High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Curse of Strahd #25 | Descent of the Dragonborn

Episode Date: January 26, 2021

Curse of Strahd returns! The battle of Yester Hill proves deadly for some! 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

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Dramatic, huh? Welcome, friends. It's time. We're back. welcome back to curse of strad a party of adventurers including a tabaxi priest a monster hunting ranger and two dragonborn siblings have been brought to the land of barovia by vistani bard they've saved the life life of Irena Koljana and her brother Ismark from the Lord of Barovia, Strahd Von Zarovich, fleeing from a village of desperate fanatics and Strahd's minions. Seeking the aid of the Vistana mystic Madame Ava, she began to reveal a fortune to them that would reveal relics to aid them in fighting back against Strahd and freeing Barovia. But the party was shocked when she was slain by a shadowy assassin sent by Strahd himself

before the reading was complete. The town of the Laki offered no safe harbor either. Ruled by a noblewoman with infernal allies, it was here that Ziki, one of the dragonborn siblings, was slain. She and her brother Zeros both made dark pacts with dangerous powers to return to life, and bound the pair into a fate that would change everything. In their adventures, the party have acquired a sword of sunlight in a ruined manner of a fallen order of knights, but lost Shadow, the Tabaxi priestess, in the process, as she was killed by Strahd himself, before being driven away as his beloved Irena vanished. The party gained a new ally, Dog's Body,

a strange fellow with a unique aura and powers, soon revealed that he is some form of lycanthrope. Seeking respite, the party have met a mad wizard and a bitter monster hunter called Esmerelda as potential allies. And Zeros' new master, Asmodeus, has revealed that Strahd's plans are greater than they appear. Now the party have travelled in search of another relic held by the witch Baba Lysaga,

and met the were-ravens who run the Wizard of Wine's winery. However, Ziki, driven by the whispering mists of Barovia, has dug up a precious gemstone that empowered their land with life, and has embedded itself within her. Fleeing the winery, the party pursued her and encountered a group of savage druids worshipping Strahd, where a battle took place. A giant statue, a wicker statue of Strahd, set aflame, came crashing down upon the battle and is still ongoing. And that is where we begin today,

after a very long break, in the middle of a quite desperate combat. Yeah. As we continue. We have a map. I will give you a vague summary of where we are. We're going to be starting with Jesper in the initiative order. And that's pretty much where we're going to be kicking off. You are on a large hill a very very large steep hill at

the top of which is a stone kind of circle within the stone circle was a enormous wicker statue of strad um the statue has been brought crashing down set ablaze by Zeros. And its kind of enormous remains are now scattered around a handful of savage-looking druids and berserkers. On one side of the statue, within the stone circle, is Zeros, just barely standing, very, very injured.

On the other side, going down the hill, Dog's body carries an unconscious Ziki who is stabilized it is still unconscious at zero hit points a small green gemstone has fallen out of the wicker statue and is now halfway between dog's body ziki and the druids and xeros meanwhile uh yes but is rushing towards them about 100 feet from Xeros up the hill. He's now just coming to the very bottom of it. And then about 150 feet from Xeros, 50 feet behind Jesper,

is Rose, Ismark and Irena. Rose, who is now within longbow range, is providing arrow support from the rear. And that is where we begin this episode of Curse of Strahd. I know it's been a while if you guys need to figure things out on like how characters work and stuff like that we're gonna take it slow but we begin with Jesper at the very top of a new round in this battle. Jesper Jesper Jesper. Jes yes that is his yes uh so these grids are 10 feet the squares that you can see are 10 feet each watch that

so there are five there's little squares in each um big square not 300 feet are five there's little squares in each um big square not 300 feet no it's 25 square okay uh all right yes we'll continue to run towards uh seeing uh dog's body carrying ziki yeah you can see them beginning to make their way down things um in terms of time period this is um i think this would be very early early morning so it's still dark um dawn has not yet broken um we are talking sort of like you know 4 5 a.m kind of time so it is very difficult um you can only really make out the figures because of this huge flaming wicker man that's giving the area ambient light. Right. What I'm going to do is...

What do I see right now from this vantage point? So I'm looking up. It's not like a perfectly flat hill. It's kind of like a tiered hill so there's like a hill flat bit hill flat bit hill and it goes up to the top you see at the top of this hill this collapsed giant wicker humanoid shape set a blazing flame within the smoke and the fire you can see shadowy figures conveying around something, but you can't really make out any details. And then running down the hill, you see Dog's body with cuts and flames

and scorch marks over his body with the kind of scaled shadowy form of Zeke. I'd say that they're close enough that you can make them out that it's Dog's body and Zeke. And they're coming towards you. I'm going to hold my action here. This is as far as I can move.

I'm going to get out my sun sword and kind of usher Dog's body with the sun sword, kind of like a glow stick, this way! And I will attack anything that's in range of me that chases after Dog's Body or Zeke as protection. Okay. All right. That's my turn.

So that's your turn? Yes. Okay. Zeros, could you roll 1d6 for me, please? And this is going to be the continuing burning damage of the giant effigy. Against? Is that hitting me?

I can't remember. That part of it will hit you. You're a little bit more protected than everybody else, so you'll take half damage, but yeah. But it doesn't hit you now. Okay, six. It hits you on your turn. Six, great.

Oh. Full damage. Yeah. Full damage. Hooray. Cool. Something's going right. So some of the figures within the burning pitch thing

begin to kind of move themselves out. Running away? Some of them are. I'm actually okay with that. Some of them are they come kind of clawing out throwing off burning furs and burning leathers that have been set ablaze kind of throwing them

to the side as they emerge from the burning flames looking around they can see that three of their fellows this one's going to move can see that three of their fellows um uh this one's gonna move out as well uh three of their fellows with their weapons have surrounded a very bloody looking xeros and they will turn their attention away uh to the figures trying to escape them um and they all see as they in their hands they conjure these kind of small orbs of fire uh and they are going to make uh produce

flame attacks against dog's body um because i don't think they're in range to what's the range of this 30 feet yeah so it was Not all of them will be able to. Four of them will. Bad. Four of them hurl their bolts of flame at Dog's body, who is carrying Ziki's unconscious body. Do I get half cover from Ziki's unconscious? No, because that will probably hurt her. Well, here's a choice for you,

dog's body. Are you trying to protect Zeke from these flaming attacks, or are you trying to... Okay, then you do not. But Zeke will get cover. Zeke will get cover. The first one is a 19 to hit. That'll hit.

Second one is a natural one, so it's a miss. That will not hit. Third one is a 21. That'll hit. Second one is a natural one, so it's a miss. That will not hit. Third one is a 21. That'll hit. And then the last one is a 14. That will not hit, because I am currently in hybrid form, meaning my AC is currently 15, not 14. And you don't have resistance to fire damage, do you?

It's only against weapon attacks and radiant, isn't it? Yeah. So this is full damage. Stabbing me. This is 1d8 each one, so 2d8 total. I have 17 hit points currently. Well, you take another. It's going to be 9 fire damage.

9. As you are hit by these bolts of flame. One of the druids is going to make a saving throw against fear from the Xeros' aura that he conjured last time. Do you know what the DC is on that, Tom? Of my fear, channel divinity is 12. 12. This one seems to shake out of the fear and begins turning around to kind of see what else is happening

with his companions and will begin moving towards Dog's Body and Zeke. The last one, Azeroth will turn its Bolt of Flame on you, trying to hit you. Really? Okay. Yeah, you have some cover against from the stone wall and things like that, but they're still going to try and hit you. Natural one. So the flame strikes against the stone wall and erupts around it. And that is all of the druids go.

Dog's body. So because I'm on eight hit points and in hybrid form, I need to make a blood frenzy saving throw. Blood lust, sorry. But I have advantage because I have the amulet from nice little Erwin from the Ravens. So here we go. I rolled a 17 and a 5,

but it's advantage, right? So I take the 17. Yes. Okay, so it's 16 because I'm minus one wisdom. Dumb. I would like to keep running. Can I spend my action and bonus action just... So I've got 40 foot of movement.

So can I move 80 feet towards... Well, bonus action you won't be able to. You can use your movement to go 40 feet and then you could use your action to go another 40 with the dash action. Yeah. Sorry, that's what I meant. So each square is 10 foot, basically. Yeah. Each full square.

So that would be 15 so far. 15, 20... If I move you back, if you want to go 80 yeah you move me 10 20 30 40 uh 50 60 70 80. you you get like run down the hill towards um you go past jasper basically uh you go running past you might need to move the map a little bit um unless you want to stop any um you get almost, all the way down in amongst the trees, heading towards Rose.

Oh, it's difficult, though, because Jesper can heal, so... You could stop behind Jesper, like, here. Yeah. I just feel like there's so many... I can heal! I can heal! Can you? Yeah! No, don't say this to me! I've seen you heal! so many... I can heal. I can heal. Can you? Yeah. No, don't say this to me!

I've seen you heal! I've seen Jesper heal. I'm sure I've seen Jesper heal. I can't decide what's... I can't decide what's safer, is getting closer to Tatiana, or... Because there's a load of bad druids coming this way.

Do you know what? I'm going to keep going. I'm going to keep going, because I know that I've stabilized Siki. So I've stabilized Siki. So? I'm going to keep going. I'm going to keep going because I know that I've stabilized Ziki. So I've stabilized Ziki. So can I keep going past? Yeah, she's not believing. Sure. Yeah. And that's what I'll do. Okay. You keep running. Sounds good. Zeros, roll a d6.

For fire damage. Okay. Yeah. Six again. for fire damage okay yeah six again you take half and then you are a you take so and you are a black dragonborn aren't you so you don't have fire resistance I have fire resistance from Asmodeus so

ah so you take half of three which is one nice I'm down unfortunately the problem is chopping down a giant burning statue uh means that you are also surrounded by the burning debris of it um so as you're kind of stood in the flames the smoke the temperature the heat even with this kind of protection uh around you you kind of drop to one knee and then just you just feel your consciousness fade as you slam to the ground. Last thing you see is Dog's body running down the hill and getting away

with Zeke though. I'm okay with that. New year, new rules. Can we have injury rules? No? If you want to make an injury check i will not stop you nah that's fine you know how it goes it's a constitution saving three sure nah i don't wanna

i'm okay with it that's not everyone will hate me if i do you destroyed their wicker you destroyed the wicker man Everyone will hate me if I do. Okay, sure. You destroyed their wicker. You destroyed the wicker man. Yeah, but now it's on fire. That's what they're built for. So the... I feel so bad doing this, but this is what the bad guys would do.

You destroyed their effigy and there's these three berserkers with these like great clubs and great axes and rusted swords you fall down in front of them roll a d6 they're going to take some fire damage um uh okay six again what hell? How are you doing this? This fire burns with Asmodeus. Six, six, six. The three of them step out of the fire and surround Xeros' body. I'm going to move them individually.

I mean, they are berserkers. They're berserkers you destroyed their refugee and this is Barovia baby they just it's you know the ring race where they're stabbing the beds it's like that

there's just this unconscious form and there's just chop smash slam they'll strike you three times, which will 3B3 death saving throws. Okay. I'm sorry, Tom.

Like, I hate doing this to players. Why did I even show up today? What is Moody's? I don't know, man. Like, you know. I don't know. I died, you know, I don't know. I died twice. I'm sorry, okay?

Is this my third death now? No, second death. No, second death. Second death. Lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll all right okay i'm sorry i'll take it do you want to be do you want to be is mark i mean no there's no rolling like i mean yeah rolling up you got three character stats we can do that yeah you can do oh you carry on i'm sorry dude i feel bad making you but it's just like yeah this is this is the game

there will be a scene after this combat with Asmodeus so alright yeah okay whoopsie doopsie

maybe do you want to start thinking flicking through the books you can start thinking of any character you'd like to play you've got the

were ravens and if you want to read off a bit on Strahd. They feel so bad about killing me, they're like, oh no. Oh, I really go. Can I join you guys? These druids

suck. These druids represent these very shamanistic people that live in Barovia. Maybe not one of these berserkers, but there could be a wild man that you want to play. Or if you want to read about Ursula's Grad. Would they not want to like- rather than stabbing him, would they not want to like feed him to the tree? Yeah, that's what stabbing- the- the tree's destroyed, like the- the effigy is gone, like it's burnt to

cinders. Like they're in- they are enraged that he did this. Like, the last thing they shouted in the previous episode was, kill him, he has destroyed the master statue. Slay him. And that is what they've done. It's brutal. I hate doing this when it's like, you know, just NPCs literally hitting creatures on the ground. But this is how this kind of thing goes, I'm afraid.

That makes sense. But yeah um have a think about it like the area that you're in um there's also krezic if you want to read up a little bit on krezic you could maybe be a character from krezic um esmeralda's nearby you've got uh babalai sagas hut um if there's a cool cat hanging around somewhere uh you could be babalasaga's apprentice if you wanted to play like an enforced apprentice, somebody who's been kind of captured and kept as like a witch's apprentice. Can I be Strahd?

No, you could be a member of Strahd's court if you have some... Show up next episode. Hey, guys, it's me, Strahd from Curse of Strahd, and then I just stab myself with a sun sword. Campaign over. See ya. Maybe. Well, I mean, campaign might be over by the end of this session anyway, Tom,

so don't worry too much about it. I mean, yeah, don't put too much effort into the character yet, because it took a while to go. After murdering Tom, the barbarians will then basically begin clambering around the wreckage to continue their slaughter, basically, as they begin moving around.

Zeke, you are unconscious, but stable, so nothing really from you. Irina will begin rushing towards 5, 10, 15, 20, 25. Irina starts rushing towards Zeke and Dog's body. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25. Irena starts rushing towards Zeke and Dog's Body. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25.

And she will cast Healing Word using one of her remaining spell slots. I don't have a d4. Oh, there I do. What's the d4? She will cast... Funny joke. That is a

whopping 7 hit points, Zeke. Zeke. So many. Rose. Hello. I'm going to

move forward 30 feet. That's where Ireena is, basically. Yeah, about here. And I am going to take two shots at one of the berserkers. Yeah, so the berserkers are the furthest away, but you've got the range with your longbow. With 150 feet?

Yeah, yeah, they're still within range, yeah. Yep. Two attacks. Would you go for the closest one? Yeah, probably the closest to Jesper, whatever's closest to Jesper. So that's a 19 plus 9 to hit. Oh yeah.

And then the second one is a second one is a nine plus nine so 18 two hits these guys are not difficult to hit seven on the second one. So total? 13. 13 damage total. Nice. The arrows thud into him, but you can just

see this wild man with this rusted lumberjack's axe. The arrow's still embedded in the body and he's just looking around wildly howling in rage covered in Zeros' blood and yeah, he's still standing unfortunately Here's Mark the Lesser

will also run up to you guys and then he will dash basically getting just behind just in front of Dog's Body and Irene and he draws out his battle axe and his flail.

I think he's carrying now a silvered flail and he's just holding the line, waiting. Jesper! He's going to look back at the group and I think as they are running past he'll be shouting, where is Zeros? Is he in there? Can I reply? Yeah, like you've got like a few seconds, you could be like, in there. Yeah.

So in a kind of really exhausted, pained yowl, Dogsbody was just like, in the fire! In the fire! Damn. I can't tell how many there are. I'll do what I can. He's going to 10, 20, 30 up to this one. And Sun Sword.

Just see like this wild, crazed woman with thick dreads covered in mud, just with flames in her hands. Just like, die! Die! That is a nat 1, 10 to hit. Against these guys. Oh, that's very unfortunate. Nat 1. 10 to hit. Against these guys. That's very unfortunate. The blade just barely narrowly

misses. Even though you kind of stumble, the sun sword light just passes overhead. Do you have extra attack? Second dagger attack. That's a nat 20. 27 to hit. Swings and roundabouts.

That is a... 27, that is definitely a hit. So the doubling on the dice would be 8 points total. 8 points total to this one. That's going to be one to one. Eight points, yeah? Yes.

Total damage. The sword cuts through the radiant energy burning this line of flesh and scorched body across this. Can I make that a defensive flourish please so i'm just getting extra ac okay yeah you is it a barnock inspiration die you roll yeah i've just used my yeah i'll just roll a d6 so that's extra two to my AC for this turn. Okay. Okay. Cool.

That's me. Are you done? That's me. Okay. So one, two, three of these druidic figures will descend on the target that they can see the most. My roll 20 is playing up a little bit, so I'm struggling to move people at the moment

joys of using virtual table talks hang on i'm just gonna refresh it you still have that goddamn thing oh i've just realized as well i've also realized that i have a whole extra attack um do you want to be that when i when i leveled up but because i did my thing my second bonus attack with my dagger does that not uh stop it from happening the extra attack no of course not no i mean so i mean in theory basically if you have extra attack when you take the attack action you get two attacks with your main hand weapon and then there's a bonus action you use the offhand weapon so i've just done in this case order yeah you've just done it out of

order it's fine okay to attack i don't have to no no no yeah go on give me the attack that is a 17 to hit with the sun sword this time yep all right now is it yes i'm doing a d8 so i've got dagger in the other hand okay that's nine points total okay with that the sun sword the second swipe of the Sun Sword, pierces through, like this radiant blade of energy just pierces through his chest and this druid collapses to the ground, just dead. With that, the others howling in rage, death, death to them, they have killed our brothers, they have destroyed our statues! Slay the dragons

and their allies! And a bunch of them come rushing towards you, Jesper. How many can I see from this like silhouetty, fiery billowing? 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30. A lot. 5, 10, 15,

25, 30. 25, 30. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30. 5, 10, 15, 25, 30. Like Chris Trott's smile. Out of the smoke and the flames and the shadows, five of these ragged-looking druids come running at you. Three of them, their quarterstaffs seem to become thick with thorns and gnarled knots and they bring them down

towards you in a kind of clubbing action the other two begin conjuring flames in their hands as they do so so we'll do the three melees they're all going to roll under 17 oh you yeah so quarterstaffs Oh, you... Yeah.

So, quarterstaffs. That is a 19 to hit on the first one. Yeah. That is only a 10 on the second. No. A 20 on the third. So these are all from the quarterst staffs as they bring them smashing down uh with shillelagh it becomes yeah 1d8 okay it's two uh so four and then 10 14 points of damage

from these two attacks as these court staffs come clubbing down on your shoulders on your thighs and then two bright kind of balls of flame come rushing out towards you as well. That's only a 10, and then that's a 7. So the two balls of flame you managed to dodge, but whilst you're dodging these, these huge quarterstaffs are slamming into your sides as well. Bam, bam, kind of throwing you all over the place as we do so.

I live! I live, bitch. For now. kind of throwing you all over the place as we do so. I live! I live, bitch. For now. Dog's body. I will gently deposit Ziki. Fluttering awake, you can see

Ziki has come conscious now. And I will... Hmm. I'm going to say to her, like, just keep running, love. Keep running. Don't look back. Um, and then I'm

going to start moving back towards the fight. So is it 5, 10, 15? Oh, wait, no, I have to roll for my frenzy so i might not say that i might say something a bit more aggressive i rolled nine nine 19 was my highest roll so you're all right 15, 20, 25, 30. You have 40 feet of movement. Start moving back. Oh, yeah, I have 40, don't I? Yes. And I will crossbow these suckers

because I have an 80-foot range crossbow thing. What do you want to target? One of the druids surrounding Jesper? Yeah, one of the many. So, 15 plus... So, 18 to hit. 6, 7,

8 points of damage on that one. But because I used the Crimson Rite on my Great Axe, so I can't Crimson Rite this. Can I? No, yeah. You can't Crimson Rite it. So that's going to be...

Sorry, I'm just getting my dreads messed up. Do you want to go for one that looks like they're injured? Yes. Do you want to go for one that looks... Eight points, you injured? Yes. Do you want to go for one that looks... Eight points, you said? Yes. The crossbow thuds in,

and you can see that the druid stumbles back, grasping these deep, heavy breaths. It's barely just conscious, but still standing. I've got extra attack, so can I extra attack with the crossbow again? Not with the crossbow. Not with the crossbow, because it has the reloading property.

So you basically get to fire it once, no matter how many attacks you have. Because it has the reloading property. Can I just throw my axe at the... No. Also, you're now wielding your crossbow, so you can't throw your axe. Yeah.

Can I just throw my crossbow at them? No, it's fine. Yeah. Okay, that's it for me. It would be Xeros. We have no more Xeros. Yes, but three more shapes come barreling out of the flames. 5, 10, 15, 20, 30... Why do I play to my fucking character? I could have just run away. Why do I play to my fucking character?

Only one of them is gonna be able to get in range the other one goes the long way around The other one seems to be rushing down the hill in the direction that dog's Body and Zeke went. One of these huge, powerful, muscular figures though, raises up a giant club and recklessly will attack you. So it attacks with advantage. My highest is a natural 20. No. Oh no. Oh,

why have I done this? Why have I done this? Why have I done this? Well. 19 points of damage. How much? 19 points of damage as this great club just clocks you in the side of the head, like sends you reeling, your vision blurs. Oh my God.

Still alive! Yeah, however another one of them is coming up behind him. He just didn't quite manage to get in range. So they're going to use their action to dash. He gets on the other side of you. Oh, okay. The other one, Dog's body just

manages to get to you and has got this giant axe out in front of them. But neither of them managed to attack, and so they don't use their reckless or anything like that. We go to Ziki Mistan, who is now conscious. Ooh. Ziki's just going to wake up and be like, I think she's just going to be like, what's happened?

Where is she? Like, her hair's probably going to be matted in blood and sweat, and it's going to be like, what's happened? Where is she? Like, her hair's probably going to be matted in blood and sweat, and it's going to be an absolute mess. I think she's going to move up. You look around. Ten. You don't see Dog's body. You don't see Xeros. No.

I think she'd just be desperate to find Xeros and to find out what's going on. so I think she'll just move up. 30 up to there. When you go running past Ismark, he's like, Ziki, no! And he's calling out, but you just run past him. You can see the flames and the smoke and the shadows of the Wickman, the last place that you saw xeros um and you can see all these like screaming barbarians and druids running out of it yes but now completely surrounded one of them's run up to dog's body who looks really badly hurt um what's the plan um i think she's gonna see that yes was in trouble um and i'm gonna um cast ray of frost at the berserker that's behind him. Okay, sounds good, yeah.

Nice. So, arranged spell attack. Here we gizzity go. That's a nat 1, so that worked really well. Why is Zeke so cursed? Oh my god! She's so cursed! You rolled so well!

The last three months that we haven't done Strahd. You have been rolling fine. First day back on Strahd and this. Zeke is the most cursed character to ever exist in D&D. Curse of Strahd is curse of Zeke. Fuck me. Just stay down. Just stay down.

Listen to the nice dog and stay back. The ice just comes out of your hands and just, you know, your vision's all blurred and it just sails into the night. Just feel all the strength and energy from your body. I think she'd just be screaming, like, where's Zeros? Where's Zeros? Just, like, yeah, just desperate at this point. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

Oh, my God. That roll couldn't have been more perfect. Like, it's so hideously awful. Right, okay. Consistently awful at dice rolling. I guess if you had just been knocked unconscious and rattled a bit as you were carried away from a big fight, you'd wake up and be a bit

like, I'm not on my A game here. Exactly. I got to a perfect game straight away. How would you feel, Chris Trott? Shook around a bit, smell like a dog, woke it up, everything's on fire. I mean, yeah, still rolled a fucking one. I know, it's so funny. Irena moves past Rose. Rose, when she moves past

you, Irena is just like, Ross, I don't know what we should... I feel that this may be too far gone. We may need to get out of here. And she'll run up behind her brother. We have to go. She'll just pull out her rapier and is tugging onto Ismark's just like, we need to try and

rescue as many of them as they can, but we can't stay. That fire is going to bring worse things here, we need to try and rescue as many of them as they can, but we can't stay. That fire is going to bring worse things here. We need to leave now. And that's what she's going to say. Rose, what do you want to do? Weep. No, I'm going to move forward 30 and can I cast

hail of thorns at second level and I'd like to target just to the side of the I want to basically hit the three in a line that Jesper's next to if I strike the one

if I strike slightly behind the one in the middle uh it's my normal shot so 150 feet i think oh but then is it all the top so what's the area of effect though like read that read out the spell it's within five feet any target within five feet of where i hit must make a deck save here's's the problem, right? If it's the target that you hit, you have to hit one of the creatures around Jesper, and he will be, no matter which creature

you hit, he is within 20 feet of that target, unfortunately. I will just shoot two shots at the berserker that has come around the other side. Yes, he's behind Jesper yeah that's the one that zq was trying to shoot out yeah uh 19 to hit on the first one that hits and oh that might not um

12 to hit on the second uh the 12 does not but the first one does so the first arrow thuds, and then the second one he manages to kind of throw himself to the side, avoiding the second arrow. So 10 damage for that, and I would like to just yell, Jasper, get out of there! And that is my turn, and I will probably encourage Zeki to back off to his near me. Okay. Is Mark sensing that, yeah, the plan here is to kind of flee and that Zeki is kind of distraught? He's actually going to... I can't grasp him.

Oh, there we go. He's going to move up to Zeki, and he's going to try and grab Zeki. He's going to try and literally physically wrestle Zeke and grab her. So Zeke, you can contest this if you think you would. This would be athletics or acrobatics for you. I'd like to contest it.

Yeah, no, absolutely. Oh god, Ismark. Ismark is the lesser. What'd you get? 11 total. Total. Is that 11? lesser. What'd you get? 11 total. Total. Is that 11? So with acrobatics or athletics? They're all zero, so...

They're all zero. I rolled a three. Plus three is six. So he goes to grab you and Zeke, you're just like... You shove him off and pull yourself free as he's just like, Zeke, no! He doesn't manage to grab you, basically, yeah. He literally fails. Like an um yes i want to die let me die let me die with xeros so tom and i can make new

characters together yes was going to disengage okay that's your that's your action uh yep i believe i just want to use the dash action never mind okay um i have 30 feet of movement so where shall i go 40 feet of movement apparently okay

yep you have the mobile feet yeah all right it's been a while it's been a while since we've played these characters five ten yeah they don't get any attacks opportunities you are disengaging 30 35 40. i'm gonna stand in front of ziki 40. I'm gonna stand in front of Ziki. And with my sun sword. It's no use. We have to leave Ziki. We have to go.

Okay. He's gone. End of your turn? Yeah. Alright. That's what I'm doing. How far can they get? Okay. that's what I'm doing how far can they get okay okay

rose is mark ziki and yesper yes did we see xeros go down would dog's body have seen the only no dog's body was running the other way the only one who might have seen it is yesper and there's so much fire and smoke like he would like xeros was on the other side of this fallen statue, and I think with all the debris, all the smoke, all the fire, I looked at his passive perception, and I thought, I don't think he would be able to see this. It's, like, heavily obscured by smoke. I feel like knowing Zeros and seeing that there's no fighting or shouting.

Maybe, yeah, that's fine. You can think that. Yeah, for sure. He might just be dying. You don't know. But if you want to assume he's dead, by all means. I need Ismar, Rhoad, Zeke, and Jesper to all make saving throws. Strength saving throws, strength saving throws. As the area of ground beneath you

begins erupting in vines and thorns and earthen grasps. What type of saving throw? Strength saving throw, please. Ismark passes. 15? 15, Rose passes. Ziki?

Six? Yes, four for a seven. Yes, for a Ziki, you are bound by these vines and these earthen kind of like hands that grip you, holding you in place. It's no use. Ah! Don't go.

Shit. Shit. Don't It's time to go Yep. You are, both of you are, by the way, this is an Entangle spell, you are currently restrained. You can use your action to make a strength check to try and break free on your turn.

However, before that happens, a kind of volley of four conjured flames all come in jesper's direction these will happen you're the one he's in front um in theory i will do them individually because they might go for ziki but like jesper is literally in front of ziki, which is why I'm targeting him. Does this ever get animated into a broody, gritty cartoon? Don't listen to the commentary by us. No, don't. I've got my own commentary. Tom, shut up. You're dead.

The first one, by the way, was a natural 20. So it's a 14 point. Oh, my God. I'm down. Will you just stop now? Oh, you're down? No. The first one, by the way, was a natural 20. So it's a 14 point damage. Oh my god. I'm down. Just stop now. Oh, you're down? No.

Okay. The next one is against Ziki then. The next one is against Ziki. 14. 14. Yeah, that'll hit. Yep. Yep.

Three points of fire damage. There we go. The next one is against Zeke. For 16 to hit. Yep. Three points of fire damage. Oh, it's getting spicy now, boys. One.

Oh, well, okay. That's 17 to hit on the next one. Oh, yeah. Okay. Oh, well, okay, that's 17 to hit on the next one. Oh yeah, it's great! So while they're trapped by these roots, these flames just engulf both Jesper and Zeki as they drop down. Tom's being a smug little shit because he's not the only one who's gonna die here. Dog's body! I just- I love that everyone is going down in flames, that is such a Zeros ending. Taker, you're all with me.

Dog's body. I don't know what to do. I knew what I was gonna do and then they all got fucked so... This bro who's having a pop at me, how how fucked up does he how messed up does he look i mean he looks injured that all three of these kind of like muscular berserkers definitely well one of them actually looks mostly unharmed um the one fighting you is definitely he's got like arrows and blood marks and scorch marks all over his body he definitely has been injured. I'd say he's bloodied under half health. If Dog's Body wants to

make a nice heroic sacrifice and I've got two trains of thought. One, go over to the gang and get them out of the vines so that they can scurry along. Or two, try and attract

everybody onto him to pile onto the old dog's body and leave them alone so they can escape. And I don't know which action to go for. Hmm. I look forward to whatever you choose to do.

If I, let me, just because I'm a bit rusty, if I disengage, that's an action, right? Yes, disengaging is an action. But then I'd need another action to take, like get all the vines off of everybody. Okay. And you'd be able to only free one character.

I could risk it. You wouldn't be able to free... I have eight hit points. Yeah, you could risk, like, taking the opportunity attack, but I'll put it this way as well. It's an action to free one of the characters from the vines. You can't free them both with a single action.

And then so my other idea is maybe just to attract everyone onto me, but I don't know that they'd go for that. You can try. Try and intimidate check to try and lure them onto you. You could... I don't know that they'd go for that. You can draft. Try and intimidate check to try and lure them onto you. You could, I don't know. You could also just try and kill this guy.

Maybe that will, like, draw their ire. They see you as a big threat. First of all, I need to make a wisdom saving throw. That's also true. 19 again. So 18. So it's fine. That would have been nice, though though because that would have taken all

of your choice away from you and then you would have just been like well i'm gonna fight this guy because he's the closest enemy i can't help it now it's on kim i know um i want to do the thing that buys the party most time. So what will buy the party the most time? Smashing that nice gem up? Hmm. Have they picked up this gem that's over here? They haven't, actually, no. They've been so enraged by the parties.

I use the air quotes because this is not on Jesper Rose or Dog's Body, They haven't actually, no. They've been so enraged by the parties. I use the air quotes because this is not on Jesper Rose or Dog's Body. But I am going to say the word the party. They are enraged by your actions that they are just like, they want blood. They want lots and lots of blood. They are furious at what has happened. But they might be distracted by the gem, so...

Yeah, I mean, you've not seen everything that goes on, but the only thing is I think that Dog's Body would have seen the gem come out of the statue. I don't know if Dog's Body knows how important the gem is, but it's definitely something that he can see.

Okay. I would like I don't know if this is going to work So screw it Big heroic sacrifice Dog's body in his head He wants to try and get them all to turn away from the party And pay attention to him And also in his heart

He wants to know what happened to Zeros And if Zeros is bleeding out back there. So I don't know exactly the mechanics of this, but I'd like to start running. If I can do a movement and a dash, so move 80 feet or whatever it takes to get to that. You can do that. You can absolutely do that. You will risk at least one attack.

No, two opportunity attacks you will risk. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah yeah you can do it yeah it could be this could be the worst you know he's you know what he's dumb and he's angry and he's blood friending he's gonna do it so i would like to start right and as he's running i want him to yeah i want him to be howling and, like, just, like, screaming, like, at them. Come on, have a go, you fucking pricks! Just, like, proper, like... Yeah, really trying to get them.

You kind of try and shove this barbarian and run forward, screaming at them. The axe, you feel it bite into your back. Let's see if you take how... Oh, my God, I think you're actually going to take gonna take survive the damage here. Did you roll higher than 15? I know I did not roll higher than 15. No, but I could have I could have nearly done that You're gonna take seven points of damage as the axe bites into your back You continue running as you pass one of these druids it tries to swipe at you with a quarterstaff go on

Seven points of what damage? Oh, it would to swipe at you with a quarterstaff. Go on. Seven points of what damage? Oh, it would be halved, so yeah, you take three. Three. Because it was slashing and it was from a non-magical weapon. One of these druids does try and hit you with a quarterstaff. This thing, however, is with thick glowing vines.

Green glowing vines. That's a 15 to hit. Exactly. That's going to be 8, but you don't half it. It's magical. If it was 4, I'd still be up.

I'd still be up if it was 4. Let me have it, Mark. Let me have my heroic moment. You take the biting steel in the back. You kind of surge through it. And as you're turning, this glowing green wooden staff just kind of strikes you across the chest. And one of the thick thorns, you just feel it kind of go into the chest.

You stumble. The last thing is you kind of take another step forward. You just see the smoke in the background, and you're pretty sure you can see a kind of blackened draconic form laying amidst the wood. And then... What if I zigzagged so I was out of the range of that quarter star?

So here's the thing. You were here. You could have gone... In fact, actually, if you did the movement, you could have gone round this way. And then from there, but here's the thing so you've got 80 feet of movement, right? five ten fifteen Twenty twenty five

Yeah, actually you can make it you can do it without it I and but I I'd assumed you'd go this way where you'd get an opportunity to attack from this guy, but this way you can actually get round to here. There you are. Yeah. And then 80 feet, yeah, you can get to here. Yeah, you can do it actually. Yeah, if you'd gone that way.

That was my fault for assuming you moved. I'd imagine it as like his kind of, like, he's just almost his pre, like, primordial senses, like wolf senses, he's just dodging and diving and just screaming and screaming, trying to get all their eyes on him. And then he's just going to pick up the gem in the darkness and just lift it and scream, I will destroy this! Yeah.

Okay. Nice. Zeros, you're dead. This definitely draws fire from at least some of these warriors. They charge at you with a reckless abandon, seemingly not caring if you're going to destroy this gem with their weapons running free, and two of them at least come flying towards you. Reckless attacks. That's going to hit. That's 24 to hit. That's going to be… 9 points, half to 4.

Unconscious, or still conscious? Nope. Got one. Nine points, half to four. Unconscious or still conscious? Nope. Got one. Got one. Second attack from the other one with advantage is a 18 to hit. Four. Fuck. 13, half to

six points. As I go down, can I give Rose a big wolfy, toothy grin and a wink and just shout, I die a free man!

And then go down. The sword kind of goes up through into the chest. I think that on death you revert to your humanoid form, right? So. The sword kind of goes up through into the chest. I think that on death, you revert to your humanoid form, right? So like we see the kind of wolf shape begin to like stretch and shrink back as this ragged werewolf turns back into a man

as he collapses to the ground. The last remaining berserk. Can you stop dying and then saying something to my character specifically that then means that I've got to... This is twice now, come on! I would have said it to Jesper or Zeke, but they're a bit unconscious right now, and I'm not wasting it on that.

It's fair. I can't wink at someone who's unconscious. For the sake of fairness your action all three of the berserkers would have rushed you the second one drops you the last one very similar to xeros brings this club down on your head two death saving throws

auto failed as this big skull crushing crunch comes down as the three of them rush down towards you. Zeke, it's a death-saving throw time, my friend. Woo! Here we go.

Woo! Four. Fail. Failure. I don't know if you expect anything different. Yep, there it is. Irina just calls out I have no more magic I cannot heal them, we have to go and is like calling Ismark Rose

who do we save, get the sword, save Jesper get Jesper up, get him out and I can heal him I have no healing, I have nothing to heal him with. I have healing. I have healing. Okay, she will, with her strength of nine, attempt to break the vines free. Oh, she actually does.

17 minus one, 16. Irina, like, pulling these vines away, manages to pull Jesper free of the entangling vines and is dragging his body out basically. Rose?

I would like to cast Cure Wounds at second level on Jesper. You'll have to move up to him because it's touch. So you can move up to there. Cure Wounds. Eight. Ten. Yep. Kill wounds. Uh... Ooh, eight. And ten.

Fourteen healing to Jesper, and then I will spend the rest of my turn just... I will grab Jesper by the arm and just say we have to go! There's no other option now! And start pulling him

towards... probably into the forest because she knows she can try and lose people in there but she can still find her way so she'll probably grab yes try and move yeah you can move at half speed so you only really get him about five feet into the woods but you're starting to pull him in that direction. Yeah, I mean, can I take my movement and then expect Jesper to follow, I guess? Yeah, if you don't want to drag him, you can just leap in there and then start moving in. So you'd go 5, 10 to heal him, 15, 20, 25, 30.

Yeah, so you can get about 10 feet into the woods and you can see Ismark and, sorry, Jesper 30. Yeah, so you can get about 10 feet into the woods and you can see Ismark and... Sorry, Jesper and Irina calling to you. Ismark will... He'll try and break Ziki free. He breaks the vines off of Ziki, but that's all he can do. That's his action is to break them free.

Sorry, guys, my Roll20 keeps messing up as well. There's something weird about Curse of Strahd where it causes my Chrome to crash. So this game is very, very cursed. But that's pretty much all this Mark can do on his turn is just literally break Zeke free. Jasper. He's going to run towards the fire. Okay. I love it.

No, please. It'd be amazing. I can still save them. He's not dog's body. He's going to heed the words of Rose and start running however

before he does because he's next to Ziki is going to cure wounds her sure at fourth level oh which is a 15 15 hit points Fourth level. Oh.

Which is a 15. 15 hit points. Deal with that. Action to cure, Ziki. Thank you. Move bonus action. 30. Boy. Run away.

Okay. Run away. Probably more this way. Yeah. Not that way. Okay. Wait. Run away? Probably more this way. Yeah. Not that way. Sure. Yeah. Come.

The druid. We have to go. Who are still standing. Move in. They move in for the kill. 5, 10, 15. 5, 10. That's right.

Well. well all of these druids are like covered in cuts and like slashes and burn marks um one of them raises his hand and a thunderous cube of force z Zeki, Irena and Ismark all need to make constitution saving throws, please. Oh come on! No! What the hell? What the hell? Oh my god! What the hell? Oh, Rhi! I know I'm dead, but this is giving me life.

Is Mark and Zeke? Zeke, I need you to take some damage. You take 12 thunder damage as this cube of force sends you flying 10 feet back. 5, 10, 10. Jesus Christ. Irene manages to kind of like throw herself to the side when she does so. Oh my god. That's from this one. This one technically here. One of them, Rose, is going to try and throw fire at you as it sees

you escape into the woods. You'll have some cover against this. That's an 11 to hit with a plus 2 to your AC. It's not going to hit. So the fire kind of impacts on a tree. The other one is going to try and... They wouldn't really recognize Irina for what she is. So we'll probably try to hit Irina with a quarterstaff.

That's a hit. That's going to be 10 points of damage to Irina. See, Irina takes a heavy blow, uh, stumbling to the side, uh, bloody. Um, and then the last one is gonna throw some fire at Ziki, um... For an 11 to hit. Nope. Just manages to avoid it. Wow.

Flying through the air. I'm three, yeah. Three. Three hit points. Dog's body. It's time for a big death save. If you roll a 20. If I roll a fucking 20.

If you roll a 20, you're on one hit point, dude. Do I add anything to this? 20 aside, is it just a straight roll? One straight roll. Nine or lower, dog's body dies. It is, isn't it? It is an actual dog, isn't it?

No, it's not. I rolled it! I rolled it! It was a 20! It was a 20! Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god! On a high roller's dice, I rolled a 20! Holy shit.

Jesus. Okay. Okay. This is one of those terrible gnat ones that Zeki sacrificed. Yeah, it's amazing. So you see Dog's body. You kind of, you know, this animalistic urge to survive, this bestial heart.

You feel like your arm, your back, your body is broken and bratted and bruised. But somehow you suck in a breath. You're lying face down in the mud. It kind of almost chokes on some of the mud that comes in your mouth. And you can see these three barbarians turning away from you and heading back down the hill where you can see, just in this bleary vision, you can see figures beginning to flee into the woods.

What do you do? I think... Rolls at the start of the turn, yeah. So this is, you have a whole turn. Oh my gosh. I don't know. I have a healer's kit on me, but I don't know if that would do anything.

That's a action to use, and it doesn't give you hit points. It literally can only stabilize the dead. We went through this last time. It just stabilizes me. Yeah. I think... How badly do I want to die? Wow. No, I think... How badly do I want to die? Wow.

No, I think... I would say, by the way, at this point, these barbarians don't know you're there, so any attacks against them would have advantage. But yeah, they are unaware that you are. They think they've killed you. Yeah. Is the gem doing anything in my hand?

It probably fell out of your hand when you went unconscious. It's probably lying a few, maybe a foot out of your reach. It looks partially broken. It's like a big crack down the middle of it. Could I reach? Is it within reach? Could I quietly reach? I will tell you this. If you reach for that gem, they are

going to know you're alive. If you take any action, like moving or getting up, you could try a stealth roll and maybe you can get it when they turn away from you. So I'd say, yeah, you can make a stealth check to try and take it. Or sleight of

hand, it would be. Sleight of hand. Sleight of hand. Oh, so stealth is four, sleight of hand is one. Iight of hand sleight of hand oh so stealth is four slight hand is one i'm gonna i'm gonna play it and i'm moving like swiping it without being noticed i'm gonna play it safe and do that good old dog trick play dead it's gonna play dead the berserkers thinking that you are dead basically charge down the hill apologies to headphone users by the way i lost the run of myself that's likely and then they will basically spend their action uh one of them will dash into the woods trying to chase after rose one of them dashes into the woods, trying to chase after Rose.

One of them dashes up to Ziki and Ismark, and then the other one is going to dash up to Irina, and that's their whole turn, is to just basically charge down the hill. Ziki. Um, oh man. This is gonna be tricky. Okay. What do I do, what do I do? What do I do? Tom's so mad, he's just like, they're supposed to die with me.

I can't believe how many people were downed and are now back up again and running away. Like it's actually close that they're going to survive this. Yeah. That natural 20. That natural fucking 20, man. I can't. I genuinely... I literally said it. I literally was like, if you're rolling that 20,

oh boy, and you fucking did. I've already got my other character sheet up, so I don't... I don't know. What's the plan, Zeke? I think she's gonna be in like an absolute whirlwind of mess

right now, like, he doesn't know where her brother is, he's gonna be like so immensely guilty about everything. Like, everybody's like almost died. I think she's gonna move up and help protect Irina. So she's going to move up next to her and cast... What should we do? What's going to be fun?

What's a fun spell to cast? Let's do... I'm going to say one thing, Ziki. There is a big, scary-looking man standing over you and his mark because he moved up. Oh, very true. The barbarians charged down the hill. So you can stay where you are. You can cast spells. You're currently prone as well.

You and his mark were knocked to the ground by the thunder wave. You can still cast spells. You can stand up, but if you move more than five feet away from him, then he'll get an opportunity attack from you. You could stand up, but if you move more than five feet away from him, then he'll get an opportunity to attack from you. You could move here, which is just to the south of the Barbarian and next to one of these druids,

but you'd still be next to the other guys, basically. Yeah, I'll do that. I'll stay there then. Okay. And I'll cast Infestation on one of the guys near Irina. Let's see. There are two Druids and then the Berserker. Let's do the Berserker. Why not?

Okay. Let's do some of that. So there's a con save throw, 14. Con on the Barbarian, yeah? On the Berserker. Uh-huh. That's a 2. Plus 3 is 5.

Awesome. So that is a 1d6 of poison damage and it moves 5 feet in a random direction on a d4. So that's full damage, hello. And a d4 for the Direxion. Is this a cantrip, Ziki? It is, yeah. You're level 5, you guys?

Are you guys level 5? Level 7. So that's 2d6. You actually, because the cantrips go up. Yeah. You're true. So 9 damage. 9 points of damage.

And then it moves in a random direction. So what's that? The d4. West, 5 feet.. West five feet. West five feet. Okay. So he moves a step to the side away from Irina. So you see him like,

Oh, what is this? Oh, these creatures like stumbles to the side away from Irina. Irina would actually get an opportunity attack against him as well. When he does that, she will take, uh,

which she hits for. Which she hits. For... That's going to be eight points of damage to that guy. So as he stumbles away, Irena manages to, like, with her rapier, and it just, like, catches him in the back as he stumbles away, like, Anything else? I think she turns to Irena

and just goes, like, just run. Go. Okay, sure. And that'll be it, yeah. Taking your advice and with no more spell slots, Irena will at least try to help out a little bit. She'll target one of the druids beside her with her rapier for a hit and deal seven points of damage,

which will, if I go to the druids, one of them who was very heavily injured as it was, collapses to the ground like gasping at their throat, and then Irena will, I actually know she won't do that because then she can't disengage. She will disengage instead. I will give that man his hit points back and she will just disengage and book it 5 10 15 20 25 30 um and that's her turn yeah she's just

like she's not like she kind of looks at ziki uh and with a mixture of fear, but also sensing that, not a fear of her own death, but of something greater, she just nods and then just runs after Rose and Jasper into the woods. Rose, a scary man has run up to you in the woods.

Can I please... A big sword. Can I disengage and run? Yep. I'm going off here. Yeah, there.

And just keep going into... Further back where you came in the woods. Yeah. I want to kind of go into the woods. Yeah. And make sure that Jesper is following. Yeah, I want to kind of go into the woods, yeah, and make sure that Jesper is following. Yeah, I don't know. I can't get that far on the map, but consider me that way.

Yeah, you're going deeper into the woods, though, basically. That's the most important fact. I'm trying to lose them by using the terrain to my advantage. Okay. Yes. Okay. All right. okay yes okay all right is mark the lesser seeing Irena running into safety Zeke you just hear a kind of like very well

Irene Oh Ron and then he is just gonna charge towards the closest he's gonna take an opportunity attack he's just gonna try charge towards the closest he's going to take an opportunity attack he's just going to try and engage as many of them as possible so that if they run away he'll get an attack opportunity against them and he's just going to run in opportunity attack against him that is going to miss

as it strikes the back of his armor ripping free metal plates and then with a flail and a battle axe he just spins around like a dervish trying to strike as many of them as possible his first attack the barbarian parries his second one towards the druid impacts heavily uh you see the kind of flash of blood as the druid is sent sprawling to the ground this silvered flail just crushing his skull and then his third attack back on the barbarian is um kind of just rakes against his armor uh causing the battle axe to scrape down a thick red line

appearing on the barbarian's uh chest uh for another nine points of damage um and that is mark's go yes but yes burr is going to just kind of soak in the whole cinematics of it all seeing everybody tangled up uh dog's body and xeros missing presumed dead in action presumed everything lots of fire lots of injuries uh and it's just gonna keep pushing through the woods um yeah kind of um making sure irena is in his line of sight as well um so he's not gonna go and just kind of like making sure everyone kind of groups up and makes their way through the forest together i think yeah uh hoping for the best from ismark he's like seeing him in the very distance, behind some trees, engaging. It's like, you know, I mean, he's going to do that.

Kind of like in the middle of the way to Dog's Body, right? Like Dog's Body tried to run and engage as many of them as possible. Ismark's just trying to buy you time to get away. So, yeah, Jesper's just slinking into the forest, licking his wounds sort of thing. Okay. That's all he's going to do. In this case, the remaining creatures, sensing that at least some of their prey is going to get away,

are going to focus on the ones that they hate most, which is definitely the dragonborns in this case. Yeah. Ismark is surrounded by several of them. So is Ziki. Technically the barbarians don't get to move but the druids do.

So each of the druids Do they have any other melee attacks? I don't think they do, do they? Ziki, one of the druids moves up to you and you feel a similar burst of thunderous force. I need you to make- what is this? Constitution saving throw? Yep, constitution saving throw. Okey dokey. That is a 12.

A 12, uh, is just enough. You're gonna take half damage, I believe. Successful save, you take half damage and isn't pushed. This is at second level. So half of 18 is nine points of thunder damage. Yeah, easily down. Easily down. So this blast of force, even though you managed to kind of resist stumbling back,

the concussive force just kind of sends you sprawling to the ground. It's just like, yet another dragon has been slain! Slay them all, my brothers and sisters! We shall have our revenge! Meanwhile, this artist... Out of curiosity, did we in the woods

hear them shout that the two dragons had been slain? You hear, another dragon is slain, my brothers is dead. You hear another dragon is slain my brothers and sisters. You hear it echoing through the woods. As I go down? Yeah. Oh yeah. Can I say, I die with my brother. I hope he will rot in hell. And they just... Collapse to the ground.

I hope they don't, That's where I'm going. I don't know. Ismark is pummeled by these druids with these glowing court staffs that are just like pummeling him. And he's fighting so many, he's trying to parry and defend himself. But every time he turns,

one of them hits him in the side he turns to face that one they jab him in the ribs like they just they just pummel the crap out of him um i think he's already taken some damage uh in the previous fight as well um so that's going to be 10 not getting that he's still standing but you can just hear him just like, kind of just getting beaten on by these druids. Wow, that's one, two, three. Yeah, that's the three remaining ones. Dog's body. What do you do, my brother?

This is dog's body. You can hear all of this. You can see it. Feet of position, cry. Okay. Can I grab this gem? Yes.

And just pull it towards me. And I don't know. Dog's body doesn't know what it is. He saw one in Zeke's forehead. What the hell? The were-raven said something about the power of life. And he's just going to whisper with all his energy and his heart, just, please help.

And is there still a giant fire raging in front of him? Behind him now. So where you are, yeah. If you kind of turn your head away from the fight with your friends and those who are escaping if you look behind you yeah this giant wicker statue is still burning um it's smoldering away and you can see the various bodies scattered throughout it um dog's body is going to try and escape but i think i'm kind of thinking that i would like to like use the fire as as kind of like a bit of camouflage'm kind of thinking that I would like to use the fire as kind of like a bit of camouflage, like kind of

move around it and get behind into the stone circle. Yeah, and we'll almost try and go opposite where all the fighting is. Yeah, that'd literally be like moving around the Yeah, basically be moving

around the Wiccan statue into the stone circle. Yeah. Would he have seen people escaping into the woods? Would he have seen... Yeah, I think that you would have caught Irina and Jesper basically trailing off into there. Okay. So yeah, I kind of want to move, if we're looking at the map,

sort of clockwise around the fire But then sort of tail off towards the east It's half movement to stand up so you can go five without going into the fire ten fifteen twenty You can get to about here and then you could dash another 40 feet Sorry, 30 feet cuz you're slowed again. So you'd be you're not in uh werewolf form five ten yeah um you can basically hop over this stone wall like you're bleeding you're aching but with all of your strength you manage to kind of skirt around the wickerman pull yourself over this kind of crumbling waist high wall and you just kind of slump on the ground like all of your energy spent as you finish your turn clutching this gem and it's when you get onto the other side you look

over and there is just the still body of xeros partially blackened by flame um you can just see these hideous wounds like these gaping huge cuts like his body has been butchered um and you just see it as you kind of catch your breath and slump on the other side of the wall. The sound of fighting still echoing over the hill. Um, that's your turn. I'm guessing he's like super duper dead. You look at him and there's no way he survived.

The body looks butchered. Like cuts of him have been like ripped out. His skull has been bashed in. One of his horns is completely broken. It's dented his skull where the clubs come down. Right? What the hell?

I pissed you off recently. Further than a tree? A wicker tree? Yeah. I guess. I don't know I can't decide whether or not

to use my action to move further away because I'm just so aware that I'm very very in danger but I also kind of want to

like put Zeros in the fire so he can you know cremate you are out of actions I'm out of actions

am I oh because you moved and then dashed to get out of line of sight so okay yeah um sorry you had movement from standing up yeah no so you had half movement to stand up you your normal movement would have got you um like just it would have basically got you like here so if they turned around they'd still see you so my assumption is that you'd want to basically get to the other side so you're out of yeah out of sight basically um yeah in terms of

role play i know it's not strictly mechanical can i just crawl over to xeros's body and just sort of just well say that you are on your way you're like crawling over to him as your turn ends. After Dog's Body, the remaining barbarians move up to a Zeke corpse and also strike out at Ismark. I'll roll further attack on Ismark. Yep, that's a hit.

Whoop, and that's going to be nine more points of damage to is mark ziki uh you're unconscious you don't see the two barbarians looming over your body and just like they did to your brother stab down when ziki fully dies when ziki's third death saving throw triggers, there is an eruption of fire. An explosion that extends out and

catches pretty much everybody, narrowly missing Irena, but does catch Ismark. It is like a column of fire erupts from her body as the screaming face of some sort of devil emerges. It erupts, it incinerates pretty much all of the druids who are all on low health. I will roll to see if any of the barbarians survive. That's a success. I'll do as if this is a fireball.

26 points of damage. At least one of the barbarians and all of the druids are incinerated in this fire. Two of them stumble out, half scorched, badly burnt by these flames, as this inhuman, deep-voiced screech just erupts. screech just erupts. And yeah, that's what happens as this enormous eruption of fire explodes outwards. Ismark also appears to you. Ismark is thrown backwards

by the flame and does not move. He gets thrown back into the woods and just slams against a tree. His body all blackened. Probably half of his face where he's trying to turn away. Completely Harvey Two-Faced. Or like twisted, melted flesh. As he gets thrown backwards.

We are basically out of initiative. Unless you guys want to go back for certain things, because there are still two barbarians surviving. We'll stay in initiative for now. But yeah, that's Oziki. When you die, when you fully die, the last thing you hear, there's a moment where there's almost a...

You can feel these shadows trying to kind of surround you trying to keep your soul in this place but there is something else at work you can see red chains connecting you to a shadowy version of your brother's body and they are broken and as they are broken you feel this intense heat kind of through your soul explode outwards uh you hear only the faintest whisper of the mist-like figures that had surrounded you you have failed us your brother has ruined everything! And then you feel yourself pulled away. When you... You remember the pain of the wounds.

You remember the burning heat through your body. When you open your eyes again, you see Zeros. Zeros. Zeros you remember the pain of the blows of the weapons your body being butchered and then you open your eyes andovia instead around you are deep red skies filled with burning rain mountains bone white

skull like faces etched into their very mountainous nature and you can hear the terrible roar of war you are no longer in Barovia And you can hear the terrible roar of war. You are no longer in Barovia. Xeros, this is a place that you have seen once before.

As you stand in the plain of Avernus. However, I'm afraid that it is not perhaps as cool an ending as your forms begin to change and twist. Oh, here we go. Souls born back in Avernus do not remain in their normal state, especially souls that have been corrupted and turned evil. I just need to check something here. Because I am basically picking this up as I go. What am I going to be? A flump?

Well, you served as Modius fairly faithfully. What's the good's an applicable devil? One out of three objectives passed. Well, still. He sees value in you, so you would not have to come back as the lowest form. Lemur. Yeah.

Your bodies begin to shift and change. Zeros, the spikes and spines of your draconic form change from your kind of the lower part of your jaw. These great tendrils begin to form, spiked and shaped. Your muscles begin to twist and shape into more defined forms your eyes turn a thick black as you become a bearded devil um ziki's form is far transformation is far more dramatic her form shrinks the draconic uh feminine features vanishing away as she becomes a small twisted devilish little figure the size of you know perhaps a small child um evil fiendish wings extend from her back and a long serpent a scorpion

tail but her eyes remain the same pale blue that they always were as you are now both reborn as devils in the service of Asmodeus your souls his by definition of contract god damn god damn the last thing you would hear

it seems The last thing you hear. It seems that neither of you were up to my expectations. And now, Strahd may escape my little ploy. Still, two new servants for Avernus.

I will find a good place for you to work yet. And that is the last we hear of the dragonborn siblings. Shit! Make do with the devil, man. It doesn't always end very well as Ziki yeah you become an imp and Zeros is next to the bearded devil

I mean I feel like I got a better end of this deal than Ziki did I'll be honest yeah by finding her as a point as long as Zeros was alive and the contract was still in place ziki wouldn't have been able to be killed because the contract was that like you as modius would

protect ziki you made that part of your deal that like he would protect ziki um as soon as xeros died the contract was null but all of her actions under the contract and under everything else basically condemned her soul alongside yours. If anything, you do get to stay together. There is perhaps only the smallest bit of solace is that you are now together

forever, but both subjected to these new evil forms. Together forever. Nice. nice together forever we did it meanwhile back in the land of uh bal irena sees her brother thrown backwards and rushes to him like on her turn she's like is mark and then over, even though there's the sound of the explosion, the fighting,

she runs back and will try and stabilize Ismark. She succeeds with a medicine check of 13. Rose, you look back, you can see Irina has run to his body. You can see two of these barbarians staggering, smoking

and smoldering, lurching around in the aftermath of the explosion. What do you do? Can I take a couple of shots at the one that's getting closer to Irina and his mic? Absolutely. Please. Yep. Roll them individually, because these guys are low on hit points, you might kill

one with the first one. 20 for the first one, not natural. That hits, yep, that hits. Can I bonus action Slayer's Prey that before I do? Sure, absolutely, yep. I just have to remind myself of how things work. I think it's extra damage. Yeah, it is.

Okay, first of all, the main de- ah, I rolled a 1 on that, so that's 5 damage from the arrow, and then- oh, it's a d6, so- oh, and 6 damage from Slayer's Prey. Great. The arrow through the eye socket, and this smoldering, staggering corpse of a man just drops to the floor falls back down to the ground i'll she i'll switch my slayer's prey will go on to the other guy and i'll take a shot at him then which is uh 14 plus nine that hits to hit so five six seven eight That hits. To hit. So... Five, six, seven, eight, nine... Ten damage total. Oh. Not quite enough to drop him, but you see him stagger back. No, Master Venge!

I will serve the master! Ismark kind of, he like blinks open. Oh no, see, he's unconscious. He's stabilized. He's stabilized. He's not actually been healed. Jesper. I think Jesper is going to... There's one remaining, right?

It's just staggering around. Very heavily injured. You can see an arrow like sticking out of his chest. Like he's like, one of his arms has almost been burnt off and he's just like staggering like... And there's been an explosion. There's still like fire on the floor. Is there still hazardous terrain over there?

I wouldn't say hazardous terrain. The explosion was like a fireball. So it has ignited some of the grass, but it's pretty much just incinerated it and then it's just died down. Some of the trees around Ismark and Irena are burning. But I mean, this is going to, you know, it might start a forest fire,

but you've got a bit of time before that really comes in. I think he would have been observing this like behind a tree, waiting for everyone to catch up. So he'll move up to Irena and Ismark. And I think, well, he can't really do much at range. Considering his situation. No spells.

He's got a dagger he can throw at them. Sure. I mean, 5, 10, 15, 20. Yeah, it's disadvantage, but you can throw it. You can just like through the woods. Fizz off. Sure. That's the first roll.

Give me a second one. So a 14. Still hits. Sweet. So d4 plus dex. Seven. It's enough. You had six hit points left.

The arrow right in the throat. And you just collapse. Get away from her. Until, if we're out of initiative. And you are now out of initiative. Before we finish off with you guys, Dog's Body, as you're kind of like lying

there crawling towards Zeros, you do hear a kind of voice in your mind. A new one. Long have I waited for one who is worthy. My spear hungers for blood, buried in these stones. Take it, Roar these mountains like the mighty warriors from the early days of the Whispering War.

Warrior. Survivor. Beast. You are worthy. Uh, yeah, what about the rest of you guys i'm gonna call this new uh this new voice uh bob that'll be bob nice to meet you bob um sure yeah i i don't i'm unaware of dog's body situation so i think i'm gonna run over you think dog's body's dead by the way way. Like, you lost Zoran by being butchered. Run over to Zeke and see what remains of Zeke. Zeke's eyes have become pure black, her body lined with scorch marks in the symbol of Asmodeus. Does she still have the gem on her head? No, it has fallen.

A gaping wound is left in her head, and the gem is on the ground beside her. I'll pick that up. What was this all for? What was this thing? I don't understand. Why? for what was this what was this thing i don't understand why why waste it all for this you'll just hold up the gem you can sense immense magic from the gem yes but i mean you're a bard you're still connected to magic in the land um this thing radiates with the energy when you were at the

wizard of wines the energy of the the field the the land there resonates within this gemstone you can feel the same connection um what whatever good land that that exists in barovia this gem has created it um he's gonna pocket that it's a lot of hand style. Okay. Can I... I can heal Ismark because he's still unconscious, isn't he? He's unconscious, yeah.

I can cure him. Yeah, Irene, you can only stabilize him. Please do. He gets nine hit points. Nine hit points. One eye flutters open. The other one that's on the burnt side of his face just is kind of sealed shut.

But he kind of... One eye flutters open. He coughs up some blood. What happened, Irina? He's looking around and he sees his beloved sister. He's like, Irina, you're safe. What? Who survived?

Jesper? Us? I haven't seen Dog's body. They said something about slaying both of the Dragonborn. I don't think either of them survived. We cannot stay here. flame the fire strats minions will see it we need to leave fast we should see if dog's body is still here do it quickly

let me stand and he's kind of like pulling himself up with his weapons and irene is helping him up go you and jesper find him quick and then we must leave yeah i'd like to go and scout around the area in general because i have no idea where he is or if he's still there any threat so like you guys can just basically make your way up you drag yourself up to where you saw him fall and there is a load of blood on the ground but you don't see any sign of dog's body himself um you just see the smoldering pile of the wicker man but it does maybe look like there are two shapes uh on the other side two kind of uh humanoid shapes on the other side of the wicker man um i'll say i will go around. I'll catch up.

Wait, we don't know what's over there. And I'll cast invisibility on us both. Okay, you both kind of vanish from sight. My last spell slot. Okay. An hour of invisibility. You're invisible like me. I'll follow your tracks.

Okay, I'll carefully walk around the fire. Yeah, you guys make your way up there. And, I mean, what do they see, Dog's Body? Like, what's Dog's Body been doing? I think they see Dog's body? Like, what's Dog's body been doing? Like, you feel like it's almost this... Go on. I think they'd see Dog's body kind of just cut, bleeding, you know, heavy wounds, you know, singed hair,

just sitting exhausted with his back against the wall with Zeros' body just kind of in his lap and he's just sat there kind of staring at the sky just like with kind of grimy tear tracks down his eyes down his cheeks good boy

alive breathing but yeah that's what you guys see dog's body you do feel oh man it's weird ever since hearing that voice it's like it's like you can hear your own blood rushing through your body and something buried in the very center of the stone circle in the ground like you can there's something in there you can feel it like in your in your chest you can feel that there's something calling to you um within that that stone circle buried in the ground um i think i think dog's body would almost be like not sobbing like he wouldn't be making noise but just kind of like big wrapped breaths a mixture of

exhaustion and just just all this there's too much going on in him right now and he's just and he's gonna crawl to the middle of the circle and be muttering to himself must bury the dragon must bury the dragon and he starts digging where he feels he's being guided by his base instinct right so the voice probably is guiding him whether he thinks or not he thinks he's being guided by his base instinct so the voice probably is guiding him whether he thinks or not he thinks he's digging a grave for Xeros so like with these big scooping hands you're like carving

out the earth you know you've got big strong hands so it's just like you're ripping away the dirt Rose and Jesper you come up just as he's basically beginning to dig deeper down and your hand uh comes across it feels something dog's body uh it brushes through and you feel um like the tip of uh metal like something that like something metal in your hand like

grasp like something you know the your hand brushes up against it um yeah i guess i i'd grab it and and pull it out kind of leaving like uh you find that as you pull it free the earth collapses down and it reveals like a sarcophagus like not a sarcophagus but like a tomb like a bed like a grave like an open grave um and there is like very faint bone like remains but they've obviously very very very old they've all kind of um you know decomposed and disintegrated under this amount of earth but what comes free in your hands is a still beautiful long in some ways quite kind of primitive spear like it's a single shaft of wood with like a thick leather thronging around its main half you can see that like tiny red stones on a on a kind of thonging has been wrapped around the very

base of the spear but the tip uh is the kind of shiny steel but it is stained with blood even though this thing must be so old the blood the tip it almost looks like it's only freshly been stabbed into a body when you grip it you can feel kind of strength uh in your body you gain 2d6 temporary hit points you gain nine temporary hit points as your hands grip around it and you kind of you feel like life almost come through you're like as this power kind of surges into you. Probably fine. Yeah, I guess it would be one big gasp, and I'd stare at the spear,

but then stare back at Zeros's body that's next to me, and I'd be like, I'm sorry, this is the best I can do. I'm not safe here, but I'll find your sister. I'll look after her for you. And I'll push his body in the hole. Rose and Jesper, you see all this kind of watch this happen. Anything you want to say or do?

I think Rose will walk up seeing that dog's body is very badly injured still from all that's happened. And she'll just very gently probably put a hand on his shoulder as he's kneeling down and just cast a cure wounds into him as well. That would undo the invisibility as well. So you feel like this hand touch your dog's body and then you look up and see Rose there. Six hit points. Nice. I think on seeing this, like just seeing Rose

appear and touching him, Doug's body would immediately reel back like, but then realizing who it is, just stand up immediately and throw himself on Rose and give her the biggest hug. You're alive. You're alive. The others, where are they?

Are you okay? We should go. We can't stay here. We'll tell you about it on the way we need to go now we need to move not everybody made it please we don't have time Zeke he's gone he's just help me help me cover Xeros. No. No, I was going to find her. We have to go. Come on. And she'll just try and lead him away.

Can I reach down and just grab like anything from Zeros? Like, I don't know if he had a pendant or just something like a brooch. Just like, yeah. So one thing, as you're reaching down to grab something, no, and this is something you realize, you've not seen He Who Grins. You've not seen the sword.

It's nowhere. It's gone. Did Xeros have anything like a necklace or anything on him? I don't know if he did. Let's go look at the album now. God, I had a wedding band, that went weird strange wedding band i picked up ages ago that's true uh uh but i don't nothing that magical ring that you've been wearing this whole time yeah i yeah i want to say that as you go down you grip his hand, dog's body, and the only thing you can pull free is this ring. Honestly, if it's the only jewellery... Yeah, if it's the only jewellery he has, yeah, you see this.

And it almost doesn't seem like it would fit like Xeros, but yeah, you pull it free and it's this delicate wedding band, like this golden wedding band. Yeah. You pull that free. Because in his mind, he wants to take an emblem. He wants to take... Yeah, you wants to take remember your fallen comrades by right so if it's the only piece of jewellery

I'm going to take that and try and kick I'll be trying to kick that over him as Rose is like pulling Thog's body away so like you kind of reach down as Rose is pulling you away and you just slip it off his finger and it kind of comes into your grip and you kind of clutch that as Rose is pulling you away and you just slip it off his finger and it kind of comes into your grip and you kind of clutch that as you're being led away.

And I think that we'll leave it with the sight of Rose. I'm assuming you're going to lead them down into the woods to rejoin Irina and Ismark. Yes, but you kind of follow him invisibly. The last thing Dog's body sees is just Ziki's body lying there in the kind of scorched earth as you are led deeper into the woods to escape. And that's where we end

Curse of Strahd today! Holy shit. I feel bad for Tom. How did any of us get out of that, though? That's amazing. I genuinely don't know. I thought Jesper was a goner for sure.

I'll say this. I always thought that Rose and Jesper would get away. When Jesper moved up into combat, I was like, oh no, Jesper's going to die too. I was like, Rose is going to be the only survivor. The natural 20 from dog's body. But she wouldn't have left him though. She would have gone back and healed him. Yeah.

Ziki's like, no, must die, let go of me. I love it. He says I and that's the thing is it makes absolute character sense that ziki would not have left there knowing that zeros was dead like a hundred percent but like i yeah and yes but going in because he didn't know he was dead he moved up to try and save him made all of it made such great role play you guys made the best decisions for your characters you didn't met a game it i'm super role play you guys made the best decisions for your characters you didn't metagame it i'm super proud of you uh it was a really good fucking episode i do feel bad tom basically spent two hours doing anything well but when you're on one hp and surrounded by bad guys and a flaming wicker man i'm like i'm not quite sure what would have

done so i mean if there was ever a way to go, it's like that. Blaze of glory. I mean, you basically, yeah. I mean, like if you hadn't caused all the damage by the falling Wicker Man and stuff, I don't know if anybody would have made it out of that as well. And like you all did very, you know, good, smart things. So, yeah.

Yeah. Well, Tom and Ray, please have a think about new characters to play. New characters, yeah. yeah yeah well please have a think about new characters to play new characters yeah but oh it's my favorite the favorite thing of curse of Strahd was probably coming up with a character with re and now I get to do that again good No, no, no. We can do it. The two-headed booger. Good for a one shot, not for a campaign, please. Chat is like screaming tortles, two tortles, tortle twins. Yes.

They're screaming that. I feel like doing brother and sister are like twins again. You've kind of done that. I'd like to see a new idea. You know, I'm like, what new thing can tom and reed come up with um a traveling circus duo i love that i love that so much that sounds amazing that sounds father and son i could be felix and you could be navi and if dog's body has died he'd be dad

felix navi's dad's dad oh my god very very cool yeah like i can talk to you guys about some of the opportunities like whether you guys want to play characters that are from barovia or characters that have come into barovia again like maybe new adventurers have been led in by other vistani from other worlds maybe they're like um people that were trapped here like it's up to you like maybe new adventurers have been led in by other vistani from other worlds maybe they're like um people that were trapped here like it's up to you like maybe you want to play vistani like jesper is like that's totally cool too like we could come up with something from that as well um if you guys wanted to come with something uh you two playing like a pair of cool tieflings

would be pretty cool um carnival tieflings that would be pretty dope like carnival that would be pretty dope carnival halflings carnival halflings maybe we'll talk about it we'll talk about it you've got a week to think about it and then the rest of you survive yet another

deadly encounter in Curse of Strahd that encounter is horrible, by the way. Like, that is set in the book, and against a party of your level, that is an awful encounter. That's really deadly. I know this was a while back. I just want to remind everyone

that Xeros did almost make a deal with them to go and hunt down the were-ravens, and you were all like, wow, Xeros, what a dick move. I want to remind you of that. And then Zeki was like, entangle. Run away. Yeah, but the were-ravens were friends.

Oh, yeah. We're not dead. That's a tough argument. We're going to give them their gen back and it's fine. I mean, I genuinely don't know how rose and jesper would have managed to get past yet another dragonborn nightmare of what's just happened so i'm kind of like well at least we don't have to do that at least maybe you can all be on the same sides now maybe honestly i think you guys oh yeah you guys have actually been saved from a

fate worse than Strahd with Zeros just dying there. Oh my god. Let me tell you, Tom had a big old secret private meeting with me where Asmodeus told him a lot of things. And of course

Zeros never told any of you what those things were. Nope. a lot of things and of course Zeros never told any of you what those things were so oh god nope yeah let's just say Zeros could have been worse

than Strahd anyway well thank you very much we will see you on Sunday for Arois our other main D&D show and then Curse of Strahd

back next week hopefully thanks for joining us and we will see you all next time bye bye bye

bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye Curse of Stride back next week, hopefully. Thanks for joining us and we will see you all next time. Bye!