High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Curse of Strahd #13 | Mists and Shadows

Episode Date: July 21, 2020

The team are desperate for a long rest and find sanctuary in an abandoned mausoleum... what could go wrong? Support the High Rollers and get early access to podcast episodes (and more) on our Patreon: www.patreon.com/HighRollers Thanks to @jackgtmusic for the Aerois/Curse of Strahd mash-up intro! Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pickaxe. Add your team to your Uber account today. It's new, it's blue, and it was made for you. Introducing the thirst-quenching Summer Berry Starbucks Refreshers Beverage, where natural berry flavors meet juicy bursts of raspberry-flavored pearls. It's our most blue-to-full drink yet, so try it while you can. Only at Starbucks. drink yet so try it while you can only at starbucks 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 Vanendi, 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 strad in fleeing the town Vallaki, the party have lost their pursuers, for now, and have arrived at the ruined mansion of Argen Vostholt.

This decrepit bastion was once home to an order of proud knights and a silver dragon who opposed Strahd and aided the people of Barovia. Now like anything good in this cursed land, it lays broken, a collapsed shell of haunting shadows and evil creatures. Somewhere within this ruin lays a weapon of sunlight to be used against Strahd, but already the party have spied undead creatures within its crumbling walls being attacked by a horde of giant spiders without rest and as the sun

begins to fall the party stand outside Argen Vosthold and that is where we begin this week my friends you stand outside the

web-strewn, crumbled, decrepit ballroom that once occupied the eastern wing of this mansion. There is also nearby a decrepit, broken-down stables that

appears to lead towards the front of the mansion itself. You can make your way inside from here, but there are at least a few different closed doors. I direct your attention to the roll 20 map that we are using is pre-made. Yeah. The is probably around midday-ish or just after, sort of one-ish, nearly two o'clock,

and the sun is already beginning its slow but steady descent. Ready. Damn. This place sucks. It does. You sustained a several view. Most of you got away unharmed from the battle against the giant spiders is mark the lesser perhaps less so than anybody else uh is mark does not look

great um his skin has already turned a blotchy purple and pale pallor you can see the bite marks where the spiders have bit him have raised up swollen red and a thick clear sap oozing out of the wounds and he stumbles about sort of unsteady but the rest

of you I think are mostly fine what would you like to do? I hand this over to... When do we last long rest? That's a great question. Several episodes ago. I will tell you, it was exactly... It was in the old bone grinder.

It was before you came to Vallaki. Really? Did we not even last long rest? No wonder we're so screwed. No, you took a long rest in actually no you did you took a long rest in the blue water in yeah like it's been

an escape a fight against we haven't had a rest since before that house and that house, and that house was a big fight. A lot of big fights.

Yeah, short rest. So we haven't had a rest since then. You tried to have a long rest, but it was interrupted by the forces of the lackey following you, tracking you down. That was us trying to correct our body clock because we're constantly traveling at night. And now if we long rest now, like eight eight hours it's going to be midnight again well there is there is something

and i think rose would perhaps know this there is almost something where it's almost safer to rest in the day because if this is a land of vampires and vampire spawn uh resting at night would make you very very vulnerable um if you try to sleep at night if they could come and get you um resting during the day is at least only certain things can try and kill you in the day vampires generally won't um and i think rose and probably shadow and maybe even yes but would know that i think it might be kind of a common uh vistani thing of of uh in barovia as well of like yeah like if you if you're at night time you want to be in a house that is secure where nobody's near any openings or windows because then nobody can you know magically tell you to let them in

um otherwise yeah safer to travel at night yeah it's like there's monsters the whole time but at night there's like extra monsters so yeah if we you'd rather be awake in the daytime then i need a nap okay so can we can where can we go to long rest? I don't want to do it here. Well, I mean, looking around you it is as I described. The stables, there's not even a roof anymore.

They're just kind of shattered, broken wooden walls. The ballroom is open to the elements but it has part of the roof still. Most of it is fallen down you did pass a graveyard and what appeared to be a large mausoleum in the graveyard

you could investigate that you looked into what appeared to be a chapel where you saw some crouched kneeling figures and then after an argument they vanished you're not sure where they went. It wasn't an argument.

It was a spook. It was a spook. Yeah, you were spooked by Z. I didn't start fighting with no one. I was spooked. No, all right, true. Perhaps a discussion. Maybe.

But yeah, that is what you see. I'm happy to read the descriptions of the ballroom and or the stable again if you wish but I think you have the vague idea of what condition they're in there is also the front of the mansion that you've not investigated yet you've kind of come from the rear side of the mansion

yeah the last thing in fact the very last thing that we described in the last episode was you heard a noise coming from in the mansion. A deep rumbling noise that probably sounded a little something like. Yeah. Yeah. You hungry there, Mark?

Hungry? No. Because that's the sound I make when I'm hungry. Oh, no, I am perfectly satiated. I had sushi. It was delicious. We also saw two nerds at the altar, remember?

Yeah, three. Three nerds. Three dead nerds. Three kneeling, armoured undead figures, yes. You may call them nerds if you wish. They did seem to vanish after you guys made some noise. They're behind us.

Such a nerd thing to do. Well, you've stalled long enough, my friends. Let us head in character and in game. I vote ballroom. I don't know. Is is everybody okay that was a lot how is mark uh rose i mean rose you weren't poisoned were you but you're very injured you've got lots of bites and cuts and i'm very injured yeah very injured yeah we need to find somewhere uh my

brother i he's definitely injured uh you know irena goes over to his mark and is looking at him he's like leaning on her um he can walk but he doesn't really seem to know where he is or what's going on here let me uh let me do something uh cast cure wounds at level one on it you're gonna kill the npc yay he should still have spells seven yeah you burned through yours but uh quite a few people have got spells left seven hit points back to his mark four yes sure yeah it is we need to rest surface wound healing is one thing but we need to rest our everything else

yeah so rose whilst jesper heals smart rose heals herself sure yeah just cast it as normal for those in chat some of us are going to use physical dice today herself. Sure. Yeah, just cast it as normal. For those in chat, some of us are going to use physical dice today. I am certainly using physical

dice today after Sunday and last week. Got my beautiful obsidian dice. I rolled a two though. That was trash. Well, you get your modifier as well. Don't forget you get your modifier.

Okay. Can I go and give Rose a cure wound too? Who doesn't have cure wounds? Is it just me? Level one, Liz? Yes, it appears to be just you. Ismark doesn't have it, and neither does Irina. If that helps.

hilarious. Right. I feel like we've all we've all learnt something from a rowist right it's just like everyone's just dosed themselves up with I see

so how much was that total Zeke that was 7 total 7 total HP to Rose nice there is probably as Zeke heals you rose you kind of get the there is this kind of um i guess like there would be like a sense of joy because i'm guessing this comes from you being uh uh divinely connected to lira isn't it uh but there is this kind of like there's a coldness to her touch um as she as she places her hands on

you it definitely is uh not the same warm uh cheerful touch that you remember before the spell still carries that positive energy but there's definitely a uh colder touch to her claws uh which are quite long now if i remember because you just used Primal Savagery as well. So they're kind of all gnarled and jagged. Perfect. Well, yeah. What do you guys want to do?

We should go somewhere safe and rest. If there's any other horrors like what we just faced, we can't face it right now I'm already starting to get tired, fatigued yeah

other words like exhausted the dictionary Zeros I Irina just looks around I've never been to this place Zeros. Irina just looks around.

I've never been to this place. I've only heard stories about the ghosts and the creatures that lurk inside. I'm not sure if it's safe, but maybe there's a storeroom or something? A place that we can protect or fortify? Yes. If we can see all exits and we can seal them off, maybe we'll get some rest.

We could try the Maw's and Liam. They're quite cool and pleasant. At least I find that so. We don't know how quiet they'll be in the land of strad yes this is probably not a quiet mausoleum kind of a place if the rest of the plate rest of the country is anything to go by it's probably quite busy I could always check for undead using... Well, you know, when I point to my eyes. I can look. I can use my eyes.

My magic eyes, I meant. Yes, my third eye. I have magic eyes. Sure. Frankly, I can't see a better option right now. That will be strong walls if we have nothing inside. I mean, you can look inside the ballroom. There are three doors that lead deeper into the mansion.

They are shut. They are thick wooden doors, probably reinforced with iron rivets. So it's up to you. What do you guys want to do? Where do you want to go is the big question. Do you need some assistance, Shadow? Looking at the mausoleum. I will always

invite company. Not of the dead kind, I hope. Let's go. We're both going to head to the mausoleum. Sure. So you guys begin making your way around um rose you're gonna go with them dragon siblings what about you guys uh yeah i mean i'm still if we speak

together yeah i'm still like i don't rely on spell slots so i can still carry on really sure a little bit i'm still losing health so i did i'm not drowsy the cemetery uh tucked behind the mansion is a fog shrouded cemetery enclosed by a seven foot tall fence of wrought iron that's a problem. Any gaps at all or

any worn down areas? No gaps. I mean you can try and climb over it but yeah there's no gaps or anything like that. It seems to be well made iron none of it is really rusted. I mean Xeros could try and bend some of the bars or like kind of force open a wider gap. It'd be

very difficult though. Very very difficult to do. I yeah wondering if there was any bits that looked particularly weak or rusted or make an investigation check for me oh investigation my strong suit plus zero sure well 12 uh while xeros is doing this uh shadow and rose you notice as you're kind of watching Xeros go along the fence and tap it some of the graves have

the earth has been disturbed you see earth has been chewed up as if something has pushed up from underneath pulling itself the fog is still pushed up from underneath, pulling itself.

The fog is still... The fog is quite thick and clings to the ground, but even through this thick fog, you can still see the broken headstones and, yeah, the mounds of earth where some of these graves have been disturbed. Zero said, 12 investigation. This section of the fences, there is no particular weaknesses here not really you you'd be better off probably somebody like you would be able to climb over

this no problem um it's not particularly difficult an athletics check to clamber over maybe like dc10 um everybody else could do it in time and if you help them um if you were trying to do this quickly it would probably be more challenging but with enough time and if you help them um if you were trying to do this quickly it would probably be more challenging but with enough time and with everyone helping each other there's no reason you can't just hop the fence and continue should i hop the fence where there's grace sounds like a swell idea i could i could probably help with my climb speed as well and reach over yeah Yeah, exactly. Put it this way, I'm not going to have anybody do any checks as long as

you're not trying to rush and you're all helping each other, which I assumed you would be. Okay. But yeah, before we go over, I'll turn to people and just say, in my professional opinion as a gravekeeper,

it would seem that some of the dead have not stayed so and have decided to leave their graves. Right. Maybe we shouldn't go in there then, if we want to rest. We're running out of options. Should we try the ballroom? We could risk the mausoleum and close ourselves in.

Solid walls and that. But yes, there is the ballroom. Is the door close to the mausoleum? That is a great question. The door is closed. Looking at the mausoleum, which is this tower shaped building,

tarnished silver plated gargoyles shaped like dragon wormlings cling to the stone tiled roof of this mausoleum. An eight foot tall door, four-foot-wide of white marble, is set into the southwest wall, and it is engraved with a name. Although I would imagine you can't really see the engraving from where you are. But there is some sort of writing, it's just too far to see.

But yeah, the door seems closed. It seems, yeah, thick white marble stone door. It'd be quite a stronghold if we could get in. It also might house something that hasn't come out in a long time. I want to go in there. Sure. What's Zeke and Rose thinking? How are you feeling about all this, Zeke? How's this on you and your thinking? How are you feeling about all this, Ziki? How's this on you?

On your psyche? I guess she's just seeing the undead graves. It's just, yeah, she's looking at those, thinking about where she's come from. Yeah, there's almost, I think when

Ziki looks at the graves, that otherworldly connection that you've formed, there's almost an actual calmness coming from that source of those new powers of yours. There's something quite almost comforting, like you don't feel that you'd be in any

danger, but you're not sure how much to trust of those feelings. So, what's the plan? Maybe the graves that have been disturbed are the ones that we've already seen indoors. It could be that they're all in the actual building. Well, could be. No need to worry.

Zeros here has already stated that he's not tired. So let's just hop over. I'll go over last. Wonderful, brave of you. I can help you all over and I can climb it easy. I'll start climbing up and then... Can I like stop at the top and offer a hand? Paul?

It's a thin iron fence. I mean, you could... You'd be having to, like, make acrobatic checks to balance on top of it because it's, like, a thin... Okay. You know, there's not really a place to give yourself any good footing to help anybody.

Imagine, like, you know, like a thin metal rods with a tiny thin strip of kind of iron at the top it's i wouldn't say it's easy to balance on top of and pull somebody up from um i just it's easy to climb up for you throw everyone you can try i mean throwing throwing people seven foot into the air and over it could be difficult but you can try uh hooking my hands giving them a place to stand so i can lift them up here's the thing that's why i was saying there's no last yeah you guys you guys can do this with xeros going last and with everybody else kind of helping you know

you know shadows on the other side to kind of help people get down as soon as yes but is that like yes but not you know particularly weak he can definitely help people kind of up and over and climb down as well the between the group of you you can all get onto the other side without any issue i'm going to just move um is mark and irena over to the other side so move yourselves over um place yourselves wherever you like okay you know spend spend like you spend like five you know maybe 10 minutes kind of getting everybody over and and helping everybody over across as you land the thick fog kind of disperses and then slowly begins seeping in to reform around your ankles forming it's like a like wading through white water uh the thought the fog is so thick

as you all get to the other side and without the focus of a task at hand as you look towards the mausoleum you have the sudden sensation that you are being watched uh cool what's what sort of direction i don't know or is it just a general i mean do you just well does what does shadow do do you just look around or yeah yeah shadow you yeah you look around and when you look up you spot a well-dressed man with a thick mane of thistle down hair observing you from a high tower window he draws the curtain and disappears from view did he look straddy no it's a whistle down hair not Raven black It's Whistledown hair, not Raven Black. Was it from the tower or the mausoleum?

The mausoleum. Ah, from the tower. From the tower in the, to you, it would be your northwest corner of the graveyard. Oh, that one. Okay. What is Whistledown? It's a great question. I don't know. I'm just reading fromy, I guess. Like a thistle.

That makes far more sense. Oh, it's like the... Okay. Yeah, gotcha, gotcha. Yeah, it's very wispy, spiky. Yeah, it looks unkempt, and you have never seen... Yeah, you have never seen Strahd. Yeah, it's like a white in color.

Yeah, it doesn't look like Strahd. It is very identifiable. Very well dressed. Puffy grey hair. Yes. Very Walken-esque. Just me. See what else?

Nobody else was looking around, so no. Nobody else saw it. except you, Shadow. There was a man in the tower looking at us, and I point where I saw him. Gone now. The curtains are closed. Right. Elise is not coming from the mausoleum.

Let's try and get this door open. Vampire-type looking man? By any chance, Shatter? Uh, I didn't see any fangs, but he didn't look like the devil. That's at least some bit of good news. As Mark kind of retches a little bit from the side. Come on, let's get inside.

Everyone behind me. And look behind us as well. Ireena will pull her brother to as requested. I keep trying to click on the map on VXCool to move my token I keep trying to move it on the wrong screen Xerox you move on yeah this big thick

white marble door even by your standard it's big 4 foot wide 8 foot tall you see that there is you can now read the writing that was engraved on it um and just a single name argenvost wait that's like argenvost halt he's done it he's cracked the code everyone he's solved the puzzle mind blown um you don't there is uh there are these delicate

golden rings set in that look like they are they pull open is everyone ready ready i draw make a strength strength sorry i was just gonna say when you want to open it make a strength check

everyone else yeah what are you doing so Jesper you draw weapons these are big big rings so yeah they're not like little tiny ones they are giant sort of twist and pull handles

like big handles uh so yes was drawing weapons what's everyone else doing uh is mark is not in a condition to fight at the moment he is very unwell um i kind of want to ready an action to use my eyes of the grave thing, but only if I can see in... So when you can see in the mausoleum. Like properly see. When you can look in. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Alright, Rose? She'll just have her bow out and have an arrow ready. Knocked, ready. Ziki? I think Z he could be getting sacred flame ready so if anything jumps out or tries to attack us she'll cast that okay cool uh so xeros you you strain your muscles but these are very heavy doors and they do not look like they are meant to be opened

very easily and you struggle and strain but don't make any progress with your effort. If somebody helps you, you gain an advantage or if you have something like a crowbar you might be able to pry them open a bit easier but you're going to need something to change the status quo to try again.

I rolled an 11 with a plus 5 on strength. That's pretty bad. So if I just try strength again... So this is kind of something that I want to start doing in D&D because I feel like in D&D there's no mechanic. You can just try checks again, but it doesn't make sense. You've tried it once, you've failed. You weren't strong enough to open it with just your raw strength.

So now you've got to find something to change the stats. So either somebody helping you or some sort of tool that makes it easier for you to do it. Finding something like that. Yeah, it's something I saw in Disco Elysium. Yeah, it's something I got from Disco Elysium which I think is a really smart idea actually. Irina will

offer to potentially help or Zeke can or Jesper or somebody could. I've actually got strength. Can I what, you want to try and use your spear, your your koala your koala your koala I think it's pronounced

koala You can try it you can try it if he fails very badly it will break the weapon okay but it will be a true that can help

yeah and your sword is well you certainly don't want to break your sword no yeah I'll try And your sword is, well, you certainly don't want to break your sword. No. No. Yeah, I'll try a yukuala. Okay.

So as this is not a tool designed for this, you won't gain advantage, but you can try the check again. Okay. Nine. Snaps. It snaps. The head of the yukwa snaps off and the wooden haft comes free. Oh dear.

It's a big door. This doesn't normally happen. Perhaps. So you can mark that off your inventory, Ziki. Anyone else want to hand in their weapons? I... Mine are more fragile than that. Maybe I could try...

In my experience, that normally needs a little... A little tactic, a little finesse. Hang out with us a little bit, all right? Zeros? What's Shadow's strength score? Plus one. I actually have a strength of fire, guys. Yeah.

So, Xeros, you can make the check again with advantage as Shadow is basically taking the help action to help you on this. Okay. Sure. Seven. Oh, my God. Even. Oh, my God.

Fifty. There we go. There you go. There's the advantage. So with Shadow's help, only through the two of you working together, kind of like, okay, one, two, and you both strain, and

the door doesn't shift for a second, and then the next, like, you know, millisecond later, you hear grinding stone as the door slowly become coming free. This does mean you can't use your eyes of the grave keeper kim as you are currently uh shadow is helping open the door the door groans as it opens this heavy

as ancient hinges uh creak the interior is dark and a thick layer of dust is stormed and swirled up. Um, as the air kicks in, you see inside four empty alcoves with raised floors etched into the far wall. He is to be a verse written in a strange language that is all you can see standing outside

can I light my sword? he who grins yeah so you speak an infernal bonus action the sword erupts into flame casting an orange glow around the graveyards the disturbed earth and now the open empty mausoleum i kind of want to hold it above me uh ish you know like a torch and uh sort of slowly walk in and i guess take a look at that text or take a look at the grave, see if anything jumps out at me. You hear

sizzling as the dust kicked up connects with the flames of the sword and you hear just faint sizzling. A few cobwebs in the upper reaches as you lift the sword high, sizzle away. Only small ones. There is not a grave. There is not a

coffin or sarcophagus in here. It appears to be entirely empty, but there is a set of writing at the back, and being a dragonborn, I would assume you read you can understand Draconic, yes? Yeah, actually. Weird.

Yeah, funny that. In Draconic is written a verse on the far far wall so xeros actually is currently inside about here um and the verse reads here lies the bones and treasure of arganvost lord of arganvost halt and founder of the order of the Silver Dragon. But it is strangely empty. There is no body, there is no sarcophagus, there are no bones. Instead, you see maybe

ever so faint tracks of somebody that came here long, long ago and left long, long ago. There does not appear to be any other entrances or exits. You see, it is empty. Irina,

you told us, didn't you? You said there was a dragon slain by the devil and taken to Ravenloft. That's the story. Yes yes that's the story yes again I don't know how much is true my understanding was the there was a dragon here and Knights and they used to help the people of Barovia people that were

before the devil came to these lands they helped them escape but sooner or later the devil's armies came this was before he became the Lord of undeath that he is now for a time they fought but once the devil became what he is they assaulted this place butchered the people inside and the story is told that the dragon was slain and its body was taken to Castle Ravenloft as a trophy yes that could explain why this tomb lies empty it seems so yes well seems secure enough, perhaps.

Yes, exactly. Empty is good. We can rest here, at least. We'll need light. Can I just take another look back up at the window that Shadow... Like, back up at the tower where Shadow was saying she saw something. Like the fuck up at the tower where Shadow was saying she saw something. You look up

and in the kind of hazy grey light of day here in Barovia you see nothing. Just closed curtains. Hmm. Let's rest everybody. Are there any empty

torches? Not empty torches, but like unlit torches and sconces or anything like that? There are not. No, there appears to be nothing in this chamber that seems to have been designed for use or anything like that. Like I said, it's just these empty alcoves, which are, you know, quite large.

They're about sort of 10 feet wide, so could sleep on like the stone benches here um it'd be uncomfortable but you know uh there's there's room certainly for every everyone inside irena kind of lays his mark down on one of them and he's kind of wiping his brow um kind of you know wiping a bit of vomit from his mouth um and he's shuddering you can see him kind of shivering as he does so he's so i actually have a little candle in my backpack sure so i'll light that oh so do i like yeah you can, uh, with my two swords, I create some sparks on the candle. I mean, what? I mean, I'm holding a flaming sword.

I'll get my tinderbox out. Also, I imagine, yeah, things like, yes, but probably has a tinderbox and can just like strike up a rudimentary match kind of thing. But yeah, you can light a few candles around. If you have bedrolls you can lay them out here and stuff but the doors will need to be pulled shut and you can see that there is um there is a kind of not locking system here but there is like um uh latches that you can kind of close on them okay i guess once we got light i mean these doors are heavy enough that nobody's gonna you can't lock these doors um but the doors are i mean you saw that it took xeros and shadow

working together to open them but there's no locks on them okay um yeah once we got light i'll try and close them again okay yeah once you yeah i'm not gonna make you roll the check uh now that you and shadow have done it even if you just call somebody over like shadow or yes but to help you can close the doors and as soon as they are shut uh there is a thin slit um along the bottom of the doors where just the tiniest bit of light kind of ekes in. But the candles definitely help create more of an ambient glow inside. Cozy.

And yeah. It is. There is an element of coziness. There's also an element of like, this is a tomb and we're going to try and sleep in it and it's cold and musty and feels a little weird.

There's definitely that kind of silent, quiet silence that comes from this place. Only to you casuals. Yeah. To try and lighten the mood, Jesper's going to get out his lute. Okay. And start playing a very somber tune. And just, you can't really tell the lyrics he's singing, but it is a very somber, sad, Vistani tune

about losing the ones you've loved and betrayal and how your friends used to be friends but now they're enemies and how everything is really glum but it's a nice nice tune it's a nice tune but it's it's sad it's got a deeper meaning

it's got some meaning the most passive aggressive song you ever heard yeah it doesn't really lighten the mood but it definitely distracts everybody from the threats outside it provides. And the acoustics in here are quite good. When I lay down to sleep,

I lay down in such a way that almost says, like, fuck Jesper. And there's a deeper meaning to it if you read into it. Only if you know what to look for, right? Is it just you with your middle finger up? Blanket over your face, middle claw up. Only Zeke gets it. It's a Dragonborn thing.

My question here, from this hilarity aside, is what's the sleeping plan like? What's the plan here? Sleep. Just lay down, out like a light. Sure. I mean doors are super heavy, like what's gonna get through there? There still needs to be people taking that. What's gonna get through solid walls, huh? Nothing.

Oh I don't know, maybe the the mist of a vampire or a good good good good good go right under there yeah or a ghost or think of that shit and there are a girl maybe or anything what if I sleep across the doorway like a draft excluder do you want to try that how do you how to defeat strad i packed a draft exclude there we go we just put it there it's like a sausage dog or something like i like you sure if that's what you want to do go for it yes we'll forget uh for a moment that he is under threat after that playing and we'll literally fall asleep at the loot.

Sure. Yeah. I think realistically Shadow's just going to start falling asleep. We're all very tired. Because this is comforting to her. Like she sleeps in Morsliams all the time. Rosa's not looking fab and she's exhausted, but she's not going to fall asleep without a guard.

So she's going to stay up, I guess. Yeah, Irina is also... We're in a horrible, dangerous land. Irina is also unharmed and she kind of would probably look over and say, Rose, it's okay. You'll need to sleep. I don't mind staying awake. I'll hear anything that tries to open those doors

and I'll wake everyone up. I'll just... I'll take some moments when somebody else wakes up, but you should get some sleep. It's been a very long few, I don't even know if it's been days yet. It's been exhausting. I don't know how long

it's been. Wake me up then and I can take on the second watch. Of course, of course. I want to look at this mask anyway. Okay. I'll wake you both up, I guess. No, Rose sleeps.

I'll take second watch. I've not felt the desire to sleep since, you know, that. You can all sleep. Oh, yeah. Ziki, you need to get some sleep I know that you've been through a lot but you still must rest of course I can't I can't I can't sleep I can't that's a d sloth. You're asleep. You said you went to sleep. Fine.

You went to sleep. Same as Shadow. The only one who's still awake is Rose and Zero. I was just going to make a call out, that's all. Oh good, the undead dragons are watching over us. You can't make that joke because you're asleep.

He dreams it. He dreams it. You thinkumbles it. He dreams it. You think of a really witty comeback whilst you're dreaming. Okay. Well, Irina is just like, well, I'm going to stay awake looking after Ismak for a while. You decide what you want to do.

And she'll let the three of you decide in terms of who's sleeping and who's watching and whatever. Meanwhile, I'm going gonna make a con save for ismark oh why weird i guess we don't know about that right so uh yeah uh i'll take a watch i guess whichever one ziki doesn't sleep because she's got special powers. And Rose is definitely sleeping. I'm being kind. Well, Zeke's not sleeping

because Zeke doesn't need to sleep anymore. So, yeah, coffee lock. And Zeros, yeah, you stay awake for the... You sleep for a bit and then you wake up when Irina calls you. Is that the plan?

Yeah. Sure. So you begin an eight hour long rest. Now, if we were to say that it was about 2 p.m., an eight hour rest would take you to 10 p.m. Oh, that's nighttime. That's funny. See, the sun goes down. The sun goes down. The sun goes down about 7pm.

So that's about three hours between sundown and where you guys are. Technically, Irina has to make a saving throw. That's not very good. And then... Oh yeah. Easy. Easy, son. not very good um and then oh yeah easy easy son what about ziki uh you may all mark down

a long rest yeah no no this this was not an effect that ziki has to worry about. This is something on old Irena. Spell slots. Interesting. Indeed. And we're replaying Max HP. Yay, long rest. Yeah, you get Max HP, you get all your spell slots back. Oh yeah, you get everything. Enjoy it.

Enjoy these. Enjoy all of this. I love mausoleums more Williams is that time working straw demands her back long enough I reckon it must have been three days right three days just push her outside and shut the door yeah we don't need sure there's that as well that's going to be a bit too mean I think

right okay so I'm out don't worry about it don't worry about it don't worry just you know what guys don't worry about it

and that's why I'm worried about it don't say don't worry about it he says don't worry about it that's when he's not worried about it don't guys don't worry about it

hey who's that icon just outside there he is hello oh shit knock knock knock

knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock

knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock Who's that icon just outside of the mausoleum? Hello. Oh, shit. Knock, knock.

We weren't meant to see that, were we? Oh, yeah. Everyone can see that. Yeah. I reckon that's a good idea. I've got to change my layer. Strahd. Strahd who?

Oh, from map layer to object and token layer. These are things that I've learned. Oh, GM layer. That wasn't Strahd. That was Dart. This will be me on Sunday. No, it wasn't. No, you guys are This will be me on Sunday No, it wasn't You guys are, you're confused You're very confused

You're confused To be fair, I would be confused I'm always confused I was born confused Trot, you're very small Came out stumbling around. Had no idea what was going on. Born terrified.

What the hell? So, you all awaken. Let's just see here. I think that, yeah, you would all awaken. I mean he would have the time. So in fact actually you're gonna awaken with something happening. Cool. Oh boy. Who has, I have a question for you, who has the Tome of Strahd on their person? Because I know it got handed around a bit.

It was Zeke. Zeke he has it interesting yeah yes but through it I did read it when he was being sassy you're as bad as Ow, my eye! It's muddy. Sharp corners. Paper cut! Paper cut! Paper cut! Laugh while we still can, chums. Yep. Here we go.

Smile like you mean it. Nice knowing you. Zeke was awake. So Zeke, you don't sleep, right? So Zeke and Xeros would be the ones awake along with Irina.

As the night wears on, you guys have woken up Zeki it's been eight hours you know what was Zeki been doing in that time I imagine she's been sketching getting her sketchbook out again and trying to paint or draw something nice to look at but I think every time she tries to get out and draws she just keeps drawing the wardens and what she saw when she died she just draws mists and fog and you can't get out of her head Xeros what have you been doing nothing I don't know sharpening i can't really quietly sharpen the sword can i would xeros care though right next to yes but Sleep now.

Right next to Jesper. I don't know. Not really sure. Just kind of watching, waiting. The next line of that song. How's that go? Sure. Anticipate. So, as you are,

as everybody else, as everyone else sleeps soundly, the quiet, deadly quiet, deathly quiet of the mausoleum looms over. All you can hear is the scratch, scratch, scratch of Zeki's charcoal against the sketchbook as her drawings get more furious and desperate trying to find some joy something that isn't this dark miserable place the mausoleum is cold some of the fog spills in through that gap under the door filling the bottom layer with these wet tendrils. And then, almost in an instant, standing next to Ziki,

looking over her shoulder down at the sketchbook, a handsome man in well-dressed clothes and long raven hair stands when you see him xeros strad looks at you and i need you to make a wisdom saving throw shit before i even react wisdom save 15 You are charmed by Strahd. You regard him as a trusted friend to be heeded and protected. And he simply goes, to you

as he looks at what Ziki is drawing. Alright, I'll just ignore him. Yeah. He just basically holds up a hand and says, he looks down at Ziki. You are Norm is, yeah. He just basically holds up a hand and says, shh. He looks down at Zeke. You are quite talented.

Your kind are called Dragonborn, are they not? Can I just, I'm just gonna turn around and just scream, get out! What are you doing? No! So everyone is, you begin waking up and you see like a look of like oh disappointment um he uh everyone i mean yeah you will wake up but like there's gonna at least be a turn here before everyone's in a position where you're like,

what's going on? Like, fuck, who was that? And stuff happens. Strahd looks at Zeros, restrain the Vistani, and he points at Jesper. Of course. You'll have advantage, because Jesper is prone and currently incapacitated.

I thought you'd do that anyway, right? You don't need to be charmed for that. You got it. So what do I need to do? Strength check. Strength, yeah, you're going to grapple him, basically. So you have advantage. Can I try and get in the way or anything or

well you have a you have your own problem ziki let's let's worry about you for a minute because uh for you uh do do do do uh yeah he kind of he really likes your art so i don't think he's gonna try and kill you um instead he'll just do this uh that is a yeah you are grappled because i rolled a natural 20 uh and he grabs you and grapples you and he grips your right you are suffocating as he holds your three he's like choking you um as he picks you up and puts you against the ground and he's like like holding your neck um uh yep so at this point i think everybody now you can still kind of move but you are being grappled and yeah you're gonna start suffocating so you're gonna potentially choke out but yeah

you can still potentially do actions but you can't move because you're currently grappled so if there is like a spell you want to try and cast on him or anything or on xeros you can um but depending on like you can't speak so it can't have a somatic component um okay you can't speak but uh where is it where is it hang on uh ray of frost can i cast ray of frost on xeros that will slow his movement down by like 10 feet does does ray of frost have a s in the components and stuff like that does it have like vsm it has v and s so v comma s yeah so that means it has a verbal component and a somatic and you can't cast it with a verbal component because he's like choking you out at the moment yeah I meant verbal sorry

so at this point yeah you Zeros you basically like pin like do you pin him to the ground or do you like grab him as he's waking the ground or do you grab him as he's waking up? What do you do to Jesper? I mean, I only rolled a

13 with advantage. Is that enough? The thing is, technically, if he's just waking up, I'm going to treat Jesper as incapacitated. On his turn, though, he'll be able to test against you. So you've grabbed him, but as Jesper wakes up, he'll then get a chance to break free. So just remember that 13 was

the highest you rolled. If he was sleeping on his back, I kick him over so he's on his front and then grab his hand behind him. Behind his back, yeah. Just put his hand behind his back. Perfect. Alright. Everybody else wakes up.

I guess we roll initiative? I guess? I suppose I do as well. I guess we roll initiative. I guess. I suppose I do as well. Oh, yeah, you do. Oh, yeah. Okay. Just remember, so outside of not just his commands, but you regard Strahd as a trusted friend to be heeded and protected.

You're not under his control, but you take his requests and actions in the most favorable way and you will let him bite you if he wants to um well right now no right now you're waking up you don't know shit uh so let's find out you can make an internet text

you were keeping watch weird they're suddenly turning on us uh ziki total on the initiative 12 of total yes but 19 19 shadow 9 9 rose van andy 10 10 zeros 3 Ten. Ten. Xeros? Three. Three, that's good. Irene is eight. Perfect. Well, I have some bad news,

and that is that Strahd Von Zarovich gets to go first. Yes, he does. He will. Having grabbed Ziki, he basically searches Ziki for the tome of strad he like like tears at your bag while he's kind of got one hand around your throat he like rifles through until he finds the the tome of strad and pulls it free this is not yours this is not for your eyes how dare you and he throws you across the room ziki uh kind of scattering you to the side so let's let's get some minis uh where they need to be so there's you there he throws you basically uh, he'd kind of throw you towards the door.

So, around there. And then he turns on the rest of you. You come to my realm. You disturb the peace in my town. You take my precious Tatiana from me. And he points at Irena. You have disrespected me too many times. And...

We'll say that was his action, was to throw Zeke and take the tome off of him. But he does not look happy. Jesper? All of a sudden, I'm in a room full of friends and one target. Well, you've got one friend, and in this room right now,

there's one good friend, one good trusted friend. Jesper, you wake up, you can feel draconic hands holding your hands behind your back press down um take your hands off me i'll resist and try and break sure so uh strength or acrobatics uh to contest 13 to be 26 21 yeah you wriggle free of zeros's uh grip well i going to take your 13 from before because this was as yes we were waking up

so yeah you managed to kind of like worm your way free and pull yourself out of Zeros' grip what did you do? the devil is here I still think Zeros is my biggest threat right now sure so I'm going to cast I still think Zeros is my biggest threat right now.

Sure. So I'm going to cast Tasha's Hideous Laughter on Zeros. So you need to make a wisdom saving throw of 13 or higher. Shit. Eight. What happens? You perceive everything as hilariously funny and fall into a fit of laughter. The target

is incapacitated and unable to stand up for the duration. Creature with an intelligence score of four isn't affected. So you're incapacitated by laughter. How do you laugh at Xeros? Remind me, incapacitated, I believe, is basically you can't take actions or reactions.

So you can still move. You can take bonus actions, but you can't do anything. You don't have to speak in Xero. So I think it would say that. You can still move. Yeah. So yeah, incapacitated is just no actions or reactions from Xerox. So yeah Xerox you can't stand What is it like when zero spots another thing? Does it say that or does it does say that was that more like a descriptive thing?

Okay, so you can crawl The target must succeed on a wisdom saving throw or fall prone become incapacitated unable to stand up You're like rolling okay so he can still you can still move whilst prone but it's at half speed you're literally that you can crawl around laughing and that's pretty much all you can do um what is it like when xeros laughs i mean i guess in this small echoey like place is just the deepest, like, reverberating noise that's going on in this room. What?

Yeah. I mean, I'm not going to do it because my throat is killing me today. But, yeah, just in time with the echo, so it's almost getting louder and louder and pounding against the wall and eventually blows the place up sure sure anything else Jesper I'm just gonna move was to get

out the grapple action I'm just getting my I feel like I'm getting my bearings I'm checking out where Irina and Ismark are who are closest to me here seeing what the situation is I've noticed that Zeke's been thrown I'm confused

Xerox is attacking me, Strahd is here so I'm going to spend the rest of the turn just kind of like what do I do now sure at the end of your turn Strahd will take a legendary action and yeah he will... Zeke is right in front

of him and he basically just tries to bite her. He lashes out with a bite. I mean, oh jeez. This is the first time I've fought against him. Only a 14 to hit Zeke. We're trapped inside a small

area with him. Oh actually, no. Sorry, it's an unarmed strike. It's not a bite. He're trapped inside a small area with him. Oh, actually, no. Sorry, it's an unarmed strike. It's not a bite. He can only do that against grappled attacks. So he basically lashes out with one fist across Ziki's jaw. So that's still a 14 to hit, though. Yeah, that still hits.

Still hits? Yeah. Oh, dear. To be honest, this isn't much better. That is going to be... Ten, nine... Do you have any resistance to necrotic damage, Ziki? Because of your pact or anything.

I just have resistance to cold damage. And yeah, yeah, that's it. So with one blow, Ziki, you take eight points of bludgeoning and then ten, nineteen points of necrotic, which is 27 points of damage. With one blow that crackles

with black energy, he just sends you sprawling as after Jesper does this, it's almost like actually a backhand, he just steps up he's's like you should have appreciated me whilst i applauded your art and he just slaps you and it kind of almost sends you flying as he does so um i am the lord of this place uh ismark staggers to his feet the devil you fiend he draws his blade and he charges towards uh towards strad and still see he's a bit wobbly on his feet um but he charges towards him uh as he does so so first attack all with disadvantage unfortunately for ismark

uh misses strad just parries it with a hand the blade doesn't even sink in that's cocked second one is also a miss again strud just sidesteps almost anticipating his maneuvers and then as he tries to bring up his hand axe strud just kicks him in the stomach almost causing him to wretch um as ismark stumbles back not landing a single blow uh rose Aziz Marks stumbles back, not landing a single blow. Rose. I will try to open the door. Okay, can you make a strength check for me? Cool.

Can I? No. 14 plus 1, which is 15. So, yeah, with kind of that panicked thing, you shoulder barge into the stone doors, causing it to break, like, you know, open enough that you then, with the rest of your turn, kind of push and stretch. As the mausoleum doors open, the mausoleum doors open,

you are greeted by a storm of wings and teeth as swarms of bats who have been waiting for the door to open descend upon you.

Only two of them can really make attacks against you. That is going to be a nine to hit and a 20 to hit uh the 20 will hit the 20 will hit you as these these this swarm of teeth and claws scrabbles biting your face you're going to take three points of damage um as they're just all swarming around you but you can see there's like a storm of bats outside, just spinning around, waiting for any kind of creature

to step outside. You cannot escape! My wrath shall be done! Shadow. Unless you'd like to move any further, Rose. Sure. There's no point there's no shadow i mean you could run through the bats uh they'll just yeah you know it'll be like running through a windstorm of things Shadow. Can I... Yeah, screw it. Can I Guiding Bolt Stradu?

You can. You are not next to him, so yep. Oh god, it's been such a while. Getting all my tabs confused. Natural 20! Oh my god. Nice! Cool.

Guiding Bolt as well. Guiding Bolt, so that is... Um... No... Don't do that noise. Don't do that. Sure, yeah, no, you hit. So, natural 20. So, what level...

You didn't say what level you were casting it as. Ideally, please say what level you're casting before you roll. Yeah, sorry. I'm still getting used to levels that aren't just like, Warlock, level 5! Level 2. So that is 5d6. So max of 5d6 would be 30 to start with, so roll 5d6 again. six again five uh god one two three four five uh d6 no that's 66. 21 points of damage oh man so that is 51 points of damage not bad the guiding bolt slams into strad. This... You feel the power of Sha, your mistress, kind of course through your body at this hated foe.

You almost hear her words in your ear. Yes! Destroy him! Destroy this usurper! He should not be allowed to continue this. As you channel this golden energy, it hits Strahd, and you channel this golden energy it hits strad and you see this visage of flames and fire

erupt around him no as it like burns into his chest and then just hateful eyes descend upon shadow. You dare! You miserable creature! Come to my lands! Bring your heathen gods! I am the only god here! Anything else on your turn, Shadow? I'm in twerple!

Oopsie doopsie! Oopsie! Let me just do a quick just trying to remember exactly what I can do yeah I don't think there's anything else I can do so that's it for me baby at the end of your turn

at the end of your turn he rushes towards you so quickly that nobody gets an opportunity attack it's too close quarters for him to do that anyway. And yeah, he just rushes towards you in an instant, appearing right in front of you. But that is the only thing you can do on that turn. Irina, in a panic, just draws her weapon

and she kind of looks at him. She's just like, Tim, I see you in my dreams. What do you want? Why are you doing this? And she will pull her weapon and she goes to bring it towards Strahd, but almost like she can't bear to strike him. She'll turn and strike at one of the swarms of bats fighting Rose instead,

which she hits for 12 points points of damage um striking into the the swarm uh it does have a resistance so it takes six points of damage um she's like i don't know what to do i don't know what to uh as she begins in a panic xeroseros, it is your turn. Your good friend is being attacked by your companions and he has asked you to restrain Jesper. Yeah, I mean, I'm still like crawling around and the laughter is so raspy. It's like when you open the mausoleum, right? Like it's just full of dust.

So when I'm laughing, there's... Yeah, it's also kind of a green glow from the acid flame as well not that it's actually coming out but like it's igniting almost but yeah I'll crawl towards Jesper's

legs and kind of try and pull them from under him or you can't take an action so all you can do is crawl towards Jesper is all you can do is crawl towards Jesper, is all you can do. Oh, okay. You can't take actions or reactions. Okay. Fine. So when does the spell end

to drop? It's concentration for a minute. For a minute. Okay, so it's concentration. Oh, interesting. At the end of Zeros' turn, Strahd will use his last legendary action to punch shadow as hard as he can that is 25 to hit you shadow do you have any resistance and necrotic damage no I didn't know 12 bludgeoning damage and 11 necrotic, so 23 total.

I'm alright. I mean, yeah, that's the end of his turn. On his turn, he doesn't. So you see that that energy that you struck him with, the radiant bolt, his flesh doesn't begin to heal or regenerate. None of it begins to seal up

that radiant energy just like the vampire spawn you saw you fought before does not heal he oh he's pretty mad he is pretty mad Carry on a sec without me. He's also smarter than normal. He will. You watch as his form seems to become pure black as he himself becomes a shadow and he vanishes from sight. Oh.

But his voice still echoes out. I will make you suffer for this. This. This treachery, this vile action against me. You will not leave this place alive yes but your turn don't forget you got advantage on Strahd because he's his garden boat well that is that is returned to a normal attack because he you have disadvantage as he is invisible okay i'm going to would it but it says that mystical dim light glitters on the target until then so even if he goes and does it say that it stops does it say

that it prevents like a creature that's invisible because there's the spells like that it just says then it does it just says dim thanks to there is maybe um they have a mystical dim light glittering on the target until then so it's not like fairy fire so i i imagine that because he has turned invisible the light on whatever it was is dissipated there's still a dimness there which counteracts the advantage like the disadvantage you would get from him being invisible is counteracted by there's still some sort of hint of where he is. So it just turns it from a disadvantage to an advantage

to a normal attack. Regular. And yes. Yeah, and he, yeah. So, alright. Jesper. I'm gonna whip round and grip Irina and put a dagger

to her throat. Oh dear. Uh oh. Okay. Sure. Okay. So she kind of like gasps for a moment, not quite sure what's going on.

Yes, but as you grab her and you put a knife to her throat. Whisper to her, saying, I'm sorry. Stand down or she will die. You do not have the courage, Vistan. You don't know what I've been through. Now I have a question and this is an out of character question for Chris Trott. Is Jesper bluffing?

Yes. He is bluffing. Okay. Make a deception check but give yourself advantage because this is something where, yeah, Strahd would really, this would mess him up. So, yeah, give yourself advantage, make a deception check. Okay, nine.

Well, that's the first one. I'm waiting for the second one to come through. Nine! Two nines! I've got inspiration. Can I use that? Technically, it would only give you advantage so it's already you already had uh advantage um so you hold the blade but the rest of you will see like your hand trembles a bead of sweat runs down your forehead. I know your kind.

I know the ones who would kill their brothers to gain my favor. I know the ones who have seen true suffering, who have given themselves to darkness. You are not like them you are just like some game you are weak you are weak of heart and you do not have the strength anything else christra on your turn uh so it's probably an action to grab ireina and put a knife at her throat. So move and bonus action. I'm going to... Oh, that's an action, would you say? I would say to properly make a threat of it is like six seconds.

Yeah, that's probably a whole thing. Okay. In which case, yeah, there's not much else i can do i'll kick xeros no i'll just stand down from sure stand here you just kind of like sigh sigh and let the blade pour. As you do, there is a flutter of movement. Shadow, some unseen force strikes at you. Bye.

That is gonna be a... That is 15 to hit. Yeah. That's another high damage. Oh oh that's not as bad actually that is 12 bludgeoning and 10 necrotic so 22

I am down shit in fact yeah so yeah you just watch a shadow's body crumples at the end of Jesper's turn what fact yeah so yeah you just watch a shadow's body crumples at the end of yes per's turn um what

uh rose at the entranceway two swarms of bats continue to harass you uh one is an 18 the other is an 11 the 18 18 i'll hit yeah 18 hits that's four points of damage as these bats are like...

Zeke, you have a hand up. I don't think I've had a turn. You haven't. I must have missed you. I just realised. I think you had... Yeah, no, you did. You had it because you go after Jesper,

which I think you did last turn, and you did... What did you do last turn i got thrown i haven't taken it i don't think you did yeah all right take your turn now and then i'll give you another 10. you just take double 10. um so if i that's all right if i cast uh color spray would that work on him so from where you are um yeah if you if you yeah if you target it roughly where you think he was for sure yeah it depends on if he's still there but yeah you don't so in your previous turn you would have known where he was so yeah you can cast color and you'd hit him. Sure. Is this 6d10? Yeah, I believe it's going to affect his...

You have to roll over the hit points to affect them. So I'll have to do 5 and then another 5. Wait, 6d10. 6d10. I'm an idiot, sorry. I was going to say that was 10d6. 5 and 1, there, 10. 60, 10. I'm an idiot, sorry. I was going to say, that was 10d6.

5 and 1, there we go. Okay, so this spray of colour coats the back wall of the mausoleum, spreading this rainbow light. The candle is now only providing this dim, dim glow and this gloom. The spray

washes over Strahd, but has no effect, it seems. So that would have been your turn before. Now take a turn this turn. And then I'll... I was going to cast Cure Wounds on myself. Sure. I'll do that.

1d8. Yeah, so you just kind of touch your chest. That's eight points of healing for myself. Sure. So at the end of your turn, Ziki,

you all hear just something move. Yeah, you see something kind of uh actually no he wouldn't uh because at the end of his turn he would probably yeah he would attack ziki with a non-arm strike um that is a 15 to hit ziki i do hit yep i do. That do hit. That do be hit, though. So that is going to be 10 bludgeoning, followed by 16 necrotic, 26 total.

I'm down, though, boys. That's me down again. So, when he hits Ziki, you just hear a you are too talented. You are knocked unconscious, but are not dying dying he does not do lethal damage to you interesting

having seen your artwork he does not wish to kill somebody who has a talent or skill unlike the person who hit him with the radiant energy of a god that he wasn't best about but yeah so he just sends you

flying, basically, as you do, rendering you unconscious. Ismark! By the way, in all of these attacks, he hasn't reappeared. There's just this luminous shadow that doesn't seem to be going

anywhere, just moving around but uh whatever spell has been cast has not rendered him revisible once more um is mark uh kind of there's a moment where he looks at yes but confused not quite and then sort of he just he he gestures he's like yes but, get my sister away from here. Go! And he just charges in, trying to grab onto wherever Strahd may be, trying to slow him down.

His disadvantage. He just stumbles, groping at space, grabbing onto nothing. Yeah, he's just like, where are you, you coward? Fight me! Fight fight me and then at the end of his marks turn you just hear a very well it's that's a natural 20 against is mark 17

17 hang on 24 plus oh my god that's so bad 36 41 it could be well ismark's quite tough so it's not gonna be a massive damage death but you just watch as Ismark

runs forward, he's like, fight me, you coward! You just hear a, very well and then you see Ismark's body picked up and thrown against the back wall as a bloody smear as he is dropped unconscious and is bleeding out as Ismark is just thrown against the far wall

by Strahd. As he also falls unconscious. Rose. That was like 60 odd points of damage. I will run over to Shadow and cast Cure Wounds at second level

on her. Please. Okay, go for it. Thank you, FaZe. Okay, go for it. Thank your face. Thank your face. So that's action. You still have a bunch of movement if you wanted to move, Rose. You're also now out of range of the bats.

10, hang on. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 points of healing for you. Fourteen. Bonus actions or any further movement? No, I think I would just be protectively over Shadow. Sure. Well, it is Shadow's turn.

Can I sputter back to life and cast Mass Healing Word? Sure. Which is actually not a lot

of healing, is it? No, weird. Might be enough to make some people alive though yeah it will definitely make some people conscious at least yeah yeah screw it let's do it 1d4 plus 3 1d4 1 plus 3

4 enjoy it lads is that for everyone how many times Three, four. Four. Enjoy it, lads. Is that for everyone? So, six creatures. One, two, three, four, five. Hmm. Not Xeros.

Wait, no. Xeros isn't full health anyway at this point. Yeah, you're full health, so... I'm having a great time, actually. Shadow is just like, she's seen Zeros beating up Jesper, and given that she's too busy to check if it's any kind of like charm or anything like that, that's all she's seen, right? So... YOLO.

Yeah. Okay. So how much was that, sorry? Four points to everybody. Four points. Yummy, yummy. So you see Ismark kind of groan as he is roused from unconsciousness. Zeke the same. And everyone else who was injured gets hit points back.

Irina just sees Ismark get thrown. Stop! What are you doing? What do you want? Oh! I just remembered. Sorry. Sorry, sorry, Mark. Sorry, sorry. Ismark and Zeke will get

full healing? Yep, they get the grave, so what would that be? So you would get four five six seven points seven instead yeah just add an extra add an extra three onto what you had before um yeah sorry i forgot about a circle of mortality uh and is mark would get irina irena will yeah i've done that for his mark irena looks at the scene um and looks at jasper and ziki and his mark and xeros and shadow and everyone it's just like if it's me he wants i'll go with him as long as he leaves you alive leave the others and i'll go with you just don't kill anymore don't

hurt anymore hurt anyone anymore um and she'll drop her rapier sort of like in a surrender Zeros I believe that Tasha's hideous laughter is still in effect on you yeah I mean can I is there anything I can do to break at least the charm well no but

you do hear as you are kind of you feel the heat of he who grins on your back. A familiar voice in your head. So, the Irena

girl bears the soul of Tatiana. Don't forget our deal, my warrior. I know. I'm trying. But I just don't really know what I can do. What can I do?

Yeah, you can't. You literally, Jesper has locked you down. You can't do anything. And I want to stop Jesper. I want to grapple him because I've been told to by strad so you do yeah i mean um yeah rose and no it's a concentration on if yes but loses concentration or a minute passes that is the sound from nope you cannot break that either. It is a... He has not done anything harmful to you,

so you do not get to... You don't get to repeat the save. Oh, my God. Okay, cool. Cool. Yeah. Let's see. Strahd was not hit by a radiant damage spell on his previous turn so uh he

heals a bit um he will uh you're healing yourselves he doesn't like that um shadow make a constitution saving throw in fact actually no hang on before you make it before you make it, it was Zeke who doesn't want to kill. Ismark or Shadow? I will roll a d4. I'll do this on roll 20. d4. 1 to 2 is Ismark. 3 to 4 is Shadow.

Ismark makes a constitution saving throw. Oh. I like Ismark. You might not have to worry about liking him for much longer. You see Ismark, as he kind of sucks in this breath, Strahd, you hear these dark words. You hear these guttural mutterings.

What a dumb for that Marlella. And you see as Ismark's body begins to wither and die as the very life, it's the water in his body is sucked dry. Oh no.

Oh, I'm really glad you didn't do that to me. Yeah, you should be very pleased I didn't do this to you. Oh, crap. This kitty would be even wrinklier. Oh! 45. You watch as Ismark's body is just...

desiccated as his whole life force is drawn out. Holy crap. Jesus. Unholy. Give me the girl, and I may let some of you live. Jesper.

I will honor Ismark's final words and cast Invisibility at level three. Yeah, if you want it for yourself and irena yeah it's level three i will do that me and irena will be

invisible and i'm going to usher her out the door which drops laughter no so xeros you are no longer uh bound by tasha's hideous laughter um as stradens begins yelling no

as you move through the bats they will technically get a text opportunity but they're a disadvantage because you're both invisible um so the bats try and strike out uh if you move past them or are you staying in the mausoleum? I would like to move out. Okay. Try and pull Irina through. I'll kind of aid her movement. What's your AC? Yeah, you can just pull her. She's not really in a position to fight back.

Okay, so the first swarm of bats misses you. There's five of them. The second one misses you. The third one misses you. the third one misses you the fourth one misses you uh the fifth one misses you so you kind of like put your hands up and with you and irena both invisible you manage to kind of keep low and these swarms of bats swarm overhead um as the two of you break free of the mausoleum and begin running so if i just move you guys outside uh so 30 feet each of these big squares is 10 feet so you can go over here so you can get to

like so whereabouts are you trying to run to i'm just going to move you out here for now um but yeah you can see that there is a kind of spiral staircase leading up into the mansion or you can go towards the fence that you climbed over before fucking don't think we can climb the fence just the two of us so i'm gonna rush towards the steps so you start rushing towards the steps um you cast invisibility so you can't dash so but your movement is a bit faster isn't it you go like i'm gonna keep no i'm gonna make sure irina stays with me and keep like a hand on her wrist knowing that yeah you just kind of before i cast she calls out like as you're pulling her away she's like it's mark no and she is you kind of like come on um and you yank her through the door as all these bats flap around you um at the end of your turn

yes but shadow i've got some bad news strad kicks you in the face 27 to hit you my nose my beautiful nose eight points of bludgeoning and 10 16 points of necrotic so what's that back down. You get back up again. She got up. Maybe not. She is down again. Zeke. I'm never going to get her up.

You're never going to keep me. Oh, boy. Oh, my chanute. My beautiful chanute. I'm going to have to heal myself again. Cure runes, level one. D8 plus 2. 8 points of healing.

Sibu play. Can I move up to Zeros as well and try and just help him up or something? Yeah. Strahd doesn't worry about an attack of opportunity against you. His rage is focused elsewhere right now. At the end of your turn,

Kim, I'm sorry, mate. Strahd is pretty pissed. It makes sense. I blasted his face. You hear Rose. You're the only one next to Shadow as you hear a boot come slamming down onto her neck. This kind of thickening crunch.

That is going to be two auto death saves, Shadow. Two. Oh my god. Do you think that you will get away, Vistani? I will chase you after I've killed your companions. No. Izmark, death saving throw. That's a failure for Izmark.

That's one. Rose. I will cast Cure Wounds second level again on Shadow Besties That was an 8 plus a 3 so 8, 9, 10, 11

12, 13, 14, 15 points of healing Can I then pick Shadow up and try and move out of the mausoleum? You can. You're at half speed because you'd be carrying her, basically. Unlike with Irena, who was also kind of running. She didn't really do anything. So you'd be at half speed, but you could definitely try and run past through the bats and stuff like that to try and get away.

I'd say actually Shadow's pretty light. You can probably go a bit further. I have a strength of 13, take what you will from that. Yeah, I'd say you're gonna move at half speed, but you can make a run for it. If you go for a run for it, Strahd is gonna make an attack of opportunity against you. And you don't even know where he is. You've got nothing else, yeah? I have to, I've got nothing.

Strahd ain't playing today. That is a... 21 is going to hit you. I'm going to have to roll that one again. So that's going to be 10 bludgeoning. 7, 8.

10 necrotic. So 20 total. Okay. So he hits you as you flee, but you manage to pick up shadow or kind of drag shadow as conscious. Where do you want to go? So you've got basically

15, 20, we'll say 20 feet of movement so you can get sort of like to the other end of the one of these squares um outside you could probably get just just past the bats can i the bats already used oh they've already used the reaction yeah they've used against uh yeah you can just run through them at this point. They were so focused on... Yep, and then Shadow will come with you as well. Yeah. So you kind of grab Shadow,

drag them off the floor, and you just peg it, running for it, leaving a dying Ismark, Zeros, and Ziki. At the end of your turn, Strahd is going to move. He's going to use his movement to go... And he lands there. Shadow, it's your turn.

Well, I can't see the boy, so... Yeah, I'll cast a level 3 cure wounds on myself so that's 3d 8 plus 3 3 the 8 oh my Christ my bicycle That's two natural ones. It's not great. Just let me die. Turn me into a rug. I mean, he was trying. But you're a hairless cat.

It wouldn't be a very nice rug. I didn't say I'd be a nice rug. I don't want to be a nice rug. I want him to, like, when he walks on my hairless skin, he's like, ugh, creepy. Anything else? Anything else, Shadow? Unfortunately, I don't think I can do it. I don't have any bonus actions.

Irina. Oh, oh, oh, I could do a healing. You've already cast a turn. You've already cast a turn. Yeah, you've already cast a spell. Shut up, Kim, carry on. Irina on her turn is now properly resisting Jesper. It's like, no, I can't leave Ismark, please.

What are you doing? We can't run away from him. He's just going to chase after us. What do you want to try and do, Jesper? Yeah, you can move. Well, yeah, you can move, let's say, half movement speed because technically you were prone, but you were kind of half carried. You can move like 15 feet.

I will encourage her and not break free, saying, it's what he wanted, you can't fall to the devil. Okay, make a persuasion check for me. Don't know where to go. 17. Okay, yeah, she's like, but... And she kind of looks around

like, maybe... Maybe in there and she points to the door that you're currently heading towards. Maybe he won't be able to follow us. Zeros. It's your turn. I mean mean i'm still trying to get i'm still trying to get yes but right yeah i mean that was well again you don't you're not under his direct command he told you

to restrain yes but but again it's the charm specifically says you're not you don't you're not mind controlled you treat strad as a know, trusted friend to be heeded and protected. You take his requests and actions in the most favorable way. So, yeah, you would probably still think, like, I've still got to stop. I've still got to stop Jesper. Because you can see Jesper running away with Irina,

who Strahd clearly wants as well. So I'd say that, like, yeah, Xeroth would probably be like, I've got to help him get Irina. I mean, alternatively, Z ziki he has tatiana we have to stop jesper okay uh what'd you do okay uh so half move to stand up yeah i mean i think ziki knows that part of the deal um so i'm gonna come out and so half movement 5 10 15 i'm like yeah i'm like at the door um so i'll try and i can attack the bats they're fine right Yeah, he didn't say not to.

You can attack bats if you really want. Are they attacking... They are not attacking Zeros. They're saving throws. Against what? Against the charm. Nope. I said that last time. Nope. Yeah, I made one to begin with.

As long as the charm doesn't directly attack him. Nope. Doesn't get made one to begin with. As long as Tra doesn't directly attack him. Nope. Doesn't get any additional saving throw. Actually, I guess if they're not attacking me, like, whatever. They're not attacking you. Yeah, they're not attacking you. They seem to ignore you.

Sensing their masters. Yeah. Yeah, they've already used their reaction. Disappeared in the mausoleum. That's true. You can't see Irena and... I know. I mean, everyone else has left the mausoleum that's true you can't see you can't see irena and um i know i i mean everyone else has left the mausoleum where else is he going to go um he's not in the corner somewhere we're still um zeros over here uh yeah i mean if the bats attack ziki then if she follows then i'll attack the bats

okay because they're not an ally of mine strats turn heels here we go but the thing is is you're invisible you are invisible he doesn't know where jesper and ire are. He doesn't know where the cat is though. He does know where the cat is. He does know where the cat is and the cat keeps getting up. He keeps killing the cat and the cat keeps getting back. He will.

Kill the cat. But there's a risk. He doesn't want to do that because there's a risk. He's used. Are we doing injury checks? One, two... I don't think I need to be making this worse with injury checks. I think I'm probably going to die in the next round, Tom. I think...

Shut the fuck up. In the nicest way possible, shut the fuck up. It's part of the game, dude. No. Like, if we were playing with injury rolls, then we'd be fine. This one doesn't need to... Well, no, we're were playing this one this one doesn't need to well no we're not in this so as rose you see shadow break away so you see shadow break away from you running towards the wall of the the keep um and then you just see a shape kind of a blurring mirage of air rush behind because he can't see where Jesper's gone.

Instead, he will lash out. That is a... Oh, he has advantage. I really wish I had that sentinel ability. That would have been nice. That's funny. He has advantage because he's greater invisibility, so he has advantage.

Hang on. I'm just going to put myself down to zero. It'll be faster for all of us. Well, we need to... What's your max hit points? 38. And what's your current hit points? 27.

Oh, shit. This could be bad. 24. I just request that I get some final words I've been thinking about what to say my final words with you The cats out the back Nice that's it there it is drugs over now

him over Hang on. I gotta do some math here. Hey What's your current hit points? 27 some massive so 59 what's your current hit points 27 27 so get your f's up in chat this cat and then what's your max hit points 38 oh my god you're down but it's not massive damage um it's so you take 59 points of damage um as you are what did you do tell me so as he runs up behind you you just feel this this fist and it's like a hammer blow in your chest you feel ribs snap uh your chest kind of dunk um as this powerful force just punches you into your back sending you flying into the force of the castle wall in front of you

um as yet you feel something slam into your back your unconscious body is held like rose you see uh you see shadow's body being held up by some sort of force. You're unconscious, right, Shadow? Yeah. You said 50-something, right? I was on 27. 59. Yeah, 59. I worked out you were six hit points away from massive damage death, by the way. Yep. But I'm afraid that it's probably still going to be the ending

because you see a shape bite into Shadow's neck. Oh, fuck. That's everything I wanted. Please bring me back as a vampire cat. I want to be a vampire cat. Please, please, Mark. 21. Let me be a vampire cat.

So the target's hit point maximum is reduced by an amount. The target dies if its hit point maximum is reduced to zero. Okay. So this is just two death saving throws. But in terms of your hit point maximum, I still have to work that out. So that's seven, six, 13 reduction in your max hit points. And you have two deaths saving throws now like I roll them now they're automatic they just yeah yeah yeah yes but I know we're gonna we're gonna run a bit late but I feel like this is

reaching its culmination I need to know I'd like i'd like to know that too yes i'm gonna pull arena up these stairs yeah you've got your whole turn so strad is like here right well you can't see strad you can see shadow's body hovering off the ground um and blood running down a body but there's nothing there. Pretty good indication what's going on. You've got a good indication that he's probably somewhere around Shadow. You just don't know exactly where around Shadow he is. So, what? Around the neck area?

Yeah, maybe. I think he's there. I'm going to try and sneak open this door, which is covered by this parapet or whatever it is, spiraling tower. Sure. And try and sneak in. What's going on? So you rattle the door and there is it's something is holding it closed from the other side

like a bar on the other side it's like a wooden bar is keeping it shut from the other side no oh god you can try and break it down but but... Stay quiet. We need to find another way. But we must be silent. You can see there is a window. Just where you've kind of headed up, there is a window on the other side, but you need to shimmy along, and it looks like one of these stained glass chapel windows. Oh, look at that.

Longingly. Hoping to do that next turn. Yeah. Well, here's the culmination of everything, because at the end of Jesper's turn, Strahd has another legendary action. And it is with that legendary action that he will bite...

He will use two legendary actions to bite Shadow again, which is going to kill you, but let's see if he drains you of all of your blood. Oh, why not? It's the detail that makes it magical. Cool. What's your max hit points currently?

So it was 38 and then it was, what, minus 13? Yeah, maybe. 38 minus 13, 25. 25 25 okay I mean technically

so you you just see as Shadow's neck is ripped this huge gash as the force is just pulling her neck apart as these blood soaked this invisible force just sucks

Shadow dry do I get any last words? soaked, this invisible force just sucks shadow dry. Do I get any last words? Yeah, you have a moment where you can call out. You are roused from consciousness for just a brief moment. Sure. Rose. sure rose

bury me deep and let me walk to the city on my own finally I can rest as those words those last words are as the and then you just watch as shadow's body flies up with the invisible force and a voice calls out

if i cannot have my tatiana i will take this one and maybe make into my slave, and I shall send it against you to kill the rest of you. And that is where we will end today's episode, with Strahd flying away with Shadow's body, and Zeros, you are still charmed. I know, I know. Even if I wasn'tmed I know I know even if I wasn't I know about Tatiana now here's the thing

that's the whole point of Strahd as Chris Trott will tell you the module is like if Strahd comes after you it's bad it wouldn't be a terrifying blood boss if no one died like that's the point i keep mixing up strad with the my little pony one shot you did because they're just so i know it's so similar i can't remember one has glitter here's

the thing here's the thing there's also a bunch of stuff like this is the end of the episode so we'll just kind of break it down a. There's also a bunch of stuff like, this is the end of the episode, so we'll just kind of break it down a little bit. There's a bunch of stuff like, there's a couple of questions as a player. How the fuck did Strahd know where you were? That's a really fucking good question, and it's one worth wondering about. He didn't just show up randomly because I decided he did.

There is a very much a, he had a way of finding you and you had something he wanted the tome you had irena with you and you'd pissed him off like there there is a structure to the module trapped guy that had the i mean maybe maybe there's there's a ton of things it could have been but yeah this is very much in the module it very much sets out that like cool if he knows where you are and you have things he wants he fucking comes after you and he will he'll probably kill a pc like that's just how let's break it down y'all because like i don't want no one getting made like yeah shadow blasted him for like radiant damage. And Shadow was also the person

who said, let's go hide in this tiny enclosed space with a really hard door to open. Kim, you dealt over a third of his hit points in one attack. You hurt him more than he has been hurt in

centuries. And he was mad. And the thing is, he would have gone after Irena. Like, he would have pursued her. He can't find them. He can't see. He didn't have the abilities. You know, he has abilities to detect invisible creatures, but not on him.

So he just didn't have a way to find them. So he lashed out at what he could, which is shadow. So what we're saying is if we do blame someone blame chris trot that's that's the uh that's how it goes no no blame me none of it i'm one thing one more thing i'm gonna do because it's his turn next i'm just gonna roll a quick death saving throw for our boy is mark the Lesser. He's coming with me! He's coming with me! It's not looking good! Would Zeke have done anything to save

Ismark? I was planning on healing him, yeah. Do you want to just spend that spell slot? Let's just do that now. There should be a whole spin-off series where Ismark survives in the mausoleum and just goes insane. And then it's his survival story.

I will find you. I will find you. So, can I come back as a vampire cat? Can I be like a little vampire cat? I want to be like a vampire cat. I mean, yeah, sure you can. But not as a player character, no. Yeah.

You're definitely... Can I play whatever is next and then as soon as shadow comes back can i swap over and just be bad shadow and just like try and kill everyone as bad shadow how about this you can play both when when it's time for bad shadow to attack the party you can make all of bad shadows attack roles and and decisions uh as an evil vampire shadow you You can absolutely do that. It could be an if, right? No, no.

It's absolutely not an if. It's a when. It's 100% a when. You guys are going to, you know, you're going to have to take the fight to the stride. Let me tell you, a sword of sunlight,

that'd be a real big help right now. The other thing that didn't help in that fight, I'll tell you the other thing that didn't help in that fight, fucking Xeros being Tasha's hideous laughter the whole time like that boy can put out some belly don't blame on me again

the hideous laughter was just a way to stop the charm this is totally winnable if i wasn't charmed like if i passed that thing like yeah that would have been another truckload of damage yeah i forgot about the uh, I forgot about the... I forgot about the heart. The heart of evil or whatever it's called. I forgot about that. Yeah, that's what my campaign did. Is it all heart work?

Is it all heart work? No, me and Trot know things. Anyway, that's the end of the episode. Can I be a grung? I want to be a grung. I'm going to be coming around. I'm going to be a grung in. I'm going to grung.

See you guys next week. I'm going to be a grung. Woo-hoo! I'm going to be a little vampire I'm going to be a grung in. I'm going to grung. See you guys next week. I'm going to be a grung. Woohoo! I'm going to be a little vampire grung! We will see you all next week for more Curse of Strahd and Sunday, Kim gets to have her revenge by being DM

herself and running a one-shot. A horror one-shot. And check out the Knights of Evening Star, my new D&D show with a bunch of non-Hyrols people on Tuesdays at midnight as well so take care have fun

and we'll see you all soon bye everybody bye Thank you.