High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois #68 | Baraz the Consumed (Part 2)

Episode Date: April 23, 2020

The fight against the demonic gnolls takes a terrifying turn! Support the High Rollers and get early access to podcast episodes (and more) on our Patreon: www.patreon.com/HighRollers Thanks to our sponsors D&D Beyond & World Anvil! Build a world, manage your campaign and create a massive campaign with ease on World Anvil! http://bit.ly/worldanvilhighrollers 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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Let's go back to dying! I mean, no, that's presumptuous. Well, we begin as a brief recap. Baraz the Awoken and his mage-like companion have both been slain, leaving behind an undulating, shifting form of tentacles and teeth and claws that seems to be taking on more and more of a humanoid shape as time goes on. Several of the party have now tried to make their way outside to support Sentry and Aayla, who are fending off against the last remnants of the front guard. There's a few more

ambushes have also joined the thing. And we start with Aayla who is currently still holding the front lines of this combat at the very top near the gates. Did Sentry move around the side of the building? Sentry moved to where Sentry is. On my map it has

you're not around the side of the building so you would have gone 5, 10, 15 so 5, 10, 15 you can go another 15 feet yeah so I was going to go I was supposed to go around the corner is that updated? yep that's updated

I'm just making sure for tech can I take another couple of swings at the dude in front of me please I'm just making sure, if you know. Protect. Can I take another couple of swings at the dude in front of me, please? Of course you can. Always. Always. Always.

Always. 19 plus 9. That's a hit. That's a smash. 17 plus 9 to hit. That is also a hit So the first one Is 12 points of damage From the hammer

Second one is 9 points of damage from the hammer I mean rolling a 1 and dealing 9 points Of damage is still pretty great Yeah And then deck saving throw And deck saving throw 21 again.

Ah, one point. Blam! It's blasted with lightning. Two big hits. Still on its feet, but very much injured. Still injured, but still standing. These things are tough. They are clearly well-built, well-trained.

I'm moving around the corner, so he's going to get a swipe at me. He doesn't because he made an opportunity attack against Centuryline, so he doesn't have his reaction still. Okay. Okay. Well, following that good news, let's have some bad news.

You hear the sound of gnolls in pursuit. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30. Boop. As they all come running up and then they will basically spend their action to dash. 5, 10. Oh, goody. 15, 20, 25, 30. We've been dealing with this the whole time.

It's coming to you. We've been dealing with tentacle boy. As you see these gnolls come rushing around the corner. One of them comes sprinting outside, chasing down Nova. And while the other one is going to take some swings at Lucius. So the archers all dash.

They don't get their turn, but Nova, two attacks are going to come your way from this gnoll chasing after you. It's hatchet out. The first one is a... That's a natural one, so that's a miss uh followed by a 17 no i don't use those rules otherwise you guys would have hit yourselves a lot of times in the past 17 17 will hit yes 17 is exactly six points six points of slashing damage as the hatchet just kind of catches the back of you as you're fleeing. And then Lucius, two attacks against

you. First one is a natural 20. As the hatchet comes streaking in. And then the second one... Oh my god! Here's another natural 20! Guys, you can't even blame my dice this time.

This is... I don't know what to tell you. It's roll 20. It's like, what do you want from me? Well, I've got 9 HP, so what have we got? Okay, so the first one is going to take you to 0, because it will deal

9 damage minimum, so with 10 damage as the minimum, it will deal. And then the second one is going to hit you while you're on the floor, which is two death saving throws. Oh, man. And an injury check. And an injury check, please. Constitution saving throw.

Look at you, Tom. I'm on it. I know. 14. The DC is 10. DC is 10 16 no injury but as you go down the null kind of cackles to itself and it hits you whilst you're on the ground as you just hear this wet as the the axe embeds and normally i wouldn't do that but i'd already set up that these guys they they don't have any mercy for any foes on the ground. They already did this once to you. They've done this to Lucius before

where they chopped you and then as soon as you went down with no other targets around them they just went for you again to kind of finish you off, or so they think. And the worst news, well, this the Hunger Slave goes next. It's going to go

5, 10, 15, 20. It's going to go 5, 10, 15, 20. It's going to come chasing after Sentry. It's going to take two swings with its greatsword at you, Sentry. First one is a miss. It's only a 10. An 11, sorry. The next one is a 13.

The Shield of Solvin, you just bounce both of these attacks off of your shield um as the the blows resound against it and then lucius it's a death saving throw i'm afraid oh crap yeah wait no five go on tom do you have a port left because i don't think you have 18 you then you can use it, yeah. I've said, because Trot didn't know you were good. Trot doesn't know that you're thinking of using it,

so you can just say he rolls an 18. I did wait, wait before the roll came up. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, absolutely. All right, so, yep. So that's a success. Yep, 18 on the... So that's the portent used. Oh, my God.

That would have... Yeah, Lucius would have died. All right, so that's it quillick and kalar your turn just let me die tom jesus no no why would i kill you jesus uh right, I am gonna... I mean, you see Lucius. Right, I'm gonna...

Um... I think if I run next to Lucius, right, then this little NERC is gonna get an attack opportunity on me. No, okay, I'm gonna run... I'm gonna run to Lucius and use a third level Cure Wounds on him.

That sounds great. 17 hit points. Thank you. Just so I could die again, you bastard. You bastard. The fact is, the fact that I rolled two natural 20s

in a row against you is disgusting. If those would be normal hits, you still would have gone down, but still. Bloody hell. Right. Quill, anything else on your turn? I haven't got any bonus actions,

so yeah, that's that all. Nah. Okay. I haven't got any bonus actions so do you want to move? nah okay Rhiannon you love chaos don't you? always roll a d4 for me roll a d4

okay that's a 1 that's a 1 you see the mutated form that is kind of creating itself from Baraz's corpse is regenerating extremely quickly. In a few seconds, it's already beginning to stand up, kind of like pulling itself up on the pillar next to it

with these tentacles, rising like a resident evil T-virus enemy it's like and you can see like this distended huge open jaw is beginning to form as these one of the eyes kind of flicks and looks

in Quill and Lucius's direction um that's cool as shit it's cool as shit right eat it, it's cool as shit right eat it it's like that's awesome um okay i'm gonna give it to you i'm gonna move five ten to move here yep and then uh that's enough uh that's an attack of opportunity against you

because you moved out of the guy's threatened area and he had his turn. Alright, that's fine. Yeah, go for it. 21. Yeah, that's gonna hit, boy. It's gonna hit, boy. It's gonna hit. So that is gonna be

10 points of damage. Okie dokie. Slams into you as you begin making your way. That is going to be 10 points of damage. Okie dokie. Dankumson. Slams into you as you begin making your way. High changes, please. There we go. Thank you. I would like to cast Plant Growth.

See if you'll play. Okay. What does this do? So this spell channels vitality into plants in a specific area. If you cast a spell using an action, a creature moving through the area must spend four feet of movement for every one foot it moves. So it's like double difficult terrain.

Yeah. Wow, that's pretty good. And what kind of area is that? It's a 150 foot range But I want to concentrate it Around The knolls In a circle

Around where the knolls are So they have a difficulty moving So like this Has it got a radius? Because the range is normally how far away you can cast it up to Does it have a 20 foot radius? Or 30 foot radius? It's got a radius? Because the range is normally like how far away you can cast it up to. Does it have like a 20-foot radius or 30-foot radius? It's got a 100-foot radius. A 100-foot radius. Oh, my God.

I mean, yeah, that like... Rainforest. He's just rejuvenated his heart. You basically... Well, it's fertile land, right? So it's like flowers and trees and weeds um but they they grow to these enormous proportions um and the whole back area of the winery just becomes at this tangled mess of overgrowth um there's actual like grapevines where seeds that have been dropped and

pollen's been dropped like grapevines and thorns begin growing out of the ground completely surrounding all of these creatures as it just looms in life as century channels her magic into the area and let us call the plants yield twice your normal amount of food when harvested and the land is enriched for a whole year after doing that. The important things. The vineyards. Vineyards back in business, boys. Holy shit. So it'll be good for the nuns.

Just to clarify, that second effect, which is the enrichment of the land where it doubles it, you have to cast that second effect, which is the enrichment of the land where it doubles it, you have to cast that over eight hours. But the first effect where it basically becomes super overgrown, that takes place in the area, basically. Oh, I see. That still happens.

But the enrichment is you have to cast it over eight hours. But you could, like, tomorrow, you could go up to the vineyards and just be like, I'm going to spend all day doing this. And you could do that. the vineyards and just be like I'm going to spend all day doing this. And you could do that. Amazing. Anything else Sentry? I think that's me good. Yeah.

So basically at the moment every square in that area costs 20 foot of movement to move through. Wow. Could you just level buildings with that power? No, I don't think it would. It basically causes any natural vegetation to become overgrown, but it won't go through like stone and stuff.

It doesn't have any force behind it. I think there are high level spells that can do that, but this is just sort of like any natural terrain will become abundant and overgrown, but it won't like build up through buildings. It just wouldn't affect that area, I think. That's a cool aspect. Yeah.

That's pretty cool. Thank you. Nova. Yeah, I like it. And it's used to a great effect here because it's definitely going to slow down all of those archers. They're going to have difficulty firing through it and stuff like that with their bows.

Yeah. Awesome. Nova. And then Aaylala you're after nova um so can i skirt around the ambusher who's between me and the hole in the wall so five yeah because you could yeah you can you can it's going to cost you extra movement because you were here right yeah so i kind of went diagonal and then yeah yeah you can get to there and no attacks opportunity because you stay within its threatened area 15 20 25 30 um yeah it's the second you leave its threatened area that you're getting against you i have potions but i can't get to them um it's a shame just um so i guess guess I see this Baraz getting up and...

Oh, yes. And it is large. It's far larger than Baraz. Okay. This thing is maybe like 10 feet tall, extra wide, and it's got this huge distended jaw, and inside its mouth is just blackness. It's just darkness.

Is he big enough that he ended his turn in the wall? Sure. Oh, yeah, actually. But he's not a creature yet. When he starts, yes, then he will be fully formed. I'll tell you what, roll the damage for me. You roll the damage for me now.

48. Okay. I'd say, yeah, his mutated form would have grown into the wall, and then as he's regenerating, it would have started burning him. Yeah, I'd say, yeah. His mutated form would have grown into the wall, and then as he's regenerating, it would have started burning him. Yeah, 24 damage. That's 24 points of radiant. That counts. Right.

What are you doing? I guess... I guess... I'm just... So, Kim, the player, has a dichotomy of whether or not to attack Baraz or attack this ambusher that's got Lucius and Quill. Or block her escape. That's a good question.

You've got to decide right now. I'm going to attack the gnoll. Okay. Yeah. What? Just carry on, Kim. Just carry on. Let's keep it going.

I don't want to get slowed down. Maybe he is, but let him make his joke. Okay. I'm rolling 26 to hit the gnoll. With what? With a radiant wall blast. Okay, with the beam of light. So I'm using the wall of light to shoot another bolt out at the gnoll ambusher.

Right, so you've basically got about two blasts of that. No, I've been marking it off. I have three left. Thank you. I thought it might be two or three. I've been marking it down. That is 30 points of damage.

Fucking hell. This nearly burst through his chest. It burst through his side and you can see this gaping wound. He's alive but only barely. As he's staggering around like and in his guttural language he's muttering curses and something.

Okay. And then I'm just going to pop back a bit. I'm just popping back. I'm still around my ambusher but I just want to be away from the hole a bit. I'm just popping back. I'm still around my Ambusher, but I just want to be away from the hole. Okay. That's what she said. I know.

Basically, I'm going to just do a bunch of these gnolls now because the Hunger Slave goes after these gnolls anyway. Their whole turn is basically the Hunger Slave manages to finally dash it through. That was Nova's turn, right? I get a turn after Nova. Oh yeah, you do. You get your turn. Sorry, that was Nova's turn. You missed me. Okay, so...

I did, you were correct. Can I... If I was to angle myself correctly, could I get the hunger slave and two of the ambushers in a line? If I angled myself towards the, like, the curve of this building? Right, so here's the thing. Here's the line. Imagine that the line goes out for you diagonally.

You can have a line like that. You could have a line that goes like that. You could have... You can get two of them at maximum. But if I move towards the building... Move yourself to where you think. Give me more of a straight... If you can draw a line between three of those things, yes.

But I don't think you can. I think you can get two of them, which is the one in the middle and then the hunger slave. What if she bounces it off the wall and then it recurves? It doesn't do that. Like those bullets in Wanted. That's not me.

Curve the bullet! She could do that with Century. century's captain america not you um you can hit two of them katie for sure um fine i'll hit shithead biggie and i'm in the one in the middle yep sure so the the way that and this is with the hammer's ability yeah yes please so the the hunger slave makes a deck save because as you throw the hammer it turns into a bolt of lightning passes through him he makes a deck save and then the one at the back it turns back into the hammer and you make a ranged weapon attack against him basically yes um so if you open up the hammer what's the dc on the deck save tell you more i think it's below 17, so that's a pass. He's going to take half damage.

Okay, so the Hunger Slave will take half damage, and then the one in the middle make a ranged attack. Oh, Mark. Yeah? I made a mistake with my Wall of Light on the Gnull. So I said it was 30 points of damage. I added nine on the end there from my previous melee attack.

Okay, that's fine. I can heal him 9 points. 9 points, yeah. Sorry, I just realised. I'll just heal it back to him. So he's injured, but not as badly as you thought. Yeah. So I hit... Oh yeah, that's gonna hit. I hit the dude.

So he takes... 15 damage from the hammer, and then he takes... 12 lightning damage, and then 6 lightning damage still goes to the one who saved against it. Yes, because he takes half damage. So the hunger slave takes the damage but manages to the one who saved against it. Yes, because he takes half damage. Yes.

Yeah. So the hunger slave takes the damage, but manages to throw himself to the side. Still, again, badly injured. The gnoll at the back, when the hammer turns back into a hammer and hits him full pelt in the chest with the lightning, it's like a frog being hit by a blast of lightning.

He explodes. He just kind of erupts in bits and pieces. Chunks. Just blows up with the power and then obviously the hammer just slams back into your hands, Thor style, as it

comes returning back to you. That's a pretty good turn. What I will also do... Oops, I'm drawing. I don't want to draw. No, thank you. Let me move. I will also do... Oops, I'm drawing. Yes. I don't want to draw. No, thank you. Let me move. I'm Hawkeye. I will move towards this shithead to start helping Nova. Sure.

Yeah. Yep. Sounds good. Right. So, again, these guys... This guy just basically has to spend his whole turn plowing through this overgrowth. Like, the weeds stuck to his legs. He's, like, hacking bushes down in front

of him and then the same with these guys because their arrows are just going to be useless in this thick terrain so they're just like plowing themselves forward just trying to pull themselves free of it which is all of their turns as we get to Lucius oh sorry the very

nope I've got before that the one fighting you Lucius. Oh, sorry. The very... No, I've got... Before that, the one fighting you, Lucius, and the one that was fighting Nova both get their attacks. Okay. And they will try and attack. They're probably going to try

and see that Quill's healed. He's going to try and attack Quill, I think. No. Yep. Attack me. Yeah, this is the one fighting those two.

No, this is the one in front of me. Don't worry. I'm attacking you with one. Don't worry. Right. First one is a missed Quill. Yeah, this is the one fighting those two. Don't worry. I'm attacking you with one. Don't worry. First one is a miss quill. That's an 8 to hit. Second attack is a 20 to hit. Shit, can I shield that?

You can if you'd like to. I can add 5 if I shield it, yeah. Yep, and that lasts until the start or the end of your next turn add five if I shield it, yeah. Yep, and that lasts until the start or the end of your next turn? Start, I think? Yeah, start.

Okay, so you've still got that plus AC to the start of your next turn. So as it swings just about to hit you, you throw up this magic shielding barrier, bounces the attack off of it.

On the other side of the wall, Nova, two attacks. Can I just turn up next to him and be like, boop? You do, but he was already swinging as you ran up next to him. 16 to hit Nova. No.

He bounces off your breastplate. Next one, 9 to hit. Tiangong, you parry the second one to the side as you deflect the attacks off. Lucius. Okay. I'm going to cast a level

4 Armor of Agathys on myself. Okay. Which gives me 20 temp HP. And anybody that hits you takes 20 cold damage. And I'm going to start. Well, do you want to Dicromancy as well?

Because it is cold. You cast a spell that deals cold damage. Yeah, I will Dicromancy well? Because you cast a spell that deals cold damage. Dicomancy Baraz. That's 8. On Baraz? Sorry. I will do it on the Null Ambusher. Okay. And how much was that? 8?

Ice. 8 points. Again, this strikes him and now he looks heavily injured. Kind of limping and badly, badly hurt as you conjure again this strikes him and now he looks heavily injured kind of limping and and uh badly badly hurt um as you conjure this armor around you um he's not smart enough to really know that that spell yeah he will try and hit him because he doesn't really know what that spell does so he will roll to hit he hits you uh which he instantly is obliterated by shards of fur ice. You take six points of damage

off the temporary hit points, but you still have 14 left, so the spell is still active. Dodger, Dodger. Yeah, and he is now bleh. As his, yeah, just shards, as the axe hits the armor around you, you see it grin for a moment

before all these splinters and shards embed into its face and it comes stumbling back. End of your turn, Lucius? Can I move through other players or do I have to go around them as well? You can move through friendlies but you can't move through enemies. So if you want to get on the outside.

Okay. He's dead. Quillick? In the wall. Okay, sure. Quillick and Kalar. Man, I'm... I'm going to leave.

5, 10, 15, 20, 25. Hello. Gene's going the other side. I went laggingly and down. Would that little nerd have a hit on me? She went like there. No, you'd be fine. Okay.

And I will healing... No, I won't. I will mega heal myself. Cure wounds. 3d8 plus 4. Third level. 20 healing nice very nice from behind you

Quillek as you are fleeing through this stone hole you just hear this ungodly roar it sounds like it sounds less of a roar and more like a roar being sucked into something like this inhaling a roar and more like a roar being sucked into something.

Like this inhaling of breath and noise. Like... That just reverberates and echoes around. And then you begin to hear slams and snapping wood and breaking stone as this form comes barreling after you. this form comes barreling after you. It's going to go after the first thing it can see, which is Lucius

at the moment. Why is it red? It's adding a bit of atmosphere, you know? And a bit of atmosphere to it. Yeah, that makes sense. And then one of its tentacles comes whipping out towards Lucius.

17 to hit. Yeah, that'll hit. Yeah. It's got plus 10. That is going to be 16 points of damage. Okay, so my armor goes. Armor breaks, but it takes 20 points of damage. Okay, so my armor goes. Armor breaks, but it takes 20 points of damage.

Yes. Smashed by all this broken armor, but the tentacle has it break. No, it doesn't. It doesn't see. This form does not appear to be as resistant to cold as it was previously. But as the tentacle hits you, it wraps around you

and you are grappled. And it begins, and you see this tentacle is pulling you towards its body as its jaw distends and begins opening as wide as your whole body. It just is like, and there's just

blackness inside. It's just like, and you're being pulled into it. Oh! Sentry. Oh. Okay. Holy crap.

Can we go back to the devil's dance? I mean, it's one of those things... I think I said it last week. This was two encounters separately calculated I'm gonna have to lay on hands myself do it

I'm gonna give myself 15 lay on hands points okay perfect that's a good shit right there that is a good shit Nova you're up after this yeah why is that not thank you and then who wins yourself as well? I can do. Why have you only got 19? I hit her, don't forget. Oh. Fuck, okay.

I'm gonna hit the gnoll in front of me. I think Lay on Hands is an action, so I don't know if you've got any actions. Oh yeah, it is an action, of course it is. It's not a bonus action, sorry. don't know if you've got any action. Oh yeah, it is an action. Of course it is. It's not a bonus action. Any bonus actions or moves? I think I'll just try and buy myself some more time, so I think I'll go 5, 10, 15 that way. And then that's really good.

Okay, it'll take a swing. Come join the party, pal! Come join the party! Hold up! God, the dice roll is very much lacking today. Mine's now struggling. No, doesn't hit 16.

You managed to parry it with Her Majesty's Rose again as you kind of back off. And you can now see, Sentry, you see this red tentacle wrapped around Lucius, dragging him back inside through this hole in the wall. Nova, Vija. So I'm going to hop back towards the hole,

direct my wall of light that's still standing, it's got 30 feet left, to blast Baraz. Sure. So that is 26 to hit. That's a hit. So 48,

take the 9 away this time, Kim. 20 points That is 26 to hit. That's a hit. So, 4d8. Take the 9 away this time, Kim. 20 points of radiant damage. Again, you see it, and as it hits it in the back, it lets out this horrid, like, inhaling scream once again. Can I, like, grab Lucius? I know I can't really do anything, but can I just try and, like... You can, like, grab his arms and his hands, yeah, but then you feel yourself being pulled back by the

immense strength of this thing as well, yeah? I guess, you know, I can't really do anything with bonus, can I? But I'm just gonna keep trying. I'm just gonna try and keep holding it. Unless you've got a spell that you can cast as a bonus action, but... If I do, the wall will go. There you go. Alright, Ayla. Still some gnolls around,

including your buddy, the hunger slave, who has been hounding you this entire time, just chasing you down like, rah! You're muted, Katie. Sorry, it's against the sirens.

Yeah, it's okay. Can I give him just... Can I smack him twice,'s against the sirens Yeah, it's okay Can I give him... Can I smack him twice, please? I really want to just get... Just go away! You can see he's injured He's definitely bleeding He's as badly as injured as probably Centurion that is 18 to hit

Still hits him, yep Just That one won't hit That one will not that is. I've done 18 to hit. Still hits him, yep, just. Nice. Oh, that one won't hit. That one will not. That's a six. Okay, I'll hit him once anyway.

Make a dex save. Yep, damage. I will make a dex save as well. So wait. 17 damage with the hammer, and then... Hey, guess what? Dammit. It would have been full damage. He was already dead from the hammer and then Hey, guess what? It would have been

full damage. He was already dead from the hammer blow. You swing it in and just crumple his chest as he stumbles, finally broken and now dead. You've got one, two, three of the regular gnolls and then this mutated Baraz

who is chasing you down. Ayla, anything else on your turn? You've still got movement and a bonus. My bonus was my zap. So I'm pretty much tapped. A piece of good news.

One piece of good news. These two gnolls are just, they're done. They just begin trying to claw their way back through the woods desperately trying to get away. They're just like, big turn around, seeing the last

of their kind of big elites go down and hearing this horrible scream coming from inside the winery they're just like get the fuck out of here like we can still get away and they begin running the one who is still

behind Nova and between Ayla doesn't have really an opportunity to run so it's going to continue making attacks this time going for Ayla to attack he could be like, please, please, no, no. You can lay on the ground.

16 to hit. 15, sorry, Ayla, which I know is a miss against you. And then a nine, which is a miss against you as well. He tries to swipe at you twice, but yeah, the blows go wide. Lucius, you are currently grappled. You can escape the grapple by using your action to make a acrobatics or an athletics check.

I will do an acrobatics check to slip out. Could he get advantage because I'm holding him? With your strength, Kim, I'm going to say no. You have a strength of seven. 21. Lucius, you managed to kind of wriggle yourself free as this tentacle is drawing you in towards the mouth

and you just slip yourself free. Yep, you can move. You are technically still in this space just for now, so if you try and move away, it will get opportunity attacks and stuff. Oh. Boy. I'm gonna cast

Arm of Agathys It's tempting isn't it It is tempting because it gives you hit points And it's damage if it tries to get you He's no longer resistant to it Don't worry about doing anything cool if it's effective Do it I'm going to do Arm of Agathys at 3rd level this time

Which is now 15 instead of 20. yep uh okay uh i can't die you can't like romancy yeah that is um seven points to him please seven seven more points of gold damage you see like this ice shard slam into its shoulder and you see that it does clearly like pierce through the flesh and whatever the damage you do it kind of almost, the void seems to suck in the ice just leaving this gaping, oozing wound. Quillik and Kalah.

I would like to move into a position where I can see this monstrous bitch and I'll hit it with a level 2 guiding bolt. Sure. What was that? So it's a 19 2 guiding bolt. Sure. What's that? So it's a 19 to hit, which hits. And then 20 points of radiant damage.

That's a good guide. And this huge blast of light slams into it and sends it kind of staggering back, but it's still coming. It shows no sign of... Advantage for the next person. It does have advantage. Unfortunately, he is the next thing to go. And he is going to use...

He's going to do an extra thing this turn. Oh, cool. So I need Nova, Lucius... Is this within... Yeah, just Nova and Lucius. I need you both to make charisma saving throws. Luckily, you two are the best at this, I think. So 26.

Watch me tank this. Oh! 22! Ow! Right. So this bellowing scream erupts from this creature. It's distended mouth and you feel just this wave of fear and this kind of

influencing whispers get inside your mind, but you manage to kind of throw it off, focusing your energy or focusing your will, and you are not frightened and you don't take any psychic damage. However, it is then going to make a tentacle attack against both of you this turn. So against Lucius is a 29 to hit. And against Nova is a 22 to hit.

No. Oh, yes. 22, yes. Sorry. Yeah, I was going to say. I saw 12. I saw 12 in there. Oh, my God.

Lucius. Fucking max damage on this one. That's going to be 21 points of damage. He takes 15. And it's going to wipe out my armor again. Yep. And you take any extra

so you take another 6 off your actual hit points. It was a 16, right? No, I dealt 21. I rolled a 16 but then it adds plus 5. So it's 21. Ooh, damn it. Okay, so you take

any extra to your normal hit points. You see the armor again. You kind of summon this armor, it hits you once more. It breaks again, smashing into its tentacles. And again, it grabs you. It swipes you up in its tentacles. Slightly smaller shoulders. Yeah.

You are grappled again. And then, Kim, damage against you is 15 points of damage. And you are also grappled. Does he get... Does Baraz get damage from the armor? Yeah, I took it already. I took the 15. Okay, I'm sorry. No, that's fine.

You are currently both grappled, and you can see, like, there's probably four of these tentacles, so it looks like it can hold up to four creatures at once, and you see its mouth beginning to distend as it's trying to pull them in. There is a sheer

look of panic of you know that horrible feeling of having weights on your legs as you're falling underwater. That look is on Lucius' face. Yeah. Century. I'm going to have to move on up. 5, 10...

Move on up! 20. Yeah, 25. Don't you hate it when the boss has a second form? Can I try and pull Novorossius out? You can. You can make an athletics check

in their place. It'll be your whole action to do that. That's fine. I'll do that. Who do you want to help? Get, get, get. It fails anyway. It does. Who do you try and grab? Lucius? You grab Lucius' hand. You're trying

to pull him free, but this thing's grip is tight around him. Not able to pull him free, but this thing's grip is tight around him. Not able to break him free. Him. Anything else, Sentry? Moves or bonus actions? If not, Nova. No, I'm good. Okay, Nova.

Tom, we could squish Trot together. But can I still set my wall off? Yeah, you can still attack. Yeah, you can still attack. Let me just check something. Because you're grappled. You're not restrained. It just says a grappled creature's speed becomes zero

and it can't benefit from any bonus to its speed. It doesn't say anything about not. So you can attack as normal. You don't have disadvantage. It's just normal attacks. Screw it. I'm bonus to its speed it doesn't say anything about not so you can attack as normal you don't have disadvantage it's just normal attacks so

screw it I'm going to keep attacking it and that is a rolling the dice I'm rolling the dice that is a rolling the dice

I'm rolling the dice it's a 19 to hit hits yep hits 4 d8 uh I'm rolling the dice

that is a 13 points of radiant damage it's not as good and I've only got 10 foot of the wall left right so this last remaining like these

these few remaining bolts of light another one strikes this mutated form in the back but it still is pulling you in

pulling you in even closer uh end of your turn did I technically take the advantage from guarding bolt on that like uh you can, pulling you in even closer. End of your turn, Ayla. Did I technically take the advantage from guarding Bolt on that? You can do, if you want to.

You didn't, but you can roll again. I think yeah, you're the first person to attack it, so. Yeah. Should I just roll it to see if it's a... Yeah, see if you get crit. Yeah, you can go fishing for a crit. Let's go fishing for a critty! Yeah, it would use the advantage up, so. No. No crit. would use the advantage up, so... No.

No crit. I'd roll a 24, but yeah, that's not natural, so... That's with the bonus, yeah. Ayla. It's one gnoll. It's a little gnoll in your face. He's just... He's still attacking people, so I'm going to smack him.

Okay. Go for it. Let's see if I can take him out last one I will people gotta stop pulling that's a miss 18

that is a miss plus 9 second one will hit yeah second one definitely hits this is last oh my god 9 points of damage with the

nine points and then the lightning. He fails, he takes two. So you can just feel like even though you've got this rage coming, you've been fighting for so long, you've taken so many injuries now, just that first swing just lacks some of that strength and manages to

leap back and then the second one is only a glancing blow. Still staggering him a little, but not quite as much as you'd hoped. Can I reach? I can't reach Nova from here. You were back here. You can move if you want to and then

you can try, but you don't have an action to really do anything with it. You're reaching for her at the end of your turn. Can I? Because you used your action to attack do anything with it. You're reaching for her at the end of your turn. Can I... Okay. Because you used your action to attack. I know. I thought I could take him out, but I rolled like shit. Yeah.

He will attack you in response for a 21 to hit and a 6 to hit. The first one to hit, 6 points of damage, half the 3. His little hatchet cuts your arm. I will now be the pack leader. I will rule. I seriously doubt that.

I seriously doubt that too, but that's what he believes. Lucius, your turn. You are grappled. I will try and slip out again. Acrobatics, right? Here it comes. Or athletics. Look Here it comes. Is it more athletics?

Look at it go. It's going to do... Any time. It will do it. Six. This time the grip is so much firmer and you're struggling and wiggling and you just can't break free. So I can't do anything? That's your action.

So you have a bonus action. You have a speed of zero so you can't do anything? That's your action. So you have a bonus action. You have a speed of zero, so you can't move. I'm going to use my bonus action to use a spell slot to regain some sorcery points. Sure. That sounds good. Quillik and Kalah. So, in the conditions of the grapple thing,

it does say that Thunder Wave, if cast on just the thing that's grappling, if they are pushed away, then the things it's holding doesn't go with it? No. So, I want to go... Now, as a point, I'm going to point this out. I'm just going to say,

if it can still reach that creature, if it still has the same reach, then it remains the grapple. And these are quite long tentacles. So you'd need to push it further than... But would you just throw it away from its mouth, though? Yes, technically you would be, yeah. I mean, you don't know how quickly it can pull you into its mouth yet. Maybe.

You don't know how quickly it pulls you into its mouth yet. I mean, yeah, go for it, Tom. The question is, how are you going to hit it with a Thunder Wave without hitting Lucius and Nova, who are currently in the hole, or blocking the hole? Wanted, perfect bullets. I'm wondering if I can go, like, can I stand here and not hit Lucius with it, if I cast it like that, in just its direction?

Yes, you could push your way past Nova and Lucius, because they are allies, and you could put yourself in that situation. Yep, you could do that. However, if you push it back, it will hit a wall. It won't actually push it. Oh, fuck, that's not worth it. Okay, because if you look at the angle,

the way you'd push it, it just wouldn't go anywhere. All right. Instead, I'm going to do a wand of magic missile. I'm going to use all seven charges. Oh. Oh. He's got to roll afterwards to see if it breaks. Yeah, but 1d6.

So what is that? 7d6 plus 1 is what I'm doing here. Wait, no. It's not 7d6. Nope uh is what i'm doing here wait no it's not 76 nope that's not magic missile nope that's the you're thinking charges it's 3d4 plus 3 for a first level magic missile and then it's plus 1d4 plus 1 for each level of the spell higher so what level are you casting it at this is with the wand of magic missiles which has seven charges every every charge is an extra level to the spell when you cast it so right okay so first it costs one charge do at first level i guess sixth no seventh level then well you have to spend one to cast it yeah so and then you add six more levels so yes it would be seventh level so three

four five six seven so it's 74 plus seven i guess no that would only be fourth level hang on three second third fourth fifth sixth 8d4 plus three 10, I think. Yeah, 8d4 plus 10. If that's wrong, we'll get it later. 8d4 plus 10, sure. 32 damage. Oh my god. On it.

Yeah. Yeah. Wow. And now I need to roll a d20 to see if my wand of magic missile explodes on a one roll it and then i'll describe what happens nope it's out of charges but it's out charges but it's still intact these bolts hit the creature and you can see the bolt smashing against its form ripping parts of it off tearing tearing at its flesh. Its form is barely held together. But it still manages to...

Yes. It does. Holy shit. That might have actually been worthwhile. With one hit point left. Nova and Lucius, you are both pulled. As you are both pulled.

As you are both grappled, it pulls you into its distended mouth, which envelops you like a void. And you are swallowed. Well, actually, first I need to bite you and then see if I can swallow you. That is a 14 against Lucius. Yeah.

And that is a 12 against Nova. No. Right. So, Lucius, you're going to take some damage first as well, so you might be going in on the conscious, I'm afraid. Three. Right. First level, three.

You need to map this. It's one health away. Yeah. 3D, four. Second level. Third level. You need to map this. It's one health away. Yeah. 3d4. Second level. Third level. Fourth level. Fifth level.

Sixth level. Seventh level. It was one extra d4 plus one. So it loses that one health it has, right? It loses that one hit point. Yep. You're right. Oh, shit!

Yeah! Just as a point. I just want to point this out. Trot, you would have taken another 24 points of damage. Before going... That's the bite, is it? That's the bite, as it bites you and then it swallows you. Right.

Would you have been on zero? I would have been on zero being swallowed, yes. Right, yeah. That would have been very bad. That would have been on zero i would have been on zero being swallowed yes right yeah that would have been very bad that would have been very bad can people stop teasing death at me please before pulling it away last minute i i thought i i guess i must have just got to sit and then gone like if we didn't mess up the mask on that one that that was the reason that was the like if we messed up the mask on that one that would have no no no absolutely like that's that's where playing with chat is helpful because they'll catch it yeah yeah yeah absolutely uh so yeah with that

with the last blast of magic missile you watch as this tentacled form splits apart um into inky motes of darkness which as they all kind of land around you you watch as each individual piece is sucked into a tiny pinhole sized dot of darkness as it's kind of and then it vanishes.

Very much like how you've seen other creatures the priestess of the night eye disappeared when she was finally destroyed. Just kind of sucked back into a void. Can I go apeshit on this tiny gnoll? This gnoll dies. This gnoll dies.

The other two gnolls get away. Between Sentry, Nova and Aayla, you would annihilate that gnoll. I can't be bothered rolling out the rest of that combat. Yeah, sure. Yeah, he's dead. I got one last blast on the wall. Yeah, so

you wouldn't have been able to hit him, I don't think, because he was outside. It doesn't matter. You could have Eldritch Blasted him and it would have fucking... Yeah, that gnoll is obliterated as you turn on him now free of any other threats. The other two are slowly making their way out

as they get away. Yeah, you guys are out of initiative and you can see all the bodies around you and everything else. I'm just lying on the floor. Nova's just lying on the floor like hands in the ground. Covered in tentacle

Hadar disgusting liquid. Yep. covered in tentacle hadar disgusting liquid yep covered in purple purple goo very stressed out where's quill going I accidentally deleted myself Mark that's what happens

quill's dead quill died sorry everyone if you delete yourself you die in real life he deleted himself in the campaign. Yeah, and as Baraz does die, as this kind of last vestiges of its mutated form die,

there is a... There's like a relief of pressure in the air. You get like a sense of... There was something building here that just kind of pops and disappears.

What, like a... Like everything is at peace now. Like a feeling in the air. There was like a weight in the air that you didn't notice until it was absent. It's probably the extra oxygen from all those plants nearby. Could be. Could be. So it's like not hearing white noise after

realising you couldn't hear white noise you could hear it before something like that yeah I think what Sentry would do I think Sentry would go into the

would go and get some glasses of wine for everybody and just start handing them out to people and be like I think you need this guys

searching around it's not hard to find bottles and glasses yeah sure what do you are you looking for anything in particular like any of the Hadar related things like if we

can find anything that these people have left behind or any treasures that we've left behind as well okay yeah and then Nova are you looking for the missing sisters yeah the sisters I'm not going to make you guys roll investigations for this so Ayla for your question Yeah, and then Nova, are you looking for the missing sisters? Nuns. Yeah, the sisters.

Yeah, I'm not going to make you guys roll investigations for this. So, Ayla, for your question, no, you don't find anything Hadar-related here. It just seems like there is the sign of an attack. You see some bloodstains, you see some discarded weapons and armor scraps, probably from some guards. You don't find any remains for any of those guards. Maybe like a half

eaten finger amongst the food that's piled on the table where Baraz was sat. But you don't find any iconography, you don't find anything Hadar related, apart from themselves. You don't see that here. The place itself, there's no treasure

here that you can find the obvious treasure anyway um there are barrels of wine there's a few writing implements desks uh ink notes quills parchments it's all quite mundane and a lot of that stuff has been discarded or thrown away but there are piles of food like any food stuffs that could be found so any anything that you think that the nuns would have used normally is just scattered and there's barely any of it left there are sacks of raw potatoes that have maybe a few crumbs of like potato at the bottom there's bags of flour that have been emptied um just anything consumable has been taken. The wine barrels themselves are nearly all empty.

It's just been absolutely ravaged. Nova, you and anybody else looking for the nuns, it doesn't take you long before, when you check the stable, the wagon house, attached to the side of the building, you find a trap door hidden underneath the wagon itself where the wagon's been ripped apart there is a hidden trap door um and when you try to open it you can tell that something is kind of wedged it shut from underneath um and i wouldn't rip it open try to yeah i mean yeah if

you call out for ailer or any or century it you can just open it freely and as you rip it open you see clutching uh what appears to be like a piece of rope that was used to like hold it shut is a terrified young i'd probably say half elf woman a nun dressed in a nun's habit you can see that her face is streaked with tears and dust and dirt um as she seems to have been hiding in what appears to be like a small stone cellar that has seemingly gone unfound by these creatures. You can see it. And as you rip it open, she is like screaming like, no, please.

And then she kind of realizes. It's okay. It's okay. You're safe. You're safe. You're safe. You're safe. It's fine.

Did you kill them all? Are they still here? The moles, you need to get away. They're done. It's fine. It's fine. It's fine. You're safe. And she just buries her face into your shoulder, Nova, and you just hear sobbing. You just hear, like,

deep, heavy sobs as she just buries herself into you. Given what we've been through, I'm just gonna hold on to her for life and just, like, almost start crying myself as well, given, like, all the horrible things we've just been through yeah um you can see that she's probably a little intoxicated you're not sure how long she's been down there but there's like an open bottle of wine um and it's like a very small little uh

storage cellar there's just a couple of very dusty looking bottles of wine down there um and just filth it's kind of like quite it's's cobwebby and dusty and she's covered in, you know, what, days worth of sort of like hiding in a very small crawlspace would do. Eventually she kind of comes a bit more to her senses. What about the

vineyard, the monastery? Is everyone okay? They sent, I heard them sending more of those horrible things up there. It's fine. That's where we came from. We started there, and they said that you were here, so we came to get you. What about Gwendolyn?

Did you get the ones who took Gwendolyn? Gwendolyn? I genuinely can't remember that name Zenova's doesn't ring a bell who? Gwendolyn she's another sister she was here in the winery with me

when they attacked and they caught her she led them away so that I could hide. And I heard them saying that they were going to take her back to their... to the... the star. They were taking her to sacrifice her to the star. I'm sure she's fine.

I'm sure she's fine. Straight up lying. I'm sure she's fine. She's not in a position to doubt you at this point yeah and you guys she's fine i'm sure she's fine it's okay yeah can we um i'm just looking around dazed covered, covered in ichor at everybody. Can we lie down? I'm already laying down in the middle of the floor.

As spread wide as I can, just like, ahhh! Is this... is it over? I think it's over, Lucius. We did good. You did good. We all did good. I think it's over Lucius we did good you did good we all did good I think we're owed like a lot of wine for this

have a glass lifetime supply of wine I think that's fair like always stock the ship wine the best wine I'm tired I'm gonna have to yeah going to have a nap. Yeah.

So my question is, what do you guys do now? Go on, Century. You could. I'm probably going to share out the last bit of my lay on hands. Points have got 10 left, so I'll probably just give 5 to Ayla and then 5 to Lucius. Don't bother about me.

Give it to the other guys. Don't worry about me. I'm still... I think Quill's looking pretty beat up. I've got 60 hit points. I'll do five to Lucius and five to Quill. Thank you. I'm on 32. I was taking half damage the whole time, so I'm good. That's what I mean.

I'll help Quill up and give him a... I was worried about Sentry, not me. Thank you, Ayla. You've really saved me. I'm glad you came back. I wouldn't be here for sure. That was a bit close there, Sentry. That was very close.

No, no. Don't want that. We did it, though. We all did. Should we go back up Probably Yes See the rest of the nuns

Maybe get some rest Could you just take a hold of Sorry what was the sister's name The one that I'm You don't know You don't know You've not asked her She's asked for about

Sister Gwendolyn But you don't know The sister's name Ayla could you just Take care of this sister Sister What's your name Sister Arabelle My name's Arabelle You don't know the sister's name. Ayla, could you just take care of this sister... Sister... What's your name? Sister Arabelle.

My name's Arabelle. She's kind of rubbing her eyes. She looks pretty dazed. She looks kind of a bit hungry and tired as well. You don't think she's slept? Yeah. Should we start heading back to the monastery? If there's nothing...

I want to leave this place. Yeah. Yeah. What on earth happened out here? It's everywhere. The whole place is covered in foliage. Also, dead gnoll bodies are everywhere.

There's a lot of dead gnolls out here. It was a bit of a... It was a bit touch and go, so Sentry decided that she would make a jungle as a solution. And it was actually a really good solution, so nice work there. That was cool.

Yeah, now we might have to go around the long way. Sorry about that. How? I had to slow them down. Yes, I think you achieved that goal. Very impressive. It helped. It saved us a little bit. Saved us some time.

And some of them have grown back. Wait, are these made out of sentry bits? Just go, Kim. As people go, can. As people, like, go, can I have a quick look around the winery and see if I can find signs of Gwendolyn?

Like, scrap of nun habit? Yeah, no, you do. No, you actually don't. Unlike the guards, you don't find any scraps of clothing, you don't find any body parts that you think could be her. Yeah, no, you don't find any scraps of clothing. You don't find any body parts that you think could be her. Yeah, no, you don't find any trace.

Can I have a good search of everything then? Like any more trap doors and call out her name? I mean, yeah, you do that. I'm not going to make you roll because you don't have any pressure here. There's no chance. If you want to spend an hour, give the other guys a short rest while you investigate. Yeah, maybe.

Could I do stuff like cast detect magic as well and stuff and just see? Yep. Nope. You don't find anything else here. The only thing you do find is that there are tracks that lead out of the front entrance to the gates. Gnoll tracks. Very clearly lots of gnolls, and they

lead off and out from the monastery and towards the mountains and the valleys. And Arabelle kind of is kind of, as you guys are kind of resting and she's just like, are you sure that Gwendolyn will be okay? I heard them saying something

about taking her to be given to the star. Two of them. Two of the ones in the robes. They were going to take her back somewhere to give her to the star. Aayla is going to just walk away and not even attempt to talk

because she'll fuck it up. I think we need to get you back to the monastery. We need to get you back to your abatis. And don't worry about Gwendolyn. She'll be fine. We'll deal with it, right? Okay. All right.

Make a persuasion check. Yeah, sure. Oh, plus five. What did that roll? That rolled a 23. She seems utterly calmed by this, and she's like, yes, you've done so much, I'm sure you'll look after her, I'm sure you can save her as well.

And then she just kind of clings to Nova. And she's quite a quite a homely young woman. She looks like maybe, like, probably once like a farmer or villager um nobody fancy or anything like that but she has quite bright eyes a little bob haircut um her habits all like ruined she doesn't have her wimple on anymore she just has her like hair loose like in a little kind of above the ears bob or like just below the ears bob um little pointed ears messenger ring i'd like to messenger ring saying so there's still someone out there and we are exhausted

yet time is of the essence they could be dead already could have been swallowed like we almost were. Did you find any trace in the vineyard? Or in this place? Messengering. I found tracks. I found tracks, gnoll tracks out the front gates leading towards the mountains. And yeah, Arabelle mentioned that gnolls were taking her to the Red Star.

So I think she's... So it's not over. There's more. There's more Hadar presence here. This doesn't end with that monstrosity that we just faced. How worse does it get? Do I know how far the mountains are and where we are? You could get there.

Yeah, you could look at it like, cause, you know, you're a navigator, this is what you do. You can probably reach them in a couple of hours. Like, this thing is at the top of a hill and it slopes into a valley. So you probably reach them in a couple of hours. This thing is at the top of a hill and it slopes into a valley, so you can get there in a couple of hours and then it depends on if you can find where these guys came from, but judging by

the fact that the tracks that Nova found, Nova's not a particularly skilled hunter, and the fact that she saw tracks means that these guys had no efforts to try and hide where they came from or where they were going. I'm just gonna throw out there that none of us are in a position

to deal with that right now, because then we're all just gonna die. And that's not constructive for anyone. You can take a long rest. Take eight hours. I'm gonna say we need some sleep. Yeah. Should we head back to the...

Yeah. Abbott? back to the... Yeah. Abbott? Yeah, the monastery and the abbottess. Yeah, you guys can make your way there. This can all count as a short rest if you guys want as well. There's no reason that you can't take a short rest now. Or you can just have a long rest when you get there. You're not under threat or doing anything strenuous.

So in fact, I would say if you guys want to take a long rest, if the agreement is to take a long rest, you can all take a long rest now. And then we'll just have eight hours of downtime, resting, eating, healing, patching up wounds, that sort of thing. Century, you still need to have a medicine check on your injury as well, so

don't forget that. Are we doing it? Okay. Yep. Yeah, there's no way we can just short rest through this nip one it's not going to be a comfortable eight hours before we go

could someone take a look at at my arm quickly what's wrong I will bye I got

I got hit pretty badly in that fight earlier and it just won't stop bleeding oh can you help seven I got hit pretty badly in that fight earlier and it just won't stop bleeding. Oh. Can you help, Quill? Seven. Seven's not going to be enough. This is going to require...

This actually requires proper stitching and cleaning the wound and everything else. Even though Sentry's a guardian, this still needs to be taken care of properly. You're not sure if... I was going to ask... What's stopping me from just trying it again and again and again

there is technique in the raw rules nothing I'm going to say that once you have tried it you can't try again now for another day like you've done the best you can like with this potential thing somebody else can give it a go but you've done the best you can do you can't repeat this skill this skill check

this is just a you try it you've done the best you can do. You can't repeat this skill check. This is just a, you try it once, and if you fail, you failed. Can I try it? Yeah, anybody can try a medicine check, yeah, for sure. Like, you guys can all kind of work together. You can take a, if somebody wants to assist somebody else, you can give somebody advantage. 15. Oh, great.

That was with advantage, so. Let's assume that somebody aids you, and you just take That was with advantage, so... Let's assume that somebody aids you and you just take the one with advantage, eh? Because the 15 is what you need. There you go. Yeah, there you go. Yeah, the 15 is enough. Like, Aayla kind of takes Sentry down

and you use, like, parts of... It is binding the wound, but with Sentry it's also kind of maybe using, like, paste to paste to like kind of wedge metal over it and then bandage it and seal it properly and things like that just to stop this this life essence from coming out of it basically um and that that's enough that you properly patch it up so you no longer have that injury century um you guys thank you so much make your way back up to the monastery taking sister arabelle with you,

where you are met by the Abates and the others, who have now managed to kind of get everything back into a semblance of order, in a way. They've managed to clean up what they can. They've rebarricaded. Several of them have now taken the bows off of the gnolls you had slain, and they've now got quivers of arrows and things like that, and they're just trying to keep a defensive

perimeter. When you arrive with Arabelle, the Abates comes rushing out, wraps her arms around her, kisses her on both cheeks, and it's just like adventurers, I cannot even begin to thank you for helping find Arabelle. I take it you destroyed whatever creature was

there. What about Sister Gwwendoline? Did you find her? We found tracks. Which means there's more. How can there be more of them? There's more of gnolls than I've ever seen in this area. There cannot be much more of them. We do have some good news. Your orchard is flourishing. Thanks to Century.

I see. I'll be quite honest with you, Arakokra. I am just relieved that you have slain that hideous beast that had taken over the winery and found my beloved girls. I cannot begin to thank you all enough for what you have done. If there's any way that we can help you, and I will see you handsomely rewarded for this. We have some monetary funds that we use. I wish to make sure that you are compensated for your injuries and the danger that you have placed yourselves in. Come, rest, take a moment.

You are no doubt exhausted, but you will try and rescue Gwendolyn as well, yes? You will go after them? Of course. Thank you. I know it is much to ask i know but if i could go after her myself i would but the fact that you have destroyed this monster it proves that you are far more capable than i thank you um i will let you rest for a moment uh but i will i will gather some things for you um yeah you just take you in so we need it rest rest sisters bring them food bring them

bandages whatever they require and the sisters are like of course abatis of course and they begin rushing around they bring you food they find beds and they they bring you pillows water fresh clean crisp water they help dress and bandage your wounds. Yes, Lucius. Is there a airship dock nearby, or somewhere where we can land one in the vicinity? It would be difficult. There is nothing like a dock or anything like that. The nearest one is Porto Sovrano. This area is mainly valleys and hills. The nearest open space is several miles to the south, I'm afraid.

Right. Okay. Thank you. I suppose that they could wait off the cliff edge, but that would be somewhat precarious. There's no... It would not be easy, I'm sure, for your ship captain to fly. That's right. We'll land it

on the orchard. Uh... Um... to fly. That's right, we'll land it on the orchard. Uh, um, yeah, you guys take a long rest, um, during which the Abates returns to you with a, uh, a small gilded chest. Um,

it is probably about the size of a jewellery box, um, and in, uh, the chest, which is probably worth about 100 gold. Oh! Do you think he was just going to give you that? No. Of course I'm not. You have to get it made, Thomas!

But, she brings you back this chest, as well as what appears to be a faint blue crystal inside a cloth. She offers you the chest and says, on behalf of the Vintares Solorense, please

take this as thank you for what you've done. Inside the chest is 300 platinum pieces, which is 3,000 gold. We have money again! We are very blessed to be wealthy. 3,000 gold. We have money again!

We are very blessed to be wealthy. 3,000 gold or 300 platinum pieces. They got the good wine. We are very profitable and very... We are very prosperous, thanks to our patrons, but we have very little use for the money ourselves beyond charity. I can think of no better cause than a reward for those who have saved the vineyard.

And also, a personal gift from myself. This was a relic given to me back in my younger, more rebellious days. It is a gift of Sayana herself. It is called a crystal cord,

and it will make one of you more agile and dexterous. Wow. How does that work? Well, once you attune your mind and body to it, it will transform itself into a mote of music that will surround you. It will always itself into a mote of music that will surround you. It will always be with you. And while it is there, it adds fluidity and grace and agility to your body and your movements.

It is called the Crystal Chord of Alacrity. You shouldn't part with something so personal. No, I must. You have done more, and I personal. No, I must. This is... Okay, thank you. And I have no more need for it. I give it to you, and you choose who you think that it would benefit the most.

Right. We will. Thank you. I need to say... Who wants to take it? Who wouldn't? I genuinely... I don't know enough.

Well, it will basically... Whoever attunes to it gets plus two to don't know enough. Well, it will basically, whoever attunes to it gets plus two to their dexterity. So, it's pretty useful to everybody, but certain characters might get the most from it. Let's throw it in the air and whoever doesn't get to it in time and it smashes on the floor, they get it. Because they're the least dexterous.

Sounds great. Wait, so whoever doesn't get to it? Who's the most effective Wait, so whoever doesn't have... Yeah, who's got... What's that? Who's the most effective with it? It would up my damage. It wouldn't up your damage

because you use strength for your hammer. It would increase your bow damage and it would increase AC by one. Anybody who attunes it, apart from Century who's wearing heavy armor. And I think Quill and Nova, I don't know what your dexes are, but I think you're maxed out on what you can get

Kim your armor is maxed out you can't get any more AC from your increase in dex Quill what's your dex plus 2 so you're the same because your breastplate isn't ethereum so you're maxed out on dex armor as well so

would it help Lucius's? It would boost Lucius's AC by one, yes. I don't need AC. I'm a sorcerer. See? You can tell in that fight I had loads of armor. Of Agathys. It's either Aayla or Lucius.

It would max out my dex. Can we roleplay like a half an hour of me and Sentry either Aayla or Lucius. It would max out my decks. Yes. Can we roleplay like a half an hour of me and Sentry just going, no, you have it. No, honestly, I don't. I don't need it.

You can have it. It's fine. Maybe we can split these. Right, well. It's you. Sentry can't up her AC. Let's flip a's bigger you. Sentry can't up her AC. Let's flip a platinum for it. If you want to roll a

D6 and... If you want to roll a D6 to simulate a coin flip, you can do that. No, I will roll for it as Lucius would. 1-3 Aayla, 5-6 Lucius. Or 4-5, as Lucius would. Would it? 1 to 3, Aayla. I'm looking at your 12 AC. 5 to 6, Lucius.

Or 4, 5, 6, Lucius. Do it. I mean, 1 AC is not a huge difference to be fair. True. No. Am I rolling? But it's more like if Lucius ever, I don't know, multi-classed into rogue or something like that,

then it would boost that. 4. There you go. Would it be something that if I could put it into the hammer as a relic? No, it would not help the hammer. It will boost dexterity.

It is not going to boost the hammer. Because we put magical things into it. You've put things that make sense into it before. No, because it's not a weapon. Congratulations. Who won the coin flip? Lucius did.

Wow. Congratulations, Lucius. Well, I will not be able to continue this debate. You guys can talk about this offline. Yeah. Sure. Yeah. I'd like it.

I want it. I don't want it. I mean, I want it, but Lucius... You know what, Abotest? You can keep it. We'll talk about it offline. Let's just sell it for like 5 GP.

Yeah, do I know how much it would be worth? Man, you know how much money we have if I sold the sequester scroll? Oh! And there we are. Anyway. All right, is there anything else? What do you guys want to do?

You complete your long rest? We're long resting. Do you now have money? I'm assuming Nova has written down the money. I have written down the money, yes. Yeah, I knew you would. I've also written down that the chest is 100 gold just in case we want to sell the chest

important fact that's why I gave it to you that's why I said it was worth something not nothing when Tom asked me yeah one day anything else yeah so I think

the plan is to head into the mountains and finish the fight like master chief but slower because otherwise they're just going to come back right

do we have do we have anybody after us by the way no I checked no in that case I want to just do I want to

I just want to get to this next bit because then I've got a good cliffhanger okay so you guys after resting recovering you make your way back down the mountain back down the hill towards the winery and you begin

following the tracks between ayla's survival skills and quill's perception it does not take much effort to locate this track and it quickly realized it's two creatures two gnolls carrying another being that you are following the tracks of you can see that going the other way towards where you just came from there was a lot more gnolls a big pack in about the same sizes of all the gnolls you've just defeated but going back quite fresh quite recently maybe within a day or so just two gnolls carrying something heavy you make your way through the mountains and the valleys and it becomes this kind of rocky um quite

fertile landscape but the valley is quite steep and it has these very natural caverns woven amongst it, hidden behind little copses of trees and forests and streams and things like that. And eventually, you find your way into a small crevice, like a narrow crack in the wall. The tracks lead down single file into a cave system. file into a cave system this cave must have recently collapsed because one part of it has the wall has collapsed revealing a chamber that had previously been hidden the stones have been cleared and pulled away to the side revealing the space inside to be be a chapel of sorts the walls of this chapel look ancient at least four perhaps four three hundred years old the walls have been painted with a dark red you assume, but imagine it is something far worse. The murals depict creatures of a humanoid shape amid a red circle. Around it, the creatures that appear to be worshipping in this figure have black holes in places of their heads or in their chest or in their arms some of them

have distended mouths that turn into great wicked smiles in profile the shrine looks ancient and a single black stone altar occupies the far end of the room where you can see laying on top of it her hands bound and clearly unconscious is a young woman in a nun's habit beside her are two gnolls wearing the tattered robes with the red dot on them like you saw before but all three are held by forks of red energy that encapsulates all three of them and is feeding directly into a tear within space itself. A thin crack, like a hairline fracture through the very existence of the universe where these red tendrils of light have begun escaping and are slowly drawing the life

of the three creatures in the shrine itself. And that is where we will end today's episode. No! In fact, actually, no. I just realised you guys

took a long rest. I'm going to redact some of that because you guys took a long rest. I'm going to redact some of that because you guys took a long rest. I forgot that you didn't go there straight away. You can see clothing that would have once been a nun's habit and the robes of two gnolls.

But there is no longer a body amongst them. And instead, the crack is no longer... it's not a hairline fracture but perhaps an inch or two inches wide and from this crack within reality you can see shifting black and crimson space undulating behind it and in the very far far far distance a tiny black speck and as you look

at it and realise what is around you hear hello now who are you and that is where we'll end today's episode Hello, hello. Now who now? Are you? And that is where we'll end today's episode. No! No!

One more hour! For sake! If you guys want to go for another hour, I'll go for another hour. I don't think you really want to do that. Save it for next week