High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois | #37 - A New Way Out (Part 2)

Episode Date: June 27, 2019

The team have a plan to "bamf" to a sky city, the home of Lucius Elenasto! Support the High Rollers and get early access to podcast episodes (and more) on our Patreon: www.patreon.com/HighRollers Thanks to our sponsor D&D Beyond! D&D Beyond is the official digital toolset for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. Create your FREE account now and start digitising your campaigns here: www.dndbeyond.com/ Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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with affordable online sessions you can do from anywhere. Never skip therapy day with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com to learn more. That's BetterHelp.com BetterHelp.com to learn more. That's BetterHelp.com. Hello, everyone. Welcome back to High Rollers, a Dungeons & Dragons podcast in the world of Erois, run by Dungeon Master Mark Sherlock-Hughes, with me, Tom, playing Piri Adara, the Fire Ganassi Monk. Hi, I'm Rhiannon. I'm playing Sentry. I am a Guardian Paladin. I am Chris Trott. I'm playing Lucius Ewing, Elowin Elanastro. And I am a High Elf Sorcerer. Hi, I'mott. I'm playing Lucius Ewing, Elowen Elanastio. And I am a high elf sorcerer.

Hi, I'm Katie. I'm playing Ayla, a wild elf barbarian. And I'm Kim. I'm playing Nova, who is an air ganassi, and she is a hexblade warlock. Thanks to our regular sponsor, D&D Beyond, the official Dungeons & Dragons toolset. Create your free account today and start digitizing your campaigns. You can check them out with the link

in the episode description. Anyway, on to the episode. The team plan to leave Voxar to head for one of the Sky Cities, home to Lucius Elinasto. Just before the break. Yes. Oriah, Scaldi and Scorb head off back towards Stenhill. They leave, leaving the rest of you in the care of Piri, who I believe intends to transport you all to Gusthaven using his Cypher Academy device. Oh, my God.

Is that still the plan? Is there anything else you want to do before you go? Try a magic shield off of Oriah? Nope. She's gone. Nope, she's gone. Anything else you want to do? I will say, hold your breath, okay?

It gets a little bit like... It takes a lot out of you. It kind of makes you feel a little sick if you do it for the first time. And I don't know if you guys have teleported before, but it kind of sucks sometimes. We got forcibly teleported here because of Starbane. Higher. Would it make Sentry feel sick? No.

Yes! No way that she can feel sick? No. Yes. No way that she can feel sick. Okay. So is that still the plan? Gusthaven, right? Mm-hmm. There's no chance your watch is going to blast us somewhere else, is it? Oh, there's every chance.

You ready? Sure. Okay. You have to get them all in a circle. You have to basically all be holding hands. Hold hands. Hold hands. Circle. My lord. I'm going to get them all in a circle. You have to basically all be holding hands. Hold hands. Hold hands, circle. My lord.

I'm going to take my watch a couple times. How much chocolate is on this hand? Yeah, you basically rotate it until you know it's the setting for Gustave. Take a chocolatey thumb. All right. You ready? Yep. Okay.

Smeak grabs on to Aayla. I can't really hold hands. I need someone to press the button, actually, so I'm going to let go of Aayla's hand. Smeakits it. Oh, okay. Smeek hits it. Oh, okay. Smeek hits him. Smeek literally holds Ayla's leg

and then sees you looking at it and he just slaps her. I didn't have time to have that. I'm going to screw it up while I'm being tough.

You're just going to go Smeek now? There is a flash of light A sudden rushing of movement As if you're being thrown through the air At an incredibly fast rate You feel space

Around you warp and change And distort As you Did we touch Quill's body? Will tell me I'm going to assume that you have close body Because I'm not fucking with that shit Oh my god we did

I am not fucking doing that shit Two days later Well no because you can't teleport back to Leerskier No If you can't teleport back to Leerskier No If you could just teleport back I'd be like you don't have his body Because you can't do that I'm not fucking doing this

Otherwise It would take you You wouldn't be able to get back before the 10 days Like that would be it Quill would be dead So I'm not doing that Oh my god ten days. No. Like, that would be it. Quill would be dead. So I'm not doing that. Oh my god. Okay, we take Quill with us. Quill is with you. I'm assuming

Sentry is carrying Quill's body. We brought Smeek, though. He's the new Quill! Smeek jumped on. He's the new Quill! Oh my god. He's a stowaway. You feel time and space warp around you. Most of you have felt this sensation before century you are aware of what's happening but it doesn't change your equilibrium

just throwing the warping space it's holding a bird and then not an impact but you feel the sudden rush rush, and then you breathe in as you feel the air kind of filling your lungs. And you find yourself in a stone room, quite large. There is a faded circle of runes on the floor. And looking above, you can see a kind of crystalline disc suspended from these kind of wired mounts. Smeek promptly throws up on the floor. Oh, for god's sake

He wasn't supposed to be here I don't know how he pat his tiny back It's okay Stop it I was really We should have left him Sits In his sick

That's absolutely disgusting It is sick. It's absolutely disgusting. I can't. There is... How does he latch on? There is a stone spiral staircase in one corner that appears to... No, sorry. There is a stone alcove with a doorway, a heavy wooden door

set into it. And that is the only exit from the room. The room is bare, it's completely barren. Okay, I should probably just check if this is gusty. These rooms all look the same. So, anyone want to... We're not in any danger, are we? Shouldn't be.

I should probably say, normally we don't bring other people with us. Normally just Cypher approved. So I'm just going to go double check. Maybe we need to get out of here quickly actually. So I'm going to go over to the door and just like look through. So you open it? Yeah. So you open it and it pushes outwards.

And you see it must be, it's the back of a false shelving unit. So it's like a secret door, but you're opening it from the secret side. You open it up, and you would expect there to be sound. People working, people moving around, but there isn't much. Here may be some people walking around in the distance. You open it up, and you see kind of before you, from your angle, in the distance. You open it up and you see kind of before you, from your angle, there's a large stone column in the way, kind of almost obscuring this secret door. And you see a large warehouse, stoned floor, wooden walls, with various shelves and crates and boxes kind of around.

There is a staircase that appears to lead up, and then there is a large set of double doors on the other side of the room. It's not a huge warehouse, but it's big enough to kind of store materials in. You see, Perry, nobody of the Cypher Academy colors. You see nobody in the Academy's colors. What you do see is about six individuals

in rugged leathers with dark blue strips of cloth and fabric or shirts um rough looking sorts a mixture of elves and humans and dwarves and they appear to be prying apart crates and prying apart the shelves looking for something. Okay. Just going to close that there. Are we home? I guess, does it look like Gusthaven? I mean, it looks like the inside of a warehouse.

Have I been here before? Or at least this particular temple? We have a three dimensional map. I guess I would have ordinarily safely teleported back to Fortinstar

so I suppose I wouldn't have been here before that means we're going to have a discussion about what

looking at this map I'm not talking out character wait is it no no no I just want to Looking at this map... I'm not talking out of character. Wait, is it... No.

No. I just want to use the elk and charge it first. I know, right? I know this is... I guess you wouldn't know this room you're currently in. Imagine the safe house was in my home. Hilarious. Just come out into your bedroom. Is this a bookshelf?

I thought there were ghosts. people coming out of the same house you're in a really traumatic chance turns out daddy runs the cypher academy so peary is the one who's basically peering out at the moment the rest of you are kind of tucked into a secret room. Peering. Peering. So yeah, that's what you see.

And you can hear them muttering. They're kind of, I can't find anything. Have you found anything? It looks like the rest of them managed to clear away whatever was here. I don't know why they're having us just break apart all this stuff. They can't have hidden anything more. We cleared this place out. Close the door.

So out there is a warehouse. Loads of boxes. Also, a couple of guys. About six people. They seem to be prying them open. Not sure if that's a warehouse thing to do. Sounds like they might be thieves. Thieves in Gustaven?

Yeah. Very rare for Lucius. Very, like, that sort of crime is generally not done. They're looking for something. It's probably working. Let's go say hi. You sure? Step through? Lucius steps on through.

Crime, period. And yeah, Lucius, for you, when you step through, I mean, this looks to be a sort of airship dock warehouse or an airship warehouse, like an office where things are stored, you know, trade goods and supplies and things like that. There are a couple of engineering desks with Ethereum tools and things like that around. I mean, this looks like the kind of place that you've seen in gustavon on the docks at least um and you see uh so as you say that uh you hear there's a couple of like exclamations um as you see groups of very rough looking sky ship pilots i guess you would probably recognize them as. They look like airship crew, but they're just

picking this place apart. They're like ripping up like, you know, desktops or like pulling out drawers, shaking them out. Are you refurbing or something? Okay. Okay, we're doing that. The closest one kind of pops his head around

and you see the others kind of spin around as well and there is this moment of they're like looking at you where the hell did he come from and then they look over and it's like one of them uh who appears to be slightly better dressed looks down it's like we can't risk him knowing be slightly better dressed looks down and is like, we can't risk him knowing we're here. Kill him! Roll initiative. Alrighty.

Always getting a second draw. Natural 20. Bam. This is going to be good for you. Natural 1. 13. That'll be 10. Very low on spell slots.

Straight into the battle music. Aayla. Bam. 15. Harry. on spell slots. Straight into the battle music. Aayla. 15. We had a long rest. 19. You had a long rest. While Settry was being res. Nova. Of course.

Lucius. 23. Sentry. 9. 9. What's that? No. Initiative doesn't count. There's no such thing as a failed initiative. I feel like a failure.

I feel like a failure. You really kept going on that one. Keep testing me, Kim. Lucius, you are in fact the first to react. I mean, these are ruffians. And they've just said that they're going to kill you. Ruffians. Please, please don't hurt me. I'm very important.

My daddy will hurt you all. Make a persuasion check. Fae motherfucker. These are not fae. You don't have advantage. But I do have a big ass charisma bonus. Yeah, that's fine. You can have that advantage. But I do have a big-ass charisma bonus. Yeah, that's fine. You can have that.

Suasion? Suasion, yeah. Hi-ya! Shit. 16? No, I think that, yeah, to convince these Han killers not to kill you when you've just discovered their secret operation of robbing places. Nope.

Sorry. They just, like, I don't care who your daddy is. Kill him. You should. And I'm going to back away. I mean, the room is not very large. Into the secret. I mean, yeah, I guess you can kind of back into there,

but the rest of the crew are kind of like stood right by the doorway. So if there's nowhere for you to go. They're trying to kill us! Would you believe crime in Gustafen? Sorry I'll move you back but until other people start coming there's nowhere for you to really go

they're all by the door on their initiative So the room that we're currently in, the teleport room is not massive. It's not massive but also you're all stood by the door and you've not had your turns to go yet and so Lucius is like he can't squeeze through all of you, you know what I mean like you're all stood by the door, and you've not had your turns to go yet, and so Lucius is like, he can't squeeze through all of you, you know what I mean? You're all kind of clustered around it.

It also just prevents him from, I'm going to go hide in the room, like, that I've not planned out. Yeah. So you're just going to have to hope that other people come out to rescue you. One of them will... to rescue you.

One of them will... One of them will step up while the other one begins to make his way down 5, 10, 15, 20. We'll get to about there. One of them will pull out a hand crossbow and take a shot. In fact, take three shots at you. Damn. The first one is a 13.

Yeah. Second one is a 13. Yeah. Okay. Second one is a 19. Yeah. Third one is a 12. Yeah. What? How low is your AC?

Six, 12. Six, 12, 18 points of damage as three bolts thud, thud, thud. You don't doubt the way that they're, like, scraping your arms. Like, one of them clips your leg. Not enough to, you know, kill you or anything like that, but... It's a very injury. This make do damage to me last time, I forgot. Yeah, six points.

It did six points to that, wasn't it? Why didn't you note that down, Thomas? Because I was too busy not putting a fireball in his face. Well, speaking of Piri, I believe it is you next. Okay. We have to get out of here. We can't let him know about this place, all right? You think? So it's either we let this loose or we go out there and fight these guys, right?

Six seconds, that's it. I'm going to step out. And I suppose... Fighty boy, go go! The first one I see is not beyond the pillar but the one just around

the corner this one yeah right up in his face you just want to go there or do you want to

move further around I guess still behind the pillar but within like range of that like that yeah is that still

within sure cool I'll just punch him around the bookcase okay and I want to just double attack him with my regular things.

Okay. You can make three attacks with a bonus action unless you're going to use your bonus action to do something else. Oh yeah, I've got my attack, haven't I? Well, you've got your two attacks, then you can bonus action extra punch. Because you can flurry his two extra punches, but it's a key point, but you can just do a normal extra punch so stunning strike is that oh no that's when I hit I may as well just triple I need to remember in an hour's time

so how those key points work you've got to remember how stances work yep that's why I got my cards 24, 23 and a 10 the 10 misses cool

so that's two hits bam 8 and 6 so 14 damage The 10 misses. Cool. So that's two hits. Bam. Eight and six. So 14 damage. And I want to stunning strike one of them. Yep. Is that wisdom saving three?

17. It's a con save. Con save, 18. Damn it. Okay. Yeah, fine. So you kind of punch him numerous times, multiple blows, and you're trying to strike at his vulnerables, but he's wearing studded leather. You just can't quite get the angles to kind of punch him Numerous times Multiple blows And you're trying to strike At his vulnerables

But he's wearing studded leather You just can't quite get the angles To kind of connect And force him to You know daze him Okay But yeah you launch into a flurry of attacks They kind of cry out like

There's another one Where are they coming from? There's like 20 of us in there After Piri Ayla Okay I will come out So it's like 5 feet us in there. After Piri, Ayla. Okay, I will come out. So it's like five feet of movement to go there.

I will rage. Lightning begins crackling up and down the body. And I will run up to this guy over here. Whoopsies. I mean, it makes sense that you knock over a load of bookshelves and stuff on the way. You can move the bookshelves like anybody strong enough can probably like pull those down and stuff

smoosh him under a boot no I will smack him in the face twice 21 to hit on the first one the little brown

the guys in the brown studded leather armor they are the ones who are wearing sort of like slightly nicer equipment. They've got these hooked daggers. The other guys look a bit more rougher and more common. An 18 to hit?

18 hits. A 21 to hit. Both hit. Yay. Damn, that's a double whacking with your brand new weapon. So, I think that one's it. 18 damage for both of those with the hammer and then dex

dex 7 throw is 6 plus 3 is 9 so another d6 so 5 lightning damage so 23 so as you strike him you run up the new howling tempest in your hands Whoa, that's a lot of lightning. So 23. So as you strike him, you run up the new Howling Tempest in your hands.

As each blow lands, this kind of thunderous kind of impacts out. Blast him with lightning and then you reach out with a hand as lightning runs through him. He kind of snaggers back for a moment and you think that he's about to kind of fall down, but he swings his arm and hit this hooked dagger almost as a reaction to you hitting him.

He cuts it up to your face. It's a 21 hit. Yep. You take six points of damage as this hooked dagger. Slashing? Piercing, so halved three. So it kind of like cuts your face a little bit, and he's still standing,

but he forms into more of a defensive posture. Clearly injured, however. That's the end of your turn? Mm-hmm. So, some of the other guys go, Quick! This one's trouble! Get her! Three people come out,

and this one is trouble. Damn it. She's got a lightning hammer. Yeah, she's very loud. You're just kicky. This guy over here is like, I've got one punch in me! Yeah. One guy's just going to rush over.

I'm trouble. So Aayla, you're going to get two attacks against you. These guys wielding little hammers and axes, they don't really have... Their weapons don't look particularly dangerous. One is a natural one, so... Well, it's a six, which I know misses. The other one, however, is an 18.

Yep. You take five points of bludgeoning damage. Half. Half to two. It kind of just hits you on the arm. You don't even flinch, and he kind of lifts it back, looking at you a bit scared. Do you say he's got a little hammer? Yeah, he's got like a little tiny, like... I'm just standing there like...

That's cute. Bubby's first time war. They look nervous. Piri, one against you. Cool. That is a 21 to hit. Five bludgeoning. Fine.

Knocks you around the face with his hammer. Wow. Sentry. Yo, yo, yo. Yes, she's back! I'm back! Aw, queen. Okie dokie. Let's see. We've got three on Ayla and two on Perry. So you've used five foot of movement just to

kind of step past them. Can I move up like in this gap here? It's like between the two. So you can go five, yeah, you can literally go like that. Yeah, nice. Excuse me. So you can go five Yeah you can literally Go like that Yeah nice Excuse me So you're next to Perry And then can I

Smooch the one Who's this guy here Next to Perry With the axe With the axe please You pull out your battle axe And can I use divine smite So you do that when you hit

When I hit There you go Oh no Seven Pass the adrenaline fire That's fourteen fourteen still hits nice

and so I'm going to divine smite my dude so what's your normal damage for your battle axe my normal damage is

d8 plus four so you get that and then with divine smite and then divine smite is 2d8 for first level

spell slot plus one for a spell level higher than first so if you spend a second one you can do 3d8

3d8 can I do extra attack on that as well that will be the next attack so you roll the damage for this one yeah so 3d8 so you're just using a first level spell slot seven plus four is 11 11 and then 11 damage 11 damage and do extra attack yep so next attack we'll get there that is 6 12

11 11 is just misses no so he the first blow you bring this axe down and it crackles with

violet elegy from your central core it slams into him he manages to bring like this little hammer up but the force kind of staggers him back as you go to lift the axe to swing again he kind of ducks tucks and rolls to the side and your axe comes slamming down into the ground cool cool can i do what you want to do

can i do thunder of smite on the first one as a bonus action so you'd normally you have to cast it before you hit before i do cool so for the future you just have to cast it before you fit no problemo. Over. Can I get next to anyone with any of the bad guys with 30 foot? Yes. You can come around

the column and then stand next to Ayla. In which case I would like to stab him with Tiangong and green flame blade. You got it. Green flame blade

him. So. Green flambla. Green flambla. Green flame blade. Green flame blade him. So... Bim flam blab. Bim flam blab. Bim flame blade. Bim flame blade. Oh, for fuck's sake. It's a natural one.

Oh dear. So... Add it up. Eight. No. So you begin channeling forward. This green energy wraps around Tiangong. You go to swing.

He kind of dodges to the side and knocks the blade into the column. And you're kind of thrown off balance. Can I take that as my fail? I mean, that's your first fail. Yeah, that's a fail. Failed attack rolls or skill checks or saving throws. For the fun coin. The fun coin. Fun coin. A little personal mechanic of mine that we

come up with. We're trialing it. Lucius, top of the round. I'm going to sprint past, disengage. Oh, so you'm going to sprint past disengage oh so you're going to disengage first that's your action

and then and then your movement you can move past any enemies you want 5 10 15 20

25 30 yeah that's your whole turn because it's your action to disengage what's out there it's a door

it's a door with like a little window and you can see... I'm moving towards it. See what looks to be crowds of people outside? As I'm pushing past, it's like, I'm going to get the authorities! Okay. That's what I'm doing. Seeing you make a dash for the door,

one of them is like, quickly! That one's trying to run for it! And this guy jumps up onto this table and then pulls his crossbow out and fires three times. One of which I'm sure is going to be a niss. A nine? No.

A 21. And a 26. So you're going to take 12 more points of damage. Two more bolts. You'll never get away with this. He's still alive. He's taking so much lucky damage.

Period. Is it me? Yeah. It's going around quick. These guys are pretty simple. The table that guy is standing on. Yeah.

What are the legs like? I mean, they're fairly sturdy. It's got like a big central core. It looks like that table. So like a big kind of sturdy central thing and then four prongs. Ah, okay. So not like teetering.

It's not a teetering table, no. I mean, with significant force, you could push or pull it away. But if you wanted to try and break it with like damage, you would need something that is effective at doing so. Yeah, I can't really move away from these guys without them just... You could spend a key point to move away from them. Yeah, you can key point to disengage.

So that would make it a bonus action, wouldn't it? Yes. You do like a cool flip over. Do I disengage both of them? Yeah, disengage all enemies. You just don't provoke opportunity attacks for the rest of your movement. I think I'll do that and basically roll over that. You go like, you do like a cool flip,

flip over the guy's head, or you could kip up off the column. You could be like, boom, boom, boom, boom, and then jump on the other side. Anything I can launch off, I'll do it. And then I go over that barricade next to Lucius, so in front of Lucius. You can run, you like, you can run along here, and then you run off, and then you do like another cool flip. I know, I'm doing

a front flip when I land as well. So that's just your movement and bonus action. Cool. And that guy that's on the thing, I kind of want to just long range three attacks. I know, two attacks. Yeah. Bonus action. Just on that little beam that he's standing on.

Okay. So you want to try and go for the thing that's holding the table up. Yeah. Okay. I just want to topple that thing. Okay. Sure. Okay, sure. So two attacks. Eight and an 18.

So what was it? An eight? Yeah, and an 18. I mean, wood's still pretty tough. So that one kind of hits but doesn't do anything. The 18 would, however. Okay, a d6. I would say this is a

medium resilient omelette. 4 damage. I rolled a 1. It ignites and you can see it burns away some of it and it catches fire, but not enough to be anything significant.

The guy just kind of looks down. Are you trying to knock me off this table? I missed! I was aiming for you! I was aiming for your head! You're really terrible.

Ayla? I'm just going to hit the... So I'm going to start... Hit this guy. Yep. Maybe. It's the same guy you hit before. Yeah.

So an 18 to hit. 18 hits? Are you going to do one attack and then see? See if it is enough to... 10 with the hammer. Deck save. You don't need to make the deck save. Yeah.

With the hammer, you... What do you do? Like swing upwards or like bring it crashing down? Both at the same time. Like swing upwards to see how far he flies. You clip his jaw. You hear teeth shatter. And then his jaw kind of pushes most of his skull up,

lifts him off the ground. And then as he lands back, he's not moving. Sweet. Next. One. No, that's not it. I can make the deck save for one nearby, I think. Yeah, it's within 10. That's that's not it. I can make the deck save for one nearby, I think. Yeah, it's within ten.

That's going to be sixteen. That will pass, so he will take three. Because I rolled four. I don't think I'm going to hit with this one, though. Twelve. Yep, that hits these guys. These other guys. Sweet.

Which one are you going to go for? This one or this one? I had you lightning blast this one. This one. Okay. This one, please. 13 more damage with the hammer. Slam it into his ribs.

You'll pay for killing him. No, I doubt it. God, son of a bit. The riggers. So, they will attempt to pile on the greatest threat that they can see. Not me. I'm over here. This one connects.

It's my natural wand just rolling around on the floor. So, two against Aayla, one against Sentry, and then one against Lucius. So we'll do the two against Ayla. Hyah! That is a 21 and a 24. So you're going to take five damage from both. So that becomes two from both, so four.

Can I use protection? Who would you like to use protection against? The only person you've got is Nova. I'm fine. Don't worry about it. You have to be next to protection who would you like to use protection against the only person you've got is Nova is within 5 feet of you fine don't worry about it okay yeah

you have to be next to who everyone uses protection on so just remember there's a scholar here who sentry 15 gonna give me a paper cut

this like hammer just hits you on the back and there's this like ding and you just turn around and he's like she's made of metal and then Lucius

natural one so six oh thank goodness you're like dug as this man swings and catches a bit of the stone

I think I was actually looking at the table that Peri just like swings over your head oh my god Sentry a man okay I'm gonna Oh my god! Sentry. A man!

A woman. Okay, I'm gonna... I'm gonna cast... Thunderous Might on my axe please. And then I'm going to hit the man behind me. This one? Yeah, yeah. He just takes you with a hammer and you just cut him.

So... Thunderous Might... is an extra 2d6 if I get there. That's 8 plus 7. 15. 8 plus 7. 15, yeah. 15, yeah. Yeah, it hits.

Whee! And then 2d6. My brain went there. That was my, you're right, you're right. There are so many bits and bulbs. So d8 plus 4 and two d6 yes can i do extra attack as well all right that's after this yeah so actually you always make two attacks basically but the thunderous might goes on this one because you're four eight nine ten

eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen damages this one this dude yeah he's not the one that dinked you in the back cool Cool, cool. And then extra... So you kind of... And does thunderous flight do something else? I think I have to think about this. It's an extra 2d6. Is there not an effect? I think it pushes him as well.

Oh. Let me do my reading. It must succeed in a strength saving throw if you push 10 feet away from you or not prone. As you slam the axe into him, there's this... as he's launched through the air. Nice. And then you get extra attack. Extra attack, yeah.

So you can do that on this one that you hit the first time. Nice, yeah. Let's turn around and give that guy a schmackety whack. So you knock this guy flying and then you turn around with a backswing and hit the guy next to you.

Oh, 18. Nice. Yeah, that's going to definitely hit. 18 plus 7. So no thunderous smite on this one, just normal damage. Just that one, yeah. Yeah, it is expended the first time you hit a creature. So one DH press. You could divine smite, though. no thunderous smite on this one just normal damage just that one yeah it is expended

the first time you hit a creature you could divine smite though I could divine smite and I will divine smite burn a spell slot

it does burn a spell slot it does burn a spell slot it's 2d8 extra I might spell a spell slot already I'm going to spell a

spell slot she's got multiple spell slots I thought you couldn't burn more than 2 spell slots in a tank more than 1 you can't cast a

spell more than 1 so yeah right paladins are pretty broken I see okay so what you want to do a second level spell yeah I'll do 3 two spell slots in attack more than one. You can't cast a spell more than once. Yeah. Right. Paladins are pretty broken. I see. Okay. So what you want to do is a second level spell?

Yeah, I'll do three d8. So you add that to your other d8 as well. Okay. So it's one d8 plus two d8 for Divine Smite plus another d8 for Divine Smite at second level.

Overkill. Whoa. This might be a double kill. Do we even have enough d8? I know that. He's just not great. He's just falling over. Plus four.

He can't get up. Eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-three. Twenty-three damage? You just cleave in and you feel this, again, the power in your matrix swells. You know, brought back to life. This is the first time you've been back in combat, and it shows as you bring this axe cleaving down his back,

it tears through his armour, and he just collapses to the ground. He was like, yes, I'm back! I'm back! I'm back! There we go. So, Nova. I'm crying.

It's beautiful can I please go up to the nearest chap so this guy yeah right next to Aayla and yeah

I'm going to try and attack him with green flame and a little Tiangong ah 19 nice hits and then that will be D D4 Ah, 19! Nice!

Hits. And then that'll be a d... d4 plus a d8. No, it's a d10 plus 4. Oh, you're using it as the Lompsword, yeah. So that's 10 points of damage, of stabby damage, and then 5 points of green flame damage. So 15. Nice.

Damn. I like to think that I'm inspired by sentry and i'm like oh yes oh he's dead the energy but then i think with grain flame blade you can do damage to someone who's in five feet and i don't think that guy's no there's nobody within five feet nope sadly not um so you watch as this ending dissipates but yeah you stab through tiang on the two you're actually rolling it two-handed if it's D10. So you watch as Tiangong grows in size and then she cuts into him, cleaving across his chest.

Inspired by my girl! Woo-hoo! Girl power! I am the Lord. Oh my God! I'm just going to cast Armor of Agathys on myself and keep trying to run out.

First level? Second level. Second level. Dicromancy? Yeah, it would, wouldn't it? So that would be... With my current charisma, that is plus four, six.

Six points of damage to which one? The boy closest to me this one that boy that boy so you watch as you kind of form this armour of ice

around you and then you pull a shard from a bit of blue cloth he's wearing and then fling it back as this icicle the mage

sorcerer but sorcerer the remaining lieutenant Sorcerer Sorcerer The remaining lieutenant Surrender He's thinking about it Are you shaking about it? What'll it go on the table?

10, 15 He's gonna make a runner Yeah he is. He opens the door and then dashes out. And flees. We got a jackrabbit! He just runs for it. Leaving his companion behind.

Uh, Piri. I mean, I know it's off the battle map. Yeah, you can chase after him. I wanna go out there and tackle him. Yeah. Yeah. So you run out the door. What's your movement speed?

Uh, 45 feet. So you go 5, and tackle him. Yeah. So you run out the door. What's your movement speed? 45 feet. So you go 5, 10, 15, 20. He's about 30 feet away because he got to the door and then he dashed. You're a monk though, you can dashy dash. You can use your bonus action to dash. Oh actually, 30 feet. I'll just... Pew pew pew. Are you just going to... So I'll...

Do you want to flurry or are you just going to do two? I'll flurry. So four attacks. McFlurry. So as you open the door, by the way, to describe this, you kick the door open or whatever, you rush out, and you can see that this warehouse is at the end of a narrow strip. You can see other similar warehouses nearby with small alleyways between them. But in front of you, a fair distance away, like a fair walk away,

is just blue sky and clouds. And the clouds are below the street. And you can see a big airship docked alongside it. And it's this glorious sails glimmering with magic and energy. And you can just see it. And it's just blue. Are we above the clouds? Yeah.

Right. You can see that there are other people out here and they're like, what's going on? He's the bad guy, trust me. Four attacks. One's an F20. The lowest is a nine. Nine, then

20, then 22, then 26. Anything above 12 hits. Sorry, above 15 hits. So I'll do the damage. So 2d6, so 3, 2, 6, 5. And then this one doubles. And it was a 6 as well. 12 plus 3, 15.

5, 6, 15, 21 damage. I slammed in the back as these burn marks, this radiant fire just kind of caused him. He turns around. You can see he's still standing. And he just like looks behind him, panicked. Come on! Sorry.

Sorry. I'm yelling out to him. Yeah, no, I get it. After Piri, Ayla. I'm going to run up to the one that's attacking Lucius because I've seen that he's been hurt quite a bit. And I'm going to smack him. Sure.

Natural 20. Oh! This is good. Yes, girl! So. So 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 damage on the hammer. Dead. Would you like to describe how you do it?

Yeah, do you want to like, how do you do it? Oh, how do I do it? What parts do you smush? Pick a body part, what you smush in. So if you don't know, like you could... That time it was an upper swing, so just down. You could almost like spar to kick him because he's so close to the wall he slams into the wall

and then as he hits the wall you just throw the hammer you hear his sternum crack his ribs shatter and then with the magic of the hammer you just

we're the good guys right do I have enough movement left to go to the other guy 5, 10, 15, 20 yeah probably you could jump on the table and do that yeah can I jump on the table

and just bring that down and do I get advantage because he's prone yeah you absolutely do I forgot to stand him up he was just lying there hoping you thought

he was dead he was like I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead 19 to hit um 9 10, 11, 12

13, 14 15 damage with the hammer and then dex save. Yeah, now he's dead. It's a double kill! It was a three? A double kill in one turn. We've already got it.

He's like, he's like lying there like, one eye like looking at the others, and then he Not buying it, dude! He like looks up and he's like, no, no, no, and then his head just becomes a melon. Yes! This has been an interesting combat for me this is a great I was like interrogate well this mush would be there go but they're all dead century I guess the guy there's a guy outside but I'm gonna move up to Lucius. I'm just sobbing with blood. You've got a couple of bolts sticking out your shoulder. Young, young boy.

I'm going to do Cure Wounds. Rhiannon's like, it's my first combat sentry, spend it all! Spend it all! Spend all the spell slots! Hang on a minute, this is a momentous moment. Spell slot! Do you want to lay on hands?

Ah, I could lay on hands It's been a while She's got 30 HP I do have 30 HP I'm going to give Lucius 20 lay on hands 20 HP Put a hand on him

And wow I was on 4 HP Yeah Well you feel this Energy Course through your body The wounds begin to Thank you

Heal and close up The bolts push themselves out. What has Aayla done? Is that how you're done? I'm done. Nova. I'm so happy. Can I get to the floor? You can go 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30.

I would say you can peer out and try and get the guy but he'll have some cover. He's 30 feet away. He's 30 feet. Would my lightning charger get him? It's 15 feet range. Yeah.

The only thing I could do is Eldritch Blast the fuck out of that. You could do. I just want to interrogate. Can I do it in a way that knocks him out rather than kills him? Sure.

Yeah, you can make any attack basically do non-attack. You can. Eldritch is forced, isn't it? Yeah. Eldritch Blast, yeah. I'd say it's like knocking him unconscious. Maybe I'm knocking some bricks.

No, that would be concussion, though. Concussion is better than blowing a hole in his chest or turning his head to a melon. That was fun. 17. Yeah, hits. Roll damage. And then I do two D10s, don't I? Nope. Well, you have two damage. And then I do 2d10, don't I?

Nope. Well, you have two beams. I have two beams. So you can make a second attack. See how the first one goes. Yeah, roll d10. Three. Okay.

You knock some rocks off of a nearby building. It kind of clatters into his head. He holds it up, bleeding, but running. Second beam. Second beam. Second beam. Second bean. Go again. Second bean. Second bean. 16 plus 7.

Hits. You're done. Six. Nice. Oh. Two HP left. He sends him stumbling. He just turns around, like,

flips you off. And looks like he's going to keep running. How rude. Lucius, actually. Rude. Are we done with those Russians? You done? Yep.

Okay. The lieutenant at this point, he runs another 30 feet, throws himself down an alleyway. Okay. Trip's over. I mean, you don't know. He just runs to the side into a wall.

Darn it. I mean, didn't we have that in Rogue Gambler with Birdie? Like, he ran into Birdie. I'm going to go 45 feet. I guess I still didn't even reach the alleyway because he was

then 60 away from me from the start of my turn so he was 30 ran to an alleyway and then dashed down it you can dash okay I'll

yeah you can reach the alleyway you can bonus action dash yeah you can reach the alleyway if you spend a key point yeah I'll bonus action dash so and then around the corner

so the alleyway he dived into it is an alleyway but it's also you can see there are people traveling through it's kind of like a like a shortcut kind of you know passageway um what's your passive perception uh 13 he's gone like you're looking into a crowd and you're scanning the crowd his face you can't see him and there's people coming and going, you don't know where he's gone. I guess I've got like an... What could I do to look for him? You can spend your action to make an active search.

You like trying to peer around. I'm just checking your passive perception. Yeah, okay. You can make a perception check. I'll do an action. Yeah, that's your action to do that. Perception. Yeah, okay. You can make a perception check. I'll do an action. Yep, that's your action to do that. Perception. Yep.

14. Okay. Looking down, you just catch him. He's thrown like a hood up and he's kind of shuffling next to a bunch of other merchants, but you see the same guy

and he's limping and he's like holding his head. You can see the blood kind of like in between his fingers. Can I get to him with what movement I have left how much movement

do you have left he moved about 30 feet down so he was because he did the 60 well he was 30 feet ahead of you

he did 30 feet to get to the alleyway yeah and then he dashed into the alleyway about 30 feet in the alleyway oh I've got 90 total

with my dash well if you can get to him yeah that works out but it was your action to spot him so you just run up to him yeah okay and he sees you and he's realised he's been made That works out. It's your action to spot him, so you just run up to him. Yeah. Okay, and he sees you and he's realised he's been made.

Okay, I just run right up to him and just look at him. It's like, he's like making his way, you've seen him and you're chasing after him as Ayla takes her go. Yeah, I feel like that's something where you can just see me running in the distance and then I just stop right in front of you.

Hello, mate. So it's 30 to get to here. I have 45. So you've got 15. 15 and then can I dash? You can dash to see. You can get to the edge of the alleyway. What's your passive perception?

14. Yeah, you do actually see him then. You do just about catch him. You can see Piri kind of making his way towards him, Jason Bourne style through the crowd, like, hey, like chasing after him. But that's the end of the episode. Yeah. God, this has become a chase now.

They're all dead. Century. You're in this place with Lucius. There's a lot of dead bodies and blood smeared everywhere. Yeah. You're welcome. I'm going to of dead bodies and blood smeared everywhere. Yeah. You're welcome. I'm going to go back and fetch Quill's body. Yeah, don't forget him.

Yeah, I'm going to forget him. I'm going to go back and get Quill. Good shout. Sounds good, yeah. You can do that. It's easy. Nova, it's Smeek in there. Oh, fuck, Smeek.

I didn't know it was Smeek. Just sat in vomit. Smeek wasn't told what to do, so he still sat in the vomit. Oh! He's just like, he like looks at you and he's like, he like just, he points at his bum and he's like, Can I just, I'll just pick him up and move him away. Okay.

Yeah, he like, but he sits down immediately. That was the last thing he was told to do. So he just sits down again, but he's not sitting. He's still in a sitting position when you pick him up. Yeah, he doesn't move his legs. He's like a little like, you know, little yoga instructor. He's just like, and then you put him up. Yeah, he doesn't move his legs. He's like a little yoga instructor. He's just like... And then you put him down.

Nova. I can't handle it. Can I start searching some of the bods? Yeah, yeah, absolutely you can. You start going through the bods. Bods. Have a little rifle round. You find 85 golds worth of rat coinage.

So, you know, a few silver pieces, platinum pieces, but it amounts to about 85s worth of rat coinage so you know a few silver pieces platinum pieces but it amounts to about 85s worth of gold like identification uh yeah you find they wouldn't necessarily have anything identifiable they have a tattoo oh god engraved no i don't think they would have a tattoo because they're kind of a bit more sneaky. Let me cross that one out then. A lightning bolt. I thought it was a tattoo. It's a cloud. It's just blood.

Yeah, no. The only identifying thing, the only kind of uniform thing they all have is this blue cloth. Some of them are wearing it as a bandana. Some of them have got it as like a sash around their waist. And it's got a faint kind of white and silver trim. Okay.

And then they have hooked daggers. They have like little hammers, but nothing of particular note or interest. Hooked dagger is like a smaller curved sword, right? Yeah. Yeah. Nice. That's me. That's you done.

Lucius. Lucius. sword right yeah yeah nice that's me that's you done lucius i don't i think i just if you're not gonna do anything that's fine we'll just jump to the people who are actually in the chase okay watching century okay so it'd be no you've got it perfect so peri you're kind of stalking up on the guy the guy knows he's been made and he can't really get away because you chased after him so in, you're kind of stalking up on the guy. The guy knows he's been made and he can't really get away because you chased after him. So in the crowd, he kind of stops pretending that he's like leaning for a second

and then he turns and tries to plunge his dagger into your chest three times. Oh my God. So that's a 19, a 21 and a six. Two hits. So the two hits. That is the hand dagger or the hook dagger. That's ten points of damage.

And you do hear like cries of like what? What's going on? But he's kind of like properly like walked right up to you and just does this.

Like shanking style. Like what happened at Lark? Yeah. Yep. So you'll go. Ow, ow, ow. Jeez. Donk him for the two HP he has left.

You try and fisticuffs him. He was kind of hoping that he would kill you with that strike. Because he doesn't know how many hit points you have. He's gone. Yeah, I mean, 19 and a natural one for 25 and a 7. Now, okay. But I am intending to knock him out.

You want to knock him out. Yeah. So you kind of, you know, he stabs you a couple of times. He goes through it again. You reach down, grab his arm and just one striff sort of like palm strike

into the temple. Yeah, yeah. And he just goes limp in your arms and kind of falls to the ground. Quite a few people are like, oh my goodness, what's going on?

He tried to kill me. He's got a knife! And they point down at the man, like a bloody knife in his hand, like resting by his hand. Hey, don't worry about it,

I dealt with it. Call the militia! Call the militia! Yeah, yeah, do that! Or just call the watch! Well, yeah, yeah, go ahead, fine. I'm just going to

take this body back. Okay, see ya. Where are you going with that body? And they're like calling after you. But the people here, like the people travelling,

there's a mixture of, you know, merchant folk, common laborers, but they all seem utterly shocked and terrified that something like this has happened. They're like, I can't believe it. Who would have thought on the street, on the street? It's okay. We'll take him where he needs to go. Prison, hopefully. You got one of those? Prison? No, no, no.

Great. Okay, well, no, no. Great. Okay, well, they'll just exile him. They'll send him to the lowlands. That's far worse than a prison. Yeah, it's awful. That's where he's going, though. So we'll drop out of initiative, because there's no more chase. Ayla, you see this happen, and you

see Piri walking back, dragging his body. Can I just go and help with the carrying? Yeah, sure. I'm saving face, but he's heavy. You do begin to hear the sound of whistles being blown, like loud, shrill whistles, as the commotion both in the warehouse and now in the street is drawing attention of the city watch, it seems.

Have I made it back to the warehouse? Yeah, you make it back to the warehouse. So you think you've got like a couple of minutes before the watch turned up. Okay, guys, they attacked us. We all know that. That's good. We've dealt with that. But we need to close the bookcase.

You can't let them find that. Well, you do that. All right. Okay. Smeek, heal! Oh, so I was going to say, because Smeek is currently sat in the room just on the floor. Smeek, heal!

And he comes up and just stands next to Ayla. That's it. Can I search through any of the, like, blocks? He starts, like, using his foot to try and get one of their hooked knives. Nope. Drop it. Nope. He holds up his, like, rusted scimitar and then points.

Yes, you can swap it. He's got two now. Smeek. Smeek, very important. He also takes the hang cross, though. No stabbing any of us. Okay. Smeek, back door.

Smeek, yes. Lucius, Lucius, do you, can you speak to the City Watch? I never had to. Yes. I suppose. Well, I think it would be best coming from you since, you know, your family are here. My family are here. Amazing.

Can I quickly search through any of the boxes or anything like that? This place has been ransacked. There is nothing left. These guys were actually pulling apart the bookshelves to see if anything was hidden here. So there's not even like anything that were in the boxes? Like the boxes were empty? Everything is gone. Everything is empty.

Can I see if there's anything on this guy? There's just like tapestries and things like that and banners. They don't depict anything. They're just purple cloth. Is there anything interesting in the bookcase? Like any interesting books? Everything's gone. Everything is gone. The one that we just brought back, the lieutenant.

Does the lieutenant have anything extra on him? No. There would be some gold, I guess. Ten gold. There you go. Add ten gold. This really doesn't look good. Murder in Gustaven. A war blade. You hear armoured boots. I'm going to go outside. Doesn't look good. Murder in Gustaven. Of all places.

You hear armoured boots. I'm going to go outside. Okay. As you step outside, I know that you kind of see this as well, you see coming around the corner, there's only like three of them. You see three armed chain mail

with plate mail on top. Beautiful, ornate silver plated armour with this elegant uh silver and purple livery uh one is a high elf one is a half elf and one is a halfling and they come kind of stomping around um you can see they kind of wide-eyed look and they're like what what is going on here in the name of the city watch of gustaven who who what is going on and they kind of gesture-eyed look, and they're like, what is going on here? In the name of the City Watch of Gusthaven, what is going on? And they kind of gesture to Nova and Lucius, who are near the front.

Right, see, Nova, you said you stepped inside, right? So it's just Lucius. I do like a... They, like, look at you, and they're like, some sort of fey beast? Some sort of fey creature? I'm an Elinath, too, I'll have you find.

They like just look at you. You clearly don't look like a high elf at this point. You look more like a pixie man, but just big. I've changed. Uh, what, sorry. First of all, we had reports of a stabbing and some sort of fight, commotion going on. Yes.

Yeah, that was me. This is the half-elf speaking. It's a male half-elf, a female high-elf, and then a female half-elf. That was me. We just got here and we were attacked. You need to slow down, sir. You need to tell us precisely what happened right now, sir. Okay, so we're friends.

We were just walking on a sightseeing tour of the city, to be honest, when we just got here. Right. And then we heard some noises from in here. A load of people were... So you just entered the property unannounced and you found... Well, we saw some shady people just sort of go in there. And we were like, well, they don't look like workers here. So we thought, you know, that doesn't look right.

And the moment we came in, they were like, hey, get out of here. We're stealing stuff. Also, we're bad, bad people. And we were like, whoa, that doesn't sound good. They got knives and crossbows out. They were ready to kill us. And we just had to defend ourselves. And he stabbed me twice.

She looks at you. She holds up her hand. And it's like a faint kind of glowing glyph. Show me your identification mark, please, sir. For identification for what? For entering the your identification mark, please, sir. For? Identification for what? For entering the city. Oh, please.

I'll show you mine. You would have one, yes. So you hold up your hand, and it's basically a glyph. Drop a trap. It's a glyph you have on your hand. It's an arcane mark on your hand. But it's still there from the fade. It doesn't go, basically.

It's once you have it, unless you have it removed and you have it removed when you leave the city officially. But for you, because you were on a mission to come back,

you had it still. So basically, you know, Lucius, immigration in the Sky Cities is heavily monitored because they have to... Who told us that? They have to monitor

the population extremely well. It's new to me. I actually did. This was in a document I sent you about the Sky Cities when you made your character. I know you don't. So we'll put it down to the character not remembering. Because it kind of doesn't make sense.

Well, he wouldn't know. Exactly. But yeah, you have this mark, so you hold up your hand. Ah, well, thank you. They still don't know what to make of you You get the sense that they are not convinced You're not some sort of magical being But they're a bit confused They say, however, we do need to see it for every person in Gusthaven

I need to see your identification mark, please, sir I mean, I didn't get one That's impossible You would have received one upon arriving in the city at one of the depths of the docks. See, I can step in here if you wouldn't mind. Immigrant. We are fresh from the airship over there. You point to the large robot.

Unfortunately, we clashed with these ruffians before getting our immigrants printed. before getting our immigrants printed. Right. For your relevance, you have to pass through immigration before you get to the docks where you now are. Like, when you step off an airship, there is like a channel where you... It's like in an airport, right?

You have to pass through passport. But we saw the airship right across, right? Right, you saw it docked there, but the actual gangway connects to a thing which connects to the rest of it. What's the distance between the airship you pointed out and where we are? Like, a considerable amount. Like, it's a big airship, you can see it, but it's not like, you know, 20 feet away. You know, it's hundreds of feet away, but it's big enough that you see it at the end of the lane.

So, that's just for your information. Imagine, like, passport control, you have to go through to get there. Oh my gosh. So yeah, there's no way that you can get off without going through it. You can't enter the city without the marks. All right, I'll retcon that. Yeah, that's fine.

That's because you would know that. I'll be honest with you. They don't have the marks, but my daddy will absolutely vouch for this whole situation and we'll all be under control momentarily. And the halfling woman, like, has been looking at you. And she leans in. Sarah, I do think this one is...

He does look like that El Anasto boy. Um, if I may... As you turn around, you can see that as there's more of you, like, they've got hands on weapons. Why don't you give your full title? This is Lucius. However, the crown he is wearing upon his head turned him

into this. We can remove it, and his identity will return to that of high elders. Well, then I suggest you do it. It sounds like a very ridiculous story. One that no guard worth their armour would believe at

first hand. We'll need to see some proof if that's true. Lucius, you need to let me remove the crown. But I'm so glorious! Fine. Okay, I cast. For the law! Are you going to take out the scroll? Yeah, I cast For the lore You can take out the scroll Yeah take out the scroll

Yeah you can cast it as normal with remove curse As you touch Lucius The crown just falls off his head The features immediately begin retracting Nobody touch the crown The wings vanish Nobody touch the crown Smeek

Smeek do not I've actually rolled his wisdom What's his wisdom is it minus one Where's Smeek I saw that little glimmer in your eye Is he close to me Because he'll get an advantage He does get an advantage

He gets an advantage he's next to me He gets a plus two So his wisdom is minus one It's a good job Sentry is next to him you see Smeek's eyes light up

when this crown hits the ground and his head kind of turns and he kind of shakes his head a little bit he's like

he points at the crown like he makes like a weird sort of noise although that would have been hilarious so what was the advantage so Sentry's

Aura of Protection means you get a plus two to saving throws when you're within ten feet of it. Nice catch. Very good catch. So yeah, you see him do it

and then you're kind of holding him up and what, are you just going to leave the crown there? I suggest you confiscate... Yeah, your voice is back to normal now.

I suggest you confiscate that immediately. Don't touch it. I may be able to... They use their sword and kind of hook it and then put it into a pouch. We'll have the magisters look into this, the royal magi. And then as they see your form, your features returning,

the halfling is like, I'm certain of it, that's him. That's the elenasto boy mr lord elenasto you're going to need to come with us immediately and if your companions definitely don't have their marks they're going to need to come to a watch station as well there's some circumstances we need to discuss and we need to get your reports on what happened here precisely and we need to get your reports on what happened here precisely. Absolutely.

Of course. Lead the way. Yes. Come with us. Please do not touch any of the bodies or the evidence or any such matter. Please. Oh, actually, one of them is ours. The bird.

We need to take him with us. Is this true? Absolutely. Very well. Lead the way. Please bring the alacocra. Absolutely. I'll forget him this time absolutely is the goblin with you

he was a stowaway we can detain him if you wish no he's harmless he does what i say lord we must attribute this creature in your things we will need to verify your identity fully but i am willing to accept that you are who you say you are for now but there are some circumstances mean that you will need to prove who you are that's fine yes okay um do you still have the briefcase yeah i would yeah yeah you do yeah you are led through the streets you can see a crowd is now gathering and people are like and you can see everyone here wears these very airy but elegant fabrics uh very richly dressed but their fabrics are loose the weather here is nearly perfect it's sunny and bright but it's not too hot there's an ever so slight light breeze that's just refreshing and cool and when you look up into the sky although

it's blue skies you can see that there are these suspended orbs of metal connected by these thin ropes, almost, like cables, and they seem to be spread out across the city, and you have this perfect weather. The people gawk and stare at the scene of, like, people are trying to look inside the warehouse, people are looking at the dead body on the ground, and there's this murmuring of, like, my goodness, I can't believe it

i'm telling you the wind barons are up to something it's the wind barons again they're they're being even bolder no no no no no it's definitely that moon star that moon star is responsible here she's a menace she's not a menace she's a hero uh there's these kind of all these things for me no no no none of this makes any sense to you okay um you also lose the benefits of the crown while it's oh yeah that's gone yeah uh you are led through elegant streets of white stone with spiraling you know towers one common theme here in gust haven is penance and flags um hung from every window atop every spire they flutter in a slight magical breeze but these beautiful gleaming penance are just fill the city with color beautiful stained glass

windows and storefronts this is a place of beauty and elegance and everything is meticulously crafted every building has been shaped to feel exactly the right size it needed to. It's no bigger. There's not been expanded on. Every building is precisely as it needs to be. It's very, very elegant. You are led through several districts and led to a small fort-like building. Probably can only accommodate about 10 or 12 individuals.

And you are led inside and led to a waiting room there are various watch offices you can see people you know men and women in armor going about the business they look at you kind of strangely but you're brought in you are placed inside a waiting room and two of the guards leave and say the the last one simply turns you and says like you will need to remain here for some time. We have sent for one of the royal magi and we will have also sent words to verify some matters. You will need to remain here.

Until then, I will be taking your statements about what happened in the warehouse. However you came to Gusthaven, I suggest you tell me as much of the truth as possible. And she will take statements from you. How much are you going to lie? I mean, I'm not going to say anything about the teleportation or the academy or anything. Okay, so that's going to be a deception check from Perry.

Seven plus. Deception, deception check from Perry. Seven plus. Deception, deception, deception. Ten. Okay. They begin listing. They're just taking down notes at this time. Like writing down what your statements are. Anybody else?

Is anybody else going to tell the truth or is everybody going to lie? I'd tell the truth about them attacking us and us finding them stealing and being nefarious. So I'd tell the truth from that point on. I think the point that I would lie, not even lie, I'd be very vague. I'd say we teleported in, but I wouldn't say like... Okay, so when you say that, the woman is like, how precisely? Was this a teleport spell? Why did you target the warehouse?

We got it wrong. Deception check for me. But with advantage, because it's quite a believable why. I'll just say we got it wrong. Yeah. Teleportation magic can happen in this house. 19 plus 4, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23. All right.

Who performed the teleportation? Pity's device. You have a magical device Who performed the teleportation? Pity's device. You have a magical device that allows for teleportation? I mean, I kept telling him. Lucius had this thing where he was like, oh, I don't believe in myself that I can do this spell. So I was like, it's

okay, I got this thing that I can do it. But really, the power was inside him all this time. So you're saying Lord Elanasto cast the teleportation. Yeah, he cast it, but I pretended. Deception check. Disadvantage. Dis the turtle. Yeah, he cast it, but I pretended. Deception check. Disadvantage. Disadvantage. Yeah.

Oh, God. Eight. All right. She writes it down. The magic was within you all along. Statements are taken. And eventually a purple robed wizard, high elf, elderly, but not old, perhaps in his late sixties, thinning gray hair,

silver kind of streaks throughout the rest of it, blonde. He arrives wizened, wrinkled face, little bit of a chin beard. He enters with this kind of air of mystery and intrigue. His eyes immediately cast to Lucius. Lord Elenesto? Yes?

I'm going to need you to comply with a small, brief ritual, if you will. Absolutely. Very well. He conjures a glyph in the air, and it fills the room. I would ask that the rest of you remain silent. Please state your name. Lucius.

You cannot lie, but I know you're not going to. Varian Elowen Elinasto. Are you the son of Varian Elinasto, the director of Elinasto Trading Company? I am. Were you born here in Gusthaven on the 277th of PS? I was. You have a twin sister called Edea Elinasto, is this correct? I do.

He nods, takes his fingers, the glyph disappears. Very well. There seems to have been some confusion. Lord Eleonasto, it was believed you had been killed a month or so ago

in an airship crash. Sendings and scryings were attempted, and you were reported to have been dead, but this was some time ago now. There are other matters we should discuss, but I think that that is something we should discuss in private. When did you last scry on him? Several weeks ago.

Once it was confirmed that the spells were unsuccessful and that his body had been spotted, it was determined that you were dead. Who confirmed that, Malian? That is something that myself and the Sky Prince are very interested to discover. An investigation will be forthcoming. There is another matter that needs to be discussed. I believe it best if you come with me to... You should come with me.

Right now? Yes. Okay. Can they come? If you wish. Yes. They lead you from the fort and take you through familiar streets,

streets that you've become very familiar with, to a rich district. And you know the path well because it leads home. It leads to the El Anasto estate. We're going home, everybody. The magister turns silent. And as you round the corner, you expect to see the beautiful manor with the ivy crawling up the trellises.

You expect to see the large stone buildings. Honestly, it's going to be spectacular. But you don't see that. You see blackened stone and ruined timber. Scorch marks. Oh my god. And an empty shell of a building that is no more. Uh, what? And that's where we're in today's episode.

Oh, you can't! Oh, boy! The estate! Holy crap! Whatever anything horrible happens, she's just like, Yeah! Eat it up! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Hey everyone, thanks for listening to this episode. Remember to check out D&D Beyond with the links in the episode description. You can also support the podcast on our Patreon page, patreon.com slash highrollers, giving you early access to podcast episodes and other snazzy little benefits. We'll see you on Monday for the next episode when the party investigate the burned ruin of the El Anasto estate. We'll see you then.