High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois #171 | Tomb of Land and Stone (Part 2)

Episode Date: January 19, 2023

Ancestors of Land and Stone threaten to block the path to the Star of Siaska! Support the High Rollers and get early access to podcast episodes on our Patreon: www.patreon.com/HighRollers Grab some High Rollers merch: https://freshmerch.fm/collections/high-rollers Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound & TCT Adventures (Solasta: Crown of the Magisters) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, welcome back to part two of High Rollers. The party are currently in the Vault of the Horned Silvers, a vault of ancient dwarves and halflings who owned a precious diamond called the Star of Siaska that the party hoped to use as the spell component for bringing back Nova Vija. And we find them in a battle as they are fending off waves of these vengeful spirits that just seem to keep reforming

no matter what, no matter how many times they are destroyed. And that is where we are picking up with a brand new round recipe. And as we do, I'm gonna put some five more ghosts on the table and then it's gonna be Lucius, Varian, Elowen, Elinasto's turn. Yep. What are you gonna do?

I call out. I think we just need to push forward and do the riddle. So, Howard, I'm going to stand near Howard. Okay. And encourage Howard, let's go to this room in the bottom left, and I'll carve a hole through the bars for you. And I'm gonna use Chromatic Orb,

Acid on the bars. Okay. Is it quite easy for me to hit? It's easy to hit, but what level are you casting at? Like, the damage will... To make sure it comes through, fifth level. So 78. Roll the damage for me.

Yeah, I'd say, like, no need to roll to hit. You can't really miss. 49. 49, I'd say, is enough. Yeah, you can easily destroy the bars on that side. I'll remove them in a minute. If I'm... Oh, yeah, we've wiped out all the other ones

apart from the top corners, right? Currently, yes. But now... So Dicomancy's not near anything. I'd say with your Darkvision, you could try and wing a Dicomancy for one of the minions, yeah? So that's 10 points.

All right, I'll note it. Yep. And yeah, I'm going to move with Howard, so I'm going to reserve my move. You've already spent your action. You can't hold your action. Well, I think I can. I know you think you can, but you can't.

So you're like, I'll move with you, Howard, and you stack. See you in a minute. See you in six seconds. Yeah, nice. All right, but yeah, actually, do you have a preference on this side bottom left bottom left

so that's the one you've melted the bars yeah I've melted the bars on that one shall I remove I can do it I'm going to do it in a minute because I have to go

put down ten more ghosts in which room that room are you not going in that room I'm not I'm not going in that room well they all have

yeah I'm not going in no room with no ghosts We'll defend you Right It's going to be fine They spend their whole turn reforming So we go to Ayla

Hi So I'm going to go inside Now that I've got the bars down on this one I will go inside And go to the chest. The spirits are currently blocking the way. They came out of difficult terrain. Not for long. I have 35 feet of movement. Minus 10. Yeah.

Oh, is that minus 10? Yeah, in that case, you can get to the chest. You'll be moving through these creatures though. I'm going to have to do that at some point anyway. Okay. Is the chest already open? This one I would say yes, is. You're also going to take 10 points of necrotic damage. Five actually because of the Holy Aura. Five necrotic damage. Okay.

Can I rummage around in the chest and see if there's anything that I can find? Yeah, you can do. The investigation check. Investigation. Natural 20! Minus one, 19. That is why natural 20s are not an automatic success on ability checks. I mean, yeah, you start pulling stuff, you're looking for anything glowing,

anything that looks particularly special, but it all looks kind of amazing. It's all this beautiful works of art. This actually one wasn't damaged by Lucius's acid. So you're kind of like rummaging through it. Nothing really strikes you as something specific in this chest, no. But the whole chest is like, the chest is beautifully made. It's full of treasure.

I mean, it's weighty, but you could, somebody could pick it up and carry it. You could probably carry it under one arm if you wanted. Somebody like Lucius and Quill or Howard would have to use both hands to carry it, but you and Sentry, I'd say, can carry one of these chests one-handed. But you would lose.

Sentry, you would be able to use your shield, for example. You'd be carrying one. Should I just pick the whole thing up? Sure. See if they come with it. I'm gonna try that. I'm gonna pick it up and move it out. Sure, I'd say bonus action to pick it up.

Do you wanna move back out the way you came? Yep. That's gonna be 11 points of necrotic, so half that down to five. But yeah, and then you get back, basically to your entire spot. It was that 35 movement is getting in, moving through the ghosts, picking necrotic, so half that down to five. But yeah, and then you get back basically to your entire spot. It was that 35 movement is getting in, moving through the ghosts, picking the loot up,

and then moving out. When you touch the loot, you begin picking it up and carrying it out, a couple of things happen. Oh, God. The first thing is you don't fully get out of the room, because as you pick up this treasure, you feel this oppressive weight kind of bearing down on you

and your speed is halved as long as you're carrying one of these treasures. The other thing is all of the spirits in that room are like, don't touch that thief, kill her, kill her. And they just focus dead on you. No longer interested in anything else, they focus solely on Ayla. Can I drop the chest?

On your turn you could, yeah. You've picked it up, that's your free, I get to pick up an object, but next turn you could drop it for sure. Yeah, I mean if they're respawning on the chests. We're trying stuff! I'll move you in in a second when I do other stuff, but yeah. Anything else, Ayla, on your side? No.

All right, in that case, I'm going to move you back in already. With the chest. You can tell that I just have a sign. Got that money, though. I don't want the money. I want them to die. These five spirits basically surround you, Ayla, and they're just going to pummel all their attacks into you. Because there's five of them, their attack and damage bonuses are doubled.

Against this. So that is going to be, I think, 19. I don't know if that's... Yeah, I'm not going to hit you. So they're kind of like, you're still managing to kind of like pull to the side and dodge and kind of move around. What? I've been forgetting one of the key points of these minions, their reaction when they get killed.

I've been forgetting that this entire time. They are suddenly enraged. Suddenly, just somebody touching their treasure seems to spread energy throughout the whole chamber. How weird. But yeah, these ones here, they try and attack you, but they are unable to land an actual blow against you. Kelek, add Kalah.

So the treasure is now the other side of the bars for Aayla. No, she didn't quite make it. She picked it up and then it looked like she suddenly slowed down massively. 5, 10, 15. I can use all of my movement to get to you, basically, if I wanted to try and take it off you. I'm trying to figure out what's wrong. I don't know.

Yeah, because my thinking is getting all the treasures in one place and then just focusing, keeping control of them while we figure out the rest of the room. But I don't believe that is going to be the case. Josh, destroy them. I'm going to do a Holy Aura for everything within 30 feet of me, which is everyone. They're going to start shedding dim light, have advantage on all saves,

all creatures have disadvantage against them, and when a fiend or an undead hits them, they are going to be blinded. Yep. that they are going to be blinded. Yep. So I'm going to use that on everyone and hold that for a bit. And then my bonus action is going to be kind of shaking around a little bit anxiously.

And that's my turn. Great. So out of the hole Lucius made. I think they can go through the bars, right? Yeah, but if you're a ghost... No, they've just realized where Howard is. They've not had long enough to figure it out yet. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. You up for manually tracking blindness on every single minion? Yes. Oh yeah. You up for manually tracking blindness on every single minion? Because it's easy. They just get disadvantage. True. They and these things can sense life. They don't need to see.

They can sense life. They'll still get disadvantage anyway because of the spell. But no, blindness wouldn't affect these creatures. They can sense life. We better go blind from this spell then. Probably because it't affect these creatures. They can shench life. It's a bit of a blind from the spell, then. Yeah, probably because it can affect feats. It's a good feature. But yeah, some undead don't have that.

Some undead don't have, like, blindness. But they have disadvantage anyway. Yeah, it's pretty weird. It means that they couldn't, like, maybe attack stuff with spells. Like, they can't attack creatures with spells and stuff. There's reasons for it. But, you know, these things are going to come swarming towards Howard. They melt through the bars, just like I described, they phase through the walls,

and they just... Because there is five of them now, Howard, their attack bonuses are doubled, and their damage bonus is doubled, but they have disadvantage. I'll protect the... They already have disadvantage, so it would be a waste. 13 to hit in total. Does not hit. Does not hit, so that holy aura from Quill

managing to fend the spirits off as they are unable to strike you. That's gonna be their turn. Howard, it is your turn. Begging your respect, Master Lucius, I don't think I can go anywhere right now. They're still coming for me. They always will be.

Suck it up, you... I didn't say that. Little prick. I didn't say that. I resign, sir. You can distract them. Pick up some treasure and they'll leave Howard. Can I use my bonus action to disengage?

Yes. But I've only got 15 foot of movement, so. It's true. At best. You can make a run for it somewhere. Yeah, I'll start doing what Lucius said, because even my cancer now, I'm drawing. I'll go to that gap in between Lucius and Sentry. So they can get how he's a bit awkward for me to get.

Yeah. So that's five. I just feel like I don't want to be next to Sentry. You've got this among them. But I feel like this thing is going to come out for me in a second anyway. Oh yeah. So one towards me. Yeah. And then they are, yeah. So one towards me. Yeah.

And then one towards that room. Do I have one? Yeah, that one. Cool. All right. End of turn for Howard. Would you like to use an action? Might as well try and hit something with...

Can I hit that one that's behind Lucius? Five foot? If it's within five feet, you can, yeah. I can't really see it from here. 8 to hit? 8 will not hit. Yeah. Phases through. I'm going to go back to Dan and blanket for him. Sentouille.

Alright, I'm going to hit the spectre in front of me. 22. spectre in front of me 22 22 will hit nice alrighty let's get some divine smites going I will make one thing You are currently only in range of one, two, I think three, actually no, because you've got 10 feet of reach, yeah. So actually you can hit loads of them. Sick. It's true. It is true. It is true.

Let's do level two standard, one, two, three. So let's do five. So level three, Divine, three. So let's do... Let's do five. So, level three Divine Smite. One more because they're undead. So 48. Balance game. Real balance game. Paladins. Paladins!

They love paladins or something. They can do everything. 10. Not wall up though. 17. You build them right they can. 21. 21. 25.

29. Still going? 37. 45. Plus 4. 49. Right. You destroy two of these spectres and badly injure a third. Nice. plus four forty nine right you destroy

two of these spectres and badly injure a third nice that would be the closest we're at

his secrets I saw it all I might cool so yeah with one blow Starbreaker's green sort of

energy form rips through these two spirits the third one kind of takes the last brunt of energy badly damaged but yeah With one blow, Starbreaker's green energy form rips through these two spirits. The third one takes the last brunt of energy. Badly damaged, but yeah. Can I then move up between Lucius and the other two spectres? Yeah, you go at the top.

Thank you. And then go for an attack on one of those as well. Absolutely. Cool, I'll do the same. That's not Lucius. Those ones, yeah, those ones. Thank you. 22 again. Rock and roll, start again. One of which already injured, right?

21, 27, 29, 34, 38, plus... 45, plus 4, no, 49 again! Magical. So, let me just work something out here. And I roll the same attack as well, weird. Three of them die. An entire group. So that's a level 3 Divine Swipe.

But Mark, what happened when die? What do you mean? You had a reaction or something. They do. Thank you. Thank you, Thomas. No, it's good. You said... So yeah, no, no, no, it's good. I'm trying a lot of things.

So as you strike, it would have affected the first ones, but your attack rolls were so high enough, it wouldn't have really mattered. As each of these creatures kind of explodes into sort of like this misting effect around you, you feel this kind of pressure, this intense weight of avarice, this burden of greed.

You gain a stack of burden of greed for each one of these creatures you defeat. You currently, so for each stack of these creatures you defeat. You currently so for each stack of burden of greed you have, you have a minus one to attack rolls, ability checks and saving throws. When you have a stack of five or more, other things happen, but they happen at the start of your turn.

And it's not the start of your turn. That's all you know. Was that per creature then? And you killed like... Five. So you have five burden of greed at five okay a score of five so that's minus five to attack rolls ability checks and save three fuck it is so good you forgot about that for me because i would have had what like 20 stacks if you could if they're next

to you right okay it's if they if they're next to you okay Okay. Yeah. Oh, I thought you said that. That's very cool. Yep. All right. Yeah. Top of the round. Minions. Minions. Already back.

Minions? No, it's not that group. Oh. Oh. The ones near me. They can reach, Howard. Yep. Well, actually, I feel like some of them...

They'll still go for him. In the most low-effort attack of opportunity, I'm just going to... It doesn't even hit. You're welcome. Okay. Yeah, only two of them are able to get into melee range. Howard, with disadvantage. Yes, indeed.

That's still going to be a 15 to hit, though. Two points of necrotic damage, two hit points. It's not reduced to... Oh, it's not, because of sentry. So it becomes one point of necrotic damage. And they are blinded. It matters. It's part of my spell and my entire theme right now.

Completely blinded. Just like what? Lucius! Wow! I mean, you've literally wiped the other guys. I've killed 40 of them. You've wiped these guys. Yeah.

Okay, Lucius is going to move into the room that you created the hole. Okay, yeah, yeah. Move yourself. Oh, this apple crumble! Yeah, I need to get hit. I imagine you guys do those little burps when you can taste them. Yeah, they get a little bit. Are you moving through any of these creatures? No, I'm going through.

You're going to go around them? Sure. Over. When you provoke the opportunity attack, how many are within 5 feet of you? One. Oh wait, no, one hit two. Two? They miss. Okay. Unable to strike.

So it was minus 15 to speed? Minus 10 to speed. So I went 5, 10, 15, 20, 25. Can I hit the chest from here? Where is it? Yes, within, it's 10 feet. I'm going to pick up the chest. You're going to pick up the chest?

Yes. It has to be within five feet of it. It's 10 feet away. Okay. Just reach. The stone plinths with the diamonds, by the way, are the columns. Yeah. On the map.

I point at that and say, Howard, you need to get to this in a second. I'm going to move the chest out. I can't see anything. I'm being attacked, sir. Okay. You still have... That's your movement.

Yeah. I'm going to... Action. You can dash. As I say these things, spin round and fire a little cantrip. A little cantrip. A little cantrip. Sure.

At them, I got firebolt. Screw it. Okay. Firebolt. Go big. Okay. Fire me. That's great.

It's crazy. Is it like orangey fire? Oh, it's fire. Purple. 16 to hit. What other colour would it be? Purple, duh. Oh.

It should be 4d10 or 3d10. Yeah, 4d10. 14 points of fire damage on the closest one. Not enough to destroy them. It's just me, as I'm casually saying to Howard. As you're gesturing. Yeah, you kind of scorch one of these spirits. It kind of burns away part of its spectral form,

but still remains in place. And that didn't look like it halved the damage, right? That looked like it did the full amount. Did the full amount, yeah. Yep. End of turn? End of turn. Oh look, there's more.

That's right, Howard. There is. As perceptive as Quill. Well, I don't need a burgeoning perception, sir. They're all hitting me. What a burgeoning what? Chasing after him. They're all hitting me, sir.

There is five of them surrounding Howard. They get double their attack bonus and damage. With disadvantage, that is a 25 to hit. Oh, my God. All right. That is going to be... 12 points of necrotic damage. Half to six. Not reducing your health.

And it doesn't reduce your max HP because of sentui. Crucially, though, you burst with radiant light and you blind them. Yeah. It does nothing. Because they can sense where life is. They're blind. Part of the spell. Ayla. That's what it does. Oh does nothing. Because they can sense where life is. So important. They're blind. What's the spell? Aayla. That's what it does.

Oh, hi. Um. Bone nugget. It's what it does. Can I drop the chest? Create more burn. You drop the chest. Can I see if the-

The spirits seem to no longer be as interested in you. They're like, where's the traitor? Interesting. Is the diamond on the column, is it something that you can use to get where's the traitor? Interesting. Is the diamond on the column, is it something that you can remove from the chamber? Looking at it, it's like set into like a fitting. You could, but you'd have to force it. You'd have to like break it out.

I don't think I want to break it. Okay. Okay. In which case... You drop the chest. The spirits are just like... They begin looking in the direction of Howard. Okay, I don't like that,

so I'm going to... pick up the chest again, I guess, and move outside this chamber. Pick up as you move, yeah, sure, okay. And just go as far as... So you go... So your movement speed at the moment is 35 with Howard's crumble.

Yeah. That would go down to half of that, which rounded down is 15. So you get 15 feet out of the room, basically. That, I guess. Let's just put them all in one place. Let's just take all the undead and shove them over there.

Okay, is that your turn? Do you want to do anything else, Ayla? Can I see if I can smash the chest? You can. By throwing it down? Yeah, you absolutely can. Do you want to make a athletics check for me? It's pretty well made, it's a pretty durable chest. Nine plus thirteen.

Nine plus thirteen. You throw it down on the ground. Yes, but it's an athletics, isn't it? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Athletics is strength. Do I get advantage in athletics? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So strength is ability check. It wasn't as good. Iics is strength. Do I get advantage in athletics? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So strength, ability check. It wasn't as good. I got one more. You throw the chest down and you hear wood crack and snap, and you've dealt some damage to it, but it doesn't break instantly. It's like you kind of and then the spirits once again, as soon as you're not holding it, they turn their attention elsewhere. I'm trying things. Yep, cool. It's not working.

Well, that would have been your action to try and break the chest. I forget. If you would like to use your bonus action, that it would be your bonus action to pick the chest up. I'll just do that. Okay. This seems to distract them. I mean, I think it's helping.

Well, I'm trying to get them to come away from the vial. The diamond, yeah. It's just, how do we get Howard around quicker? The other chest. You guys need to, maybe, I don't know. I'm making this up as I go along. Trying to make it easier for Howard. You can keep destroying the chest.

Yeah, I'm gonna try. Spirits are gonna surround Ayla with disadvantage. It's a 15, they don't hit you, Quill. All right, I'll get into a position where I can do a lot of fucking. What? Are you worried about that, maybe? No. No?

No, no, that's what? No. No? Okay. No, that's what I said. 5, 10, 15, 20. Right next to Century, I'm going to do a Word of Radiance cantrip. So, 46 plus 6 damage radiant to them. Nice. That does 25. To the one next to Century? To anything within 5 feet of me, which is the one behind Sentry,

and then there's two next to me. It's the same three, right? No. Yes, it is, but Constitution 22. And, yeah, Radiant, if that does any more or less, whatever. That kills them three. Great. Kills them three?

As you kill them and they are within five feet of you quill you feel the burden of greed three sacks of wait does that also apply to sentry uh no it applies to the triggering creature oh i yeah i i triggered so you feel like as you disperse their vengeance their greed builds upon you weighing you down i mean uh yeah i have no decent bonus actions. I just want to help. I want to help Howard move. And I'm still, I want him to hit me.

Get rid of my temp HP. So I can stop being so crumbled. I need, yeah, I need to get through the bars as well. You can squeeze through. You're small enough. I know. But then I can't get the chest out. Just pick it up and hold it there.

You'll be pissed off enough. Just dancing with it, shaking around. It gets their attention. Just get it away from there. This just watches as a group of spectral spirits reform in front of you. Oh, goody. Howard Hornsilver. I don't know if this is the right course of action,

by the way, it's just what I've... I think we need to destroy the chests. Yeah. I can't do this with a might. I mean, there's something that there's... The chests are gonna take a while to destroy. There's the diamonds as well. Like if there's nothing in the chest,

we destroy the chests, the loot spills out onto the ground, they respawn on the loot on the ground. Well, I'm trying to... We haven't broken the chest yet. You may always make skill checks, if you would like to ask me, like, is this, you know, if we break the chest, will this work? You can always... Well, Lucius is headed towards that diamond. Well, so are you by extension, right? Yeah, really, I want to go towards the room that Ayla's cleared out, but it's...

That's the other side of the thing you are full of crumble. Well, I need one more hit point to go and then I'm done with Crumble Belly. I guess I'll just have to keep trusting Lucius and keep going towards there. So I'll disengage and move 15 feet towards the room that Lucius is in, even though it's suddenly full of. I can move. And action. You're gonna have to move sentry

in a minute as well, I imagine. I mean, is there one that I can attack? I mean, yeah, you can attack before you move, so yeah, easily. 12, 13, 14, 15 to hit. 15 is not enough, you swing your little saucepan. 16. 16 hits?

Yay! 16 to hit. I didn't expect to hit, so I didn't look at what dice I need. I don't know what dice, wait. Ugh! Five. For the sake of ease, I'm gonna say that's the one that Lucius fireballed earlier and you destroyed.

Hooray, I did something! So I can stack it all on the same, same. For the sake of, uh-oh. I did something! So one stack of green. And then you wanna move 15 feet towards Lucius, yeah? Towards Lucius, yeah. Okay, as close as you can get

without moving through spirits, or do you wanna move through spirits? I disengaged. Yeah, but do you want to move through them? No, I'm not going through spirits, they're icky. All right, Century, what do you want to move through them? No, I'm not going through spirits. They're icky. All right. Century, what do you want to do?

I'm going to move now. All right. Hit covering. Ectoplasm. Ectoplasm. That's definitely the words I was going to use. I think I'll move back towards that wall that's behind me. Concentrate.

This way? No, back towards where Quill, yeah, that side. Okay. Yeah. Let's get some space. This way? No, back towards where Quill, yeah that side. Yeah, let's get some space. Can I Misty Step into the empty room that's currently empty? I think I'll go in there. And then try and smash the chest that's in there.

Nice. You absolutely can. Nice. I'll just do my Yuge of Starbreaker. 21. 21 will hit. Nice. Alright. Let's rock and roll. Let's just do... 1, 2, 3, 4... Let's do a level 2 Divine Smile. Test the water a little bit, see what we can do. You can just separate... Can you tell me the lance damage for the 2d12 plus your modifier?

What's that on its own? So, 11 for the lance. 5. And then if you can do the radiant damage now. 6. 7 or 1. 6. Yeah, you're behind me. I'm trying to hide under the break of the lance. On the radius. Okay, yeah, I'd say probably enough to break the chest.

You watch as Century with Starbreaker, you slam the lance into this well-made dwarven chest, which had already been damaged by various spells and other effects up until now. Lucius is mainly his chromatic orbs. And you watch as the loot just spills all over the place. The spirits that had come out of that room immediately turn their gaze on you. She has destroyed it! Destroy that chest and do not let her take it!

And they become folksling. What does greed do? All that would be minus 5 to the attack roll, which would have put you at 16, which still would have been enough. So you would have just hit, yeah. But actually, at the start of your turn, could you make a wisdom saving throw for me, please? Does she get advantage from her... No, that's... And you do get minus five.

Mavis Bacon, whatever it's called. 20. 20 total? Yep. You're fine. You complete the action as you see fit. Awesome. Cool.

The treasure is now spilt out across this room. Okay. What could I do? Cool, the treasure is now spilt out across this room. Okay, um... What could I do? What could I do with the treasure? I guess I won't touch it, I think I'll just leave the treasure as it is. And just see what happens. So I'll stay in there. So, that's the top of the round. Activate, please.

Okay. Head towards Sentry. And not Howard. Crucially. That's a good start. Not me. Yeah, the ones who came from that specific room. Yeah, one was killed by Howard.

Two were killed by me from that room. Oh, but another one comes back anyway. It manifests around the treasure. Yeah. Wow. The spilt treasure all over the floor. But four of them are going to try and attack Sentry. Destroying both chests.

With disadvantage. It might make them... 20 total. Maybe they'll not attack Howard. Unable to pass through your magic armor and defenses. But they do strike. They do try. Lucius. I'm going to pick up the chest. Thief!

That was the bonus action, right? He's killing. You can do it as part of a move action. It's just because Ayla was like, I put it down. I pick it up. I put it down again. I was trying to. No, it's fine. But I'm just saying normally you can do it as part of another action. Well, destroying it, I think,

would make them permanently enraged against that person. So that's the use for it. Rather than enraged on Howard. And I'm going to bring the chest out of the room. Yeah, they all are following you with hateful eyes. Howard, now's your time. It's Howard time. So, move.

It's all coming out. Would you like to do an action? As an action, I would like to hold it. And when the ghosts are past the bars, I'm going to Wall of Ice Howard in. Wait, they can go through spirits. I feel shit. And then how can I get out?

I don't care about that. Would you like to dash with your action as well? All right, I'm gonna dash towards Sentry. Another 15 feet. Well, you get 20 feet, because you're Crumble's B. We're changing. Crumble's B.

We're in here forever. There you go, Howard, you wanted a fridge. We live here now. You're in one. You're in one. It's like two readers who will over again, sir. They move past you, Howard. Enjoy. Thank the stars. I'm never getting crumbled again.

Enjoy. Thank you, sir. I'm going to have to go. I'm going to have to go. I'm going to have to go. I'm going to have to go. I'm going to have to go. I'm going to have to go.

I'm going to have to go. I'm going to have to go. I'm going to have to go. I'm going to have to go. I'm going to have to go. I'm going to have to go. I'm going to have to go. I'm going to have to go. I'm going to have to go. I'm going to have to doors. I'm never getting crumbled again. Eat up Howard.

Oh they come to me. Those ones are enraged. So a group moves past you Howard and goes to attack Lucius. There is five of them, and they all miss, because I rolled a one. And then three of them chase after behind you, Howard, and I try and strike you. Uh, P2. For only an eight, they are unsuccessful. And we go to Ayla.

Hello. Um... I guess I am just going to... I'm gonna hit the chest, I'm gonna put it down and hit it. Okay. Try and keep them rooted in one place. Sure. Give me an attack roll.

15 plus 15. That's gonna hit this chest. and keep them rooted in one place. Sure. Give me an attack roll. 15 plus 15. That's gonna hit this chest. Okay. This kills the chest. Farmer, Farmer kills it. Already hit it. 18 damage plus four lightning.

18, I'd say the 18 it does normally. And then this is from the top of the dragon. 18's gonna be enough, yeah. He watches the chest slams on the ground, all the gold, all the coins, everything spills out onto the floor and the spirits are just enraged at you. Ah. So.

A big open mouth, distended mouth screaming at you. Ugh. In mummy style. You don't have to do that. Hell yeah. Yeah, that was an action. I don't know if there's any point in killing them, because they're just gonna come back.

Stops them from hitting you. Yeah, but they're just gonna come back immediately. Okay, I'll hit one of them, because I have an attack anyway. No, your action was to break the chest. You don't have an action. Do I not have two attacks? It's not really an attack to break the chest.

You were like smashing. Okay, I guess I'll just do mine. 20 lightning damage. One of them. I have one stack of watcher. You have a burden of greed. Minus one to basically everything. Attack rolls when you check save throws.

Okie dokie. Hurry, Howard! Hurry! I think the last group of minions to go is the ones around Ayla, who are gonna attack you. Only a 14, they miss. They're unable to, well, they're hitting you, but their effects are having no, their attacks are ineffectual.

Quill. I'm still full of crumble, but no one's going up to that top left room. So I'm going to... Actually, I can fly. That will give me an extra bit of movement, I think. It will, significantly more. Yeah. Well, I've only got 50, so this would just give me an extra 10 feet.

Yeah. Well, I'll move towards that top left. 50 minus 10 is 40. You're 30 minus 10 is 20. That is significantly better. Yeah. So you can't fly through the bars. You'd have to fly up to the bars and then you would try to squeeze through. But you said he could squeeze through.

He can just squeeze through, but he'll get five feet through. Unless your crumple barely stops. Get five feet through. Yeah. Unless your crumble belly stops it. It's difficult terrain. You get a little crumble baby. So I was 20 feet to get to the fence, or the gate. So I'm next to the chest.

Yep, next to the chest. Touch it! Touch it! I mean, okay, hang on. Touch the butt. Who's that? Touch the butt. As an action, as part of my secret chest spell,

I can bring my larger chest from the replica that I have into the real world. I kind of want to pick up this chest and start spilling the contents into that. You're stealing Howard's money. Oh, but it's an action to summon it. Oh, bonus action to pick up the chest, right? No, you can pick up the chest as like a part of another action. Oh, I see. So far, you've used movement, you've got an action and bonus action to pick up the chest, right? No, you can pick up the chest as a part of another action. Oh, I see. So far, you've used movement.

You've got an action and bonus action left. Yeah. Secret chest. Yeah. Start enraging them by interacting with their chest. You pour the contents of your chest, because you don't need to be careful with it, because it's a magic chest you're pouring,

and you're like, dump. And the spirit's just like, oh, he's taking out wow what is that if they're gonna call us thieves i'll be a thief but you're stealing from howard though i'm coming with you it might go to you quill you can't see me right now well at ten thousand gold Well. Add 10,000 gold. What?

Oh, my God. Jesus Christ. Robbing him. One-fourth of the 40,000. Robbing a member of staff. We caution some of these coins because they're, like, centuries old and they're relics. You can fuck off. This doesn't work in D&D. Jesus.

Coin age has no impact on its value. They've had the same king on them the entire time. No, no, but there's just so many different printeds of coins, nobody cares about it anymore. It's pointless. There's no coin collectors in this universe. But yeah, these spirits are furious. Arguably. He wants them all.

No. All right. Well, the spirits. I'm very satisfied. I can't believe you'd steal from a member of staff. Fuck them. They're coming for you. Good. That's what we want. Are these ones blind?

Yeah. They will be if they hit you. Right, only two of them are in range, Quill, with disadvantage. It's a seven, they don't hit you. He's still freaking half-event off right now. I can see that gold pile under you, Alo. Yeah, you're scooping it. Well, that would be different because that's you're physically scooping.

This was you got a chest and went... Yeah, I'm going to Mr. Plow it into the chest. Nice. Our name. I would like to go up to the Diamond. I think you're in range, right? Yeah, 15. What do you do?

So, the riddle says... Mark of the air. When the mark of an air fills each star, the legacy awaits a final scar. Yes. Can I take out a little paring knife and cut me and bleed into the vessel? Put your hand on it or like...

Doesn't look like it's open. It's hollow. It's glass but it's hollow inside. Yeah, I guess I'll just try and touch it. Put like a cut on your hand and then touch the top of it. Yeah, you watch as the blood, although it has nowhere to go, suddenly drips inside it. Like a little tiny speck of blood, and it fills this tiny hollow. And you watch as it begins to, you feel like a rumbling of stone underneath it.

I did something! Keep down, I did something! You can see that it's almost, the way that that little hollow is now filled with crimson blood, there's almost like a magical glow that makes the whole diamond feel red, and that one is now marked as red.

Do I take any damage from... Take one point of damage. I've no longer got Crumble Belly. All right. Oh, speedy boy. Yeah, that last bit has just kind of brought you out of your little food coma. But yeah, so that was move. I'd say it's an action, by the way, to like press your hand up a bit, stuff like that.

So yeah, I think... I think that's pretty much it for me. It's going to be you done. Yeah. All right, Sentry. I need to do a wisdom saving for a first. You do, please. Yeah, with minus five. I'm plus 12, I think.

Let me just double check. 23, 18. 18, you're fine. Nice. I feel like, yeah, this building up of this negative energy, this kind of pressure of greed and avarice weighing down on you, but you resist. Gold on the ground is looking extra shiny. Yeah, it is.

Let's see. Chloe, you must have the greed of avarice too. Yeah, yeah, that's it. Oh, what a curse. Can I just... I might just stay where I am and just let myself be a sponge for these guys and just let them hit me. Just stand with my shield, just let them wail on me. Yes, you could totally do that. Yes, I'm going to do that.

All right. That's exactly what I'm going to do. We've got plenty more. That's exactly what they're going to do. All five of them are gonna surround you. Good thing they have a disadvantage because that was a natural 20 to a two, miss. All five of them just,

you damaged the chest, didn't you? But you didn't pick it up. No. She destroyed it. You attacked it, but you didn't. I didn't pick anything up. Oh, I thought it was just, oh. Oh no, yeah, you destroyed it.

She destroyed it. You destroyed it, you destroyed it, yes. So they do attack you, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. They do attack you. But yeah, Lucius. Lucius is going to cast Armor of Agathys on himself at level three. Okay.

So I get 15 temporary hit points, yeah. Ooh, so that's like 27 now. Yeah, well, if your previous temp HP was lower than 15... It goes up. It goes up to 15. If your previous temp HP was higher than 15, you don't gain any more temporary hit points. They don't stack. They never stack.

All right, it's 15 now. Okay. And then I'm going to move up into the centre of the room to allow how it... They will provoke an opportunity attack. Yeah. With disadvantage. 5, 10, 15.

With the chest. There's 5 of them there, isn't there? Yeah. So that would go to 19 to hit. Yeah, that will hit. That will hit. I'm pretty sure they're all going to take 15 points of damage, right? Because of Armor of Agathys. That doesn't kill any of them, but it badly damages them. And then, yeah, you move past them.

I'll destroy my... And your temp HP. Well, actually, you would take 12 points of damage. Oh, okay. So you still have three points. Was it necrotic? It was, yes. So that would be half that?

It would be half that. Six? Bloody hell. Fifteen minus six is nine. It is. Matt did it. Century quill. So action.

Fucking up undead. So I mean, a cleric and a paladin. Yeah. Howard, I'm going to draw them to the middle so you can go across the corridor towards Century and she'll probably move out the way to next round so that you can get to the diamond. Oi, oi, Captain. Six seconds.

Perfectly summarized. As far as I can go that way, I was like 5, 10, 15. Oh, I think you've already done the movement. I think that's pretty much the movement. Oh, that's right. You actioned to cast Unreveal. I was next. Yeah.

All right. Okay. End of turn. End. Yeah. All right, okay, end of turn. End of turn. All right. Those five are going to rush you and attack you again. Do it. That's a miss, I roll a natural one.

And then out of the two here, Quill. They're going to move in, surround you. Thief, thief. I mean, I'm actually... Thirteen to hit. ...stole a lot of them. No. Nope. All miss.

I'm the only one they are actually legitimately... Just going to chill. ...have a grievance. You're literally just like, stand there. Like, okay, cool. Do you want to move anywhere? Are you happy where you are? Oh, I'm good.

I'm good where I am. I'll just chill because Haru's got a path. They'll attack you. Cool. Fifteen. Miss. Yeah, because Haru's got a path. They'll attack you. 15, miss. Yeah, they're just wailing on you. So I think we go two houses. With my full movement, I've got 25 foot of movement, I will dash across the hallway towards where Sentry...

So 50 feet of movement. So 50 feet of movement. 25. And then dash. Five. Yeah, and go in. 10, 15. So at this point though, I'll move back over to the mic, to get any further as you start squeezing through the bars,

because the spirits are packed in around sentry, to get to the diamond you have to pass through the spirits. You'll have to pass through at least two. 27 HP, lads. Your choice. It's not up for them. Can I start going through one dip a toe you can go through one and then stop if it hurts yeah I mean yeah you can do that yeah take five points in necrotic so half that to two 26 25 let's go all You take two, half to one. So you take one more necrophic. That is your action.

That gets you up to the plinth with the diamond, but only a bonus action left. It's an action to use the diamond. Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr I will help Sentry with... What was it? A saving throw and an attack? No, attack roll or an ability check. Er... An attack roll. Okay, alright. Sentry, starting your turn, can you make a saving throw please?

I shall. I shouldn't have an ability. No, it's an ability check, not a saving throw. 33 plus 5. Minus 5. Minus 5. 28. 28. You're fine. 33. This dice is good to me today. Minus five. 28. 28.

You're fine. 33. Nice is good to me today. Yeah. That's good. So yeah, normal 10. Nice. I will bonus action Misty Step.

You teleport out. I'll teleport out away from Howard. For 33. Nice. So towards the room that Howard came out of basically. Yeah, boy. And then what? Use your movement to run into it?

Yeah. Okay. I'll move them, Tom. I'll move it all because I've got to move this. Oh, I've got a boy with me. Here he comes. He goes with you. Birdie mates. Yeah, I mean, if you're misty stepping and moving, you can basically run into that empty room and they will follow you immediately. Blip.

Let's do it. Lucius, who's up next? Am I? Already? Bloody hell. Bloody hell, mate. Okay. I will cast? Bloody hell. Bloody hell, mate. Okay. I will cast Fly on myself. Oh? And Fly to Sentry. 40 feet. Attack of Opportunity.

A lot of boys in that room. Yep. Just throw me in there. It's like a ball pit. Stack them all up. 18. That will destroy all of them though, because you've got Armour of Agnus. That'll be 30 points total. They all die. They just evaporate as the armour erupts and pierces them all with freezing cold, destroying them all.

And then they will reform on the chest. What damage would that have been? It would have been 12 again so half to six nice where are you gonna read that goes so it's a great question lucius you are carrying the chest aren't you yeah yeah oh you're carrying i've still got armor back at this up yeah it's great you're going it's a great spell especially against in this scenario where you're like they've got resistance unless they reform inside the other side We just survive here Sentry until Howard gets the next bit. And in fact yeah after Lucius those five are going to respawn in

the same room which now fills the entire area. Both you and Sentry they are forming like in you they take damage but you guys are also going to take damage here. You need to start picking up that loot. Me? Why? Because because we're gonna put them in that little meat grinder down to eight for the other one lucius uh you also would have taken five stacks of burden of greed because they all died around you so you're also at five stacks of burning group now even without a life goes a felden concentration check more of life is gone oh that's a burden of grief now. Even with that, I'm chuffed. Aura of life goes, I've failed my concentration check. Aura of life is gone. Oh, that's a bad one. No more resistance. No more.

And like, how you just- Product damage at this point. I mean, at this point, yeah, I'm just going to dump them in there. So, no more aura of life, so no more resistance, and HP can be reduced. Shit. I don't think I have that. It's all right, I can pop it again next turn. I've got a spread.

Ayla. Hi. You or Quill? You or Quill? I'll roll a d6. One, two, three, four, five, six. I've got a spread. Ayla, you or Quill, you or Quill. I'll roll a d6. One, two, three, four, five, six. Five, nine, stole. Quill!

They're going to attack you. All of them are going to attack you at once. They have disadvantage. 27. Jesus Christ. Yeah. 12 points of necrotic damage and your HP is reduced by 12 maximum. So that 12 off my 10 and my max is reduced by 12 maximum uh so that 12 off my 10 and my max is reduced by 12. okay

uh i'm happy no it's no it's fine it's just it's good because you had like the safety net now and now the pressure's like oh okay actually no we're not safe now howard get a move does that take your crumble belly away it doesn doesn't. What? And still have fun. He had a lot of crumble belly. Oh my god. I can't believe the major threat of this encounter is his crumble belly. And the fact that you were like, yeah, let's all have crumble before we go in. And I was just like, 10 foot of moment.

Yeah, love it. Ayla. Oh, I just chill. You're happy to just sit there. I'll just take the hits for now. All right, they're happy to just sit there. I'll just take the hits for now. Nice. All right, they're going to attack you.

I mean, I have been rolling badly against you. That's a 20 to hit. That'll hit me. Right. So this time that's going to be 12 points of necrotic damage. That's fine. And then 12 off your max HP. Crumble belly. I don't have crumble belly anymore.

Nice. I'll just make a note of that. I wish I didn't. I'm getting real gassy. Quill. How many stacks of greed does one have? Three. All right, you're fine. You still have the minus penalty.

It's okay. I still have 271 hit points. For fuck's sake. I'm going to use my action to bring my secret chest back into trinket form. Oh, I thought you were going to do something else. No, I have to. It's an action to bring it out and an action to put it back. So it takes quite a while to actually do. And I want to, yeah, I'm going to try and get away from these guys. So they'll have a tax of opportunity on me.

And I guess, do I want to start scooping up some of these? 18 to hit. Son of a bitch. I'll shield you a bit. Okay. Yeah, I'll shield you a bit. Okay. Yeah, I'll shield that. Okay.

I mean, I'll head towards Aayla. Okay. And you know. All right. They're after me anyway, these ones. Ah! You might need to move. I don't know, somewhere different.

Howard's got to get past everything. You can see his little gap. Move wherever it's convenient for him to go. Because they're going to surround you. Well, first things first is those guys already went because they attacked you. The ones around Aida have attacked. So it's basically Century and Lucius,

the group around you are basically just going to swarm and attack you both now. So Lucius, that group around you are basically just going to swarm and attack you both. Separate them. So Lucius, that is a 24 to hit. Yeah, that just scrapes by, Mark. 12 instant necrotic damage, 12 HP. How much, sorry? 12. Reduce, and then your maximum HP goes down by 12 as well.

Can I do my sentinel reaction? You can. Cool, all right. So you're going to make an attack against one of the ones that attack Lucius? Yes. How much damage? 12. 20 to hit.

Oh, it hits. Nice. And wait, that's crumbled belly. All right, let's do one, two. I'll do just a standard attack, so three DX there, I'm dead. 12. 13, 16, 21, 20, plus 4, 32. 32, destroys one and nearly destroys another one.

Nice. That'll be a stack, 6 stacks. Yes that will be. And then they make an attack against you, Century. Roll. That's a 26. Yeah, that hits. 12 points of necrotic, 12 points off your maximum HP. All right. All five of them.

And it does seem that when there's more of them, they are more effective if there's more of them together. Combo Belly's gone. Combo Belly's gone. Huge. Howard, Belly's gone. Combo Belly's gone. Huge. Howard, it's the turning point. So, because I've moved through the two, am I right next to the diamond? Yeah, you are. Okay, I'll do my thing. Action.

Same thing. You cut it, one point of damage. The diamond, the blood fills the diamond. That now becomes fully ripped as an action. Run, Howard, run! As an action. So, 25 foot of movement. He's only got a little half of the legs.

Which one are you still just heading towards your Jason room? The one that's nearest, so I guess the one that Ayla is outside of. That's not bad. I need somebody to help me. I know. I don't have anything that's not bad. I need some of your helpers. I know. I don't have anything that would help you. Alright, I'm going to pop off Aura of Life again. That's my action.

I'm going to try and just move into the back of the room. How many people does it hit, Tom? Is it 30 feet of range? 30 feet of range? 30 feet of range, yeah. I don't think me and Ayla will get hit. Okay. You can't move before you cast it.

Well, it moves with me. Oh. Oh, is it on you? Yeah. Oh, it's an aura. Yeah, it has aura. Oh, there might have been some that... So, I guess, yeah, I guess I'll just move into the center of the room, sort of just

behind Howard. Okay, they'll get into it. What did you say against you? Yeah, it of just behind Howard. Okay, they'll get in the same position as you. Yeah, that's good. 15, they miss. And where is Sentry in this mess? Good point. Well, there you are. So they're just between the two rooms,

basically, at the back. Forward. Yeah, there's good. Yeah. You could have been moving diagonally as well if you want to get more central. So you can move her up a little bit. You wanna do that?

Not too close to the handle. Oh, I see, yeah. You want to avoid that. Yeah. Gotcha. So just back there. Sure. Okay. Cool, then that's my turn. That's your turn? Yeah.

Uh, okay. At this point, uh, the spirits around, we'll chase after Quill. Do it. Get rid of my crumble. I'm yet to reach my full power. I've got my wisdom saving throw.

Strap. Oh, thank you. I can come back twice. Strap. Yep. Oh, 16. That's without my bonus, my bonus is 12. Oh, 16. That's without my bonus. My bonus is 12.

Oh, okay. Yep, you're fine. Unequal. Disadvantage. 15. Just by currently shielding. Miss. There you go.

Lucius. Still got Crumblebelly. Oh, fuck. Crumblebelly. The greatest enemy of this encounter. Crumblebelly. Oh, fuck. Crumblebelly, the greatest enemy of this encounter. Crumblebelly. So tired. Crumblebelly. Armor of Agathys.

It's just like they hit you and you're like, I'm gonna throw up a bit. I cast Armor of Agathys again. Nice, what level? Three again, so 15 more. Okay, 15, yep. Remember that replaces, it doesn't add on to any temporary points you got left.

Yeah, it was all gone anyway. All right, anything else? No, please. Are you just gonna hang out in this room? I am hanging, hovering. Actually, if I were to hover, do they float upwards vertically? They can.

Sweet, that's good. How tall are the ceilings actually? Not very tall at all. It's like 10 foot ceiling. It's actually, no, because it'd be 20 feet because of the alcove. So it's about 20 feet tall, the ceiling's in here. I guess technically when I flew over here and got Opportunity Attack,

I could have lost concentration on it, couldn't I? Yeah, don't worry. Sweet. Sweet. Right. That's me. Cool, that's you. I think what's going to happen next, because it's the two big groups,

they will basically chase after Sentry and then attack Lucius. So, and they'll attack Sentry technically as well. century it's gonna be a miss in century and does a 15 hit Lucius yeah yeah so that would be 12 but it's now half because of centuries or so it's six points in a crotic and you don't lose any max hit points but six points in a chronic and 15 points of cold back on them and yet they all take 15 points of cold at this them and yep they all take 15 points of cold at this point that end of the room as long as you don't move closer to howard they're just going to keep attacking you and until you start destroying them i'm just not going to worry

about them too much uh ayla i'm just chilling um i think for the sake of brevity what i could say here figure out how long it takes for Howard to... I mean, Howard can literally, like, it will take him two... I'd say it's going to take him about, like, four, five rounds to do this. At which point, if you guys are just like, we're just going to tank the damage as best as possible. Like, you can, like, reduce their numbers little bits here and there. I mean, yeah, we could check, like, concentration for... I numbers little bits here and there I mean yeah we could check like concentration

I wasn't even going to do that I was going to try and pick Howard up and transport him quicker to places sure yeah you can

you can totally do that because I've got 45 feet moving isn't that bringing people with us though yeah but they'd be attacking Taylor yeah but I could always

take you and then back shield me like I've got 45 feet moving shield me big lady. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to say everybody but Howard

take six points of necrotic damage. I'll take two for the blood letter. Thank you for that. Century, can you make two concentration checks for aura of life? Yeah. In fact, just one. All right, 19.

You're fine. Yeah. Cool. I would say, for the sake of brevity, because we've reached the point now where you know what you're doing and you've got everybody attacking you guys, it's just going to be a slog if we play out well.

I'm just short. Right, but for those two turns, it's cool. Literally, you summon your chest and you're scooping up more gold. Yeah. If he scoops up everyone else's gold, does he then have the ghosts from that chest on him?

Yes. So none of them are on me. So I can very easily just transport Howard or I'll scoop him. That was what I was thinking. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. That's what I was thinking. But yes, the only thing is,

what we're going to do is I'm going to take you up to the point where all four, Howard has touched all four gems. Sure. Once he touches all four gems, you see the doors open. They lead into another chamber. Spirits ain't going nowhere. Yeah. Right?

But they kind of like, I'll come back to this in a minute. I just want to move everyone around. So Ayla is going to be in here with Howard, although maybe at the front. Yeah. Quill is surrounded by ghosts. Em. You've made your choices.

Shovels coins. We get to steal it. Oh, and you guys think I'm done? I see two stacks of coins down there. That's another 20. No, some of it got damaged, remember? Yeah, yeah, it did, yeah. You're going to rob a poor man blind.

So, the doors now... Those doors sound fucking weird. The doors open. That was the left one, that's the right door. And you see... Now, Howard, you don't remember any more riddles or, like, puzzles or rhymes or anything about this. The last thing that your...

You know, the story that your family used to tell said was... And this is Howard saying it. In fact, actually, no. Maybe when you get into a point where you can have a talk, yeah, you could be screaming it, actually. But do not dream of blood-stained gold or horned hills. The folly of our ancestors was their own mistake, for as their families fought, the young lovers,

the children of those who loved them, left behind their fortune, along with jealousy and greed, and realized that they all had riches that they needed in the arms of each other. The love of their children, the loyalty of those who loved them left behind their fortune. Along with jealousy and greed and realize that they all had riches that they needed in the arms of each other. The love of their children, the loyalty of those who trusted them. They moved far away from the hard silver lands and began a new civil life, enjoying the comforts of the worlds and the hard work of their own hands. The smiles of those they love is worth more than any gift of the earth

or star in the sky. That's what this story ends with. And then he comes running back. The treasure was the friends they made along the way. That's basically the summary of the last part of the story. I told you right at the beginning of this, didn't I? I don't need riches, but I'm rich in memories. The doors lead into a final chamber,

a simple circular room. The walls are divided into upper and lower sections by a black divider of stone, and various stone doors are set into each of the curved wall halves, 12 in total. At the center is a large statue of Siaska herself, carved from a fusion of white marble and black onyx and mixed with crystalline material to make it seem as if she's the maid of the night sky itself. In her hands, raised above her head about 10 feet in the air, is a massive, beautifully cut diamond

that casts a gentle light around the chamber. Howard, you go alone. Through past the braziers. We'll hold off the spirits. Braziers! Braziers! Lanterns. You're all master of the All right. You're up. All right.

Do I kill... Do I destroy these boys? I'm just gonna... At the start of your turn, Cintri, if you could please make a wisdom saving throw. Oh yeah, whiz. Of course. Who cares, Meilyne? Natural 20. You're fine. Oh my god.

All right, I finally did it, guys. He's rolling high. This is what it feels like, by the way. Feels really good. I'm to play D&D. Yeah, I'm just gonna stay with these boys and just let them wail on me. Okay, nice. Yep, absolutely.

Ah, 23. Yeah, that hits. That would be six points of necrotic damage because you have holy aura and a concentration, please. 14. You are fine. Lucius. After screaming at Howard, go alone! Yeah, I'm just gonna hit around me with...

Do I prismatic spray? That's a bit much. That's a bit much. Statue of Siaska comes to life. What you should do is you should come out of this room and Prismatic Spray around Quill, because he's got the most enemies around him. Hit me. He's a greedy little bitch, so I'm going to move... Oh dear.

I am a greedy little bitch. To ward sentry a little bit. Sure. You forget how it's supposed to be. Gold student bitch. So I'm just on the edge of these monsters, these spirits, and gonna Cone of Cold in at them all. Sure.

I mean, they fail the saving throw, and I'm pretty sure this is gonna do more than enough damage to wipe them out. Yeah. 23 points of cold. Frozen solid and shatter as if you had frozen mist. Cool. Like a popsicle.

But you begin to see them already beginning to coalesce around the treasure chest you are currently carrying. Can I? Have. Actually, no, don't worry. Okay. I can't two-spell it. Okay. Even with Quicken, right? I'd only be able to cantrip spell. You'd only be able to cantrip, yes. don't worry. I can't two-spell it. Even with Quicken, right?

I'd only be able to cantrip spell. You'd only be able to cantrip, yes, that's correct. So your spirits are going to just slowly start reforming. Quill... Quill is Quill. ...is 21 to hit you. That'd be six, well, 12, six necrotic damage. Okay. And the Holy Aura isn't Concentration, is it?

Do I need to do a basic throw? Yeah, technically. Did you take, no, you didn't take damage. Oh, shit. Sorry, Holy Aura is... They reflobbed you, destroyed them, and then they refilled me. Okay. But I've got five. Now he remembers. Oh, this whole time you've been making Concentration checks.

Now he remembers. You son of a bitch. It's all right, he rolled a two. So it's gone. It's gone now. Oh, great. It wasn't gone before. I was rolling it every other time. Yeah, Holy Aura's gone.

Oh, dear. Okay, so no more disadvantage. So they're no longer blind? No longer blind. Oh, no. Oh, 29 to hit on the next one, the next group. Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. So that's 12, half to six necrotic damage.

Okay. And they just wail in on you. And then we go to Ayla. Oh, hi. Who is currently outside. I got all your ghosts. Ghosts free. Ghost free, baby. You're holding me, aren't you?

Because you're with me. Well, you are currently, you had to squeeze through the bars. Ayla's outside. I can't get through those bars easy, so. Grab him. Go long. Well, grab Howard. Just throw him in.

You can hold your action until I move to you and then yeet me. Get yotted. You could yeet. I'll do that. You could yote. You want to be yote? I will wait until Howard is there

and I will yeet him through the doors. Sure. Because I don't know if I can go through there without fucking things up. Because I'm not. Actually, we've been in this whole time, and it hasn't. That's fine, I'll wait, I'll go towards the doors. Sure, yeah, you should move slightly towards the door.

Yeah. Basically stay in range that Howard can run to you, and then you can yeet, and you can yeet. Basically, yeah. Okay, yard. Century, does 20 hit? No. Right, you're fine. And in which case we go to Howard.

I run over to Miss Aayla. You get yeet. Oh, no! Can you just make an athletics check for me, Aayla? Hits the door, slides down. 23. 23. You pick Howard up, you lob him the distance

to basically cause him to land inside the new chamber. Like, and how would you get thrown into the circular chamber? Nice. That you'd seen before. Nice. Yeah. That would be action. And then, yeah, you moved.

You still have your action, because that was just your movement to get to Ayla. Am I anywhere near, like, how far from the statue? It's still a move, like, you would have to climb up. The statue's maybe about, like like how far from the statue? You, it's still a moot, like you would have to climb up. The statue's maybe about like 15 feet from the door and then the gem is like 10 feet up in the air because the statue's large, it's holding the gem up. I might actually need to come in and hold you up. I could get like a little footstool out of my backpack.

Good. Well it'd be a little ladder, a little step ladder. I don't travel without it. Yeah. Wait, it's like a tiny bag but you pull out a full ladder. It's like a folding step ladder. Always be prepared. He's awful. I've got two of them in my house. Yeah. Just so you know.

Same. Try to buy me one for my kids. If you would like to use your action to use Howard's backpack and have a folding ladder. I'm going to need this. Pull out the backpack and fold it out. You put it up against the statue. Yeah.

And then you can do, do, do, do. Yeah. So can I touch it now? I'd say as a bonus action, what do you want to do? Touch the diamond or are you going to

cut your hand again? Do I know the name of, you shouted the riddle really fast. Like, I'm not going to ask you to repeat it. Well, that's the thing is it wasn't really a riddle.

It was just the story. It was just the end of the story, which was basically saying, yeah, like, the ancestors, the young lovers, the halfling and the dwarf who initially kind of brought the families together were so sick and tired of the greed

and the infighting that they left, and they started a new life with a few people that were still loyal to them, and that life was all about, like, not worrying about your fortunes and appreciating what you make with your hands and appreciating the people that love you and that care was all about like not worrying about your fortunes and appreciating what you make with your hands and appreciating the people that love you and that care about you and stuff.

Meanwhile, just outside the gate, the good cleric of Hester is just like, Money! I love money! Gimme, gimme, gimme! I'm a quartermaster. He doesn't even have any of the snacks. He's just, that's just him. Do I't even have any of the snacks. That's just him. Do I remember what the name of the lovers are?

Yes. They are called... Clearly wrong. The young halfling man was Wilbur, and the dwarven woman was called... Bilbur. No. Her name was? What if you're? Hilda.

Hilda. Wilbur and Hilda. Yes, they're certain. Hornsilver. No, it's not Hornsilver, okay. They were the originators of the Hornsilver family. I'm gonna climb up the ladder and reach up, but just before I touch it, I'm gonna say,

oh my ancestors, Wilbur and Hilda horn silver I don't know if you can hear me but if you can I don't come here with greed I just need to to borrow this to bring a dear friend back and you'd maybe find it appropriate she loves the stars and Siaska, this star could bring her back. Please, forgive me. As you finish kind of saying the words, you watch as the hands of Siaska that are holding the diamond up, kind of clenched around it, like protectively, you watch the stone...

...and palm... ...allowing you to take it. I'll slowly reach out. You take the gem. All the spirits almost suddenly turn I need to take it. I'll slowly reach out. You take the gem. All the spirits almost suddenly turn as if realising what's happened in the middle of sort of like,

you know, their hatred towards you as they look and you just hear like, the star. The star. They all just vanish. Oh. And yeah, how would you now have a 25,000 GP magical diamond. I would like to cast Dimension Door.

I cast Teleport. You still always playing Howard this entire time? No, I'll just take it reverentially and just whisper, thank you. Climb back down the ladder. Hold that back up. Put it in the back of your head. Yeah, the rest of you, the encounter ends. Is everyone okay?

As can be, yes. Let's get out of here. Well, Howard? I've got the star quartermaster quill. Okay, okay. Do we wanna go back to the storm chaser thing, or should we use it now? Storm chaser.

Okay. We could use it now. It's up to you. All of these stacks of green, by the way. Do you want the rest of your fortune? You could buy several fridges. There is several, looking in the chambers, there is approximately, based on the damages that you did,

So many fridges, Howard. There is approximately 16,600 gold left in the chambers. There is the adamantine scale armor, the pair of magical braces that Lucius spotted, but also, now without the panic of the fight and having time to look around, there is a magnificent-looking longsword with blue sapphires kind of set into the hilt and the pommel. It looks like a very perfectly well-made kind of like dwarven weapon, and halfling kind of, you know, with halfling detailing and engravings,

as well as a staff that seems to emanate an icy aura. Cool. But those are in the various rooms. They would need to be gathered up. Uh, Miss Ayla, I don't need for much. But I suppose, I suppose this wealth could be used for the good of Erois, and I trust you all with that task.

I mean, yeah, anything that we get really just goes straight back into powering the Astoria. Just like all that gold, right, Quill? I have all of this gold, but it was to draw them away from you. As you can see... Insight check! As you can see, from what you've just encountered here... Two! You rolled a two! Everybody is like, you linesack of shit! Turning slightly away from Quill,

whose respect has gone down a little bit in my eyes. Still owes me a fridge as well. Oh, more ghosts might appear. As you can see, as you can see, people who come here die. You are the champions of Erois. That's why you survived.

So perhaps it's better off with the danger gone. This is what this gold does. It just causes greed and death. We survived because of you. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have been able to get through. Well, I've already dishonoured my ancestors, apparently, so might as well empty the hole up. I don't think so.

I don't think you have. This is yours. I don't feel right taking it from you. It's ours. It's the storm chasers. What's more important than the tale of the riddle, is it not? That love and people are more important? Nova's more important to us than the Star of Siaska.

That's the story of the lovers. There you go. I'll read it more slowly now that howard can take the time and i'll do it just normally but do not dream of blood-stained gold or haunted halls the folly of our ancestors was their own mistake for as their families fought the young lovers their children and those who loved them left behind their fortune along with the jealousy and greed and realized they had all the riches they ever needed in the arms of each other the love of their children and the loyalty of those who trusted them they moved away from horn silver lands and

began a new simple life enjoying the comforts of the world and the hard work of their own hands the smiles of those you love is worth more than any gift of the earth or star in the sky. I guess after all, really, my surname now is Swift Whistle. So, have the last of the horned silver wolf. I'm not going to remember that. I didn't know your first surname. It was my husband's name.

He died. I forgot you had one. Please say that internally, not externally. Thank you. Let's go back to the Stormchaser, where our friends and crew is. Okay. Okay, I mean...

And take everything with us. We will gather... Oh, you do want to take the things. Yeah. Okay. Okay. And take everything with us. We will gather. Oh, you do want to take the things. Yeah. Oh, wow. A rare oddity that the High Rollers

actually loot and take things that I put in the game. With the owner literally saying for the last five minutes, fucking take it.

I built a whole dungeon around a treasure vault. Take the items. You have my explicit permission to take it. Well, Howard, if that's what you want.

I know it is as I'm saying this. Master Quill has already emptied the place. So Quill, the total of gold is 36,600. Write it down. So an extra 16,600 on top of what I've done. Exactly. And then I'll just tell you what the magic items are because Quill can identify them easily. The adamantine scale armor is technically not magical,

but it is a magic item in D&D, but it's just made of adamantine. Right. You can look up what that does. I'm pretty sure basically it means that you cannot be hit with a critical hit. You can't be affected by a crit. The braces are a pair of braces of archery

the long sword is a plus two long sword i'd probably give it a little bit more information and a fancy name but i didn't have time today but it is a plus two long sword and then the staff is a staff of frost okay and those are the items sure i think century should have that and those are the items sure i think sentry should have that okay you can decide because that's refrost that's it you guys can just we can discuss that later yeah i would like to just continue a little bit longer i know we're about to hit time if that's okay yeah yeah i mean so yeah that's all right the uh not that much longer like ten minutes I'll ask the tech guy if they can

yeah yeah they're saying they can stay yeah well three resurrection takes an hour to cast so I guess in this case

we would go back to the storm chaser you guys make your way back to the storm chaser without issue you return probably at night having come in here

sort of after the journey when you emerge the cradle still visible still bright over aroes the stars twinkling just beyond it knowing the great astral sea the great astral space plane of astral spaces above you you return to the storm chaser the lanterns along its bow have all been lit and the crew eagerly awaiting your return. When you do come back, Raya, knowing what you've accomplished, will turn to you, Lucius. Do you want me to, do you want some quiet space for what you need to do? Or would you like everyone present? I can take the crew, we can take the wolf pack

and everyone downstairs for a moment, that you have the deck in peace, or we can have everyone present. I would like this to be a private affair. Of course. Only because I'm worried of the results. Of course, Yes, understood. Captain, that's why I ask.

So, yes, I will take the wolf pack and everyone else downstairs. Would you like Howard to stay with you? Yes. Without him, we wouldn't have this potential. Very well. I will also just go get some things, and I'm going to go gather up all of Nova's belongings, books, things like that that she'd enjoy seeing and just kind of line them out so that these can kind

of be the first things she would see if she comes back. I do love books. Aria will basically kind of take the ship, maybe fly up to a high peak, but then take all the crew downstairs and you just have this view of the savonan mountains kind of all around you as nightfall is you know now well in effect and the glimmering lights of the storm chaser kind of just give it this serene peace uh and this kind of slightly chilly but not cold night air uh you can hear the sounds of the crew as they're taking downstairs you can still hear mutterings and murmurings but it's the sound of life it's the sound of the crew as they're taking downstairs. You can still hear mutterings and murmurings, but it's the sound of life.

It's the sound of people sort of enjoying a meal and sort of, you know, there's whispered, hushed conversations, but it eventually dies down, leaving you just in that sombre, quiet peace on the deck of the ship under the cradle. Yeah, Lucius placing out all the books. I guess the star of Siaska is in the middle of all of this as well. You tell me how you want to lay all this stuff out.

Okay, so if I recall the book, this should be all we need to bring her back, but it would be beneficial for all of us to have some memories of Nova in our hearts and our minds to help fuel this spell as much as possible. But a reminder that I've been where she is now, and the temptation to stay was strong and probably stronger for Nova now that she's saved

Vortensar and entered that place a hero there's a chance that she might refuse and a chance that we won't see her again

just so we're all prepared for that but Um, just so we're all prepared for that. Um... But I can start the spell now if everyone is ready. Please, Quill. So as part of this, Quill, the hour-long ritual, for you, this takes the form of channeling that energy,

still to you, Hesper's energy, but you know it is now always going to be bound to the energy of Siasca and the astral plane and the stars the cradle itself and feeling a sense of poetic timing you almost begin to feel as if you are calling down the stars themselves and strands of that aurora borealis, that strange aurora color, that shimmering multi-prismatic light almost pulling it down, and the rest of you begin to see around the diamond as if the diamond itself were a heart,

which begins to pulse. The aura and light begins to form the shape, a humanoid shape, not anything specific, nothing you could identify, but you can tell a person begins to form. As part of the ritual, though, it is partially fueled not just by magic, but by those connected to the dead.

I'd like each of you to contribute to the resurrection. Something, whether it's a message to Nova, Nova's soul, a memory of Nova that you hold in strong regard, something that would remind you very much of her personality, something that would really you very much of her personality something that would really to you identifies who nova vija is or something else that you wish to contribute to your choice and then afterwards i would just like you to roll a d20 no bonuses

okay uh that's from each of you except Kim, obviously. I'm good if... Yeah, I've got one. Let's go with Tom leading the ritual. Rhiannon, and then we'll go with... I probably, as I'm doing this ritual and moving around and bringing down magical energy and stuff, I would sort of say this out loud. I remember Nova ambushing me in the storm chaser, every time measuring my body,

making me stand in strange positions, and then running off to her experiments, and then presenting me with the ability to fly again. And all through my first flight, I remember looking down at the storm chaser and seeing the glee and happiness in her eyes, giving the gift of flight back to me. Nova is strange with her experiments,

Nova is strange with her experiments, but went through all of that effort just to give me the one thing I didn't even know that I wanted again. And that is Nova Vigia to me. Tom, if you can roll a d20 for me, please. Okay. How many bonuses? Five. Tom, if you can roll a d20 for me please. Okay. No bonuses.

Five. Okay, thank you very much. All right, Sentry. I think Sentry would be, I think she'd be like holding hands with whoever's next to her and then she'd look up at the stars and maybe see a shooting star. And then that would bring her back to when we were on the Vivex and we were fighting the stone giants and Nova coming in as a little bullet, teleporting in and just facing that head on. And that's who Nova is.

She confronts her problems head on, no hesitation. She is a hundred and a million percent every single time and that's why we love her. She just gives her everything for anyone, regardless of the cause, no matter where they're from, where they've lived. She's a little blue bullet. Thank you, Century. If you can roll a d20 for me, please. 11. Lucius or Aela? Lucius recalls Nova's sacrifice, not in the end, but the amount she's willing to sacrifice

throughout this entire journey. And the first time he really opened up to it was, or was aware of it, was when we were on that space station with the time limit to get out and how far Nova was willing to go to save us despite everything, losing her arm in the process. And yeah.

Thank you, Lucius. Can you roll a d20 for me, please? I'm gonna start four? OK. Ayla? Ayla's not going to talk about a specific memory. Mm-hm. More just how Nova is probably the first person ever in Ayla's life.

She went from thinking, the first person ever in Ayla's life. She went from thinking, oh, who is this annoying little girl, to thinking, I can't survive without this annoying little girl. And it's the first person in Ayla's life that she's ever not just tolerated, but actively wanted to be around for keeps. And there's not one memory of Nova,

it's just that Aayla needs to protect Nova and she needs to be around her. Okay, and if you can roll a d20 for me, please. 16. 16. Quill, the rest of you, the figure in the middle becomes so bright, it's hard to look at. Quill, you almost shut your eyes to it now, no longer needing to see, just feeling the magic flowing through you. This intense level of magic that you've never wielded at this stage.

This spell that you know is not just forming a new body, a new life, but bringing back memory, bringing back as much essence as you can, drawn from the memories of your companions, the thoughts and their feelings. But you also feel your own mind, your own spirit ascending back up that pathway that you once travelled with Calara and Siaska long ago. You know it's not your soul but your mind reaching up, stretching, pulling away and away, up into astral space, and then like crossing a border that you couldn't see but you knew was there, stepping beyond into a world of light, just light, perhaps see. If he were to glimpse Nova at her most peaceful.

I think at first you almost wouldn't see her. But then you blink and you'd start seeing a constellation. That's her outline. The fluffy hair. And the rest of her. And she's just floating in the stars and she's translucent. You've almost maybe seen this before when she manifested Tiangong,

that kind of translucent outline just filled with stars and nebula. And you know that you can speak to them. Nova, please tell me you're here. Please tell me this is you. Have I... Hello? Quill, it's me. We... we really want you back, Nova. And if you follow me now, you will be back on the Stormchaser, back in Arois, back with us,

ready to fight some more through all the pain and the strife and the anger and the anguish, but fighting for a future that I don't think we can achieve without you. But I know you've done your part. You are a hero and you will be remembered. If you decide to stay here, you're welcome to. We won't blame you.

What happened in Vortensar? Did they survive? Vortensar is safe. Vortensar's still there. But it's safe. You achieved what you wanted to. You won. I didn't, though. I caused it. But we avoided it.

It didn't happen in the end. The vision didn't come to pass. They are safe because of what we did in the end. The vision didn't come to pass. They are safe because of what we did in the end. Because of what you did in the end. And the others. It wasn't just me. Harmony, Shansara, Tiangong, they all stepped in with me. I'm not a hero, Quill. I'm just a Ganassi. I'm tired. And it's so quiet up here.

You do feel, Quill, the strength of your friend's contribution to this ritual. The power's quickly waning. You don't have much time left. There is so much more that needs to be done and so many more people we can help together, all of us. people we can help together. All of us. I suppose we may have saved Wharton, Sara.

But with Hadar on the horizon, what's one city against oblivion? We wouldn't be able to do this without you, Nova. I... I... You feel Quill's voice beginning to grow distant and weaker. You feel almost as if Nova's being pulled away. Whatever you decide, it's the right decision for you. But... Please... Whatever you decide, it's the right decision for you. But please, please consider coming back. For Erois, for the Storm Chasers, for Horizon, for everything.

They all need you now. Okay. Show me your wing, Quill. I'm in the mechanical one. I'll bring that one out. See a little smile. You really haven't been maintaining it, have you? I've been doing my best.

This is why we need you. So? I'll, like, hold out a hand. As he holds out the hand, you begin to feel Quill almost being pulled away from you. And Quill, you're straining with the strength of your mind,

with the strength of your conviction, your faith, but you know that just there wasn't, maybe it wasn't enough, maybe this is because it's your first time doing it, but that power is quickly fading away from you. This is a now or never. I'm feeling like this is the last sort of moment, like, I'm so sorry that it went this way, Nova. And if this is goodbye, you were one of the best things that's ever happened to me. And I'm sure everyone else would say the same.

The memories, the feelings they all had for you. You've changed so many lives and... I just want to say thank you. You've changed so many lives and I just want to say thank you and goodbye. She reaches out. As you kind of grip the wing you begin to feel yourself pull forward, Nova. From that world of light for you, Quill, to Nova's starry sky, you see Eros.

You see the beautiful blue kind of shimmering aura of the cradle. You begin to see the mountains, the clouds, the seas. You see astral space all around you. There is a moment when the two of you do feel an ominous sense. When you look in one direction, far, far off, you feel something out there, a cold, hungering something. But it quickly fades as you begin making your way down

and you feel, and over the world rushing around you, there is something odd, something strange. And then, quill your back and your body, and the rest of you see, maybe bathed in just like, draped in the cloak, maybe like a cloak from Lucius or something like that's been draped over, but Nova, fresh body. Your eyes open, you breathe cold but refreshing air. You feel the familiar wood and the storm chasing

beneath your fingertips. Hi. Nova! Yes! I'm going to give her a big hug, just to let her know that I'm here. Hi. Nova! Yes! I'm going to give her a big hug. It worked. It worked. God. I just flopped to his knees and just relieved him.

I imagine I still got my hand like... I haven't let go. Yeah. You almost made me think you were going to stay there i almost did but you didn't you didn't ayla's gonna take her other hand and go don't you ever do that again if you die i swear i'll kill you i'll kill you understandable there is one thing though, though. There's a great relief seeing your friends and being back here.

There's something missing. You don't hear their voice. You don't feel their presence. It's strange because it's always been there. I go to summon. You hold out your hand, almost expecting the blade. Nothing comes. When you try and manifest your echo, something appears. But it's a shadowy figment. It is a true echo now. There is no Tiangong.

There's just the space where Tiangong would have been. Still there, but just a memory. Just your memories made manifest. And your hand almost waiting for the blade, waiting for that familiar voice in your mind, that touch. But nothing comes. It's for a moment, though. For a moment, when you tried to summon the blade,

when you manifested the echo, you thought you heard another voice. But it goes ephemeral quickly. I can't hear them. I can't hear their heartbeat. It's a hum that's gone. Tiangong's gone. I'm sorry, Nova.

And that's where we're going to end the episode. Okay. But we did it. There is that. Well, you know, there's that for now. But yeah, that is where we're going to end today's episode. Thanks for joining us on this little side adventure. episode. Thanks for joining us on this little side adventure. We'll be back next week when,

well, maybe one last little bit of lightness before the real end of Eros begins. Thank you.