High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Curse of Strahd #2 | Wrath of Fire and Death

Episode Date: April 21, 2020

The newly formed team face off against demons and more to protect the people of Barovia! Support the High Rollers and get early access to podcast episodes (and more) on our Patreon: www.patreon.com/HighRollers Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pickaxe. crispy jalapenos, and a super tasty sweet and spicy sauce. You'll wish this spectacle of flavor never ended. Try the new Firecracker McCrispy today at participating McDonald's restaurants. Go back to school with Rogers and get Canada's fastest and most reliable internet. Perfect for streaming lectures all day or binging TV shows all night. Save up to 20 per month on rogers internet visit rogers.com for details we got you rogers 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 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 Riannon Gower

as Ziki Mistan, the Dragonborn Sorcerer. Last time on Curse of Strahd. Four travelers arrive at the Elfsong Tavern in Baldur's Gate as the night grows cold and a chilling rain soaks them through. The inn offers warmth but little safety as hungry eyes and nervous hands welcome them inside. Jesper, a human man who claims to be a traveler

from a strange land, has been waiting for them, sent by his master to guide them to his homeland and help defeat a terrible evil that has taken them there. Shadow Beyond the Veil, a Tabaxi priest, and Zeki-Mistan, a dragonborn sorceress, have both received visions

from the gods to seek out this traveler and aid him. Besides them travel their own bodyguards, Rose Vanendi, a human archer, and Zeros-Mistan, a dragonborn who holds some connection to Zeki. Into the night they travel, and it is not long

before the strange mists encircle their wagon, and they find themselves born to a new land. A dark, dead land. And waiting for them is a strange, darkly handsome man. He hints that they have become the latest pawns in a game, and introduces himself as Count Strahd von Zorovich, and that this land is his, before he transforms into a swirling storm of bat-like creatures and vanishes.

Finally, the group arrive in the village of Barovia, where the streets are empty and silent as a graveyard. They find solace in an inn where other Vistani welcome them and offer them some wine, before this moment of light is shattered by screaming and the sounds of battle. Rushing to the source, the group find a mansion besieged by undead and devils, as a young man and his father desperately try to protect

a young woman who is being called by Strahd himself. Well, that voice was something, huh? Ooh, love it. You've got to set the mood. You've got gotta set the mood you gotta set the mood yeah well thank thank thank the wonders of technology not necessarily uh my vocal cords um so yeah

begin inside on the upper floor well kind of spread out a little bit um on the mainly on the upper floor of the burgomasters mansion in the village of barovia a village that sits in the kind of bottom of a small valley uh and is overlooked by castle an ominous castle against the moonlight um you have arrived uh i believe that shadow beyond the veil and rose are still downstairs having just fended off or just used Shadow had just used Turn Undead

to scare off a number of zombies that were trying to get through the main door which has been barricaded, heavily barred and barricaded from the inside. The rest of you ran upstairs and running into what is very clearly a young woman's bedroom. She's wearing a knight dress and she's being held back with a

hand over her mouth by a very young handsome man um barovian they both appear to be barovian uh and next to them is a aged father who is the one who led you upstairs brandishing a crossbow and the room is currently uh being besieged from the outside three devil-like creatures probably no bigger than a than a than a dog but with these leathery wings and these big spined tails are currently tearing and clawing at boards around the outside of the windows and you can see them beginning to smash them through break them with their their their claws and their fangs um scrabbling to get on the inside and just outside the window flying in the night air is the man that you met before strad von zarovich this very well dressed a metal breastplate a large furred collar and a billowing cloak with dark long hair behind him kind of

flowing all around him and he's reaching out and you can see his eyes glow red and he calls out to the woman once more come Irene invite me inside so I may take you to our castle uh as you guys

arrive uh the young man calls out once again like please help me just keep those things off of me! And you can see that he has several large spines sticking out of his back where he's been struck by these projectile spines. Bleeding quite heavily, but he's holding his sister

with a hand over her mouth and is keeping her restrained. And that is where we're going to roll initiative. Straight off the bat. Oh! I need to get here. Done it.

So he's already restraining her then? So, yes. So you can see that the young blonde man is restraining the girl. Okay. The three devils are breaking through the boards, and in fact, as we begin this combat, they're going to smash these boards and begin flying inside, or at least they have the capacity to.

You can see Strahd is outside the window calling out to this woman, and then her father is with them as well. So let's go around with initiatives. Zeke, Miss Dan. That's a seven. That's a seven. Jesper. Sorry, my thing wasn't working.

So it's eight plus four. Twelve. Twelve. Nice. Shadow, be on the veil. Eighteen. Rose? Also 18.

I believe that means, Rose, you'll be going first. Zeros. I might be going first. No, 12. I meant between the two of them, Tom. Oh, I see. Okay, so Rose and Shadow, correct me if I'm wrong, because it has been a week, but you guys were downstairs because Shadow had just turned undead a group of zombies at the door,

and Rose, I think you'd gone to back her up, I think. I feel like Rose would have backed her up. She wouldn't have left her just downstairs to run up. She would have been down with her. So you guys are currently downstairs. You can hear the shouting and hollering coming from above um but you don't necessarily know exactly the situation up there yet you can see that the the zombies that were trying to break through this this front door four of them have run away they've just gone they've just began backing away moving away from the door shielding their faces these

kind of rotten uh dysmorphized kind of jaws hanging loose, flesh peeling off their bodies, covered in dirt and dust, it seems. And they begin recoiling and moving away as Shadow is basically channeling some sort of energy into the door. One of them is still there, but

you don't think that one of them is going to be able to be strong enough to break the door down on its own. It was really only because there were so many of them that they were having any success before. What would you like to do? Is the... So I can hear stuff going on upstairs, though. Yeah, you can definitely hear the sounds of struggling and fighting. You probably could just about hear a man's voice, but you can't really make out what was said.

Right. I will turn to Shadow and say, I think this is okay for now. I'm going to check upstairs. Are you okay? I'll come with you. Ooh! Ooh!

Okay. That was a very cat-like voice Um, okay. Uh, that was a very cat-like voice there, Kim. Um, I'll go upstairs then, and when I go upstairs, am I close to seeing any of these enemies? Yeah, so if you

pop on roll 20, by the way, um, I now have a map up for you. Um, do the... Hang on. It looks very dark. It's because I keep forgetting that it's got dynamic lighting enabled. There's no lights on upstairs.

There's no lights on upstairs. You begin making your way upstairs, Rose. By the time you complete your first set of movement, you appear to be in a corridor. You pass what appears to be a statue and a doorway on a landing as you make your way up to the top floor. But there is just a corridor and you can hear that the sounds of this fighting

is growing louder now. Okay. So, in fact, I think you would also see just beginning to claw its way inside, one of these devil creatures is kind of pulling its way through these broken boarded windows. Okay. How much of my movement have I used already? Am I at the bottom? You've used your 30 feet. No, you're at the top

of the stairs and you've used all your movement. Do I have enough to peek around and take a shot at the one that's poking through the window? I'd say yes, but you'll get some cover. Okay. It's technically outside it will have some cover from the boards that it's currently clawing its way through i'll give it a shot why not um so ah four plus seven you use a long bow right rose? Rose uses a longbow.

So you pull out the wrong bow, the longbow. The longbow. You knock an arrow. You fire, and you're a pretty good shot, but these boards, like this creature is quite small, and it kind of pulls itself back at the last minute, and the arrow thuds into the boards around it. And you just hear it kind of, this low, growling hiss, like, I'll kill

you! It begins kind of gnashing and biting at the boards to try and make a bigger hole for it to claw through. End of your turn? I think I'll just finish it by shouting down to Shadow. Definitely something unnatural

here. Looks like devils. Okay. Okay. Shadow. Disgusting. I would like to... I will clamber up the stairs as well. Okay. And I guess upon seeing Spooky McDoubleface,

spooky McDouble face. Can I cast a sacred flame on it? You absolutely can. Also, just out of interest, how much knowledge do you think Shadow would have of devils in general?

Because you're more undead or would you think that there'd be, do you think you'd have some knowledge? I'd probably say some, given her knowledge of the fugue plane and, I guess, just her general knowledge about life-after-death beliefs in the realm. Sure, that makes sense, because you would know that, yeah, in Toril as well, when a creature dies,

if it's an evil creature, it goes to the Nine Hells or the Abyss, basically. Yeah, make a... I mean, you don't know... If you make a religion check, you might know exactly what kind of devil this is, but you can tell by looking at it, it's very clearly a devil, not a demon, which means that they're normally bound by some sort of agreement. You're not sure what kind of devil exactly it is. What was that in total, just for the podcast?

I have rolled a four. Hey, twinsies! Twinsies. You're not quite sure what kind of devil this is, but yeah, you know it is a devil, not a demon. And normally these creatures are summoned for something. Yeah, and then Sacred Flame, right? So what do I need to do?

Could you please make me a dexterity saving throw? Twelve. for something. And then Sacred Flame, right? So what do I need to do? Could you please make me a Dexterity saving throw? 12. 12 DC? Yes, please. That is going to be a total of an 8. Oh. In which case, I will make

a roll of 1 D8. Wait, ignore that one. That was not the right thing oh wait no it was it was a d8 yeah it was yeah i was gonna say yes um so yes uh that was a four okay radiant damage what does this look like when shadow cast this spell so i would think similar to the turn on dead spell it would look like a bolt of gold. Almost in the shape of a, oh, hello, in the shape of a, I guess in the vague shape of a scarab beetle kind of flying out towards the devil. But there would be a tinge of shadow coiled around the edges.

Okay. It's kind of almost propelling it. Yeah. coiled around the edges. Okay. It's kind of almost propelling it. Yeah, you see it strike the devil itself, and it yelps in this kind of high-pitched,

quite horrible screech, like, as it kind of recoils back as the gold flames lick at its flesh and its scales, and it's just like, ah, ah, holy magic! Ah, kill! Kill! It just begins kind of hissing to itself. End of your go yes and this one will burst inside uh kill kill everyone inside kill you and it begins uh flying towards you uh it will probably towards Shadow and Rose

and it begins making its way towards the two of you and with a flick of its tail these two spines come flying out towards each one of you basically so one attack against both of you against each of you sorry so against Shadow that's a six to hit

that does not hit and against Rose oh very bad rolling for me nine to hit um no so you guys managed to kind of pull yourself back as these huge spines they hit into the wooden kind of stairs and walls around you but you can see the spines themselves are so hot that they they little flames kind of erupt um as they strike um and yeah they the wood around like the furniture and stuff like that is kind of caught alight if not not massively but enough that if left undealt with it will probably develop into a flame over time um for those of you in the room that's its go those of you in the room which is yesper go. Those of you in the room, which is Jesper, Ziki, and Zeros,

you see that the young, quite handsome-looking guy, there are some swords and things, but they're on the ground, and he just continues to maintain this grip on this woman that he's holding, and he begins dragging her backwards. I'm just going to make a quick test to see if he can do that successfully. Ooh. So I think he is going to struggle a little. Uh-oh.

She's wriggly. Uh-oh. Yeah, so she doesn't quite break free, but she avoids, like, he can't drag her back. He's trying to drag her back to what appears to be a wooden door, but she's, like, he can't drag her back. He's trying to drag her back to what appears to be a wooden door, but she's like trying to break free. She gets loose of his arms, but he's still got a hand over her mouth for now. But you can see her eyes are glazed over,

and she's almost reaching out towards the window where you can see the flying figure beyond it. And she's looking at it desperately. But yeah, her mouth is currently shut uh so she does nothing um one of the other devil-like creatures bursts through uh and will fly to over the bed um and it will try and hit the handsome man with two of its spines uh missing on the first one with a one and then uh missing on the second one as well um as the the spines bounce off you can see he's wearing like a scale mail armor um and it

just kind of pings off the armor itself uh and the creature just kind of perches itself on the top of I'll kill all inside. Yeah. After that creature goes, you see the man outside the window. He looks in all of your directions, seeing Jesper and Zeros. And Jesper, you would notice, certainly, the inescapable look of displeasure crosses this pale very handsome but very dark face as his brow furrows he looks around i tire of these games irena the rest of you, stay out of my way. He waves his hand, and he is going to cast a spell into the room.

He will cast this spell. So, Zeros and Jesper, I need you both to... In fact, actually, you don't need to do anything. I need to make a roll. Oh, shit. Cast it at bird level. So, eight. So, sorry, bear with me.

You're dead. 98. So, you watch as this wave of black mist, it rolls through the room and you see the older, the older gentleman that kind of brought you upstairs, his eyes kind of just flutter for a moment. And then he falls asleep. He just collapses to the ground,

fast asleep as he does. So that takes off 9. What does that leave me with? That leaves me with 22. So Jesper and Zeros, how much health do you have? And Zika technically as well. In order of what?

What's your maximum hit points? 21. 20. So 20 is the lowest. Okay. Okay. So Zika, as you're kind of watching all of this happen, as this mist kind of rolls through past your brother,

your eyes become so heavy and weary, you just feel yourself just... You kind of fall asleep, slumping to the ground uh down as well as you are affected by the sleep spell oh um i don't believe you get a save i believe it just has to roll over your hit points which it does for the remaining amount but the rest of you manage to stay awake the rest of you the spell is not strong enough to affect the rest of you uh but you see the other two kind of slump down and Strahd just once again just kind of speaks out just like

invite me in, Arena let us end this little game invite me inside so I can take you. As he calls out, his voice kind of echoing through and you can see her desperately trying to reach over her now sleeping the sleeping older man.

Crikey. Xeros, you're up. What mechanically can I do to wake Ziki up? So, if each creature affected by the spell falls unconscious until the spell ends, the sleeper takes

damage or someone uses an action to shake or slap the sleeper awake. I'm wondering if I would do that. I'm not sure. I think as she's falling to get onto the ground, I'd catch her and then walk

her down into this room on the um just like to the right of us yeah and then kind of like layer in there okay so you put her on the rug on the floor yep so is that five ten no i'd say that's your movement right like she's sleeping she can't resist you it's not much for you to just scoop her up as a like and as a bonus action or part of the movement and then just move her in. But it takes you like, you move at half speed while you're carrying somebody, so like

10, 20, 30. So you'd end your turn here, that's your end of your movement. You'd put her down and then you have an action and a bonus action left. I guess action, if something comes into this room, then I'll attack it, but like... I don't think he would

wake her up. Okay. Perfect. Okay. Jesper. I think I would assist the young man understanding the power that Strahd has over the authorities and their sirens

and... Well, Jesper, you would also know that until he is invited, he cannot come in this house. We must protect the precious girl. We must find a way. You say this to nobody as you watch Zeros carry his unconscious sister away.

I'm saying it to the young guy. Oh, to the guy. Yeah, so he looks at you, he's like please, please my friend, you must help and you can see like he's bleeding quite heavily from these spines. The devils they've been sent to kill me so he can take her. Deal with them.

Can I? Because I'm fast as shit right Mark? Yeah, you are fast as shit. Dex is real Yeah, you are fast as shit. The deck is real high, so I should have at least three actions here. So... No, but you can tell me what you want to do. Can I cast Heroism on him?

Right. And I want to use the butt of my offhand dagger as kind of like a bonus action to try and knock out Irina. I will say you can definitely cast heroism on him. If I can only do one,

can I knock around the head? Okay, yeah. I mean, basically I would say that because you can normally make an offhand attack as a bonus action when you make the attack action, but because of the mechanics... But what I'm going to say is that casting a spell and making an attack

are about the same amount of effort. So quickly trying to knock her out... Yeah, you can absolutely try that. You can cast terrorism and make an offhand attack. This has to happen. I'll just hit her on the head. Take her away. He's too slow. He can't really stop you.

Do I need to make an attack you will need to make an attack roll against her yet you have advantage because she um is technically kind of half being grappled still um and then when you make your damage um you don't roll you don't add your modifier to it just um so it's just four points so because you don't add the modifier oh no do you have two weapon fighting um yeah yes i do if you do then you then you do add the full amount yeah so uh new characters guys we'll get there so yeah so you you strike her and i think that it's not quite enough to knock her out you kind of daze her um and you see the young man sort of angrily look at you but he understands what you're doing he's just like i was hoping it would not come to that and he kind of

like tries to reel her in you know the power is strut take him away take her away uh she's still conscious but obviously dazed um but i think no that wouldn't necessarily trigger her to make a saving throw uh and then you cast Heroism on him. Remind me what Heroism does. It makes him immune to Strahd. It doesn't, but carry on. A willing creature, imbued with bravery, immune to being frightened and gains temporary hit points

equal to the spellcasting ability modifier, which would be a plus two. Plus two plus two all right so he gets two temporary hit points uh for now and he gets a little start of every invigoration so to speak uh-huh yeah you cast that into him as you're doing all of this one of the the last kind of devil creature breaks its way into the room and flies in your direction with its claws and talons uh lifted uh to try and strike you um as it does. In fact, actually, no. It won't strike you.

It will fly to this corner of the room and then it flicks its tail to hit you with its spines. Two attacks against you, Jesper. It's a 15-foot tail. Okay. Well, the spines come flying out as it flicks its tail.

The spines fly out like projectiles. The first one's only a nine to hit you no um and then i can't roll for shit so the second one is only a 11 to hit you you gotta dodge this you kind of parry them out the air dodging to the side as the second one comes flying in and like before as they strike the kind of wooden walls around you this intense heat built up around the spines kind of ignites and and you see these little flames beginning to burn and scorch the wood where they were. Zeke, it would be your turn, but unfortunately I put you to sleep.

I'm sorry. It's nap time for me. It's all right. Zeke, you're sleepy. Zeke, you're sleepy. Rose, we come back up to you at the top. Hello. Hello.

Okay, so if I was to put out this tiny flame would that be like a bonus action or yeah like it's a little while it's still small you can stamp it out with a foot i'm not even going to make it an action to do it you can literally just stamp on it while it is um but if they were if if you didn't do that if they build up if they get bigger then it will obviously take more effort to put them out cool um i think i'm just gonna take another shot at the little little thing the devil with my long bow that's the one 11 plus 7 18 to hit that's definitely will hit this thing. Yay! I hit a thing!

Now you need to remember what this new character does. Yeah. 6 damage. Right, 6 damage. Yep. Yes. That's it for this one. We're too low level for multi-attacks at the moment.

Do you have to designate something as your monster slayer thing? I don't think so. That is extra damage. Oh wait, hang on. Yes. Yes. Well, for monster slayer it's...

It's only once per long rest so it's like a one-time thing I think I don't think it is We'll have a read of it I'll read it, but I think from what I can see on D&D Beyond it looks like that to me

Okay, Shadow I'm probably done, I might move a little bit How is the little crunchy boy looking? He looks injured to me. Okay. Shadow? I'm probably done. I might move a little bit. How is the little crunchy boy looking? He looks injured, for sure. But, yeah, he's still

up and fighting. He's taking a long bow, but yeah, these things are covered in thick scales and spines, so even though it's been struck

a few times, it's still raring to go. Do you know what? Let's live a little and cast a guiding bolt. Okay. So range spell attack. So I need to roll.

Katie, on your character sheet look up, look at Slayer's Prey. It's under your features. As a bonus action you designate one creature you can see within 60 feet, and then you get to deal an extra D6 damage to it once per turn. But this benefit lasts until you finish a short or long rest. Yeah, you use it once. So if...

Yeah, I guess I was just trying not to waste it on a tiny... No, no, you can't waste it. This benefit lasts until you take a short, long rest. That means the creature stays your target for that period, and then you just pick a new one, I think. I think Hunter's Mark is the one that moves when the thing dies. Yeah, that's the thing. I didn't know if it moved.

I think so. Have a read of it. Shadow, that is a thing. I didn't know if it moved. I think so. Have a read of it. Shadow, that is a one. I rolled a natural one, Mark. And I don't believe Guiding Bolt has an effect on a miss. I think that means that the Guiding Bolt turns around and shoots me in the face. I'm not that mean.

No, you just summon the energy and it just... This place is so infused. like this whole land, wherever you find yourself, you struggle to conjure enough energy and as you let it go, it kind of dissipates in front of you. Some sort of power preventing... Yeah, this is just terrible. However, can I...

I would like... I'll move a little bit. I'm going to move a little bit. 5, 10... I'm kind of tempted to go past this little thing. Sure. But it's going to swipe at me, isn't it? I mean, it might do. Yeah, let's try.

So where was I? 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30. So I'm going to move past it. Okay, it will take a swipe at you with its, uh, it has like you can see it's kind of holding like a little spear in its little claws. It's kind of clutching like a little, like almost like a larger version of one of its tail

spines, um, and it will swing that at you for a 9 to hit. That does not hit me, no. It just swipes over as you kind of duck underneath it as you begin running past the creature down the hallway. And yeah, you can see doors. Well, you can't see them yet,

but you can again hear that sound of battle growing faster. The creature will... The little spine devil that was fighting the two of you that just took a swing at you, it's going to do the same thing it did before. It's going to flick a tail spine at each one of you. So towards Rose, it flicks one for a 21 to hit.

Might hit. So you're going to take four piercing damage and then three fire damage. As this thing kind of hits into your body, the intense heat is so much it begins like the flesh begins to bubble and sear. You kind of have to quickly pull it out before it does any lasting damage

to your skin. Shadow, that's only a seven to hit you so again that is not one of the spines flies past embeds into the the doors that you seem to be moving past um and just begins igniting those doors on a flame i like to think it's because shadow's just gone down on all fours and is doing a little cat scamper. Yeah, just like darting along the round. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, perfectly works. The handsome young man with his sister will attempt once again to try and drag her back. This time, far more successful. He manages to kind of back her up into this room.

And you can see him basically trying to throw her to the side so he can get in front of her to close the door um but that's going to be pretty much his turn uh one of these creatures will hover up to the ceiling of the room and fling two spines in his direction he the spines fly overhead but you see the the young man kind of throws the sister to the side or the girl to the side and then he shuts the door just in time for these spines to kind of through them before he kind of opens them again to step through and make his way back

out. Strahd looks at Jesper You dare strike her you have no idea what you've done, boy! And he will be very mad. He will look at you, Jesper.

And he will... Would he do this? Or would he do this? He he do this he would that were risks that risks hurting her this doesn't daddy i need you to make a constitution saving throw please 21 That's very good. Jesus. So you watch as he reaches his hand out, and from the window, you see these tendrils of black smoke erupt from his arm

just in this sudden surge of movement like snakes they twist and coil through the air and they bite onto your flesh Jesper and you feel the life force of your very energy your essence being drained away you would have taken 30 necrotic

damage but you half it to 15 still pretty nasty there. Yes. So you just watch. Yes, it was. And he just kind of like clutches it and his eyes, you can see them now. Where before when you saw this man, there was a placid, almost calm look on his face. His face is now twisted into rage.

These fangs bared. How dare you harm her! And he kind of yanks on the smoke as he watches your form kind of shudder and shake from the black magic surging through you. But he looks amazed that you're still standing as he does that.

Cranking. I will not fall to the darkness so easily you will do as you are commanded boy maybe in 6 HP's time the young woman desperately

you can see her she desperately tries to break free of the man that dragged her into the room beyond she manages to kind of reach the door she kind of goes to say something before the man that dragged her into the room beyond. She manages to kind of reach the door. She kind of goes to say something before the man shoves her back and shuts the door in front of her. And you just hear this muffled voice.

But it's not enough, and you can see Strahd's face just like, No! Irina! Zeros. So, for Katie's benefit Slayer's Prey is a bonus action

and you can do that as many times as you want I thought that's what it was Yeah Okay because I just looked it up and it said this benefit lasts

until you finish a short or long rest it ends early if you designate a different creature Yeah So the benefit on that one creature

lasts until a short or long rest Until you take a rest Yeah You can just bonus action whenever you want to slay a spree. Yeah.

That's how I figured it worked. So I can do it to anyone. As soon as you create a new, as soon as you as soon as you target a new creature the old one fades. That's what it means, basically.

Yeah. Soz. It's clearing my own login now. No, no, no. It was confusing as well It was the way it was worded I was like I don't know if that's unlimited or not And I didn't want to waste it on a tiny little shit

No no no I think it is but you have to use a bonus action Because it's only a B6 once per thing anyway So it's not a big deal So I'm going to leave I'm going to leave the room that Zeke is in Close the door firmly behind me And as the blight dissipates

from behind Jesper, Xeros appears. This six foot tall black dragonborn. Yeah, I materialise out of his blight and I am going to go and wail on this thing on the bed.

It's kind of floating at the top of the room but within reach, easily enough. Yes, so with my greatsword I'm just going to... Actually, I'm going to do a goading attack. Okay. So, when I hit a creature with a weapon attack, I can expend a superiority die.

So let's see if I hit first. Yep. 16. 16 will indeed hit this small creature. It's small and mobile, but once your sword connects with it, there's barely anything to defend it. Cool, I do 13 damage with that, and I'll expend a superiority.

Two. So they now make a wisdom saving throw. DC 14. Dammit. Yeah, it passes passes but doesn't it also when you expend it deals extra damage as well uh i don't think on goading attack i do so i expend a superior diet uh oh i add the total to the damage as well there you go so you roll a d8 you get to my dad as well the damage as well. There you go. So you roll a d8 and you get to

my dad as well. Ooh. More points. So you strike at the ground. What do you say? Do you say anything? How are you goading it?

Oh, go... I hit its arms. This is a goading attack. What it does is it has disadvantage on all attack rolls on targets other than me.

Yeah, it's like a taunt. Right, so I just really fucking stare it down. Just like staring this devil dead in the eyes. I just came out of a blight. It wants to go for me. It looks at you. I mean, you definitely get the fact whether or not you succeeded,

you definitely get the sense it's probably going to try and fight you next. So, it definitely goes for you. Jasper. I'm going to shake off that horrific blight. Can I get my head back into the game?

You can see your veins are almost dark in your arms. Wherever the smoke touched you, your skin is like ash grey and it feels sickly and pallid. I'll dart towards the creature directly in front of me here

and I will attack them with a defensive flourish. So what this allows me to do is when I take an attack action, my speed increases 10 feet, which doesn't really matter. If the weapon attack hits, I can expend one of my bardic inspiration take an attack action. My speed increases 10 feet, which doesn't really matter. If the weapon attack hits, I can expend one of my Bardic Inspiration to deal extra damage

equal to the number I roll on the dice and also add that number to my AC as well. Great. That sounds awesome. Yeah, doesn't it just? Marku-san. Let's see if you hit. Ding dong. 20. Yeah, that will hit. 4 piercing damage.

And then I get to roll an extra D8, correct? Yeah, is your Bardic Inspiration D8 or is it D6? Oh, is it based on my Bardic Inspiration? I think, that's what you just said. It's a D6. There you go. Bam. Three, so I get to add that to my AC as well. And you add three to your AC as well. Yeah. Bam. Three. So I get to add that to my AC as well.

And you add three to your AC as well. Yeah. Bam. Cool. That's nice. Yeah. This thing on its go, it will... The one that you've just struck with your rapier,

you kind of lash out and cut towards it. Is it a rapier you've got? Yes. Yeah. So you kind of slash it once, and then it will basically it will do yeah it it doesn't provoke an opportunity attack when it flies out this thing is so quick and nippy it kind of just bats its wings and jerks away from you really right quite rapidly um and

it backs itself up into this far corner. And then it's going to fling two of its spines towards you again. Lashing out with each one. So that's going to be a 17 to hit. Yeah, I've got AC 17. Is that with the plus 3 currently? Yeah. Okay, let me see if... The next one misses

but the first one will hit for 4 points of piercing damage. Okay. And then 3 points of fire damage. Yeah. And done. Oh. Oh, shit. So close.

Save. So you watch, yeah, Jesper kind of like, this spine hits you in the side and this intense fiery pain bursts out around it and just combined with the crippling black smoke you lose consciousness as you fall down to the ground in a big slump you just see

Strahd kind of watching you the last thing you see as you're kind of falling unconscious is just his dead eyes staring at you waiting, watching Ziki, I'm so sorry you're still asleep I hear you that sleepiki i'm so sorry you're still asleep sleepy i hear you that sleep spell

that's like sorry yeah that's all good me again okay top of the round i will um try and finish off the little shit that's in front of me so i'm gonna take uh i'll do bonus action um slayers pray then finish off the little shit that's in front of me. So I'm going to take... I'll do bonus action

Slayer's Prey then and I will take a shot at it. You hone your senses as a monster slayer. 14 plus 7. That definitely hits. And then it will be...

Nine points of damage with the bow and five points of damage, Slayer's Prey. And with that, the Slayer's Prey, you kind of hone your senses, the training you've had, knowing where to strike on devils and things like that. You launch your attack. Damn it, I've forgotten the whole thing this whole time. The attack flies through, and it

strikes the creature in the chest, and you hear it just kind of like, as it just turns to ash in front of you, and just vanishes. So I will move my 30 feet to the corner and try and stay in front of Shadow and try and be like

be careful, careful. I don't know how many of them there are, okay? Shadows go next. So I'm going to move past Rose. I'm just going to be like, I heard something. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30.

Yeah, the door is shut on the other side, so you don't see Zeke sleeping inside. Yeah, I wouldn't have seen any of that business. Yeah. Noom, noom, noom, noom, noom, noom. But let me just check my spell. That's all good. So I think I'll probably burst into the room and see Jesper

on the ground. You see him clutching the spine in his gut and unconscious. So I'm going to use my feline agility, which means I can double my speed until the end of my turn and run over to him. So you kind of have a quick burst of speed

like Chitara in the Thundercats. And then I'm going to cast Cure Wounds at second level. Okay. And I have an ability called Circle of Mortality, which means I can restore maximum hit points instead of rolling the dice, with healing spells to a creature with zero HP. You do indeed.

So he will automatically 16 plus your wisdom uh plus two so 18 hit points wow so what does this look like for shadow because there's i mean obviously with your goddess because i mean you know who that is but the audience doesn't um what does this look like? It looks like a cleric healing someone in the middle of the dungeon. Oh, there it is! I need to know how you got 18. Because

Shadow is a grave cleric, yeah, they have an ability which, when they heal to somebody who's at zero, it heals the maximum number on the dice possible. Fucking grave clerics are better than Arcana at healing. Well, yes. Yes.

Yeah, exactly. Not a life domain cleric. Arcana, alright? I mean, it's mainly the choice to actually heal in the first place that was the main thing here. Anyway. Anyway.

Anyway. Anyway. I would rush into the room. I would rush into the room, see Jesper on the ground, be like, no! And run over, immediately put my paw to his, where I think his heart is, I presume that Vishhtani have hearts

the same place humans do. And I would start muttering prayers under my breath. And as, uh, the prayers kind of take hold again, this kind of golden, but black tinged light builds throughout my body, shoots through my hand and goes into Jesper's body.

And you almost see shadows form across his face and go into his mouth and nose, and he'll jerk awake. Okay. You are quite close to Zeros as you're doing this, and Zeros, you don't quite hear every word that Shadow says in these prayers, but there is one word, and I don't know, this might not mean anything to Zeros,

but you hear the word shah. It's just saying. Nope. How much healing is that? 18. 18. Thank you. Yeah.

That's your full turn, right, Kim? Because that's bonus action for feline agility, move, and then your action to heal. Perfect. The spine devil in the hallway is dead. The young man comes out, like, now out of the room, looks around, and you see him kind of breathe this sigh of relief, and he's just like, Thank you.

We must deal with these devils and then get out of sight of him. And then he points at the window, and you see him rush over, and underneath Zeros' feet, he picks up a longsword and he will turn on the devil next to Zeros as well. He will make

two attacks. He'll hit with the first one and he will hit with the second one. That's an 18 plus 5 and a 17 plus 5 and then he will do 11 and then he will do all 11 and then oh that's the max damage I could have rolled on two attacks to 11 points of damage which basically the one that you were fighting Xeros this man comes up and completely

steals the kill from you he runs up with two hacking blows he just cuts its head and its wings off. And you see the same thing that as it dies it explodes and turns into a fiery burst of ash basically as it erupts. Rowling. Strahd looks

into the room. Oh! Looks at Shadow healing the Vistani. Sees this young man who's now, you know, sealed his sister away. Looks at the one remaining devil he has. And then just floats

backwards, away from the window. And you see him beginning to... Anybody who can glance out of the window. You see him beginning to... Anybody who can glance out of the window sees him moving towards the rest of the village. He's moving towards the main central part

of the village itself. You hear loud banging coming from the door where the woman has been placed in, and then, Zeros, it is your turn. Okay. After growling at this guy for stealing my kill, it's like an action to, like, slam into someone if I was to run at them, right?

Yes, yeah. It uses one of your attack actions. Right, okay. In that case, I will just go with an old classic. Old classic greatsword. Swing that greatsword. Eleven. This one manages to just barely kind of flap its way out

and kind of dodge to the side as it moves past you. I'll be better than this guy. Yes, but you are conscious. I will grip Shadow by the arm and say I owe you a life debt. I will repay it.

And I will I'm going to look out the window further and see what Strata's doing. Yeah, so you move over to the window. Move over to the window quickly. Yeah, it's partially boarded. It was just big enough for these smaller creatures to get inside but you can see him just very calmly flying just his cloak billowing behind him you can almost see like a swirl of mist at his feet and he's just he's flown basically over towards the center of the village like above it but he is just flying that direction.

He is planning something, I don't know what. Is she safe? I believe so. There's only one way out of the closet, so... We must all retreat into the shadows. Become hidden. I don't think I have enough shadows for everyone. There is still one little devil.

He's just like, we deal with this first. Have I used all my actions doing all that? No, no, no. Just looking out the window. I'm not going to make you. In which case, while I'm talking to them calmly, I'll be stabbing the living shit out of this devil. Sure.

We must go into the... Hide, everybody! That's a mood. Run up and rip your strike with a 20 again, and 6 piercing, and I've got 2 weapon fighting, so... As a bonus action, you can make an attack with your dagger. Which is a 22, and a 6 piercing.

Wow. Yeah, you come in, and Zeros dagger. Which is a 22 and a 6 piercing. Wow. Fucking hell. Yeah, you come in and Xeros, kind of very similar to what just happened, doesn't quite destroy it. I keep forgetting to half the damage. Completely forgotten a mechanic for these things. But you watch as Jesper kind of flies up and with two strikes manages to almost tear one of this creature's wings off.

It's alive, but barely. It's kind of just flapping around somewhat uselessly, unable to really get any momentum for where it wants to go. You don't deserve to live on a mortal plane. Stay dead. Soon. Soon he'd flash kill.

I will come into the room, look around, see there's still one left and take a shot at it sure can I move my bonus action, move my little slayer's prey over again focusing those highly tuned

monster hunter settings yep, hits 11 with the bow and 5 with the slayer's prey. You take aim and with one arrow it slips between Xeros and Jesper and just, it sticks the creature to the wall, the back wall that it's currently flapping against.

The arrow pins it through the chest to the wall. It lets out one sort of final and then it just turns to ash and dust spinning onto the chair below it. Start out of the way and then look in both bewilderment and impressiveness at Rose. Wow.

Okay. I'm an okay shot. I want to stomp out of the room and then go into the one that Zeke is in as I'm going okay shot I want to stomp out of the room and then go into the one that Ziki is in as I'm going past Rose nice shot and then try and wake up Ziki

yeah it doesn't take much it takes like a some gentle shaking and well vigorous shaking kind of like nudging and things like that but yeah Ziki you kind of you come to not quite feeling refreshed but yeah feeling as if like you've just fallen asleep you know that kind of like nudging and things like that but yeah, Ziki, you kind of you come to, not quite feeling refreshed, but yeah feeling as if you've just fallen asleep you know, that kind of, you just doze off without realising it vibe

I just try to be like Zeros, I'm dead, did I die? Am I dead? Zeros, what happened? We're going, we're going What happened? Are you okay? What happened? We're going. We're going. What? Are you okay? What happened?

Where am I? Hold a hand out to the... He's standing up. I just take his hand and just drearily stand up. Yeah, you seem to be in some sort of bedroom. The two of you seem to be in a bedroom. There's hunting trophies on some of the walls there is a rack with like uh uh some various swords and bows and things like

that and arrows um a single bed a desk not too much but yeah there's definitely this looks to be like a hunter's room like somebody who does a lot of hunting uh those of you in the other room um those of you in the other room the young man kind of goes over to the older one and is like, Father! Father, wake up! We're alright! We're okay! And you see the older man beginning to come round and the fellow is just like

Thank you! Thank you, strangers! I don't know who you are or where you have come from I know that you are not from around here but thank you. My name is Ismark. This is my father, Kalyana. And the woman you just saved is Irina, my sister.

Thank you. The devil has been trying to get her for the last few nights, and this time he set those things on us. I thought that we were gone for. Thank you. Why? Why does he want her? We don't know.

She... He came... She began speaking of strange dreams. Of a man that would visit her and speak to her through her window, but... We did not think much of it, and then one night I... I heard him. I came bursting in and saw him at the window, reaching out for her, trying to get her to invite him in. I knew the devil as soon as I saw him, and, well, I wrestled her away, and he grew furious.

He then set creatures made of, creatures of undeath against our house, wolves, bats, and then lately those things. wolves, bats, and then lately those things. I don't know what sort of creature they are, but they had flame and claws like nothing I've seen before. The older man is just like, They are devils, my boy. I have heard legends of them. They are creatures of night like the devil, like he is. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you all. You don't know. You've saved us. Does the old man look wounded? He doesn't look wounded. Ismark does. Ismark has got several of these spines, and you can see him bleeding. But he seems pretty tough.

He's kind of, you know, struggling through it. But the old man just looks, he does look exhausted and stressed. Like, he's kind of he's you know struggling through it but the old man just looks he does look exhausted and stressed like he's pale you can see that his eyes are all bloodshot you don't think he's slept in days um he looks battered he looks on the verge of breaking um but yeah zero sins ziki do you guys regroup with everyone else? Yeah, I think as he's saying you're all saved, can I push past him, say, you're not saved yet, and look through the window astride.

None of us are saved here, my good dragon. Dragons that walk on two legs like men. You truly are strangers to this land. As you say that, Tom, and you look out, Xeros, you get the best view of this.

You and Jesper both kind of watching to see what Strahd does. You see... flame. An eruption of fire and smoke in mid-air. As whatever form he had before, Strahd now becomes a swirling mass of black fog and smoke, and a giant visage of his face looms over the town. People of Barovia, hear me speak

as your lord and master. My great work calls me away from claiming what is mine, so listen well. If the Burgomaster's daughter, Irena, is not brought to my castle in three days' time, I will unleash a

suffering onto this village the likes of which you have never known. Three days to And as it does, the mist coalesces into a single point and erupts once more into a storm of bats flying up towards the shadowy castle looking over the village. Oh, no! He went! I would like to exit this campaign, Mark.

Nope, nope. I'm just going to walk back. You see... Nope, nope, nope, nope. You see Ismark and his father, Koleana, there. I mean, if they could get more pale, they do. Their eyes are wide. They look at each other with a glance.

They look at you. They look to the window, and they seem speechless for the moment. You hear like a banging, like a coming from the door, just like, What? Brother, what is going on? What is happening out there? I feel so strange the dreams he came to me in my dreams again i think what did you put me in here bang bang bang it is is that arena yes yes that is irena I'm not sure if she is fully to her senses. He kind of looks at you all.

Strangers, I... I know that this is much to ask, but... Will you help us more? I must take Irina away from this place. We must get out of Barovia tonight, if we can. The people will not show us any mercy if the devil has commanded them to do this. They will no doubt be gathering now in mobs to come here.

Please, I will help you. I will help fight. I've trained all of my life to kill the devil, to free my people, to free our land. I will come and fight with you. But please take my sister. There must be somewhere we can go. There is a town to the west. It has walls, and the people there have always fought against the devil. Perhaps there we can be safe. This is madness.

You don't understand. You can't fight Strahd. He can kill a thought with the blink of his eye. No, no, that is superstition, Vistani, my friend, Vistani friend. He is powerful, yes, he has magic, but you see him now, he could not enter this building without permission. He must use his servants to do this bidding for him. The town to the west, Valaki.

I'm sure that the people there, or perhaps your people, the Vistani, they could take Irina away. They could take her out of the mists, yes? Don't you take her to my people. Don't you bring his wrath upon them. His wrath is already here. He has blighted our land for generations, for centuries. We are just cattle, pieces of a game to him. He will always rule over us.

Whatever suffering he inflicts upon Barovia, he inflicts it just by his mere presence. He is ruining this land. We must do something. If he wants Irina, it must be for a reason. And if we can deny him that, maybe there is something special about her. Something that we can use to fight him. I cannot look for any sign of motivation

from the rest of the people in this room. Because I am at a loss. The father father the older man looks at you with kind of shaking hands he's like i will give you whatever wealth i have i have coins a magic thing that i could give you as payment you're you're kind they are they are you do things for for money i think some of you have come to Barovia before. I will give you everything I have. Just please, do not let the devil take my daughter.

Irina, what say you? Why do you find this man fascinating? So you go up to the door. Well, I guess like, you know, I'll probably whisper it, I don't know, say it through a crackle or something like that. Yeah, Zeke's clawing under the door. Zeke's next to you.

I'll claw under the door with my little claw, you know, like cats do. She doesn't seem to be able to fully hear. She's just like, I can only hear some of it. The door is quite thick It's kind of muffled And she must be pressed up right against it Who are you? Who is there?

Is Mark father? Who are these people? What is happening? I think the decision has to be with her. We can try and help. Maybe if we take her away, do you think that we would have a better chance of lifting whatever curse is over this land?

I don't know, good lady. The Vistana, they know the devil better than anyone, and he kind of looks at Jasper. But I don't know. I know that many people have tried to fight against him before, adventurers like yourselves and people, saints and holy men. They have all been destroyed. I've been training my whole life, but

I know that on my own it will not be enough. There must be something. He must fear something. He claims to be a god, but I know that he is not. He cannot be. There's no... And he kind of looks dejected. He's like, I don't know.

Zeki, what are you doing at this point, by the way? Um... I suppose... Well, she's still quite dreary. So she's just, like, trying to make head and tails of what's going on. She's just like, what is happening right now? I've got, like... She's got, like, no idea. Okay.

Did you say you were trying to do something, Shadow, I think, just before? I think I would start opening the door. Yeah, there's like nervous looks, but nobody stops you doing it. You kind of open the door and, yeah, you see before you a very, very beautiful woman. Let me, I've got, I can show you what she looks like. I think I can, anyway. I've got to find her in my list of stuff

that I've got. Aw, glad to hear it was Marizette again. Aw, wow, wow, wow. Tammy. I want a strad, won't I? She doesn't have any armor, and she doesn't have a weapon. She's kind of wearing like a thin knight dress, like a white kind of long knight dress.

She has like dark, dark skin, brown hair, quite long. She looks a little bit dazed, a little bit not quite there. You can see, I'd say, Shadow, you kind of notice that there are very faint marks on her neck. Like two little pinpricks along her neck. But she looks more, a little weak, perhaps a little anemic almost. Like her skin is quite pale. And she kind of blinks a little bit as she looks at you for the first time.

What? What are you? Who are you? My you my apologies who are these people father is Mark what is happening can I take a claw and not not a claw but like you know like just kind of gently sort of angle her neck to look and yeah sorry given her like given my like my knowledge of medicine and things like that can i make some sort of medicine check to see like why she's pale and anemic like i don't know i mean yeah you don't need to make a check for that normally blood loss will do that to a person um and yeah these look like they look quite

old like maybe three or four days old, so they've started healing and scarring and scabbing. But yeah, they look like two incisor marks on the neck. And yeah, it's probably blood loss. She's probably lost a lot of blood recently. Do I recognise her face?

Are you thinking about vampires? There's something... We know nothing. Well, I mean, some people might. I think Rose will. I think Rose absolutely would know. But we'll get to that in a minute because, Jesper, as you're looking at her face,

there is... You know you've never met this woman before, but yet you still know her face. There's something timeless about it like a woman you've heard described in stories too many times around the campfire she's beautiful but also strong and she carries a grace nobility that most barovians don't really have

there is something oddly familiar about her even though you know you've never ever met this person before um yeah rose um i mean right now like shadow is kind of looking at them you you haven't seen the marks on the neck only shadow has at the moment um but yeah she kind of looks around and sort of arena blinks and takes you all in for a moment. Strangers, what are you doing? Was that... I heard a man's voice just now. And she, her expression

goes dark, and she kind of looks horrified. It was him, wasn't it? The devil came to me again. He came... Ah! And she kind of like slams her fist on the doorframe. Ismark kind of like tries to brush you aside. It's like, it's okay, Arine.

It's okay. These people helped us. They managed to stop him again. We won't let him take you. We won't. And you can see her hands are kind of shaking and trembling. I don't know how he gets into my head, Ismark. He speaks in a voice and his

eyes, they glow and then I just, it's like I can't resist him. I don't want to. I don't want to go with him. But I can't help it. I didn't. You're hurt. And she seems to notice his wounds for the first time. You got hurt defending me again.

It's alright, Irina. It's okay. It's alright. We'll figure it's alright we'll figure this out we'll figure this out and there's this moment of stillness comes across the room I walk slowly towards Irina you

who are you I am I am I am Irina daughter of the am Irina, daughter of the Burgomaster. I turn to the man. Who is she? Is Marcus just like, What are you asking, Vistani?

She's my sister. We've grown up. She's my little sister. I don't know what you're asking. Why you? Why did he pick you? I don't know. He speaks as if he speaks to me like a lover would.

I don't know. Perhaps he is attracted to me, I guess. I don't know. I don't know. And she kind of looks at you sternly. I'm no servant of the devil, unlike you, Vistani. Hold on a second.

Now don't you go making accusatory things at Vistani. Your people are the ones who bring unfortunate fellows like these ones here. We've seen it before. You bring them, and he kills them. Just because you are special. Don't accuse us all of the same. We are not all

like that. This one just saved your life. Thank you, big dragon man. Two legs. Amazing. Ismark puts a hand on Irina's shoulder. It's true. He did. I know that

they upset you. No, but she is upset, my friend. She is upset and distraught. Please, forgive her for her brashness. It's something that father and I have always had to deal with. She's headstrong

I understand well let me frustrate you further Irina I wish to take you to my superior she knows a lot she is very wise and she should read you your destiny it is important

Ismark looks at you so you'll take her away She should read you and your destiny. It is important. Ismark looks at you, so you'll take her away from here, from the people, before they can get their hands on her. There is something about you, Arena, that fills me with something. I don't know. It's deep and it's woven into my history my past the stony talk of it you seem familiar I don't know there's something maybe the cards will know more I don't know what you speak of this Danny but if it takes me away from the

devil I will go if is mark and father come with us and you see the older man kind of steps forward he's like no no Irene Ismark will go with you but the people of Barovia they are coming here I will need to do something to keep them to stop them chasing after you

he kind of looks around at all of you the gathered strangers I don't know why you are here, strangers from another world. But you have come to a dark and terrible place. I would not have requested your aid before tonight. This is a dead land, a place of misery and death. But there is some life here. It was beautiful once.

Our ancestors tell us of the great place it once was. I beg you. You have been brought here for a reason. Perhaps the Morning Lord or Mother Night has brought you here to help us.

Take Irina. Safe and keep her safe. And I will do everything I can to stop them coming after you. And, and come, come. And he kind of goes out of the room. Uh,

he doesn't wait for you to follow. So if you stay in the room, he shortly returns. But if you do follow, if any of you follow him, uh, he goes into his own bedroom, um,

and lifts up a bearskin rug and a small trapdoor hidden underneath it and he begins pulling out a chest and carries it back into the room this is everything I can provide it is not much but please take it friends

we have only just met but something speaks to me that maybe this is why Madame Eva sent me to your land and brought us together maybe this is the start the first thread so to speak

if we can save this woman from strad you see as rose when you say his name everybody except you guys winces they're just like do not speak his name even yes but

i don't know it's up to yes but whether yes but winces but the three barovians like it's physical when you say his name they like pull into themselves and they like look around they like check their shadows just mentioning his name puts them on edge i just remember being blighted and that does make me wince if we can save arena from him then that will be

worth my time alone I don't know who you are but thank you and I don't believe that he's not killable everything has a weakness we'll find what it is and we'll deal with it

Ismark looks at you and just nods and you can see him like nodding in your direction like yes somebody who thinks that yeah he's like I'm glad that you are willing to help us my lady I'm glad to know I'm not the only... Well, I guess to some, maybe we are the insane ones,

but as far as I'm considered, we're the only ones thinking straight. Everything crosses to the fugue plane eventually. I shall help too. Thank you. Strange. Strange fellows. But I'm glad for your company. And what of you? The dragons who walk like men?

I know that this is... Perhaps you do not have any say in this, but... I've seen this one, and he points at Zeros. A great fighter, it seems. I would be glad for your sword at our side. Just look at Ziki. Well, every story has an ending, even scary ones.

I guess it's time we put an end to this one. Then I will join her. Thank you. As this is happening, you do begin to hear the sound of many boots marching. Not marching in a military procession, but a large group of people making their way towards the mansion. When you glance out the window,

you can see that a crowd of i don't know let's say about 12 of them and then yeah about 22 humans um all different barovians you can see the three vistani from the inn um that you had stayed in have joined them one of them looks about he looks he must be about six foot tall rippling muscles maybe looks like a smith's a young smith or something like that these these very taut muscles i'm carrying a big heavy hammer and the group of them are are marching on the mansion and you see a small group peel off and begin making their way down a side street, uh,

as, and they're bearing torches and they've got clubs and all sorts of like butcher knives and, and pans, anything that they can grab basically. Um, and they are making their way down towards the mansion. We got ourselves a good old-fashioned mob

yes there is something of a mob is approaching down yes for we're gonna need to know where we need to take arena we don't know the way what is the safest way out of this town without the whole people knowing? I have some stables around the back with a few horses, but... I mean, to get back on the main road, you need to go down into the main square and then head off past the river and then down towards the crossroads. To take any other route is even more dangerous. You do not want to travel the Svalik woods at night. The wolves and there are other dark things in the woods. And he points at Jasper like, I'm sure you know.

You cannot travel through the woods without greater harm. Perhaps there is something we can do. A distraction maybe. Lure them away or something. Okay. Have you got anything that we can disguise arena with conceal her make her less recognizable just for the time being we have some clothes irena is just like what is happening why why why is there a mob why must we leave what is why do they want? There's not really a way to sugarcoat this.

They want you, Irina, and we need to get you away from here. Okay. Well, I have other clothes. I have some traveling clothes and things like that. And my armor that Ismark bought me but I don't think we really have anything like disguises. We have some cloaks and some hoods. Please. Those will do.

Please put your armor on. Okay. Oh, very well. She rushes off into the closet that she was previously in and you can see her opening things and pulling like clothes and a piece of scale mail armor out and Ismark is like, I will go and fetch my own things and he like uh clothes and a piece of scale mail armor out um and is mark is

like i will go and fetch my own things and he goes into his room and begins gathering up various pieces of equipment um a round shield um a shorter sword a bow um torches and a backpack and things like that um the older man is the only one kind of left with you. He's just like, There are two horses at the back in my stables, but apart from that, I don't know what else we can do. If they're gathered outside, they will see you coming or leaving. I'm afraid I don't...

What can you recommend? Is there anything I can do to help? I don't... What can you recommend? Is there anything I can do to help? I could try and ward them off. If you have the power to do so,

there is quite a lot of them. Dragonborn, and I'm looking at Zeros, could I use you for a bit of theater? I can't act. I just need you to look menacing. But I can act. Let us go outside to meet this mob, then.

Keep Ziki safe. And I'll head down with her, then? Yeah, I'll go down. Ziki, what do you do? I guess they're coming to the front. Yeah, you see the major group. Okay. So Ziki just kind of follows behind them.

How far away are the mob at the moment? So, I mean, they're pretty much gathering in front of the... There's a large iron fence that surrounds this mansion with gates that then lead up to the main door. And they're pretty much gathered at the iron fencing, like the actual entrance into the mansion's estate. Like I said, you did see a small number of them kind of peel off and you don't know where they've gone it was probably about um six or seven of them went off to the side um but yeah you make your way downstairs

um the front door is still somewhat barricaded and barred um from where the zombies were trying to get in. One zombie is still there, just like hounding away. But the mob Yeah, sure. You guys just like strike it through. It goes in its brain, knocks it dead. And yeah,

if you want to open the doors, you can do, but otherwise you'll kind of have to look out the window and speak to them from there. There's a single exit ground floor out of this place. There is a back door. There's a back door that goes out to the back of the house. And then there is a front door, which goes out onto the main pathway that then leads into the village itself. But there is like a kitchen back door, which has also been barricaded. Okay.

Like from the inside though. That wants to face the mob and distract them, we'll see you at the stables. We're taking the back door. Be quick and swift. The mob is slow in a group so be faster than them hmm so

remind me who's going to the front door so Shadow and Xeros is Zeke gonna follow after them I'll like tail behind them yeah just like just in case something happens slowly okay so Rose, Jesper, Ismark and Irina

will be the ones going to the back. Okay. Those of you who go to the front... Go on. Sorry, do I have time to turn to Ziki as we go down and just be like, what can you do? Can you make illusion? Can you do light?

I can cause a blinding spectrum of light to cause blindness. Dazzle them. Perfect. Maybe we won't need quite the blindness, but just let's see.

Okay. And then, yeah, can just like position ourselves outside the door yeah so you begin you kind of have to manually move some of the barricade that would previously been constructed and you open these big heavy oak wooden doors the front doors to this mansion you open them up and you step outside and gathered you can see that almost forming like a line in front of the fence itself are dozens of dour faced Barovians. Some of them bear the same soulless expression as you saw in the bartender at the inn you briefly stopped by. Others have looks of anger and fear mixed with a zealot kind of energy

um and there are three well there's there's three individuals who seem to be doing most of the talking and they're kind of whispering and speaking to everybody as you guys make their way outside um kollyanna the old man uh irena's father comes with you by the way shadow he comes with you zeros and ziki um and as you begin stepping outside one of them uh one of the mob calls out he's quite a tall handsome um older man probably in his sort of like 40s or 50s his hair is salt and pepper uh kind of slicked back um wears quite rich looking clothing um and next to him are uh elenka the vistani any innkeeper who invited you in when you first arrived in the village um and his wife the two of them are on next to next to this this other man behind the three of

them is this six foot probably six foot four rippling muscled young man but his face he has like a very heavy set brow uh his mouth is kind of hanging open and there's a bit of drool coming out of it but he's holding a giant hammer uh and he's just kind of looking behind them um the well-dressed man kind of like holds his hands up is that you Kalyana I was hoping that you would come out to speak with us you heard the devil's proclamation it is not fair one girl for the suffering of so many give her to to us, Koliana. You are our burgomaster. It is your job to protect our village. Irina, he does not want to hurt her. You can tell that he would take her if he wanted to do that. Give us the girl. Protect your people.

your people. Kollyanna kind of stands awkwardly next to the group of you. Doesn't address the man, just kind of looks at you waiting to see what you guys do. Can I light

some incense? So I imagine I would have like kind of one of those, what do they call it? I get like a it's like one of those, what do they call it? I get like a, it's like one of those. Swinging chains? Yeah, that you swing. Yeah. Yeah, censure.

So I'm going to start preparing that and just swinging it around and just muttering under my breath. Like, you know, nothing in particular. Just like, you know, start to the show and just, yeah. And I'm going to start kind of like, you know, walking around, just being a bit strange and in my own world and just swinging this. When you start doing that, the crowd does kind of murmur and whisper and the well-spoken man is just like, Who are these strangers? Are they the ones to blame for upsetting our lord?

Who is this cat that walks like a man and a dragon? What are these creatures that you have brought, Kalyana? They will not protect you from us or from the devil Give us the girl is the only way and then the crowd begins Those of those of the crowd who still have souls kind of join in like give us the girl Kalyana give her to us It is the only way why should we suffer? She can save us all. Why are you being selfish? I'm gonna draw my sword and start stomping towards them.

Okay, they all quickly snatch up weapons. You see the well-dressed man steps back and just pushes the giant man with the hammer forward who's like, Oh! We do protect him.

We also protect the girl. If any of you come one step closer, I will start taking heads, starting with his. I point at the big guy. Damn. Cool. Go on, Kim.

I'll just like, on hearing that, I'll kind of raise an eyebrow I didn't want to ramp up that fact but I'll be like I suggest you listen to my grumpy dragon friend he is blessed by light and this place

is in dire need of that and on saying that, I will cast light on Zeros's great sword that he's wielding, so it kind of essentially just lights up and illuminates. Okay.

In that case, Zeros, make an intimidate check with advantage, because Shadow is helping you out and is providing some theatrics. I'm also going to roll something for myself. So you kind of bellow out to everybody and you can see that most of the villagers are cowed by this. You can see them kind of like,

they startle back, clutching rolling pins and pitchforks and torches um a few but quite a number of them they look maybe like they're used to tracking like in the woods or they're hunters a few of them have got bows or like big meat cleavers or wood cutting axes and they just kind of set their jaws and they growl and snarl as they kind of see you. We're not frightened by the likes of you and your sorcery tricks. You're just another stranger. These are our lands.

This is our land. We'll fight to protect it. And you see the Vistani and the well-dressed man kind of begin encouraging this. They're like, yes, yes, you're right, my friends. We do not listen to these sorcerers. They are the ones who have upset our lord. They are the ones who bring misery down upon us. If we take them together, we can dispatch them.

Perhaps he will even reward us. And they begin like, yeah, and it begins kind of riling them up again. Seemingly your threat's now falling on deaf ears against them yes yes but while this is happening can i say let us not waste the time they have given us let us escape through the back door while they are distracted yeah absolutely you uh you rose is mark and irena begin making your way out the back through the back door. When you step

outside, kind of pulling all of these makeshift barricades out the way, you open the door and it leads to a small path that leads to an iron gate and then an outdoor stables. Outside the back gate, the group that had split off from the mob before is now waiting by the stables.

It appears to be about seven people, individuals. most of them look like villagers with rudimentary crude weapons clubs and torches that sort of things but at least two of them look quite vicious maybe like wolf hunters or something like that or like you know hounds keepers um they have like these very nasty looking short hatchets um and then the other one is the daughter of the vistani that you met earlier, who's kind of sat with them. She's kind of just sat on a short wall,

kind of picking her fingernails, looking in your direction. It does not need to go this way, friends. Please allow us to leave. Brother, you are right. It does not need to go this way. Why are you getting involved with these people? Just hand over the girl. It's the easiest way. We don't want to upset our lord.

How could you say that? How could you give such a person to him? You know what he would do. Do you think that it has not happened before, brother? The reason that we are favored by him, the reason that we are given permission to leave is because we do what he asks. We do not want to upset that balance. Even

precious Madame Ava knows when to bow to the Dark Lord. Don't you bring her into this. You are making a mistake. And she kind of, you can see that she's got like a long... Almost looks like a thin stiletto knife that she's twirling around her fingers

that she's picking her nails with. I believe you have made the mistake. I'm going to dash at her and come swinging. Okay. Well, that's a surprise round for sure because I don't think she was expecting escalation. So yeah, go ahead and make your attacks with advantage. Okay. I will do 19 uh that will definitely hit her yeah for sure 11 piercing

and i get a bonus action dagger yes you do. 23 to hit. You rush in, and with two strikes, you just cut into this girl. One kind of catches her across the shoulder, and then the dagger blade cuts across her arm. She yelps, and completely taken by surprise, as you clash in. I guess Rose, Ismark, and Irina

will need to roll initiative um uh whilst the rest of the crew out the front so we'll come back to you guys in a minute uh the rest of the crew at the front um what do you guys do like the the initial kind of intimidation um seemingly it seems that these leaders the kind of the more vicious members are the ones keeping this mob together what do you guys do can i uh start to appeal to them i'm gonna wait to hear what tom and rey want to do as well but i would like to say something i guess uh hopefully before they kick off or don't kick off um yeah i guess you're talking then it sounds like the dragon dragons ain't doing yeah go for it okay so i guess leading on from what they said i'll open my arms out still kind of

swinging my uh censure and just say you want to attack the ones who just scared your dark lord away from this place you want to attack us now i can sense you are angry i can sense you are scared my mistress is one of darkness and loss and i can sense that this place has experienced much loss do not make that more we will deal with this perhaps if you turned your violence outwards and not in on your own people you would be strong enough uh there is a kind of silence for a long moment and then there is just a kind of laugh kind of you think you

scared him away he retreated because he knows he does not need to deal with if he wanted you dead little cat you would be nothing more than ash and dust upon the ground. He is giving us a

chance to prove ourselves loyal. He is using you. Of course. He is using you to do his work. For what? To sacrifice a young woman? Yes. If sacrificing a young woman ensures the rest of us are safe, why would we not?

And to say that he is using us, he is using us in the way that the farmer uses his cows. We have no way of challenging him. We live only because he allows it. You are a foreigner and a stranger. You do not understand our land and do not pretend to otherwise. Come, my brothers and sisters. Let us take Irene. If they will not give us Irene, we'll take her by force.

And then there is a general kind of murmuring and shouting. I mean, you can make a persuasion check, but it's going to be at disadvantage because the things you're saying are not going to have as much impact on the people of Barovia, sadly. That's one. So first roll is an 18,

second roll is a 16. So I think that most of the commoners are cowed enough by what you've said and Xeros's intimidation that they don't really seem to be acting they just kind of hanging back um but there's definitely the the meaner looking members of the mob are still dedicated to their cause they're not gonna they're not gonna move but the

commoners and the kind of like average folk don't look like they're going to get involved um and you see the large uh burly man begins stepping up to the gates and he begins trying to like force them open basically you can see him like trying to like brand the the bars and the locks to give them space to move through um going back to the other group i I guess. Rose, did you roll an initiative? Yeah, it was eight. Let me roll back. Sorry. Seven. Seven.

In fact, actually, it probably makes sense for everybody to roll initiative at this point. So, yes, but what did you get, by the way? Twelve? Twelve. I think it makes sense if everybody rolls initiative now. Okay. Okay. Okay. Yes.

Would I have gotten time to react while Jesper charged at... No, because that was his surprise round, was him doing something off the cuff, basically. Shadow got a seven. Zeke got a three. Poor Zeke Straight up 3 So those of you who are at the front

You're not necessarily in combat already But you can sense that These people don't look like they're willing To listen to reason at this point They don't seem Particularly convinced That you are more of a threat Than Strahd is, or that

saving Irina is worth putting themselves at risk. And they're trying to get over the fence. Is there anything you'd like to do? There's probably about, I'd say, ten people who look like they're gonna come over

the walls, plus the large man. Are they well-armored man are they well armored and they well armed so they have like leather leather jackets and jerkins they've got hatchets and long knives these these look like pretty rough outdoorsy types like woodsmen and woodswomen um a couple of them have like large two-handed axes um you're not sure how well trained they are but they definitely look more dangerous than common villagers. Keep on stomping forward.

Okay. If you continue going forward, you're going to be at the gates where they're currently trying to get through and storm over. Wait, do I have an action first? You can do it. It's your turn.

You can do what you want. But I'm just saying, 30 feet will get you to the gates. Well, I'll do a hold thing. If someone goes for me, I'll attack back. Okay.

All right. Sure. Right. Okay. So, the. Right. Okay. So, the first wave of thugs at the front and the back begin to kind of surge over. Some of them start trying to climb up over the fence. Some of them are trying to help the big man kind of break the gates open. It basically takes their whole turn to do that.

They're not going to get to attack or anything like that. But by the time they're finished finished about five of them have climbed over the gates and the rest have managed to help the larger man break the gates open and open them up so that the rest can charge through they are just yeah they look directly towards you

with a very murderous intent the ones at the back there are two at the back, there are two at the back. After seeing you strike at their Vistani comrade, they are going to try and turn on Jesper, I believe. So he's going to swing with what appears to be like a

kind of studded billy club towards you, Jesper, for 21. Jeez. And then the second attack, however, will only towards you, Jesper, for a 21. Jeez. Yep. And then the second attack, however, will only be a 12. No, that won't hit. Alright, so you take five

bludgeoning damage as the first blow kind of swings in, and this studded billy club kind of smacks you across the face, but then you manage to leap back and parry as the second blow comes swinging in. The other one probably, the other one's gonna pull out like actually he'll pull out like a crossbow

and he'll aim it in Rose's direction seeing that she has a ranged weapon and he'll try and take a shot at her. For a 19 to hit. I know. That'll hit. What a bitch. Five points of piercing damage as he like thuds as the arrow

scrapes across your thigh, scraping and drawing a thick line of blood. They finish their go. After they're done, Kalyana, the older man, with you guys at the front, so you've kind of got, like, split scenes jumping to and fro cinematically. Kalyana just looks at Shadow and Ziki and is like, You must run! Join join your friends there's no way that you can fight them all off and these people haven't done anything wrong they're just

scared just go go and he snatches up a torch from like out of his pack and he lights it um and he turns back towards the house uh with the torch um will you be safe i will slow them down you must leave go go get my daughter to safety take her away protect her from the devil please um rose we jump back to you as he does that sorry yes but actually uh so we jump back to the back where yes but you've just been smacked in the face you turn around you've got one of these thugs and the other vistani woman right in front of you uh i'm gonna shout to the people that aren't engaged in the battle like irena etc please i mean yeah his mark is pulling his sword out he's like! Run! I can get away. Just run. And I turn to the girl in front of me.

See what Strahd is doing to us. Let us not let this end in more death. Let us go. Strahd, you are the one who is defying him. As you guys, yeah, your blades cross. Cool. Okay. In which case, I'm going to use my mobile

feat, which means I can make a melee attack and then get away from them without any opportunity attacks. Sure. Okay. So I'm going to do one without the intent to kill anybody. So you'll do non-lethal damage. I'll attack the guy that just hit me.

Non-lethal damage possible. Which is a 15 to hit him yeah that'll hit him he doesn't appear to be really wearing any armor he's just got like a leather jacket on basically and yeah I will just kind of flourish away

and start running back to the rest of the group yeah so you kind of slap him with the flat side of the rapier kind kind of slap him with the um the flat end like the flat side of the rapier kind of like slap him across the head and his eyes kind of ring for a moment as he looks around um and then what you're going to kind of dash away uh are you dashing away like down the street or are you going to try and run towards the horses and the stables i'm running running kind of and goading everyone to follow me to escape this town okay all right rose ignoring the fact that i just got shot um i don't want to kill them so i'm gonna um run towards the

stable where the horses are how many horses are there are two did you say uh there are two horses yeah so they can carry two people each stable where the horses are. How many horses are there? Two, did you say? There are two horses, yeah, so they can carry two people each. Okay, so how far is it to get there? Can I dash to get there? Yeah, you can just get... If you dash, you'll get there. Easy.

Okay, can I untie the horses probably... I don't know how can i drag arena with me and still get um she will follow you on her turn so yes effectively like she'll just take her movement with you now yeah i wanted to basically take both of those guys and just get them towards the horses. And I want to make sure that she gets on a horse with her brother. And then I'll get on the other one. Okay. Sure.

So Ismark will go with you. He looks a bit more like he wants to fight, but he'll look after his sister mainly. As you make your way for the stable. Yeah, you can see two two horses neither of them have their saddles but is mark and irena don't seem to be that bothered they kind of start just kind of getting up on the horses to ride it anyway um it will make it more difficult for anybody else who if you get caught in like a chase riding it without a saddle will make it harder but putting a saddle on is going to take time which you don't really have right now um you also as a reminder, yes, but your

wagon is currently, you had a wagon with some horses as well, but it's just currently at the back of the inn, which is just down the road from here. So you can always dash to make it to your wagon as well. He's making a very confused looking face, so I'm just going to assume that he heard that. Yeah, but

yeah, Rose, you get to the horses, he heard that um yeah but yeah rose you you get to the horses you untie them and jeb you can help them uh you can help irena and is mark up onto one of the horses uh no problem um chasing after uh yes but comes mirabelle the vistani um who is just kind of lashing out at him in a kind of frenzied rage at this point. That is going to be a 11 to hit you, Jesper. No. Followed by a 14 to hit you. My armor class is 14.

That will hit you on the second attack. So the first one you managed to parry with the rapier, but then she kind of drops the stiletto, grabs it in the other hand, and kind of jams it into your side, causing five points of piercing damage. It just kind of cuts you along the side, but it's enough to kind of wince and wound you a little bit.

And then she'll use her bonus action to disengage... No, she can't disengage and move. So she'll just basically stay locked in combat with you for the time being and just kind of say like, Quickly, get over here. Help me deal with him. We can grab the girl later.

But you can see the other thugs are eyeing up Irina, not really listening to her as they do that. All of the common folk that were around seem completely bewildered and don't seem to be taking any aggressive actions, um, either through the threats of, uh, what Xeros and Shadow have said,

or at the back, the kind of words that Jesper said, they don't seem to be particularly motivated to fight either side. They're just kind of avoiding it, looking panicked and scared. Um, and they just kind of shuffled around. Ziki,

what do you do? Um, so you can see Xeros is kind of stood in front of the gate but the old man is like you must go um so i'm gonna move up to xeros and just like motion to him to say come we need to like we need to go now and then i'm gonna cast uh color spray towards the crowd that are coming to in our direction. Yeah, sure. So what do I have to do for that? So describe us. So a dazzling array of flashing

colored lights springs from your hand. You roll 6010, or I roll 6010. The total is how many hit points of creatures the spell can affect. Creatures in a 15-foot cone originating from you affected in the ascending order of their current hit points. They're going on conscious creatures. All that stuff. There's no saves or anything

to make. Okay. Alright, perfect. Okay, so just roll 6d10 and then tell me the total. 5 and 1. So that's 25 in total. Okay. I imagine it like she's dipping... Go on. you describe it yeah

i was imagining because she has she carries like painting supplies by her hips and belts and stuff and i imagine she like reaches into a bag and like pulls out um and just dips her three fingers into red blue and no red yellow and blue pigments and then she just blows on them on this like powder pigment and it flows out it becomes like a spectrum perfect so you watch as this dazzling cone of light engulfs and it engulfs several of these hunters

and quite a lot of the common folk behind them the large man kind of shields his eyes and you can hear him kind of grunt like no as the light washes over him. He seems unaffected. A couple of the hunters kind of like clutch their eyes. They're like, I can't see!

What has she done? The dragon witch! Kill her! Kill her! And they're kind of like squinting around. But there's still quite a few of them who the spell washes over them, but doesn't quite have the blinding effect as you hoped. But it's enough to slow them down temporarily

if nothing else as they try and help their companions. Several of them kind of stumble in the way of others who are running towards you, knocking them off balance. Kind of sowing chaos amongst them basically. Zeros, what are you going to do? I guess I...

If Zeke is leaving then I will follow I think that's pretty much the approach I'm going to take and they haven't attacked us yet so I'm not going to fight back okay so I'm going to drop us out of initiative because I think what's going to happen here is you guys begin rushing your way back through the house

Kalyana waits until you've all rushed in past him and are heading out the back door and you see him slam the big heavy door and then all the discarded barricade that you'd moved out the way he begins lighting it with the torch um and he just begins setting fire to it and you can see his eyes are streaming with tears as he does it and he's kind of muttering something to it under his breath he's like i'm sorry'm sorry. As the flames begin spreading and he kind of looks at his house beginning to burn. And you can hear the cries of the people outside

like trying to bash on the door, but he's holding it shut as the fire is spreading around him. And he's just kind of holding the door back. He's like, he calls out once more. He's just like, take Irina somewhere safe as you begin making your way out the back. As you emerge, you kind of see the scene

that's been happening with Rose, Jesper, Irina, and Ismark, where this mad dash towards these horses and the stables is ongoing. You can see a couple thuggish looking fellows,

one with a crossbow and one with a cudgel, are trying to beat on Jesper and one's firing a crossbow towards the horses trying to take out the horses legs as you guys kind of come careening through the back door with a surge in numbers

the thugs quickly kind of back off as you begin all kind of charging and making your way down the main street up towards the village square of Barovia you can hear the mob and the crowd calling and shouting and screaming as they begin trying to follow you. Some of them begin trying to make their way around the mansion estate,

but trying to make their way through the whole building is going to take them enough time. You guys sprint down these dark, dead streets. There is a moon, but it's hidden behind thick layers of cloud, so seeing is almost difficult you're having to judge distances through just the vaguest shadows that you can see and eventually you come across the inn the blood on the vine inn that you were at before uh irena and ismark are on a horse and have careened ahead of you but are kind of waiting

for you guys to catch up um rose you have space on your horse for one other person. Do you grab... Who do you want to grab? So, I think seeing everyone else come through, she would probably knowing that Jesper does have a wagon, send him

on the horse ahead with Shadow, probably. She would probably insist that Shadow gets on the horse and with Shadow, probably. She would probably insist that Shadow gets on the horse, and then she would run behind with the dragons, so that he can get a head start in getting that

for the rest of them. Okay. Yeah, perfect. So, with that, you can see that the Vistani girl, Mirabelle, and then the two thugs, they've hung back, but they're calling out to their comrades like, come on, this way, they're going this way, towards the inn, towards the inn, and they're kind of pulling it.

And you begin to see these little dots of orange flame as the torches of the mob begin filtering through the buildings. And the buildings here, there are streets, but the buildings are, there's little narrow alleyways between them. And you just begin to see more and more people appearing at these alleyways like chasing darting towards you as you will desperately run uh making your way there yes but you get to your wagon still hitched with two horses um and the group of you can all mount up and begin riding your way out of the village of Barovia. Oh, I'm moving ways to a bigger map. The mob chases you. You begin to hear the sounds of dogs, like kind of barking hunting dogs are being gathered.

You can hear the sound of horses being prepared, but you have enough of a lead. The last thing you see as you begin uh as the the fast the galloping hooves of the horses pound against the worn stone and dirt road the last thing you see as you look behind you is a single building on the edge of the town burning completely burning, completely aflame orange and black smoke drifting up to mix with the black clouds above you pass over a stone bridge as a powerful

and winding river courses beneath it and you begin to see and hear the sounds of the mob fading away behind you as the path takes you between thick forests of gnarled and twisted trees. And that is where we will end today's episode.

Oh, my. Man. Pretty action-packed one, this one. Yeah. We're too good about that. I wanted to take the old man with us. Well. Well, yeah.

We need to turn it down. Is he dead? Is he alive? You don't know. I hope he is. with us. Well. Well. Is he dead? Is he alive? I hope he is. He is strong. He is strong. Plot twist. Yeah, so a bit of a starting off. Lots of combat. Lots of rolling dice, but that's how the Indy

goes sometimes. Can't always be social. To figure out our characters out how characters actually work. Yeah, absolutely. These new classes, new subclasses. Figure out how hard it is to heal someone. Oh! Not satisfied with that one.

I love you Tony. Nice and you've also now kind of gotten to see the more grey nature of Barovia, where, you know, those people are genuinely just trying to look out for themselves, and they're like, yeah, but one girl, all of us. That seems a sensible call to make. Yeah. And Strahd is not beyond leveraging

that sort of mentality amongst his people. The sheeple! Wake up, sheeple! Wake up, sheeple! Open your damn eyes! Yeah. And I do love, I love particularly for me, I love the

confidence of Shadow of like, we just scared Strahd off. I'm like, I love the fact that you think that. I love that. Well, she's a naive little kitty, isn't she? She's a naive little kitty. Also, Kim thought she still had a spell slot for

calm emotions. Oh, did you not have that? That's a shame. No! You sent me out there. Now, that would have been impressive. I own it. Shut up.

Thank you, everybody. We're done. It's time to go. Bye, friends. Bye. See you next time. Bye. Bye.

Bye. Bye. Thank you.