gruff shot the light

as I run I would like to try and fling a radiant blade at the light You can see if I can up to 60 feet right you can do this. So if I like can she throw it can it's up to 60 feet right you can throw them so if i can throw it 15 20 25 30 35 yeah you can easily do it so you want to run sort of like where do you want to run to yeah that yeah there you get to about here yeah yep that way yep so as you're running you fling a radiant blade towards the light i'm gonna say ac 15. uh 18 plus five two It's radiant energy slams into it. Yeah. No sneak attack, but it's radiant damage.

That's fine. Nine damage. Nine radiant. Well, radiant isn't being resisted, so it shatters. You see the kind of crystal elements of this lantern, this kind of lamppost, break and shatter and where the devices have been opened up for Teresa to fix it, it breaks entirely and that whole

area is plunged back into darkness, basically. Not darkness, but shadow. You see those of you who had that kind of dark influence dissipates. Okay. The feelings kind of go away as that light goes out.

The creature stumbles for a minute. Like you see the fog almost like start to dissipate and then it kind of recoalesces. The creature is still there and its effects, like the frightened stuff is still in effect. But yeah, no more dark influence and that light is now gone. Okay, so all the kind of plus one, minus one, all of that's gone.

Anything, any effect from that is gone. I will bonus action throw a dagger at the creature. Yep. As I run. But I rolled a four, so it probably won't hit. So it's nine to hit. It goes to strike the creature, and you see that this kind of... She's too busy running.

Yeah, it just goes wide, slams into the building. Alrighty. So that is Daisy's turn. We then go to, I believe it is Ophelia. I think she would also, before she would,

she would say, run to people. Deepest apologies. Our officer, who's gone since the creature? Rowan went, Gruff went, and Daisy went, right? Who failed the save and throw against the acid? people deepest apologies uh out of so who's gone since the creature rowan went gruff went and daisy

went right um who failed the saving throw against the acid not me no you you all succeeded yep all three of you succeeded okay that's fine um it's uh before you go rafilia it is actually the two enforcers they did not succeed and you can see that because they got caught by all the acid they're covered in like this acidic slime and it continues to burn away at them. Oh, damn. Okay. They are dead. They are not dead, but they look bad. They are like writhing around in pain like,

huh, huh, and they just run. They are going to dash action. That's fair. Yeah. I would too. 10, 15, 20, 25, 30. I'm getting out of here. I'm never going to see you guys ever again.

These two enforcers. I understand. Believe the scene. Yeah, Daisy looks terrified and starts running and tells you all to run. Yeah, yeah. Just as a point. I really wish I had a light to shine in your eyes right now. Just to be like,

Ophelia, you'd see demon eyes. Yeah, Ophelia's gonna look at you, frightened. I wasn't sent here to be killed with the hands of abominations! And she's just gonna. So when you try to run, this creature unfortunately has reach.

Oh! Geras! I also got acid. Who? Oh, you do have acid? Yeah. Oh no. Six points of acid damage, I'm afraid,

which goes through any resistance from raging. And yeah, as you begin to run, so you'd have to run away. So you go five, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30. But yeah, this thing swipes at you with its kind of this fog-like sword, or maybe its claw maybe instead, as it, yeah, tries to slash you.

That is gonna be a 16 total. Damage. That's going to be a 16 total. Damage. That's a hit. Oh, sorry. It hits. That is going to be... His damage is actually 45. I hate to do it to you, Rhi.

I'm anxious to spend a fate point to add damage to this as well. You're now up to four fate on your side. That is... Oh, no. So that is going to be 14 points of slashing, half to seven because you're raging, and then two more points of acid damage.

Yeah, I'm down. Oh, damn, okay. So you would actually go down just as you leave its reach, so you are down. Go down. Does the Bardic Inspiration die to do anything or no? I guess when you go down it doesn't do anything.

It could be used to a saving throw and attack roll. I attack against you, yeah. I think it's when you do stuff. Yeah, so there is a type of bard who can use it to reduce attacks, but you are not that type of bard, I'm afraid. I'm not that bard! Yeah, you watch as Ophelia turns. I will say that that automatically ends the Frightened on you

because you're now unconscious. But yeah, and you feel this fog almost like claws raking through your back, and you go black and fall unconscious. All right, it does end your rage as well. So that is Ophelia's turn. Yeah, unfortunately, that was a reaction on its part. We then go to the marksman, sorry, not the marksman, the lieutenant, I believe. We'll go before Xanthius, and you're next.

The lieutenant did save against the acid, so is not going to burn from that. It's going to see Ophelia go down, is gonna see that everyone's kind of beginning to run, unsure what to do. Is going to, is that able to cause any of those guys down? But is gonna try and, is gonna step up like a brave hero. Ah.

And you can see they pull out a large war hammer, and it's just like, this is my city, get out! And it's just gonna bring the hammer down and try and slam it down. I'm gonna use their guild sweep. So the creature has to make a dexterity saving throw. Unfortunately it passes. Ah.

So it comes to bring the hammer down and you just watch as this creature just grabs the hammer out of like this fog like claw. Little creature, it's my sitting now. And you watch as the hand actually corrodes the metal as the acidic fog actually begins to melt and corrode the hammer. That's just narrative, doesn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's just cool. That was... What was that, Hoth Town. Three years ago. This is not our Hoth Town. No, we're going. Sorry, Duke. We'll meet you next time.

So, sorry, this is not a full flame demon. It's like a visage of a... It's not even flame. It's like green smoke. Green and purple smoke. And it's coming out of, like, Teresa's eyes and mouth. I was trying to figure out

if it was pointless to use a flame attack against it. You could make an arcana check for me to see what you know about planar creatures. Yeah, okay. Well, probably, I don't know, very little. All I know is it's not made of flame. I'll try a flame attack.

Okay. So, yeah, in, I guess, recoiling from the poison acid attack and... Did you fail your saving throw, by the way? I did fail. Is there something I can do? One point of acid. One point. Is there something I can do to remove this acid?

Yes, there is. You or another creature or an ally can spend an action to wipe the acid off themselves. Action. No, I think... Oh, you also get a save at the end of your turn. Oh, okay. So, can you make a save for me as well, by the way? Please, if you'll let me.

Dexterity saving throw. Ooh. She's down, though. This would have been as she went down. This is to see, because the acid can still burn away. Nine. Nine, unfortunately. The acid is still burning away at Avelia.

That's going to cause failure. Yeah, sorry. In recoiling from the impact of that attack and blocking with runes, I'll almost reposition those same runes into three separate things and three quick jabs against those. I'm going to do a Scorching Ray. Three Scorching Rays against this thing? Yes. All three.

All three against this one demon thing. So I guess in the darkness of this, there's just streaks of fiery light. Separate attacks for each one? Separate attacks. I'm going to remind you of four fate points. Just because, like, you know,

they are there to be used. Don't be afraid to use them. I know you're like, but then Mark gets more. And I can't add them to damage, can I? You can't. You can add them

to an attack roll, though, to make sure you hit. Do you want one? Mmm. This is three separate attack rolls for Scching ray unfortunately as well so would that then be three fake dice yeah attack crawl i'm afraid i'll i'll use same way like if i did it i would have to um add it to say if it was three separate attacks i would have to

add a damage die to each one with an aoe though you add it to all of the targets. Yes, yeah. I'll see how it goes for now. Okay. I feel lucky. Nine. Total? Nine total. Is a miss, unfortunately. You know what? Smog sort of parts and lets the blast go through it and then reforms.

I want more Glyph of Aegis back. I'm going to use Sorcery Points for a Seeking spell. Reroll. To reroll that one. Thirteen. Does that hit?oll. To reroll that one. 13. Does that hit? Nope.

It's higher than that. Just barely misses. Just misses, okay. I will tell you now that it's AC is 40. Do you want a dice? I'll take one of those dice, yeah. All right, I will spend one for you. That's okay.

Do you want the actual dice itself? Yes, please. Right, this one. Oh my goody, aunt. Eight plus five, 13. Oh, my gosh. This thing made of fog and smoke just... I think in the recent darkness and the panic of this,

I'm firing like these bolts. It's just going... Just panic, just like... And meteors streaking through the sky. I won't use the next one. This is just gonna be a straight up roll. Finally, unnatural 20. That will will sorry 19. that will hit 2d6 of fire damage 2d6 of fire now i'm trying to recall how much psychic damage do i take if i was too

i believe it's all written on your thing it probably is i think it's a d4 i think i believe it was a d4 i wish to empower this uh this this scorching ray good because i i don't like this dude he's spooky good you know what's spookier me uh 10 i believe right it's an extra d10 so i am doing 26 plus 26 plus a d10 that is not sources in power no this is not a sorcery he's done this before. This is not a sorcery in power. He's done this before. I have done this before. This is his spooky power. This scorching ray is unnaturally powerful. This is messed up power.

His hell power? His chaos power. His broken crown that power. His all of the above power? I'm just trying to say something and wait for this beast to twitch. You're getting nothing. You're getting nothing from me.

He's the man whose name you'd love to touch, but you mustn't touch. Max power. My eyes are twitching at this one. That is 13 damage. 13 points of fire damage. You see the first two, the creature almost reforms around. Your little magics can't hurt.

And then the last one, you see a glow underneath Xanthius's, like from within his tunic, And then the last one, you see a glow underneath Xanthius's, like from within his tunic as a bright kind of golden fire kind of ignites. And you just see this last blast becomes larger, more intense, almost glows that even brighter, maybe touches of blue fire almost touching it. And it punches through the fog, kind of cutting this creature off mid-word. And you see it burns the smoke. It actually burns the fog itself away.

You. What are you? I don't know. I wish you could tell me, dude, but we don't know what he is. It's a learning experience for us all! Anything else on your turn, Xanthius? I take a d4 of psychic damage. Unblockable psychic damage. 3. Alright.

Which, I'll be honest, I'm on low health. Yep. Yes, that is me. Alright, after Xanthius, we go to... The marksman up on the roof. He's not here! Ha-ha! You got this, buddy!

You're a terrible baby! Come on, Greg. He will see that your fire had an effect. If it can burn, we can kill it. This is like a shadowy thing. You don't even know what this... It could be a woman, it could be a man. You don't know who it is.

They're like Batman at this point. They've got a cloak. They've got a cape. And they pull a metal canister from their belt. They didn't get a chance to use this against you. And they're going to throw a blast powder bomb. Dink! And the creature has to make a dexterity same throw.

A two. Oh! So it does go off. Is Theresa gonna blow up? Honestly, it's only three points of damage. Oh no! But it is, there is like a concussive force and Theresa is kind of knocked to her feet.

Teresa does take some of that fire damage as well. You can see that her body is physically there, and you see that her clothing is now set on fire. The creature does not appear to be burning. It does take some damage from the fire, but yeah, Teresa is knocked prone, and you see that as it does force down, the smoke creature is dragged down. It's not knocked prone. And you see that as it does force down, the smoke creature is dragged down.

It's not knocked prone, but it's kind of forced to move with her almost. Way down now. Somebody pick up Teresa. Demon balloon. Run away with her and take her away. I guess it reacts to the damage it's taking. I'm just wondering if it reacts more

to the damage Teresa has taken. They do. That is going to be the marksman's go. And then he runs, right? Yeah, then he runs. And then that brings us, unfortunately, back up to the top with the demonic creatures. Oh, I wanted to move as well.

No, I didn't. It's fine. You can move if you want. I'm backing up. Especially if I haven't taken my turn yet. Let me go wide. Yeah, we're going wide. Go wide. I'm backing up. Especially if I haven't taken my turn yet. Sorry. You're gonna go wide. Yeah, we're going wide. Go wide.

I'm going wide. I'm intending to run down one of these side alleys, hoping that people will follow, but yeah, not grouping up with everyone. Sorry, that was a lot on my turn. It's all right. I've let everyone down. Hand in your hand.

Uncount me down. Long sigh, I didn't hope to make this kind of video. The creature. I'll do better. I'll be better. Oh, he's flying over to me? Yeah, he likes you. Oh, there he goes.

He drags Theresa's body. Does seem to slow him down. And that slowing him down, it looks like almost picks up momentum to try and almost blast you with force as he flies towards you. But with Teresa being knocked prone, is, you know, slowed down,

is not able to do that. Slowed down? Dude just flew 400 feet. So instead is going to just take a swipe at you with their kind of fog-like sword. Mm-hmm. Well, that's pretty good. That's only a 10 to hit.

That does not hit. The runic shielding kind of holding as this blade is deflected away from you, Xanthias. Hell yeah. It is then going to use its smoky eruption on you. Can you make a dexterity save

for me, please? Dexterity save. me, please? Dexterity, dexterity save. A sneaky eruption. It's like hot boxing. Oh, I don't know if this is a half damage stitch, is it? You don't know what this does. Given I don't know the effect of this, I'm hoping to completely evade the damage

because I have very low HP. I will use a fate dice on this dex save. How many we got um two uh don't say 11. 11 is still not enough unfortunately it does no damage but you are thrown through these boxes well you are going to take some damage because you're thrown through some stuff this might do it yeah 15 and knocked prone as these boxes go flying uh away as this almost like force of wind like this kind of gust of power kind of shoots out as it kind of erupts in the smoky formation okay um it's only gonna take i'll say you'll take uh 1d6 of bludgeoning damage yeah one point of bludgeoning damage. Yeah. One point of bludgeoning damage. I'm still up. But you're knocked prone as it kind of...

And he does hit an area around it. Unfortunately, there were no other creatures there. It was targeting Xanthia specifically. Okay. That is the demon's game. We go to Rowan. Rowan is going to turn to face the demon in a rush of panic

and start charging towards him, getting his loot out. He hits a power cord. Yep. And a flow of green energy goes behind him and flows into Ophelia. Okay. Healing word.

Oh. Bonus action, 2d4 plus four, that's a level two. Three, plus two, four,, that's a level two. Three, plus two, four, five. I'm still up eight. Well, thank you. Eight hit points back to Ophelia. I'm up, I'm alive. You come to Ophelia, still covered in acid,

on the ground, everything else. And while- That was your bonus action. Bonus action, yeah. I'm going to try and plunge a long sword into its back. Into the- Into the smoky-like creature. Into the demon itself.

Into a smoky creature with my mundane sword, yes. Yes. I will tell you it is going to be resistant to this if you do hit it. Quite. But you can still make the attack. It does seem to have like like you are able to affect its form it's just resistant 17. hits yeah it's we need to get a hoover with luigi five points so down to so down to two yeah it's rounded down um yeah you strike through your your

mundane sword does not quite find purchase, but it does dissipate some of the creature, especially from that wound it took from Xanthius's fire. You're almost able to add to the destruction that it suffered. And it's kind of like, what is this gnat that bites? Demon, leave my friends alone. Oh, I am going to infest them. They will become a part of me.

After Rowan's turn, we go to Gruffydd. Hello. You are no longer frightened, Gruffydd. That's nice. I've got a really weird, can I use a fate dice to do something a bit weird? That's precisely part of the order. You can make the offer and then if,

I'll say like, yep, you can use it for fate addresses. The devil's five is what it says here. I have a fisherman's net. Make your case. I wish to throw it upon Theresa to scoop her up and drag her away from the demon. All right, I'm going to just clarify one thing because I don't want you to waste your turn. Okay.

The demon's smoke is connected to Teresa's mouth and eyes. Okay. It's coming out. The smoke out of her mouth and eyes is forming the creature itself. She's the genie's lamp. Yes. If you want to think of it like that way, that's almost clean of how I imagine it, but imagine that it's still attached to it.

I should explain part two of my thought. I didn't verbalize. But seeing that Theresa being prone kind of affected his movement a little bit. It's connected to her. Yeah, so I'm wondering if there's a way, so I've also got Entangle as well. Like, I was thinking

of casting Entangle or throwing a net to keep her in position so this thing can't or struggles. Yeah, so what I would say that that would probably be then is you would basically

be grappling the unconscious prone Teresa, which would be very easy. She'd fail it automatically because she's unconscious. And then the demon, on its turn, if it wants to move away, would have to physically try and pull Teresa out of your grasp, so it would make the opposed grapple with whatever modifiers it has.

But yeah, you could totally basically make a grapple against Teresa with your net. Makes sense. Would Entangle be stronger, though? I feel like Entangle would be stronger. Entangle would be stronger because it's a saving throw and she automatically fails them yeah i'm gonna okay i'm not gonna use a fake dice then because i feel like i don't want you to waste it yeah because like it's a cool idea but there's a month there's other ways you can achieve what you want yeah so it doesn't mean i

sacrifice a spell slot and this boy is looking weak but um yeah still up I'm gonna cast entangle on uh Teresa and it is a 20 foot square so I I don't know if basically you don't want to hit your allies I don't want to hit allies but if I can try and hit I don't think it will so you do the creature itself cannot be restrained it's just the fourth but Teresa's body can be and because she's unconscious she fails it automatically so these plants basically hold her in place i mean she is now restrained she cannot move and you see that the smoke like demon tugs and is unable like teresa's body is being pulled against it so on the demon's turn at the end of the demon's turn i'll make a strength saving throw for it to try and pull away but it is going to be at disadvantage because it is trying to kind of pull away from Teresa's body.

And it doesn't seem it would need to pull Teresa free of it. And that is obviously harder. Nice. So yeah, it is currently locked in place. So I will also count the demon as being restrained. So attacks against it have advantage. Nice. I am going to do a slightly modified.

It can still, it won't have disadvantage on its attacks because it's not being affected yeah but it's easier for you to hit it because it's like it's hard to fit it to a like yes yeah okay all right yeah that sounds cool as hell all right great cool idea gruff I just want to move a little bit I'm dead these hands gruff's dead. These hands are pointless. Yeah, they are. Just a little bit, yeah, just there. Grabbies, like claws.

And then we just. Crispy, I love the claws, but they don't help. I'll just shout, Xanthias, to me! To you? Yeah. Move away from me. Hang on. I can probably make it over.

We then go to Daisy. Hello! Thank you. Okay, seeing that people are fighting, I'm still going to keep my distance. So I'm going to move around the other side of the fountain, and I basically want to use that little fountain as cover for me, but then step out and throw blades at it.

And I think you hear in your voice, Nim is kind of like, just keep your distance. We can fight this thing, but you need to keep mobile. Don't let it pin you down. And he's kind of giving you that tactical advice. Okay, and I have advantage because it's for strain. So you'll get sneak attack if you hit as well. That was a natural one, so I'm glad I had,

oh my god, that was a four. Me! You got two attacks, right? Okay, yeah. The first one unfortunately misses, but the bonus action, still advantage. 18 plus five. That will hit.

And I get sneak attack, but this is on my dagger, not my other one, but it's still a radiant blade yeah because you can use the radiant blade as a thing so it's 3d6 right so and this is radiant damage important distinction that is i'm guessing 11 damage 11 points of damage um it is not vulnerable but it does take the full amount it's not resistant like to the sword you watch as the radiant blade you know all of the other attacks like even the fire kind of passed through this thing the radiant blade sticks in it as if it's made of flesh so from like gambit throwing the blade kind of stops and you just The touch of the Lucent looks around.

I'm hiding behind the fountain. I'll make a perception check. I see you, soldier. All right. Anything else on your turn, Daisy? Nope. All righty. The enforcers have run away.

They're out of the fight. They are basically... Actually, no, they dashed, so they didn't wipe the acid off. Oh, no! If I roll more than three points of damage, they're dead. We were trying to make friends. Oh, yeah. They're dead.

You just hear in this alleyway... They melt. They're dead. They're like friends. Oh yeah. They're dead. You just hear in this alleyway, Oh God. As they melt. I forgot, they ran away, I forgot they dashed. I mean they were also, they were feared, right? Yeah, they were feared so they just ran. Tell us they were bad men, Mark. No.

Well, what is bad? What is good, what is bad? What is good? What is evil? They didn't pay their taxes. My legacy of crime is over. Ophelia. I would have killed again. Am I still covered in acid?

I guess I'm still covered in acid. You are. So you take three points of acid damage. We are still up. All right. I'm going to get up. Bonus action. 15 feet. So you still got your bonus action you

still have your action they still have my um blood points and uh they would go away when your rage ends so you're at reset to zero unfortunately you've just been beaten up and no you couldn't get the engine going like you know the machine doesn't get rolling, you know. Wipe the acid off. Yeah, I'm going to wipe the acid off. All right, so you spend your action kind of wiping the acid off. Can I get close to the fountain? Can I duck behind the fountain if I've got enough movement there? So you go five, ten, fifteen.

Yeah, you can get to here. Yeah, I'll get in there. Duck in there and just... Even probably, like, using the fountain to, like, wipe the acid off you and stuff. Yep, absolutely. That's my turn. Alrighty, that's going to be your turn. Sorry about that.

That's all right. We then go to Brave Brave Lieutenant. The Rusty Hammer. The Rusty Hammer. He has used his Guild Sweeper tech, so he can't use that again, but he's got his Blacksmith's Hammer. Kill him, bro.

That is a hit 21. Kill him dead, kill him dead. It is a mundane hammer, so very much like Rowan, it's not gonna have its full effect. Sure. But it is nine points of damage, so very much like Rowan, it's not going to have its full effect. Sure. But it is nine points of damage, so half down to four points of damage.

God King. He's the best of us. He's going to be around forever. Nothing's going to happen to him. Stop talking! As he hits it, I'm going to use this creature's villain action for the turn to use... There he goes. Devour NPC.

No. There goes my hero. Watch him. Acidic Retribution. Oh, shit. Each creature within 15 feet of the target. So Rowan, 15. Not me, I don't think.

So... 15. We're close. You would have actually been here. Oh, so it does get you there. It does get you, because you would have actually been here oh so it does get it does get you because you would have been knocked from this thing so I this thing is technically like hovering here basically so like Rose so uh no well we'll see uh so Rowan xanthius and the lieutenant all must make dexterity saving throws DC 13. I am prone and the entangle doesn't it doesn't affect this no it's

just does prone effects take clarity I don't believe it does no I'm gonna say it doesn't for now watch this oh baby I pass I hope you did it's 19 passes 19 passes DC 13 hellan? Does he still take half damage though? You still take half damage. The lieutenant fails. That is 12 points of acid damage. So 6. 6. Oh!

I want to use my shield to... Not my shield, my runes to... How many have I got left? Okay. Did I use one a couple of turns ago? Or one turn ago? No. You did, but then you said you got them back because you used Seeking Spell.

Yes, I did. I have two. I'm going to use... The No. You did, but then you said you got them back because you used Seeking Spell. Yes, I did. I have two. I'm going to use... The Lieutenant's still up, but it takes some damage. One of those. Minus four. So six minus four is two. I need to use another one. One. I reduce it by five points. I have one HP. Right. I see. Okay.

But I use both of my runic shields. So you kind of, as you're on the ground, trying to protect yourself with my runic shield. Yeah. So you kind of, as you're on the ground, trying to protect yourself with this runic magic. I like, yeah, the thing just launching towards me. I just shield over the very top of me, like Indiana Jones in a fridge. Excellent. That was after the lieutenant's go.

Fucking hell. Can't believe you're still up. I'm still up, baby. So you've not taken your turn yet, have you, Xanthas? No. It's your turn next. When does the acid damage happen? Well, you coated in acid. You didn't wipe it off, did you?

At the start of the turn. One point of acid damage. But he passed so he didn't get coated in it. I did get coated in it. I did fail. Did you save at the end of your turn? But I thought you did a half save. You save at the end of your turn? But I thought you did a half save. You saved at the end of your turn, yeah. Okay, it is off.

There you go. Dear God. Listen, I can't keep track of that stuff. Sorry. There are so many little things going on. You're welcome. You are every woman to me. So is that this?

You're saying all women are the same. You are prone? No, I'm saying every woman is Kim to me right now. I don't know how it works. There's three Kims here. I'm prone, yes. What would you like to do? Well, I would like to stand up.

Half movement? Gruff summoned me. You can't get to Gruff. I can't. I mean, I have to go 15 feet, right? And also this thing has reach. It's got reach, yeah. Has it got like 15 feet of reach?

10 feet of reach. Oh, so I am still out of... He's going to reach for the stars. Wait, am I within 10 feet, right? And also this thing has reach. It's got reach, yeah. Has it got like 15 feet of reach? 10 feet of reach. Oh, so I am still out of... He's gonna reach for the stars. Wait, am I within 10 feet of it? You're within 15 feet of him. Okay, well I wanna go... Because he hit it with his eruption. I wanna go around the back of this lamppost.

Scramble over these boxes. Scramble over the boxes. You can only get to there because this is difficult terrain. That's okay. There's the best I can do, but I'm gonna do another Sc there because this is difficult terrain. That's okay. There's the best I can do, but I'm going to do another Scorching Ray. All right.

Because we still have advantage, right? You do? Yeah. Great. So three advantage attacks against this guy. Cool. That is a 23 for the first one. 23 hits.

I'll just do all three attacks and then see how the damage goes. Sure. It's not resistant to it, so. 22. Hits. And 18. 18 hits. All three hits.

So you can do 66 damage here if you want. 66 damage. 2d6 each blast. Can I have a d6 from someone? Thank you. Right. That is, oh. You're welcome. 11 on the first one. 8 on... Oh. You're welcome.

11 on the first one. 8 on the second one, so 19. And 7 on the third one. That's good damage. Yeah, you watch as Xanthius barely still standing, kind of stumbles over these boxes. When he does his best. Covered, you know, burns of acid,

and just bam, bam, bam, these blasts of fiery energy pass through this thing, you know, burning away at this fog and diminishing it significantly. This thing looks rough. Good. No, I still must. Even if you defeat me now,

I will return, and I will remember you. I don't like him. Anything else on your turn, Xanthias? That was really good. That was a lot of damage. Bonus action. No, no, no. Da-da-da-da! Oh, yes! Yes!

Da-da-da-da! The crossbow guy, he's back. He fires a grappling hook. No, he doesn't. The mysterious marksman will take a shot with his crossbow. For a 20 to hit, he hits. Oh, lord. We're never gonna see this person again.

Oh, actually, no, it's a detail. It's like the mysterious straight-up kill. I don't know. I'm gonna make a Lord. We're never going to see this person again. Oh, as you know, it's a detail. It's like the mysterious trailer. I don't know. I'm going to make a point. We need to make friends with this one guy. You! What's your name? It's a mundane crossbow, so eight, so it goes to four.

I have the darkness. The bolt does pierce through, and it kind of scatters some of the smoke, and you kind of see the... It definitely hits and does, yeah and seems to have injured it further. The perfect trajectory hits Xanthius. Yeah, exactly. But that is marksman. The tiniest of scratches on your arm.

Collapse instantly, yeah. I believe that is a brand new round. That is everybody has taken a turn. Oh, what a guy. This thing is looking pretty rough. So. Yes. I am going to...

First of all, I have to see if one of his abilities recharges. Oh, no. It's not the beam. I need a six. Three. Does not recharge. Okay. So.

I don't know which one this is. I think it's acidic retribution. It is. That was its nose, which one this is. I think it's acidic retribution. It is. That was its nose, the big line attack. It's recharging. Instead, what I'm going to have it do is... Oh, it turns away from me. Oh, that's good.

No, it's kind of turning around. It can't move because it's still restrained. Oh, yeah. So I am just going to launch an attack. I can't do that as a ranged. So I'm going to attack... I mean, I'm not going to attack the lieutenant. I'm going to attack Rowan.

He's right there. So I'm going to attack Rowan. I'm going to use its acidic claw to attack you, Rowan. But I think that's going to be a failure. That's only a nine to hit. That does not hit. Yeah. So he goes to swipe, but's going to be a failure. That's only a nine to hit. That does not hit. Yeah. So he goes to swipe, but you manage to duck underneath it.

You can see that it's just lashing out, almost like in a death throes now. The smoke is beginning to filter away from Teresa's mouth. This thing is nearly at its end. We go to after the demon. It is Rowan. Your turn. Get him!

The impulse to do vicious mockery. I will not do it. I'm going to swing. This thing might be immune to psychic damage. You don't know. It's a fog boss. I'm just going to continue my longsword damage. That's all I can really do at this point.

Whilst shouting, Xanthius, that's so impressive, but please stop drawing attention to yourself. They are just beams of light. It's like a runway. 17 plus five. Attack is a hit. That is, yeah. Right here.

And then a d10. Two-handed sword strike. Yeah. Nine points. So after Yeah. Nine points. So half to four. Is enough. Yeah. You swing the sword down,

and you actually sever the smoke as it's coming out of Teresa's mouth, and that seems to be in its weakened state. The creature is no longer able to maintain its form. You watch as the last few trails, and Teresa, just completely unconscious, falls on the ground. The last few trails and Teresa, just completely unconscious, falls on the ground. The last thing you hear is,

You have not seen the last of me. I will remember. And then almost picked up by the night breeze, it vanishes. We're in danger. And then almost picked up by the night breeze, it vanishes. We're in danger. The dwarf kind of stumbles, puts his hammer on the ground, like catches his breath, the marksman vanishes.

Oh no! They better reappear in just random fights. I just love the idea that now there's gonna be urban legends of like, did you hear about the roofed rock? Is it gonna be like that one Wolfpack member that just appears looking around the corner every now and then? I am putting them down as the Mysterious Marksman. Write this down on your fate dice, that's a new ability.

We can call upon the marksman. I wanna call upon your fate dice. That's a new ability. We can call upon the Marksman. I want to call upon the Marksman! I do like that, though. I think that that can only be used in Ashen's Rest. Right. Yes! And maybe you... I think that you've earned the trust of the Blacksmith's Guild here.

Yes! Hell yeah. I really like the idea of evolving abilities that are based on narrative scenarios that you can spend fate dice on. Only at night and only in the alleyways. If there's a rooftop. If there's a rooftop.

If there's a rooftop, we can call upon a wayward bolt. Yeah, I really like that as an idea. I'm going to think about it, but I really like it. If not, hey, I just love this concept. Also, you don't know who they are. You know nothing about them. We will discover. We'll get to the bottom of this.

Our hero. Okay. But yeah. Sim-sum. We come out of combat. I think, yeah, I'm in a similar position. I am very wounded. Yeah, you do see that, like,

now that you have a brief moment's pause, right, the light's been shut off, the people in these that, like, now that you have a brief moment's pause, right, the light's been shut off, the people in these houses, like, the doors open and, like, people peer out. You see frightened faces, like, is it gone? Like, what was that thing? They're, like, looking towards you, and they don't seem to know who this blacksmith is. Like, this is not their part of town.

So, like, these frightened people, like, we saw you fighting with the carpenter's guild we didn't want to get involved but what was that thing like oh we were we were trying not to watch but when i saw it and we heard its voice and they're like looking at you with these terrified faces um obviously there was there's been like you know sounds of fighting but you don't see any signs of, like, the Duke's guards, like, being summoned or anything like that because maybe the guild sort of, like,

this was a bit of a street fight between the gangs. There was a bit of a, like, well, we're going to ignore that part of town. And there wasn't, like, a big explosion or, like, loud magic, really. This is, you know, it's unlikely that the Duke's guards will hear it. Some of the people that live here,

they are going to come out, and the people that, like, all the knocked unconscious carpenters' guild hear it um some of the people that live here they are going to come out and the people that like all the the knocked unconscious carpenters guild and maybe even some of the ones that were slain in the combat they are going to look at you all and the blacksmith is going to kind of say i don't know what happened here but i know that without you we probably wouldn't have made it we'll We'll take care of this. And he gestures at the unconscious carpenter's guild and things like that, and he's like, look, if word of this gets out,

I don't know what kind of panic it might cause, but whatever the lamplighter's guild are up to, it's bigger than I could have ever imagined. Um. I think,'ll take this to the Duke. The Duke needs to know. He needs to know. They need to know. I'll let Hera, the guildmaster of the Blacksmith's Guild, know what happened here. What's your name? Oh, yeah, he kind of, like, says, oh, my apologies. I wasn't prepared to give you my name until now.

Call me Grayson. Grayson, it was an honor to fight alongside you today. And I'm glad it was alongside you, not against you. He looks towards the alley. I wish the others had made it. We weren't expecting... We thought this would be just a beating, see you off, give you some bruises, maybe some broken bones.

We were just trying to protect, not just our part of Ashenrest, but we knew the Carpenters had also been having trouble with the Lamblators, we wanted to come lend them a hand. But I'm glad that this didn't turn into bloodshed between us, but that thing. And there's definitely like, he looks towards Xanthius and Daisy.

There's a little twinkle of like something. I don't know what you did, but that thing seemed to, it just seemed to know things about, I said stuff, what was it talking about? Lucent's and you used magic. I've never seen anything like it. I think following the battle, like shortly afterwards,

last time I used that ability, it was like a roaring flame in my chest. This time it's more diminished. It's that light that was pulsing is like slowly starting to fade again. I'm like clutching at my chest, but also trying to go towards Graf, who was calling for me to come closer.

Staggering and limping your way over there. We were hired by the lamplighters to protect the engineer. Maybe we can go back. Maybe we can find out something from the inside. We can gain their trust. We'll call this a failed mission, but we might be able to find out some more

if we go back to them. You do what you think you have to. If you need the help of my guild, Hera, our guild mistress, we're in the Greyforge district. Let us know. Keep us informed. And if you can, speak to the Duke. Let him know. I'll tell you this. The Duke won't believe you without hard proof, I don't think. The Lamplighters have been a big part of Ash and Rest for a very long time.

They helped defend the city long ago in the Oryat insurrection. The Duke trusts them. So if you want to bring allegations against them, you'll need proof. What they're up to, I don't know. And it sounds like, I don't think any points at Teresa I don't think this young woman would have put herself in that danger if she knew but someone does maybe this isn't all of the lamplighters guild maybe it's just some of them maybe this is maybe it's not even them maybe

they're being used as pawns like this woman was, but something I can't even imagine. I'd also recommend, if necessary, go and speak with the church. Bright Shadow Cathedral, whatever that thing was, it wasn't from our world, and that means, and he looks up, it's from beyond. There's no way they would allow something like that to happen here in the city.

Look, I've got to go. I've got to attend to my people and I'll send some people. We'll try and take care of this. I'll tell you this, though. The Carpenters Guild aren't going to think on you favorably. From what I can tell, you've beaten up their lads

and you've killed a few of their lackeys, for better or for worse. They're probably not going to be your mates, but I'll let them know that you weren't... You didn't know. That you're not working for the Lamplighters, that you were pawns in this. Try and minimize that damage. If you need me, I'll be up in the guild, Blacksmith's Guild.

But I've got to go. Be safe. Thank you. Yeah. Avoid when the lights are on. Something was different about this, but... ..if you go out of the main city, if you go out of the main city, if you go out of the main thoroughfares, you go to the Greyforge district, here to Riverside, just be wary of their thoughts.

Don't get caught up. Try not to get angry until we can figure this mess out. Maybe there was something different about this one. I don't know. But just as a precaution be wary and if you know anybody who knows anything about magic maybe they can help figure things out and he points to the broken lantern like i don't know magic i i don't know anything about it but if you can find someone who does maybe or if any of you can examine it, figure something out. And then he'll basically go and gather his fallen companions.

He blows on his whistle and somewhere, the masked marksman, the mysterious marksman, meets up with him again. But yeah, Grayson's gonna make his way out. How does Theresa? Well, I was gonna say Rowan would forklift. She's only a halfling, so she's tiny compared to Rowan. Yeah, easy.

Put her on her shoulder. Willing to carry her. She weighs nothing. You can easily carry her easily. Swing her around like this. Yeah, easy. No, she is unconscious. She's like the guys you knocked out.

This is not us. She's sleeping. She is unconscious. She was at zero hit points and is now stable, basically. Rowan will look down, a little worried at Theresa and just very gently closed her jaw. Yeah. And eyes.

I think maybe we need Theresa to join us at the Duke's audience tomorrow as an eyewitness. If she remembers any of it. If she remembers, but maybe rather than returning her to the Lamplighters Guild. Yes, I agree. We care for her tonight. Maybe as well we get eyewitness statements

from all of these citizens here. So at least we can take it to the Duke. Can we take the light, the broken one? Good idea. Yes, we can. Yeah, you can, you can't take the whole lamppost, but you can salvage like the crystals. It looks like there was an engraved crystal

with various glyphs and sigils on it. You can see that there is not technological mechanisms, but more magical-looking enchantments. This is an enchanted item rather than anything else. There are bands of metal. All of it has engraved with sigil markings. It's not just the crystal itself, though, is it? The casing as well.

The casing and the, because it was connected to the ley lines, right? So is the entire... I mean, they said something about ley lines again. You don't know how much is that true. There is like a metal pole that goes into the ground. Yeah, but that's like a massive, like, you know, sort of like eight foot tall metal, solid steel or solid iron pole. You're not going to be able to carry that.

No, no, no. I just, like, the crystal itself isn't the only part of this magical construction. No. I guess what I'm saying is... Imagine, like, a kind of, like, a lamppost, right? It's that. But you've got, like, the top, you know, the light bit that's been broken off by the radiant blade and the arrow.

Like, that's been broken. You can take that with you. So if somebody wants to write down that you have a broken Everlight, cool. As long as somebody, because again, like make sure you write down, if you're gonna take stuff, make sure you write it down. I think maybe I'll stay here and collect some eyewitness statements

from the citizens here. You might want to talk to that Blackwing fella about this kind of magic. He also wanted to see Ophelia. That's true. I can help you with statements, Gruff. You're good at that. You're good at the fancy writing.

Who is this Blackwing? Oh, that's a big story. We thought a tower ate him, and then it turns out the tower didn't eat him. It opened a secret magic door that wasn't there before. Just for me. Just for him. There's a tower with no door.

You've heard of this before. Gruff tried to climb the tower. Gruff couldn't climb the tower. It was very smooth. Couldn't get his claws in. So then we... The tower itself doesn't matter. Inside the tower is a being more ancient

than Althea itself. And we met them. What is in this tower? Ancient magical beings. Demons coming out of smoke. What is happening? Would you like me beings, demons coming out of smoke. What is happening? Would you like me to get you a glass of wine? I am here for diplomacy and for educational purposes, and I'm...

And you're getting it. A lot of education, because we're all learning a lot here too. I nearly died! Santheus! I'm there too. If it helps, we don't really know what's going on either. This isn't normal. This is very wrong.

I feel very out of my depth, I'll be honest. Rowan's gonna be cradling Theresa, and we'll just do a gentle final last spell slot healing word. Yeah, her eyes kind of flutter open and she's just like, oh hello no need to be alarmed oh what what happened are you okay yes i've got a i've got a terrible headache and my my throat

feels all sort of funny and and sore and the last thing i remember is is you went to speak with those those the the blacksmith the thugs and and then oh i i just i was so frightened and it's okay you don't need to recall all of that right now let's just remain nice and calm oh okay yes and that all the bad stuff is over now the ruckus is dispersed so to speak oh bad and we're going to take you somewhere where you can get some assistance. Oh, but that's not... But the lights, we've got to fix the lights. And she can see that she's still, like,

sleepy and a bit delirious, but is like, no, no, no, I've got to do my job. I'm afraid you're injured and you need some attention. Oh, no. All right. And you see, like, her eyes. Yeah. I mean, there's definitely an element here of, like,

she's had a pretty terrible fright and she's been badly injured's definitely an element here of like, she's had a pretty terrible fright and she's been badly injured and even your healing, like, she's like, all right, okay. I'll just have to apologize to the chief engineer, the chief illuminator. Right. Maybe this was too early for me to,

maybe I should just have stayed in the workshop and she's just sort of like, yes, let's head back. This has been a bit of of a and you can see she doesn't seem to remember like like her memory seems to stop looking a little concerned that everyone else is like i'm trying to remember yeah like yeah i mean yeah i think we're returning the same sort of similar so looks i will take the broken ever light though okay Okay. Just if we're going to Blackwing. So Daisy and Gruff are going to stay and try and gather some sort of reports.

It's going to take some time. Just to speed things up, you gather the statements, but the people that live and have seen what was happening, remember that this is quite dark and everyone's going about their business. There's probably, yeah, there would be three families

and the people that run the store. Two of the families actually saw what happened and the storekeeper saw what happened. But they're terrified. There's a lot of sort of like, oh, well, I think it looked like some sort of like smoke came out of the woman's mouth. It was like some sort of, you know,

they say things like, well, maybe some sort of elemental or magic spell. Like they don't really know because they didn't get a close-up look of it. They speak in very vague terms. They can collaborate that something came out of Teresa and attacked everybody and that you had fought the guild, that there was a bit of a kind of guild business. You had a fight and then you was a bit of a kind of guild business. You had a fight.

And then you went to talk to this other guild. And then something happened to the lamp lighter lady. And then this thing came out and attacked everyone. And you can see that there's acid markings all over the ground. They can contribute to pretty much everything that wasn't, this was a demon. And that it was because of some sort of influence from the light. They don't know any of that stuff.

But they still saw something happening. Something that is adjacent to what we would be describing. Some sort of magical incident happened. Does this plaza or this area have a particular name to it? God damn it. It's okay if they haven't named it yet. We'll just find out a little bit later i will tell you next week i'm looking around for a sign and it's weird it's just too dark it's too dark to read

yeah it's spattered with acid avenue i think next next week i'll have the thought rock down to electric avenue electric heaven no it's not i will will let you know that. I think it is good to give it a name. Well, yeah, I mean, it makes sense if we were to describe, like the people of this area here would, yeah. If I have got the Broken Everlight, could I make a quick, like a check for anything? I don't know. Sure.

This boy is wielding similar magic. You can make an arcana check. You just put it in your heart. Yeah, if it infects you, I'm knocking you on the head. One question I have, if you guys can remember, you might not remember, but when we did, when you were helping the bathhouse, who was it that actually investigated the fountains?

Hello. And you were the one who picked up, there was like a malignant aura, wasn't it? I got an idea as well that's right I'll colour check please I've got the other light and they did say someone magical it's the end of the session

is it? it is pretty much the end of the session feels gamey to me, straight roll that is a I appreciate it, I respect it 14 as you're walking and you're turning this thing over in your hand That is a... I appreciate it. I respect it. 14. A 14. I mean, yeah. As you're walking,

and you're turning this thing over in your hand, examining it, there's no sign of... You know, yeah, this is like a light. Most of the enchantment here is... It draws upon this ley line sort of power. Rather than it being underground, the ley lines are almost like invisible kind of like wind currents, like these invisible currents of magic

floating from the larger braziers on the wall. It's in my head now. Fourth try. And these kind of flow through the city and the lights draw on that power to power the magic and it is a pretty simple light spell uh it is permanent it's continuous okay doesn't need to be upkeeped

make an investigation check investigation i don't have any bonus from investigation i think i i will use it for that one in front of you because yeah wait a minute yeah no i don't i don't really like the idea of using them just because I think I will use it for the one in front of you cuz yeah No, I don't worry like the idea of using them just because of end of session, but it makes sense. I would use it here. Oh Actually, so I wrote a 10 and a 6 on the fake dice. So 16 16 total 16 total I have plus 0 I would say with a 16 You you're not an engineer you're not an officer, you're not an officer, you don't really know how this works,

but there is something about it. And as you're kind of fiddling with the light, not something that Teresa would have been interacting with, but something she's installed. Like it looks like she's installed some sort of metallic disc that's used to draw on the ley lines and maybe like enhance the light. Maybe this is what she was repairing But that disc yeah, you you can tell that that's what Teresa added during her repairs

And as you kind of fiddle with a disc you there's a little bit of it. That's loose And when you slide it you notice that it's not one metal solid metal disc. It's two Mm-hmm, but the seam is almost invisible and you slide it and when you You notice that it's not one metal solid metal disc, it's two. But the seam is almost invisible, and you slide it, and when you open it, there is something else there. And what you see is, it's not what you're thinking, it is another magic sigil,

but this is not one that creates light. You don't know what this sigil but this is not one that creates light you don't know what this sigil does but you know it is not an understood spell and there is almost a symbol drawn in the middle of it that looks like a number of uh it's like a circle with multiple geocentric circles around that circle. And there are small runes. You don't know what they mean, but they seem to almost indicate points around this symbol. Definitely not light spell. Way beyond the veil of light spell at this point. This is something else entirely, and hidden.

The fact that you were suspicious is the only reason that you found it. Like, Teresa probably would never have known this was here when she was putting it in. And these discs are in, what, every lantern in the city? Maybe. The ones that are on the ley lines. Or maybe it's just, maybe Theresa was sent out to repair these ones

and this is a new thing to fix them. You don't know. You'll need to either ask her or find out more about them. I almost imagine for the episode we see that last, like, you looking at this bizarre symbol and this very eldritch looking spell

incantation enchantment and that's maybe the last thing we see as the episode ends. That is juicy. Awesome. Juicy. I am so into this. I love this. Yeah? Just poor Ophelia kind of just got battered around.

Yeah. It's okay. You'll meet an ancient being next episode. That'll be nice. Maybe. With that, that is going to be the end of the episode. Thank you so much for joining us. We'll see you next time.

Hell yeah. Bye-bye. Yeah. Bye. See ya.