High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Curse of Strahd #21 | The Last Communion

Episode Date: September 29, 2020

Yesper consults his cards and goes on a strange voyage, courtesy of Xiros... Support the High Rollers and get early access to podcast episodes (and more) on our Patreon: www.patreon.com/HighRollers Thanks to @jackgtmusic for the Aerois/Curse of Strahd mash-up intro! Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pickaxe. app for details. 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. Last time on Curse of Strahd. As Strahd's fury descends over Barovia and he announces a new doom upon the land, sends over Barovia, and he announces a new doom upon the land. The party is ejected from the Mad Mage's mansion and must find somewhere else to seek refuge. As they travel towards Krezik, Zeros receives warnings from Asmodeus

that Strahd is nearing the completion of his scheme and that Zeros is running out of time to fulfill their bargain. The party also narrowly avoided a clash with several zombies scouring the woods searching for something. On their journey, they stop at a tower with a fizzy door, as Dog's Body describes it, and on investigation find a strange wagon out front. The door is protected by a strange seal, and no magic seems to work around the tower. Dog's body performs a little dance in front of the seal, trying to mimic some of the symbols on it, and accidentally triggers a trap which conjures a blue dragon that prepares to

attack the party. Quickly resolving the mistake, performing the dance correctly, Dog's body opens the door and the dragon vanishes inside the tower they find a pulley system and several floors only one of which looks to be a salvageable condition and looks recently lived in ziki animates a suit of armor that seems to obey her commands and jesper opens up a chest to reveal a severed vistani head. And just as all of these happens, the sounds of horses and screeching from outside interrupts affairs. Rose rushes down to see a woman that looks just like her twin open the door and rush inside

as two horrific elongated faces try and suck the life out of her from outside. And that is where we begin today the door of the tower is slammed shut and you begin to hear this horrific screeching and the sound of these flaming horses these horses with manes of fire snarling and stomping outside um what do you do, Rose? And what is everybody else doing? You can hear these noises,

but the door is shut. There does not appear to be any sign that they can get inside initially. What would you like to do? So I think she just said, why do you look like me to me? Yeah. And then you turned around. These creatures then were basically trying to get into the door.

The door shut, and you are looking in the direction of the door currently. This woman had scrabbled behind past you when you first came in. Okay. you first came in okay i think rose will probably back up against a wall next to the door and just stare at her just very sorry because she's just had some of um she's just taken damage from whatever these creatures are so she's a bit like what what yeah when you when you turn back um having like shut the door and this creature pulling the life force from you as you turn back and slump against the woman look the woman looks completely different and she now is blinking and rubbing her eyes um she does no she no longer looks like you uh she is instead um quite dark skinned with dark kind of curled hair.

It's kind of being held up quite high with a bandana. You can see she's wearing leather armor. She does have a variety of weapons. She has a short sword and a scabbard and a hand axe tucked into a belt. She's bleeding profusely. You can see that she has these huge wounds along her sides um staining this white blouse red um and she is very very clearly pale and injured um and you notice that one of her legs is fake it's made from wood it's like an artificial leg beautifully uh constructed and manufactured

um but it is it's not and yeah she looks completely different doesn't look like you at all anymore and she blinks her eyes and uh looks in your direction as if seeing you differently as well as if the two of you have both temporarily been you know seeing each other in each other weird um but not completely unheard of since Strahd has done this kind of thing for Rose already yeah I there's others, there are others here I don't know who you are

I don't know why you looked like me creatures? no, companions right forgive me, you looked like me? No, no, companions. Right. Forgive me. You looked like me for a second when I first entered. It was like looking into a mirror, but

ever so slightly different. Your hair was a different shade, but never mind that. She looks up and almost seems to be listening. And you can hear the sounds of galloping hooves

as if clattering against stone. You can hear the strange screeching. What's everyone else doing upstairs? So the elevator's gone down, right? Yeah. Rose took it down. Yeah, you can hear the kind of murm down, right? Yeah. Rose took it down.

Yeah, you can hear the kind of murmured conversation echoing up, and you can hear this horrific screeching coming from outside. Do you guys do anything? For Jesper, it's a mixture of looking outside, panicked as to what the hell

is going on, and now making sure everything downstairs is okay, looking down. Maybe even shouting. Is everything okay? Who's inside? It's fine. Did they make it? Yeah. Very injured.

Do you want to bring them up here? Yeah. Should we go up? Upstairs? I'm not sure. There is a hole in the tower upstairs those things might be able to get inside but i know this tower has a an effect it cancels out certain magic i'm wondering if those creatures will avoid it because of it and she kind of grimaces and groans and she's trying to peer up through the hole um and you can see that the

direction she's looking in there is a section of the wall on the third floor that ziki passed um that has collapsed and there's this rickety wooden scaffolding that leads outside yeah um and she kind of pulls herself back rose and she kind of gestures like don't look at them um as these two faces begin to peer inside but they're not coming inside it's almost like they're trying to look in from from outside somewhere um she kind of plants herself um this woman calls up uh i don't know who you are but if you see the if you see the hooded creatures don't look at them don't look into their eyes they have uh they can drain the life out of you shall we come down? I'll be fine

I'll be fine I'm not in any danger of dying if that's what you're worried about who are you? how did you get in here? we're travelers we needed somewhere to stay I gather that you're not from Barovia

you've got too much life that you're not from Barovia. You've got too much life about you to be from here. I take it you managed to solve the trick with the door then. None of you went inside my wagon, did you? No, we didn't. It looked intact. We didn't go in the wagon. We didn't figure out the door immediately, but rectified it. It's fine.

You got the dragon as well, take it oh you know about that yes yes we did yes i may have luckily i may have made a slight mistake the first time i tried to open it as well um it's a good thing you didn't go in the wagon i've set it it's booby trapped these things don't seem to be coming inside let's head up and meet your companions um and she kind of you can see she's immediate is very authoritative and confident in her uh moves but she is limping somewhat severely okay let's see i'm i'm rose by the way rose my name is esmeralda and she kind of offers you a very blood-stained dirty hand um in a handshake. And she kind of looks at you appreciatively.

You can see that she's taking you in with a keen eye of, like, looking at your weapons, looking at your demeanor, your armor. And, yeah, she kind of nods her head. It's just, I guess, good to meet you, Rose. And I appreciate you coming to investigate what was going on still I'm not sure if we're fully out of this yet let's head up sure and she

steps onto the main platform and you know you could squeeze next to her if you wanted to go up with her but it generally is not only big enough for one person comfortably I can just wait and I'll go up next time give her a bit of space unless she needs I can just wait and I'll go up next time okay unless she needs some support

to like actually no she can still stand she's just injured you know she's just holding her side but she'll call up and say your friend's coming up next please don't attack me I'm not really in the mood for it and she kind of tugs on the ropes and

the little stone lift begins uh emerging and when she emerges those of you who are upstairs see the same thing you see um a very quite pretty lady uh long dark curly hair darker kind of tan skin she has a there's an element of vistani about her but slightly different um she looks not as if maybe there's just like a small amount of vistani blood um dressed in she has a breastplate she has all sorts of weapons bandoliers holsters satchels and one of her legs is from sort of like the mid thigh down is this beautiful wooden golden uh artificial leg with sort of cogs and joints uh to help it move i mean it seems to just move you know magically as if it were a normal leg um and she kind of coughs looks up

holding her side hello i didn't think that a tower could fit as many guests um she kind of steps off and then calls down, Rose it's coming back down in the elevator makes its way down hop on go upstairs you made quite the entrance good to meet you

not by choice my dear Vistani I was fleeing those things they came out of nowhere I barely managed to escape the castle on my own and they came chasing after me yes yes castle Ravenloft

I was trying to find out what Strahd's been doing there I was looking for someone someone I think that he has prisoner there and I I was looking for someone, someone I think that he has prisoner there. And I, well, one of his creatures caught me, several of them, really. One of his, one of his spawn, like a cat like creature came after me and several of his ghoulish creations as well. He saw me but went off to do something else.

I managed to steal a horse from the stables and fled here as quick as I could, hoping that the field that permeates this tower might give me some safety for a moment. Did you slay any of the creatures? The cat? No, not quite.

The cat, the woman, she ambushed me. I was already fighting several other creatures at the time. Ghouls and some sort of devil I think. I managed to kill a few of them, but I was outnumbered, so I thought it better to flee.

That was for Rose's benefit by the way. Sure. Yeah, I was being an asshole and hoping there. A little bit. I take it, well, I can already tell that you're not from Barovia, considering there are two Dragonborn here.

Why are you here? I'm assuming that you've been pulled into all this madness. Hold on a second. You went to Castle Ravenloft by yourself to rescue somebody, and you came out alive. Yes. I mean, Castle Ravenloft is quite a large place,

my dear man. It's not like Strahd is in every corridor or every doorway. Plus, I know a thing or two about hunting vampires. My mentor taught me about them. I don't know whether that's courageous or reckless a little bit of both i imagine i didn't really have much choice my mentor he's been taken by strad he's a prisoner there i owe him everything so i didn't have any allies, so I went to try and free him. Sneak in. Not so

reckless as to challenge Strahd to a duel in the courtyard. I snuck in. I was hoping that I would have been undetected, but these devils, there's more of them than I expected. You're not from around here, are you? Originally,

I think that I have some connection to Barovia Rick he told me that my mother was a Vistani but I was taken away from here when I was very young I was raised in the Sword Coast which is where I'm assuming

you're from my companions are I assume you've done some travelling though Vistana yes I've I've moved outside of Barovia with with intent and finding our destiny and whatnot you know the Vista anyway if you've heard of it I do I know that it's brought a lot of adventures to their deaths as well. Well, I'll let everyone else introduce

themselves. She just nods. I'm Esmeralda, by the way. Jesper. Nods. Looks around the room. I'm sorry. Are you okay?

do you need help with your leg? oh no my leg is fine I've grown quite accustomed to it but if there is any healing on offer I would not I would not say no now that it seems that sorry I can try to use the magic

yes that's the only problem is that this tower I can... Sorry, I was outside of the fair day. I can try to use the magic, but... Yes, that's the only problem, is that this tower prevents spellcasting. From my understanding, anyone who is not the creator of this tower cannot use spells within at least a 10-foot radius around it. Still, it's no matter. I'm hoping, it seems that whatever those things were

I think that they've left for now I was hoping that I might just be able to get a bit of rest here but and what about you and she glances over towards dog's body hello I'm dog's body I'm not a fan of the door

yes the the tower door is a bit of a I must admit even I was caught out by it I would have never thought that something quite as simple as just mimicking the positions on the sigil it seems rather simplistic for some ancient wizard's tower

yeah simple dogswally's just panically looking around the room Simple That's definitely why I fell for it Because I thought it was too simple What about this large fellow? Zeros

This tower isn't yours These traps What about the armoured guardian? No, none of it's mine Zeros, this tower isn't yours, these traps. What about the Armored Guardian? No, none of it's mine. It was, as far as I can tell, it belonged to some old wizard from long, long ago, long before Strahd ruled this valley. My mentor mentioned it. He said that if I was ever in need of a place to rest,

this is likely to be the best place to come or at least one of the safest right what'd you say your mentor was called his name is Rick Tarvio he's a I guess you would call him a vampire slayer vampire hunter he taught. He taught me everything I know. I know it was a trap, but I had a letter delivered from a Vistani told me that Rick Tarvio was a guest of

Count Von Zarovich and that I had been invited to dinner as well. I knew what that meant. I knew that Strahd had captured him. So I hope to break him free. I knew what that meant. I knew that Strahd had captured him. So I hoped to break him free. I still have the ability to move between here and Barovia, between Barovia

and other worlds, thanks to my Vistani blood. So I found my way here as best as I could. I wouldn't be so sure of that from here on out. I heard he bellowed something whilst I was in the castle about the Vistani betraying him or something. Yes.

It seems like the pact that... the one redeeming quality of Strahd allowing the Vistani to enter and leave freely... has no longer... been allowed. But surely Madame Ava wouldn't have allowed that. If she were alive, she wouldn't. She looks visibly stunned.

What do you mean? She can't be dead. No, no. The target is the Blade of Nessus. A vampire hunter was another target. What is this Blade of Nessus you're talking hunter was another target. What is this blade of Nessus you're talking about? No,

Madame Ava... No, she's far too... A pact made between Strahd and Asmodeus to destroy anyone capable of killing Strahd. His powerful enemies. Vampire hunter, another. capable of killing Strahd his powerful enemies, vampire hunter another

she kind of slumps down kind of sits on the bed yes I suppose Madame Ava would would count in all of that yes I'm sorry you had to hear this I struggled for a long time to accept it myself,

even witnessing the event. I'm trying to commune with her. If that is any consolation. To find more information, she left me a task, an important one. Our destinies are intertwined. The Tarokadek? Yes. She tried to teach me once, said that i should have the gift but i didn't

have any talent for it i could never understand the meanings she said that maybe it had something had changed normally the gift of foresight is passed down through the women in vastani blood but she said this was different that something had shifted she had to seek out a new apprentice it's when she encouraged rictavio to take me away to train me not here i think i think i was related to her in some way a niece or a great niece or something um something she's old older than you think I think she's there's been

something about her something not dark but a power an ancient power and I think she's

as connected to this land as as Strahd is to see her go is something the Vistani would never have thought possible. However, it has happened and I am burdened

with the task to find out how to do anything about Strahd without her. Well, if you're taking on Strahd and he is responsible for Madame Aa's death i can i'll lend you whatever aid i can uh she turns you two however and she looks at irena and ismark you are yes uh ismark yes uh ismark of barovia and this is my sister Irina. Also she goes by Tatiana now as well. It is

confusing. She just kind of smiles and it's just like either Irina or Tatiana is fine. You can see that the name Tatiana, this Esmeralda is like, that sounds familiar. Why do I know that name? But she

just kind of nods. She kind of looks out the windows. Well, it seems that those things are gone for now. We should be safe for a little time. If you give me some time to rest, you're welcome to supply as I have in my wagon, or if you need a ride anywhere, I can take you. But those things might still be lingering I know that they can fly they're fast, faster than a normal horse, so I don't know if you have a plan on what you're doing next, but

we are unfortunately part of the reason why Strahd is so angry we have the person that Strahd wants, unfortunately you've drawn some of that attention so angry, we have the person that Throd wants. Unfortunately, you've drawn some of that attention to this tower.

Well, yes, that is rather unfortunate. Perhaps best we leave it as quickly as possible then. Indeed. Has somebody moved this armor? And she points at the armor, which is just stood by the elevator. I'm pretty sure it wasn't like this when I left it.

It's got a mind of its own. To some degree. She looks at you. Really? It's not my arm idea i i said kazan and and now it it follows me around and does what i command it to do that must be its command you know this well i think kazan is the one who built this tower i i suspect that the traps the the armor the golems i suspect kazan made them all

uh it probably thinks you it probably thinks you are kazan if you were the first to speak its name i hadn't even thought of speaking out loud but if you said uh kazan it probably thinks that you're its master at least for a time um okay. It might prove useful. I imagine having a walking suit of armour will indeed prove useful at some point. Do you know the lay of the land this far from Vallaki? I know a little. I can...

I certainly know the way to the castle. My flight back from it was expedient, but it's burned into my memory. Krezik is not too far from here. There's also... There's an orchard not far from here as well. A place called the Wizard of Wines. It's owned by good people.

They're not... They're enemies of Strahd. They have their secrets, but they're good and they are something of a sanctuary. They've offered me aid and they offered Rictavio aid in the past, so that's another place where if you wish to go from here.

The rest of this place, I know that there are caves north of Krezik. Deep woods. Werewolves in that area, though. I would avoid it as best you can. There's also a hill south of the wizards. The hill is home to a group of rather nasty, I don't really know what to call them tribesfolk, I guess.

They worship Strahd as something of a dark god. I wouldn't recommend going there either. There's also a witch that lives in that area, Baba Yaga. Powerful, dangerous, unpredictable, but I'm not sure if she's

allies of Strahd or enemies with him. I think she is a little bit of both. You need to rest first. I certainly need to at least change my shirt and get some bandages, yes. Whether you can rest in the wagon while we take control or whether you need to stay here. I won't be able to rest in the wagon. I need to drive the wagon.

It only responds to my commands. It's up to you. If you wish to make your way, I can meet up with you at Krezik if you wish to travel by foot. I'll be better in about an hour or so, once I've had time to bind these wounds and get some of my rest back.

To me, it seems to make no sense now that we have banded together and helped one another that you should follow us alone after being chased. Well, that's very kind of you. It's very brave.

But I can look after myself. I think we're also sick of walking. Yes. Well, I can certainly offer you a lift. Some of you may need to sit on top of the wagon, however. I look at the dragonborn.

Preferably not the heavy one. Is it? the dragonborn preferably not the heavy one is it because I smell because I had a bath I promise I'd rather you didn't sit on top you and the dragonborn chap seem to be a bit heavier than the rest I'm just worried about my roof caving in quite honestly we'll figure that out you need water or something you

seem to know there should be there should be some here and she begins rummaging around and she from underneath the bed she pulls out like a leather satchel that had gone and noticed there's a water skin and some trail rations and things like that in there the stove she turns on and begins sort of putting firewood into it and heating up some sort of porridge mixture. Well,

I'm going to give her some space and go to the first floor. The other ones don't seem so safe. No, I don't recommend it. The floors, only this floor and the bottom floor are safe. Everywhere else is rotten through. Very well.

One hour. Sure. And I'll get on the lift and go to the bottom floor. Okay, sure. Jesper heads down. Yep. What's everyone else doing? What's the plan?

Yeah, I mean if it's short rest time What's there a head in a chest? There was a head in a chest, yeah There was a head in a chest, yeah Has that been just sat out in the open this whole conversation? I mean it's still in the chest

I totally forgot about that I don't know, Jesper, would you still in the chest. So... yeah. I totally forgot about that. I don't know, Jesper, would you have closed the chest? You were the one who opened it. I mean we were very distracted by... So I guess it's still open. Unless you want to... Certainly Esmeralda doesn't seem to be getting on the lift. ...foddered. Jesper goes down as Brog's body looks over.

Wait a minute Yeah as Jesper's going down and all is going on Dog's body just catches a glimpse out of the corner and he's like, he's just pointing like Oh yeah Do you know anything about that? About what? She kind of looks around.

Oh, the head. Was that you? It wasn't me. I was going to interrogate it. I was going to... I know a spell that will allow me to speak with the dead. However, this tower prevents me from casting it. I believe my mentor must have

done something to it on his last trip here. Preserved it. I'm guessing it has some information. So we're taking their head on the road with us then? Well, I mean in theory, the anti-magical

field only projects a few feet outside of the tower. Once we're out of range of it, I mean in theory the anti-magical field only projects a few feet outside of the tower. Once we're out of range of it, I should be able to cast my ritual. Fair enough. Well, that's on the agenda for when we're ready to go. Any other mysteries you'd like me to solve?

Oh. I'll be honest. I'm still a bit upset about the door. What kind of a door summons a dragon? I'd like to know that. A wizard's door, apparently. It didn't have time to attack before you got it right. So I think all in all, that's a win for it.

Do I detect a little bit of disappointment in your voice there, Rose? Just a little note of disappointment. It was a... Walking up to a wizard's door that was, as you described, fizzy and just deciding to flail a bit before looking into it a bit more

was perhaps a bit reckless. How dare you call that flailing? How dare you? That was some prime time dance moves. Yes, but you're just down at the bottom on your own nobody else seems to be coming down you just hear them chatting away upstairs yeah

I'm looking at the Taroka deck and kind of thinking about Madam Averon trying to make a connection impossible I mean I'll call her do you want like are you when you look at the Taroka deck is it like you're trying

to figure out how you can like how you can connect with her or are you trying to think of like you know what's the is it just like that's just a character moment or do you want like some clues or no I think I know where I need to go as a player

but it's just a character moment, I think. Just like going back through memories of being taught how to use the Taroka deck, et cetera, anything that I might have missed. Yeah, I think when you start thinking about that, you do remember that a lot of people did seem to act very strangely when you were a boy and Madame Ava started teaching you. There was a lot of...

People did act a bit weird about it and you know there was a lot of uh kind of hushed whisperings when you couldn't hear them you know the way that kids can hear adult conversations but they don't really understand what's going on so you don't pay much attention but there was a lot of strange discussion around it and um it was always a little bit odd that Madame Ava taught you the cards that you had this this gift it was always regarded as a little strange okay I am can I come down after asking about the head and yeah sure same level with Jesper oh wow okay Xeros Jesper time time. I'm in. I'm in. Go. Ding, ding. We asked about the head, by the way.

What? Head? Oh. The head in the chest. Right. She plans to interrogate it. Oh, speak with the dead. I suppose so. I can do that too. Speak with head any luck with

any luck with the no he's dumb speak with head he can he has alright any luck with the taroka deck He can. He has. All right. Any luck with the Taroka deck?

Luck is nothing to do with it, Zeros. But I know what you mean. No. I need to commune with Madam Ava. I was trying to go through my memories. Maybe I missed something, but I need guidance on go through my memories. Maybe I missed something, but...

I need guidance on how to read properly. I was never properly... I never finished my lessons. She was taken too quickly. What's the plan if you never reach her? Well... The cards are a guide to

this and I hold up the sun sword and other helpful items or I don't know what they're guides there are other ways to find these things they're in Barovia

there must be other ways this sword was once the blade of Nessus these things. They're in Barovia. There must be other ways. This sword was once the blade of Nessus. It was the thing that took her life. Would this help? Ah. I'd rather it not be in my vicinity right now. But maybe, maybe there's some connection. As horrible as it is, there may be some blood, something that has a connection with her. I don't know.

I'll just rest the sword next to Jesper then. Oh, it's happening. Okay. It's the closest tie you might find, Jesper. I appreciate the help. I'll see what I can do

with the sword that killed my leader. Thank you. Hey, Mark. Yeah. Do you think there's a... You don't need to say anything. I'm assuming... I know what you're doing, right?

You're asking... Yeah? Well, do you think I can do it, you know, without knowledge? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Knowledge? Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's no way. There's no way that they don't.

Yeah, yeah, okay. You ask the boss, right? You ask the boss? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Chris Stroll, what'd you do? I look at it.

I'm very hesitant to pick it up, but eventually I think, well, it's not going to do anything. Just sat there. So I'm going to inspect it and see if there's anything on it. Kind of hold it and you feel it's heavy. It's heavier than you would even expect it to be. you feel it's heavy it's heavier than you would even expect it to be um you kind of have to rest it on your your lap as you're kind of sat there um and as you're holding it there is this warmth begins to spread from the hilt down the blade the runes in faint writing begin to glow and turn a flame, almost mesmerizing you as they begin to glow brighter and brighter. And you suddenly kind of realize that the sword is glowing so brightly, it's almost blinding you.

It's so hot, but you're not in pain. And you feel the air around you shift, Jesper, and it becomes hot and smoky as if you're completely enshrouded in fog. And when you come to the sword is implanted in the ground, it's no longer on your lip. It's implanted in the ground and you are not in the tower. You are instead stood on a dust red plane that seems to stretch out. And you can see there are almost like giant dunes made of white sand that spread out. The entire sky seems to stretch on endlessly but it is this dull amber in color and you can see these streaking meteors of flame kind of passing overhead the air is so hot and the

wind around you so fierce that it's constantly whipping at your clothes and your hair and as you are stood there a tall hooded but you can clearly see there a giant figure made of bone with a giant elongated skull uh figured kind of hunched in bones, clutching a giant staff, hunched, making their way towards you through the dust. And in your mind, you hear, You wish to speak with the soul of one slain. Who are you? What is this? You I am the soul keeper

You are in Avernus What? I'm here? This is where the soul is housed You may return Here? This is where the soul is housed. You may return.

You may return to where you wish by grasping the sword. But know this. Once you leave, you will never speak with the soul again. What will it cost? The price has been paid. How? Who paid it? The one who wields the blade. He has made a great sacrifice for you to speak with this soul.

What has he done? If you wish not to make use of this chance... I will, I will, yes. Madame Ava, I wish to speak to the soul of Madame Ava. Yes. I suggest that once she is summoned, you are fast with your questions. Even now, the devils and the scum of Avernus can sense this powerful soul and they race to claim it. You will not have long.

And it slams its staff into the dust red floor and it columns of dust rise up like cyclones. You have to almost cover your eyes and mouth to prevent this you realise it's finely ground bone from kind of blowing in your mouth and then when the wind dies down stood before you looking dishevelled, her skin

kind of hollowed and sallow dressed in ragged versions of the clothes she died in you see Madame Ava. My child. Where am I? It does not matter. It is me, Jesper.

I can't take... She doesn't have eyes, by the way. When you look up, her eyes are completely hollow sockets. And she's kind of reaching out for you with hands. I'm sorry what happened to you. But I need your infinite wisdom, please. We must kill Strahd. You are my apprentice.

One that must carry on my will. Why did you pick me? I don't know how to read the Tarokadek properly. Yes, you do, Jesper. She kind of just like takes your face in her hands and you can feel they're all dried and cracked. She's really just a shell of the woman you once knew.

You have always had the gift. It should have gone It should have gone to Esmeralda. But something changed. It is in you that the gift now lies. But your heart is so confounded by anger and sorrow and rage, it blocks you from the truth of the future. To read the Taroka deck, it is not a matter of simply reading

cards. It is a matter of knowing one's self, one's place. It is to put aside your own anger, your own pain, and to instead become an instrument of fate. There is something I must tell you

before I go. Yes. Yes. there is something I must tell you before I go yes Strahd he is my half brother I have been instilled with the power of the mists to live a long time

I have been seeking an apprentice, one who would find those who could finally put Strahd's reign of terror to an end. He was once a good man, driven to madness, to sorrow, and I wish to see this suffering end. I wish somebody to end this curse. This curse of Strahd upon Barovia. I don't know what to say. I don't know if I can do it. The people that are with me.

You must. You must let go of this hate and this anger and this rage this sadness too soon as many souls as so many souls are Jesper

what do you hear in this wretched place Jesper and she kind of like grips you a bit more firmly this time one soul is nothing compared to what Strahd will do If he escapes his prison If he continues his existence My soul is a small price to pay

If you can stop him I'll try You must You must do anything you can I will give you the power that you need I will help clear your mind for the next card reading

but after that it is all on you you will have to do it by yourself ok I'm sorry what happened to you sorry we couldn't save you just return the favor to Strahd end his suffering

plunge your blade into what remains of his heart and end this it's good to see you kind of she pulls your head in and she kind of lightly kisses the top of your forehead and as she begins to step back you kind of have this moment when you begin to hear the distant rumbling in getting louder and louder and when you look up to the horizon you can see almost it looks like a living sandstorm, things rushing towards you. And amongst that sand, you begin to see shapes like terrible metal wagons,

larger than anything you've seen with spikes and blades covering them. Atop them are hordes of chittering, cackling demons and devils, and they are barreling their way towards you and up in the sky you see one in particular like almost like a blazing beacon of light that is coming down like an angel but this is no angel her wings are made of flames and around her blackened bald head is a halo of fire as she screams towards you uh madam ava shoves you back you must go go now take me soul warden take me now um no go yes but you have to defend yourself run away no it is too. And she kind of like gestures to the sword. Take the blade.

Return to the others now. Before it is too late, before she finds you. And kind of like a stunned, walking back, just taking the advice and running on instinct, I'll grab the blade and just watch. As soon as you touch it, the last thing you kind of see is this swirling sandstorm. And you just see Madame Ava, the bony, hooded figure, this hunched skeleton,

kind of appears over her like a dark shadow around her and just places his hand on her head. And you just watch as she's sucked up into his chest cavity. And that is the last thing you see before you take a deeper breath and you finally yourself sat on cool stone I'll throw the sword and just look at Xeros She is gone now. To your overlord. Your puppet master. But you spoke to her. Yes, I did. Thanks to you. And your deal, your pact, I assume.

I hope you realize we're on the same side now, Jesper. Yes, the enemy of my enemy. Very powerful bond. Strahd is the... is the reason we are here. And I have more information. She gave me one last thing. I think I can...

learn from the Toroka deck. At least once more. You want me to leave? Right now... Yes. I need time to think. Fine. I'll pick up my sword and start heading back upstairs then

on the lift elevator waits Zeros for your information Jesper wasn't like he didn't physically move like his body stayed in the same place but you know that his soul was temporarily there as Modius tells you his body stayed in the same place but you know that his soul was temporarily there

as Modius tells you I see your friend has completed his conversation hopefully it leads to the soul oh it did he was lucky to leave when he did one of my subordinates

was interested in what he had brought. It's this fucking massive smile that Scott's got. Wow. You really need to learn to roll insight. Roll some fucking insight once in a while. No, I'm not I don't allow insight on party members are you kidding no way you either trust each

other or you don't it's up to you if you want I can't believe that yes for like just was like yeah anyway anything from anyone else? While you have this hour of downtime. As Zeros is coming back up, he's like, this is the noodle arm. This is the happy man. This is the jumping jack. Why aren't you guys...

I'm trying to... I'm teaching you some valuable moves. Look, Zeke gets it, don't you? Oh, come on, join me, Zeke. Noodle arm. Wiggly man. Is this the, join me, Zeke. Noodle arm. Wiggly man. Is this a noodle arm? Noodle arm?

Noodle arm. I like this one. It's got a good energy. Esmeralda looks over at Rose in a kind of like, what is this way of like... Rose looks back in a help me kind of way. I think that the two of you, there's definitely a similarity in

personality i think um uh but yeah uh yes but are you gonna try and do the reading now um i mean yeah is chris trot set up for it is the question chris trot wants to do his fancy shit you don't have to do the fancy you don't have to do the fancy way you could just draw the card and tell me i don't have to do it the fancy way please this is this is chris i'm sure me and i could bust out a whole dance routine like i think you might need to to give him time he's got to get the app up on his phone. He's got to put the app on the top down. I mean, Xeros has just come back upstairs. Yeah, sure.

There you go. Yeah. Xeros has come back upstairs. There's a lot of dancing happening now. I'm going to take... Can I... I'm doing it, Syros! And that kills the conversation. I haven't danced since Vallaki,

and then there's this awkward silence. I don't believe that you've ever danced, Syros. I don't think that Vallaki was the cut-off point. I genuinely don't see that. I'm talking about the skeleton, bro. Yeah. The only dancing Syeros knows is fighting yeah

late dance late dancing yeah and caramel dancing he definitely does that so Mark yes I have drawn two cards

the abjurer and the torturer their positions were one and three one and three they sound cute because and that was a thing you madame ever did it in a weird order she didn't do it the usual order she did um if the if the five cards that you draw it's in like a cross shape so it goes uh one two three this is for the audience it's like one two three four and then fives in the middle madam ava did one and three which means that you now have two five and four um so the next one you draw would be two which indicates the another powerful weapon against strad another powerful tool against strad indeed. It's just Xeros with a thumbs up on the card.

Yes, that's exactly what it is, Xeros. 100%. Well done. Let me just get up all the friggin... Unless you have them to hand mark. Yeah, no, I've got the module open so I can just quickly try and search. Excellent. Then Jesper will embersh what you say. Sure. mark yeah no i've i've got the module open so i can just quickly try and search excellent

then yes bull and bursch what you say i'm just gonna do this on my own then unless someone wants to be a witness i'm doing the reading i mean do you tell them that you're if you announce that you're doing yeah so yeah yeah i think We're busy booking up here. Because Xeros definitely didn't fucking tell everyone. I think I'll solemnly, you'll hear the elevator, and then I'll come upstairs with the Taroka deck in your hand. Okay.

What an entrance. Arriving, crouched over a Taroka deck. It has begun. It's all laid out on the elevator. So you've got the torture and the abjurer in their places yeah and there's like I think Jesper would have some incense or something like that just already going

there's an atmosphere that plume of smell just emanates out the top room it conjures those the same sense that you had when you came to the Vistani camp for the first time when you first met Madame Ava that kind of smoky wood smoke um the you can almost hear laughter like a kind of like ghostly laughter and dancing and music um and you realize that esmeralda as she's seen you know

yes but beginning the preparations she's just softly humming an old vistani camp song she's humming it and singing it kind of softly under her breath as Jesper is making these preparations. The fire from the stove is actually conjuring physical wood smoke into the room giving it this very pleasant scent as he conjures this reading and yeah, it kind of takes your mind back to that

Vistani camp just before Madame Ava's death. Madame Ava gave us two. They were on the table in this position we had the torturer which led us i believe to the house uh yeah it led you to the time it led you to the time the house. Yeah, it led you to the tome of Strahd. We discovered the knowledge,

the letter, his history, and this, the abjurer, which led us to the Sun Sword. What threw me was this is not the order that should be done for a Taroka reading. We miss the top.

That is number two. In between these two. I just communed with Madame Eva thanks to Zeros. I went to his master's realm by touching his sword that killed her. But it gave me a last moment with her soul, a glimpse and a light that can hopefully guide me to doing the rest. So, I need those intertwined with each other's destiny. I need all of you, your energy, with me now. You could all picture that moment we all shared when we went into Madam Ava's

tent that uncertainty but that's Rose is gonna take out the beetle the scarab that belonged to Shadow and just place it

beside Jesper as well. She was there too, so if this helps. Should I be here for this? Esmeralda kind of puts a hand on your shoulder dog's body and just kind of

pulls you to the back of the room and she kind of fishes out of her little bag like a little tiny hand drum. Just play this. Oh, I know a bit of Vistani dancing. I've got a chainsaw. I can do that. Just play the drum.

It's fine. Vistani never do anything in pure silence. We always have music and distraction outside of the tent. This is no different. Anyway, this is the last from the common deck before two more are drawn from the high deck. So,

and Jesper closes his eyes and he starts doing some very intricate shuffling. Just flinging cards around really elegantly. Stupid idiot. He's going to draw one. Sure. With his eyes closed.

It's almost like instinct, where he knows exactly where it's being placed. Yeah, it's almost, you feel, Jesper, as if there's another hand laid on top of yours that is kind of connecting with you as you draw the card. Okay, I'm going to take it at random. That's what the fun part of this module is all about. What is it? Come on. Is he still trying to get a card? I think your camera's broken. Yeah, the camera's broken.

Can't see it. Oh no! Oh, there it is! It just magically appeared! That was magic. This is the Contador. Oh, there it is! Oh, there it is!

It just magically appeared! That was magic. This is the Contador. Oh, there it is! Oh, there it is! Oh, there it is! Oh, there it is! Oh, there it is! It just magically appeared! That was magic. This is the conjurer. Conjurer. Okay.

In this position it is a card of power and strength. Wait, no. It is a card that tells of a powerful force for good and strength. Wait, no. It is a card that tells of a powerful force for good and protection.

A holy symbol of great hope. Specifically? Specifically, as you draw it, it's almost like something fills your mind rather than just interpreting the card's meaning, Jesper, it's... Your eyes almost...

All the rest of you see Jesper's eyes go pure white, like Madame Ava's did. And Jesper, as you're touching this card, you see in your mind images of a dead village, drowned by a river, partially sunken. You see bloated corpses swelled with water. And above them all, you see a shape like a great hut up on two large

stilts and a figure inside is cackling and hidden in this hut of evil this place of quite powerful evil

you see glimmering from beneath piles of fur and wood and rot just a flash of silver that illuminates brighter than anything else in your mind i think my god damn it quickly close and open my eyes and then the pupils are there again. And I would have recited exactly what Mark said as the vision was happening to me. I did it.

I had the reading. We have something. Whether that's good or not, I don't know. But we have some guidance. Exactly. Esmeralda is... know but we have some guidance exactly uh esmeralda is

of this place dog's body you don't this isn't an area you visited um but is mark irena and uh esmeralda kind of nod their head um irena especially i know the place of which jesper speaks Irina especially I know the place of which

Jesper speaks before I was Irina long before I had a name Marina and I was from a place called Berez it is a small village on the

shore of the Luna River he Strahd came he seduced me in the dead of night he feasted on my blood but before he before he could turn me into a vampire, the burgomaster of Beres, Laszlo Ulrich, came along with a local priest and they killed me to save my soul from damnation. And you have seen Strahd's rage to those who defy him, Tatiana. who defy him, Tatiana. He slew them and used his power over the land to swell the river and flood it,

forcing everyone to flee. I don't know what happened after that, but Ismar kind of takes over. It's a ruin now, Borez. One that very, very few of us would dare to enter. The river has taken it over.

It's become a marsh, a swamp. But worse than that, a witch lives there. And I do not mean some witch for some campfire story. I mean a real witch with real power who can create

things, men that can stalk you through the fields and the reeds. Men are made of straw and wood and bone. They call her Baba Lasaga, servant of Mother Night. She rules

Borez now. Thanks, Cristrop. Thank you for drawing that card. What a good card. You were just talking about it. As this happens, you hear

thunder outside. Lightning. And the sound of a great storm beginning to swell. It has been an hour, so if any of you wish to take a short rest, you may. Cool. No, you can take a short rest, Jesper. I'm going to roll for Esmeralda here one time we can take a short rest and I don't think I needed to

19 or hit reset Esmeralda some things might depends on your class not for me i did nothing a bit of a healer i danced and that was you did dance well you're gonna get a chance to do something now dog's body potentially because as this storm swells and you can hear the shutters of this old tower beginning to slam and bang the rain begins to build and you begin to hear the swirling of water large amounts of it. What do you guys do? I just scramble to get the

deck together. Yes I agree we need to go Yeah I'm going to start going down in the lift I agree, we need to go. Yeah? I'm going to start going down in the lift. So you're the first one down, so you send it back up. It starts coming down. Do you open the door or are you just waiting down on the first floor, Rose?

No, I'll just wait on the first floor. Okay. I'm going to look outside to see if there's any of those floaty spectre boys? Haha. There are no any... There's not any floaty spectre boys, Xeros, but as you look outside through the window, you can see that a great storm in the dead of night has swelled up. And I described before that this tower

sits on a tiny inlet island along a causeway that connects into this large lake. The lake is churning like a great whirlpool has been summoned. And emerging from the waters, the waters of the lake themselves

rise and begin to form up into the shape of a face. Oh, fuck. Hello. I have warned you once. I know. There is no place you can go in my land that I cannot find you. Give me Tatiana! And with this, the skull surges forward and slams into the tower.

I need everybody on that top floor to make a dexterity saving throw. This guy again. Bit bored, innit? Okay. 19. So let's go around. So we got 19 for dog's body. Jesper, total? 15. 15. Zeros? 12.

Zeke? 8. Irina fails. Ismark succeeds with a natural 20. And Esmeralda also fails with only a 14, sorry. Those of you who failed, you are knocked prone as the entire tower shakes. As this skull smashes into it, pieces of stone and debris begin to fall down.

As the structure begins to crumble. You hear lightning kind of crackle all around the outside of the tower as if reacting to the attack. But the giant skull made of water does not seem to be affected. The last, like, again, it just bellows out, GIVE ME TARIANA! What do you guys do? Rose is down.

Only one of you can go down this elevator at a time unless you wish to try and jump down or slide down the ropes. You could try as well. Thinking about it yeah am I able to like grab you can pull them up yeah you can stop them from spending their movement for sure I guess I'm just I'm just gonna grab the nearest person and start moving towards the elevator and go, down, down! Probably Esmeralda, who is more than happy to agree.

She looks around and says, somebody go first, I can slide down the rope. I'm just going to grab the next person then, and I'm not even thinking, I'm just trying to get people. You're just starting pulling two people up. Yeah, you pull up Irena and Ismark. Ismark's already up, he's pulling Irena up. So it'd probably be ziki that you're pulling up next kind of thing um she probably looks to you yes but now down right um ziki maybe that suit of armor could be useful carry someone down i don't know uh i'm gonna try and use the suit of armor suit of armor did succeed it's

not knocked over it's just stood there though so i'm gonna oh come on down the rope uh are you going down on the elevator yes but yeah yeah yeah i'll get on the elevator yeah okay so you get on the elevator and then esmeralda kind of like swings down the rope and stands on like like he's gonna slide down the rope once you make like, like he's going to slide down the rope once you make your way down. She's going to make an acrobatics check. Easy enough. 23.

Kind of just puts like her sword and a hand axe and just puts her boots on the rope and then fireman pulls down the pulley. Cool. So we've got Rose, Jesper and Esmeralda at the bottom. You hear the skull. So I think, Dogspot, you're helping people up. Zeke and Xeros, what are you guys doing?

So can I, while everyone is trying to get down, I kind of want to stay at the window and, like, yell to brace when another attack comes. Sure, yeah, that's a good idea. Yeah, you can give, everyone can have advantage, basically basically because xeros is kind of commanding this he's staying behind um on the next uh the next attack um okay so xeros is doing that ziki what are you doing um i'll command the armor to follow me um and make my way towards the behind you yeah you wait for it to come back up and then as it does you're gonna have to wait

it it sounds from this because the elevator takes so long to go up and down, basically this skull is rearing back and, like, slamming itself. And it's so huge. It's literally rising up out of the water and going across all of this. There's, like, a 30-foot, 40-foot gap between the tower and the edge of the island, and it's just reaching across and slamming itself into it. So, Zeros, Ziki, Dog's Body, Irina and

Ismark and the armor. Can you guys make another dexterity saving throw, please? You have advantage. Yes, with advantage. Natural 20, so 24 for me. Nice. Tasty. What, a 17? natural 20 so 24 for me nice tasty what 17 17 did everybody get above 15 yes i did sounds like yes um yeah everybody this time xeros you call out you see it surging back you call out brace everybody does so the tower shakes again more of the tower begins collapsing but because of the advanced warning you manage to leap out of the way as debris is not

you know there's no longer just a threat of being knocked over but actually things now crushing you as they begin to fall down the floor beneath you begins to creak and bend and you can hear the tower hole the whole tower is starting to shift as it's repeatedly taking damage from this giant thing. Huge chunks of the floors below have been broken away by the force of this creature, this leviathan that has been conjured in the water beside you. So we've got... Yes, but... So, yeah, you guys all basically have an action.

In between this thing attacking, you guys can all take a full turn. So a move, an action, bonus action kind of of vibe what do you guys want to do okay can i ask esmeralda to ready the wagon yeah she's just like yes on it you need to give me a three minutes i need to disarm the trap inside or we'll be blown up sky high um but she'll open the door and the wind is like whipping. The rain is just everywhere, but she kind of braces and runs out. She slides under the wagon and that's the last you see of her. Okay. Can I have run out with her?

Mm-hmm. If possible. And cast invisibility on us both. Sure. Yeah. So you cast invisibility on you both. Yeah. She pulls you down under the wagon with her

as you're casting the spell. She's like, don't go in the back door.'s trapped and then she yanks you underneath i'll let her know she's invisible use that to her benefit she's like she calls back she's just like thank you i know this spell it's i can cast it myself so and she begins like unlocking the latches and things like that um and then she gestures you she's like get inside don't touch anything and she's kind of bringing you up inside the wagon um yes but you see that she basically makes her way to the back of the wagon she's going to start unhooking what you can see are a series of giant alchemists fire um casks that have been strung up and below them appears to be a barrel of gunpowder and she's like unhooking them very carefully and

setting them aside no i really wasn't um so that's what you three uh rose anything else uh no i think i'll just um sort of i'll stick in the door like in the frame of the doorway that's what you're supposed to do when like earthquakes and stuff hit right so you're kind of bracing yourself. Like bracing and making sure that people know what we're doing and just communicating with whoever comes down. Okay, absolutely.

Right, upstairs crew, what are you guys doing? Irina, Ismark is like, I want Irina to go down next. And he's kind of like shoving her towards the elevator. Okay. Yeah, she can go down next. Okay. All right, no one else opposes.

Irina and Ismark, he'll kind of like hold her close, and they'll go down on the elevator together. So it's kind of like, as they kind of make their way down. What about those of you who are upstairs? Any actions, plans? I'm still still watching unless there's a space for me to go i'm still just gonna watch okay um don't somebody grab the head um out of the chest um you can very well remembered

very well man you kind of one hand i mean dog's body you can just pick up in one hand like you giant sorry man hands tuck it under one arm like a football um are you gonna wait for the elevator to come back or do you want to try and slide down the rope um i kind of want to make sure ziki gets out so okay yeah sure i guess i can i hold my action to see, I don't know what grabbing head is the bonus action or what. It'd probably be like a sum of an action, yeah. You're probably not going to be able to ready an action this turn by going up, picking up the head, turning around. Also, even if Zeke gets down

there, there's not going to be really space for you to get down there as well, so on this turn. Well, I'll hold my action for Zeke to just, I want to make sure Zeke gets out first. Okay, sure. I'll probably either slide down the chains. I'll slide down the chain.

Okay. Zeke, what's the plan? The elevator will come up like you won't be able to take the elevator until next turn, so. Yeah, I'll elevator until next turn so yeah i'll wait until next turn um can the armor pick someone up like zero sword dog's body so we can get as many of us on as we can the armor is pretty strong i don't know if it's strong enough to pick up well i mean it could drag them it could like physically kind of like drag them away but if they didn't want to go they would be able to um animated armor pretty sure it's got a strength of 18 oh no it's not even got that no it wouldn't be able to pick either of them up it does not look

strong enough okay to be able to pick up either of them okay right now it's just stood behind you and is following you if you move around it literally just like shadows you yeah i'll wait i'll wait for the next one to come then okay another giant slam of water can everybody so dog's body uh ziki the armor and xeros all make dexterity saving throws in fact actually rose i'm gonna need you to make a dexterity same throw as well you still have advantage um but the damage is now beginning to hit the lower levels oh my god yeah i felt that one i'm a boy okay arena and his mark succeed um what are we looking at folks i got a 10 for ziki i rolled 23 211 so 15 okay 15 is enough so dog's body you managed to kind of

throw yourself out the way rose you're braced down beneath ismark and irena kind of almost follow suit and they press themselves up against the walls as another giant slam and this time the entire roof of the tower collapses inwards falling down

it creates giant holes smashing through the floors below as debris and stone all comes tumbling down and now the wind and the rain is is pulling in ziki and zeros you guys are both going to take some damage here um dog's body succeeded on the same three about 15. Shook she did. This is the 10 plus. So, Xeros and Ziki, you both take 16 points of bludgeoning damage as these giant rafters and stone kind of falls down, knocking you to the side. Christ.

Right. Who's doing what now? Sorry, Esmeralda. And yes, but Esmeralda finishes unhooking the traps and then gets onto the front of the wagon, speaks a word, and two kind of spectral horses appear in the reins and she is getting them ready to go.

So she's basically done. She's got the wagon ready to move once everybody's on it. So going around, what's everyone doing i'm fucking yelling at ziki and dog's body to get down sure yeah you're gonna stay i'm shouting arena and is mark to get out and get into the wagon into the back of the wagon yep is mark basically puts his arm around his sister. He's like, Rose, come on. The others, they'll make it down. Come on, you've got to go too.

And he's like calling to you to come with them. Yeah, I'll go with them. I'll just shout up. Basically, I'll just say, get in the wagon, hurry. And I will follow. Follow them. Okay. You guys are all out of the tower, and you're now safe in the bottom of the wagon.

You pull yourselves in. This wagon, you can see it's something that's designed for somebody to live in it. It is also stocked up like the scene in The Matrix when Neo asks for guns. There are crossbows with silver bolts. Nice. There are vials of holy water. This is a vampire slayer's wagon and it's got everything you can imagine

like throwing knives, you know, hand axes with silver edges. Like it's got all the kind of tools a vampire hunter could possibly need. Yeah, you guys make your way inside. You guys are, for the most, for now, you are safe. Ziki, Zeros and Dog's's body this tower is probably gonna go

down this next hit like what are you doing right it's the tower is collapsing you can feel it shaking and moving around in the foundations yes but go on can i encourage uh esmeralda to steer the cart as close to the front door as possible. She looks up and she's just like, if that tower comes down, it will crush this wagon. I'm not leaving without them. Can you make a persuasion check for me?

Yeah. I could do a motivational 11. She's just like, I'm I'm sorry yes but I'm not risking this if this wagon gets destroyed we're done we just have to hope that they can get to us in time but she will not move the wagon closer I'm just going to look out

just hope you see Irena and his mark and Rose will make it in but yeah you can still see that the rest are still in the tower. So, tower team. What are you doing? I'm going to have to go down. Okay. Yeah.

Would the armor come on the elevator? Or do I jump down? It can't fit down. The elevator is, for now, just about working. You can see two of the golems that were pulling the levers are destroyed. They've been flattened by the debris. Two of them, however, are still continuing to just pull it up and down. So it moves slower and it's rickety.

The armor won't be able to follow you. Well, it won't be able to come on the platform. It doesn't mean it won't follow you. be able to follow you well it won't be able to come on the platform it doesn't mean it won't follow you can i can i get on the armor's back and then command it to jump down with me on its back yes you can absolutely you can do that okay can we do that okay so that's what you do you're like okay armor jump down like you clamber on it and you're like jump sure can you roll a d20 for me sure can you roll a d20 for me no modifier just roll a d20

let's see how good this thing's acrobatics is 12 it's about 20 20 feet per floor 20 40 60 66

she's 100% 20, 40, 60. 66. She's 100% going down at this, isn't she? Yeah, because I'm having flashbacks to Argonvost Halt here. Yeah. Yeah. Powers. Zeke, can you make an acrobatics check for me? Yeah. It's like Zeke's built to die she basically is

it'd be half this so right ziki you take 15 points of bludgeoning damage are you still conscious shit how alive are you are you are you alive i'm at 11 all right so the thing is is this thing like you clamber on its shoulders it can can just about support your weight, and then it jumps down. When it lands, its entire legs, like the boots, the greaves, the upper legs, crumple like a tin can.

Just like... It then falls over and is completely inert. The armor is destroyed. Completely destroyed. The impact is so hard, you roll off of it and are slammed against the wall. But you are prone, but conscious.

She could have gotten the lift. I feel sad about the suit, Banami. This is what I was baffled. I could have just gotten the lift. Is there ready for Dr. Body or Zero? It's rickety. He said it was rickety. I got scared.

Playing the protector of Zeke is the most stressful shit. Oh my god. She got stressed by the... Yeah, she got stressed by the rickety elevator, so she jumped down instead. Well, let me tell you. I love... Rather than taking 66 points of damage ziki took

46 points of damage instead so it did probably save her life taking the animated armor here we go the lift still let's continue ziki you've got if you get up you've got maybe another 15 feet of movement. Do you want to try and get out of the tower, or are you going to stay on the bottom level? I'm going to have to try and get out, aren't I? I'm going to have to try. I need you to tell me to do.

Okay, I'm going to get out, but can I, like... I can't cast Agathys on myself because it won't work. You're not within 10 feet of the tower, no i get within 10 feet so do the 15 feet then cast armor of agathys uh you where you are 5 10 15 you would be with that 15 feet left of movement you have you are basically in the door frame so you're where rose was when she was bracing herself still within 10 feet you're still within the tower unfortunately yeah I'll just keep moving I'll just keep moving okay so you just move to the doorway and you're in the process of rushing out so those of you who are in the wagon you can see

Zeki no suit of armor with her making her way out of the tower in xeros what do you guys do fuck's sake so uh just imagine his legs like which one of us wants to take the lift you basically got a roll of tin foil gathered up underneath you and jumped yeah yeah um i just i love that tom's character has literally sold his soul to help with ziki yeah and she just

throws herself off of things. Just jumps off of towers in Argonvost Hall. In Argonvost Hall she didn't jump. In Argonvost Hall she didn't jump. There was an earthquake and she fell. Let's be fair. Let's be fair to Rhi. That was not her choice. This was her choice.

It is literally like a curse that she will... The one person who will take the most damage is Tiki She'll survive this campaign somehow For refund refund next time. I'm going to do that. Just gesture towards Zeke. Kim, do you really think Asmodeus does refunds? I think Asmodeus might just have a look at Zeke

throwing herself down his tower and be like, yeah, fair. Fair, mate. Fair. Please tell me that pun is intentional. A refund. A refund. A refund, yeah.

Anyway. Absolutely intentional. let's wrap this up. Dog's body and Xeris. I'll thank Dog's body for letting Zeke go first. Thank you. All the other people that went first, and I'll take the rope. Okay, so Dog's body, you take the lift. I'll step on the elevator.

Okay. Can you make, if you're taking the lift can you make a dexterity saving throw for me oh here we go and zero to take the rope you're going to need to do an acrobatics check 12 13 14 15 16 okay you're fine um the elevator does at one point snap about halfway down you have enough time to grab the rope and then you can basically slide down the rest. What's that on that acrobatics test there,

Zeros? I think it's a 42. No, it was a 12. Sorry, read it wrong. You take 15 points of bludgeoning damage as you try sliding down the rope, the giant skull smashes into the tower, completely collapsing it above you.

The rope snaps and you slam into the ground. You and Dog's Body, Dog's Body, you manage to kind of like rush past Ziki and actually get out of the tower. Xeros, you are next to ziki as the entire tower collapses on both of you can you both make well i'll tell you what i'll do your devil's bargain xeros as the go on can i grab ziki given that you could grab ziki but not xeros because he's after you so you could body slam xeros like z, like literally rugby tackle her out of the tower

as it's like you can hear it collapsing above you. Okay. Yeah. I'm not even going to make you make a check. You just rugby tackle her five feet out of the tower. Xeros, can you make a strength saving throw for me? Sounds good. Okay.

Oh my God god with a plus 8 14 oh my god that's not great 17 more points for bloodsling damage and you are suffocating as you are buried under this

like broken tower that just collapses on top of you dog's body you look up and you just see this pile of rubble and you can see zero like a single arm sticking out um the blade the uh the he who grins in the grip as he's kind of just stretched out almost as if zeros you felt your body lurch and put your arm out just before it was buried um save the sword yeah yeah what does everyone do can i immediately just go back and i'm trying to like just pull the rub yeah make an athletics check for me through the rubble okay yeah make it with advantage then uh dog's Body, because Zeke is helping. Okay.

Those of you who are in the wagon, you see Ismark stand up as if he's about to go, and then he stops himself, and he's looking at the rubble very sort of torn. He looks like really torn of whether he should go and help or not. What did you get? Fuck. 16.

16? So you managed to put it out. you conscious zeros i am okay so you feel this crushing weight and you're suffocating like you've got no air in your lungs as this giant weight is on your chest um and you can't maneuver yourself to dig yourself out you're in like a really awkward like laying on your front position um when you feel the weight beginning to lift and you begin to see a bit of light and rain is falling on your face as dog's body and ziki are scrabbling to pull out stones um as they they pull you free you're not quite free yet but you can you're like you might be able to drag yourself free next turn um is mark looks back at irena and then he will rush over and also begins to help dig

Zeros out. What are the rest of you guys doing? You see Jesper does the same as well so you kind of rush over and you start digging out as well. I feel like I notice Ismark's hesitance and I kind of help

usher him out the door. Okay, yeah, so you're the one who kind of gives him that shove to go and help. Come on, it's our destiny. Okay, and he kind of rushes with you. He'll look back, Rose, keep Irina safe, and they rush over to help. You guys see, those of you who managed to, by the time you've pulled Zeros out,

this enormous skull of water is rising above the water looking down at all of you um it opens its mouth that elongates and it begins to rise up and surge forward as a giant tidal wave you guys grab Xeros you drag him half stumbling half running to the wagon just as I rena manages to kind of crack the reins and the wagon is desperately trying to outrun this enormous tidal wave that is chasing you along the causeway what do you guys do this thing is gonna hit you so what do you guys do if you've seen the mummy it is like the scene in the plane with the sand face This thing is gonna hit you, so what do you guys do? If you've seen the mummy,

it is like the scene in the plane with the sand face. I just realised I'm also invisible, just like stones are coming off. Yeah, well, you can cancel the invisibility whenever you want as well. Yeah. You helped. What a piece of shit you just left.

I'm just gonna go emo invis piece of shit you just left. I'm just going to go emo and viz for the rest of the campaign. Just before it hits, I want to use all of my lay-on hands on Zeke.

Okay, so as this thing is chasing behind you, you reach over, grab your sister, and Zeke, it's like flames. It's like a heat from fire kind of burns through your body, and some of those wounds, the bruises kind of vanish and disappear as this flame sort of rushes over your body. So yeah. 15 HP. 15 HP back to Zeke. What's everyone else doing?

That's Zeros' action. 15 HP back to Ziki. What's everyone else doing? That's Zeros' action. I'm gonna shout while running. Everyone, deep breath! And then I'm gonna just jump into the air and kind of like tuck into a barrel as it hits.

Okay. Sucking in as much breath as I can. Try and bite it. Sure. So I'm in the wagon with Arena, so I think... And Esmeralda.

And Esmeralda. She's on the front, though, isn't she? She's riding. She's like, fucking go! She's whipping the horses, trying to get them to go as fast as she can. There's a bed in the wagon isn't there yeah is there yeah can i like rip the soft mattress or something try and

barricade myself and irena i don't know just want to try and push it against the door yeah so you can kind of cushion it as much as you can hold the water from coming in or like the force coming in that's cool because is mark just said protect arena so i think that's always gonna be thinking is to try and get her in a safer place yeah irena's not helpless like she is helping you pull this she's cutting the the mattress and she's holding it the two of you kind of brace your shoulders leaning against this mattress as it presses up against the back door okay so that's what you guys are doing um dog's body xeros and ziki what about you guys and his mark i guess are we running or are we you are like you're not quite on the wagon yet you're like running to the wagon which is like trying

to run like start it started to move as well and this tidal wave is coming can i I... Can I push Ziki onto the cart? If I push her hard enough? You could try and throw her. You could literally strength check, try and and she could then try and grab onto it. Could I, if I see this

before, because I think that Rose would probably try and do as much as she could with Ziki. If Dog's Body was going to throw throw her try and help pull her in before i don't know if that's i think that the difficulty is that i don't know if you would be able to do all of that at the same time you do know that there is like there's like steps and handrails on the back of the wagon that ziki will be able to grab onto. It's not like she's got nothing to grab onto. But trying to pull her inside, I don't know if you're going to have a chance to do that as well.

So you can either do that or you can try and barricade the door to protect you and Irina. Which one do you want to try and do? You could aid Dog's body by like reaching out to grab Ziki. Can I ask something while hey um given that i want that's what i want to do would i still have enough action to activate lycanthropy mode is that bonus action action then yes because then you would be able to do it in fact you could even shift first and then throw. Yeah, that's my intention,

because it gives me advantage on strength checks. So I'd like to say, yeah, as we're running from this wave, if anyone's looking... I fucking love the visuals of this. Dog's body kind of like, here we go, and then starts to take a deep breath, and then the bones start to shift and lock into place and elongate His form shifts and gets bigger his nails turn into claws and then he's just gonna grab I'm just gonna grab Zeke a go

You go and just throw her so as you're running as well vantage Yeah on strength checks as Katie do you say what you want to do ziki which one you do see well irina can do her own thing um i will try and grab ziki sure irina will also try and grab ziki so would. I think Rose will try and grab Ziki. So would I, Rena, or Tatiana. So the two of you have both got your arms outstretched,

ready to catch Ziki and pull her in. So yeah, so give me a strength check that's going to lower the DC for you, dog's body. I rolled a 20 on strength. Straight up strength. I mean, Xeros, you kind of touch her, and then as the flame of your Leon hands courses through Ziki's body, Dog's body just snatches her away,

picks her up, and just throws her. You see Ziki's body kind of flail through the air as both Irina and Rose, they kind of catch you wrapping their arms around you, Ziki. All three of you fall into the wagon. Rose, you have enough time to, like, kick the door, and it slams shut. That's what happens, basically.

Ooh! So if you had anything you wanted to do before you get thrown, yep. Yeah, I guess as I'm sort of between Xeros touching me and Dog's Body touching me, can I do, like, a little bless on the three of us? You absolutely can, sure. Yes! I cast a little bless on the three of us? You absolutely can. Sure.

Yes! I cast a spell! You kind of conjure this. You conjure this wave of things. Yeah, you guys are far enough out of the tower that the anti-magic isn't hitting you. And this wave of joy and power kind of surges through. So it's you, Zeros, and dog's body, yeah?

Yeah. Okay. And then you basically see is mark uh and yes but just trying like running trying to catch up to the wagon but yeah they is mark does the same thing as he basically just braces himself as this surge of water hits you guys i need everybody outside the wagon to make a strength saving throw and I'm gonna make one wagon so bless is what plus plus 1d for I try and suck in as much air as I water as I can try and stop the whole tidal wave. Oh, Kirby. His mark's very good.

Alright. So, dog's body total. Strength saving throw. 15, 16, 17, 18. Plus a d4. 19, 20. 20? Oh, my god, Tom. I got 18 and then rolled a 1. So, 19. 20. 20? Zeros. Oh, my God, Tom.

I got 18 and then rolled a 1, so 19. Whoa, damn it. 19. I saw the 1 on the 4, sorry. Jesper? 2. 2. Oh, no. Ismark got a 22.

And I think that's everybody outside the wagon. The impact of the water is like being crushed. You are surged forward along the causeway. All of you, none of you succeeded on this saving throw, I hate to say. Really? Yep, really. This is a specific creature's move, and dc is very high because it's a

very powerful creature uh you all take 27 bludgeoning damage and you are shoved i take half you take half because it's uh non-magical so you are currently shifting uh you are surged forward by this thing. Let's see. It goes for actually 50 feet. Then I need you guys to make the saving throw again. What do you do if you are already downed? Then you don't make the saving throw. Okay.

Okay. I still got something. Don't worry the saving throw. Okay. Okay. I still got something. Don't worry, I rolled a nine. Oh my god. How much damage was it? It was 27, so half of that would be... It's our lifeless ragdoll body's just slamming into 14, 13. No, Ziki, you're in the wagon.

Oh, I'm in the wagon, I'm fine. No, you're in the wagon oh i'm in the wagon i'm fine the wagon is creepy like the wagon is basically pushed on this surge away and you feel the wagon like water is spilling in you hear wood snap and break um esmeralda is cursing in as this thing is being shoved forward by this tidal wave i think i'm really glad we got Zeke. Oh yeah. Holy shit, I'm glad we got Zeke.

Dog's body total. 17 total. 17. Ismark, natural 20, plus 3, sorry, plus 4, 24. He succeeds. Nice.

Ismark, you see him basically trying to swim in this surge. He's just like... Just swimming his long hair as he does it. Those of you who got less than 24, you take another... This would be... Sorry. This would be less because it's being

reduced now. This would become... Sorry, this would be less because it's been reduced now. This would become... Average of... Six. So that's going to be... You take 20 points of bludgeoning damage this time. But by that point,

you and the wagon have reached the end of this causeway. And as the land becomes land, as there's not enough water around you the tidal wave very quickly diminishes and it can no longer pursue you on the water xeros you automatically take a death saving throw one took damage whilst you were unconscious just one because it's not a melee it's here's where dnd rules it's not a melee attack whilst you're down so you only take one death save um as your body is kind of like smashed into the ground so yeah so the the water of the tidal wave

dissipates as you kind of get onto the land the wagon is just about still functional you can see like loads of it has broken in some of the supplies have been washed away but it is still some it's still survived it's still there um can i are we at a stop then um esmeralda doesn't look like she's gonna stop you can tell her to stop but she's just like go get out but but the water it stopped surging at the yeah it's it's like yeah it's faded away so it's no longer this tidal wave and it's pulling back to the lake. She...

Yeah, Rose is going to tell her to stop. So that we can... Yeah, sure. Stop! We need to get the others. We need to get Jesper and Zeros and Dog's Body. They're out there. Sure, make a persuasion check for me.

Ugh. Oh! I rolled an 18 and I have plus 4, so 22. Ah! Fine, and she kind of like, and pulls on the reins and yeah, the wagon begins to slow. So a few feet ahead, but

yeah. i guess for those of you who weren't washed away is mark 16 on his saving throw you guys have kind of all been scattered right this huge tidal wave has surged you on to land um if you guys want to find each other i think it's going to be probably like a perception check to see if you can if you can spot each other um and you're looking so i'm down are you unconscious okay um so if we were going into an initiative order yeah so we'll have dogs so the wagon people's action is esmeralda stopping the wagon and you guys stop about 30 40 feet away uh dog's body's action is i'm gonna guess looking for people is mark will do the same thing i have have a thing because I'm a wolf.

I'm just trying to see if I have kind of better senses. Hard senses. Yeah, I'm just desperately trying to find that bit because there's a lot of things that happen when you're a werewolf. I don't remember the Blood Hunter one getting that. No. There's Hunter's name

but that's to track fiends and undead. Yeah, I'm going to say no for now. If it turns out we're wrong we'll correct it for next time yeah okay i just feel like i had advantage on like wisdom ah you gain advantage on wisdom perception checks that rely on hearing or smell so can i smell smell i'm gonna say it's difficult because the water would have washed a lot of the scent away so just make a normal perception check i think and this isn't a brief this isn't a hearing one because he's dead that's a 13 13 yeah that's a question who are you looking for first are you looking for anyone

in particular or just anybody whoever's closest like yeah you you don't spot anybody you see is mark um is mark however does see something and i'm gonna roll a d4 one to two it's gonna be zeros three to four it's gonna be yes but if it helps i have dark vision as well so i can see up to 64 that does that that would potentially help so um is mark calls out there's someone there's someone over there. I see one of their bodies. And he's pointing. And you see Dog's body, that it's Jesper's body. So, Xeros and Jesper,

can you guys make death saving throws for me as this would be your turn in the initiative? The last time I was on one fail, I rolled a one. So, I mean... Well, let's hope you don't roll another one. Oh, 14. A pass.

A pass for me too. A pass for Jes roll another one. Oh, 14. A pass. A pass for me too. A pass for Jesper as well. So, yeah, Ismark has located Jesper, dog's body. He calls out to you, and you help identify as well. Those of you who are in the wagon, yeah, you hear Ismark and dog's body kind of calling out. What do you guys do? Again, we're going to kind of give everybody an action,

like a normal combat turn. So we'll just keep tracking it until everyone's taken a go. Rose would run out of the wagon and immediately start shouting for Jesper, probably. Yeah, Ismark, he's like, he's over there. He's there. He's down. He's pointing towards him.

So Rose will run over to Jesper and cast a second level Cure Wounds because she knows where he is. Bam. There you go. Alright, so that's what Rose is doing. Zeke, Esmeralda is like pulling herself out of the seat and is now looking through her remaining stock, like almost looking for potions. She's like,

I'm sure I had a healing potion in here somewhere and she's like pouring through her supplies. What do you do, Zeke? 11 hit points, Jesper. There you go, Jesper. 11 HP. She's like I'm sure I had a healing potion in here somewhere, and she's like pouring through her supplies What do you do see 11 hit points? Yes? Yes, but thanks 11 HP I'll run out and try and find Xeros try and look for him Well it's a new turn so dog's body in his mark can do the same thing as well like everybody can make them as mark does not he's like looking around oh he's looking around with his god's sake no that's a nine total oh no i can't see him better to go yeah maybe by the gods wouldn't work because it's going you're not for you you've got dark vision already so it wouldn't really help yeah i just i guess trying to help other

people i'll just roll then that is 11 uh 10 oh wait no no wait no advantage no advantage is only on yeah that's because it's smell and like the waters kind of would have washed away some of the scent and things like that um rose there is a moment where your heart leaps as you see a bipedal running on all fours giant wolf man like looking around you hear like the heavy breath um as dog's body is probably instinct behind you. She will probably instinctively like fall over backwards at that. Just like until she remembers that it's dog's body.

Like if she didn't know, if dog's body hadn't told her that she probably would have started at this point firing weapons. But I think because dog's body told you, you do kind of like, that must be dog's body. I hope it's dog's body told you you do kind of a like that must be dog's body i hope it's dog's body please be dog's body like that kind of like process um but none of you none of you can see where yes uh where xeros has landed xeros it's another

death saving throw check my friend uh i'm really great at stealth checks that's why um 17 but he's huge how can we not see him i mean it I mean it's not a super high DC but yeah Can I make a perception check on next? Are we on the next right? Sure Yeah 17, 18, 19, 20, 21! 21? Okay. Yep. Anybody else?

18, 19, 20, 21. 21, okay. Yep, anybody else? Just letting everyone roll. No, no, no, no. I mean, yes, but you're kind of just like, you're still coughing up water. Yeah, Rose, you and Irina both see a shape,

like a red scaled shape in the bushes and you see Irene is already moving over towards Zeros. What do you do? Did she have a healing potion? Did she say she was... I don't think you know. Okay. Rose will probably a bit slowly, but because she's fallen over

get up and start moving in Zeros' direction. But she'll probably also say, Ziki, Ziki, he's here. Yeah. So as you're calling out, you're moving over slowly. Ziki begins giving chase to make her way over, but Irina gets there first.

And I think Rose, you would see before anybody that she's looking down at Zeros' body and she's got her rapier in her hand and she's looking. Irina is looking down. She looks's body and she's got her rapier in her hand and she's looking, Irina is looking down she looks up at you Rose you know that he has some sort of plan for me perhaps and she just kind of motions like we're not going to let him do anything to you we're protecting you all right she looks you. Alright. She looks at you and she just looks at you and says, and then she will sing a

harmonious note and she will cast healing word for 1d4 on Zeros for a total of 6 hit points. Wow. Wow. And that that my friends

is where we will end today's episode oh my god he was gonna do it dramatic escape he was gonna do it jeez

maybe she was maybe if somebody else hadn't found her maybe uh I don't know we would have seen

um but yeah great episode everyone good job excellent work all around some very good clever ideas yeah i like that yeah some really really great ideas really good ideas i was waiting for it i wanted to say yeah my automaton pogo stick broke on me i want a refund oh my god

that episode was really really cool i love that one it was really fun that's good you guys had enjoyed that how did we get out of that oh my god you guys how you guys did all right i mean i wasn't going to make you fully fight the leviathan it was more of a run away from it so um i could have used its legendary actions but i wasn't going to i just wanted it to be nice and dramatic and very thank you so gracious it was i'm such a nice tm um but yeah it was really good there were some really cool bits some very cool ideas um it's good to kind of finally see some things that have been set up things that thomas and i have discussed oh did you just roll the next two

Did you just roll the next two? You rolled the next two and they were both failures. Very cool. Dog's body transformation and throwing Zeke definitely saved Zeke's life. Roland and Xeros' idea to check for basically warn everybody for bracing and stuff like

that. Very, very cool. So much happened this episode. It smells like wet dog. It smells very much like wet dog yes very stinky maybe you guys aren't 100% safe yet we'll find out next week probably not

take care stay safe and good evening don't take the escalator elevator bye Take the escalator. Elevator. Shit. Bye. Bye. Bye.