High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois | #28 - From Beyond the Cradle (Part 1)

Episode Date: March 18, 2019

The party's journey has been interrupted by a few very hungry Ankhegs! Thanks to our sponsors D&D Beyond and Displate! Displate offer durable, steel, high quality canvases with a huge choice of artwork from a wide selection of artists! The High Rollers have a collection that you can view here: http://bit.ly/displatehighrollers D&D Beyond is the official digital toolset for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. Create your FREE account now and start digitising your campaigns here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/ Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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run by Dungeon Master Mark Sherlock-Humes, with me, Tom, playing Keelakad Kalar, the bard slash cleric. I am Chris Trott. I'm playing Lucius Vue in Elowin Elanastro. And I am a High Elf Sorcerer. Hi, I'm Rh cleric. I am Chris Trott. I'm playing Lucius Viren, Elowen Elanastio. And I am a high elf sorcerer. Hi, I'm Rhiannon. I'm playing Sentry. I am a guardian paladin.

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. We're sponsored by D&D Beyond.

Use the code WARMPLATES to get 25% off the legendary bundle. We're also sponsored by Displate. Use the code HYROLERS15 to get 25 off the legendary bundle we're also sponsored by displate use the code high rollers 15 to get 15 off your order also we're revealing some of our favorite displates every sunday and at the end of the month we're giving them away to anyone watching us live on twitch.tv slash high rollers dnd so tune in live to win yourself some fantastic art and check out both sponsors with the links in the episode description also sorry couple more announcements we are doing two live shows in the episode description. Also, sorry, couple more announcements.

We are doing two live shows in the near future. If you're heading to TwitchCon on the 13th and 14th of April, then you'll probably see us wandering around. We're doing a live show on the 13th at 3.30pm on the Glitch Theatre stage. We are also going to be heading to the first ever YoggCon in Bristol on August 3rd and 4th. There's live shows and signings and all of that good stuff and we're also going to be doing a private game for the 10 High Rollers VIP ticket holders. Head

to yogscast.com slash yogcon for more information. Anyway, on to the episode. On the way to Stenhill, the team are waylaid by some very hungry ankh-hex. It's Lurie Mentor, false sense of security. We've got some very big news. We have news! Do you want to hear? Rhiannon! Rhiannon just rolled for big dick energy and she got a natural 20! This is coming from the guy who gets mad at me when I delay me doing the podcast. No it's okay because you can say hello now. Oh I see, okay.

I got 17. Oh, I see. Okay. Hello, and welcome to Erois. A recap on what happened last time. Rhiannon rolled a nat 20. In a dark, ancient cavern. I'm going to start again for Tom's benefit. She's gone. She's gone. All right. Children, may I begin?

Three hours. You can buy a ticket to get a tan by him. And Rob, big, big head. He's got a tan. That's half of her pink dick energy. I've got dried milk on my arm. What? What?

Never mind. Carry on. I've just found it. Should we do a stream? Yes, I would like to. I've been trying for some time. Hello. Welcome to Erois. A recap of what happened last time. In a dark ancient cavern beneath Kaylie's rest, the party were witnesses to an incredible revelation and a terribly

dark omen. Calus Starbane, the Tyrant of the Galaxy, has returned to Erois thanks to the Archways, a series of planar portals built against Siaska's wishes. Tyrant of the Galaxy, yeah. I don't think he's ever been called like that before. I'm sure I have to- What he is now. Oh my God.

I'm pretty sure I have. Calus Starbane. Yeah, I know, but like- It's not a big jump, is it? Just really nailed that point home. After revealing himself to be Valar's father and Valar's spark of divinity from the goddess Siaska, the party was swept away by Kallus' incredible magic and teleported to the other side of the world, to the stormy shores of the land of Myrskir on the continent of Voxar. After several difficult personal conversations, the party began to make their way inland to

find help for the fallen sentry who perished in the previous battle. Along the route, they encountered a group of lizardmen riding crocodile-like beasts harassing a half-orc woman. Coming to her rescue, they learned her name is Araya, a former sailor who had been helping the locals as a monster slayer and a guide. Learning a little about their environment back at the village of Karkul, the party waited for one of the terrible magical storms to pass and then set off in the night. With time against them to bring sentry back, the party raced towards a town called Stenhill, hoping for more guidance

and resources. When we last left our heroes, they had encountered, thanks to Oriah's navigation skills, they had managed to avoid several bandits, cut down on their travel time, but in doing so they have crossed what must be the hunting grounds of Arnkegs, a number of creatures. Quick

thinking and some stealth checks later, the party are currently hidden from the creatures, but they have emerged from their underground tunnels and seem to be hunting around, looking for signs of their prey. And that is where we begin today's episode. The creatures, as far as you believe, don't know where you are. You are currently huddled up against a very large, jagged rock, nestled in between some smaller rocks around it,

a large jagged rock nestled in between some smaller rocks around it, basically keeping perfectly still on Araya's guidance that these creatures can sense vibrations and keeping out of sight. What would you like to do? Is the dead of night? Is midnight? There is very little light apart from any light sources you have, and the cradle's multicolored cube is distant. So we're currently surrounded by arm kegs. Three arm kegs.

Arm kegs. You might have thought there was only two, but there's actually three. Okay. Oh, okay. And a dice as well. Yeah, fuck the dice. Are we in initiative or not?

No, I mean, at this point, you can see these, and the arm kegs themselves look to be be these large insectoid-like creatures, big mantis mandibles at their front, big praying mantis-style hands, these big burrowing claws, very thick chitinous carapace, kind of soft cockroachy underbelly, and they are basically patrolling around and you can see them kind of their mandals up in the air clacking around you can hear them those of you who don't have dark vision you can you can't really see

them because it's pretty much pitch black out on the plains what direction are we going in as a party? What's our path that we were taking? Let's say up the hill. You'd be coming up the hill. And this hill is much steeper than it appears. Steeper. Yes, you are heading towards the hill.

Okay, so they're not super in our way then? Well they are moving around, but I've just placed them temporarily on the board. But they are moving around, they're kind of like, trying to get a sense. They know that something is here, but they don't know where it's gone. They're kind of like looking around for it. In order for me to fully role play the situation,

I think I need to roll for dick size. 17. Are you doing this again? We really doing this again? I really hope. You can roll for it size. 17. Are you doing this again? We really doing this again? I really hope. You can roll for it, I don't care. It means nothing to me. I need to know.

It means nothing to me. It means a lot to me. Here we go. Two extremes. The two extremes. What are the chances? I love that. That's amazing.

That's amazing. Take a picture of that immediately. Oh. Oh, it's tiny. I believe the phrase, like a cocktail sausage. That's perfect. Yeah. How does that help you roleplay?

I can just do everything knowing. I think you just needed to know before this continued. Well, if we ever do another calendar, they'll put that in. You don't have to. I'm pretty sure we put it in... Who cares? I'm going to stay perfectly still but look to Oriah for instruction because she's dealt with these things before.

Yeah. Okay, so these things are quite nasty. We can do this a couple of ways. I believe some of you might have range, no? So if we could either take these on with range attacks, keep ourselves safe, or we could try and sneak around them, try not to... How come they haven't spotted us yet? I mean, that one's looking right at me.

Because they can see us. Will you guys do make stealth checks? Just to make clear, you're not just stood out in the middle of open, you're like hiding amongst like a rocky outcropping. You're like literally hiding in the dark. Okay. You're actually stealthed. I do it as a group stealth check, because you two rolled low,

but the three of you rolled high. Yes, we're good at stealth. These are such ugly creatures. I don't think we should face them. I think we should go around. Do they rely on sound? Or can they see? They sense vibration.

They can see as well. They can see as well. They have sea eyes. They have sea eyes! Yeah, you can see they've got these black insect-like eyes, but you know, because these are your favorite enemy, like, Arnkegs is a common threat here. They can sense vibrations in the ground as well.

That's how they track their prey normally, but then they have sight as well. Do they attack people like us? Oh, they can do, yes. They're quite fearsome, but they're delicious. Well, I mean, we're not really here for food. Interesting. I might be able to... The well, I mean we're not really hit food interesting um, uh, I

Might be able to Do something but I don't know I'll probably Your friends is coming through something a different direction And we could I mean we could throw a rock distract them like this I I could probably create an image and a sound 120 feet away That's a fantastic idea. I can I can make sounds as well far away I could probably create an image and a sound 120 feet away. Do that. That's a fantastic idea. I can make sounds as well, far away. Fantastic.

Let's draw them away and then we can make our way around. Let's do that. Try it. Okay, so I like to cast major image. Okay. 120 foot, like as far, like 120 feet. Sure. Far away.

Sure. I'm going to make it, so I can make an image that is no larger than a 20-foot cube. Yeah, that's pretty big. So... 20-foot cube is, yeah, like a small hut. Can I make, like, a big cow? Yeah. Yeah, it's a large creature.

That would be, like, 10 feet. So... 10-foot cube. It's completely real, including sound, smell, and temperature appropriate to the thing depicted. Okay. Wow. What level is this? Three?

Yeah. You can't create sufficient heat or cold to cause damage, a sound loud enough to deal thunder damage, or death in a creature, or a smell that might sicken a creature. So it does make sound and stuff, but not damaging. But not too extreme. And then what?

You're just going to have it stood there? Well, kind of just, like, shuffling around, mooing, making a noise. Okay, that's the main thing is, like, are gonna have it stood there? Well kind of just like shuffling around, mooing, making noise. Yeah, you're making it move around. Okay. Yeah. Okay, so you're doing that. Is anybody else doing anything? Tom, you kind of like mentioned.

I think in the same, like I'll wait until Nova casts it and then the same sort of direction, 30 feet I can do Thaumaturgy. Is that what you're doing? So a rumble of thunder? Oh no, that's got a vocalgy. Is that what you're doing? So, a Rumble of Thunder? Oh no, that's got a vocal component. Is that what you're thinking? I don't think that would be far away enough.

I mean, all spellcasting has vocal components. I'm assuming Major Image does as well. Yeah, and I'll do, so I can make the Rumble of Thunder. I'm not sure if that would necessarily affect the ground so much, but I'll try it. My thing can make sound as well and it walks around. So, I don't know if... I just feel like if...

Trying to get them to turn their heads. Yeah, the same sort of noise. Go away, yeah. That's not super far away. But you want to do that after Nova casts her spell? Or are you doing it at the same time? Same time, I guess. Cool.

I'm just going to wait on them. Okay, anything else? I'm holding Sentry. Trying to be quiet. Yeah, you're kind of having to hold Sentry in. As a point, this is midnight, you're tired. You know, not enough to give you guys exhaustion yet. You've made your con save, so even though you've been carrying Sentry, you're kind of fine. But this is late, you are tired.

Okay, so is that what you're doing, Nova? It says I can cause the illusion to make different sounds at different times, even make it carry on a conversation, for example. Okay. Even a cow? Moo, moo, moo. Moo. It's an illusion.

She can make the cow talk. She can do what she wants with it, basically. Eat me. Moo, moo, moo. So you are going to create a cow that's kind of shuffling around, and then 30 feet from where you are currently, you're going to create the sound of thunder. Yeah, just some sort of noise.

Overhead thunder, or are we talking like drumming against the ground? Just like a point 30 feet away from us. Just that's where the noise is. If it's close to the ground, then I guess the noise of thunder would make the ground rumble a bit. So I need to know, both of your spells save DCs? Mine... So for me, it's an intelligence investigation check yeah my DC is 15. Mine's 15 as well okay

okay so you wait for a moment and then you watch as Nova I'm guessing you pull Tiangong. I probably would like even even use Tiangong almost like a paintbrush in the air. You paint the shape of it. And then you flick your wrist. It sends it flying out. And you watch... Well, those of you... I don't think any of you could see out this far.

You're kind of guessing roughly because you can't see in the darkness. Sending it as far as I can. As far as you can to the limits where you can feel the spell beginning to weaken. And then you just kind of... And you kind of hear this as it lands two of the creatures definitely turn their heads and then can the other ones and what they do is they

borrow down into the ground so take them off the off the board for they're gone okay they borrow underneath it and they begin going over towards it. The one for yours, the thunder doesn't really, it kind of explodes outwards like a peel of thunder but it doesn't create like the sensation of something moving on the ground. But this one, the one closest

to you, seems to kind of turn its head towards where you're currently hiding and it's like and it begins kind of turn its head towards where you're currently hiding and it's like and it begins kind of approaching delicately. What do we do? I think at this point it's

it kind of knows where we are. Can anyone throw a big rock? I can throw a big rock. Can I throw a big rock? Yeah, you can try and make a strength check for me. Yeah. How big are we talking, this rock? This one. Maybe like a good head-sized rock.

Yeah, sure, okay. Big rock. Oh, dear. That's the wrong bow. Oh, yeah. Oh, that's all right, then. Cool. That's okay, then.

Oh, that's still good. Okay. Cool. What is my strength? Oh, yeah, plus three, six. Cool, uh, what is my strength? Oh yeah, plus three, six. So, Oriah picks up this head-sized rock, tosses it, but it goes like five feet, slams into the ground, and then this creature and it scrabbles up towards the rocks. And that's pretty much going to be initiative.

There we go, lads. I feel like it can definitely see us if it's... Lads! Lads, lads, lads. Not good. Oh. Why were you my strength? That's not so funny.

I guess it makes sense that Aurea's going first in this one anyway, if this is her favourite enemy. Aurea, Aurea. Aurea. Aurea. Aurea. Aurea. Aurea.

Aurea. Aurea. Aurea. Ayla. 16. Quaya. Araya. Araya? Arisa. Arale? Arale? Ayla. 16. Quill. 12. Nova.

11. Lucius. 6. Araya. 23. And then the Ankegs. Anti-pirate. The Ankegs.

I suppose these two are still... Borrowing. So, Oriah, you are the first to go. Okey-dokey. I think what I'll probably do is start off with firing my longbow at it. Just get some hits in it before it gets too close. Okay. So, 1d8 plus 3.

Let's roll to attack first. I'll attack first, of course it is turn 16 16 against this thing yeah you can see it kind of pierces into its chitin I can't read the body language of ant eggs. What do you think you're a D&D player? You can't read the body language of an ant egg? I don't have them as favourite enemies. Four damage. Four damage, okay. I'll do an A, B or C. Can I ready an action?

Well you've just used your action fire longbow. Okay, cool. But you technically would have got sneak attack damage on that, by the way. Oh, cool. Can I use it? No, you wouldn't because you would not get advantage. No, you wouldn't have got it. Cool. But you have your bonus action.

Would it not be like a surprise attack? She didn't have advantage, no. No. It's a new attack. And I thought for a second, I was like, oh, assassins get if they react before, but she's not an assassin. I'll cast Slice Prey on it then.

Okay, so that's a bonus action. You mark it as your prey. Yar. Cool. After that, we go to Ayla. I'd like to play Sentry gently on the floor. Yeah. And run at it in rage.

Okay. I think I've actually put Sentry's mini there. Yeah, it's on the floor. Just run at it and rage okay I think I've actually put centuries mini there yeah just anyway where she is oh god once that hammer land the other two are gonna hear that immediately so you so you move past you just basically shove your way past the others like pushing quill and Lucius and over out the way push past a riot and then boom bring the hammer down bring the hammer down quick question while Katie's rolling um because I'm concentrating on major image I can't really cast anything else can I uh you can it depends on the spell basically if you cast another concentration spell then the major image will go okay um assuming you're keeping that going yeah yeah um but yeah cantrips you can yeah you

can still cast cantrips and stuff the only thing I forgot is obviously when you burnt your ritual book, any spells, any extra cantrips that would have granted you, because I know it gives you some extra cantrips. It was just rituals, learning rituals. I'm thinking of something else then. You're thinking, yeah, there's a different pact I kept. 16 to hit. 16 hits, yeah.

I missed with the other one. 10 with the hammer, and can you roll a second? Oh, I'm assuming you're raging. Yeah, I raged. Yeah, passed on the same three. So, half of two, which is one. One zapping. One zapping.

You watch as the lightning kind of blasts in, but then the hammer blow kind of crunches on one of its front kind of praying mantis-like hands. You hear the chitin and carapace beginning to snap and crunch, and it just bears these huge mandibles towards you. Quill. Okay, I will do... They rolled real bad on their initiative, by the way.

Sweet. That's fine. So I can't see the other two at all now no well you can see where they borrowed into the ground but not much further did they make a lot of noise when they did that yeah like like churning up the dirt

they're like literally digging through earth and just throwing it behind them really rapidly I'm imagining those big things in Breath of the Wild in the desert yeah also think Starship Troopers oh god yeah okay Starship Troopers I'm imagining those big things in Breath of the Wild in the desert. Yeah. Also think Starship Troopers. Oh god, yeah. Starship Troopers. I'm with you.

The bugs. Yeah. Would you like to know more? I like that. Bugs! Quill! I will do a Sacred Flame on that boy. Okay, that's fine for me.

Deck save? That is a deck save 15. 17. Okay. So you're gonna is a deck save 15. 17. Okay. So you're going to throw this white fire out. It ducks its head beneath it as it launches into the night sky. And then I will Shield of Faith on Aayla.

Okay. Thanks, bird. Plus 2 AC. Sweet. Bam. Quill, Nova. Can I cast Firebolt on bad boy? Range spell attack roll. I'm assuming at the moment you're all kind of huddled on these rocks but I'm assuming you're kind of giving each other room to like peer around and cast spells. It's an 11. Yeah, the fire kind of screeches past, but it hits against this large,

armoured part of the ankh egg and it just explodes. Just doesn't seem to bother it. Anything else? No. Lucius? How does it react to the fire? Um, it doesn't seem particularly phased. It's not like afraid of the fire you don't get the sense of.

Uh, is this any sort of height? Um, no, not really. It's just like a jagged rock, kind of like a flat rock that you're standing on. fire you don't get the sense of. Uh, is this any sort of height? Um, no not really. It's just like a jagged rock, kind of like a flat rock that you're standing on. I'm just gonna peek around the corner here. Okay. And then throw a chromatic orb of fire. Okay.

Chromatic orb. Big spell. 15. 15 is just, yeah, it's enough. Oh. 3d8. I'm doing that level 2. It must be a lot of space. Did you say it's enough. Oh. 3d8. I'm doing that level two. Get my slots back.

Did you say fire? Yeah. Okay. You won't get your dichro in. No, no. I think insects and fire go well together. Yeah, it's good thinking from Lucius. He's played a lot of Pokemon.

Lots. It's his favorite game up in the Sky Cities. Actually, I don't think so. Mark, come here. Throw me. Literally Sky Cities. Actually I don't know. Literally pocket monster. 3, 5, 10. Yeah, definitely you can see the creature reacts. Not in fear of the fire, but you manage to catch the Chromatic Orb as it burns its underbelly and it kind of

And for the belly! And then you kind of watch as you as you i'm assuming that's your turn finished yes okay so as you kind of launch this it kind of like rears its head up and it looks at this creature hitting it with the the sharp still the blunt stick and the fire coming from your direction um and it kind of reaches up and its huge mandibles open up in a big mouth and a squirt of a line of acid a line. Yeah I'm gonna need everybody to make dexterity saving throws and you also see that's no you're the only one that doesn't lose just cuz You moved out the way Natural one

Yeah What part is that going to melt off? 21. 21? Natural 1, so 6. 19. 9. So Nova and Ayla, you're going to take half damage.

The rest of you are going to take 4. It's only 7 points of acid damage, so you take 3, Nova and Ayla. But you do watch as the acid coats Sentry's body and you begin to see parts of her metal form like burning away. She's dead, but her form is still burning away. Do I need to make a concentration check? You do. DC 10.

Constitution. Constitution. No. Constitution. Eleven. Constitution. 11. 11, just enough. You managed to kind of hold it, you kind of threw yourself to the side,

your arm is kind of burnt a little bit by the splash of acid, you managed to keep concentration on the image out. I'd like to think that as I get hit, you just hear a distant moo! Moo! I like that, I like that. I like that.

Very good. The other ironcoats, I'm just going to make some quick works for them. Okay. You can see a vague movement towards the sound, the one that Nova's creating. Then the other one doesn't seem to have appeared anywhere. You can't see any earth movements around it.

Okay. It seems to be confused. In fact... Yeah, okay. So we go back up to Oriya. Okey-dokey. Oriya. Where are we?

I'm here, aren't I? Yeah, that one. You're just behind Ayla. Can I move behind? If you've got the movement, yeah, absolutely. Where are we? I'm here, aren't I? Yeah. That one. We're just behind Ayla. Can I move behind? If you've got the movement, yeah, absolutely. Let's see. Yeah, you should dig.

Yeah. 1, 5, 10, 15, 20. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And then I'm going to smack him in the bum. Sneak attack. I'll do this, and then there's one thing, which, yeah. No, okay, I'll keep it.

I just remembered something. But yeah, carry on. Okay. This huge dragon. Calus Starbane is here. So you're taking it with your rapier. So you put the longbow away, pull out the rapier, pull out the short sword. Yeah.

Okay. So it's 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24. Four hits, yeah. Cool. And then d8 plus four. I'll probably say, by the way, to put your longbow away and draw your other weapons, we'll call that a bonus action while you're moving, because putting a longbow away and then pulling out new weapons is probably about enough for a bonus action. Cool.

No worries. So that's eight. And then I can do sneak Attack for a d6. And your... And my 100 cents pray thing. So that's eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, and then another d6. Thank God.

Fifteen. Yeah. She remembered. Did she remember? Is it Favourite Enemy? No, because she's playing the OG Ranger, which doesn't get a damage bonus to Favourite Enemy. But Rhiannon is remembering.

Favourite Enemy, for God's sake! prop the og ranger which doesn't get a damage bonus to favorite enemy but rihanna is remembering um all right you come up you slice one of its legs which kind of cleans it straight off and then you plunge the rapier into its soft belly up into its thorax and you kind of shove that in there and you hear this kind of and then it topples over oh i know what that means around the body language of pancakes. I'm going back to that. It was a reference. Nice.

Thank you. So that's your movement. That's your action. Bonus action. Ayla. So there's nothing around us right now. Not that you can see, no. Okay.

Can I move back to pick up Sentry's body then and say, everybody go? Yep, just count your squares and... 20? Yep. I pick her up. Yeah, it's probably an action because she's pretty heavy. Wait, wait, wait, I can probably get back to here. Okay, so you literally run past, out of the way, out of the way, out of the way, you hoist her body up onto your shoulders, you can see get back to here. Okay. So you literally run past. Out of the way, out of the way, out of the way.

You hoist her body up onto your shoulders. You can see it's kind of pitted from the acid spray. And then you're like, you run back towards Uriah. Perfect. Cool. Quill. I mean, now that Ayla's bolting, I'm going to do the same. I'll basically just stay right next to Ayla.

And can I... Can I do myself like a little to keep raging? Like point of damage. Like cut myself a little bit. A lot of damage on yourself. Doesn't work that way. You have to attack something or receive significant damage from it. Bite your hand and then you'll turn into a tiger.

Yeah, like if you really want to be like, no, I really like, you like bite into your flesh or something like that, you could do that. I'm pretty sure in Uncharted territory we had one of us give me a twat upside the head. I can give her a twat upside the head. That's me being very generous. That is a mini-cap game. If you want to literally be like, I would say you could do unarmed damage to yourself. No.

Literally like five points of damage, like tear flesh off of you. Wow. Eat yourself. And roll for an injury check. No, it wouldn't be an injury check. Take your eye out. Can I have a perceptive listen? Sure.

Ahead to see if we can see where these boys are. Yeah, perception check. Well, I'll see here. Nice. That's a three. So perception, here. Nice. That's a three. So, perception, 10. 10?

You're struggling, like the, whether it's still a little bit of nerves from the thunder earlier, whether it's there so far underground that you can hear a vague sound, but you can't pinpoint where it is exactly, especially in the darkness. I can't tell they're coming towards or away.

Not sure. Okay, and that will basically be my turn No one's mega injured. Okay. I'm good. So, you know, you don't wanna move. I've moved up. Okay. I'm sorry I don't see Nova. Can I fire two beams but in different directions to the full? 120 feet. So basically I just want to fire wild So I hit a point in the distance that makes a noise and a Vibration you want to aim at the ground. Yeah Technically or if there's a big old rock or a big old tree or something

I mean, yeah, you can see trees and stuff around you been 120 feet I mean a hundred twenty if you can't see that far like What you can see here is like the limits of your night time vision and your light sources and stuff. Anything beyond that and it's dark, it's pitch black out in the field. You don't have the visibility. Well the furthest I could to guarantee a hit. Yeah, sure. I mean you can fire.

So if I could fire one beam sort of like going off to the right and one beam going off to the left and still have my cow making moves. Sure, make attack rolls for me. I want to see how accurate you can be. Attack rolls. Yep. But if you're attacking that far, it's disadvantage for each one. One is... It doesn't really... Reroll that one because it was cocked.

But it's a disadvantage for each attack because you're firing into the darkness. Okay. Disadvantage for each attack. Yeah. Did you mean... Sorry, I might have misunderstood. When you said shooting as far as you can do you mean out to 120 feet? Oh, no, no, no as far as I can see in that case. It's just normal roles Then yeah, okay in which case one is a 10 and one is a 17 Okay, they're both enough that you strike two far points You hit the ground the beams kind of like you can see them scorch the earth and the grass

But it's not really as much impact behind them, you know You kind of hit them, but you're not sure how much of a vibration that would have sent. These aren't necessarily Iron Man beams. You don't have any force behind them. It's like pure raw energy. And meanwhile, my cow is mooing in the distance.

Yep. But I'm also going to move 30 feet. Yep, sure. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25. Okay. Lucius. I'm going to run full dash. All right, 10, 15, 20.

As I'm running past these people, it's like, these people. Your friends? Get on a rock or something because they could borrow from underneath you. 25, 30, 45, 30, 45, 50. We're all clustered in a nice mouthful. So you'll stay at the base of the hill. The hill is much steeper than what it appears. Steeper.

The hill is very, very steep. So I'm not really on the rock at all. No. But you're at the base of the hill looking up at it. There's no rocks. That hill is the only hill I have. It's just like a slope with trees. It's a line mark.

The trees are there, but the rocks aren't. It's a line. Yeah. It is a line. I'll move based on that rock. hill i have it's just like a slope with the trees are there but the rocks aren't it's a lie yeah there's a lie based on that rock um can you bring one of them back pretty much where lucius was this is the thing so it oh because you stepped onto the ground it felt you step onto the grass and it would have started making its way to you it bursts up from the ground kind of shrieking and there is a brief, almost look towards its dead companion, and then it moves, it charges forward, basically.

Oh. And it's going to go for the first tasty time. No! Oh, no. Birdman. Oh, I'm delicious. It's true. However, that is only going to be a 14 to hit. Just hit. Oh.

That is going to be nine points of slashing damage and three points of acid damage as its huge mandibles grip around Quill and then it lifts him up into the air. You are currently grappled. Whoa. Okay. You're grippled.

Grippled. However, the other creature, you see no sign that it's coming anywhere close. Whatever illusion Nova conjured has stumped it beyond belief. No! It just can't win. It's pretty dumb. Oh, man.

And these are large creatures. Yes, they are large. They are as their base size appears. But that's all it does on its turn. It literally comes up, grabs Quill, lifts him up into the air. And it got him trapped in his mandibles. Mandibles. So we go to Orion.

All right. I want to... Okay, I'm going to move up and help Quill out. Sure. How kind. One, two, three, fifteen. And then I'm going to cast Zephyr's Strike as a bonus action. Oh, okay.

And that will give me a d8 of weapon attack opportunity. And advantage on the attack roll. And advantage on my attack roll as well. So can I? Smacky smack if I'm being grappled by it with them. Okay. Yeah against you she'd have advantage But I mean, yeah, no because it's any ally within 5 feet. Oh true, but you regret no you're incapacitated. It doesn't count Okay, it can't be a helpless or incapacitated out. I think okay actually no, it's a helpless ally. So yeah, it would yeah It would still count. i'm helpful yeah cool anyway 16 17 18 19 20 21 20. might as well roll again see if you get natural

20. no the 23 23 still hits though that's the dream and then i'm gonna smack him smack him with my rapier yep it's a d8 plus four that's a seven Plus the extra d8 from Zephyr's Strike. Plus the extra d8 from Zephyr's Strike, which is an eight. So that's 15. And I'm going to use Sneak Attack for a d6. Where am I at? 18. 18, 19, 20, 21.

No, the three is an 18. Three is an 18. Yeah, so 15 plus three, 18. 18. Now roll another d6 for your Slay. Another three. That's now 21. 21 3, 18. Now roll another d6 for your slay. Another 3. That's now 21. 21 damage, please.

Jeez. Wait, do you have slayer's prey on this one? Yeah. No, that's right. Oh, yeah, that was the last one, yes. So it's only the 18. Inspiration for you two. No inspiration, but gold star, Tom.

Hey, you didn't get a gold star. Kim can have a gold star as well. We should actually have one. We should actually have one. So that's the end of your turn? That is the end of my turn. This turn you do have your bonus action. You could offhand attack it.

Oh, I could, couldn't I as well? Yeah, let's do it. Yeah. So you don't have advantage. It's attack roll. Attack roll. With a short sword. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14.

Just hit. Just managed to pierce through the carapace. D6 plus 3. That's a four. Another four damage. It all helps. It all adds up. So you watch as Oriah just stabs into this creature. It kind of tears around, still keeping its grip on Quill. Ayla.

I'm going to turn to Nova and say, can you get this thing? I need to get Sentry away. Cool. I'm taking that as a yes. And I'm running. And I'm going to run because I don't want Sentry to get acid again. Are you going to dash? Yeah. I think I'll go up to wherever Lucius is.

And just kind of try and take cover. Sure. Well, it's Quill first after you. Oh, so i've got basically all actions except movement right being grappled uh yes you can attempt to we forgot to roll for your ribs as well i have to do that this time oh yeah i'll need to rib roll anyway yes Yes. So constitution set you through. That's kind of rude. I mean that was

pretty much a seven but sure. Oh. I mean seven what with constitution was eight. I'll take the seven. Okay.

So I fail the first action. So yeah basically you can't. And the first action I was going to do was going to be conjure my

shield. So I don't do that. Yeah. Could I not just Also concentration check for shield of faith. Oh yeah.

Fifteen plus. that season in that case. Can I do a attempt to escape I can attempt to escape or If I damage it will it potentially lose its grip maybe I'm gonna do a level one guiding bolt on it, okay And that's a big light and they're scared of big lights, aren't they? They don't. What saving throw do I make? You don't. I just attack. Oh, it's a spell attack. You have a fifth advantage because you're being grappled. Oh, 19, 14, 21. Yeah.

4d6. Wah! Nice. This commitment to the one hand is honestly insane. Four. I know. Slash dumb. Six.

I mean, what? Twelve damage. Twelve damage. I mean, technically we should take an eye as well. Yeah, technically. He watches the Guiding Bolt, the radiant light that Korg conjures. Despite being grappled, he manages to kind of get his one clawed hand free and from it these blazing bolts of light strike and it tears off

chunks of its carapace it's still alive but barely nova nuva it's your moment nova don't hit me he says while he wildly flails and interrupts her aim this is where if you're a sorcerer, Fievel. I'll do the warlock equivalent. Eldritch Blast! Sure, same to you. That's a double zappin'. It's a double zappin'.

Nice. One's 19 plus seven, so that's a hit. And one is five plus seven. 12. 12 doesn't hit, 19 does. You would do that. Gotta be dead. 10. Oh. 10!

Oh, 10! Nice! You strike the area where Quill's guiding bolt tore the carapace free. You would have had advantage on that, actually, because of guiding bolt. Yes, you would have done. Because it's all the way up. No, it doesn't matter. I mean, you roll, but you watch as the blast of Eldritch Light

just tears through this open section of Carapace. You hear something explode and burst. Acid begins leaking out of its innards onto the ground, and it just collapses, the mandibles going slack as Quill kind of like... I'm like weaving away from where the bolt is, just like scooting back, basically. Sorry. That was great, thank you. I rolled another turn on damage

is there anything else go go technically i mean are you guys going to run at this point probably can i keep moving yeah if you if basically if you guys say we are going to run you can see that they're tunnels by the way the tunnels that they burst out of they are tunnels like they lead into the earth and you can see that they're part of they are tunnels like they lead into the earth and you can see that they're part of a network peering down them you can see that there are multiple tunnels leading in um so unless you want to explore those i'm going to guess that you're going to run off no no that's a hard note there pal that's a that's a hard pass rubbish adventures we've got dark vision we've got a dead body on our shoulders. Come on, dude.

When they left for the cow image, how fast was this burrowing? Very slow. It's quite slow. Oh, okay. What speed do you reckon? Like 20 feet, 30 feet. That's pretty fucking quick.

As fast as? Almost as fast as us. No, as in like in six seconds if they did nothing but dig. You think that they did like... you reckon maybe 10, 15 feet. And then Raya would know that their borrowing is not as quick as their overlying movement. Don't mind. So here's a plan to run. Yep. Yes please.

If you run and Nova, how long can you concentrate on that spell? Like a minute? 10 minutes. Yeah? Ten minutes. Yeah, ten minutes. Like this thing probably reaches it, bursts up, goes and then gets confused and at this point you're out of its tremor sense. I mean unless you want me to make a couple of the... You will need to make those but with Lucius carrying you, you don't need to make the checks. Yeah, but they can run back and get you. I don't think that you're in any danger at this point, as long as you're going to run.

Unless you want to stick around and fight it, you'll be pretty safe. So what you're saying is... Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba... Sort of, yeah. Sort of. Distant move. Aw! That was a nice run.

Yeah, and how long do you run for? Do you just run until you reach Sten Hill, or are you going to stop at the top of the hill? Run until Araya stops running. Yeah. Follow your lead on what's safe to do. All right. Constitution saving throws.

Just because, you know, you're running and you're tired. It's been 10 hours. You're running up a hill. Oh, no. Figured. All right. 12. 14.

15. 9. 12. 14. 15. 9. 2. Cawthon Nova and Quill are the only ones. So you do gain a level of exhaustion, but it's because you've been travelling non-stop all day. You've fought, you've not rested properly. You've had food, but this has been a long night.

That's those two, right? Yeah, it's those two. Quill and Nova. And running up a hill in a frenzied pace, even for the distance that Oriya thinks, like, I mean, I'm guessing you lead them to what you assume to be safety out of, like, their range. Yeah, by the time you get to the top of these hills,

because most of the landscape here in Merskir is hilly, and it seems that as you're heading north, you are constantly on an upward slope, as if you're kind of making your way upwards. And yeah, you just become tired. Nothing that a long night of rest wouldn't solve. But yeah, you run and run and run until eventually you are standing on a large hillscape, looking down on meadows of

strange grass with these flowers that kind of suck into the ground and then kind of emerge out when they feel that there's no wind looking on strange sloped trees that bend with the hills and in the very distance maybe about another hour's worth of travel away, you can see a valley where there is a small pinpricks of light of torches and civilization. I'm going to collapse to the nearest rock.

Can I try and clean up sentries best I can? Yeah, you clean off the gunk and the goo, but you can see her armour and her stone plates. Maybe some on her face has literally been pitted and melted away by the bit of acid as if somebody's chipped away

at it. Lucius, can you help? Can you fix this? Yes, absolutely. I'll try casting. Mending would absolutely fix this, yeah. It's all mainly cosmetic damage, nothing severe. If she had been subjected to consistent acid that would, like, maybe melt away limbs or

something like that, that would be bad. You wouldn't be able to fix those back together. But this is very superficial damage. Yeah, so. Mending can't stick Sentry back together again, but any kind of, like, dents and scrapes to her body you can clean up. You need to be more careful, Sentry. It's like prestidigitation

cleaning somebody up basically. Alright should we all take a rest? Let's take a rest. You guys look tired. Are we safe here? Yeah. I mean you are currently still out in the wilderness so. Should we just keep going if it's only we can see it? I know we're tired but if we get there then we'll definitely be safe.

I mean. How are you feeling? Is there anything between here and there that could... that you've ever seen before? I mean, there's always a risk, right? There's always a risk that anything could, you know, Storm Eagles or Thunder Eagles, sorry, or Storm Griffins could fly out the sky

and just try and pluck somebody on the road. Cool. Boulets generally don't come near the settlements, but if they're hungry enough, they will. This is the land of ever-present threats. And then that's, you know, if you camped here, there's the risk that a storm comes in eight hours. You know, storms can hit within hours here.

We've also got Sentry to consider. If we took a long rest here, that's another eight hours gone. I think we should go to the town. We should go to the town. We can rest while we're there. If we're only about an hour away from it. I've got some fighting strength left. I can't feel anything below my waist.

My ribs hurt so much. Nova's just in the background throwing up, like from fatigue fatigue. Just like you know when you do way too much time in the library and she didn't do any exercise. Nova! There is no library here. That's what I'm saying. I spent too much time in reading books and not enough time doing an exercise. So it's no wonder that I can't run for five minutes without wanting to throw up my breakfast. Do you want me to train you to be able to run? I don't think I'll ever be able to.

I'm no good at this. I'm gonna do it anyway. I'm gonna force you to do it, and then you get better at it, and it's fine. We're about an hour away from this town. I'll just fail it anyway, I fail at everything. Nova! We did a mighty fine job

of distracting those unkegs earlier, by the way. Very good job, well done. Guess it's just a fluke. What did you cast out there in the wilderness that caught their attention? A major image? Oh, a powerful spell. Yeah, I was just thinking,

do you remember we did the fire bear and like- Oh yes, we should have done that again. But that was minor image, and I was just thinking about it for ages, and I think I figured out a way to make it make sound this time. Which it did. Well, it mooed.

What do you mean? A bear doesn't do that. No, the cow mooed. I just made a cow just now. Why would you do such a thing? They could have run away from them at us. Terrified of the demon. No, I went for the most tasty looking thing.

Come on, Nova, let's go let's continue let's just keep going you guys just gonna carry on yeah yeah mm-hmm I'll try pop up quill and Nova in like a yeah well I mean if you want to try that yeah you can you can try that it's tiring come on you too and I'm just gonna I can help if you need me to I think it's tiring come on you too no i'm just gonna i can help if you need me to i think with quill i mean you by the time you are you know you're already exhausted your your ribs are in agony like you can barely move and even with lucius helping you you're struggling to speak and breathe like it's severe um all the combat, the running, you've probably made it way worse,

and you're kind of feeling this pressure on your lung. Every time you breathe in, it's like a painful inhalation, and you're kind of limiting it. I'm sorry, Quill, I'd carry you, but I can't right now. I'm carrying Sentry. I'll try to carry him fully if I'm noticing wheezy breath. Okay. Like a baby.

Sure, yeah. I couldn't carry Quill and Sentry, could I? Just to see how far you can go. I a baby. Sure, yeah. I couldn't carry a quill and- Make a strength check for me. Just to see how far you can go. I mean, you can try. Can I try? I kind of want to try. Five!

I mean, you carry him for a little bit, but you realize like if you keep this up, you're just gonna exhaust it. Sorry, Birdie, I'm trying. I think I'm like very, very weakly like trying to resist it. Can I see if it's viable? I guess there's nothing I can do

to even try and stop it. It lasts like five seconds. 20. I mean, 20? Oh, is that athletics? Just do a raw strength. That's a strength. I've got plus seven.

How can you have plus seven in strength? Oh, wait, sorry. No, plus four. Sorry. That's going to save you. That's your saving throw. 17. 17.

I think even with a 17, you probably would have needed to hit 20 for this. Carrying this heavy armored guardian. I'll just carry sentry then. And then another creature would be like... Can I try? Sure. Quill is just being passed around. Throw me around like a ragdoll.

Nope. 14. I think at this point, you can help him. Lucius can already just help him along. Could I at the very least make just a constitution check to see how well I'd carry on? Sure. On my own? Yeah, constitution saving throw. I'm on this.

17. Yeah, I mean, you persevere. He's determined. Everything you've gone through, you can feel yourself almost blacking out at points, but you're just like, no, I'm not going to do this. And you just carry on. You kind of suck it up and move on like a trooper.

Is there like a way I can make a medicine check on him and try and... Yeah, you can try, yeah. Mate, try making him... You've got this, buddy, and hit you in the ribs. Yeah, 20. I'd say with a 20, like, you actually are, like, you see Quill suffering and you'll kind of stop. You stop everybody.

And you actually take time to actually look at his injuries, which he's not had anybody do yet. And yeah, this is a couple of really bad, severe breaks. The best thing you can do is, like, bandage it and kind of put a splint on his side so he's not accidentally, like, putting pressure on it, that people, like, you know, it's protected almost. You can give him some things to help him with his breathing,

like you maybe have, like, some little herbs and something like that. It's enough to make him complete the journey to Sten Hill without issue, but it's not going to help. He needs rest and a long recovery time, all magic. Okay. How much do we owe you for that one, Oriah? You owe me nothing so that I can see you're in pain, don't worry.

Hopefully it will make you a bit more comfortable until we get to Sten Hill. You know, Quill, I'm really sorry. Like, if I'd been smart enough, I could have learned that ritual from Black Hammer and I would have been able to help you, but I was too dumb to even learn that.

I'm gonna put Senri's body down. Here it comes. Here comes mum talk. And I'm gonna put Senpai's body down Here it comes Here comes mom talk I'm gonna go up to Nova And just put my hands On her shoulders And be like

I'm dumb as hell And I'm still here And we're all working together And we need you To be on top form Otherwise we're not Gonna get very far Okay

You're not dumb You know you're not dumb. You've helped us out before and you can do it again. You just did. You just conjured a cow in the middle of nowhere. I can't do that. All I got is a hammer. We're still here, okay?

You're looking at me vacantly. What are you pointing at? You know he's missing an eye because of me. I don't think that's true. I'm missing an eye because of a big bad Goliath. Yeah, because he was coming after me and I ran away and he even said to me, this is because you ran away. And then he took your eye.

But you didn't take the eye. He was looking at me when he hit you. No, the product of the circumstance. I mean, we're all invested in saving people. It wasn't based on you. He specifically said it was my fault. If we all started blaming ourselves, then we've all got equal part in Sentry's death. We've all got equal part in Quill losing his eye. It's going to do us no use to blame one person or any of us. We need to fix fix this and the only way we can fix it is if we work together okay i am working together i'm just saying that if i was better we'd be in a better

situation well let's focus on getting us all better then because we can all be better i mean i am moving i am i've said that i am coming with you and I'm doing everything to get Sentry back. I'm not giving up on this. But what I'm saying is that if it wasn't for my weakness, Quill would have an eye. Sentry wouldn't even be dead in the first place. I would have maybe had the skills to heal him. But I don't. And now you're saying I'm holding you back.

You're not holding. I'm not saying. This is what I need you to understand is that you're not. You just got us out of a fight And I don't think you see How much you're doing for us? And you need to you need to believe in you So that we can keep going because we believe in you you need to there is a heavy rumble

In the distance of thunder and you begin to feel the wind picking up. And now Quill's going to freak out so we need to get to this town and we'll get you the lessons you need. We'll do it together, okay? I think as Ayla says to me, we believe in you. Nova's just going to start crying,

like quietly, but really like silently, like tears are just going to start coming down her face. And she's going to just really awkwardly like pat her on the head, pick up sentry and then walk and keep going. Okay. Ava stalks off.

Well, storms off. Quite literally. And yeah, you can, I mean, Oriah, you know the rumble of thunder means that this morning another storm is going to pass over this way. Let's move quickly. The whole time I was just assessing Quill, walking around him while Aria was doing this treatment. I was thinking maybe a fireman's lift or...

Hi, Bess. Can I pick up this bird? I think after that pep talk from Ayla, I'm going to go over to Lucius and try and help, like, assist with lifting Quill. You're not the strongest. No, but I want to help. I'm imagining Lucius will help. We'll let you in and help you in the best way we can. I just want to try.

You basically, like, Lucius has him, like, not because obviously his bandage sides. So maybe he's kind of like, you know, kind of put an arm on his back or like you've got an arm on quill's back and lucius is the one who's actually carrying his weight and then you're kind of just kind of got like a tentative arm on his back kind of like you know you're supporting but you're not taking any of the heavy weight itself and i think regreting what alice said as well about quill being scared i'm just gonna be like um quill it's gonna be okay that was really far off and um you know the chances of lightning striking twice are like one in ten thousand so one in ten thousand sounds quite likely in a place like that's pretty you know that's pretty heavy odds so you'll be all right well it's good to know um

i'm just gonna show it back maybe it'll hit me and then i'll become ultra lightning powerful and technically it is better that we have a lightning rod essentially hopefully i've never tried that but it sounds hilarious and interesting and i might give it a shot you have been hit by a bolt of lightning oh yeah well that was a spell though it was a spell it was a bolt of lightning he just called it. He conjured the storm and then he pulled a lightning bolt down. One day, I'll work out how to make that work in my favor. I promise. Okay, I think she'll get herself killed.

By the time you reach the edges of Sten Hill, the wind is heavy. It's almost hard to move against it. I'm trying to travel in these conditions. The rain is coming down thick and heavy. My hair. For point of reference, if you try and travel during a storm that is affecting the area that you're in, you move at half speed, as in overland travel speed.

So if you can make a journey in a day, it would take you two days during a storm. Ranged weapons and ranged spell attacks have disadvantage. And you have disadvantage on all perception checks. Because the rain and the wind is so loud and so you can't see beyond it. Yeah. But the main thing is it halves travel distance. If you try and travel during a storm, you have to make constitution checks to prevent exhaustion because you are literally moving against the wind.

You're being soaked in cold rain. It's pretty bad. But you reach the edge of Sten Hill before the worst of it hits. You can see the town itself. It's a medium-sized town. The thing that you're most likely to notice about Sten Hill is it sits in a valley. And as you kind of crest a hill, you look down and you can see the bottom of the valley is mostly flooded. But the houses are all lifted up on stone stilts.

The houses are actually lifted off of the floodwater that kind of runs through when a storm hits. And you can see there are these thick, very flexible, but very strong looking reeds that kind of stick out out of this flood water. And all around the buildings have little rafts and boats on their sides or have been tied up on these little stone plinths. And people are going about their business. And there's a few, there's maybe like 20 buildings. Like there's more than Karkul, but it's not a big town like Kali's Rest. It's pretty small still. than car cool but it's not a big town like cali's rest it's it's pretty small still um as you begin making your way in um quill you would notice this with your perception one of the larger buildings

pretty much the first couple of buildings on the road coming from the direction you've just come in so going towards car cool um one of the stone buildings it's a round stone building up on these stilts but you can see engraved onto the stone all around it is the holy symbol of Kilara, this lantern with a single star in the middle. And that's carved, the symbol is carved into the stones itself. You can also see there appear to be some, most of the buildings look like residences or homesteads. There is one long building which is actually built into a hill i mean it seems to stretch back and you can see a chimney with smoke coming out of it um there also appears to be a few other kind of like store looking buildings um all raised up on

these stone stone plinths stone walls um slatted roofs uh with a very thick it looks like almost like the reeds from the flood plains have been woven into a roof and then it's been sealed down. Is there anyone around? Oh yeah there's people around yeah they're going about their business as you approach there are definitely a lot of again mixed races here humans halflings gnomes Goliaths all sorts of people you know you probably see a couple more wild elves all around basically and they all cast you with this kind of hmm you're not from around here

or like you look like strangers like travelers not hostile not in the same way that Sivona was this is more a curiosity like why are you here kind of thing why is there a world of carrying a guardian yeah there's there's just like the raised eyebrows of this is you're unusual you

kind of out of place oraya you would know that this is just how the people of myrskir are they're very insular and so anybody who's from outside is generally kind of seen as a bit you know like oh we don't know about them yet um but they're not bad people they're just a bit insular um you know that there is a healer here uh the one in the temple um there is also a general store which does a little bit of trade with people traveling on the roads and then there is an inn which you've been to before called the traveler um and it is owned by a tiefling that you know as Veskin. Cool. And it is a good place to get a drink. It's quite a nice eclectic place. Lovely.

Sounds perfect. Yeah. And as you're arriving, you're arriving as the sun is pretty much coming up. Oh, wow. You know, like 4 a.m. sort of thing. Actually, no, the sun wouldn't even be up because this is in winter. You're in, like, the beginning of winter now. Nice.

So it's dark still, but the storm is picking up i mean you can see people are basically getting ready and they're like looking up at the air like you can see them weighing up how that's going to change their day not many people out it's not a huge amount but there's enough like there's definitely people around the one thing you don't notice is there isn't like a guard there's not like a town guard um but almost everybody is armed. They all have Viking-style long swords or short swords, hatchet axes. You can see a few of them have got small hammers and things like that, javelins, bows,

but everybody is armed here. They don't need a town guard. They are the town guard. They look after themselves. Yeah. Awesome. So, yeah, I guess the question is where do you guys want to go and what do you want to do? Cool. I guess the first port of call is

Quill my friend. Mm-hmm. Let's get you seen to. Right now it's very late or early is it early? Yeah. It's late. We can always see if the Temple of Calara is open if not we can... Why don't we find a place that we can stay the night or stay early, late. We can always see if the Temple of Klara is open. If not, we can... Why don't we find a place that we can stay the night or stay to rest and then go out? Beautiful, yes, there's a fantastic, oh, fantastic inn nearby.

I'm very excited. And you've been there before? Oh yes, many times. Beautiful selection of ales. And they have rooms there before? Oh, yes, many times. Beautiful selection of ales. And they have rooms there? Oh, yes. Rooms. With beds.

With beds, shall we? Like the Waldorf said, should we get comfortable? And roofs? Yes. In fact, you know it's the long building built into the hill, so it's actually one of the most protected buildings. It's built into the hill. It's right over there.

You'll be very safe. Can you hear the storm through it? I think you can hear the storm through most things, Will, but that's okay. We can try and, I don't know, distract. I will most likely be able to sleep right through it. Yeah, you definitely feel tired. Some rest. Let's try resting, and then we'll go to the temple.

Okay. As you begin making your way actually into the town and through, there's probably a couple of locals, a human, gnome, a goliath woman. Oh, hello there, travelers. What are you doing here in Stenhill? Is there something we can help you with? And they kind of look over and I don't know if you've necessarily met these guys

before so they don't necessarily know you. Looking for some medical help for a friend. Oh well if you're looking for that the priestess of the temple is the one you need to speak to. I assume they're not open right now. I don't know, Scaldi keeps odd hours. Oh, well, I mean he's very injured and very hurt so we're thinking maybe going to Resterton Inn first. Oh yes, well of course you're welcome to, points over. The Traveller is an interesting place Most of the locals won't go there, but it's for folks like yourself travelers and merchants that sort of thing

I just wanted to know more of what your business in Sten Hill was. Is it just to heal your friend? We're passing through. Oh, you kind of nods at that like oh, I see. Oh, well be careful Storms coming you need to get somewhere safe. All right. That's why we rushed here. All right. Well, I'll let you go about your business. And he kind of just hands on.

Great to meet you. He just gives you a stern nod. Early bird. You can see the Goliath woman kind of gives you a stern nod. The little gnome chap definitely eyes you a bit more suspiciously. Kind of like squints his eyes. Not me specifically or the group? All of you.

It's just like you can see that. I mean, I think most of you would know that gnomes are generally very they're the really worst. They only really hang out with other gnomes. They don't do a lot of talking to other races. It just passes you on.

You kind of get the sense that they were just like what are you doing in our town kind of thing. I don't mind going to the temple just to see just like, what are you doing in our town kind of thing. I don't mind going to the temple just to see, like just to introduce ourselves and see what our opening hours are. I'm happy to help Birdie if he wants to go. I definitely would like to go,

but we only have so much time for Sentry. I think we need to work out what we're saying about Sentry because they're not gonna be too keen on the resurrecting thing why not were they i mean they're not going to be able to do it but i don't think they're necessarily closed off to it i'm sure they'll understand right she's a good friend of yours no you care for her yes yeah i think we just tell you but You careful? Yes. Yeah. I thought you were just telling the truth. But it is the temple of the goddess of death. Well, true. But I still think, what are they going to do? Attack us?

The rain is kind of beating down. I think Koala Nova, you definitely, you know, with the rain and how cold it is, you're feeling pretty miserable. Probably shivering a bit. Yeah? Yeah. We can push on to the temple if you want to be seen to now. Maybe it will help you sleep better if we can find somebody.

Yeah, it would. It would help you sleep better. You could sleep not in pain. If someone could... Here we go! Oh, okay. Here we go, Ferdy. All right, okay, we're going then.

Try a cradle again. Okay, sure. Can I assist? Sure. Make a strength check. But I'm at disadvantage because... And you have a minus two. Fourteen this time. Fourteen? Let. Make a strength check. But I'm at disadvantage because... Yep. And you have a minus two.

14 this time. 14. Let's see how Nova does. 10, minus two, eight. Yeah. I mean, yeah, you can kind of carry him enough to get him to the temple. It's not too far. I imagine that he's like...

Nova's trying to help, but Nova's like holding a leg. Yeah, you're literally holding a leg. I imagine that he's like... Nova's trying to help, but Nova's like howling like a leg. I'm like holding his feet. Yeah, you're literally holding a leg. I'm doing my best! I imagine that Lucius is holding, like just dragging him, and Quill's just sat there like... The other leg is just gliding against the floor. I think he's got you like a baby, right? You're like holding him out like this.

He's starting to sag a little bit. Yeah, you're like... And you're like, it's fine, buddy, and you're constraining. You've hurt a little bit more, Lucius. But you... I'm pulling your tail feathers up so your tail feathers don't go in the mud. I think Nova would be smart enough to realise

as it goes on that she starts putting her hands in the middle bit and like... I cupped a butt. Thank you. And you take him, you go up several stone steps. Like everything here is built off a heavy, thick stone. The only thing which can really weather the storms um you make your way up these stone steps up onto the the platform where the the building is set on

these plinths um there is a heavy wooden door hello assistance okay uh yeah yeah it means you want to knock there is a there you hear hear like a... Quill's just like... Yes, come in. Thank you. We have a very injured friend here. What if anybody could help us? Yes, of course. Come in. Thank you.

Yeah, you push the open door. When you step inside the Temple of Kalara, it's quite a sight in a way. As you step inside, you can see that hanging outside the door, by the way, is a thick iron lantern with a single glowing magical light, very much like the ones you've seen before, this kind of swaying in the wind. As you step inside, though, there is a heavy scent of perfume vanilla um from a thick incense that is kind of coiling around the roof um it's cold but you know this heavy smell kind of gives off and you are suddenly dry from the rain around the walls embedded hung from them are hundreds of lanterns

and each of them has a thick heavy burnt down wax candle all of them lit casting quite a very you know pleasant warm glow into the room itself in the very middle of the room there is a stone altar and there are shelves all around the walls covered in all sorts of different wildflowers in bunches and bouquets and and wreaths all decorated around the room in these different sizes. You can see kind of kneeling at the altar is, you suspect by her stature, a dwarven woman, wide set but very curvaceous, but you can see her arms are quite tight muscles. She obviously, you know, keeps herself in shape. She has long blonde hair woven in with dark black dyed leather braids like bandings through thick enormous hair like it's incredibly voluminous it

descends all down her back not too dissimilar from Aayla's with these thick bindings all black clothes and she kind of turns up and turns around as you step inside. And you can see that she has big, dark, black makeup around her eyes, giving her this kind of like very dark presence. Her lips are stained black as well. And she kind of looks up and she has two hatchet axes on her belt, along with a drinking horn and a chainmail she's wearing as well over the top. And she kind of looks up, kind of snaps her eyes around, sees you carrying a body, you carrying a very much alive bird man. And she kind of looks around for a moment and steps away. Come in.

Who can I help first? The dead one or the one still alive? Oh, this one's a bit more vocal about his injuries. It really hurts. Out of interest, what could you... No, just do me first. Right. Please. Thank you. I take it you'd prefer to be set onto a bed rather than the altar.

I mean, a bed ideally... What do you... She moves up and she goes to a side door, like a little kind of side door for a room, but ideally, what do you... She moves up and she goes to a side door, like a little kind of side door for a room, opens it, and you can see a very, you know, very plain but well-kept personal quarters. You can see a desk, a little bookshelf with a few books and things like that. She gestures in, like, come and place him on the bed. She, like, looks around kind of cautiously. I don't know if I need you in the middle again.

I'm here. It's really sagging. Cup don't know if I need you in the middle again. I'm here. He's really sagging. Cup the butt. You can just... Cup the butt. I can lay down my soap. Just come on. Oh, buddy, I got this!

For goodness sakes, put the bird down. Yes. All right. Now, what seems to be the matter with you? Do you know? You're injured, clearly. Oh, well. Where do I start? Got a patch on the eye and the arms bandaged up. So I'm assuming that's not your problem Well true. No, I Someone I was hit by a ball of fire and everything is clanking around in there She kind of is like fine she I'm going to take your tunic off. Is that a problem? Go for it.

She begins taking off, ruffling through the feathers. There's no sign of burns. She begins prodding around like, Ow, okay, ow. Don't be such a baby. I mean. It's broken ribs, most likely. Are you looking for, what are you looking for, exactly?

Medicine or magical healing? Whatever's best for Birdie. Preferably magical, something that gets him back on his feet soon. Well, if you want it before the month is done, then magic's your only chance, my girl. I can perform a ritual that will mend the broken bones. It's costly, but I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement on that. What about your, you rest here.

I'm going to give you something to null the plane, but it won't fix anything, all right? Thank you, okay. She moves over and she begins rummaging through the various wildflowers around the temple, begins pulling them apart, goes over, starts mixing them in like a mortar and pestle. All right, what about your other friend? The dead one. The Guardian, right?

That's what they're called. I've seen a few of their bodies before, but never all... Well, I guess I've only seen bodies of them before. We have the ability to bring her back with an item that was given to us. However, we have limited time to do so we have the uh do you have them i'm going to come back to that in a second drink this okay thank you uh you die no you uh you just feel the pain ease your breathing comes easier and you begin to kind of like your eyes flutter closed and you just drift asleep basically. Yeah, you just drift

asleep. She's like, alright, well that will keep your friend from being injured for a while and get him some rest. Thank you. You say you have an item that can bring your friend back from the dead. I've never heard of such a powerful relic before. Do you know of guardians? Not much, no. I'm afraid not. I've only met

dead ones. you don't have the ability to repair a guardian I don't have I can heal the sick I can injure bones I can cure people but to bring back the dead is a is a rare gift it takes an incredibly powerful priest or cleric or druid to do something like that there's only one person I know who can perform such a miracle. Who is that? The shepherd up in Kattewag. Well, I think we've heard of this person.

Well, probably. What are you doing here in Mirskir? You're obviously not from around here. No, we were, uh... We crashed. Yes. Crashed? You don't look like sailors to me. That's why we crashed. Yes. Crashed? You don't look like sailors to me.

That's why we crashed. Give me deception. Pretty good. Deception. I don't know why everyone tries to lie about Lucius. Mega cocked. I'll just fuck it up anyway. 13, 14, 15, 16.

She looks at you hard. Look, I'm happy to help your friend, but there's no need to give me any of your crap. Right? You're not sailors. You didn't wash up here on the shores, nobody does. You would've been killed at sea if you washed up, instead of ending up here.

This one knows. Well, we appeared. All right, keep your secrets, but. No, I think Well, we appeared. Alright, keep your secrets. No, I think we appeared out of thin air from another place. We were transported here via magic. We don't know the full extent of how. We're just trying

to pass through because we don't know. Tangled with something that you didn't anticipate, I guess. Oh, yes. A trap or wizard. Alright, fair enough. Oh, yes. Sort of trap or wizard. All right, fair enough. Well, no, I know... I'm a priestess of Kalara.

My job is to tend to the dead, to prevent... You didn't kill him, did you? No, no, no. Okay. That one's time is obviously not now, otherwise he'd be dead when you brought him to me. I can heal the sick, that's fine. But yes, the only one I know is the shepherd up in Cup of the Vag.

And even then, she kind of looks to you, like, bringing back the dead is not something so easily accomplished. It's a difficult process and there are no guarantees with it. What do you mean you had something that could do it? You said you had an item or something. Yes, we don't fully understand it, but it's a part of a star, apparently. Well, the power of a star.

Strange magic to me, but something like that would certainly be powerful enough if you had the right person who could channel the energy. All right, alright, well... We just don't have much time. Do you know how far it is to the Shepard? It's a few days travel, considering if you don't have, uh... If you don't encounter a storm, even then you're gonna have to stop and wait. I mean, if the weather is bad, it could take you a week, longer, 10, 12 days, depending.

It's about four or five days pure travel, but it's the weather that can stop you, and that's praying that you don't fall victim to monsters or bandits or any of that kind of stuff. Well, we're going to do whatever it takes to get there. Is there a way that you can preserve a body until we might be able to get to someone who can help us? You're a learned one, Wild Elf. It's not me, it's that one.

She knows lots of things. There is something that I can do, yes. There are rituals that can prevent a body from becoming undead, and as a side effect it prevents them from rotting, decomposing. Now in theory, there's no reason that couldn't work on a guardian as well. In Killara's eyes, they are strange. They have no afterlife. I don't guide them.

She heals the same way that we do. That's my understanding, is that my magic should work on them the same way. I just don't know how. But anyway, there is something I can do, yes. And I can help your friend. And, well, you seem like you know some things. And you seem like pretty seasoned travelers. You can either, well, I'll either take gold to help you. Or there's something you could do for me in return.

I need some help with something. But we can discuss that more. And with that we're going to take a break. Thanks very much! See you in a bit! Hey everyone, thanks for listening to this episode. Remember to check out both D&D Beyond and Displate with the links in the episode description and head to yogscast.com slash yogcon to see us live in Bristol. We'll see you on Thursday for part two of this episode where we get some much needed rest in the town of Stenhill. We'll see you then!