High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois | #13 - The Princess and The Pixie (Part 2)

Episode Date: November 1, 2018

We're trying to defuse a situation with a Pixie and begin exploring the elven ruins! D&D Beyond is the official digital toolset for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. Use the code HIGHROLLING on D&D Beyond (http://bit.ly/dndbeyondhighrollers) to get 25% off all digital items (excluding the Legendary Bundle)! World Anvil gives you the tools to make fantastic new worlds with the ability to generate interactive maps, timelines, character sheets, stat blocks and more! Create your FREE account at www.worldanvil.com now and start building your universe! Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Welcome back to High Rollers, a Dungeons & Dragons podcast in the world of Erois. We're back in the main campaign after a short break with our sponsors, D&D Beyond, who have recently launched Twitch integration. Watch us on twitch.tv forward slash High Roll rollers D&D to see that in action. We also have a new sponsor. World Anvil is a tool for game masters, story writers, and more, giving you the ability to create amazing, diverse assets for your campaigns, including character sheets and stat blocks, timelines to chart the history of your world,

and interactive maps for your characters to explore. So if you're a dungeon master, writer or artist, or you just want to play around and make some dumb maps like I've been doing for the last two hours, then head to www.worldanvil.com and make your free account now. Oh, and one last thing, just so you have some context for this episode. This was our Halloween stream and there are probably a couple of references to the outfits we're wearing so to fill you in kim is miss marvel trot is kylo ren katie is merida from brave i am a terrible attempt at ramona flowers and mark decided to scar us all by dressing as barizette you are

better off listening to this episode trust me anyway. Anyway, wow, that was a long intro. Let's finally jump back into Arois, run by Dungeon Master Mark Humes, with me, Tom, playing Keelakad Kalar, the bard slash cleric. I am Chris Trott. I'm playing Lucius Viren, Elowin Elanastio. And I am a high elf sorcerer. Hi, I'm Katie. I'm playing Ayla, a wild elf barbarian. And I'm Kim. I'm playing Nova, who is an air ganassi, and she is a hexblade warlock. Today, the party are trying to diffuse a situation with a pixie and begin exploring the elven ruins. Welcome back.

The party were trying to make their way into this old elven palace ruin. However, on trying to get through the gardens, they had been waylaid, accosted, by a pixie who was attempting to keep them out using a variety of spiels. Spiels! So we currently have, I believe at the top of the round, we have Ayla. She just suggested that I go inside. And I think that the pixies compel means that she has to try and break that suggestion.

Oh. She got counter-de-spell. So she casts Dispel Magic, which does remove the confusion effect as well. Doesn't that require action, though? Yes, and it's her turn. Oh. She goes before Aelod does. Or at the very end of the turn, rather.

and it's her turn. Oh. She goes before Aelod does. Or at the very end of the turn, rather. So the pixie, like, you see her wave her hands and this kind of

blanket field of magic erupts out of her. It cancels the suggestion. It also cancels the compulsion. Does anything else cancel in the immediate area? So any magical effect

currently in a place would cancel, I believe. So we're completely normal now. She's ended the compulsion, which is what she said would need to let us in. Because of the spell. She's ended the confusion on you guys, not the compulsion on her. She said either the spell ends or we get through. What?

Remember before? She had to dispel Nova's spell. Yes. Have you dispelled Nova? Nova's spell would allow her to get inside. But she said her prerequisites for not letting us through were if we were to end our compulsion. No, no, no, no, no.

She meant that if you get rid of the compulsion, you can go inside or get out of her way or knock her out or something like that. It's more what she meant. Can I, as a result of the... Well, it's Ayla's turn. Okay, sure, fine. Where is it? Where is it? Can I see the pix result of the- Well, it's Ayla's turn. Okay, sure, fine. Where is it?

Where is it? Can I see the pixie? Yeah, you see it. Yeah, it's like just in the garden. It's like looking at you. It's just cast a spell that's removed it. And you see it like looking at you, this tiny little feminine figure

with this like little leaf barely covering itself. Get in the house! It's looking at you, yeah. Can I walk over to it yeah you can try yeah absolutely do you want to try and grab it yeah make an attack roll see if you hit it first bye-bye peaceful route 19 19 yeah you like snatch it um i guess it's gonna try and make an acrobatics check to try and get away. Give me a strength check. Just a straight up strength check. 23. Nope.

You're like, and you've got it in both hands. And you can see like, trying to get away. Why would you do that? Because I have to. I have to. It's all in my face now. Who's in the house? We've been over this

The princess I wasn't there The princess was in there She's in there She's the one that summoned me Is there only one? One ghost? No

Well there's I think there's some other spirits I don't know You think or you know Quill Oh my god We've been over this We can explain where we're inside

When we're inside We're out of the range of the... Can I take this thing with me? No, because then it would come with us and then it would be trying to get us out of the place. Can we use it against her in some way? Because it's annoying. No, it takes orders from her.

Nova. Oh. I guess as I'm doing that, I'm walking towards the door. Yeah, that's fine. Ayla, just put her down and get in the house. If I put you down? You're not going to do anything. It's not your turn.

You doing anything, Nova? Walking into the house. Okay. So, well, as you approach the door, you find that the main door is locked. Funnily enough. Just leave the door open. Why would he do that? Who locks their front door? Most people. Locked. Funnily enough. Oh, wow. You just leave the door open. Why would he do that?

Who locks their front door? Most people. Locked Lucius. Vala, we need your skills again to open this door. Okay, is that weird thing going to do anything funny, though? No, Aayla's got it very much grappled. Okay. Be really quick.

She will try and make her way over. i aid her what do you mean as in you want to make the help action yes yeah sure so there's a lock yep so you're you're literally that's what you're doing you want to mansplain but i might also distract pixie Trying to find something. I don't know why or how. I'll just shake it a little bit. Why is it not... Why can't I find this? When it was casting spells would it have been moving his hands around and stuff? Like maybe it can't do the The motions anymore now that it's been grappled. Depends what the spell is. Depends. Innate spells they can still do For some reason I can't find what I need. Somatic spells by speaking. But I'm pretty sure it is just a...

Don't flick it too many times though, it's tiny. What are you looking for? A spell. Is it the give up spell? Can you find Polymorph for me? What? Ah, no! I need to know what kind of save it is.

It's gonna turn black, you guys. I think it's wisdom. I of save it is. It's going to turn out to be wisdom, isn't it? I think it's wisdom. I think it's wisdom. It's got to be wisdom. Natural 20. Ha! She's too angry to be turned into an animal. You feel this little creature just kind of go, meh. And you feel this wave of magic wash over you, but it doesn't quite take effect.

Kind of flick it in the head. Yeah, sure. Roll. What's your strength modifier because unarmed strikes for you is one plus this tiny thing cool is an unarmed strike well an unarmed strike it's strike it says they it's plus six to hit uh yeah make an attack where you have advantage because you've got it grappled Advantage because you've got it grappled Yeah, you hit and then how much damage did you do on an arm straight actually no it doesn't say it's my strength normally So you find points of damage? Yeah, that's enough to pretty much annihilate this thing Are you just like flicking it as hard as you can?

It's head and you're like as you can. Just knock out. I just want to knock it out. So you just get its head and you're like, ugh. I just want to knock it out. You don't realise that this thing is so tiny. Oh, I know. And you're very strong. I know. So as you, it just like, ugh, and then its head, oh no.

Falls off just like that. Its head falls off. No, yeah, you knock this creature out. It goes unconscious. Okay, it's unconscious. It's unconscious. It's not it's unconscious it's not bad it's only it's got one hit point that's why i'm gonna make a flick and like knock it out because it's got one hit point oh my god um yeah and it just goes limp hey love solved the problem i mean yes but we i said i didn't want to hurt it. I didn't.

Mala just, like, scoots past. What? It was trying to do stuff to me again. I suppose we're lucky she didn't use the hammer. That would have been hilariously too much. I'm just thinking. I honestly thought that when she started walking up to that thing, the hammer was going to come down. That would have made a mess.

Yep. You've shown some rare restraint, Ayla. I'd like to think so. We're all showing some fantastic new traits today. Valor's got the time. Thanks, Valor. It's okay. Do they have tiny spoons? And tiny rolling pins?

And tiny cutting boards? Oh, um... And do they eat tiny cookies? Cookies? Are steaks tiny too? Why don't you wake her up and ask her? Don't wake her up. Do not dare. What are you going to do with...

Vicious. Her? It? I don't know what to call her. Leave her on the doorstep. She said that if we broke the spell that brought her here, she can go back to where she's from. She also said that she won't follow us into the place. So what can she do if we're in?

Well, supposedly this princess... Summoned her here. Veselvana summoned her here Vesselvana Summoned her here So we can either ask her really nicely To like let her go Or exercise the ghost Oh I feel like if it's a cast Is that hard?

I don't know I've honestly never done this before I feel like if it's a cast spell It's a spell that's been cast It's like trying to tell a magic missile to hit someone else instead. It doesn't happen. Okay. But she probably gives it. I'm just going to put the pixie down into the rose bush where it came from.

Okay. You put it back where it's come from. Just kind of like... Just put her on her side so she doesn't choke on her tongue. Fine. Tiny tongue. What if they have tiny toothbrushes? I'm just going to put a leaf on her so that she's warm.

It's because my ears are like... Tiny pillows and duvets. Well, now she can have a tiny leaf to keep her warm. I'm not covering the tiny pixie with a tiny leaf. Nova will do it. You've done it. Nova's put a little leaf. Okay. Recovery position. Recovery position for pixies with the tiny leaf. Nova will do it. You've done it. Nova's put a little leaf. Okay.

Recovery position. Recovery position for pixies. Yeah. Great. Elora would have fucking loved this. Okay. Yeah. Sick! So, the door is unlocked but not

opened yet. What would you like to do? So, what was the princess's name? Vesselvana. Vessel Vana. Vessel Vana. Didn't you say you saw something at the door, or was that at the window? Oh yeah, a super scary lady telling me to leave. Right. That was probably the pixie, though.

It was an illusion. Oh. Well, then the door is safe. We still have to deal with a ghosty, though. Potentially more than one. Yeah, she mentioned there were several other spirits. And they could be more hostile. I think they're the people that I need to talk to, though.

So, gonna have to be nice to them. Well, we don't know the type of people. Whatever is in there, we're trying to dissuade. I mean, we're not bandits. We're not here to destroy the place or take it over. Seems like they just don't want anybody. Regardless. I mean,

if I was a spirit, I probably wouldn't want anybody like you guys. No offense. Coming near me. You're living right now and you don't want anyone near you. Precisely. So, I get it. But... I mean, if this if it's a spirit of some you. Precisely. So, I get it. But... I mean, if it's the spirit of some elven princess, I mean, I can't imagine that... I mean, it can't be that dangerous, right?

It's not like we're dealing with some sort of crazy wizard or, you know, some ancient tyrant bloody murderer kind of thing. They must have some serious reason as to summon a pixie to stop anyone from entering. What are they protecting? I mean, they could have summoned much worse, to be fair. Well, it is kind of unusual that an old high elf palace like this is down here in the lowlands. Obviously, they should have been up in the Sky City.

Has it been protected this whole time? Since before they went into the sky? Before they died, maybe. I don't know. I mean, have you heard of any Veselvana? Being a high elf yourself? Maybe in some history?

You can make a history check, Lucius. I was going to say something then. You can say something? You were going to say no. I'm not going to your level.

What? All elves know Elves. Natural 20. You got a natural 20? Natural 20. Yeah, man. Okay. You know everything.

I don't think that was... You know everything. You know each other. But, but, Vessel Vanna rings a bell. I don't know how much attention Lucius would have paid in school. That's up to you. If my nanny told me about it, then I know about it. Okay, then yeah, this would probably come from your nanny.

Vessel Venner was one, she's one of the, she's effectively a princess. She was the daughter of a very affluent, very um elven bloodline the king of a particular continent this was before uh the sundering um where the elves and that ruled different areas and they had this kind of like mountain cities um vesalvena was the daughter of one of them after the sundering she grew she was kind of known and the history books kind of told that she became obsessed with planar magic, which Siaska had banned. And her experiments into planar magic basically got her exiled from a sky city, from Gusthaven specifically. And she was exiled down to the lowlands and they built her a palace. They built her lovely grounds for her to live in.

And they assigned a squadron of paladins and warriors to watch her and make sure that she wasn't up to anything dangerous but the story goes that your nanny probably would have told you the kind of you know elaborated story version stories yeah was that uh vessel vayner um fell in love with an elven prince from another world, that she'd found a way to contact another planet, another world, and had fallen in love with this prince and dreamed of being together. They would speak, and it was a person that she found solace and compassion and peace with. And she attempted to find a way to bring him to Eroes,

which would have broken many of Siaska's rules about planar travel. And all that you know is that something went wrong and the warriors that were assigned to protect Vesalvena had to stop the ritual. And in doing so, everybody died. And it was very tragic. It's kind of like told as like a tragic love story and that trying to find, trying to bring themselves together, they ultimately found their

downfall. And it's kind of a word of warning. It's kind of like a tale of don't mess with Planar Magic. Like, only bad things will come from studying Planar Magic. Yes, and that's taught to all of us. So it's a wary tale to not have intercourse

before bonding. I see, okay. And who was the person she was trying to contact? It was only ever known as the name that you were told in the story was Prince Swiftsong,

a very handsome elven prince. My nanny always used to say I look like me. But my nanny was always very nice to me. I mean, that sounds tragic and definitely something we should keep into account when we do eventually, well, see her. I don't imagine she's going to be...

Maybe Valor's like, maybe that's why she's still a ghost. Maybe she's still looking for her lost love. That's what,'s what like all the stories that's how it would go in the stories anyway i mean after all this time she can't be sound of mind then again she may have died and this could be her you know her spirit trapped unable to ever see her prince we should find a way to to free her then like that's really sad. Yeah, send her on her way to Siaska. And this Swift song looked like you? That's what Nanny said.

But she's really nice to me. Right. He's a prince from a high place. This might bring up some memories. Not quite nobility, but yes, I guess. Or it might just be something Nanny said to make him feel better. But this type of person, if the story is true, is probably Quite nobility, but yes, I guess. Or it might just be something Nani said to make him feel better. Sorry.

But this type of person, if the story is true, is probably going to trigger a bad kind of... Or a good, but probably a bad... No one really knows what he looks like, because he's from a different planet. But you're like a high elf fancy pants. And he was a high elf fancy pants. No, she was.

She was high elf. He came from another world. He could have looked like me. Yes, could have been a strange creature. An alien. I'm not an alien. Tiny spoons. I don't...

Oh, you mean the... Okay. Anyway. Anyway. I'm terrified now. Good, good, good. I'm interested in the part about playing our magic. Yes, why don't you ask her how it works?

I will, because I want to travel to other worlds. Then figure out what went wrong, and don't do that. Well, maybe there's devices and other things in this place. Let's go! Sounds like a let's go situation. Be careful, because I'm entering my own legendary story from my childhood. It's quite traumatic. Everything's traumatic

to you, Lucius. Come on. You're not wrong. She's opening the door. Let's try and avoid any spooky spirits. Shall we go in? After me, I guess. You, Birdie.

You go, Quill. Okay. You open the door. It's been unlocked. And it leads into an entryway, an entry hall. It does creak as you open it. And there is a strong smell

of an undisturbed place, somewhere where people haven't been for a long time. Oh. That dusty, old smell. The entryway probably would have once been a grand hall, but now it's kind of

faded into a bit of disrepair. There's a thick line of dust on a lot of things. You can see that there are vases, but the flowers have long wilted, and now there are just these kind of like black stems, and very, almost like silk petals that have like drifted off them and have shriveled um on the on the the side the cabinet

that they're placed upon there are faded paintings um as you make your way down the paintings uh as you look there are two in this entry hallway one is of very... She's kind of plain-ish for an elven woman. She isn't strikingly beautiful, but she has that elven beauty of these pure-coloured blue eyes, this long, very well-kept hair. But her features are somewhat, you know, just normal. There's nothing striking about her. Elegant gown, and she's just sitting there quite calmly.

And on the other side, you can see what appears to be a very strange landscape. It doesn't look like it belongs on part of Erois. There are strange-looking flowers, strange-looking hilllands. The grass is like a bluish hue, and it looks very odd and very strange. Would Nova know anything about it, given her studies? You can make an Arcana check. I'm assuming you're

referring to the landscape painting. Yeah, the landscape painting. Sure. Because, you know, I have that book from my professor. Yep. That's her. That's Silvana. Sorry, what did you need to make 16 16 um it's not a plane you recognize or has been described to you before um a lot of the ones in your book tend to they they talk of older worlds or very dangerous planes. You know, planes of shadow and death.

These kind of old forgotten cities on grey moons covered in dust where skeletons and undead roam and that sort of thing. Yeah, this one, you can't really place it. It's strange. It's not one you've ever heard of before. Hmm. Or remember seeing described okay

unfortunately no and the hallway you can see that there is a door just down the hallway in front of you and then there are two side doors

as well next to the paintings that lead into rooms adjacent to this hallway oh so it's not like stairs up or not yet no um

well unfortunately still no comparison to Swift song so far there is just silence there are no animal sounds and the moon is just giving you a little bit of light enough that those of you with light dark vision you know you can still see a little bit in color but just the moon is just giving that slight silvery radiance. Not the moon. There is no moon on Araris. The stars and the cradle find the silvery radiance. Valor.

It's going to keep falling off. Yes? You're in touch with your arcane ability. A little bit, yes. I mean, I'm not particularly trained. You're more better trained than I am, Lucius. This is a great training ground. Can you sense anything? I don't know a spell that can detect magic like that.

Close your eyes. She closes her eyes. And just reach out. See if you can feel the ability of spells around you. Not the spells that you have inside you. Don't reach for those, but look for others around you. No. How about now?

I'm just going to do Dancing Lights while our eyes are closed. No? It's just like... Nothing? No. All right, we'll work on that. This must be a good opportunity to... I mean, there is no ability to just sense

magic, but sure. I think Lucius was trying to... Get her to cast something? No, to be Arcana. Arcana check doesn't detect magic. Arcana is the knowledge of magic. ...from the world, like you? No, she's holding her hand

out, but she's like, no, I can't sense anything. You know, like I could touch Echo and have like... Yeah, that's different. There was a direct interaction with a creature. But yeah, it's not an arcana check. I mean, you do make a good point anyway. It wouldn't hurt if I cast Detect Magic, but it will take me 10 minutes.

If you want to cast it as a ritual, you can cast it instantly using a spell slot. Yeah, you can take 10 minutes. So as a ritual, do I have to literally just be like sat there or can i do it as i'm doing like non-strenuous things you kind of have to focus on it you can't do other activities you don't have to be sat down you could be doing anything which you know you described the ritual to me but you can't be doing other things like opening doors or searching rooms okay you know you have like. If everyone is moving through the place and they're doing perception checks, I just follow

them. I guess for the next ten minutes I'll be preparing to ritual that detect magic on myself then. Onto that one eye. Okay. What's everyone else doing? Arbol is just

at the back with his crossbow and every shadow he's like, oh! Is that a ghost? I guess we're dancing like spinning around

there's shadows all over the place as well. He pulls his hat down his big cowboy hat narrows his eyes. Arvel, you're putting me on edge.

I'm, I'm, I'm on edge on edge. I'm on edge. I'm on edge. Stop it. Ghosts and spirits and specters. You think they're going to get hit by your crossbows? It's better than me doing nothing and letting them gobble up my soul. They do that? I don't know.

Do they gobble up souls? I don't know. I've never encountered one before. That's why I'm here. Right. Now that I'm here, I don't really know. Blasting freaking spooking ghosts. Don't like them. He's just mumbling to himself.

I don't really know what to ask them. Let's go as a group. Either way, let's wait for Birdie to do whatever he's doing. Okay. Stay in this room. So, who has passive perception above 14? I think it's just Quill, right? I was nerfed, wasn't I? It has a penalty, but it's still 15. I think it's minus 5, yeah, so I'm still 15.

So everybody, none of you notice this except Quill. Whilst you're doing this ritual. Yeah, would I if I'm still doing the ritual? You still notice it but it's up to you whether you want to stop doing the ritual to do something about it. Okay. What do you have on your person that you would describe as being shiny? I have a dagger, I have a potion

of healing which I guess is in a little container or something. And a shovel. Oh, you have your spyglass as well. And I guess is in a little container or something like that. And a shovel. Oh, you have your spyglass as well. And I guess all of my cartographer's tools are quite shiny. So you see this little hole in the air

appear, and from the hole a little grey hand, like a child's hand, reaches out, grabs the spyglass, and pulls it through the hole. Uh-oh. And it's gone.

But you see it. Whoop! And you just... Anyone? I don't know if I see it. Did anyone... I'm too busy looking at this portrait. What, Birdie? What's the matter?

I... Hand? Just took my... Yes portrait. What, Birdie? What's the matter? I... Hand? Just took my... Yes, we know, Birdie. It was very tragic. No, my spyglass. It's gone. Your spyglass? Did you drop it? No, no, a hand. It just came out of...

You lose it on the way here. No, I had it. I was using it to look into the... The pixie take it, because I can go and shake it and ask it where it is. Can you hear that? Did we hear the noise? You, yeah. Did you hear it? Then you heard something.

There's something in this room. Everyone, your possessions? Keep them all locked down. Keep the ritual going. Oh, yeah. Would I have broken it by that? Or say you can carry on. Okay.

Everyone just keep a watch out for tiny little... To yourself! Spyglass thief! Where was that coming from? That is an interesting noise. I do a perception to see if I know where this is going. Absolutely you can. Two.

Two? Five. It's so dark. Like, there's long shadows all throughout this entryway. Natural 20! So Nova looking around, do you want to roll as well, Katie? No? Nova, you're looking around.

You spot another little portal hole open up, like this little dimensional rift almost, and it opens up and it takes one of Lucius's jewels off of his little outfit and then just vanishes lucius doesn't notice i'm not but then you see the other you actually see the the refraction of the light from the other portal and on the ground near the door that's directly in front of the main door you see a creature it's got a large head the head is actually almost larger than its body. Its head is enormous with these big white eyes, these kind of goblin-like ears and teeth.

But it's just this giant head with a tiny little body and these long arms. And under one arm it's got the spyglass and it's now got the other gem that it's like biting. And then it looks up at you and it knows it's been spotted. And it just goes AHH! And then it looks up at you and it knows it's been spotted. And it just goes,

and then it just makes a big portal and then jumbles through it. And there's no time for me to like... You can try, yeah. If you want to try and like, what, grab it? Can I grab? Yeah. Okay, so you start running for it and then suddenly the floor in front, like between you and it, is

incredibly slick. Can you make a dexterity saving throw for me, please? Okay. What is this thing? A loot goblin. A loot goblin. 12. Okay, you just managed to keep your footing

as you're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. The floor is this puddle, this like five, 10 foot big puddle of this slippery oil just is all over the floor is this puddle, this like 5-10 foot big puddle of this slippery oil. Just is all over the floor. You're kind of like, and you just go for a grab of this creature. Make an attack roll for me. I'm on my iPhone because I've got my iPad.

So if you use Tiangong, just don't take a minus one penalty. So plus five. What's five plus eight? Three is eight. You swipe at it and it just manages to avoid your grasp as it tumbles through this little portal, like the game Portal. Can I see where he... You don't see where he goes. Well, actually, through the portal, you can see what appears to be a corridor with a staircase leading up.

And he's just like, ah! And then the portal closes. And we're like, darn it! Huh? Did anyone else see that? What? It was a little creature with a big head and really long arms.

He had your spyglass and a gem from your... Oh! Damn it! What was it? I don't know. I've never seen anything like that before. Was it a ghost? No, it was definitely a creature.

It's in a room with a corridor and some stairs. I don't know. Let's look for it. Goblins. How's that ritual going? Loots. Well, if it's using portals to take stuff, I'll be able to see where those portals are.

They must be magical. I can get back to it. By the way, there's some oil here, guys, by the way. Be very careful. It's very slippery. If you wait for Quill, by the time Quill's ritual finishes, the oil dries up. It seems to evaporate very, very quickly. Quill, your ritual finishes, and detect magic.

Can you give me, is it like 60 feet around you? Detect magic? I don't believe it goes through walls. ...is 30 feet. Okay. I can see a faint aura around any visible creature object that bears magic. Oh, it can penetrate most barriers but is blocked by one feet of stone, one inch of metal, a thin sheet of lead, or three feet of dirt or wood. Okay.

No, that's actually perfect. And you can maintain concentration on it, right? How long does it last? Ten minutes. Okay, perfect. So you are immediately 30 feet around you. You don't get the sense of magic, apart from the magic you're already carrying. So things like Aayla's hammer, Tiangong, which radiates very

strong magic presence, Lucius's equipment, etc. Any magic magic items you've got, et cetera. Okay, so I can't see... Nothing immediately, no. Okay. You do see that there is two doors, one on either side of you and one directly ahead. Okay.

Well, if what it's using is magic to get around and steal our stuff, then we should be able to follow it. Do you know where it went? All I saw was a corridor and some stairs.'s look for that that's the best we got yeah which door I guess we're gonna have to make a choice either way mmm any meanie miney mo no no Moe is exit Moe's the way out for it forward we'll go forwards so you move up forward and you find that there's another wood panel door do you open it? Are you testing it?

I will open it. Okay, so Nova opens it, doesn't appear to be locked, and it leads out into a long corridor with what appear to be a set of stairs, like a grand staircase. It kind of goes up to a landing and then it goes up to a second floor. And the corridor seems to be looked down upon by the second floor, like a galley, like a gallery kind of looks down into this floor. It's got like a tall ceiling.

Are there any little creatures? You do not see any little creatures immediately. But you begin to hear a kind of like sound. Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Interesting. Vocalisation. Yeah, it's... Rage.

Let's go. Good reminder not to be distracted by the little goblin too much. Rage. Interesting. And then appearing, as Nova still stood in this doorway, kind of looking down the corridor, emerging from the wall directly in front of her,

this kind of long corridor. You see these two figures. They could have once been elves. Their ragged armor matches the skeletons that you saw outside, what little remnants of it you saw. Their faces are sunken and gaunt, and you can see the parts of them have been blasted. Energy seems to have erupted around on their bodies.

They come forward bearing great curved swords. They look at you, these just dead faces, expressionless, and you just kind of hear this, death. And that's gonna to be initiative oh wow so are they as bedraggled as the things Novasaur outside them

kind of the one Novasaur was almost like made up it was overly horrific as if somebody was trying to make something look scary these yeah the one the illusion no I meant the old skillet yes the the armor seems to match the the same armor okay so it's not any so we can't identify any more about them okay so that's a 21 for me.

So, Ayla. Wow. Quill. Six. Nova. 20. Lucius. 17.

I will roll one for Sentry. I believe that is a 40. That's 100. And then Valor. Oh, good. Like so many NPCs again. I feel like next time Mark says I'm gonna stand outside

we should just lend no you do what you want like if you want to convince Arvel to come with you the one thing you will notice is Arvel seeing these g-g-g-g-ghosts

he turns white as a sheet and his hands just start trembling you can see that he just it doesn't look like he's reacting in any way. It looks like he's just become terrorized. You say he's got the condition frightened. I would say he looks almost paralyzed with fear. Valor seems to react first.

She just kind of pulls one of her daggers loose and then scoots back behind Sentry and is like, what the hell are those things? Nova, look out! And they're just like, but also seems a little bit uncertain what to do. Nova, these two things begin

drifting. One of them passes through the wall behind you. The other one stands in front of you, but both of them are going to make attacks. They reach out with these swords. They kind of glance through, but you can feel this kind of cold energy. That's a 23 to hit you. That will hit me, but can I

use shield? And what will that boost your AC to? Plus five. Oh, I'm not going to use it because that would boost you 20. Yeah, exactly. I don't want you to waste it. Second one is also 22, so they're both going to hit you. And I'm going to need you to make two constitution saving throws for me. Oh, damn.

So we know that they can interact with us. That's cool. So first one. It's cocked. Yeah, let's re-roll it. Five's cool. So first one. It's cocked. Yeah, re-roll it. Five, six, seven, eight. So that's the first one. Second one? Natural one. Okay.

So you take seven necrotic damage from the first one and six from the second one. That reduces your maximum hit points by the same amount of damage, which is 13. So you take 13 damage and your hit point maximum is reduced by 13. As you feel these swords pass through you,

it's like your very life force is being sucked away from the wound. There is no physical harm, but you just feel your life energy being drained out of you. How do I make that a thing in D&D Beyond? I don't know, because I've never done it. Try doing it. We can just keep

it mentally and then we'll figure it out. So my new max HP is 21 so I can only heal up to 21 now.

Override max HP. Then don't forget what yours currently is. Yeah, it says in brackets. Thanks, D&D

Beyond. Perfect. So after the creatures, Lucius, I believe. It's Nova, isn't it? Nova had a higher. Oh, Nova, yes, sorry.

I've got my Lucius is 17. Save it. Shoot, that was nasty. Very nasty. Are they both like within? So one's in front of you and one's behind you, and they're within five feet. They've surrounded you, and you can just feel them

as they're cutting you with these blades. Your life force is just being drained away. I guess I'll just have to attack, really, then. Yeah. Can I attack with green flame... Green flame blade. Blade. Of course you can.

Green flame blade. Green flame blade. Green flame bled. Of course you can. Green flame bled. Green flame bled. Green flame bled. Let's make your attack roll. Are you going for the one in front of you or the one behind you? One in front of me. Mm-hmm. I'll do 19 to hit.

19 hits, and it is a magical weapon, is it not? Yes. Okay. So, if you can just tell me what the base weapon damage is before the green flame blade damage so it's a d6 on the base yep and then and then another creature takes fire damage right takes a d8 or you know it's your modifier um the target suffers so the green fire leaps, and it takes fire damage equivalent to my smell casting ability modifier.

Charisma modifier. Which is, I think, three. Yeah, three. Three. Okay, so the fire washes over the second spectre, but it just seems to pass through some of it. When you stamp the first one with Tiangong, Tiangong flares with blue magic, and it strikes it as if it was a solid creature. You can

feel the resistance, but the fire seems to almost pass through partially on the other one. Would you like to do anything else? You currently have one on either side. You've got a move and a bonus action. I kind of want a move, but I think they might stab me a bit more. They would, yes.

You need to disengage as your action rather than attacking. Yeah. I'm just going to have to stay here. Just going to stay? Yeah. Lucius. I'm going to run behind Sentry, the cover, and then... You and Valor are both trying to take cover behind Sentry.

Yes. Oh, can I hexblade curse one of them? Sorry. Sure. Yeah. Just remember... The one in front of me. The one of them? Sorry. Sure. Yeah, just remember the one in front of me. Front of you, okay? Going to throw Chromatic Orb of Cold Okay. In reaction at it. Yeah, you take it away. What do you need to do? Attack roll? 3d8.

Attack roll or saving throw? Yes, attack. So it should be under your attacks Yes, attack. That should be under your attacks. Nine. Misses, unfortunately. In a panic, you throw the Chromatic Orb out. It streaks through the air and just collides against the wall,

freezing a large part of this wooden panel. But it is a first-level spell, and it was cold damage, so you can choose one of them to take your... The back one behind Nova. Okay, and I've linked it, it takes a level of the spell... My level, which is 3, plus my charisma, right? Yeah, which is 3 again. Which is... 3, yeah, so 6. Okay, 6. Again, the same thing, the cold doesn't seem to take quite grasp of it,

it seems to absorb some of it away. Which one are you going for, the front or back? Back. Back. Okay. So yeah, that one seems to absorb some of it away. Which one you going for the front or back back back? Okay So yeah, that one seems to absorb some of the ability as well. You serve a move in a bonus anything you'd like to do Have I got This is a bonus see sorry

Okay, yeah, it's been a while since we've done this That's an action. Never mind. No I'm gonna do anything. That's an action. Never mind. No. I'm going to do anything else. Just stay behind Sentry. Okay. The problem is, Sentry doesn't know that the damage is necessarily

can't be healed above. So seeing Nova wince in pain in these blows, she moves up next to one of these creatures. so she's next to you. And she will lay on hands. Well, she'll cure wounds first. I'll have her cast cure wounds, which would

do 11, but you can't heal above it. So you watch as you feel this energy kind of wash over you, but it's like it doesn't take any effect, even though you know you're in pain. The healing just doesn't seem to do anything. And since she looks down at you and is like, Nova, are you all right?

I've taken some of my life. She's like, I will try and protect you. And she's going to just try and position herself to try and... I feel funny. I feel funny. After Century... Ayla or Quill. Both of you go, basically.

Well, you've got higher dex than me. Okay, so Ayla or Quill. Both of you go, basically. Well, you've got higher dex than me. Okay, so Ayla. I'm here to find information. I don't want to fight you if we don't have to, but you're hurting us so I will. But I need information from you about clans. No?

Okay then. I'm going to rage and hit it. I warned them! You'll be crackling with lightning as you burst forward. Might not hit, that's... 13. 13 hits. Now whilst the Howling Gale has some minor enchantment,

it is not a magical weapon just yet. So this is going to be halved unfortunately. Oh that's shit. I'm sorry to say it is. 11, 12, 13 damage because I'm raging. So half that, that's going to be six. Is that the one behind? Yeah, and then can you make a save against my... Yeah, that's a successful save. So you take half then. So that's two. And that's lightning damage, right?

Which they are still resistant to. So how much was it? Half is two, so a quarter is one. It still had one. I rolled a four. I rolled a four and still dealt one damage. It's two, so a quarter is one. It still had one. I rolled a four. I rolled a four and still dealt one. It's never going to do more than one. Quill.

So, I mean, I've seen all of these things actually. Yeah. What are the rules again on bonus action spells and one action spells? So generally you can't cast a spell of first level or higher. If you cast a spell of first level or higher as a bonus action you can only cast a cantrip as a main action. So I can't use

more than one spell slot at a time? No. Yeah, that's probably the smartest way of thinking of it. Okay, in that case... You can cast a spell of first level or higher and then a cantrip. I will in that case move up to Nova. So at this point, nobody else can now get past you. The three of you are basically stood around this other creature,

which has got Nova between it and another one. That's fine. I will cast Shield of Faith on Nova. Okay. Plus 2 AC. So plus 2 AC, or near that. And they are within 5 feet of me. So I will do a Word of Radiance,

and it's every creature of my choice will take X amount of damage. Great. Do I make a saving through? Con 13 save. All right, one fails. The other one fails. Both do full damage. And this is Radiant damage?

It's Radiant damage as well. The best kind. Yes both do full damage. And this is radiant damage? It's radiant damage as well. The best kind! Yes, well, yeah, 1d6 radiant damage, so 4 to both. 4 to both? And yeah, that is a cantrip as well, so... Okay, so, Quill steps forward, and what does the World of Radiance look like? Is it like a burst, you know, I don't know if you've cast it. I mean, I think I did that one before,

and I basically described it as like the paladin one from World of Warcraft. Just like a pulse of light. A pulse of light just bursts out. So you launch this and the creatures just howl. As this light seems to burn them away. The issues that the other energy had where it didn't seem to take hold, the radiance almost just burns them away like fire. You can see parts of them beginning to melt and just turn into flickers of ash.

More of that. Does anyone else have next time? No. No? Okay. Stay alive. I have a hammer, bird, a hammer. Keep doing that then. Arvel just trembles.

He doesn't do anything. And just doesn't do anything. The two creatures sensing this power radiate from you, just one of them moves through Nova. You just feel it pass through your body and pass through you to the other side of you. Oh, God, okay. And then the two of them are going to try and drain you.

So 22 to hit for one. Yeah. And a 19 to hit from the other one. Two constitution saving throws, please. Okay. One at a time. That's a fail. That from the other one. Two constitution saving throws, please. Okay. One at a time. That's a fail. That's four.

Okay. And 14? 14 is enough. Okay. So you take a total of 14 points of damage, and your maximum hit points is reduced by 10. That's 12 hit points. Oh. Okay. So if you heal, you can only heal up to... points is reduced by 10. He has 12 hit points. As, oh.

Okay. So if you heal you can only heal up to. So I didn't take 24 points of damage. No, you took 14 but your hit point maximum is reduced by 10. Okay. So you can only heal to 12. Yes. And you feel

again this life force is being sucked out of you. Nova. Nova. Yes. And you feel again this life force being sucked out of you. Oh, I see. Nova. So, would we have gotten attacks of opportunity with them moving through me? Because they move through you. I'm going to kind of say, yeah, exactly.

You can't be like, bleh! But can I move away now without them attacking me? One of them is still within range to attack you. So the idea of it is basically you had you, one was in front of and behind you, everybody else moved up in a line to this one behind you. One went

through you to the other side of Quill, but one is still behind you. Okay. Well, I'll just do a good old attack with... Green Flame Blade. Give him a whacking. Green Flame Blade didn't work, did it? It does. Base damage did.

Base damage still works. I'll do it again then. Okay. With Tiangong. Okay. So, 15 to hit. Hits.

15, 16, 17 to hit, sorry. Hits. That still does it. Green flame blade. Six damage. Blink blade. Blink blade. Blink blade. And then plus three on the green flame blade.

Okay, so the one directly behind you, the one that phased through you, you turn around and you slam Tiangong into its chest. It pulses with a blue energy, and you watch as the spirit's form begins to break, these kind of lines of blue light erupting through its body. Release! Whoa.

Cool. And it vanishes. One, however, still remains. Is that the one I hexed who was in front of me? It's the one you hexed. No, no, sorry, the one who was in front of you moved away. So that one's still... So it's like relieved by that?

It did seem to be. It felt it seemed... Yeah, it said release. Lucius. It's like going for a wee after centuries. Yeah. Boston Power style. Nice.

Birdie! Hmm? I'm going to cast Blade Ward on myself, running towards Birdie. Okay. So they're in a line. You can't... So you can move next to him, but then you move move next to the spectre. Can I pull him back and take his... Well, the creature is behind him.

Can I get in the way of birdie? You can try to, yeah, yeah. You can try and give him some cover. I'm going to blade ward and stand there. Okay. So you're going to try and interpose yourself between them. With blade ward. Okay. Yes. Lucius. Sentry's go.

Sentry will turn around Towards the other creature And she will Attempt to hit it With a thing Do that That sounds like a good thing to do Nope

She swings but the corridor Is so tight that with Lucius Putting himself in the way She has to adjust and the blow goes wide Slams into the wall She swings, but the corridor is so tight that with Lucius kind of putting himself in the way, she has to adjust, and the blow goes wide, slams into the wall. Being five feet of her, I've got her protection now as well. You do have her if she can use her reaction, yeah.

So if they attack you again, she can pose disadvantage. Cool. Valor, on her go, seeing both Nova and Quill take this injury, she'll just turn around and she will... She watches her hand begins to crackle with the lightning and she dashes forward and tries to slap this thing on the back with this kind of crackling lightning hand. With a natural 20. Jesus, this kid.

This kid. At what point do we know who he is? Valar MVP. We just leave do we know who he is? We just leave and we watch the adventures of Valor. The lightning does seem absorbed by the thing as it kind of stumbles. God, this crown. As it just kind of

lurches forward and then you see it kind of turn its eye, this kind of undead face turns around to Valor. And as it looks at Valor, it just, you see it kind of turn its eye, this kind of undead face turns around to Valor. And as it looks at Valor, it just, you see its demeanor almost change. You. Yeah, it's because it's from the planet

and they know how people have interest in her from other planets. So they're from the same realm as... Wait, but why... Aayla, you're go. Wait. interest in her from other planets so they're from the same realm as wait wow why but they're ayla she might have played on your go oh wait so is she the guy is yeah i think i knew from the very start who the guy was anyway i don't know what guy you're talking about uh characters no either it's vala so val is right in front of it val is like just like pulling back with this lightning hand and she's now pulling the dagger

free in front of her. Okay. I want to smack it with the hammer and get in the way of Valor. Okay, so attack roll first. Let's see how much you can interpose yourself. 22. Hits. That's a whacking.

That's a whacking. That's a whacking. That's a whacking. Uh, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. That's a whacking. Being hit by a barbarian. That's a whacking. That's a whacking. That's a whacking. That's a whacking. That's a whacking. Uh, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve. Eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve. Been hit by a barbarian? That's a whacking. That's a whacking.

Fourteen damage, plus make a save. So, there's no point in making a save. But I rolled a five! Okay, well. It would have taken two! We need it for Hyrule or stat. It passes. It passed the save.

It would have taken a two. You swing the hammer, and again, whilst its form is half there, the hammer kind of phases halfway through, and then just with a primal scream, the lightning kind of crackles from inside it, and you watch as the same blue lines begin to appear. Release. Cool.

The corridor falls silent. Wow. Oh, I don't feel so good. Ah, um... Quill? So... Century, is there anything you could do to help? I tried to heal Nova already, it did not work. What's wrong?

I think it aged me. Ugh. Ugh. So they knew who Vor was That's weird Right? Yeah, well I don't It just said you I don't get it

I'm going to put a finger on her forehead Right? And try and sense, like I did with Echo If there was anything there You just feel skin Sweat What are you? I don't know. I'm just... You're very special.

I'm not. I have a little magic. Did they look angry at her? It's hard to tell. They had like a sunken ghost face. They had like ghost face. We need to protect Vala at all costs. Should Vala be here? Vala, do you ever dream of

other worlds? Uh, no, I don't really dream that much. Hey, so what do you think of the painting that was in the other room? Just like a weird... I don't know, I've never seen anything like that before. I am so tired. Mmm, me too. Your burst has been hit by the curved swords. They just pass through you.

Curved swords. I think it drained some life on me. Your souls! Maybe you don't have souls anymore. I don't... I got... I got a hammer, dude. A hammer.

Don't hit me with it. Do you not have an ability as your... your skill set? Would I... No? You can make a religion check for me. Chemnose. Chemnose is what these monsters were, that's why.

She looks at a lot of spooky ghosty monsters. 18. 18. So you're familiar with undead creatures, of which these most certainly were. Yeah, but I also have turn undead as well. Yeah, so your training, not necessarily your training, but the knowledge that's been given to you by ASP, you kind of have this innate understanding that these creatures were undead as well yeah so your training not necessarily your training but the knowledge that's been given to you by asb you kind of have like this innate understanding that these creatures

were undead and there are certain types of undead that can quite literally yeah drain your life force in most cases if it's not particularly powerful undead that will generally return after you sleep after you take rest more powerful powerful undead, it can be permanent until holy magic or divine magic relieves it. But that wasn't ultra powerful. You don't feel so, but it's hard to

tell. Do you communicate that? This is going to pass in time, but what little energy I have already, I'm really tired. He's gone. Not much. Yeah. We need to...

And I don't think sleeping in a spooky, spooky room is a good idea. Do we bail out? I mean... I think there's going to be more of this. You hear a... As a crossbow bolt just flies down the room and it beds in the wall. Sorry. I will put that down.

That's some sharp reaction times, my friend. We had a whole conversation. I think I just aged a little more. He just looks down. Here, I should... I think maybe Arvel should take Val away from here. I don't think it's safe for her. They recognized her.

What you were saying earlier? They were real. They were real spirits.'s safe for her. They recognized her. What you were saying earlier? They were real. They were real spirits. They phased right through. They sucked away part of Quill's soul. But we also put them to rest, Arvel. You can still hit them.

We can stop. That crossbow would be real helpful at hitting them. I'm sorry. Ever since I was a boy, in ghost stories, I never had a stomach hitting them. I'm sorry. Ever since I was a boy, in ghost stories, I never had a stomach for them. I just... He freezed.

You're facing a fear, though, and that's important. I don't know if I can face those things again. You just did. No. You don't understand. I mean, I thought... You don't understand. I... I mean, I thought...

You just see he just faints. Like, his eyes just roll and he just faints. We need to get out of here, I think. Recovery position! There's three of us that are impaired right now. He's trying to roll him over. He's a big dwarf. Like, you are not strong enough.

Recovery position. Like, you're like... Can I just pick him up? Yeah, you can pick him up. Can I just try and pick him up and put him on my shoulder? Yeah. I don't think... Aayla just does that.

Clear his mouth. Clear his airways. It's not like that. It's fine. I'm probably not sane of mind right now. But we came in at nighttime for a reason. And, I mean, we have the ability. We know they can be stopped.

I am very tired, and I could definitely sleep for maybe 10, maybe 15, maybe 3 or 4 days. Maybe if we find any more of those things, we should just run? I mean, I didn't want to use it in this one, because I didn't think they were that threatening, but it turns out they're pretty bad. But I can turn them for a short while at least anyway. I don't think that... I think we need to talk to this princess. I think we need to avoid as much as we can and talk to her. But it seems like they all want to kind of be released. Yeah, but is it worth our lives?

This is the only clue I have. I'm sorry that... I might be able to bring Jasavir back. He seems to recognize me. If they might have any clues about my past, I want to know about them too. It seems more important than not to carry on now. Plus, we know what hurts them,

and we know they can be hurt. I cannot do anything useful against them. I am weak. None of our spells are working properly. Do you have a weapon? It will help, Lucius. Even like my lightning did something. Mine worked phenomenally.

And I wasn't even using anything close to... Was that the magic you got from Hesper? Yeah. It was that... the Pulse he won. I imagine that maybe the magic of the gods probably can drive them away. And I've got more where that came from. That also means that you're in the most risk, Will. If you get hurt, if we can't save you, then we lose our strongest weapon. If it gets too bad, then I can turn them away at least for a short while.

And then we can make our getaway. Okay. But I think we need to press forward. We need to find her. Where was she? Where was she in the castle? I'm going to sit down for a second, though. You and me both, buddy. I'll just pop myself down for a second though yeah I mean I the only people have seen her so far were Quill and Lucius so where did you see her in

the building upstairs that was around the archway bridge yes so we need to find her that's where Lucius saw her as well. Okay. Um... So we should go there. Let's just be extra cautious. But if it's too much risk for you guys, then you don't have to come with me.

Run! I just, I need to... I can't go without asking. You said earlier, win, win, win, win. And I don't say win when pointing at myself. Okay. Quill, strategy-wise, win win win win and I don't say win when pointing at myself okay quill strategy wise I think is best you don't run in and cast word of radiance right next to them I think you should stay back and use range well I get no I will do from now on that's just how I that's just how that one in particular works um you can turn

from a distance uh yes i can i think i want to know if sentry can be affected if they're cutting through your souls how does sentry get that damage my soul felt more like my life. I guess Sentry does have... I do still have sentience. I believe I have a spirit. I think they just drain your stamina, I suppose. Your hip points! Yeah, I don't really think it's difficult to... No, I mean, the thing is, is Sentry is a living thing. She is not a robot that can move.

She has a sentience. Obviously that is a theological debate on does she have a soul, but she seems to possess the same spirituality as many others. I don't really want to test if Sentry can get in.

It is better that I take the injuries than you all do. As much as it's horrible to say that, yes. If Quill takes another hit, he's down. I should lead the way. I am more than happy to do this. Yes. Well, I'm coming with you.

Are we heading? We're here because I said to come here, and if you guys die, I'd feel like a little bit, tiny bit guilty before I move on with my life. You two, behind, at the back. Where should we head? We need to go upstairs. I'll follow behind you. Do we want to go directly to where she is,

or should we try and investigate a bit further, find out more information? They didn't look like they were going to talk. Perhaps the manor itself has some secrets, but if you think it's better we go straight to her. Maybe it has a library. Oh, God, you've got that look in your eye. But that's where I keep books about planar experiments.

They might have books about clans there? I don't know, do people write about that? Yeah, heraldry. Sure, I don't read books. I imagine planar magic also needs a lot of equipment as well, so... Oh, yeah. It's probably a... sorry? Hmm?

You've gone all weird. I think she's as tired as I am. Yeah, I'm tired. Let's go. And I don't know anything about Planar Magic. I don't want to be in here much. God, can you say that out loud? I'm gonna...

What did you say? What did she say? She said she doesn't know anything about Planar Magic, but she said it in one of those ways that makes you think maybe she might know a little bit About Planar Magic I'm tired I'm just going to point out that the things here Maybe this is not the best place for such discussions

The things here died because of Planar Magic Just going to say that Because I don't want to die If you start tinkering with stuff I've never tinkered with it This is a future problem You have a look in your eye that suggests that you absolutely will, if given

any opportunity. Yep, the look is there. If you kill me with planar magic or anything like that. I'm just scratching my nose. I'm going to come back as a ghost. Nova, are you lying to our team? No. You are. I can see it.

You're looking. You're not. Look at me. You're not. She's lying. Why would you do that? Nova. Oh, hey, that creature's back again.

Where? Where? If you hurt me or kill me with planar magic, I'm going to become one of these ghosts and I'm coming for you. I would never do experiments with planar magic with all of you around me. That's a very specific requirement there. I feel like if there's some of us around you, would you do it? No.

There's one of us? No. None of us? Yes. No. All right, let's stay near Nova all times. Keep an eye on Nova. You're terrifying. He's going to take magic still. Keep an eye on Nova. You're terrifying.

He's going to take magic still. You're quite scary sometimes. Yes, because it's only been like less than a minute. Oh, less than a minute. Oh my god. That fight took less than a minute. How adorable. But that whole conversation, let's say it took two, three minutes of that conversation.

Let's keep looking. I don't want to be in here longer than I need to. Where would you like me to head? The corridor seems to lead. There are more doors from the corridor. The closest door. And then there is a stairway. The closest door is the one on your left or right?

Lefty Lucy. Right. Oh, you're not going on the right? You go right? You open the door on the right? Sounds like you did. I think it's Century, too. Oh, Century, just...

Yeah, she's, like, very well. Turns, opens the door to the right. It might be trapped. It seems she just opens it. There is a strong smell of kind of rot and decay that hits you as soon as she opens this door and you can actually hear almost like a little bit of a rattling of the wind um the room inside as she opens the door would have once been a study you think but there is a uh there the bookshelves have long been ruined it It looks like part of the wall and the actual manor wall and the

window have broken and there is kind of overgrowth and moisture. The wood has rotten. There's just this strong smell of decay and death really. You can see the back wall has several ruined bookshelves like I mentioned

one of which appears to have been opened as if it held a secret door or a secret container and there is a dark black scorch mark that extends out from it laying in which is a bloated kind of decaying corpse

there is also a door on the far wall next to the open kind of secret bookshelf. There's also things like there was once a kind of like, what appeared to be like a small wooden table with maps, but they've long rotted away and faded away to nothing. Nothing else seems to really have remained in the room.

Oh, this is terrible. Look at all these books. Ruined. I'll never be able to read them. That body. Nova, you might be missing the... Well, it's clearly dead. Yes, but for...

It essentially moves up like an axe towards the body, which kind of nudges it a bit. It just appears to be a corpse. It does not appear to be animated. This story that was told to me was centuries old. Yes, this body is not that old. So someone tried to blow their way in here. Well, they've broken through the window.

Yes. Yeah, it does look like the window, yeah, like a size for a hand to come in and open the window. They clearly knew something behind a secret compartment and tried to utilise it, or it was trapped. Well, if it's trapped, then we need to move quickly while I can still see these, at least magical things. Yeah, in fact, Quill,

actually, while you're looking in the room, inside the kind of secret compartment that's been revealed, there is a very faint, dull glow coming from inside a metal chest, like a little jewellery chest. But first... I forgot that you had to take magic.

Yeah, so you look in, like a little jewellery chest. But first... I forgot that you had to take magic. Yeah, so you look in like this secret thing. So it looks like there were once some potion bottles. The smell of death, the smell of like this rotten corpse just kind of really assails your beak. The beak has been assailed. Inside the

compartment, you see like shards of glass and the remnants of probably what were once potion bottles that they'd broken. But yeah, you see like shards of glass and the remnants of probably what were once potion bottles that they'd broken but yeah you see this it's a small jewellery sized box metal chest inlaid with swirling patterns of the sea and the sky

wind kind of blowing all over it appears to be locked okay I found a thing. There might be a key somewhere. It's actually, looking at it, it does have a key slot, but there is also a combination lock, like a dial of four numbers. Oh.

One to ten. Well, two ways to open it. There's also a key. Either two ways to open it or one complicated way to open it. Are there any papers or anything that i can read at all no the bookshelf is ruined it looks like the the open the crack the broken window and the broken wall which is very close to the scorch marks of whatever exploded um it's letting too much moisture over the centuries and just growth is that close to the scorch mark the yes it looked

like the scorch mark erupted when the secret compartment was opened. The scorch mark looked like it erupted outwards. It was to protect whatever was in that box. Like that is what they wanted. So it's quite valuable, whatever that is. Would you like me to try and open it? Well, we don't know, I guess. Is it magical?

The glow, yeah. It's inside. You can just faintly see it. Can I tell what kind of magic it is? Is it inside, like in the box? Yes, it's inside the box. Not the box, it. It's inside. You can just faintly see it. Can I tell what kind of magic it is? Is it inside, like, in the box? Yes, it's inside the box, yes. Not the box, it's inside the box. You can see it because it's not lead.

It's not a lead box. You can just about detect there is an enchanted... It looks to be in the shape of a ring, like looking at the aura. Ooh. Tasty. In our magic ring. Can I tell what type of magic?

It is abjuration magic. Very nice. What does that mean? I will tell you because you are an arcane domain, you would know. Abjuration magic is generally defensive magic. It's used for wards of protection.

That could be useful. Useful for you right now. Yeah, I guess it is useful for me now. Is this not a magically sealed box? Valor could maybe pick it. The box doesn't appear to be magical. It's a mundane box. Well, it could be that we need both the lock and the combination, but you're free to try.

Okay. She puts it down. Natural 20. 15 plus a bonus of plus 4. Oh puts it down. Natural 20. 15, plus a bonus of plus 4. Oh, my God. Fala. She's like, okay, I think I've got it. I don't think you need the combination.

I think that's an alternative way to open it. Oh. There you go. I got it. Oh, wow, that was way better. Fala, you are three out of three. What else did you do? You say you snuck out with things.

Did you ever steal stuff? I mean, like, this is ridiculous. No, no, I don't steal things. I mean, I snuck around a bit. Like, you saw before, I'm kind of good at staying hidden. There was only Quill that saw me when I was following you. And I've picked a few locks. She's very useful.

What's inside? Oh, yeah. She opens it up, and she's like, Oh, wow, there's, like, a bunch of gemstones and a ring. Oh, I didn't see the gemstones. I did see the Oh, yeah. She opens it up, and she's like, oh, wow, there's a bunch of gemstones and a ring. Oh, I didn't see the gemstones. I did see the ring, though. Can I see it? Yeah, she gives you the ring.

Don't forget about that creature. Inside there is a little pouch of rubies and sapphires. Not very big. Lucius, you'd estimate the rubies and sapphires to be worth about 300 gold altogether. So it's like a little pouch. They're not very big gems. They're I knew about what 300 300 gold to an ease That's quite a lot. That's a lot of gold. Is it can you work out what the ring?

Oh, I mean it would take another 10 Or you can do it instantly if you want to spend spell slot. That's true. Actually, I kind of want it now Just it if I know it's the whole point of spell slot Yeah, just cast it Cast it now. And if I know it's a... That's the whole point of spell slot. You choose to cast it or you cast it as well. If I know it's a protection thing, predominantly, and protection is what we need, I will cast Identify. You cast Identify. You open yourself up to the knowledge of Hesper,

and you focus, and you feel knowledge begin to flow off of the ring into your mind. You know that this is an old ring. It comes from just after the Sundering. The Sky Cities, Gusthaven and several others, manufactured many of these rings for nobles as a form of protection, fearing that the Remnant and the Court of Shadows were still there.

They equipped many of their eligible heirs as a way of defending them but keeping it quite supple. It is called a Barrier Ring. A Barrier Ring? The Barrier Ring, as a way of defending them but keeping it quite subtle. It is called a barrier ring. A barrier ring? The barrier ring, as a bonus action, the wearer can create a magical shield, a spectral shield, as long as they have one hand free. Whilst active, the wearer gains a plus two bonus to AC

and is considered to be wielding a shield. If they are not proficient with shields, they suffer no penalties. The shield lasts for one minute and can be conjured twice per day. I will make a entry for D&D. Spell shield. So it's like, did you ever watch Ulysses 31? That's very old, none of you are going to know that. It's basically

like a ring, but it will project like a magical shield. Like Green Lantern. Like Green Lantern. It's going to keep doing it, I don't care. I'm going to keep putting it back. Oh, so this will let me basically have a shield. And it also fits perfectly. On his claw.

Do you want someone to put that on for you? I mean, over a talent? Do you want it? I think you need it more than I do. Not anyone else? I have shield spells. Here. I'll take it. Put than I do. I agree. I have shield spells. Here. I'll take it.

Put it on. Put it on. If you want it. No. Quill. No, Quill, put it on. What? Put it on.

You look like you're going to pass out. Give it to me. Clive needs it more than you do. I'm going to slap his hand away. I'm going to put it on him because he's got one arm. Well, I do need help. I can't put it on one hand. I'm helping him put it on.

I'll do it. Okay. I think Lucius genuinely was. I can't put it on one hand. I'm helping him put it on. I'll do it. Okay. I think Lucius genuinely was going to help him put it on. He had a look in his eye that was like, give it to me. Absolutely not. No, I just wanted to help him. I'm pretty sure if Lucius wanted a ring, he would just buy one. I've got 20 rings.

I have no space for it. Yeah, so you put it on. Now, the one thing is, because it is a spectral shield, you can still use that hand, so it won't interfere with spellcasting. You just have to have a hand for you to conjure it. You have to grip your hand and then wow. So you can't be holding the pistol. That's fine. Yes, you can't use your pistol.

The only thing is you can't hold a weapon. I mean, if I'm holding the pistol at close range, I'm doing something wrong. So yeah, so you put this on. So twice per day, once you conjure it, it lasts for a minute. So it basically lasts one you conjure it lasts for a minute so it basically lasts one fight and it will give you a plus two bonus to AC and it's bonus action to activate and did you say if I didn't have proficiency with shields it doesn't matter you still get the bonus you don't get any penalties which I believe as a cleric you still

have shield proficiency oh yeah I do yeah but just to make sure very fetching birdie you look like me in no time. I need another six or seven. Hundred. Hundred. I guess your hand kind of looks like when you stack up hula hoops. I can't bend my fingers. It's just always like this. Jingle jangle.

Yeah, was that jangling you? Yeah, it could have just been me. Of course you have to change out the rings per season, but obviously that's not really the best. Per season? Yes. Why? Well, you have more coppers and things in summer, obviously. Well, I'm gone, sorry. No, that's it.

I was just going to say, I think we should end, because we've got a few minutes left. Yeah, let's finish up here. Also, for once, I'm going to give you XP. Whoa! Because I never remember to do it on stream. It's only 800, so divided between four of you is 200 each. Okay. Not much.

So what does that leave everyone on? I can't remember where we are. I don't know. Set XP. We're at 2320. Yep, 2320. Out of 2700. Yep, not enough. So that XP was basically, because the spectres was only a medium encounter. I know it probably felt scarier, but they were not a challenging encounter.

I know, we tried a bit. But you got, the experience was mainly awarded for finding the barrier ring and also uncovering the manor, which is a new location on the map. You've explored a dungeon. Oh, no. I will sort that out. We uncovered the manor last time because Lucius walked just in range and now throws an uncover on the compass.

It wasn't until you stepped in location discovered. Yeah. Hello, thank you for listening to this episode. Remember to check out D&D Beyond and World Anvil with the links in the description of this episode. Also, make sure you follow us on Twitter for information about the podcast and more. That's High Rollers D&D for

that and, well, it's High Rollers D&D for everything, actually. We also have some new merch. Save the date with our 2019 calendar, featuring art from Nina Serena and some fantastic artists in our community. The calendar also features High Roller's specific events, so you can celebrate the anniversary of all of these things with us. Also, do you like carrying things?

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looked like. So special shout out to you guys. I hope you were pleasantly surprised. The one shot that we recorded live at MCM should be uploaded soon. We just need to clear things up. The audio is a little bit iffy. Hopefully it's good enough quality to go on here. But if you don't see it, it was a one shot. So you're not missing any story elements from a rose. Don't worry about that.

Okay, boom. That's episode 13. We'll be back tomorrow with Rogue's Gambit and on Monday for episode 14. We'll see you then. Thank you.