High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Curse of Strahd #14 | Tatyana's Truth

Episode Date: July 28, 2020

Ireena has some questions to answer in regards to Tatiana... but how will a certain Dragonborn react to this news? 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. app for details. This episode is brought to you by RBC Student Banking. POV, you're a student listening to an RBC ad. You're learning you can get up to $330 in value with RBC, including $100 when you open a no monthly fee RBC Advantage banking account for students. So you can vibe with friends even more this semester. POV, you're unlocking more perks for less with RBC. Up to $330 in value is a combined total of three available offers, each in accordance with the respective terms and conditions. Limited time offer ends October 31st, 2024. Conditions apply. Visit rbc.com slash student offers. Welcome friends to High Rollers Presents The Curse of Strahd.

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 Siki Mistan the Dragonborn Fighter, and Rhiannon Gower as Siki Mistan, the Dragonborn Sorcerer. Last time on Curse of Strahd, searching the grounds of Argenvostolt for a place to rest, a party decide to seek refuge in a large stone mausoleum in the mansion's cemetery.

Cautiously entering, they rest, but as night falls, a dreadful being peers inside before Ziki and Zeros. Seemingly admiring Ziki's artwork, Strahd von Zarovich has come. Seeking the tome the party had discovered, and of course his fair Irina, Strahd attacks the party in a rage, charming Zeros in the process. A desperate battle ensues, and Shadow delivers a powerful blow that seems to harm Strahd in greater ways

than could be believed. Jesper flees with Irena, making her invisible, and with no means to find them, Strahd, consumed by hate and rage, focuses his cruelty on Shadow Beyond the Veil, killing her and flying away

with her body. Now the party are left, injured, divided, and in the shadow of Argen Vostholt. And that, my dear friends, is where we begin today with the party. I believe that Irina, Jesper and Rose are all outside in the cemetery.

You were looking up at the there is a stone kind of curving staircase that leads to a large chapel-looking door that Jesper tried to open, but seemingly is barred from the inside. You see just the faint remnants of a typhoon of bats swirling and storming, combining together and chasing after their dark master into the cloudy night sky of Barovia.

Zeros had just left the mausoleum, I believe, leaving Ziki to heal Ismark inside, who seems that he has recovered from a near-death experience thanks to Ziki's healing magic. And yeah, that is where we begin today's episode. Okay. Are we still in combat with these bats? Nope, nope.

The bats have chased after their master, leaving you alone. Perfect. You are left in a solemn moment. There is no sound. There is no noise except for perhaps a gentle wind. The ground is still shrouded in a thick gray fog. And you are left with just the memories of what has taken place. Zeros, technically you are still under the effects of Strahd's charm.

But his only orders to you uh or his only kind of suggestions to you did not involve any sort of like you must immediately start you know harming the party he's now left so you know potentially can't do it but those just keep in mind that that is still a thing in your mind you still consider him a uh trusted companion i believe is the phrasing on the ability. Yeah. I mean, I'm still not following that order of restrain. Yes, because

what's the point? Well, it's also not an order. It's a case of he told you to do that in the moment because he obviously wanted to do something and that to you was like, oh, yes, of course, my good friend, I'll grab him. But now that Strahd's left, you're like, oh, well, maybe it's not so much point the only other thing for xeros is of course xeros now knows the identity of titania uh the

soul of titania and where it belongs i also very pointedly told ziki about it as well um made a big point about that because she knows she knows Jesper and Irina I believe are still invisible so Rose you are just stood out in the middle of this fog shrouded cemetery looking at where Strahd brutally murdered your friend and

flew off with her body as Xeros approaches from behind and with that I am done speaking thanks Mar for now that's lovely I'll leave it to you guys for a second

I do is there did shadow drop anything when she was taken away was there anything I will leave that to

time or anything Kim you are more than welcome anything you are holding or so holy symbol perhaps or something like that, definitely. I need to dig out. I don't think she had anything. Yeah. I had some cat bones on me.

Do you want that? Do you want some cat bones? No. I think, at most, you probably would have had some sort of holy symbol in her hand. Yeah. So I would say probably the scarab beetle holy symbol in her hand. So I would say probably the scarab beetle holy symbol. It was on her art, like the kind of

scarab beetle necklace brooch that was at her center. That would probably be a thing. She did have some spell scrolls and stuff like that, but I think that would have... Just for all the important stuff that we can use. No, I was thinking more that she would probably go and look for her holy

symbol and personal things, not the useful things, the personal. You see it just glinting in the moonlight, whatever dull moonlight breaks through the clouds, you see that golden scarab. Probably on the back of the scarab maybe, I don't know, Kim, would the

dark circle be there as well? Yeah. So for the first time, you can kind of, as you hold this golden insect in your hands, you can see that there is a black, almost like an eclipse engraved into the back, and it's kind of painted black to give it that eclipse look. I think Rose would just go over and pick that up

and just be looking at that. She probably wouldn't bother doing anything else at the moment. Yeah, just find it in the fog. Zeros and Ziki? I mean, I think with the revelation of Tatiana, I think he's still trying to find where they've gone

but they're invisible, right? And he's got no idea which direction they went. So I've got no clue where to look, really. But as far as I'm concerned, a cool friend just killed a not-so-cool friend as far as Xeros is concerned with Shadow. Wait, what? I guess. Like Strahd, you know, he did what he did. I'm all right I guess. Like Strahd, you know, he did what he did.

I'm alright with that. Strahd's a cool friend? Yeah, he's charming. Because he's charmed. He's charmed, yeah. Oh, I see. Okay, gotcha. Yeah, love that guy.

Me and him, we go way back. What about Ziki? You see Ismark like kind of coughs like a thick black ichor comes up from his lungs but he looks far better than he was momentarily but he's still kind of coughs like a thick black ichor comes up from his lungs, but he looks far better than he was momentarily, but he's

still kind of dazed. If you wanted to rush off after Xeros, you could. But you have saved his life. I'm just making sure he's okay. Just asking how he's doing, how he's feeling. I glimpsed the other side. Irina. Where is Irina?

Is she safe? Did that monster take her? I don't know where she's gone. I think Jesper's taken her. I don't know. Strahd's gone too. But I'm not sure where they've gone. They were invisible.

That's good. Thank you, my brother. Thank you. You saved her. Thank you, Ziki. And he kind of holds up like a hand to you. He's like, thank you. You saved my life. I thought Ziki. And he kind of holds up like a hand to you. He's like, thank you. You saved my life.

I thought it all flashed before me. I thought that Barovia had finally claimed it. You had fallen to him. Thank you, my friend. Come, come. And he kind of pulls himself up. He's like, let's go find the others. Come. And he kind of pulls himself free,

picks his axe up off the ground. You can see he's still injured, but's yeah all the poison and stuff like that has faded from him um he seems to be uh just just badly injured at this point you can see he is covered in quite a few probably clutching his side quite badly blood sort of dripping and dribbling uh from various wounds um but yeah uh jesper and Irina, who are currently still invisible, and Rose, who is closest to the tower, you do hear some very heavy grunting, I suppose, and banging, and the sound of something very heavy, something very wooden and heavy and wooden

being dragged and scraped. Where in which direction is that from us? From behind the door that you and Irina are currently stood at. Oh! You hear like a heavy breathing

uh and you begin You hear like a heavy breathing. And you begin to see the handle, the door handle begins to turn and twist. Quickly. Is that some sort of... But Shadow... I know. I know. Let's not...

Yeah? Make her life... Let's not do this in vain. Okay. Focus. What do you do? What do you do? So is there some sort of ledge towards the window here?

So you basically have... Walk along. On either side of you, you've got like a big stone like turret, it's like a tower that's on one side of you, and the staircase kind of curves up around it um like a snake coiling around it um the other side is just a drop it's about a 10 foot drop down to the grass cemetery below um and you can see yeah this this chapel window basically and can we walk out to the window is what I'm saying can we yeah yeah yeah yeah

yeah yeah yeah you can't see Irina either but yeah you can kind of pull her over and chill I'm moving towards this window quickly something is behind the door just as you drop down you kind of hear the soft wet grass kind of

crumple beneath your boots. The door opens. And emerging from it, you see, you are glancing up. All you really see is kind of tattered clothing and maybe some worn, very worn, dirty looking armor as quite a powerful built figure begins making their way out. Rose and Zeros, you actually see the figure as they kind of peer down, looking from this twisting staircase. Kim, do you want to describe Dog's Body?

You would see, as Mark said, a tall and powerfully built man um he has a mighty pauldron on one shoulder that's black and red and where the straps kind of cross over his chest It's a bare chest covered in old, very ugly looking scars. He has a mass of shaggy, unkempt black and silver hair and a big black and silver beard. That's also kind of very unkempt and very messy. His eyes glow a pale orange and he has pale grey, slightly blue skin. In terms of mechanics,

he's an Aesimar. Yeah, and he also has a great battered axe strong on his back that has a few chips and dents out of it. He would emerge from the darkness

and start sniffing the air. All right? You all right down there? I think... I think this thing is aware of us. Don't... don't give up. I mean, you hear something whispering below you. Don't give up. You hear something whispering below you, Donk's body.

You hear a man kind of whispering from somewhere nearby. You're invisible. You're not silent. People can hear you when you put like I don't know if I heard that. I can smell you. This man seems very, very quite good at hearing sounds and things like that.

Definitely seems to be aware of you. You probably, Dogspotty, you would have heard the fighting. You would have heard the sound of fighting sort of echoing through Argenvost Halt. Normally, there are some of the undead creatures in this chapel. You seem to be fortunately, they fortunately appear to be missing. But they've probably tried to attack you at least once before when you've come here. You coming?

Like, you know, my voice has gone boomer already, but there we go, loves. You're all settling to it. I'll settle to it. I need to, right, where is it? Where is it? Where's my trigger phrase? All right then. All right. All right, geese. I'll settle to it. I need to... Right, where is it? Where is it? Where's my trigger phrase? All right, then.

All right. All right, geese. All right, geese. All right, geese. Idris Elba. All right, geese. Just imagine Lufa. Lufa.

Lufa. Yes. You're making quite the kerfuffle out here. Come on. You coming in or what? It's quite dangerous out here. We don't know how dangerous you are. You don't know what we're in amongst right now.

Oh, it's fine. Come on in. Come on in. It's safer in here with walls, isn't it? Come on. There's only me here. Well, going back to Australian again, so I might have to rethink this accent.

Let me think. I don't think I'm going to be able to sustain Cockney. That's fine. Don't. Apples and pears. Accent will change. Apples and pears. You'll settle into one and just stick with that.

I'll settle in. Loofer. Loofer. There's a couple of ghosties in here. One of them told me to piss off, but... Come on! How can we trust you? You don't have to.

But... You look like you need some help. There's no time, Alina. We need to get inside. If he comes back, yes. Perhaps if to get inside. If he comes back, if he comes back, yes. Perhaps if we're inside, maybe we'll be safer. We have to do something.

We can't stay in this bush. I'll help you up. Where are you? Perhaps it may be best to cancel this spell now? But he could still be here. He seemed to be flying off with Shadow's body. I don't think he's still here. Oh.

I didn't see that. Okay. I'll drop the invisibility and then give Irina a boost up. Sure. So yeah, Dog's Body, these two figures kind of emerge next to you. One is a Vistani. A Vistana. You've seen the Vistani before. You know what they look like, the way they dress.

The other one is very clearly a Barovian woman, but she's definitely still has a soul. You can tell that she is not one of the soulless Barovians that you've probably maybe seen patrolling through the woods. Very pretty, very, very, very pretty blonde,onde, kind of darker skin, very elegantly kept. Down the steps in the graveyard, you see a Dragonborn, which you recognize being from Faerun yourself. You recognize Dragonborn. As well as a human woman with a bow who seems to be clutching something in her hands. Emerging from the mausoleum comes another dragonborn,

white this time, along with a very injured, another Barovian man who kind of follows up behind them. I'll offer a hand to Irina. Sorry, you go, Kay. That's okay. I think that Rose will just walk up the steps and just walk

into the door, just not say anything to anyone, just walk inside. Okay. Still probably looking for the Scarab Beetle in her hand. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, makes sense. So yeah, you see this human woman kind of walks up past you, dog's body, and makes your way inside. Rose, you're the first one to kind of step inside, outside of this stranger who's just appeared. Inside is very clearly a chapel that you walk into. Cracked wood pillars support a wooden U-shaped balcony

that overhangs this stone-walled chapel. Narrow archways lead to spiral staircases that curl up to the balcony and a door set into the north wall has... well, this is the door that you're entering from. At the east end of the chapel rests a stone altar flanked by iron candelabras. The altar is carved with a rising sun

bass relief and there are tall arching windows set with panels of stained glass behind it. There's a lot of broken glass and broken debris across the floor, and some of the fog from outside has drifted in through the windows. And yeah,

that's all you see as you step inside. But yeah, you move past this quite powerfully built fellow and make your way inside. What about the rest of you? Alright, lovely. She's not going to say anything. She's not going to say anything. She's just going to keep walking. She's not even going to look at you.

She's just going to keep walking through. She's still looking at the scarab. She's holding it in her hands. Quiet one it is then. Come on, guys. Come on. Irina steps in after Rose following very quickly.

She looks very skittish as she looks at the broken window and the doorway. I don't know if we can stay in here. The broken window may give him a way to come back inside. She kind of begins sort of like scanning the area around as she does so.

Jesper follows, I'm assuming yeah i i i walk in where are the yeah where's the dragon born oh you look behind you and you can see the two of them uh together with ismark um making their way towards the stairs. What about you, siblings? I mean, I don't know what to make of this guy, right? Like, doesn't want our trust or doesn't expect it. It makes it easy for me. Sure. So, yeah, I'll sort of follow cautiously with these two. I feel like I'm now protecting my two charges,

both Ismark and Zeki. Sure, what are you talking about? Ismark's fine. He can look after himself. How tall is Zeros? Who's taller, Dog's body or Zeros? I don't know. Interesting question.

I'd probably say about the same, maybe. Yeah? I have the same con. Dragonborn height. Dragonborn are generally, they're normally pretty tall, but you can be any height you want to be, really. 50 feet. Well, not quite.

Not quite. Anything reasonably medium-sized. I mean, I'm taller than Ze Zeke I think that goes without saying so you and dog's body are probably very equal in height Xeros probably is a little bit more muscular but more because you think dog's body has been a bit

malnourished or probably has old scars and things like that, Xeros looks a bit more healthy as you make your way through. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Nice sauce. Yeah, I think I'll be

slinging his mark over one of my shoulders and slowly just making sure he gets in safely. He'll take it because he is definitely still injured and he'll sling his arm over your shoulder and stuff like that and walk with you, lets you take his weight a little bit. But he still has the sword in one hand

and he's still looking around very, very nervously as you guys make your way back up into the chapel. You all emerge into this stone building and as the last person, Zeke and Ismark enter, a gust of wind seems to blow and the big heavy door shuts

behind and you just hear this kind of echo through the whole building as you all take residence in Argen Vosthold. I love that noise. I love it.

It's Mark. Jasper, thank you. Zeki. Zeki was the one that came to my rescue she saved me and thank you for looking after Irina whatever magic you did it worked

I can't believe he couldn't find her but and then he kind of looks towards Rose and stops himself speaking um there's nothing I could have done I'm sorry Rose looks towards Rose and stops himself speaking. There's nothing I could have done. I'm sorry, Rose. She's not going to say anything and she doesn't look upset.

She's just got, like, her face is just expressionless and she's just staring straight ahead of her. She's nothing. Nothing. And she just really like carefully probably wraps it in a spare piece of fabric or something and puts it into her pocket.

Cool. Do you need healing, it's Mark. I wouldn't say no, but perhaps we have more pressing concerns right now. Don't... Your magic, you've seen how long it takes to get good night's rest here in Barovia. Perhaps if we can find somewhere to rest for an hour, or perhaps you could leave me somewhere safe while you search for the relic,

and I can get some of my strength back very well and what of you stranger what brings you here why are you here I'll just be Australian just roll with it whatever comes out

he's a man of many cultures sure maybe I'll just change it to posho whatever whatever's easiest I've got to keep this up for a while I was

just in the area, I heard some noises. Thought I'd come through. Just, yeah, looked out. Saw a dreadful kerfuffle. Ooh, that large fellow. Hmm, yes, what? Thought I'd help. So you have no affiliation with Strahd?

Ha! No. Nor the evil entities of this cursed place? Oh, uh, this place? Hmm. There's a few things here. I don't know if I'd call them evil as such. Uh, there's a few ghosties.

Have you ever encountered revenants before? Nasty, nasty bit of work. They would be evil, yes. But for the most part, there's a few ghosties here, and one of them told me to piss off. But I just ignored it. Tried to come help you lot. Was a bit late. Sorry. You came to help us?

Well, I heard you, you know, heard you having a fight. Tremendous noise you made, and I thought, hmm. Ghosts probably aren't going to enjoy that. You haven't been following us, then? No. Okay. Well.

You do not. Should I? You don't look Barovian. Are you from another land, like these people? Ah, yes. Once upon a time I was. Recognize you two, sort of. Well, I recognize Dragonborn. It's been a while since I've

seen Dragonborn. Aren't you magnificent specimens? Yes, delicious. But yes, I guess I'm from Faerun, I think, once upon a time, long time ago. Don't really remember much of it. How is it?

How is the world out there? It was nice. It was really nice. I'm sorry, Ziki. I honestly wish that none of you had been brought to this accursed place. You should not have to suffer like the people of Barovia do. If you want to help, then... If there's any way I can still do that,

I'm happy to stay until it's done. I miss home, but I want to help you guys make this a better place. We'll make this place better when that devil is dead. The thing is... I hate to mention her name, but

your friend Shadow, she hurt him. Hurt him more than I've ever seen anything hurt him before. It was more than just physical pain. She broke something. Something that he was connected to. Something like that.

It shows that we can win we just need the right weapons we need allies but he's not unbeatable if things had been different if we had everybody together and he kind of glances at Zeros

and Jesper his eyes kind of like very quickly like flicking between the two I think that we have a chance at least there's that that chance died I don't think so the one person who dealt the biggest blow

is no longer with us then we just need to find weapons that can channel the same sort of power that Shadow did. We need to find somebody who has the power of gods on their side. If we can find that, then we...

I still think that we have a chance of doing this. Whatever she did, she's given us a chance for the future to stop him once and for all. But we need more information. We need allies and weapons and people who know about creatures like him. Then everything must be settled here and now. Before we can continue.

I look to Zeke. Ismark says that we need our gods on our side. Is your god still on your side? I still feel her. I still feel her inside. I still carry her faith with me. Good.

I'll try and keep it burning. Do you even have a god Zeros no then you haven't even lost one so how would you fight will you fight alongside us will we be killed

before we kill Strahd? Tell us truthfully. So, I mean, I'm like, I consider Strahd to be a friend right now, right? Like, I'm struggling to think how I would negotiate this. Am I just like, why are we fighting him?

Why? I mean, you're not,'t you're not it's not rendered you stupid to the charm it hasn't like your mental state i guess in my head i will let you i will let you i will let you interpret this as you want it specifically states um for the next 24 hours uh the charm target regards strad as a trusted friend to be heeded and protected you are not under his control but you take his requests and actions in the most favorable way um because he didn't directly harm you the effect is still in place but you also might know that maybe it's not wise to, again, a party that is so clearly intent on harm,

you might know that it's really not a smart idea to say like, no, he's my best pal. I'm going to, I want to look after him. I didn't know if I'd be lying in this situation if I did say like, you know. Maybe you would be. I'll leave that to you and what you judge Xeros' intelligence to be.

You've got to put you on the spot. I'll do what needs to be done in the moment. I think you're looking the wrong way. We're meant to be joined by allies we know and trust, and yet we stand here with a Tatiana. Who? What do you mean by that?

That name! He keeps using that name. Do you know what it means? Why does he keep calling me that? Strahd seems to think you are extremely important to him zeros you saw what he was doing when you first arrived here he's obsessed with irina i don't know who this tatiana is perhaps irina looks like her maybe it's somebody from strad's past or something go on rose um when we picked up the tome of strad from the yes for reddit out to us didn't he he did and it was you and shadow the three of you are the

only ones who have read the book because i don't think you read it it. You were given it, Ziki, weren't you? But you didn't read it. No, I didn't read it. But it mentioned Tatiana. Yeah. Jasper. This is the first time she's spoken since anything. The book mentioned Tatiana. Yes. Tatiana, who threw herself off the cliffs at Castle Ravenloft? I know. I've wondered for a while now, Irina. Who is she? What do you mean she threw

herself from Castle Ravenloft? Who is she? why is he so obsessed with her? someone from his past you are aware that souls cannot leave this place that is always I mean people don't like to talk about it it's not polite and yes we know

politeness means nothing here now look into yourself for the truth of who you are what soul inhabits you you see for a moment Irina kind of thinks

she kind of thinks hard she kind of holds her hand up to her head i gotta look something up because i rolled a fucking natural 20 on this hang on she knows everything well i mean yeah yeah well uh uh hang on hang on she's not Tatiana at all Strahd is Zeros she pulls her mask off

Zeros is Asmodeus Jesper's still just Jesper he's just the only children guy in this entire thing so as you say this and you see Jesper's still just Jesper. He's just the only children guy in this entire thing. So, as you say this and you see Irina kind of like, she thinks her brow furrows and then she kind of falls to her knees, bringing her hands up to her head.

No, no, I'm Irina. I've always been Irina. My father is my son. And she kind of like watches and the wind outside begins howling and blowing stronger. The candelabras in the chapel fall over a metal sound ringing out. Souls, the souls of Barovia begin screaming out in the wilds. And then eventually you just see as like her neck snaps back

her body goes rigid as she then relaxes I am Tatiana I am I was betrothed to Sergei

Strahd's brother the wedding night he killed him. She kind of blinks for a moment. I know you. For many lives I have been lost. But I know all of you. Not you, she points towards Dog's body. You are new.

But you all helped me. and she looks at ismark ismark is like irena what are you talking about what do you mean she kind of like cradles his face my brother but also not you have cared for me so much but i'm not who you think I am I am Irina but I am also someone else someone who has been lost here for a very very long time he looks confused almost tears welling up in his eyes

he turns back you must destroy the devil destroy strad he has committed something truly evil here more than you know i was betrothed to him to his brother long ago but strad was envious, obsessed with me. He claimed that he loved me, that I was to be his but Sergei kept him at bay. He was jealous, afraid of his younger brother. So he made a pact. He traveled to a place spoken of in our past.

A place called the Amber Temple. And there he spoke with the dark powers of Barovia. Ancient figures. Beings of incredible evil. That rule over something called the Shadowfell. Or something connected to it. They promised him youth, power, eternal life. And he took it. They promised him youth, power, eternal life.

And he took it. And when he drank his brother's own blood within Castle Ravenloft where we were meant to be married, he sealed that pact forever. I am sorry I did not know the danger that I placed you all in before

but I hope that you will help me now of course that is why we are here why the cards were drawn. All of us part of this destiny. Whether we like it or not. I see

her blood in you. Her soul. It is still connected to you. And she points at you, Jesper, when she says this. You... It is strange for a Vistana to inherit the gift of foresight. From man, too, anyway.

Oh. You have... Learning. I don't know. There is much that we should discuss about your lineage, but it is more complicated than you realize. Madame Ava was

far more than she appeared. I do not know what next you should do. I am afraid that my soul has been so broken and fragmented for so long that my memories are very fragmented. But I will do what I can to aid you now. And I'm sure that my brother Ismak here will help you as well. But it is time for

my soul and Sergei's soul and Strahd's to finally be put to peace. Hmm. Well, uh... This is a fine fucking mess i've walked into hey i should have left that bar on the door oh what a right bunch of characters you are if you are here in borovia, my hairy friend,

I'm afraid that you are already involved in this mess. Sooner or later, you would have fallen victim to Strahd's cruelty at some point. Better to be on the side of righteousness, along with myself and my brothers and my sisters. And he points to Jasper and Zeros and Rose and Zeki and Irina. Better to be with us. To take the fight to him. Jasper, you mentioned that somewhere in this place is the relic Madam Ava spoke of. Where's the weapon?

We need to find it. We do. I won't let him take Irina or Tatiana. Whatever her name is. My sister. I won't let him take her. Not again. If he was... If he was...'t let him take her, not again if he was

tried to take her before well, this time I'll be there waiting for him and then he kind of sits down holding his injured side slow down, slow down, not too much I just need some time I don't know how you do it, Ismark but despite everything

you you bring hope to us that's all we've got left well what now? hello what is your name? Oh yeah

Dog's body Cheers Well You know what we are here for. You know who she is. What do you have to say for yourself? Name's Dog's Body. I like hanging out in the woods. I have not really hung out with people that much in a while.

I have not really hung out with people that much in a while. You're probably here for the sword. My voice changes a lot when I'm nervous. Can you fight? Please stop looking at me. Oh, mate. I flex. Can I ever? You didn't answer the question.

Wanna rumble? He prefers a very straight answer. Yes or no is generally pretty good with zeros. He understands. Yes. Yes. Good enough. The sword.

Man. Do you know where it is? The sword. Don't know where it is. Seen it somewhere. Everyone knows about that. Oh. What else is in here?

There was a... When we came in. Did you hear that? Oh, the creepy breathing? Yeah, that one. Yeah. You're newer, aren't you? A little bit.

Just a little tiny bit. Yeah. So, one thing you need to know about Barovia, everything's creepy. Real creepy. Yeah. one thing you need to know about Barovia everything's creepy real creepy yeah yeah lots of dead stuff

yeah what's the sun like back in Faerun? I miss it it's so warm and the oranges the oranges are so good. So sweet. I miss oranges. Me too.

As a point, Dog's body probably does smell, right, Kim? Like, there is a very... Like, this is a fellow who has clearly been living out in the wilds with not a lot of like good food and opportunities to clean themselves to look after their gear like they're pretty grim they look like a wild fan like it's like robin williams in jumanji when he comes out what year is it and he's got the big beard like yeah there's a bit of that going on he looks and also he looks like he's been here a while i think yeah he he's very a bit kind of um nervous you can tell like even though he's kind of putting on this bluster you could tell he's

probably a bit nervous and a bit sort of wild eyed and a bit sort of people are talking to me and acknowledging my existence. This is a bit I want to. I mean, there's always the possibility that these people are all just hallucinations. Maybe they're not even real. Yes. Oh my god.

The character traits. You've had people talk to you before and it turned out that they weren't real maybe these ones aren't real oh barovia you never ending source of joy i miss people um what what was i saying yeah voice is gone again um that's just part i don't i don't use my voice part of the madness part of it. I don't use my voice. Part of the madness. I don't use my voice a lot.

I don't use the voice a lot. So, yeah. Sorry, this is the longest conversation I've had in months. What? What? Was there a question? I... Everyone looks so scared.

I believe Zeros asked where you're from. If I rune, mate. I said. Yes. I believe Dog's Body answered that one. Do you wish to help us find this sword? Is that why you're here? You want the sword for yourself?

Nah, mate. I was just looking for a roof over my head. I was getting a bit tired of rain when I'm trying to sleep. So you're just surviving. Yeah. Do you have any food? I have some rations.

That's all I've got. I'll pass. I have some. I have some. Thank you, Tatiana, was it? Tatiana. Or Irina, whichever you prefer. But yes, she brings out like

a wrapped up meat pie sorry this smells delicious don't eat it too quickly you need to pace yourself and she gives you a water skin as well has a sweet wine in it yeah lovely thank you lady a water skin as well. It has a sweet wine in it. Yeah.

Lovely. Thank you, lady. Tell you what, yeah, I'll help you get this sword for the food. Thanks. I'll cry it.

And he just turns his back and starts sits down well that's something we have another person that can help us should we get a move on I don't like to stay still for too long unless Ismark you need a rest

I feel like we've been resting for an hour you definitely have has it been an hour in real life oh it kind of has actually pretty much yeah so yeah sure you've had an hour you've had has it been an hour in real life oh it kind of has actually pretty much yeah so yeah sure uh you've had an hour you've had a short rest everyone everyone you get short rest nothing because fight i didn't i laughed in that last combat that's it so it was tom it was pointed out you can be angry at chris trot for this but apparently at the end of your turn, you do get a saving throw against Tasha's, apparently. Comments were telling me.

I mean, sure. It made it work for the encounter. Yeah, I would have just tackled him next turn anyway, so either way, I wasn't going to be helpful against Stratt. Helpful for him, though. My BFF.

Love that guy. He's my number one guy I can't wait for that to trip us up within the next 24 hours yeah sure 24 hours Zeros as you are kind of watching all of this there is a slight building heat

in the hilt of he who grins. Every time you look towards... So it's quite interesting, right? Because every time you look towards Irina Tatyana, you have the bonding of the ring that you're wearing, which makes you feel quite safe and protective and at home being close to Irina and Tatiana.

But every time you look at her, there's this burning, pulsing heartbeat. Almost actually, you know what? It's not a heartbeat. You thought it was a heartbeat. It's almost like the ticking of a clock. Oh, cool. That's even cooler, actually. That puts me

under zero pressure love that heartbeat wasn't spooky enough yeah but yeah so yeah you guys get a long rest you know throughout all of this is Mark has kind of been not a long rest short rest

is Mark has been bandaging his wounds and he seems to be fighting fit um and yeah you guys can't understand you have these two spiral staircases uh one in the north part of the chapel one in the south there is also a pair of open double doors um that seem to lead into what appears to be some sort of like maybe like a dining hall um or something like that um there are some faint glowing lights um dog's body this is probably where you would sort of snuck into and was hanging have been hanging out for the last few days um and those are your those are your entrances and exits everybody um

do you know around this place uh dog's body where have you looked uh i've looked ground floor yeah you've been mostly on the ground there uh i slept under a table in the other room. There's a room where the ghost told me to leave. Mostly ground floor stuff. I haven't been up heights. It's bad. Lead us towards the staircase then. Hopefully avoiding that ghost. Please.

Thank you. That means going out into the main foyer yeah ghosties are alright they just tell you to leave and you just go yeah yeah yeah and then just you know hide it's fine I don't appear to have a marker on this map but you don't because I don't have a token

for you yet I'll sort one out to be honest with this one I'm going to kind of theater of the mind anyway. You make your way. Dog's body leads you through the open double doors into a dining room. It's about 20. It's quite a large room with almost like a 20 foot long table

that has sculpted dragons for legs. The chairs that surround the table of their backs carved to resemble folded dragon wings. And several of the chairs have been overturn table of their backs carved to resemble folded dragon wings and several of the chairs have been overturned smashed to pieces suspended above the tables is a crystal chandelier that glows with a soft light

standing in windowed alcoves are two life-sized statues depicting knights with dragon winged helms and shields rainwater trickles through cracks in the ceiling, flowing down the west wall and adding to a large puddle on the floor. There are several sets of doors that lead out of this room, a set to the north, a set to the south,

and then a set to the west, and then the doors that you're coming through. Dog's Body leads you through an open door into a large foyer. The foyer feels like king's tomb a grand staircase leads up to a stone balconies i'm just gonna move all of you guys whoop uh uh a grand staircase leads up to a stone balcon balcony held aloft by stone pillars and arches. A tall, faded tapestry depicting a nobleman in silver armor hangs from an iron rod above the staircase landing. Six sets of double doors lead from this foyer, and along the walls displayed on marble pedestals are three alabaster busts of handsome men. A fourth bust and its pedestal has been knocked over

and the shattered remains lie strewn around across the mosaic floor. Various large iron chandeliers hang from the ceiling. As you enter, that same sound erupts, but this time

it is accompanied by something else a dark shadow with wings moves across the walls and disappears with a faint cool cool Anya you have a large staircase

leading up I don't like this but what choice do we have well if there is something here it's not attacked us so far that's what scares me Well, if there is something here, it's not attacked us so far. That's what scares me. It's biding its time, if that's the case. The dragon that lived here, Argenvost, he was kind.

He sought to fight against Strah and his domination his cruelty his knights who were once proud noble things they were good people here once see it fallen into such ruin it is sad

let's hope they're still on the side of good. Yes. Kim, Dog's Body. Dog's Body Kim. Dog's Body. Dog's Body Kim. They're pretty much the same. I haven't showered all day.

Would Dog's Body have seen the three spooky nights that the party saw in the last, you know, however many episodes ago? Would he have encountered them? Yeah, you've encountered them. You tried to go in the chapel once and they attacked you in there. You had to basically run away. They seemed pretty mindless, not like zombie skeleton mindless. They were still sentient, but they just kept yelling at you to get out.

You weren't welcome here here that sort of thing and they chased you out basically yeah um you haven't seen them maybe in the last few hours you were kind of avoiding the chapel um hiding out here in the foyer there's actually like a little a wine cellar that you've been sort of using as well um which is kind of quite secure there's like a door that you can lock from the inside um and when you heard the fighting that's when you came to the chapel saw that it was empty so wherever those three were they've gone somewhere else was there enough of them like their facial features to match them to well do they look similar to the busts in here?

Very good question. Yes. At least one of them did look like one of the knights depicted in the busts. Yep. Nice. Hi. What are your names, by the way? I got yours, Tatiana Irina.

Who are you? Jesper. Jesper, all right. I'm Ziki. Rose. I'll remember that one. Gorgeous Rose for a gorgeous lady. Zeros.

Zeros. Right. Ismark. Ismark. Yes, sorry. Forgot. Sorry. Everyone forgets about old Ismark the Lesser. Lesser from...

We would never forget about Ismark. Never. Don't forget about your sweet himbo boy. The things that we can't save him from. Yeah. No, no, we want to. We're like, don't do that. Oh, he's doing it anyway.

Okay. That's Ismark. He's like the gnome in Half-Life 2 when we have to try and get him to the end of the game to get an achievement. Oh my god. Tom Hazel, if Ismark makes it to the end

of this campaign alive, I will give you a personal achievement. We have to do it. Brilliant. Even if the rest of us die. Again and again and again. Ismark must survive. Have you heard of Hyrule?

The guys who got Ismark to the end? The achievement will be called Ismark the Greater. That's the achievement. This is the name of the achievement. There it is. There it is there it is cool so you currently are in the

foyer there is a set of wooden doors to there's several sets of wooden doors to the north several sets of wooden doors to the south judging by rose you're accomplished at kind of mapping out areas and things like that you imagine the doors to the south will lead you into the ballroom

where the giant spiders came from. That's quite easy and obvious. Dogspotter, you know that the middle door to the north leads into the wine cellar. There is another room to the north which was like a broken bedroom, like a barracks almost that you think.

That was it. That's pretty much what you know. And then there's the stairway leading up. And point. Wind that way. Barracks that way. Stairs that way. Entrance that way.

The three knights, revenant things that chased me and threw things at me. Just noticed one of them looks like this fella over here and I point at the relevant bust. Don't know if that means anything. The original residence

turned into a revenant. That's not good. I have curiosity. Is there any that look like the the man that shadow described that she saw in the window up in the tower christopher walken none of them yeah you yeah uh the none of these busts are christopher walken no gosh darn it. And if I say Christopher Walken and I refer to Christopher Walken as depicted in the movie Sleepy Hollow.

He literally has that hair and looks crazy and insane. Yeah. Nice. Okay. I'm trying to remember what... So we saw him from the second level of a tower, right?

Yeah, so it would have been the northeastern corner of the mansion. Okay. Yeah, it was sort of opposite where the mausoleum was, but high up. Yes. That's correct.

Stairs kind of seem to loom and stretch up. The tapestry of this nobleman sort of looking down at you quite upicely. The portrait, actually, the busts don't look like the figure that you saw, Rose, but the portrait over the balcony stairs does look like the figure that you saw, Rose, but the portrait over the balcony stairs does

look like that man. It looks like a very well-dressed nobleman. Silvery hair. But it's much neater. He doesn't look as wild as what Shadow described to you. Okay. Does this painting

look extremely old? Yes, very old. So. We're thinking a vampire. My boy. Maybe. If he's still around.

She didn't describe him as looking old, though. No. Yeah, there was a little bit. His hair was white. His hair in this is silver, but he looked a little bit older and much more wild when Shadow saw him. Yeah.

This painting is very, quite noble, regal looking. Very sort of, not heroic, but in a sort of kindly way. There's a kindness about this man that you can see. This man... Shadow saw him in the tower. He's still here. Okay. He's still in this building somewhere.

I believe that that is Lord Argenvost, the dragon himself, in his human form. Well, let's go where she saw him. Yes, just be careful. Where is this shadow? I count one, two, three, four, five, six...

Is she here? Do we need to go get her? No, we don't. Let's move. Okay. Jesper, are you going to take the lead up the stairs? Yeah, I'm going to go upstairs. Okay. So Jesper, on B.

Yeah, the two of you kind of like after Jesper's very final words, no, we don't. You lead to the rest of the crew upstairs. The balcony, the balcony as you make your way up, two stone balconies flank the main foyer. Belusters carved to resemble knights in shining armor support

their elegantly carved stone railings. Weapons and shields festoon the walls along each of these walkways while alabaster busts of handsome men flank hallways that lead north and south away from the foyer. I'm going to move you guys up to the second floor.

Cool. So you have to pick a direction at this point. This is where you must decide where you are going i mean if the arena was northeast then you can definitely head that way if you like yeah um for sure okay uh at the west end of each balcony you can kind of see them here there is a spiral staircase that leads up um oh there's a third floor there it certainly does seem to go higher damn okay uh yeah i guess we'll keep keep going through to that northeast tower to see if we can school that so you see yeah you see that the corridor turns off.

As you're making your way down the corridor, Zeros, you and Jesper notice that these busts, their eyes are following you. As you move, their eyes They don't move at all. I draw both my sword and dagger

okay sure you see that the balcony turns into a narrow corridor that seems to lead to the north it turns into a T-shaped hallway that leads to the east and west and there also appears to be an open door that leads into a T-shaped hallway that leads to the east and west. And there also appears to be an open

door that leads into a room on the left-hand side as you make your way down it. Along the balcony, there is also another door that seems to lead into another building. You guys can see it on the map, but for metagame purposes, obviously you can't.

I can't be bothered doing all the dynamic lighting stuff. That blades for me yes sir no they're not keep focused okay uh what's the plan can i have listen? Like, a really good listen and, like, just see if I can hear any sounds of movement or anything. Like, anything weird. Yeah, absolutely. Make a Le Perceptions. Perceptions. I have advantage on it.

Do you? Oh, that's weird. I want to get advantage on it. What a weird trade to have but I rolled a 6 and a 5 so 7 nice 7 you strain your ears

and you listen closely you hear the steps of your companions your new companions making their way up the stone steps along into the balconies glancing each other the whispered conversation between Zeros and Jesper

and then just in your ear you hear you can't escape what you are to whom all of us no no just dog's body and dog's body is the only one that hears that is mark and irena uh begin making their way up even ziki and rose in the rear um yeah so you

can see that they're also the the balcony stretches behind you as well and seems to angle um in a diagonal, kind of heading back towards the church, towards the chapel, where you remember there was a balcony in the chapel as well. But yeah. Where would you wish to go?

Carry on north. Okay. So you start moving forward, X zero so you see that there is the door open to your left do you want to investigate the room do you just go straight past it uh i think what do you think uh yeah carefully sort of peek in there and just sort of scan the room before we press on uh sure uh you look inside the room, you and Jesper kind of peek in. You see two beds with torn canopies, uh, stand against opposite walls with a tattered rug lying on the floor between them.

Set into the far wall is a fireplace black with soot. Soft hiss escapes from the hearth. escapes from the her let's go wait it's like constant is it yeah it's like it kind of not constant like it's like constantly hissing it comes and goes

but it varies in length and yeah it's weird well and goes, but it varies in length and... Yeah, it's weird. Rose and Ziki, are you guys going to just follow up behind the rest of the team? Yeah, I'll follow up. Can I cast Bless at level 2 on us 4? So

me, Rose, Irina and Bismarck. Of course, absolutely. Please do. Thank you. Oh. Got a prep of less. I'm just going to try and find...

I'm going to just quickly... Oh, actually, this is not bad. You strong boy, you'll be fine. I don't know. I'm capable, but it still would be nice sis just the four attacks just because I can doesn't mean I shouldn't

but better no? wait what? um this is for dog's body Kim until I sort you out a thing I am on the wrong level there we are hello

there you go so I found a man with a beard that can be you yeah what do you want to do just carry on Zeros you want to look in the room I mean hitting hard does anybody else want to do? Carry on, Zeros? You want to look in the room? I mean, hissing heart. Does anybody else want to take the lead? Does anybody else want to explore the hissing fireplace?

Or Zeros moving forward? Hanging out back with the ladies. Rose is not really in the mindset zone. She's like looking like she is. She's trying to look very composed and she's not she's focused on not visibly looking like she's upset or annoyed she's just looking focused but

her head is not there really yeah that makes sense absolutely uh z Zeke, Jesper, just moving up. I'm following Zeros. I'm just focused on the task at hand and trying to usher people along so we don't dwindle in corridors. Sure. Ismark will follow up as well. Yeah. So, yeah, if you just want to keep moving Zeros, move yourself down the corridor. It's about another

sort of like 15 feet. So, Ismark, Jesper and Zeros, you're basically all moving together, aren't you? Yeah. Okay. So, while the rest of the group kind of move up behind,

as you reach... Yeah. So as you step into the corridor, the three of yes but xeros and ismark uh you hear a loud click as the stone floor beneath you sinks in about half an inch and along where the T junction is a floor to ceiling block of stone sealed off that part of the corridor. Um, as you hear this loud thunk, the two doors,

uh, Oh, sorry, actually, no, no, it doesn't go off. Actually,

what am I talking about? I'm looking at a wrong section. Sorry. I was looking, I was looking at a completely wrong room. All right. I'd like to move with traps in mind. I mean, you're already doing that. That's called passive perception, Tom Hazel.

I already have that in mind. I mean, if you want to say it happens regardless, like... No, no. I was literally i was looking at a completely other another floor i was looking at a completely other floor of this building so right we're not going downstairs no problem t junction downstairs watch out right yeah watch out yeah get that far that's fine So you move towards that door what about the rest of you so I rena moves in

Dogs body Rose Zeki. Are you guys just all following into the corridor as well? Yeah Okay, that's fine. Soz, I cannot move my butt. Do you stay behind Dogspotty or are you just moving down? I'm moving with the back team. Alpha Beta Squad. Okay. So as you move towards the door, Xeros, your foot

sinks about half an inch into a stone thing on the floor. Oh my god. You got me. Where the trap was, sinks about half an inch into a stone thing on the floor. Might have misread where the trap was. Might have thought it was in the middle of the T-junction and it was actually at the entrance to the room. Lol. You said it was in a different room entirely and I was like,

oh, it's fine, we don't need to worry about it then. To be fair, your pastives still wouldn't have picked up on the trap. Because you guys were moving forward. But yeah, the stone block to be fair your pastives still wouldn't have picked up on the trap so yeah um because you guys were moving forward but yeah the the stone block seals off the t-junction uh trapping you in this narrow corridor there are kind of windows on either side the doors fly open on either end and you see uh in each room there are a number of shadowy-looking or ghostly-looking warriors, basically. Uh-oh.

Ooh. And we are... So the T-junction, it's like the bottom half of the T is now sealed off, right? The bottom half of the T is now sealed off, so let me... Like we've just been sealed into a boss room. It's just a long room with bosses on either end so a block of stone has fallen here um yeah pretty much um okay that's pretty much it yeah that's pretty much it so the doors fly open and you see these

shadowy figures uh rush out towards you and i'm gonna have to very quickly set up an encounter uh because i didn't do this i'm guessing none of these boys look like uh thingy the uh noble no these no because these guys are all so you see they're men and women, but they're all translucent. They have a slight translucence to them. And they don't speak. They don't hiss. They just silently, these dead eyes, these see-through bodies just kind of turn,

silently draw weapons, and kind of like at the end of Return of the King, they just kind of float towards the corridor in a desperate one. I watched that last week. He's dead. Yeah.

He's dead and has fallen. Oh, hang on then. Forgot to include Is mark the lesser uh there is there's four of them in the room in front of you yes yeah i'm just thinking about that other room as well dog's body rose and irena look around to see more of them begin to rush out of the other room or begin emerging from the door in the other room as well. Seven g-g-g-ghosts. G-g-g-g-ghosts. I'm just wondering. No, we can try and get through as much as we can in, like, 30 minutes.

Just give me one turn. I've got all my action surge and everything it's fine right dog's body uh sorry

uh Ziki yeah Ziki please here we go 15 15 Jesper

it is 19 19 Rose 8 it is 19 19, Rose 8 8, Katie I don't mind you using my actual dice yeah I was going to say I don't mind you using normal dice I'm using normal dice now I'm not using

roll 20 so 17 I'm just rolling in the 6s and fives today. On which note... Oh, God. Seven. Jesper, you leap into the fray before anybody else.

These things do seem to be quite slow to react to your presence. And yeah, you see them beginning to rush towards you. You can see into the room, the doors fly open. Almost with a giant gust of wind. Okay. I mean, they're translucent, right? They do

appear to be ghostly. Okay. Going to try ah I got nothing got nothing good against this so I'm gonna recklessly go in and try and swing my sword at them okay sure

so the closest one this one uh onto the left as I go into the room uh I'm gonna swing at them I'm gonna swing at them I'm gonna do it manually as well because my thing isn't working 20 plus 7

23 23 will almost certainly hit this fellow this first one so you rush in and you can see that the room is probably once an old barracks there are broken beds scattered around it and several kind of thin archway windows scattered around the room um but yeah uh you hit

eight points of piercing damage as as perhaps you expected as the weapon passes through its body it has less of an effect than you would hope it has an effect it definitely has an effect some parts of it are displaced you see wisps of material or essence drifting away from its body but it's not as much of an effect that a blow

against anybody else would have had that is a 18 for my dagger that will hit as well and another 8. Points of piercing damage. So the second blow strikes true, but again, the same thing. It kind of only just pulls away wisps of whatever this creature

happens to be. Anything else in your turn? I call out to the rest of the party. Sure. Zeros. Okay, I'll nudge up to the other one. Jesper isn't fighting. The one directly in front of the door. And I'll try a multi-attack on that.

Bonus action. Flamio as well. Flamio. Flame on. Flamio as well. Flamio. Flame on. Flamio hot man. So the first one is an 18 to hit. Hits. And that's 16 slashing damage.

And you see that with it being a magical weapon, this does strike as you intended it to. Yeah, sorry, I just realized I rolled a greatsword, so the damage is the same, I just need to do fire damage, which is another 2d6. Yeah, sure. Boom. Another 8 fire damage.

So as He Who Grins cuts through this Phantom Warrior, it pulls away, burning away some of its essence. It's still standing, but that definitely has a much greater effect, the magical weapon striking true. Nice. And the other one is 28 damage with 21 to hit. Why is your he who grins using the command? It appears

to be rolling 3d6 for its main weapon. Oh, it's because you reroll ones, don't you? Because you have two weapons fighting. Yeah, it's grayed out. Yeah, it's grayed out. That's what I just realized. 6 plus 4 plus 7 is 17. I do have that.

Man, I'm impressed that it actually does that for me. That's pretty awesome. So 28 points of damage total. So with a kind of secondary blow bringing the Greatsword down, you evaporate this phantom assailant. The two blows tearing it apart

as you do so. Can I use the rest of my movement to get all up into... No, you can't. Can I use the rest of my movement to get all up into... No, you can't. You cannot. Because you have ignited the flames on the sword and as you wield it you hear a familiar voice

in your mind. Do not forget our deal, good warrior. The first part of our agreement Do not forget our deal, good Warren. The first part of our agreement should be honored. Mark Tatiana's soul. Okay, with that, I'll tell everyone. I'll tell everyone to group up.

Irina, come to me. Okay. Is Mark, hang, come to me. Okay. Ismark, hang on. Let me... Ismark's like, yes, Irina, Zeros will protect you. Come up. Yeah, I will. Yeah, I will. Ismark's my dude.

He's your buddy. Zeki, your turn next. You see Xeros call back, and yeah, you see they've gone to engage some warriors, but some phantom warriors are beginning to emerge from the doorway behind the group as well. What would you like to do? Okay, I will...

I think as an action, I'm going to place a hand on Rose's shoulder and just reassure her and say, be strong. We can do this together. I'm here for you. And then I'll convert one of my sorcery points as a bonus action into a level one spell slot, please.

Okay, sure. Cool. That the whole turn? That's everything you want to do? Yeah. Okay, cool cool stay with the backpack okay uh is mark the lesser will move into the room joining yesper and he will attempt to uh fight uh alongside yesper seeing that the physical weapons are less effective and he doesn't have any magic really so he will attack as well uh his first hit is parried this creature brings it up and parries it away

uh with its ghostly weapons and armor but the second long sword strike is true um and he brings it crashing down uh only for a small amount of damage though only for about two points of damage uh that's already halved um as he does and then with a final third blow with his hand axe uh he hits and that also begins pulling away some of the essence um from the creature but again barely really having any major effect the weapons kind of just passing through it as it does uh ziki do you have any magic to enchant weapons or anything we can't hit these things uh he calls out to you um That is his turn. Irena, or Tatiana, shall I say, will look and sort of nod her head, and she will move up to behind Ismark and Zeros.

You see her for the first time, though. You see her kind of close her eyes. She reaches out, touches your hand, Jesper. Don't lose hope. Not yet. And you watch as your rapier, right? A thin line of

white energy coalesces along the blade. You deal, it counts as magical and you will deal d4 radiant damage as long as irena is concentrating on it and alive that is that is it nice uh rose and it counts as magical which is probably the more beneficial thing right now is that yeah you uh you would strike with full power with your rapier.

Yeah. We don't have any magic weapons. This is a bit poop. You've got one. It's poop. Yeah. Not with the right person, though, unfortunately. Yeah.

Good job you're looking for one. Yeah. Good job you're looking for one. I would like to probably... Can I... I can't move myself, but can I move myself one square to the left? Would I get a bead on... Oh, that music got really loud then.

I don't know if that's just me. It is quite loud. It's been loud for me. Sorry. Thanks. It's been loud for me. Sorry. Thanks. It's very sort of like... So, sorry, to the left, yeah? I'm just going to set it so you can control it. Basically, I want to be in a position

where I can get a bead on one of the... like, maybe the middle ghost in the left-hand room. So you would need to go 5, 10, 15, 20. I'd say if you move to here, then yes, you can strike at this one at the very back of the room. You can get a very clear shot. I can't get the one next to him. The left-hand one is closed up, right?

You could if you move... No, both doors are open. Okay. Both doors went and flew open. You'd actually have to move into the room to get the one in the middle because the angle would be too sharp. Maybe you could do it from here, actually. If you kind of press right up against the open window, open doorway,

you could shoot through Jesper and Ismark, basically, to target the one in the middle. Yeah. I basically... Arrow control. To target the one in the middle. Yeah. Basically, I want to cast Hail of Thorns,

which if I hit a creature, the creatures within five feet of it have to make a saving throw. Would that get the two on either side? Sadly not, because this room is much larger than it appears. Each square is actually ten feet. They're all five. It's like there's four or five foot squares within each map square so there is currently they are they are you know bundled up you could like maybe ready in action and say when they you know come when they move forward i'll try and catch as many of them as i can in the hailstones you could do that. I will save it, and

what I will do is I will instead just take two shots. I'll bonus action cast my doodah, slayer's prey, and then I'll just take two shots at the one that's furthest away.

Okay, yeah, so this guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go for it. Natural 20. See? Roll 20. away okay yeah so this guy yeah yeah yeah sure sure go for natural 20 see roll 20 it swings around about but it comes around sometimes okay so max max damage on the dice max damage on all dice by the way so your your slayer's prey damage will be maxed as well and then just roll them all again. Not to damage. Only to attack rolls. Oh yeah.

Which you guys need to remember. You get the d4 to your attack rolls too. So 12 base damage plus another d8 which is a 7. So 19. Did you roll your Slayer's Prey again as well? Because that gets maxed and doubled.

So that's... So it's going to be six plus four. So 10 for Slayer's Prey altogether as well. So it was 12 damage base, plus 10 for Slayer's Prey, and another seven, right? So 22, 29 points of damage, which is awesome. it is reduced somewhat by the them being ethereal ghosts but yeah it's still like a solid 14

points of damage as this arrow passes through its body kind of almost like a puff of cloud of essence of ghostly essence erupts from the hole that it passes through. And that's only the first shot, so second shot. We'll shoot again, please. 16 plus 9. That's a hit, for sure. That will hit, so 3, 4, 5,

6, 7 points of damage on that one. 7 points of damage on that one. So again, the second arrow passes through, not quite as impactful, but still peeling away essences of these creatures as you do so. End of your turn? Yes. Dog's body.

Hello. Hello. I don't think I can get to anyone. I can kind of... I can kind of... If I get here, is this one in range? You currently have the problem of Jesper is currently there. So there's no space really for you.

You could go up one. So you could kind of move past Jesper. Well, you can't because that's obviously passing across open space. What's your movement? Just normal 30 feet? You don't have any boosted movement? You could go the other way. Go behind you.

I don't really want to. I've only just got dog's body. I don't really want to enter a room full of ghosts on my own. Okay. You know, no, I'm not feeling it. Not today, maybe. Everyone has just left dog's body alone in a corridor. Zuki's there.

Zuki's with you. I'm here. Yeah, I guess you are with me. Technically, I'm still in the corridor. I could move right back. Do you know what? I think dog's body being the way dog's body is um i would like to hold my action um to stand next to ziki and if anything if any ghosties come and attack uh us um i will then attack them you can do that i'm gonna give you two reminders, if you want to do any bonus action stuff,

you need to do it now. So if you want to activate any cool powers, you need to do them now. Bonus action, Crimson Rite, the Rite of Frost. So let me roll a d6 damageos for that on me. And I'm guessing that, yeah, we see Dog's body cuts into themselves

with the axe in some way. Do you drag it across your chest where all the other scars are? Yeah, so you watch as Dog's body drags this giant blade and where it draws this red line, the tip of the axe, the blade of the crescent axe

becomes covered in thick rime and frost. Yeah, it doesn't actually bleed. It almost just comes out blue. And what's that, Hunter? Yeah. Old Matty Mercer class. They've changed it a little bit.

Yeah, he's updated it. He's made it a lot more balanced the other one is don't forget you only get one attack on a readied action so if you got extra attack you only get one had this old Tommy boy readied action because it's not on

your turn you don't get extra attack confirmed by Jeremy Crawford YouTube comments confirmed by jeremy crawford youtube comments um but yeah i'm absolutely i will put myself in a protective stance should anything attack can it be attack myself or ziki or is that like too much um yeah you could say basically is if it comes within fighting range you can you whack it um which is a good thing because, yeah, they do. Now, these ones, let's see. I need to use the old Rulery Ruler. God, I can never remember how to use this.

You can drag it like this. 15 feet. Yeah, these guys are actually not going to be able to reach you this turn. But one of them will get next to you, so you can make an attack against this guy. And then they all come just floating. In fact, they pass through the walls. They don't actually come through the doorway.

They just float through the wall and then appear next to you through the windows, kind of just drifting over open space. peer next to you through the windows kind of just drifting over open space. As they loom in front of you. And now they're going to make... Three of them are going to make attacks. One against...

One is going to attack Jesper. The other two are going to attack Zeros. Jesper, one attacks you twice with its long sword. Nine hit no 13 to hit no you dodge to the sides as these two uh you know semi-ethereal swords come sweeping down in great blows towards you xeros uh 21 to hit. Yes. 15 to hit. No.

All right, so the 21, you're going to take... Nine points of damage. One chop comes down towards you, and it kind of phases through parts of your armor and cuts into your flesh as it does this. And then the second one is going to take you. That's a 15 or a a 22 oh yeah for another 10 points of damage yeah you kind of go to parry and slicing my heart yeah so it's like you go to parry

but the sword just kind of like phases through and just cuts into you anyway um as you do so and then the other ones literally just rush towards ziki and dog's body dog's body your readied action goes off cool uh i will roll to hit and that is 24 to hit uh yeah that hits yeah these yeah these guys don't have a bad ac but you're doing really well at hitting them plus four um so that is nine points of um great axe damage and an extra three points of frost damage cool i i'll check this later for now i'm going to assume that when you use your um crimson right it makes your weapon magical yes it does yeah okay cool that's awesome perfect so yeah so yeah you do that the axe actually cuts into it like it would a creature of flesh and blood and you see it kind of reel back it doesn't scream it doesn't make any noise in pain but it kind of goes through the motions of doing so

uh yes but we'll get through one more round of combat I reckon, Jesper, your turn After receiving this radiant imbuing of my weapon, I nod with a determination to make sure nothing bad happens to Irina and go to fight the ghost in front of me with this

renewed strength that thankfully Irina gave me I'm so thankful to Irna for doing that to me and i feel like our bond is really strong stronger so yeah here i go uh this is for tatiana slash irena this one i'm gonna do a slashing flourish using my bardic inspiration he's really fucking milking it i love it sure uh and this one's for the friends who will never betray me just barely hits you managed to weave the rapier through its defenses striking the creature okie dokie so that's that's eight piercing yep and then d4 radiant oh it happens on

each oh yeah yeah yeah three yeah. Three points of damage. Only on the rapier attacks, though. Only on the rapier attacks. Okay, not the dagger. Okay. And then... So, yeah, the first one strikes true and you can see the weapon now has more purchase

as it strikes into the... I'll add to my slashing flourish damage now as well. Sure. So that's D6. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Five points of extra... Another five points of damage. Yeah, this really kind of tears through its armor

and you see the the ghost kind of stumble back um perfect right and then uh rolling for my dagger now here we go that's nine to hit so it doesn't hit that one does not yeah this one the the phantom sort of phases into the wall and then back and your dagger kind of down the stone wall, sparks flying everywhere as it avoids it. As you do so, anything else on your turn? No. In that case, it's your boy,

Xe'ros the boy. It's his turn. Take it now. Can I ask about if I was to do an attack roll, can I say that I don't want to do like any damage i just want it because all i have to do is mark tatiana i feel like i know what's going to happen anyway when i do but uh how are you going to do it what are you going to do like you describe to me what how how do you do it do you like grab her arm and like cut like make a small cut do you do it? Do you grab her arm and make a small cut? Do you plunge the sword into her chest?

You tell me and then I'll tell you if it deals damage or not. It's like when she finally gets to me, she runs to Jesper, blesses the dagger, and then gets to me. When she turns to me after I've taken a beating from these ghosts, I've kind of got the He Who Grins pointed at her chest, like it's almost both points are at the center of her chest and all I want to

do is just twist it ever so slightly just to mark her skin, like enough to cut the sharp edges of He Who Grins. You're going to have to make an attack roll because she is wearing armor and you're still going to have to do enough to like mark her through the armor um okay sure so 24 yeah it's kind of fiery too that's and that's the difference so you you push it forward and she kind of turns, she blesses she blesses Jesper, she turns

to find the point of the sword at her chest she looks down, what are you doing Zeros? And you have Ismark has enough time, he's like turning his head as you flick it and it spins around like the tips of the points form a perfect

circle, you see like red crimson spilling out from like underneath her armour kind of thing where you kind of pierce through and this form a perfect circle. You see red crimson spilling out from underneath her armor where you kind of pierce through and this almost in the center of her chest. This center. But the flames lick at her skin and you see

that the flames almost seem to form three triangle-shaped burns in the circle. The same three triangles that were on the pommel of the blade of Asmodeus. As you twist it. And she yelps in pain as these hell flames lick at her chest and her body. And she kind of, like, stumbles back.

She's going to take some damage, but not a lot. But, yeah, you've definitely hurt her. You don't do significant damage, but you very clearly hurt her with these flames more than anything. Okay. Do I get anything out of the blade? Yeah, you do. Well done, my dragon warrior.

One down, two to go. But you see Ismark. What are you doing? In slow-mo, he's like, what are you doing? Zyree stumbles back. Her shirt ripped open and this burning sigil now emblazoned on her chest.

Jasper, you see all of this happen as well. Rose sees it happen as well. Zeke can see it from her position if she's not too distracted by the ghosts. I think Dog's body might be the only one who doesn't because he's too busy fighting. But yeah, the rest of you will see it.

If Zeke sees it, then from the other side of where Irina Tatiana is stumbling backwards, I'm just looking at Zeke the entire time. Just staring right into her eyes. I think she knows, right like she knows why

i've done it maybe i leave that to riannon uh speaking of her the seal that's that's gonna make i'm gonna make that your whole turn i'm afraid uh tom hazel because it's an important thing uh cool let's try and just quickly ram run through this uh remaining. Ziki, what do you do? I'm just... Ziki's just looking right back at Zeros, just shocked. Like, she cannot believe he's just done that.

Like, in clear as day, in the middle of everybody is... I had to do it, man. What are you doing? Like, what have you done? Like, just in shock. Like, she can't believe it can't believe don't you don't doesn't even take a turn just is staring in his direction i'm just yeah i'm just yeah just just shot your shell shocked absolutely shell shocked right okay uh

is mark he's being he's kind of fighting these phantoms, so he doesn't really have a chance but to defend himself. And he does lash out a couple of times at them around him. But he is like, Zeros, what are you doing? Why are you doing this?

It must be Strahd! Strahd has gotten to his mind um but he does in his anger in his anger he strikes one of these uh phantoms as hard as he can uh so that's gonna be eight uh eleven five points of damage i'm not gonna give him all of his attacks because he's like turning at xeros he's like what why he just looks he looks betrayed like you genuine he looks like confused but also just he is he there's almost like he's you see that sense of where somebody's trying to make sense of it and he's like he must be strats done something to him my friend wouldn't have done this um is the kind of sense you get

coming from him uh tatiana stumbles back like what what is this what are you doing and she will throw her hands forward and i need uh xeros and the two ph Phantom Warriors to make a strength saving throw. Or a con saving throw, sorry. A con save? Uh, 13. Not great. 13. It's not a lot of damage. Uh, you're gonna take 7 thunder damage as a

thunderous force erupts from Tatiana's hands, um, and sends you flying back. It also sends one of the ghosts out of the window, but it just sort of flies through the wall so it doesn't really do anything so that was seven that Thunder way yeah it was a Thunder wave yeah it's a Thunder wave that she just throws forward um nice thunderous force uh see she seems somewhat shocked uh not quite sure where that came from uh rose rose is going to point her bow at xeros with absolute fury in her eyes but then normally go on go on go on she's gonna compose herself

realizing that they're in a situation which needs to be dealt with first and at the very she's gonna make him think that she's gonna shoot him and at the very last second she's gonna turn and at the very last second she's going to turn and hit the one next to uh is mark twice sure but she's gonna she she wants him to know that she is furious she could i mean i'm raising the sword to you like okay normally as a point normally i'm not a fan of PvP in D&D RPGs. I think that Curse of Strahd, I think that I make, we can make an exception for this particular campaign. But yeah, sure. Go for it, Katie.

Let's see what you roll. I really kind of want you to roll a one. Like if you roll a one now, that's going straight in Zeros' eye. No, I rolled that was an 18 plus 9 so that will hit so it will be 8, 9, 10

12 damage on the arrow and 3 damage from Slayer's Prey and then second attack. Oh, that arrow path is through it. Second one. That is a one. So...

I'm not going to have it do any damage. But it's, you know, you are not aiming for Zeros, but Zeros, this arrow across the cheek, the thin line of blood is scraped along. Was it meant to be? Touch her again and I won't miss.

That's it. That's a lot of fun. Nice. Dog's body. I'm here. Yeah. yeah you got so many ghosts oh fuck and i'm just gonna i'm gonna kind of you know i'm heft in my axe and i just see ziki just kind of i'm just gonna be like hey hey! Come on! Not the time! And attack the one next to me.

Oh, that is a nine to hit on my first swing, which I guess is not going to hit. Doesn't hit. Misses. Oh, Jesus Christ. And a 12 on the second. Both of these swing wide. You cut into the stone. The glass of the nearby window shatters

but neither blow strikes the ghost floating in front of you um anything else here's the real dog's body he's too cute and clean um no nothing else okay uh the Last thing then, a bunch of these ghosts retaliate. One floats back through the walls towards Xeros. One is going to attack Jesper twice. One is going to attack Ismark twice. One is going to attack Xeros twice. Two are going to attack Dog's Body twice. And one's going to attack Zeke twice.

So here we go. One against Jesper. That is a 24 to hit you yesper yeah that'll do it that'll do it i'll do it it's only six points of slashing damage as this one kind of cuts in and then the next the second attack is a eight to hit so you manage to throw yourself out of the way and the first one strikes cutting a small blow against Ismark. That first one is a hit. That's an 18. The second one is a miss. Ismark takes 7 points of damage.

He pretty much healed up to full with a short rest, but he hasn't got any hit dice left. And then Zeros, two attacks against you. That's a natural 20, Zeros, against you, so you can enjoy this. That's going to be 17 points of damage. The one that flies through,

you're not kind of expecting it to just stab you through the wall, and it's like, ah, it catches you right in the, deep in the ribs. The second attack is a natural one. So this one, as it strikes through, it kind of comes stumbling through, and you manage to kind of pirouette and pivot out of the way

of the second strike as it does so. Hey, what are the chances of getting any healing? Maybe off your system might, but you need to talk to her, I think. Dog's body, a 15 to hit you. Yeah. That'll be a hit. And a 9

to hit you. The 9 doesn't. What kind of damage is it? What kind of damage is it? What kind of damage is it? It is force damage. That's fine. I'll take that. Yeah. Well, you remember, it's only when you...

Only when things happen. I was more looking at necrotic. Oh, yes, that's right. You've got resistant, haven't you? No, this is force damage, unfortunately. That is 12 points of damage from the first Phantom Warrior. The second Phantom Warrior, 17 hits you, and a 15 hits you again.

They get two attacks each. Okay, yeah. Yeah, so the next one hits you for another four points of force damage, and then another five points of force damage, so another nine points of force damage from the second phantom cheese and then ziki last one is against you uh that is a 12 to hit you doesn't hit doesn't hit and then a 21 to hit you that do oh and that's a max damage that is going to be 13 points of force damage as this spectral longsword cuts through, carving through your draconic scales. And

on this very tense battle in these, you know, the moonlight streaking through the broken windows, these phantoms floating in and out of the walls as we see Zeros staring towards Ziki, Rose,

Jesper and Ismark both turning towards Zeros and we just see these hellish flames along the He Who Grins blade and Zeros you just hear in your mind, you just hear and that is where we will end today's episode. Nice! Nice! Wow! and that is where we will end today's episode nice

nice wow yeah Tom do you remember when you said to me you were like Mark I think this sword might be really too overpowered and I was like well we'll see Tom

it does kind of have it's strings attached which I knew would come up yeah no I know I know I guess I didn't have to mark her there but I was also like I mean he wants me to and also like Zeros was looking for the earliest

opportunity to do so yeah it was rad it was super cool when's a better time than a deadly combat? I mean, you did exactly what Zerus was going to do. You did exactly what Zerus would have done. Great, great RP. Good work on doing what your character would do.

Yeah, and I'm sure the rest will follow. Yeah. Like the circular marking with the three triangles. I love that. That was really cool. Yeah, that was cool. When you described it as the two points and then twisting it like the idea of both points just going and then forming this perfect circle um

yeah that was really cool i thought that was super cool nice holy crap well friends it's so good to play dnd with you again i miss playing with you uh i'm glad to be back uh with you chums yeah um i i hope you enjoyed today's episode i thought that was a great one i thought that was a really cool amazing episode of rp1 exploring argonvoss and then we ended with a bit of a kind of kick-ass uh a dead very scary fight this is this is no easy fight by the way this is uh this is a pretty scary one so uh awesome thank you very much um and we will be back for more curse of stradhd next week. So thank you for joining us. Bye.

Goodbye, everyone. Oh my goodness. Bye. Bye. Thank you.