High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois | #7 - Guardian Secrets (Part 1)

Episode Date: August 20, 2018

In the dark, dark chasm we find a dark, dark house with some dark, dark loot! Huge thanks to our sponsors D&D Beyond and Brilliant. D&D Beyond is the official digital toolset for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. Use the code HIGHROLLING on D&D Beyond (http://bit.ly/dndbeyondhighrollers) to get 25% off all digital items (excluding the Legendary Bundle)! Brilliant.org helps you master concepts through fun, guided problem solving. D&D has a rich history of puzzles and problems, so boost your brain power with Brilliant! The first 200 users to follow our link (http://bit.ly/highrollersarebrilliant) will get 20% off an annual subscription! Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pickaxe. why Bumble is changing how you start conversations. You can now make the first move or not. With opening moves, you simply choose a question to be automatically sent to your matches. Then sit back and let your matches start the chat. Download Bumble and try it for yourself. As you rise to a new day, rise to something more. Good financial game. Introducing the new BMO Eclipse Rise Visa Card. The credit card that rewards your good financial habits and helps you rise from bill payer to reward slayer. Rise to it with the BMO Eclipse Rise Visa Card

and get rewarded for paying your credit card bill in full and on time each month. Terms and conditions apply. Click the banner or visit bmo.com slash rise to learn more. Hello, everybody. Welcome back to High Rollers, a Dungeons and Dragons podcast in the world of Aroas, run by Dungeon Master Mark Sherlock-Humes with me, Tom, playing Keelakad Kalah, the bard slash cleric. Hi, I'm Rhiannon. I'm playing Sentry. I am a guardian paladin. I am Chris Trott. I'm playing Lucius Ewan, Elowin Elinastro and I am a high elf sorcerer. And I'm Kim.

I'm playing Nova who is an air ganassi and she is a hexblade warlock. Katie was unable to make it to today's session so that means that Ayla is being played by Mark for the duration of this episode. Once again, a big thank you to our sponsors D&D Beyond and Brilliant.org. Stick around for the end to hear more about those. Let's jump in as we continue to explore

the dangers of Dwalenden. Welcome to High Rollers, we're back. A recap then, for last week's episode. This is episode... Seven. Seven, so last week was episode six. You travelled... What? It was good maths.

Good maths, yeah. You've been using brilliant... Making a face, podcast listeners. Last time, you arrived at the town of rose hall a small country village in southern suvona uh continent that you have crash landed on you made some friends with the locals you checked out the town and you became aware of several opportunities to earn some coin uh in order to resupply yourselves but also to pay for your friend Arvel's injuries that he sustained during the airship crash.

Investigating around town, you eventually decided to head back to a chasm called a large chasm in the ground about a day's travel south of Rose Hall, which you knew contained the ruins of an old dwarven village or town or city called Dwalenden. This was a town from something called the Founding Age, a period of time long, long ago before Erois was split up by the fury of the gods themselves

and the war with Calus Starbane. You traveled to there, supplying yourselves along the way, and descending into the chasm, there were a couple of things that went wrong. Quill ended up falling considerable height into the chasm, sustaining quite grievous injuries. You also fought off a pack of ravenous

humanoid creatures that seemed to spring up when they heard noise within the chasm itself and descended upon you. Healing up your injuries, you now find yourself at the bottom of the chasm, your rope having dislodged itself from the top of the chasm itself and coiling down at the bottom.

That wasn't my fault. It belongs with you. The chasm itself is about 250 feet deep, so you look up against this incredibly dangerous rocky looking terrain into the daylight beginning Peering down below you much of the daylight doesn't quite reach down the angle of the chasm is quite narrow So the the sunlight kind of stops about halfway and then you're really just using residual light down at the bottom Lucius has four colored globes around him providing brighter light down at the bottom of the pit itself

Before you, you see a long thin chasm And you can see that the walls have crushed buildings over centuries Buildings have collapsed, fallen in on themselves and left in ruins You can see remnants of a strange time period that you're not really familiar with. Metal poles that contain crystalline lights. You can see flagstone that seems unnaturally smooth and worn down that runs throughout the center of the chasm itself. The buildings have strange metal supports and struts holding up balconies and other parts.

You can see in the kind of vague area that you've kind of climbed down in that there's not much left to explore. Most of the town has been consumed by the earth and the mountains and the rock around you. But there are about three buildings, the first of which you can see appears to have some sort of like short chimney and a sign kind of like embedded above the door. And then it continues on down into the chasm itself. Apart from that, you can't make out too much more detail

as it stands. And that's where we begin today. So Ayla is kind of like looming at the back, So, Ayla is kind of looming at the back, looking interested, but also being a bit distant, shall we say. Yeah. Very passive. Very passive, yeah. The rest of you can see what you see before you. What would you like to do? I'm guessing it's pitch black down there.

It's not pitch black, but it is very dim. Those of you without dark vision are really having to struggle. It's only really Lucius's lights and the lantern that you brought with you that can give you any real clear visibility. Okay. Can we see the sign on the building ahead of us? From where you are, probably not. Can I see that there is a sign? You can see that there's a vague shape,

almost like it sticks out of the wall. I'm going to send one of my... You can see the vague shapes of windows, a door frame. The roof is partially collapsed. It looks like a big stone column has collapsed on one side of it. But the details you can't make out. Lucius is going to send one of his dancing lights towards the sign. Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob.

Yeah. It illuminates it, but it's just quite a distance. I suppose Quill, with your such a high passive perception, you can see some vague script. Do you speak Dwarvish? Oh, do I? I do. I can read it.

I do not. You do not? You can't see it from this distance. It's only Quill's super good vision that allows him to actually see there is script there. You can see sc it from this distance. It's only Quill's super good vision that allows him to actually see there is a script there. You can see scrawlings like a runic alphabet. You can't read this.

Do you want to send your little fluttery little ball? Yeah. So you're going to summon Echo. Apparates out of your matrix. This kind of bramble twist of metal and wood, almost like a bird's nest in a sphere shape

with a large purple gem, and begins floating over towards the building. Are you going to focus through his vision and cut off your own senses? Okay. So as Echo gets closer, you begin to notice a few things. Echo does have a form of dark vision

he can kind of see in black and white. And as you get closer, you see a couple of things vision he can kind of see in black and white uh and as you get closer you see a couple of things just outside uh this building some of the walls have collapsed and caved down and you can see that there is a body um you haven't seen any humanoid bodies so far the only ones you'd seen were these creatures that attacked you but seeing this shape and form you immediately recognize it. You see the metal plates, the wooden skeleton beneath them, and the single lifeless black eye of a guardian, partially collapsed and buried under stone. It's kind of one of its arms and half of its body

sticking out of this very heavy, dense-looking rubble. You can see that the metal has rusted in many parts. The wood has become rotten. Some of it looks like it's basically collapsed inwards. Kind of almost, yeah, the body's rotten away. And you can see it just collapsed outside the front of this building that you can see. Do you speak Dwarvish? I do. Okay, so you can tell.

And in fact, more importantly, you would recognise this as being quite ancient Dwarvish? I do. Okay, so you can tell, and in fact, more importantly, you would recognise this as being quite ancient Dwarvish. This is not like a modern Dwarvish language. This is the Dwarvish you knew when you were growing, or when you were made. And it's Dwarven script that reads Gadwin Steel. Okay. And

as Echo gets closer, you begin to recognise the kind of, the shape, the kind of symbols on the sign. This was probably some sort of blacksmith at some point. Okay. That's what you see. Cool. Well, that's happening. Yeah, this is all in Sentry's mind. Unless you want to say that you're speaking

out loud and describing what you see, nobody else knows what you've seen so far. Okay, cool. It's awfully dank in here, would you say? It's not very well lit either. Yeah, funny that. It's a chasm. Yeah.

Ayla kind of calls out from back. I mean, it might get... What time is it? You left quite early. You arrived... It took you a whole day. You left fairly, like,

late afternoon. Late morning, sorry. So it's probably about midday. Oh. Well. I suppose this is as bright as it's ever going to get. It's only going to get darker from here. Yes, it will only get darker as the sun begins to set.

And we have a solution to that. I'm going to light my lantern. Okay. Yeah, so you've got like, what, 60 foot, I think, of like a cone of light, which is enough to begin to illuminate the front of the building that you can see. The coloured orbs don't really light it up in a way that makes it easy to see it. The lights cast these long dark shadows. With the lantern in this kind of full spectrum beam you can now see the front of this

stone and metal building quite squat. The doorway only looks to perhaps be like at most five feet tall. Anybody over that is probably going to have to crouch or bend down. The front itself has got slots for windows, but there's no glass. And you now also see this kind of collapsed body in the front of like underneath all this rubble, this collapsed guardian, this ancient looking creature. Fascinating. A guardian. A what? Look, Sentry, it's a guardian in what look sentry it's a guardian it's amazing I'm like what let's go see it well hang on is it awake still you just just hovers at the front door and yeah you know begins walking over towards it I'm

just gonna go towards them you, let's find out! Oh good. Wait, wait. Okay, so you're following Nova? No. I'm just gonna get excitedly kind of like. So Nova just moves over to it, Ayla will follow. No, Nova!

So do you wanna move Ayla for me? Or Ayla starts following. We recently just got attacked. Anybody else? Very recently. So move Sentry up. All right, so Quill and Lucius are staying behind, Sentry, Ayla begin following Nova. Nova, as you get closer to the body you can see it has a uh the head

itself is different to centuries this one has no human face this is almost like a pure metal with just a line for a kind of almost separating its plates um instead of a pair of eyes it has a singular black or gemstone now blackened, which just rests in the center of its face. It almost looks like the face is made of two halves with a line that runs down the center. Its muscles also look different to Sentry. Sentry clearly has like armored plates, an athletic, tall, furnished build. This one is squat. It almost looks like it'd be about dwarf's height

um its arms look quite muscular but its body looks quite weak it doesn't have as much armored plating it's almost mainly wood with just metal kind of keeping the joints and skeleton together century is much more armored like a built for war kind of machine and this seems to be maybe a laborer you I would say with your intelligence you would kind of deduce that this is some sort of labourer. Anything further you'd need to make an investigation check. Birdie dearest.

I'm awfully injured. I know you fell off a big rock but I took a lot of biteys and stuff. I am probably as injured as you are. If you touch us at the same time, can you heal us both? I don't know. I actually genuinely don't know. I've never tried it. I could do. Just do this, and on the thumb, you put your face against the pinky.

And then we'll see what happens. I'll put one half of my wing here, across my chest, and you next to me. And with that, I will do a cure wounds Does that Are you attempting to heal both of you at the same time? Yeah one two three four five six Roll the d8 plus wisdom modifier. Okay, you can ask this at first level or higher first level. Yeah, okay that is a

whole What was it again cure wounds eight hell? First level, yeah. Okay. That is a whole... What was it again? Cure Wounds? Eight health. Lucius, you gain eight health. I feel it! Oh, it's working! Oh, excellent! You don't feel any channeled energy into you. Thank you!

You almost have this moment where, as you're trying to focus on both of you, you're aware that Lucius is next to you, and there just seems to be some part of the spell where you couldn't heal both of you, you're aware that Lucius is next to you and there just seems to be some part of the spell where you couldn't heal both of you. You had to choose one or the other. You're so talented, Birdie. I didn't know that could work, that's amazing. Yeah, it worked. It worked really well. So, while you're having this conversation at the back, Aayla and Sentry, you both make your way over to Nova and you can see the front of this building um you see

this fallen creature in front of you um i'm just excitedly like happily chatting like sentry look at this he's so different to you is it he i don't even know but look he has one eye it has one eye and and wood all wood you are armored he's not i think he must be a laborer of some kind a dwarven labor isn't that fascinating? We find him in a dwarven village, and they made it in their own image. So wherever you may be from, maybe they are humanoids just like you. And just on and on and on. No breath. It's like, yeah. Sentry just nods away.

Ayla rolls her eyes a little bit. And you see Ayla move over more towards the doorway that you can see of this building. The doorway itself is sealed shut, it seems, by what appears to be a door made of wood, but heavily inlaid with metal strips. You can see these long metal-iron-ish strips that run down the door.

And it's closed. It's closed, and Aayla yanks on it a little bit, and it doesn't... It's like, I think the door's stuck or locked or something. The windows are very narrow, like arrow-slit windows. Probably wide enough for an arm. Or a humanoid creature. Echo could probably squeeze through, yeah. Nice.

Send Echo through the window? I mean, how much noise is everyone making? You are having a very loud conversation with Lucius. Aayla is doing this. With this door. Nova is blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And it gets that echoing around quite a lot. Yes, and it echoes and echoes and echoes and echoes down this long thin chasm

So the renewed vigor, uh, yeah, I want over to see what's what the kerfuffle is you first Thank you Gonna skip Okay So we walk up to the door. Yeah of the building I'm going to shamble behind him. Skip toilet. Okay. So we walk up to the door of the building. Let me just write a little note. Echo! Echo!

Not that, no, I'm not. Quill smells. No, I don't! That was in the fly. Something down there just replied. Yes it does! You will all die here! It doesn't sound that threatening.

Yes! So peaceful. This dank, non-lit cave. It doesn't sound that threatening. Very peaceful. This dank, non-lit cave. Oh. On the back of a sponsor's car. Yeah, read that. So, Sentry, as you're focusing through Echo's eyes, you send Echo through.

The room beyond is dark. You can see that half of it has partially collapsed. The other half appears to be some sort of workshop. You can see long stone and metal benches. You can see half of a forge now gone ice cold. You can see that there are still

fuels and things inside it. You can see anvils, racks on the walls. Wooden ones have rotten away. There are still some remnants of stone and metal kind of hinges or hooks and things like that. The three things of notice. Give me just a quick

perception check using Echo's perception. If you've got Echo stats. Cool. Perception. Plus three. Cool. His perception. Yes. Plus three. Yep.

And you have advantage with him because he has keen sight, I believe. Good. Nine. Roll again. You get the higher one. Nice. 16. 16.

So using Echo's vision, you can see he kind of scans the room. And there are a couple of things you notice. The first is that there are, out of everything remaining, you don't really see anything of value until you see two what appear to be metal containers or chests. They look like wooden crates but made almost entirely of this dull gray half-rusted metal that are kind of stacked on top of each other and tucked underneath a workbench. The other thing you see is kind of lying on its side on top of like a shelf up in the far corner looking towards the door is you see a metal sphere like a perfectly round metal ball with a tiny blue gemstone at its center. And it's just on its, it's like rolled half onto like,

you can't really tell it's on its side, but you kind of get the, by the indentations of the gemstone and the markings on the ball, it's kind of on its like a slight angle and it's facing towards the door itself, looking at the door. Cool.

I'll send Sentry back and I'll tell the guys. Echo. Entry. Entry. Entry. I'll send Entry through. The two forms combined. Yeah, so...

So you bring him back. Yeah, I'll bring him back and I'll say to the guys, By the looks of the sign on the door and the worker inside, I believe this is an ancient Dwarvish workshop. There's a couple of metal chests inside. They might have some valuable items in, like maybe some ores or something that we could maybe... So there's treasure inside is what you're saying. There could be treasure inside, yeah.

Oh, well, maybe I'll be able to see a lot of things. Nova, shall I take the torch? Ayla grabs the door, and after hearing that there is treasure inside, it's like, cool, puts one foot... And it just rips the door free of the rust or something that was holding it. Not really checking into what was holding it,

but just kind of rips it free and the door swings open. That is probably vintage, I imagine. Nova, the torch. You'll probably need both hands to use your sword, right? But then maybe if it's like here, then what is it? Will we find other ones and then... I think she's in her own mind. Could I take the torch? I could activate this if I could... Could I have the torch? Nova, could I have the torch?

I'm going to walk over to her and see if I can just take the lantern without noticing just gently like if there's some way i could just like thank you thank you and when you give it to me i would really quickly turn around and throw it into the back corner of the room okay of the cabin okay so you watch as quill snatches this lantern this oil turns around, throws it into around this area. Away from us. Away from you, behind this large stone column that's kind of like, you know, burning the thing. The lantern

smashes against the stone, the oil spills out and quickly catches on fire. Oh, I didn't think it would do that. Can I? There's nothing there. What on earth was that? That was my lantern! I'm sorry, I heard something that was in there. There was definitely's nothing there. What on earth was that? That was my lantern! I'm sorry, I heard something that was in there. There was definitely something in there. Something? In where? I mean lanterns are expensive!

I heard something crawling around behind us. I thought I'd be able to catch it. And you thought that was the most proactive? I don't control light orbs. You couldn't hear it. Just tell me! Yeah, that lantern is basically wrecked. Like the the glass has been smashed, it's dented. Okay, I'll- It could be repaired. Like, somebody like amending stuff- I've deleted it already. Oh, okay. It's gone.

Alright, firstly, I didn't think it was going to explode. You threw an oil- It didn't explode, it kind of hit the ground and the oil spilled out and then the oil spills on fire. What are you thinking? Movie-style, like, bshhh. Just quiet for a second, hang on. oil spills out and then the oil spills on fire. What are you thinking? Movie style like... Just quiet for a second. Hang on. And then I want to listen again. Reception check. Okay.

Twelve. That noise you heard is gone. There was definitely something here. Did you even hear a noise? You're not quite sure. You thought you did. There was definitely something here. Did you even hear a noise? You're not quite sure. You thought you did.

You thought you could hear something in the dark, but you're not 100%. Could no one else hear it? No. I don't know what you're talking about. Nova's already gone back to the Guardian. She's got a tape measure from somewhere, like some kind of measuring tool, and is just measuring bits of it and sketching it in her diary. I know what this is.

I know what this is. Birdie's meant to be in the sky you're too far underneath maybe no bird mad no that's bird mad is not a thing is it not no it's not i definitely heard metal yes i had metal too when you threw that no before then way before then before ayla even ripped the door up into pieces why didn't you you say anything? Because I didn't want to... You threw a lantern. It's a reaction. I catch it by surprise. Talking is a very good alternative.

I thought I was just going to turn around and say, hello, is anything there? Wait. Did anything reply to that? No. Oh, I thought that would work too. When you say the hello, you just hear the hello, hello. The echo fading down the chasm.

How about there's no sound down here except your own voices, your own breathing. For safety, there's no animals. We go in that quaint little workshop and then we close the door. Okay, what was in there again? I was too busy listening to the very obvious noise. Metal chests and I believe it was like a metal sphere. Ooh. With a gem inside.

Does anyone recognise it? I haven't been in it. Can I roll an arcana check? Um, just make an intelligence check. Straight intelligence. Straight up intelligence. D20 plus intelligence modifier. Well, 13, 14. 14.

I mean, from the description, the closest thing you can think of is it sounds like Echo. It sounds like Sentry's Echo, like a sphere with a gemstone in the center of it. You can't think of any magical devices that operate like that. The only one you've seen is, yeah, like Echo. Although Echo has got this kind of twisted metal. It's still a sphere with a crystal in its middle. What does it look like? Does it look like Echo?

It could be another Echo. Why don't we just go in and find out? Because, and I'm just holding up the arm of the guardian. So as you pick it up, like the wood that was connected to its shoulder joint just crumbles, like rots away. And it just crumbles and you're now holding this kind of like amputated arm. It's lifeless, it's rusted. You can tell that the wood is almost like soaked in with moisture and it smells like damp.

As I'm holding up this arm, I just kind of look at Sentry and I'm like, I'm so sorry. It's okay. I didn't mean for this to happen it's okay he was already very long gone I I feel really awkward you can you can put you can put it put the arms okay you can put it back I just slowly put the arm back down and just like pat it like sorry I hope no one's doing that with my arm. I'm just going to... Lucius is going to walk into the workshop to check out these chests. Okay.

So you step inside the workshop. Dancing lights are coming. Dancing lights come in and fill the room with multicoloured cued light. You see all around, you see the same thing Sentry says. You see this old forge, which is clearly clearly run cold you see a few work benches it's all squat lucius is probably having to really crouch like kind of crane your neck or like scoot hunch down you see the two metal chests underneath the the workshop table they look intact they you looking at them they look airtight they look like whatever's inside has probably survived but they look sealed and you can see that there are locks on the sides

like an opening you also see this sphere give me a perception check okay 15 you swear for a second the little gem in the ball glows and it rolls a little bit but then it you blink and you're like did you see that you're not sure everybody they're coming quickly come on is it urgent yes, unless you want to pick up any more arms. Ayla sighs and, like, steps in, like, hunts us down. Come on. I'll walk in backwards. I'm still, like, watching the back wall of the cavern where the fire, I guess, is still going.

Look at it. Look at that. So just to check, you're staying outside. No, I was walking into the building, but backwards. While looking at everything. Nova, you're staying with the body. I probably briefly try and calculate whether or not it was tactful to remove the head to see if I could get the gemstone. Sounds like you're staying outside for a second longer anyway.

Yeah, a second longer. Sentry? I'll just march straight in. Okay. So Sentry Aayla will enter. He's like, pfft. Yeah. Sentry sized hole in the door. Sentry Aayla will enter. He doesn't even die. He's like, poof! Um, yeah. You still step inside. There's a sentry-sized hole in the door.

Yeah, there's a sentry head. Oh yeah! Kool-Aid man. Birdie. Yeah? Look at the sphere. Okay. Look at it. You see that you're looking? I'm looking, right? Look at the middle. You see the tiny little glow? It moved, I swear swear I swear it moved

Look with your little birdy eyes. I can see unless you've gone bird mad in which case and there's no such thing I can see I can see the orb Does it is it moving? No, no, no, it's it's an orb Yes, I could be alive. It could be like echo Sentry this could be alive. It could be like Echo Sentry. It could be the dead one's Echo. Could be. It looks exactly the same. But does an Echo live longer than...

Well, hang on, if the Echo is still alive, then doesn't that mean that the one out there is still alive? If that is that one thing? Nova would love that. Nova! Uh, Mark. Yes. Is there a check. Nova! Mark. Yes. Is there a check that Nova can make

to see if she can bring the Guardian to life or activate it or something? You can make an Arcana check for me. Fourteen. Fourteen.

From what you've read on the Guardians, there is no known way to return them to life. Once their matrix of will which is the kind of core that brings them sentience, degrades they either

go completely, they shut down they turn into statues effectively or they turn feral they become monsters that people tell scary stories about, you know, if you go plundering around in old ruins you'll stumble upon a guardian that's going to kill you all and stuff like that.

Generally, there is no known way in all of Eros that the knowledge of how to build guardians and how to replenish their cores is lost. It's gone. I've got a needle. Can I just shove it into the reset switch? Is there anything...

Podcast listeners, mark is giving tom a very cold dead stare um no no there is no reset switch there is no uh people have tried you know you've probably heard of experiments to try and jump start them like you know uh apply magical energy try and you know mess around with their guardian cores. Generally those things have always gone badly, so you've heard. Attempts to try and fiddle around with the matrix of will does not end

well. Is there anything salvageable from this thing? Bits of rusted metal. Maybe the gem eye, maybe, could be worth something. You'd have to probably pry it out. It would probably,, you'd have to pull it out. Okay. You'd need a crowbar or a pry bar or something like that to do it.

To be honest. A bit squeamish for Nova. Yeah. Because it's like prying someone's eyeball out, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah, and she sees these things as living, so yeah. Yeah, in that case it's just a dead body. I'm assuming you put the arm down.

I'm assuming you put the arm down or are you keeping the rotten, smelly arm? Oh, no, I put it down and I pat it. Okay, okay. Yeah. Sentry, what happens if one were to touch someone else's echo? Would anything bad happen? You don't know.

Nobody's ever touched your echo before. I wouldn't know. Is it a bit disrespectful? Is it like touching one's naughty bits? I shouldn't imagine so. I'm going to touch it. I'm going to touch it. I'm going to do it.

Okay, I'll touch this one first. Try it with this one to see what happens. Touching echo. Give me a charisma saving throw. Oh, fuck. Wow, what? I'm going this one first. Try it with this one to see what happens. Touch the echo. Give me a charisma saving throw. Oh, fuck. Wow, what? It's going to bite you.

14. So you touch the echo and something happens. And you feel a momentary connection between the sorceress energy, the kind of arcane well of power that you draw from, like whatever is inside you that lets you cast magic. There is some sort of split, like a second, like split second connection between that and whatever is powering Echo. And you get flashes in your mind. You briefly see a beautiful kingdom of structures of glass towers and metal carriages

pulled without carts and people in strange uniforms you've never seen before. A flash of sentry being given a shield by a human man that you don't quite make out being presented like a fresh new century being presented with a shield. And then the last thing you see is just swirling earth and sand and stones all around you and then

it just goes and it's like a flash for a second. What happened? Lucius falls over. And then collects himself eventually. What happened? I saw amazing, wonderful, just unbelievable things. I saw where you came from. I had a bit of...

You saw Solvin. I saw what? Solvin. I had a bit of... You saw Solvin. I saw what? Solvin. From outdoors, you just said, What? No, your rush is in. Where is it? I touched Sentry's Echo and I saw fragments of what you've...

What happened? I saw your shield. I saw your shield being given to you. I had that... I've seen that myself. Well, you should have. I had a dream. It happened to you. A dream or a memory? I thought you would being given to you. I had that dream. I've seen that myself. Well, you should have. I had a dream. It happened to you.

A dream or a memory? I thought you would call it a dream. A memory. Maybe. Maybe it was a memory. I don't know. When we were asleep in the woods. Your memory is in Echo.

I guess they are. If you saw what I saw. God, that place is wonderful. I thought Gusthaven was wonderful, but the decadence. Honestly. Solvang was beautiful. The carriages, they were moving around without any horses. Nova's just holding her hand up, but just like...

Like, really, like, trying not to be... But I... It sounds like he's going elf mad. Can I... Can I touch Echo, please? Well, if Lucius came out of it in one piece, I'm sure it's no problem for you. It's going to hit you all at once, Nova, so be prepared.

Clench your butt cheeks. For science! I will clench my butt cheeks and gently touch Echo. You feel a cold, metallic surface. No reaction. I just a cold metallic surface. No reaction. I just look at my finger. Nothing. And I just reach out and I put more

of my hand on Echo. You see the shield when it's given to Century? Nothing. You maybe feel a very slight pulse in Tiangong. There's no sensory element to it. Like a recognition that Tiangong senses something,

but there's no direct communication between you and the sword. A disappointment. Or maybe you have gone elf-mad. Well, well, well... Lucy shuts down for a minute. I'm going to touch the other one. Oh, wait, hang on. Is that such a good idea?

Why? It was fascinating. Well, we know that Sentry is... Well, Sentry, we don't know what this one is. Are you sure you're going to... It can't hurt me. It's just memories, right? Well, I suppose. While he's touching weird stuff, what are we doing about chests?

Ayla points at the two metal chests underneath the workshop. Those are airtight, and they have quite fine locks on them. Aayla tries to drag one out, and she can, but these are pretty heavy. They've got locks on them. Well, smash the locks. Okay. But before you do that, are dwarves or guardians known? Oh yeah, these locks are rusted.

I think you can pick them. They have magic. Dwarves do a lot of druidic magic. Worship the gods. Isn't this your... What do you do? What do I do?

I don't know about magic. Can you detect magic, Birdie? I can, if we'd like to stay here for ten minutes. I can ritual it. Right. We literally don't have a rope until one of us climbs back up. How are we getting out of here? I could levitate again, but I need a rest.

Like a ten-minute rest, or... No, a rest rest. A sleep. A resty sleepy rest. Oh dear. Cool. So that's not happening until tonight. Well maybe that's just a natural way out. Just maybe. It does involve going way deeper in. If the dwarves have a

little housey here, there's got to be some staircase back out. But when the dwarves lived here it was up there and she put an over point up it wasn't down here it was up what's he talking about there's no floating dwarven island you're talking about are you silly nova's just making a face like she's just trying to just have to dumb it down but she doesn't quite know how far to dumb this down. This village was originally on the surface where we climbed down from. Then after the sundering the ground crumbled and the village came down here with it.

So there wouldn't be a staircase to go up. Are you okay? You seem to be really slowing your speech. I think she's gone ganassi mad. She might be air ganassi mad. You need some fresh air. I get it, it caved in and it fell. It is rather stale down here, yes.

But there's not going to be a staircase back up. Right. Well, that settles it. I'm going to touch. Okay, okay. Give me a charisma saving throw. Where did my... Oh, it's right there.

17 plus 5. Yeah, 17. So again, you get this momentary sensation of a connection to the kind of sorceress power within you and you see flashes again. Brief, not as detailed, not as vivid.

These are hazy, almost like there is a mist kind of surrounding it, like a black shadow kind of around it all. And they all seem to be in a kind of grey colour, like there's very little colour to the memories. You do, however, feel sensations.

You remember an intense heat of something being near something very hot for a long time, working, you know, hammering metal on an anvil for a long time. You see dwarven faces, but their features are all blurred or obscured in some way and then you remember a terrible earthquake you remember the ground shaking you remember seeing great waves you know coming out of nowhere across the landscape people screaming people shouting

you dived into a building and then the memory ends and then just there seems to be like one last memory but it's just darkness and then you just snap back into reality oh how awful oh that's tragic what did you see well the garden this is that garden i believe that's on the outside used to work here at the blacksmiths when they were on the surface thank you for the slow explanation and yes it was very hot i could feel i could sense the heat clearly they were working very hard i saw faces of dwarves but it wasn't very detailed very hazy very colorless very drab well i guess that's because it's so ancient and then nothing absolutely nothing oh the thundering happened. That's right.

Big earthquake. Oh, okay. Just a thundering. Yes, big earthquake. Everything collapsed. And clearly the Guardian snuffed it. Snuffed? Well, but how is the echo still working?

I thought it was... It might have residual power or something. Oh. Maybe it reacted with your magical ability. Maybe I powered it, yes. Maybe that's how you activated me. Well, I don't have any magic. Do you not?

You touched me and then I felt good. I mean, I'm not magic like you. So while you're having this conversation, while you're having this conversation, Aayla is like holding these containers and she's straining herself to try and rip it or break it open. She's using a hammer to try and smash it.

But in the process, you see her pull her arm back and it wrenches part of her shoulder. It pulls a tendon or something like that. And then in a rage, she goes to smash the other one. But her hammer misses and you see her arm scrape against something and things like that. She takes a bit of damage and she fails to open the chest,

which you told her to open. Ayla, what is happening? It's a box. Do you want to fucking try opening this box? You've probably loosened it, I hope. Fucking give it a go then. It's like a jar.

I mean, okay. Has she done anything to it? You see, maybe bent some of the metal, like bashed a corner in. While they're sorting this out, I've just taken the forge echo and I'm just kind of touching it to Lucius just seeing more power runs off of him.

I mean, we could try... Can I touch it? Doot! Doot! Can I touch it? Doot! And I just doot it onto Quill. Onto my face. No. It just taps my beak. Does anything happen when it boops my snoot?

Concentrate really hard. See if you can channel some energy into it, some spellcasting. You've picked up the orb, did you say? The one that was on the shelf. Okay. Quill, as Nova picks it up and begins gesturing it towards you,

you see the gemstone light up and then fade quickly. Okay, Nova, I want to put that one down. I think I saw what Lucia saw. What? It definitely lit up when you went in. You're saying he's not elf blind? Elf magic?

Elf wild? Elf mad. Elf mad. No, almost definitely. But, yeah, that one lit up. Which means... That means someone's watching us right now. Well, if anyone's watching us right now...

I turn it around. Hi. No, hang on. Wait, no. If someone's watching us right now, it's the one that this echo belongs to, who is currently, well, outside the door. No, he's gone, like, done so.

Definitely. There's potential in this vision of memories I saw. Yes. Did I see the guardian that was outside? No. You didn't see a guardian, you saw other things. I never saw the owner of this Echo. What are you doing, Century?

While they're having this conversation and Ayla is... I'm looking at the other Echo just being like, I want to touch it as well. I want to see. Yeah, so you would have the same thing as Lucius

when you touch it. Give me a charisma saving throw. Okie dokie, which one is that one? So it'll be saving throws. It should be near the top. The d20 again. And then d20. And then you add your charisma saving throw bonus.

Nice. Which is plus four. 17. 17. Again, you see almost an identical thing to Lucius. So you see these flashes of greyed, dark images of some sort of calamity that befell this town. You feel the heat of a forge. And you remember your memories of working, but just get those flashes.

Cool. Where did you see this entry? Same as you. You saw it! Exactly the same. Excellent. That's wonderful. Well, that's spectacular.

I mean, it's tragic because... I'm literally just looking into the gemstone going, Hi! No, no, no, you want to turn it away from us. Are you here? Turn it away from us. Hi! No, don't...

What? Well, we don't... If something is watching us... But we might find another live guardian. But that might be something we don't want to find. Okay. If it's a live guardian that's been down here this entire time, then...

It could be. Super feral. Without its echo for guidance and its memories. It might be looking for it. Well, actually, if it's looking for its echo... It could... Are you seriously going to spend all your time looking over that ball with one gem in it?

And I'm... I mean, are these mine? Can I have these chests, then? Can I have both of them? If you could open them. We technically need them for our vault. Well, technically I'm the only one trying to bloody open them so Yeah Well, I'm the only one trying so science maybe they're all mine I could I could potentially put some acid on the lock and it might corrode it. Oh, that sounds really great.

Yes, but honestly, touching that sphere was amazing. You should really try it. I'm going to... Shakes her head and puts the boxes down and just stands back. Hunched. I'm going to wrap the sphere in some cloth so it covers the eye. What cloth are you using? I don't know, my scarf.

Like, if I can fashion a little, I guess, like, sling out of my scarf. Okay. So that the eye is, like... Is attached to you. Covered, yeah. Okay. Okay, here we go. Acid splash.

For podcast users, Mark is looking at Kim with one of his I am trying to do a deadpan face. Shit's going to get real, real soon. Acid splash. So you're going to acid splash the lock. You're going to try and focus it on the lock. Okay, give me, make a dexterity check just to see how fine control you can have on this.

Twelve. Twelve. I'd say it's close enough, but... It burns everyone in the room. So you begin melting away, and you're trying to conjure just small amounts of acid around the lock itself, but you accidentally, you know that a couple of times

the acid goes inside, and it hits whatever's inside. So you manage to burn the lock off, and eventually one of these pops open. I'll roll to see which one it is. Okay. So the lock, eventually you burn your kind of way through it, and it one of these pops open. I'll roll to see which one it is. Okay. So the lock eventually, you burn your kind of way through it, and it takes you probably a good while. Like every six seconds, you're like little dribs and drabs.

So it takes you a while. Maybe the better part of like 20 minutes. So everybody's just kind of watching you kind of slowly like burn away. I'm going to get there. Just give me time. If it's taking a super long time, could I use that time to ritual a detect magic? Sure. Yeah, absolutely.

Could I also just, like, I guess just have a look outside and see? Just have a listen. Sure. Give me a perception check. So you're casting detect magic. Let's see what the perception... 15. Okay, that's going to come in a bit. So with the...

The chest eventually opens, but as you finish casting a bit. So, with the chest eventually opens, but as you finish casting Detect Magic, which happens before the chest is opened, yeah, you do pick up on a couple of things. Someone casting Atta Splash right next to me. Really? So, the chest that Lucius is attempting to open, there is something magical inside.

It radiates through the box, and you can tell that there is a faint hint of probably conjuration? No, transmutation magic. Transmutation magic hints through. The echo sphere, the one that not echo echoed, sentry's echo, the other sphere, also has a touch of magic to it. A touch as much as echo?

As much as echo, yes. Okay, okay, okay. The other chest does not have anything magical inside. But I guess as it as that finish casts, he opens it anyway. Well, you can keep concentrating on it for a while, I think. I think you can

concentrate for up to ten minutes, so you can keep it anyway. Well, you can keep concentrating on it for a while, I think. I think you can concentrate for up to 10 minutes. Yes. So you can keep it going. Yeah. You finish opening the chest, Lucius. Inside... Quick and simple. So you notice that there's a few broken things inside

and some things which have been ruined by your acid. But some of it still remains. It looks like there were once five very high quality steel bars of which only three remain the other two have been pitted and ruined by acid um and just yeah like broken apart and stuff like that and potentially um but three are still intact and you can see that those three are very high quality steel bars. There was also a bundle of probably what was very, very interesting looking wood, but where Ayla is trying to smash it open, it's all broken up as well and it's kind of just in bundles.

The last thing is a very, very beautifully crafted hammer. It's about, it looks like a blacksmith's hammer. So it's probably sort of 18 inches long with a large heavy head engraved with all sorts of dwarven patterns. The handle is wrapped in what appears to be some sort of like beast hide, like almost like a wyvern or manticore skin or something.

Some sort of scaled beast, like not quite dragon hide, but maybe like a wyvern or manticore skin or something. Some sort of scaled beast, like not quite dragon hide, but maybe like a wyvern or some sort of reptile. And yeah, and that is glowing with transmutation magic. That is magical. The spear tip that Nova is carrying is also magical. Hey, I forgot about that. Tiangong, Nova's sword, is also magical. Tiangong, Nova's sword is also magical

the howling gale that Aayla carries has a very minor amount of magic in it it looks like it's faded, like it was once magical but has gone away and sentry glows as well, sentry as a whole like your whole being is infused with magic everything is magic

yeah, so you get that remarkable unfortunately the dwarves are very careless Oh, that's good. Yeah, so you get that. Remarkable. Unfortunately, the dwarves are very careless when they package the steel. Looks like they got some lava in there or something. Lava, okay. But there's three nice steel bodies. There aren't any volcanoes near here, so I don't know why there would be damage. That's missing.

And it's still bubbling now. Anyway, look at this wonderful hammer. Look at that. Yes, no, that's definitely magical. I can see that now. Fascinating. I don't exactly know what type of magic. Well, I do know what type, whatever it is,

but I don't know what it does yet. But I might be able to identify it if we had another 10 minutes, that is. Well, we're down here for the night. But actually, I can tell that Sentry, very magical, by the way, which is useful because if I was to look out the window, would I see anything glowing?

Maybe? So, I'll give this to Kim first for a 15. Have a read of that. Because as Nova steps outside to look around, and she's out there for maybe a few moments, you turn your attention to the window as you probably hear a yelp as the sound of heavy metal slamming onto stone erupts.

Everybody roll initiative. Oh no. I told you everyone. But no. Old crazy bird man. You don't believe the guy who gets a natural 20 on initiative. Natural 20. You as well. Nice. Ding dong.

Initiative should be at the top it's in the little next to the 11 11 quill 22

nova 5 sorry what was that 5 lucius 22 and then i will roll for 8

22 oh wow 14 pretty quick my dex is... Yeah, who's got the higher dex out of the two of you? He goes first. So Quill's going to react first.

So you hear this very loud slam. Now, whatever was up there was waiting for somebody to come out, so it will get one attack against you as a surprise round, I'm afraid, Nova. I just shout out, crickets! You shout out as this thing lands down upon you. So it's going to have advantage because it has surprise. So that's going to be a 24. Please may I cast Shield as my reaction.

Will that boost your AC above 24? Actually, it wouldn't. Can I retcon that? No. Yeah, like, yeah. Don't use it unless it's going to help you so you wouldn't cast it it's a surprise and anyway you can't react to the surprise uh you can but yeah sure because the reaction so you see this this being and what you've seen over is crouched on top of the roof a bigger hulking figure huge like short but very wide and very sort of burly arms,

built much larger than a humanoid figure. They look like they were once a guardian but metal has been sort of like bolted on top of their original limbs to their shoulders. They've pulled stone, has been sort of grafted onto them at points as well.

And a huge kind of like chimney of metal is like sticking out of their back with vents have been cut in. The eyes glow like embers in a forge as it leaps down and you begin to see this kind of fiery energy kind of running throughout its whole body. As it slams this warhammer down on the ground, catching you in the blast effectively. So that's going to be six points of bludgeoning and four fire damage, so ten damage overall if you don't have any resistances. As it lands, you can see that these glowing orange eyes that are brooming with like a forge's intensity

this metal guardian figure as it lands, its head just jerks around awkwardly as it kind of cries out like Leave! And it just slams the hammer down onto you. Quill. Wow. So I can see

we're all still in the building. You are still in the building. In fact, let's get some miniatures out here. So Nova was just outside. Okay. Everybody else was inside, so I'm just going to take you off for now because there is only one entrance in and out of this place. Where's the doody? I'm getting him now.

The doody. Oh, that's a big boy. I've had to use a storm hose because I don't have an appropriate model so you hear this thunderous slam, this yelp from Nova and the slam of this hammer hitting the stonework and you feel this blast of heat as well

does the echo in my scarf sling react in any way? yeah, well not yet but you can tell that its eye is glowing now. It comes alive. Oh good. So Quill, what would you like to do? I will go

to the window and I suppose if I go there I can see So the windows are extremely thin like slits, like they're barely an arm wide. There's no field of vision that actually can see you can maybe see like the edge of Nova you can see her through the door

but the windows don't give you any line of sight oh okay well in that case I will turn to sentry and cast shield of faith okay so that's plus two AC

as long as Quill is concentrating. Yes. And I will not go outside. Okay, so you're going to stay inside the building. Yes. Okay. Yeah, that's all I'm going to do. Lucius.

If I go to the door, can I see it? Yes, but you have to stand in the doorway. I'm going to stand in the doorway. I'm going to cast Melf's Acid Arrow. Okay. It's a new spell I've got. Melf. Who's Melf?

Melf. Melf was a famous wizard. I don't remember meeting him. A shimmering green arrow streaks towards the target, so it will fit through the gap, I'm hoping. Within range and burst. The door's a five-foot door, say. Burst and a spray of acid.

Range spell attack. Yep. Beep. Natural 20. Yeah, the doors are five foot doors, so. Bursting a spray of acid. Range spell attack. Yep. Beep. Natural twine. Oh, wow. Fantastic. Tasty. So that's gonna be double the dice damage,

but one thing I wanna check. Yeah, did you say a burst of acid? Yeah, that's what I wanted to check, because Snover is right next to it. On a hit, the target takes 4d4 acid, and immediately 2d4 on an end of his next turn. There's no splash. Okay, so there's no splash. On a miss, the arrow splashes the target with acid for half as much and no direction

Then there's next time it's on so it's just on the single target narrow that just Thanks So yeah, 4d range 90 feet Yep, 44 acid damage immediately and 2d forward damage at the end of its next turn, which you'll have to remember And then you double 11, so double that to 22 because it was a critical hit. 22, and then on the next turn it's going to take 2d4 at the end of its next turn. So you watch as Lucius pulls out this thing. Now technically that is, it deals a damage type and is a first level spell or higher, so you can also do Dicromancy damage but there's no other targets. you watch as lucius yeah that's good i'm just checking reminding you of those rules that you

fail every time you watch as lucius pulls out to what do you want to spend a sorcery point to do something let's double check which ones i've got i've forgotten mess magic i've got distant and twins so no yeah that wouldn't help you so So Lucius pulls out this kind of thread of orange colour from his outfit. He forms it into an arrow that streaks forward, splashes across the creature's chest, and you begin to see all this, like, thick metal plating begin to burn and bubble away, and the stone components of it begin to bubble. And it just kind of jerks and, like, twists around awkwardly

in some sort of reaction. Would a natural 20 be on the injury table? Injury table, I will only roll for on bad guys if they are a persistent bad guy. So kind of like a regular villain. I see. I don't expect this guy to be a regular villain. Well, we'll see what he does to us. But it also means that like if you do fight enemies that I consider to be like a nemesis,

then they don't die at zero hit points. They saving throws same as everybody else okay so but these guys like normal enemies when you get them to zero hit points they're dead like there's no chance of them coming back or being right right exactly the plate on the end so after Lucius hits the creature with this spray of acid it like turns its gaze this kind of fiery gaze, and you can begin to see flames beginning to kind of purge out of these vents on its body. It's almost like a living forge.

And this guardian sees you in the doorway, swings its massive hammer. I'll give you some cover bonus because you're in the doorway, but it's still going to make an attack roll against you. It in fact tries to grab you with a big fist. It tries to grab you with one of its arms as if to almost throw you out. What's your AC? 12.

So even with a plus 2 bonus for cover, it's still going to hit you on a 15. So it grabs you by the tunic and you feel this intense heat. You're going to take... You're going to take 5... That's going to be 8 points of damage. And it grabs you and it flings you from the door out into the main area.

And you knock a prone. Wow. To land like this. That's crazy. I do the matrix. As it launches you behind, like pulling you from the door. After Lucius, it's Ayla's go.

Who charges out? Barrel's passed Nova to stand in front of this thing. Rages. Of course. Just don't treat it like a chest. Hit this one. Didn't see you doing any bloody chests. Where are her rages?

There we go. Oh, I've already marked one. Oh no, she used it last time. So that's two of her rages. So, here we go. She won't recklessly attack, because I don't want to get Kate killed. That's 19 to hit. Well, 19 plus 6, so 25.

That's a hit. With the Howling Gale, she's going to do D10 plus 4 for 14 points of damage. Damn. So you watch as Aayla bursts through, kind of almost knocking Nova to the side, swings the Warhammer up in a heavy arc, and as it hits the creature,

you hear this kind of thunderous boom as it slams into it. And then a bolt of lightning will arc off of her, failing for the first time as the lightning hits the creature doing two points of damage worth it tiny crackle at the end of Aayla's

turn it's going to use it's last legendary action you watch as the heat that's been building up in it's body begins to explode from its back and its lower legs and arms. As it launches up into the air, this gout of flame erupts around it. Nova, Aayla,

and Lucian Shore's just too far away. Can you make a dexterity saving throw for me, Nova, please? Aayla fails. Five. Five. You're going to also fail. So with that that you are going to take You're going to take Seven fire damage And it just goes

And lands at the top of this column And it just kind of like Flies upwards and then Lands down That's really cool How come you can't do that Error. Leave. Leave, master.

Leave. Man. Just kind of twitches and awkwardly rumbles. And then it's go, because that was its legendary action. Oh, yeah. Okay. It will raise up a wrist, and you watch as this kind of like parts of it begin to fold outwards like the metal begins to

fold and twist and a crystalline almost like a wand appears in its wrist and it fires a beam of intense heat which will hit Ayla and Nova. It basically will do like a five foot line like this. That's another dexterity saving throw I'm afraid Nova. This is his actual turn.

This is his actual turn yes. So at the end of this there'll be 2d4 more. Yes, so remind me of that. Ayla will actually pass this, so... 17. 17. You'll also pass this to take half damage. Half of 12, you take six more fire damage. That's good.

Oh, shit. I'll just click off my page. Damn it. Shoots right through. A heat ray. Six points. Yeah, so this, like, heat... Basically, a, so basically a heat ray fires out from its arm in a long beam. At the end of its turn, it takes 2d4 more acid damage.

Four. Four more points. You can see that that acid is burning heavily away at this creature. Parts of its armor are being exposed and like torn asunder by this this burning acid that uh just perfectly struck against the creature from lucius um that probably is going to save you guys a load of damage getting that crit you've probably helped the party massively with that it's taken a load of damage already uh sentry cool um so I would like to... Can I try and smack the pillar that's standing there? So you emerge out and you want to hack away at this pillar.

That sounds amazing, absolutely. Can I do Thunderous Smite on it? Absolutely, well, you can, yeah. So what, you cast Thunderous Smite on your weapon? Yeah. And then you're going to hit it. Yeah, fucking absolutely. In fact, I'll say, it's not hard, you can't miss a column, so just roll damage as if you to hit it. Yeah. Fucking absolutely. In fact, I'll say, it's not hard.

You can't miss a column, so just roll damage as if you'd hit it. Nice. So, yeah, what's the... It's d8 plus 4 for your battle axe, and then what does Thunderous Smite do? Thunderous Smite does... an extra 2d6 of thunder damage.

What? Now, could you also cast that at second level because I think you have second level spell slots now. Yeah. It might tell you that you can increase the damage. Oh no, she doesn't have second level. Oh she doesn't, okay. So an extra 2d6 so it's 1d8 plus 4 plus an extra

2d6. Okay, cool. And roll the 2d6 separate for me because it won't resist the thunder damage. So that's 10. 10 already. Okay, and now roll 2d6. 2d6. Can me because it won't resist the thunder damage. So that's 10. 10 already. Okay, and now roll 2d6. 2d6. Can I borrow a d6, dude?

Yeah. Thank you. I actually use this one. Okay. That one's better. Okay. Told you. Seven.

Seven more points. So you watch as Century kind of barrels up to this column, grips the axe, swings it, and as it does, this thunderous energy envelops the blade, hits the bottom of the column, which cracks heavily. Not quite enough to tip it over, but this thunderous boom rocks, and the column does begin to shift, and the creature is beginning to...

It looks like it might potentially lose its balance. That's your movement, that's your thing. Any bonus actions you want to do? I don't know if you have any. Let me see, what have I got as a bonus action? We'll swing it over to Nova and if you have one we'll come back to it. So Kim, Nova, what would Nova like to do? So the column is looking quite damaged.

And he's looking quite damaged. Yeah, he's got pitted, his armour's all pitted and the stone that forms part of his body has all been melted away. Okay, Nova's probably going to do Nova and she's going to... How far is 30 feet? So 5, 10, 15... Can I nip away back into the forge? So I try and get some cover.

Yeah. Yeah, you can stand inside the doorway if you want with Quill. I'll just stand like... Yeah, just... And can I cast Suggestion, please? Okay. And I would like to say... What do you suggest?

I suggest you stand down. Okay. Natural 20, I'm afraid. Literally rolled it. Like, doesn't have legendary resistances or anything like that. Just rolled a natural 20. So you try and take it over, and you get this sense, as the spell tries to reach out with Tiangong in hand,

you feel Tiangong's magic kind of weaving invisibly through the air towards this creature's mind. Whatever mind was once there is so fragmented and broken, the spell just can't take any effect. Its madness is almost protecting it from your influence, and just

manages to resist, unfortunately. So you're moved. Any bonus actions? I can't, no. No more? Cool. So we go to Quill. You suggest I stand down? Not you, it! Oh, okay. In that case,

the pillar, like, gets super, super, super damaged. Yeah, it's like a heavy crack through it. Looks unstable now. I mean, how much is a pistol gonna do but i don't want to waste the spell slot on it so i'm going to stand in the doorway point the pistol up and fire at the crack in the pillar okay in hopes of sure so range attack roll so i think for you this is just plus dexterity because you're not proficient with a firearm. Nope.

Four. Good lord. It blows you back. The recoil blows you off your feet. You knock prone and you slide against the floor as this pistol just launches you through the air. A kickback completely unexpected. Does it ricochet into him?

No. Great. Okay. Does he need a constitution to not bleed? No, I will not be that cool. A low roll being knocked prone for firing a weapon you're not proficient with, I think, is funny and enough. So anything else you'd like to do, Quill?

Yeah, get up. Okay. I'd like to get up. Yeah, you can. And slink back up to Nova. Well, you've used some of your movement to get to the window. You're not back. I'll just do that.

You're not prone. Yeah. And then you can move up to Nova. I'll move back to Nova and just say someone else. Lucius. I won't tell anyone. Okay, please don't. I'm going to sausage roll out the way.

Like kid rolling, yeah. Kind of get to my knees. Uh-huh. And then I'm going to fire a chromatic orb of acid at the same spot. On the column? On him. On him. Okay, so how does this work?

Spell attack? Four inch diameter. It's a spell attack. Natural one. So with this one, you're like... It's an emotional rollercoaster today. Just like the arrow. I can do this.

It flies up and hits like stalactites above the ceiling and just begins melting away. And they stab him in the head. Not quite. But yeah, the natural one just sails up into the air, completely missing, doesn't even threaten the guardian itself. It just bubbles away. Flies out of the canyon, hits a farmer.

I'm assuming you are standing up for the throne, so you've pretty much used all your movement. Aayla, seeing what Sentry just did, will follow suit and smash the column. Yep. No, she just rolls damage. Ooh, that's not as good.

So that's going to be five. That's still just not enough. She smacks it again, and the column is now beginning to shift but hasn't quite broken all the way through so it's more like a tree that's about to be felled like it's probably going to tip rather than just crumble underneath him basically but she slams into it

and then a bolt of lightning streaks up again, he fails against that so we'll take three more points of lightning damage so you watch as this bolt of lightning damage. So you watch as this bolt of lightning strikes up, where the creature kind of uneasily wobbles to and fro. It's then going to use its legendary action

to do the same, like the flames begin to erupt from its back. Two legendary actions per combat round. So, it does that. There is nobody in range for the flames to affect but it just flies down and lands behind everybody else before this column comes crashing down underneath it which it does no okay not yet anyway might fall

down in a couple of rounds so he lands down and then it is his go he is going to you you see him kind of bring the hammer back and the kind of flames this forge that's been building up inside of him all these kind of like vents open up and this cloud of acrid smoke just begins to completely surround it in about a 10 foot radius thick you know forge smoke like thick coal smoke completely clouds around him. Anybody attacking him at range is at disadvantage. Anybody within 10 feet of him, so Lucius, Aayla and Sentry, you guys can't breathe. So Sentry, this doesn't affect you. It's not expecting to fight other Guardians.

But Aayla and Lucius are coughing and spluttering. You can just about see it enough that you don't have disadvantage, but you're like, choke. You can't breathe. You're suffocating as you stand and fight this thing. Then it goes to Sentry. Cool. I would like to use Raffle

Smite on this SOB. Okay. So what is Raffle Smite? Raffle Smite. So there is... The next time you hit with a melee weapon attack during the spell's duration, your attack deals an extra 1d6 of psychic damage. If the target is a creature, it must make a wisdom saving throw. It will be frightened of you until the spell ends.

Sounds perfect. Okay, so the first thing you're going to make is an attack roll, so it's the d20 plus your attack bonus, which is under your attacks. So it should be the first number next to your axe. Oh, that one. Okay, yeah. So 1d20 plus 5. 25!

That's a natural 20, which is a crit hit. Nice. So you're going to roll the damage of the battle axe, which is D8 plus 4. You double the D8. Oh, it's plus 3, apparently. Oh, plus 3. So 1D8 plus 3. So roll a D8 and then double that for a crit.

6. Plus 3, 9. 9. Now roll a D6 and double that. Oh, nice. 4. So 13 total. So it takes 13 points of damage as Sentry smashes this thing.

And then it has to make a wisdom saving throw, you said? Otherwise I'll be scared. Sadly, the same thing. It's madness. It kind of, it doesn't understand how to fear anymore. It's just driven by some sort of crazy madness that's enveloped it. Seems to be resistant to kind of any effects that try and charm or make it afraid. Cool.

But you do see that the energy that absorbs off the blade just completely decimates it, and you begin to see parts of stone and metal flying off the creature as it stumbles back with another powerful blow. At the end of your turn, however, it's going to retaliate with its last legendary action for the combat round as it slams a fist into you now, sensing a greater threat.

That's cocked. I'll roll that again. That's only a 19. Oh, that's not bad. Does that hit your AC? My AC is 20 at the moment because Quill's Boom! Got it. So you watch as this fist is about to connect with you and you don't bring up the shield to defend it, but you feel this force field that has a sense of the open air,

almost like a cloud of feathers or wings in front of you, just bounces straight off, and you feel this connection against your spell trying to break through. Very, very lucky. Nova. Me. Please, may I cast toll the dead yeah yeah I just want to try and finish this combat Steve and then we'll take break so please can you make a wisdom

saving throw now this isn't a fear effect so he doesn't have advantage or a charm effect he doesn't have advantage that's a charm effect so he doesn't have advantage, so that's a 3. In which case, a d12. I still can't figure out which one. It's the big one that looks like a d20. That's a d10. But not. The next one up. Yeah, that one there. Seven. So yeah, it takes seven

points of necrotic damage. So you want, you ring the bell, Tiangong, you kind of shake Tiangong, this kind of pulse wave of energy erupts from it. It shudders for a moment, and you can see it beginning to slow down, collapse, but just the last vestiges of energy

are still within it. Quill. I can't really see it. I've got no idea where any of the allies are, because they're all in the smoke. You can vaguely see where it is, because it's projecting all this smoke,

but it's a disadvantage. I guess I don't have to take magic anymore, because I'm concentrating shield of faith. Damn! I would like to, in that case, cast magic missile at level one. Which is a guaranteed hit. Sure.

Well, let's see how much damage you roll. I do three darts of 1d4 plus 1. Each. So if you're rolling all... Yeah, it's 3d4 plus 3 for first level. Yes. So that's a 3, followed by a 2, followed by a 2. That's not good. that's seven damage.

So you watch, Quill, you know the creature's in there somewhere, and you can hear Lucius and Aayla desperately coughing for breath. You can see the blows being exchanged between Sentry and the creature, and you just reach out. What do you do? How does this spell work? Is this a prayer to Hesper? Is this trying to channel might? What does the spell look like? mean it's different to guiding bolt it's um it's the one where i um a few feathers fly out of the wing and then i need to dance and then that's why through but

the guiding bolt is a little bit different okay so you and so you kind of throw these feathers out and you just trust that these feathers are going to find their mark in the smoke you see these lines these purple blinds like flying through the smoke. You see these lines, these purple lines like flying through. The smoke begins to stop. Lucius, you're gasping for air. Aayla's gasping for air. As you see this thing just slump to one knee and then just slump forward.

Oh! We're going to take a break there because I know we were pushing it on the break time. So we're going to take a break there. We'll be back to see what else this chasm has in store for them after this break. Hey everyone, it's me again. Thank you very much for listening to part one of this episode.

We'll be back on Thursday for part two, but first a shout out to our sponsors dndbeyondandbrilliant.org. Make sure you check the podcast description for more information about those and you might be able to bag yourself some goodies for yourself. Also make sure you follow at High Rollers D&D on on twitter you'll be able to get a load of good information from us like when the podcasts go live when the streams go live or possibly some information about

a mini series that we might be planning maybe maybe not we are check the twitter you'll be able to see all the information about that also if you head over to our youtube channel that's high rollers dnd again we've created a couple of fan art videos of all the information about that. Also, if you head over to our YouTube channel, that's High Rollers D&D again, we've created a couple of fan art videos of all the stuff that's been sent to us by our very, very talented community. If you would like to see your art in that video, then send it to highrollersdnd at gmail.com

and we'll put it into the next video. So thank you once again to everyone that submitted fan art for us. Thank you again for listening to part one of this episode. Again, we'll be back on Thursday for a brand new episode. We'll see you then.