High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Curse of Strahd #10 | The Hallowed Bones

Episode Date: June 16, 2020

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alcohol in select markets see app for details welcome friends to high rollers presents the curse of strad a gothic horror adventure of chills thrills and many blood spills i am your dungeon master mark humes and the players joining me are as follows. Chris Trott as Jesper the Vistani Bard, Kim Richards as Shadows Beyond the Veil, a Tabaxi Cleric, Katie Morrison as Rose Vanandi, the Human Ranger, Tom Hazel as Xeros Mistan, the Dragonborn Fighter,

and Rhiannon Gower as Zeke Mistan, the Dragonborn Sorcerer. Last time on Curse of Strahd, after discovering a vampire spawn lurking in the old Burgomaster's mansion, the party were dismayed when Ziki, the bright and sunny chosen of Lyra, was slain. Xeros, her brother, carried her body to the newly founded Church of Asmodeus, led by Fiona Vokctor, and began to strike a deal with the Lord of Hell. Zeke herself found her soul trapped in Barovia, where shadowy figures made their own deal. Returning her to life, the dark powers instructed Zeke to stop Strahd, and possibly become the new ruler of Barovia.

Meanwhile, Shadow, Rose, and Jesper all continued their search for the mansion for the first clue predicted by Adam Ava. And in the attic above, they found an old book that appears to have been written by Strahd himself. And that is where we pick back up this week. Everyone. So we currently have Rose, Jesper and Shadow, along with Ismark and Irina,

are currently in the old Burgomaster's mansion up in the attic, having just read and discovered the Tome of strad itself uh which i believe yes but is currently uh has in his possession uh whilst uh xeros and ziki were making their way back from the church of the ruby rod uh the new founded church to as modius here in alia and my question to you both groups is what do you do now? What is the plan? Hmm Hmm What would we do, Ziki?

I'd say Ziki after Yeah, well Ziki after kind of like being led out of the temple and down back onto the street Ziki, you definitely have enough strength to come to full consciousness and walk and things like that you don't need to you know you are conscious in terms of hit points

put yourself up to about half your max hit points okay cool represent the strange powers of both hell and whatever beings brought you back and yeah

so you have the you to making your way back through the city streets the church sits at one end of the lackey itself see so the church is on the eastern side you can see an eastern gate that leads out onto a road that goes into the woods and to make make your way back to the old abandoned inn we'll need to travel along the main road to the west past various houses and that sort of thing okay yeah um yeah i don't know should we go should we go back to like the inn the tavern yeah i think that would be a good idea. I think that's pretty much everyone's resting point, isn't it? Where we're sort of

meeting up there. So I guess we could head back there and wait for these guys to sort of finish up their ghostly adventure. Sure, okay. What about the mansion team? Resident Evil mansion team? Where's Barry?

What are we doing about this Viktor Volokhovich wanker? Yes, there was you encountered a voice, not really a ghost, but somebody spoke to you up in an old

study hidden in the attic claiming to be Viktor Volakovich the son of the former Burgomaster who claims that he is trapped in the ethereal plane I wasn't particularly a nice fellow

I would have just finished reading the section of the tome that then ends with him saying that Strahd resides below Ravenloft living among the dead which could be a little hinty hint

hunting for Tatiana Tatiana's brought up a lot in this and the whole reasoning for Strahd's you know issues so to speak so that would have left Vesper a little yeah And the whole reasoning for Strahd's, you know, issues, so to speak. So that would have left Vesper a little... Crazy ex-boyfriend.

Yeah. Would have left Vesper a little speechless at the end of it and kind of closing the tome quietly. Yeah, the tome itself, there's really... The only bit that's still eligible is the part that you read last time. If you want to ever read that again, just let me know. I do have it as a handout I can share with you guys.

Yeah, you've got it? Okay, cool. Yeah, you can read that whenever you want and obviously, yeah, there's segments that it's clearly written from the first perspective, from the first person. It was written by Strahd himself and it seemed to be that it was written very shortly after

the events that led to uh his immortality as a vampire but also uh the death of this tatiana and yeah that seems to have written been written shortly afterwards sergey uh this is This is his diary. His personal accounts of his turn to the vampire. He's even put his weaknesses in the bottom. We should note these down. The sun is against him. Little else can harm him now. A stake through his heart does not kill him,

though it holds him from movement. So if we need to paralyze him at least, we can use a stake through the heart. But there's a sword. It mentions a sword, a cursed sword that Sergei, his brother, brought. And I think we need to find something like that, if it still exists.

You also have the second reading from Madame Eva, which hinted at a powerful weapon that could be used against her. That's what Shadow was about to say. Ah, sorry, I've robbed you of your moment. Maybe this was the sword referenced

in the reading. A sword of sunlight. The Abjurer is what was drawn. A fallen house guarded by a great stone dragon. If the sword is there, we should go. I think we should probably get out of this house

I think that we've stayed here for quite a while I don't know how long that church service is going to last should we head back to the inn and then discuss this more what do we do about Zeros maybe they'll be there it's entirely possible that he took her back to the end just to to have a quiet moment

a corpse in an inn i mean nothing strange in these lands either way he's he's he's gonna do what he's gonna do he's not gonna listen to us so i think we should just go there and wait for them they'll probably go there anyway alright back to the town you're right this place is wrong what shall we tell this victor

nothing we don't need him could be a powerful ally. We can think about it. He could also say anything because he is trapped. I mean, there were a couple of scrolls and his spellbook

out on the desk. Nothing else. A spellbook is valuable. He doesn't care about the possessions here. He's had looters here before. He says it'd be no harm us taking something if we are to fight Strahd himself. I'd be interested in the spell book.

Then I'll turn the blind eye while you take it. Can I then I'll turn the blind eye while you take it can I yeah I guess go back and throw him and pocket his spellbook yeah you go in as soon as you start reaching out for the spellbook and you can see there are two scrolls clearly arcane scrolls like spell scrolls on the desk as well

you can see the arcane glyphs they've not been bound so they're kind of half open and you can see the beginnings of arcane language for the spells inscribed on them. As soon as you reach out for the spellbook, you hear that kind of echoing voice once again, kind of

speaks out to you. I can't remember which setting of these I used. Echo. Yeah, I only have images. I can't remember which one is these I used. Echo. Yeah, I only have images. I can't remember which one is the echo. I think it is... Was it this one? Was this the correct voice?

Yes. Okay, then. So as soon as you reach out for the spellbook, you hear a sort of... What are you doing? Don't touch that. Leave it where it is. Leave it where it is!

Didn't you want some help? Maybe the spell is in here. The spell was taken by Vokta. The rest of the spell will... Leave it! There is an enchantment on it. It will kill you if you take it. Hmm. Is there, though?

Um... Yes. It will burn the flesh of your little paws, cat. Can I insight check that? There's nobody here to insight, really. Like, it's just an echoey voice from another realm you can't see the person to like read their body language or i guess could i look at the spell book and like yeah do that uh i can't actually know i'm out of spell slots what do you want to do

literally i was just gonna inspect it withana. See if there's any magical presence. You can make a perception check for me. Arcana is more like knowledge of magic. Probably the detect magic spell would be that if you wanted to reveal if there was any sort of like actual spells cast on it. I have that. I'll cast it. Okay. So Jesper comes in the room.

You cast detect magic. Yeah. The two scrolls have um auras on them implying that they are magical spell scrolls that will contain a spell um and then the spell book itself uh it has no enchantment on the cover or the pages or anything like that it has some innate magic just because it is a spell book and it is engraved you know it has spells kind of written in it but it's not there's no like glyphs or protections on it or anything like that he lies there's nothing unless physical there's nothing magical protecting if you take that book i will never let you live it

down i will i will find a way out i will find the way i will hunt you down and kill you. That is my life's work. Well, your life is trapped in a different plane, my friend, and we need it to fight the unliving. Damn you, Vistani. You're thieves and looters. Of course I should have expected that one of you would take this. You and your little cat from another world. I'm okay leaving a xenophobic where he is. Let's go. Can I take the two

spell scrollies? Yes. And can I just have a quick flick through the spellbook? And just see... Oh, this is where it blows your face off. No. You can turn the pages absolutely fine.

Nothing happens to you. Yeah. This was a very empty threat that anybody who touched it would have their hands blown off. Yeah, no, the spellbook has several arcane spells written into it. It looks like it is the tool of a wizard or a wizard

in training at least um sick the there's if you were to quickly analyze the level of power held within uh spells of the third tier or level you might say uh are recorded in you you might recognize some um i think shadow would recognize there is one enchantment to animate the dead. Oh, sorry, my correction. Fourth tier of power there are included up to here. One, there is a spell called Blight written into the spellbook,

which allows you to withdraw life force from living creatures. Well. A glyph of warding to lay down a protective trap. The mending cantrip. There's a bunch of different spells in here, but yeah, with a quick flick through,

that's what you see. How does that work mechanically? Like, if I literally just steal this dude's... Like, can magic casters just use... How does that work? No, so a spellbook is a tool used by a wizard to prepare their spells so like as a cleric you just pray and you you you you gain the spells that you ask for but a wizard has to learn them from the book and then prepare them um now somebody

like a uh you know a sorcerer or warlock or something like that might be able to learn some of these spells from the book when they level up um you might be able to turn them into spell scrolls if you you you wanted to you know inscribe the magic from the book into a scroll um you need to pay some gold and buy parchment and things like that for it but you could translate them into a spell scroll and then somebody could cast them from the scroll but the spellbook itself is also just valuable this is quite there's quite powerful magic in here if you found somebody who is a collector or another wizard they would probably buy this off you for not you know a decent sum maybe something like 500 to um you know a bit more gold you know 500 like 700 gold or something like that. Nice. Yeah.

I think I might leave it. I don't know. I feel bad. You can leave it then. But you wanted to take the scroll, didn't you? Yeah, I'm definitely taking the scrolls. I'm on those. Yoink.

Okay. Let me just find out what. Do I see the hesitation in Shadow's eyes? Yeah. Yeah. Guessing Rose is watching, what would you guys think? Rose. You have spare space in your backpack. I could make space. Why? Do you mind taking that book?

Do we want an ally? Or are we passing on that opportunity? I don't want him as an ally. I know that much. Fool. I know more magic than you will ever understand. You want to work with that? Sure.

Don't take his book. I'd rather take his book now. I'll just go up and take the book and put it in my bag. None of you can even comprehend the magic held within. You are fools. You are sick fools, just like the rest of this pathetic town. When I am free

from this place, I will come and find you, and I will kill you and animate your bodies to serve me for the rest of time. Look forward to it. I'll give you a Taroka reading. I don't have much hope. I don't have much hope of you getting out of

this situation with that attitude, though. So we'll probably never see you again. There is just a long kind of wailing scream that echoes through the room as, yeah, you go up and just pluck the book. Take it, put it in your bag. Shadow, the two scrolls that you picked up. So, Rose, you can add Victor Volakovich's spellbook.

It's not a, you don't need to do it as a custom item because it's not prepared. And you get two scrolls. Shadow, one is for the spell Spider Climb, which is a second level spell. And the first level spell, Ray of Sickness. Two scrolls, Shadow. One is for the spell Spider Climb, which is a second level spell. And the first level spell, Ray of Sickness. Two scrolls. Can I also sweep up the cat bones and just be like, I'll be making sure that these get their proper rights.

Just like sweep them up as well. Yeah, it's just like a couple of... It looks like there's several like maybe three or four house cats were killed and then stripped and then you know looks like that he was in the process of analyzing them and doing all sorts of weird stuff uh to them poor cats kitty cats pretty much pretty much uh Just one more thing. On our way out, can I take one of the creepy arena dolls with me? Yeah, well, when you guys head back downstairs from the attic down into the Burgomaster's Mansion,

you begin making your way out, and you find Ismark is currently going through all the wardrobes and chests. He's actually pulling out traveling clothes, things like extra cloaks gloves uh winter gear basically anything that could be useful on the journey he's like you know finding spare pairs of boots and things like that uh irena however is you passed it i think jasper and rose found it but there's a there's like a little room like a beauty room attached to the bedroom and inside was this gorgeous wedding dress um on a mannequin and you just see irena is just

looking at it quite fondly and like holding the fabric and she's kind of you know holding it up against herself and like looking in a in a broken mirror at it and things like that um and just kind of admiring it when you sort of like you catch her she doesn't seem to notice you at first but then turns around in a start and she's like oh did you find what you were looking for my friends the clues that madame evil left can i do a quick intelligence check for yes because i know shit but i want to know if yes but would think to know it well what do you think yes but would know how about that trying to just tell me uh the tatiana dolls tatiana tatiana book tatiana irena well the dolls are just irena you don't know that the dolls

are anything related to tatiana they're just they look like many irena dolls but we have heard strad call her tatiana or say something you called You said something, yeah. He called out, how dare you take Tatiana from me, was something that he called out. And he does seem obsessed with her, Irina. I don't think you need to make an intelligence check, but yeah, I know what Chris knows, and Jesper doesn't know that.

But you can definitely have your suspicions that there's something about this girl, and maybe she's Tatiana or something like that you don't know how but maybe yeah I don't mind you guys having that assumption I'm gonna say Tatiana

she doesn't seem to she kind of looks at you just like that name the devil called it out before. Did you find, was the clue you found related to her in some way? Yes, we found this book. It is a first-hand case that he wrote himself

of his tragedy. Yes, we found it in the attic. But we have useful information here of how we could stop Strahd his weaknesses a Sun sword of some kind the Sun it's such good news yes we have a lead that's great Ismark will be delighted to hear and I'm glad that nothing no more tragedy happened while you were gone indeed yes that's wonderful news

she looks back and she's like oh sorry and then she you see that she goes to put the dress back but she kind of hesitates like she holds it quite lovingly it's such a shame to leave something like this in an old broken house I feel like it should at least go to

someone who could use it. I'm surprised that nobody took it from here before. The rest of the place seems to have been abandoned. I suppose that perhaps Fiona has no use for it, but it seems such a shame. We've seen the dolls, the wedding-themed

dolls that look like... Well, there was one that had a wedding theme, yeah. There was one that had a wedding dress on. The rest of them were all dressed in different outfits. Some of them looked like hunting clothes, some looked like courtly clothes. One was wearing armor. Like, the dolls had all different

versions, it seemed, of this one person, the Irena. Was there a wedding doll? Like a... There was one. There was one wedding doll, yeahina. Was there a wedding doll? There was one wedding doll, yeah. Can I take the bride doll? You sneak past as they're having this conversation, yeah, you can go in and

find where Jesper hid it in the trunk. You're right. It's not too big, it's more like sort of like, you know, sort of like six, seven inches tall, and it's not like an articulated doll, you know a couple you know sort of like six seven inches tall and it's not like a like an articulated doll you know like made of porcelain and it seems to have been carved out of wood and then there's like felt um for like some parts of like the hair and things like that uh yeah like parts of it seem to have been made out of maybe fired clay um the clothes have been

stitched from fabric. Yeah. A wedding dress. I've still got detect magic, right? Technically. You do, yeah. Ten minutes. Off the dress, no. But there is a very faint, like the aura of something here was once enchanted.

The fragments of the mirror, there's like a broken mirror and some of those fragments appear to have held some sort of enchantment. But it has been broken. Oh damn, is it been spying? Is it been a creepy boy? Maybe.

It is a beautiful dress and it looks like it would suit you very well. I don't know about that yes yes I have no reason for such finery but you don't think that

I could treat yourself like you say it's in an old decrepit house maybe I'll find someone that can make use of it some young woman out there who this might actually make her smile for a bit in in borovia and she begins packing it away idea she starts packing it away into a bag so i don't want to take the cursed wedding dress no well

wedding dress from like a house where everyone's been murdered and like, you know, there's creepy dolls and there's a spooky in the attic and like, yeah, I'm just going to tie this wedding dress, y'all. I'm sure whoever wears it is going to have such a blessed new life. Yes, he's on like an adrenaline high from stealing stuff. So he's like, yeah, let's take some more. Let's take it all.

Yeah. All right. So is the plan to gather everyone up and then head back to the inn for those of you in the Burgomast? Let's take some more. Let's take it all. Alright. So is the plan to gather everyone up and then head back to the inn for those of you in the Burgomaster's mansion? Alright, cool. Anything you want to take, there's no more threats. If you want to loot for anything

of value, you could do so. Or you can just get the hell out of it. If Jesper wants to go on, like literally going through the house, like taking, it will take you a bit of time. It'll take you like an hour,

but you could go through the house and be like, Oh, I'm going to check the drawers. Uh, I could check like the book, like the, the study and see if there's anything of value, not like,

you know, ripping up floorboards, but just like checking to see if like, Oh, is there any nice jewelry? Is there anything like, you know, hung up on the walls that looks like it's worth anything i think i'd resist and think about the greater picture yeah sure okay what about rose and uh shadow you just want to crack on um i've got a creepy doll. I think I'm alright.

I'm kind of thinking about, you know, when we're outside getting hellhounded and then we saw the hand out of the grave with a ring on it. Can I just go back and inspect that ring a little bit closer? Okay, so you go outside

back the way you came to the freshly sort of like recently buried dead and you find this one hand with a kind of clawed fingers reaching out and yeah you see that there's this um quite nice gold signet ring um you inspect it looks like it might be worth about 7500 gold maybe just if you found someone to buy it. And it has an emblem of a mastiff, like a dog, like a large hunting dog. Come on, like, hate us.

Cool. Are you the gatekeeper? I am the keymaster. Nice doggy! Nice doggy. Nice doggy. Yeah. I don't know that Shadow will take it. It just seems to glint in the moonlight.

I don't know, but it's glinting. It's glinting at me. It's also dead man's possession. Are you a grave robber, Shadow? No, I'm a grave cleric. Can I very nicely bury his hand? Just fix this poor effort here at being buried. Interesting.

Let me just make a note. Oh, no. Okay. All right. And with that, you guys begin making your way back to the inn, right? Yeah. Yes. Well, with

the extra bit of time looking at the dolls and talking to Irina and the two hours you spent looking for the book, I think that Zeros and Ziki, their encounter was quite quick in a way, will probably make it back to the inn before you guys.

So, Zeros and Ziki, you guys make your way, and yeah, you make your way up the quiet streets. The night is probably still going. You must be in the very early hours, sort of like 4 or 5am or something like that.

There's no sign of any sunrise just yet. Even here, it still seems like it's going to remain pretty dark for a while um but you may manage to make your way back you don't see any people watching you from the windows in the streets or anything like that you see the the abandoned boarded up windows of the blue water in rising up ahead of you um what you guys want to do? I mean, we try and go in. Why not?

What's Skeletor going to feel about this? Yeah, so Ziki, I think, still has the key, so you can unlock the door and you begin stepping inside. On the main level of the inn, you don't see the immediate you don't see father lucian or the uh or uh mr mr bones um mr bones that's my name that name again is mr bonestrell uh saint andrew yes. I'm just thinking...

Hang on. So, yeah, the main entryway leads into the large, open common room of the tavern. There are still tables and chairs stacked on top of them and that sort of thing. You can see that there is a staircase that leads up to the second floor as well as a series of back rooms

but you don't see any immediate sign of the bones of St. Andrew or Father Lucian when you enter cool I think I would just firstly just go and sit in the corner seat that I had when we were last here and just kind of

so my sword he who grins your new sword yeah i can read infernal i can understand infernal now um and it also apparently has a delicate infernal script on a razor thin oh no sorry on one half there's delicate infernal script does it say anything there's jagged there's jagged infernal script on the other half as well on the other side So it's two blades Imagine two blades with a thin

Gap between them One is made of like jagged dark Red metal with like Big teeth and sort of chunks It looks vicious and that has These jagged heavy Infernal runes carved into it The other side is much more elegant, thin, very razor-thin blade-edged black metal with delicate script.

And yeah, on one side it says, a smile for my friends, which is on the delicate side. And on the other side, a smile for my enemies. Oh, that's cool. That's nice. I like that. And you know, holding the weapon, you know that this thing has a name. You can feel that it has been wielded

by creatures, not people, but fiends. It has been wielded by people that have done terrible, terrible things. But it's powerful. It is very powerful. And you know it is very powerful and you know it's called he who grins he who grins i'm not gonna do anything awful with it well i might ziki we mentioned that your form was like a little bit different you still looked a little

bit withered and husked is there like any other sort of like physical changes um for ziki since returning i think her her claws would be a little sharper perhaps her fangs would be a little longer she looks kind of haggard a little bit yeah like bags under the eyes and stuff yeah bags, bags under the eyes, yeah. A little thin, a little worn. Yeah. And I'm assuming that on the walk back, have you guys spoken to each other yet, or have you just been walking in silence back to this inn? I mean, I would be.

I do have something I want to say eventually, but I don't know if Zeke was talking. If Zeke's saying anything, I guess I'm responding with grunts and fuck and stuff like that. It's okay. Yeah. I think Zeki would probably ask Xeros where everybody else is and how long it's been. What's going on?

What's been happening? What's been happening? What's been going down? been happening short answers really mansion like an hour it's been like a super short time like I guess for you you feel like you've been out for you know who knows how long like days

like weeks yeah no it's been like at most two hours at most uh so yeah i guess after i oh you go no that's all right you go okay well i was gonna say i went to back at the tavern uh after like reading the sword i'll kind of like put that to well put that on the ground in front of me I'll put it on my back I don't know can I put it on my back if I'm sitting down it's a great sword I don't think so well you carried your other

swords on your back so yeah why not is this bigger though or like weightier it's not necessarily bigger it's wider it's wider because it's basically two two huge blades on one guard so it's it's wider it's wider because it's basically two two huge blades on one guard so it's it's wider but it's not necessarily taller or anything like that

but it covers like almost your whole back when you have it sheathed back there it's you know as broad as your own shoulders because it's effectively like two enormous blades in one it's two great swords in one that's perfect because I already had two. Yeah, I know. Okay, then I'll look to Ziki and say this is going to be a

problem. What is? What's the problem, Sir Ross? When they return they know I would make a deal. What did you do? What deal did you make, Zeros?

What happened? A deal to bring you back to me. So did I. Fuck. What's yours, Xerox? Tell me, what is yours? I have one month to to mark

someone called Tatiana okay to retrieve the embers of Strahd's soul and to return it to him. Right. And what happens if you fail? What's the cost?

Xeros, what's the cost? The cost was both of us, wasn't it? You know. You don't need me to confirm it. Then I won't really respond to that question. Zeros, you can't hide things from me now. Please.

I did what I had to, Tiki. If Strahd himself would bring you back, I would have aligned with him. Well, okay. Oh, oh no. You hear, as you guys have been speaking, you see the back door behind the bar opens, and

Father Lucian kind of steps out, kind of rubbing his eyes. Ah, I see that some of you have returned. Forgive me, your voices... I was... I must have dozed off back in the kitchens.

He looks around. Just the two of you? where are the others? oh they're at the mansion I think they as you answer the bones of St. Andrew come walking from behind

Father Lucian the celestial language inscribed, the bones of St. Andral come walking from behind Father Lucian. They're kind of in scripture, the celestial language inscribed into the bones radiating with light. It's empty sockets still softly glowing with blue light. And as it kind of steps in, it just seems to be following

Lucian, stands there for a moment, and then its eyes snap up towards Zeke. It grabs the sword from its back and pulls it free for a moment and then its eyes snap up towards Zeke. It grabs the sword from its back and pulls it free and begins moving forward. Roll initiative, both of you. What?

Roll initiative? Oh, yeah. Well, I don't want to. I smell wrong. That's a shame, isn't it? But he's my bro well maybe uh we finally get to dance you finally do i think uh so what are we looking at um initiative wise uh 15 total i'll put everybody else at 1 for now

because you guys might arrive as things are happening was that sorry Zeke? 14 and then Zeros 15 well Zeros

you immediately your battle senses your kind of sense of preservation kick in the skeleton is moving towards ziki the blade is drawn um father lucian is like santander what are you doing and it's like reaching for it as it's just like let's bring the sword up and you just hear a low whispering voice change it shit I guess none of the like walk that we did is long rest or short rest worthy even

oh sure I'd let you have a short rest sure oh good because uh yeah I am not feeling good after that fight let me uh let me do a couple of dice rolls for yeah yeah yeah sure sure sure sure sure sure sure sure sure why not nine sure, sure, sure, sure. Why not? I want nine. I want you to be in top condition.

Oh, no. 12, 22. Is that enough? 1, 2, 3. Yeah, that's pretty much enough. Cool. I'm at 42 out of 49. Perfect. Okay, so if he's heading towards ziki i still don't really want to hit him like he

promised he would fight for me at some point so i'm just going to go in front of ziki and if he comes close there's no disarm action or anything is there no so a battle master fighter can learn it as a maneuver. If you want to

try and knock him to the ground or try and grab his weapon, I'd make it a grapple check, but it's not like a cool movie disarm. You'd have to physically grab him and try and yank the sword free from its bony hand. The sword goes in between my two swords

and I spin it. Sure, you can try. No, I'll do a, if he tries to attack, I'll return with a goading attack. Like if he goes to attack, I'll goading attack so he can't. Yeah. You have to do the goading attack first because otherwise it doesn't trigger the disadvantage thing.

Yeah, that's what i mean if he tries to attack then i'll goading attack okay all right all right okay okay okay all right sure sure so you're ready in action uh ziki you can see that san andrew is is coming towards you with a weapon drawn you hear it's it's horse voice taint um i think uh ziki's probably gonna be voice. Taint. Um. I think Ziki's probably gonna be just she's gonna be feeling

awful so I think she's gonna try and get up and try and scramble towards the door and okay try and

yeah try and leave. Sure. Uh so. I'm sorry I'm sorry I didn't mean to. As uh you get

to 10 feet so you can get your hands on the door and with trembling claws, you can start trying to pull it open. You can see it leads out into the inn before you. Yeah. Do you want to just carry on outside or do you want to... What do you want to do? Yeah, I think I should just try and carry on outside.

I do have it up on roll 20 as well as a map if you're interested. Okay. Wonderful. I think I should just try and carry on outside I do have it up on roll 20 as well as a map if you're interested I think so yeah you can I don't know if you can see oh Lucius I'll need to

who's the other one who is that who is the strange man? Right, I'll just make you... You can be cameraman for now, yes. Yeah, so you rush out about 20, 15 feet outside of the inn's main entrance, Zeke. Looking back, Xeros, you can see that she's moved,

basically run away to the side of you and has moved off. You see the skeleton yeah is changing its direction and is going in the direction uh away from you oh stupid dynamic lighting i hate it so so he's just following ziki not me uh he does he is going for Zeke, 100%. Scroll all the way to the bottom, Tron, and then it should be there. There you go.

Yeah, seems to be the case. Does not seem to be interested in you whatsoever. Father Lucian turns to the two of you. He's like, Tainted? What is this? And then he casts a spell. He kind of holds up a holy symbol. You see his eyes kind of glow with a holy light,

and he passes his eyes over both you and Ziki. You carry the tool of the devils. And she, what is this darkness bound to her what is this what have you done what have you done and he calls out as he sees you making your way

the bones of St. Andrewal just storm past the bones just smash through a table and chairs sending sending them flying 5, 10, 15, 20, 25. As he just begins making his way towards Zeke, he will dash to get to Zeke. As he leaves, he's just like, No! The hollow! You cannot leave the inn!

St. Andrewl, please! Calls out. You have betrayed us! You have betrayed us. You have betrayed us all. He looks at you when he says that, Zeros. Hey, Rhi, we might have really fucked up this time. I think he's really

fessing up. Zeros. Zeros. Hearing him saying I'm going to kick you out of the high ground, Brianna. I'm going to destroy you. Okay, hearing him saying about the hallowed ground and, like, that he can't leave, I'll go 5, 10, 15, 20. I'll do 30 feet to get behind St. Andrew. And I will try that grapple.

I kind of want to pull him back into, not back into the tavern, but back into, like, well, turn him around. Once you have him grappled, you can move at half speed with him grappled. You can like drag him back or drag the skeleton.

Okay, well, I've done my full movement, so I will do the action grapple and then next turn I can start dragging him back. Sure. So that is, you make an athletics check

and I will oppose it with a dexterity check. Athletics. Natural 20. Yeah. You grab the bones, like one giant claw around a rib cage, the other on a shoulder,

and you just hold this thing back, and you can see it pulling, desperately trying to bring its arms to bear against Ziki. So it's grappled. It has disadvantage on any attack rolls it makes while it is grappled. Wonderful. But that does not stop it from attacking. That's the point.

Oh, okay. It just means you, it basically, his speed becomes zero. So when you grapple a creature, I just want to find the graphic the graphic speed becomes zero uh it's it's speed becomes zero it's not necessarily restrained speed becomes zero um

oh and that's it it doesn't actually uh benefit from any bonus speed condition also ends yeah so i think certain monsters also inflicts the restrained condition but grappling doesn't inherently cause that because you're just holding speed condition also ends yeah so i think certain monsters also inflict the restrained condition but grappling doesn't inherently cause that because you're just holding on to him you still can use his arms and legs and things like that he just can't move right now um if you incapacitate

him then you can then you can obviously do that um yeah yeah you move up grapple him that's your action i'm assuming is to to grab him uh technically you can use your second attack now to attack him if you'd like could i i don't want to attack him as such i almost just want to without harming him kind of throw him behind me i guess it's kind of shove action but if i'm shoving while grappling i just sort of turn around and throw him back into the tavern. Like a bowling game. Well, you wouldn't be able to throw him because then you'd be letting go of the grapple, but you could definitely yank him back five feet if you want.

Yeah, okay. Yeah, I just want to, at least for a bit, just pull him back. I kind of don't want him to leave this ground. I don't want someone else to die from this deal. I don't want anyone to die from this deal. It's going to happen anyway eventually, but I don't want to be my bro.

Who's my bro bro? The target must be many more sides more than you. Make a strength athletics check opposed by athletics or acrobatics check. If you succeed, you can either knock the target prone or push it five feet from you. So there you go.

You can do that. And I will have, I'll take disadvantage on the dex roll. 23. 23. 23. That's going to beat my 14. So what do you want to do? Like drag him five feet backwards from his current position?

Yeah, there's nothing I can really do to get him away from Zeke. No, not really. He's still within range. With the sword that you gave him, he can still bring that to bear. But you pull him back like five feet like shove him back five feet basically uh yeah i'll pull him yeah so he's still grappled yeah he's still grappled but he still can make his attacks uh the father lucian steps uh within range um what are you doing?

Get your hands off of him. You must not harm St. Andrew. And he will attempt to... What will he attempt to do? He will cast Sanctuary on the bones of St. Andral

yeah so you watch as this kind of shimmering field of energy protects him do not harm him you fiend you you you traitor what have you done what dark pact have you made are you working with Vokta have you betrayed? What dark pact have you made? Are you working with Vokta? Have you betrayed us? The Bones of St. Andral will attempt to attack Ziki with Zeros's greatsword.

He'll make two attacks. I should really split this so I can look at both windows at the same time. Yeah, you gave him, yeah. Yeah, you gave him one. Oh, okay. Oh, yeah! Oh, no! No, no, no no you gave him a great sword remember you had three and you gave him one because he was your bro no yeah i love that guy uh oh i don't know what that was that was wrong with me i shouldn't have rolled with disadvantage uh so the first one is a 14 to hit taziki yeah it Yeah, that hits. Yeah, that hits.

Man, this deal's got foot already. That's going to be... That's going to be 10 points of damage as the greatsword, like, cleaves into the side of you. Must perish! No! The dark powers cannot rise. Oh, man.

That's all he does. The rest of you are on your way back, but we'll have you arrive, let's say, in the next round. You will arrive on the outskirts of the inn. Zeros, what would you like to do? So while I'm grappling with him, I suppose I could rotate around him to the opposite side.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And if I've got multi-attack... I mean, he just hit Zeke. He did. He did. He really did. So I'll... Yeah, I guess

I can un-grapple him and then bam with one of my swords and then kick him away on the second one which sword do you want to use just a normal great sword I mean depends how angry is he that he just hurt how upset does Zeke look 10 hit points off of what hit points do you have

bleeding heavy bloody cut does Zeke look? 10 hit points off of what hit points do you have? Bleeding. It's a big, heavy, bloody cut. I'm not good, man. Alright. I'll smile for my friends on that side. Okay. Yep, so the black... Delicate razor sharp black edge.

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, actually actually so i've got more attack that's an action that's two attacks right i've got a bonus action i'm not that angry i'm not that angry you don't know you don't want to speak the command word are you sure not that angry yet um so yeah i will just hit him once and uh kick him push him back so let's see how do I how do I attack again in this game oh there you go 14 to hit oh yeah that

hits the decrepit skeleton easily and then 14 damage um how far would I launch him if I just really try and well you don't need to worry about that because as you as you bring the fiendish greatsword down, it connects and you see a flash of light

as the infernal runes on the sword flare in a dark red glow. The bones of St. Andral, the celestial language inscribed into the bones, flares white, and the bones of St. Andral explode into a scattering of bone shards. Can you and Zeki both make dexterity saving throws for me please? Oh, oh, spaghetti!

I rolled a zero mark! You did! Oh, Zeki, you got some bad news. That's five piercing damage as these bone fragments erupt everywhere. This is so sad. You hear Father Lucian.

No! What have you done? Traitor! Devil worshipper! the morning lord shall see you suffer oh no it's too late you have an extra attack xeros and some movement what ziki go do you have something do you have a reaction i have my favorite by the gods ability i do you do you need to make sure that i have to make it yeah i have to make that when he attacks I have my favored by the gods ability. You do. You need to make sure that I have to make it. Yeah, I have to make that when he attacks you.

It's a bit too late for that. Remember it, though. That's very important in Strahd. Yeah, cool. I have 2d4. Knocking around. Man. Man.

What, man? What, man? I'm going to walk up as close as possible. man what man what man I'm gonna walk up and close this I'm gonna close this door and like hold it shut you guys both did make deals and uh yeah y'all evil now so you walk up and close the door

as Ziki I believe you have to make a death saving throw as you are currently unconscious, I believe. Oh, wait, you went down? I did, yeah. He's just walking away. I'm walking away. Yay, yay. Oh, no, shit. Sorry. When you said I jumped up back, I thought...

Let me go! Oh, okay. Can I go back and save you? If she dies again. No. Oh, okay. Can I go back and paint? If she dies again. No. Oh, my God. Jesus Christ. What's even happening? I love it.

Oh, man. So, can you just turn up and no power of it? So, you guys are going to turn up and it's going to be at the end of your turn that you rock up, basically. Which makes me even better. Yeah, because what you guys see, I think that you guys, in the distance,

as you are making your way up the road, you see the glowing bones of St andrew move up um you you kind of see something happening and then you just see xeros push him back and then bring the sword down as he explodes into shards of bone ziki stumbles to the ground xeros then like moves up and slams against the door uh and that's what you're going to see. So do we see, because this is what I was thinking, do we see Zeke alive? At any point. Yes, yeah, you see Zeke stood there.

Xeros hits the skeleton. It glows as the, and you see him holding a weird sword with glowing runes. It hits the skeleton. It flares. There's a bright flash, which is seen from all the windows,

the whole street is lit up by this kind of explosion of light, as the skeleton then explodes into bone fragments. Zeke falls to the gruel, like blood just pouring down her tunic. Yeah, that's... Yeah. Did we get a short rest or anything?

Are we? I guess not. You guys, not really, because you guys were like exploring the thing, I would say. Okay. Trying to find... One more question for me, mechanically. Sure.

Because obviously we leveled up at the end of last episode. So I was out of spell slots, but obviously because we've leveled up, I've unlocked third level spells, of which I have two spell slots. How does that work mechanically? Then you have of spell slots but obviously because we've leveled up I've unlocked third level spells of which I have two spell slots then you have those spell slots yeah you have those two spell slots

but you don't have any of the other ones you expended yeah so you've got your two new ones but you don't have the others um so Ziki starts bleeding out that happens um fuck a duck So Ziki starts bleeding out. That happens.

Fuck it, duck. Oh, I forgot the sanctuary. Do you know what, Ziki? It makes out because you forgot your undead thing and I forgot sanctuary on the St. Andrew's bones. Tom should have had to have made a wisdom save to attack it. That's all good. Tom's even madder now what i would have no go on hold of your attacks

um he cast it oh did he cast it off yeah it basically it goes if he attacked so yeah so it would have gone anyway um he boomed you i think what the you basically make a strength test for me uh xeros um as the priest tries to batter the door down he like shoulder barges it for nine say or just check? Just strength check, so athletics. Oh my god, I almost failed that. Plus five. Eleven. You feel like something slam against the door

and it almost kind of sends you flying and she's like, how dare you! I must avenge, Sir Andrew! The Morning Lord shall not let you live! Oh no! oh no uh and then it would be zeros again and then you guys are free to act at the end of after everybody else quick load anyone quick load about the save zeros you see ziki uh dying on the ground if you look back and you can see what

appears to be three, well, five technically, because Irina and Ismark would be there. Figures approaching. I don't recognize them, right? No, you recognize them. It's your good friend. How far away are they?

They're where they are on the map. So from you, they're 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40 feet. Yeah, I'll keep the door shut and yell to them to heal Zeke. Anything else you want to do? You just want to try and keep pressing against this door? I'll keep on holding the door, because this guy is probably going to burst out of a window or something. Maybe.

I don't know. Zeke, I've got some bad news, Zeke. It's time for another death semi-throw no not one not on that one oh don't because it will be now it's not showing up it's not showing up oh you've not rolled it yet you know okay i thought you'd roll it 19 success success nearly and that's right oh my god Success nearly, and that's right. Oh, my God. How? I can't.

Imagine if I brought you back, blew up the Andral, and then just, you died again. Oh, my God. I think, I feel like even Asmodeus would be like, oh, for fuck's sake. Asmodeus has promised he would protect Zeke, so if she does die again, Asmodeus is be like, oh for fuck's sake. Asmodeus has promised he would protect

Zeke, so if she does die again, Asmodeus is watching out for her. Oh, sweet. So, Zeros, you hear chanting. You hear this deep prayer. Oh, great morning, Lord. Please, lend me aid to seek vengeance. You kind of hear this spinning thing, and then you begin

to see little flittering angelic beings kind of circling around the door and then you begin to see little flittering angelic beings circling around the door. I am going to need you to mate. Well, this is at the start of your turn, actually. But yeah, you see this flittering storm of angelic beings

washing around you as they do so. Irina just looks in a panic. Ray washing around you as they do so. Irina just looks in a panic. What is happening? Zeki was walking! And then she rushes over to Zeki

and will try to stabilize. Hey! Stabilizes. She begins like banishing the wound. She's like, I don't understand! What is happening? How is she walking? And she calls out, Rose, you are next. I have no idea what to do! Then you can just

stand there and just be like, what the fuck? You can just be like, what the fuck? She would probably go over to Zeki as well, but she's not going to be attacking any old man that was her friend before they left the building. You see

this storm of angels around the door, just this spinning cyclone of angelic beings. Zeros is in the middle of it, holding the door shut. Hold the door. She's probably just going to look at Zeros with a very serious look and then um she will um

cast uh cure wounds on ziki to bring her back thank you you're welcome oh man all right well while you do that jasper it's your go so if you just roll it katie and then let uh three oh sorry shadow shadow then yes it's better than nothing thank you very much game shadow um yeah i'm gonna go up next to ziki um 5, 10, 15, 20. Yeah, okay. I guess seeing that other people have... I was going to do my full heal, but

how injured is Zeros looking? I don't know. How injured is Zeros looking? I'm alright. He's alright. I'll shoo everyone aside. I'll be like, no, get away, get away.

Can I also just look up and shout, so you did the deal, did you? And then I'm going to heal, I'm going to cure wounds on Ziki. so that is at level 3. Thank you. So that's 3d8. Okay, hold on a minute. 1, 2, 3. Oh god, no, that's 4.

No. Plus 3. That's 22 points of healing. Thank you very much. As you reach out and you feel the healing energy flow from your patron goddess, you can sense that within Ziki, there is still this divine touch of joy and laughter. Now there is like looking at a coin for the first time. You've seen the front side of it,

but now you can catch glimpses of the back of this coin where a darkness has taken place. The same power that you could sense within the mists of Barovia

within the land of Barovia is now woven into Ziki's soul and heart and her eyes you can see that her body is perhaps a little more withered and undead her claws are now

jagged her fangs sharper her eyes dark as if she has not slept for months and you know that something has changed. Jesper. Just going to look at things going on. Going to look at Shadow.

I assume you cured Wyn from a distance. No, you must have gone up to her, right? No, sorry, I forgot to move my token. I was right next to her. Yeah, I'll stumble up too. Ziki. And I look up to Zeros. What have you done to St. Andrew?

What is this, Zeros? What have you done? Broken bones everywhere. All right, so that's Jesper's turn. Oh, God. Yeah, I for forgot my turn you're just like creating like Zekian just in horror I'm waiting for his response

yeah don't worry Zeros Ismark is still your bro because he doesn't understand because he's stupid oh Ismark the lesser he just he's not the lesser he's just like can't you see that something's attacking xeros and he runs up to help you hold the door back like don't worry

my friend and he like throws his shoulder up against it as well thinking that like something is trying to come out at the inn at you um and you see that he's bombarded by all these uh these these little flittering creatures that try and grab him he fails Ismar! Please! Ismar, it's my turn! You're his bro! You're his buddy! He sees you struggling! If Ismar dies because of this... I swear to god... Zeros, it's your turn! When you start your turn, I need you to make a wisdom saving throw. Wisdom NPC.

He's like, I can carry your burdens, friend! I can carry your burdens, friend. I am born to carry your burdens. Ten radiant damage, Zeros, as you are also bombarded by these flittering angel-like beings. Okay, how to quietly retire your D&D character. No, no. You have to live with the consequences

of your actions. I don't want to live with any consequences, damn. I will yell out while still standing inside this barrage and still holding the door. A deal was made to bring back what was lost. Our goal holding the door. A deal was made to bring back what was lost. Our goal is

the same. That's six seconds. Yeah, sure. Anything else you don't want to do? You just going to continue holding? Can I like nudge his mark? Get the fuck out of here, dude. Yeah, he's just like,

I'm not leaving you to deal with this thing alone. Zeke, you are conscious. You see your friends. Oh, look, it's Shadow and Rose and Jesper and Irina. They're all here with you. Oh, it's lovely. Is this heaven? Yeah.

Very happy, though. Shadow doesn't look happy. Shadow is furious. We've got some explaining to do. Um... First we need to deal with this. I'm gonna give Xeros the key that I have and maybe try and get him

to lock the door. You like throw the key to him he catches it. Yeah. Sure. It looks like an action movie where I catch the key. Yeah, sure. Catching the key always looks cool. Can you roll for it?

Please not dexterity. Can we? Sure, make a dexterity check. Yes! Sounds pretty fun. I mean, how good is Zeke's's save all right yeah so ziki make a ranged attack so just a d20 plus your deck attack um yeah it's but you're throwing it it's like a race you're throwing it like zeros cool i love it plus zero that's an 11 oh and plus your proficiency which is three So it's fourteen

That's enough you can throw it in the big direction of Zeros Now Zeros has to catch it I get dex saving throw You go to catch it You kind of like You go to hit it but you knock it with your claw And it goes flying it kind of like goes off to the side I'll put a little

No it does not kill shadow but it does land over here gonna take more than that it lands about five feet away um as yeah you see the key lying in the grass you're starting to hear by the way the rest of you the whole group the the flash of light sounds of battle, you can hear metal, like, marching, like... Oh, no! Oh, well, okay. Lucius is dead.

Oh, no. I refuse to die because of this. Yeah, we'll run away then. From behind the door, you hear, I will never forgive you,ils devil worshippers traitors you have destroyed saint andrel you have destroyed malaki and a mace comes slamming into the door as he is now trying to bash the door down smash and he's gonna use his divine

eminence he's gonna use divine eminence to channel power. He's mad as hell. So that's five bludgeoning damage. And then nine radiant damage. A huge burning hole kind of erupts through the door. And like the shining, you can now see the half face of a crazed Father Lucian. His hair rounded his eyes as he stares at you with wild red eyes. I see you,

traitor! I see the devil in your soul! Oh my god. Oh my god. Irina Irina will help Zeki. She'll help you up, Zeki, from the ground. And she'll be like, Zeki, I don't know what's happened. I'm glad that you're alive, but

we must run. Those clockwork soldiers are coming. We must flee now. And she's like waiting for you, but she's kind of holding you up. Like she's staying with you. She draws her weapon and she's going to basically stick by you until somebody you guys know what you're going to do, basically.

Rose, what do you want to do? Just sit on the ground and give up. No. Is there anywhere else that we know we could go to from being around town? It's the Burgomaster's Mansion. That's another place you've been. The place that you just came from. There's the...

You kind of passed a... You did pass what appeared to be some sort of like lumber yard or worker's yard and an abandoned wagon and like animal cages. You passed that. Could be somewhere you could try and hide for a time.

Can I... Nowhere else. You've not been anywhere else in the town yet. Yeah. You could run outside the town. You could try and head to the gates. Get out of the lackey. At this point, it might be the best option

but we don't have a wagon or anything. Can I cast Pass without a trace on everybody yeah can you affect everybody basically that you can see um I think it's everyone yeah you're fine then sure

yeah you can cast pass without a trace shadows gather and the night clings to your feet and your legs as you feel yourself become more attuned to the darkness, ready to hide if necessary. Shadow, then Jesper, then Ismark. Oh, anything else? Can I start, sorry, can I start perhaps moving towards

one of those places. Oh, I don't know where to go. Where do we go? You can just start making your way into the town. I'll say you don't have to decide right now, but you're not going to get anywhere safe until you know where you want to go. So you start making your way,

like leading everyone back into the streets. Shadow. So I've got no spell slots at second level. I've got one at third. But Calm Emotions is a second level spell. Can I cast that? You can cast it as a third level spell. Yeah, you can, but only certain spells have increased effects.

So you can still cast it, but it just might not do anything extra. Yes, you can still use it. Okay. Can I go up to a minute uh components verbal and somatic range 20 a 60 foot 20 foot charisma it just says centered on a point each humanoid in a 20-foot radius sphere centered on a point you choose within range. Perfect. Yeah, you can do that. Yeah, absolutely. Can I cast it where Father Lucian, Zeros, and Dubrow are?

So can you make a charisma saving throw, please? That includes Xeros. You just can choose to fail it as well. Okay. Well, the priest will not choose to fail it. He is going to resist. So DC. DC 14.

And wisdom, yeah? Charisma. Charisma 14. Charisma. Oh, charisma. Oh. Oh, yeah. Okay.

Well, Zeros fails Ismark also fails You watch as Zeros and Ismark Suddenly just your bodies Feel relaxed you don't feel any kind of Pressure or anxiety or stress about the Situation you're not quite sure

Why you're standing in the middle of these glowing angels But you are And you hear The shouting behind the door Just stop quite sure why you're standing in the middle of these glowing angels um but you are um and you hear the shouting behind the door just stop anything else shadow would yeah i would just raise my paw and be like stop this madness um and then yeah i guess that would happen and i don't I don't think I can do anything else, really. Yeah, that's it. Yeah, I'm assuming you're choosing to make the targets

indifferent about creatures of your choice. Yeah, I just want them to stop fighting. Just stop fighting. Sure, sure, sure. Do you want them to stop fighting each other or just prevent the priest from attacking Xeros? Because you can choose which way around. You can have it so that they all don't target each other

or you can have it so that... I want all of them to stop fighting each other. To stop, okay. Yeah, well, Ismark isn't really fighting. He's just holding the door. Yeah, but I've just seen Xeros kill the skeleton and is seemingly doing something. So yeah, I want everyone to stop.

Like, stop. Perfect. So Zeros, you feel completely indifferent towards Father Lucian. You have no ill will against him. I'm trying to imagine what a calm emotion Zeros is like. It's just like, oh, hey, Shadow, hey. Right. Well, Shadow, if you want to move, you can move.

Jesper, your go. move, Jesper. Your go. I'm just gonna take Shadow's lead and kind of back down a little bit, seeing that just a frenzy of craziness is going on, and look at where Rose is

going and tell everyone we need to go. The town guards are coming. Regardless of what's happening here, it's about to get a lot worse. Let's go. And I'll start making my way downtown. With Rose, basically.

You kind of catch up with Rose, and the two of you are kind of leading the way. Okay. On Ismark's go, sadly, he is still in range of the spell, which is active until far elutions go um he fails uh his saving throw takes another 15 points of damage you can see him just like and as the spell hits him the the indifference from his face seems to fade um and he kind of like blinks a few times and he sees like people starting to move and he's like come come brother

let's get out of here and he looks to zeros um and he's like, come, come, brother, let's get out of here. And he looks to Zeros, and he's going to start making his way out. He will actually move up next to Ireena and sort of grab his sister's hand and then basically the two of them will start making their way as well, as he does so. Zeros, at the start of your turn, you must also make a save against the spell effect, I'm afraid. The wisdom saving throw, you see 13.

Failed. 10. 7 points of radiant damage. And the calm emotion spell ends on you. Does it? Cool. Yes, it's whenever they're harmed by a spell or attacked. Yeah, if they take damage, the indifference

ends. I just checked it. I just checked it. I just read it. Yeah, sorry. I knew that this AoE spell was ongoing and he can't stop it until his turn, so... Well, I guess knowing that he's calmed in the same sense that I just was,

I'll kind of say an I'm sorry to him and basically do what Ismark just did, try and run off with Ziki. Cool. I'm going to guess at this point, all of you are going to start running because that's what you're going to do. Looking back, Ziki,

is there anything you want to do apart from just run or do you just want to get moving, basically? Yeah, I'll get moving. I'll get moving. I'll just say yeah just say sorry look there riannon there was oh you just kind of whisper like a sorry yeah um okay yeah uh you do so you see the the aura of angels fades as you just see a very passive looking face kind of looking out like the priest the father lucian looks out like where are you going

he like looks like where is santandrel is gone and then you see him kind of like stagger back and like slump and then he vanishes from view as he gets out of view of the little hole he made in the door uh and you guys begin you guys begin running so my next question is a where are you running to and um are you trying to hide are you trying to move quietly like are you taking alleyways to try and like lose pursuit are you gonna where where are you gonna lay low uh yeah i think i lay low whatever the direction the guards is coming from we're going the opposite way yeah okay that would so the

guards are coming from the center of the town so the two choices you have are I've just got to bring up a map of so I know so if you are currently at the inn you can head north which leads towards the large lake yes Yes, but you would know

it leads to Lake Zarovich. There's a couple of things on the way, but not too much. I'm just looking out, there is... Yeah, it does... That seems to be... In fact, actually, no, that's... Where would they be coming from?

They'd be coming from Linksies, which is south so you've got a choice you can either go um west uh towards the church of the ruby rod and the western gate out of the lackey which you know yes but leads towards krezik and towards um the wizard of wines um you know those places are in that vague direction. You can go north to Lake Zarovich, which is a large lake. There is a series of mountains there. Jesper,

you've always heard strange stories that there is a mad wizard that lives in those mountains and attacks people that wander too close. Or you could head east, which leads you back towards the gate where you came in um that leads towards the town square it leads towards the stockyard um and well you guys don't

know but it also leads to blinksy no it doesn't i think we were told where that was for me yes yeah blinksy toysys you were, yeah. It's not too far from the inn. It's like tucked into an alleyway. Not far from the old Burgomaster's house. But yeah, so where do you want to go? I believe we need to lay low and escape the town at least until the heat is off us. And I don't know what's happening,

but we could go to a lake nearby, Lake Zarovich. the heat is off us and I don't know what's happening but we could go to a lake nearby Lake Zarovich there's not too much going on there yes but the other thing to point out is you know that there are on the western side past the church and out of the western

gate there is a Vistani camp that's set up as well where some Dusk Elves also live you're not sure if they are what kind of Vistani they are just triggering all my memories Mark

well I know west there is a winery and en route to it there I'm not sure if it's the case now but a Vistani camp maybe there's someone still there they haven't disbanded already

Vistani seems like a good option for us right now good I can't think of anything else if we go in they are currently in the stables at the back of the inn we could get them wait could no we can we're going the other way

might be a write-off we might be able to get them I can go invisible you could return later you can get somewhere and hide until the morning or until the guards cool off if we lay low

there's no witness other than Lucian that it was us yes but he now that the bones are not there is that place protected that's what was preventing

Fiona from getting in there I don't think it's safe for us in this town anymore I think it's only a matter of time if they go to the mansion they'll know too that something has happened well he is more than likely to die tonight

without his protector. What is happening? Oh, and the calm emotions. Let's just left him sat there. Oh. Well, the calm emotions goes after him there. So, it does. So, my question is...

Yeah, you're going to the Vistani camp. Okay, so what I'm going to need everyone to do is as you... Go on. That was just my choice, not everyone's're going to the Vistani camp. Okay, so what I'm going to need everyone to do is as you... Go on. That was just my choice, not everyone's. Oh, okay. All right. I think we take your lead.

I don't think anybody else has another idea. I said that one as well. Okay. Okay. So what I'm going to need is as you make your way through the alleyways, ducking behind buildings to avoid the guards, I need stealth checks. Well, let's make it a bit more interesting so we'll do sort of like an an impromptu kind of skill challenge kind of thing um you guys can tell me what skill you want to use to try and lose the guards like you are

currently imagine that there's a threat level in the the town and guards are looking for some sort of disturbance um how are you going to sneak out of the lackey you can tell me what skills you want to use um i would say two players can't use the same skill directly after you so you can't be like well xeros is going to make a stealth check rose is going to make a stealth check yes was going to make a stealth check like you have to use different skills um each round kind of thing go on yes but level three invisibility is what Jesper's using. Right, okay. How many creatures does that affect? Just me.

Do you want to check that? Any creature I touch. At level three, you don't get any extra targets. Oh, okay. Yeah, I didn't read that. One additional creature. The third level will hire.

Okay. So for that so okay yeah so you get an extra person basically so who are you casting it on i'm gonna cast it on i'm not a big fan of xeros right now ziki because it's one of the big bulky the other deal break the other deal maker. Sure, sure, sure. Okay. We don't know that yet. I just think she's a victim of Xeros' deal. Yeah, yeah. Let's set the alert level at this

and then we'll say... She hasn't even told Xeros yet, technically. Sort of did, but not fully. Alright. I'm going to give you two automatic successes yet technically sort of did but not fully um all right so i'm gonna give you two automatic successes um because yeah you you turn you and ziki invisible

and with roses past without a trace you are extremely difficult to spot and find um and also you and ziki can now act as like scouts and guides like you can move ahead come back and say yeah it's safe come on come on come on let's move i'll give you two automatic successes easy um easily done but on the subsequent turns you're going to need to think of other ways that you can help out whilst invisible

um if you want to do anything extra like those two things will only buy you a certain amount of of security um anybody else anybody else got anything hmm I guess I don't know what spells or skills or RP stuff you want to come up with but like Rose has spent quite a bit of time in forests and and hunting or patrolling so she

might know a little bit about how to sort of keep quiet and avoid things. That sounds to me like a survival check. And it's using that knowledge of like, they might be tracking us by like this. We need to make sure we don't like we need to mask our scent. We need to make sure that we're like moving when we're unexpected and stuff like that. 17 in total.

17. Rose guides the party and you help them not just be quiet, but you're doing things like creating distractions or marking certain areas like, okay, this street's too well lit. We should avoid this one. You're using your knowledge of how to hunt and track in reverse. You're kind of like, they'll probably come at us from this way.

They'll probably try and move ahead of us, we need to double back here you're doing all these kind of things and leading the group in in terms of um strategy um as you do so cool all right perfect so we've had a survival check used um so xeros ziki and shadow i will not have irena and ismark make checks so they can't make you worse, but they can't help you. They're just doing what they're told, because I don't want you to blow it because of an NPC role. Okay.

So Ziki's doing something as well. Ziki has a chance to do something. Imagine you've got an action. Imagine you've all got one turn to come up with some sort of idea to help you escape this town. I thought hers was an automatic success from Jesper. I gave the two because

there was two targets for invisibility. I've got high athletics, so could I potentially be sort of running ahead of the group to kind of look down roads before we jump out onto them and kind of keep a forward point so

if i see something down the road then i can loop back go in a different direction or maybe stop people before we jump out stuff like that i'd say that athletics wouldn't like athletics is is more like i guess it is running but it's like climbing swimming you could do something like climb up onto a building and like get the the lay of the land and be like right i'm gonna climb up get a high vantage point and then you can come down and say yeah they're coming from two streets down this way and that way we need to avoid them like that you could use athletics in that way yeah sure yeah i'll climb up on some boxes kick down down a few tables, that sort of thing. No, not do that. I rolled 21. Kill some holy bones. Perfect.

Yes, you clamber up. You climb up on a small townhouse, and looking back, you can see that there are about three, maybe four squadrons of these clockwork soldiers, each led by a humanoid-looking figure in dark robes and black metal armor, and they are moving very quickly. They're checking buildings,

they're checking alleyways, and they're converging, and you climb back down and you can give Rose their rough location, and with Rose's survival techniques, the two of you are plotting out the best route to come based on where they're moving from, things like that. Perfect. that perfect all right shadow and ziki any ideas on how you can help i'm completely out of spell slots um well it doesn't have to be a spell you could use a skill

you could use like just to come up with a cool rp thing you're gonna do you don't have to be like i would like to use this skill and do this thing i'm a black cat wearing black robes and my name is shadow um we haven't made a stealth check yet if you want to make a stealth check to like you know just basically help keep the group quiet and you know do things like that yeah you can do that i think i'll probably do that um as a point of um like just uh what's the words like uh note keeping or whatever um can i just say that as soon as we were out a range of um father lucian i end the spell calm emotions on him like as soon as i kind of um yeah sure sure sure um can katie can you tell me what plus about choice does plus 10 plus 10 to stealth okay so yeah and also none of you are leaving tracks which makes it much harder for them to track you so that will be a 21 yeah yeah easily easily done um so shadow not only are you moving

quietly yourself you're actually helping the rest you're like showing irena and his mark like how to move like when you have a brief moment you're like right don't put your full weight on you know your the back of your foot try and keep on your on your tiptoes move like this um make yourself small you know you're giving them tips and things like that and the rest of the party as well um you maybe take like some like oil from like or like some dirt off the ground and think anything which is bright and shiny you're like darkening the color by raking certain muck kind of over it to help them blend in with the shadows of the of the the night itself as well um and yeah you're managing to basically help the you are very good uh in the name what is ziki doing to help out on the the team um can

ziki sort of listen out for any sort of natural sounds sort of like birds cawing or like wind rustling that kind of thing and try and time our movements to sound so then that sort of blocks any yeah our footsteps yeah absolutely yeah that'd be a perception check. So you're going to use your own natural perceptiveness of what's going on in the town. Maybe like you kind of realize like, oh, there might be a bell that's going to ring

or something like that. So yeah, give me a perception check. Seven plus four, 11. Okay, 11. Not quite a success, but doesn't do any harm. So not any like disastrous harm or anything like that. So yeah, you listen out.

But being this deep in a city late at night, there's not really any bird noises. The wind is dimmed because of the high walls around the town. There's not really a lot for you to use to help the party mask their own footsteps and things like that. Unfortunately. And you begin to hear the sounds of the

clockwork footsteps drawing closer and closer and closer. Okay. You guys need about three more successes. So who wants to do what? You will get a fresh new turn of actions so who has a cool idea you can't use the same skill you used on the previous turn somebody else so like rose could make a stealth check this turn because she used survival last turn but you couldn't for

example xeros can make another athletics check um because you've exhausted that that resource go on so i have feline agility, but it says when you move on your turn in combat, would this be considered combat? Well, what's the benefit of feline agility and what are you using it to do? I can double my speed

until the end of my turn. Okay, so how are you going to use that to gain you some sort of benefit to escaping, like as a group? You know, it's not just about shadow escaping, to gain you some sort of benefit to escaping? Like, as a group. It's not just about shadow escaping, it's about how is shadow helping everyone else? I could use it to scout ahead and double back and just kind of report,

oh, there's this up ahead, or maybe if we take this left fork, or things like that. Okay, but you want to do this at speed. You're trying to do this as quickly as possible with the feline agility yeah okay

I guess it essentially doubles my speed you're moving forward, you're lightning fast yeah well make a acrobatics check for me just to see like because you're moving at such rapid speed you know,

to avoid crashing into, like, crates or barrels or a wagon that's been left outside. 17. That's 17 total? Perfect, yeah, absolutely. So, yeah, with a dash of sprint, you can hear the clockwork soldiers coming down the main street. You dash out to a side street, quickly check that it's clear, and then you rush back and lead everyone down into a safe path

away from this new patrol that's heading in your direction as you do so. So yeah, that's another success. Anything from anyone else? I could make a stealth check. I have disadvantage because I'm wearing scale mail, but...

Do you want to do that? Does anybody else have stuff? Well, I've got plus seven want to do that or is there anybody else? Well I've got plus 7, plus 10 so that's not too bad so I'll give that a go.

Alright, so with disadvantage but plus 17 21 It's really plus 17 It's plus 10 yeah but it's plus 10 from half of our traits I've got proficiency

in stealth like I've chosen that as a boosted so so yeah Rose using

the shadows that cling to you from the spell and also your natural training in avoiding detection in woods you know you're used to sneaking up on animals and worse things as well.

Other creatures that might inhabit woods and dark places. You manage to lead the rest of the team into the final sprint and you can see the gates ahead of you. The western gate that leads out of the lackey. There is two complications. One, the gate is closed two there are two human guards up on the wall you can see that there is a large heavy turn wheel which lifts the portcullis of the gate um that is a final obstacle that you will need to solve as well as uh you'll need one more successful check on something to get you out. Maybe you can combine the two.

Is there a ladder or anything visible to getting out? Yeah, there's like a little wooden staircase, like a kind of squat wooden staircase on this side of the gate that leads up to the two guards. And they don't seem to have noticed you. They're looking out of the town.

They're looking at what's outside rather than what's inside. They've got, like, flaming torches set into the wall. Well, friends, I'm here, by the way. I tap on someone's shoulder that's nearby. I can either sneak up and start opening the gate for you all, or I can cause some form of distraction for the guards, which gives us more time to open the gate or something. What is the... Is there any other way that like around this gate what's the wall situation like

how tall is everything to get past the walls are about the walls are about 15 feet high um they are mostly wood but with sections made of stone um wooden palisade wall with like a stone struts and supports and things like that um there is a short walkway that goes around the whole of the town this wall by the way encompasses the whole town of the lackey um and the the wooden walkway leads all the way around it it's narrow it's just wide enough for one person to patrol around on it if they needed to uh there is a wooden staircase that leads up onto the gangway and the wall defenses, the perimeter, with parapets and things like that.

And you can see the portcullis. It looks heavy. Maybe somebody like Xeros could lift it. It's not solid iron. It's mainly reinforced wood is what it's mainly made out of. It's mainly to keep out things like wolves, it seems. And it's attached to a large spin wheel

which has the ropes and pulleys coiled around it to lift it up. But there's no other way out of the town. You have to go through this gate. Or one of the other gates. These are the only ways in and out of the town. Hmm. or one of the other gates these are the only ways in and out of the town hmm I can hinder their vision for a little bit I assume

appealing to the guards would be a bad idea right now let's try it we just want to leave it doesn't look like they're aware of any threat. I've not heard any horns or whistles being blown. Let's try and get them to...

Just try and get them to open up. We could convince them the church granted our exit. And then I'll, like, hold up my sword. Yes, Zeros, You seem like you're good at convincing people. Do it. Make a deal with them. Spicy.

Jesper is sassy tonight. What a sassy boy. I love that. Motherfucker. Saturn zero. What's the plan? The clockwork, the march of the clockwork soldiers is drawing closer.

Okay. Yeah, sure. You've got half a minute before they arrive, you know, before they're in view. Half a minute? Is that long enough for them to even open the gate? Before they're in view, yeah, the gate wouldn't take long to raise

with the pulley wheels. I want to glare at Jesper, use a bonus action to blaze my sword, and then... Okay, so, all right, well, so the way that works, by the way, is Zeros draws through this sword. First time you guys have properly seen it up close,

these two different blades made of different metal attached to the same guard. Huge, enormous, inscribed with does anyone speak infernal because if you do you can read it uh and as he holds it up as he holds it up uh zeros to to ignite the weapon you have to speak its name in infernal so it's kind of like or something like that you know these uh yeah sure uh and as you say it and you all hear this deep you know guttural devilish language and the whole thing erupts into flames uh dark red fire erupts along both blades uh and xeros I assume you stride out to the guards yeah and I'm like they turn

very quickly as they're like and they see you're like what are you doing is that a flaming sword they're kind of like who are you unless you want to disobey the church you will let us out now

make an intimidate check intimidation is not as high as I'd hoped does he get anything bonus from the he doesn't need it he doesn't need it the female guard kind of slaps her male companion. She's just like,

he's clearly working with the wachter. There's only one way he would have gotten a weapon like that. We don't want to piss off the devils. Yes, yes. Alright, we'll open it. But you should be careful. It's not safe out there at night. And she begins pulling

the wheel and you hear that as the gate begins lifting um uh and as you begin making your way towards it i'm assuming your companions follow uh and that is i can't glare at jesper damn it you can't. You glare in where you think Jesper is. As you all just reach the other side of the gates, you see the clockwork soldiers spilling out into the main street itself, and as you

dash off, it doesn't take you far to move off the main beaten path and move south down towards a thick forest and numerous woodland trails. And that is where we will end today's session. Oh, man, Rhiannon. We messed up bad, Rhiannon.

Amazing. Well, you know. You know, yeah. At least one of us did. Consequences, children. I messed up somebody made a deal with the lord of all devils somebody made a deal with the

undead power of Barovia St. Andrew wasn't exactly gonna be an understanding skeleton so I genuinely didn't think he was going to die that quickly. I was like, whoa. He was just a skeleton, dude.

He was just a normal skeleton. Yeah. Holy bro. It was too easy for the resurrection. It happened within an episode. There had to be something that came

off the back of that look at his face oh you play with fire bless you thinking that this is just this is the end of it of course not this is just the beginning oh i know it's not i'm fully aware that it's not the end of it shadow's wrath is coming shadow's gonna be pissed You're going to get a very strong turn off let me tell you I cannot wait to have the in-party talk of what the fuck did you do both of you, like what the fuck has happened I'm gonna make sure I bring plenty of water for next episode

because my throat's gonna ache up on Just distill it down into words Deal Asmodeus Deal No deal just distill it down into words deal as moody deal or no deal that's the thing I do feel bad every now and then I sort of say I say something along the lines of but that's because holy shit it's a hard

voice to do that's fine it's fine dude that was a really fun one I really I kind of enjoyed that one there was some cool setups even just like at the beginning of like the like Irina checking out the dress and Jesper's like

something's going on here also the like should we take this guy's spell book fuck you don't take my spell book we're gonna take your spell book yeah man Jesper was not a happy boy today no it was great he was well understandably well think about it from yes point of view madam eve is dead uh his horses he's now had to leave his

precious horses behind um you know i don't know to be fair i do i do get it he was just very quick on the sassy replies which were great it wasn't like normal levels of pissed off it was like here's the level of sass today honey you want the tea I got the tea today it is scalding

scalding hot tea thank you all so much for joining us for another episode of curse of stride all of your support basically um we know that the world is a tough place right now um the

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healthy um we give you all of our love and support and please take care of yourselves and we'll see you next time for more irolls bye Thank you.