High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Curse of Strahd #5 | Road to Vallaki

Episode Date: May 12, 2020

Swearing vengeance and demanding answers the party head forward to Vallaki! Support the High Rollers and get early access to podcast episodes (and more) on our Patreon: www.patreon.com/HighRollers Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pickaxe. rogers with uber reserve you can book your uber ride in advance 90 days in advance perfect for all you forward thinkers and planning gurus reserve your uber ride up to 90 days in advance uber reserve see uber app for details welcome friends to high rollers presents the curse of strad a gothic horror adventure of chills thr thrills, and many blood spills. I am your Dungeon Master, Mark Humes, and the players joining me are as follows. Chris Trott as Jesper the Vistani Bard Kim Richards as Shadows Beyond the Veil, a Tabaxi Cleric Katie Morrison as Rose Vanandi the Human Ranger Tom Hazel as Xeros Mistan, the Dragonborn

Fighter, and Rhiannon Gower as Zeke Mistan, the Dragonborn Sorcerer. Last time on Curse of Strahd, horse hooves clatter against dreary dirt roads as the sun slowly begins to rise on Barovia. But as our travellers make haste towards the town of Valaki, a dark shape begins to loom ahead of them. Thousands of bats take on the form of their vampiric master, as Strahd's visage tears towards our heroes in a terrible fury. Escaping the beasts of Strahd,

our party find themselves exploring an old mill discarded and abandoned. Inside, they discover a tragic tale of foul actions beyond the sanity of any living being, and a promise is made to avenge

the dead. In the early overcast light of day, they find a few hours to rest. And I believe that we agreed at the end of last session you all were taking a long rest.

I should do that. You should do that. And on top of that, let's see, we've got five five players i'm going to roll a d6 and we will go we'll have riannon as one and then we'll go counterclockwise around to kim who will be five ah perfect so that would be katie morrison you were the last one actually so we'll skip one uh and we'll go with Zeros.

You had a thing last time. Zeros, can you make a perception check for me? You are technically sleeping, so let's make it with disadvantage. Oh, cool. Cool. Well, the first one was a 21. Next one is a 9, Mark. Next one is a 9.

Zeros. You startle awake. Vague memories of a haunting nightmare linger in your mind. A formless shadow pursuing you through the streets of Barovia, blood dripping from long fingernails. Each drip as loud as drum beats in your ears but your mind comes to sensing some other threat you startle awake the old mill is dim and only the hazy gray light streaking through dirty windows and narrow cracks in the wood of the broken door let in any light. Everyone else is sleeping, worn out from your long journey.

And then you hear it. A slow, rhythmic grinding, scraping against stone and the creak of wood. Sweat runs down your neck. Your hands tighten at the sound, ready to fight. Then something grabs you from behind. Their strong grip pins your arms against your chest and they begin smothering you in a white, thick powder

that slimily sticks to your skin and coats every scale of your body. You catch glimpses of three women in dresses made of human flesh, manic red eyes cackling as you feel yourself crushed and squeezed into a tight black space. And then you hear the sound of flame, and a red-hot glow begins to surround you baking you alive then you wake up for real this time you see the rest of your group beginning to gather themselves for the morning okay i feel like that was way worse than my one i i don't like that oh that was so cool creepy i mean you saw your own body right i i i was i saw myself dying well you felt yourself being baked alive yes um yeah i mean sure uh so wait everyone's up

yes yeah the people seem to be getting ready uh people are making their preparations you started your long rest basically at dawn so it's gonna be sort of late morning i guess um by the time everybody is fully rested and has recovered themselves uh ready to hit the road irena and Ismark are still with you. As you will gather in the very bottom layer of the old mill. The old bone grinder. Damn it is. So yeah, what's everyone else doing?

You see Zeros kind of like startle awake, you know, having been left to sleep a little while longer. But what's everyone else doing? I think Jesper would be probably struggling to sleep in such

strange circumstances, so he would have had a probably sleeping in right now, and actually he manages to get to sleep at this point because he's got a lot on his mind the Vistani camp you know being rejected by Strahd and you know Madame

Eva dying and yeah just pretty bad things going on so he's a little bit rattled but he's sleeping lightly you can hear some faint snoring it's been like an on off sleep you know it's the kind of sleep where you feel yourself drifting off and then snap back awake as more things kind of plague your mind um but yeah you see jesper snoring softly in the corner what about shadow what's shadow doing kim

she will be back in a moment right now i'm fixing it she's not with us right now. I'm fixing it in the background. Oh, she's not with us. Continue. Okay, nice. What is Rose doing then? I would imagine that she has probably, when she's had some rest, will go to the door of the windmill and just sort of keep an eye on just the distant surrounding areas and just be sort of thinking to herself, but just observing. Okay, make a perception check for me. Okay. She's back. Oh my God.

Quick update. Oh no! Five. Rose, you scan the road. You don't see anything that would indicate any immediate danger. The trees rustle in the soft wind. You can see dreary, thick grey clouds cover the sky overhead. The light here is faint at best um despite it being morning and always the mists

just lingering on the very edges of the forest seeping into the ground in that uh mild you know in the sort of like uh misty morning you know just these low rolling clouds of mist forming along the hills um but you don't see any sign of movement. Not yet. What is Zeke doing, Rialan? I think Zeke probably didn't sleep very well. I imagine she's

sitting on the floor just trying to keep busy. So I imagine she's just sketching furiously, just trying to zone in on some other activity to keep busy so i imagine she's just sketching furiously just trying to zone in on some other activity to keep her mind just focused on one thing and not worrying about previous events you've got like a like a like a big leather sketchbook or something and you're just drinking what was ziki drawing what what things is she drawing in her in the book i think she's gonna try and think back to like the vistani camp the energy there

try and draw on some positive energy she's experienced and try and sketch something nice and try not to focus too much on the current surroundings okay yeah yeah you try and draw that night around the vistani camp around the fire, the colourful Vistani with small amounts of coloured pencils. You can kind of give them shades of colour, reds and yellows and oranges, like Jesper wears. The flames of the fire itself kind of illuminating and brightening up those colours. And then drawing the lake and the horses in the background.

Yeah, you busy yourself with that kind of sketch. Yeah, sure. Shadow, what's shadow doing shadow is sitting very still in a corner yeah just watching uh yeah i think to be honest she's probably actually kind of okay with these surroundings and the fact that they're little ghost children running around. She lives in a graveyard in the Feywilds. Yeah, the dead don't bother you. Yeah, they don't bother me.

Other people bother me. Yeah, sure. Yeah, you see Zeke sketching. You see Rose kind of keeping a close eye. Irina and Ismark, you can see them pulling out small amounts of just, like, trail rations that they managed to bring with them from

a small leather bag. They share a water skin between them, and they kind of just talk nervously. Mainly, you know, Ismark is like, yes, it should take us a few more hours to reach Valakiv. It should be okay. I think we've got some supplies.

I brought some of our money, so if we need to buy more things in Vallaki, we can buy a few days more food. If necessary, I can maybe find some work there to earn some more coin. Irene is kind of just like, yes, I think that there's an inn there, I remember. Perhaps I can get some work there.

They're just kind of communicating in a very brotherly and sisterly way um kind of reassuring each other that everything's going to be okay and then xeros you you startle awake from this this strange incredibly vivid dream and it's got that awful sensation of you thought you had already been dreaming and then you've woken up again and there's that are you am I still dreaming is this another dream like there's that uncertainty of yeah for a second that was real I guess

like um so I guess yeah as I start away like have I guess I've still got the ring right you do yeah it's currently in your pocket. No, you need to identify it first. You have to get it identified because at the moment, you know it's a magic ring.

Same with the dagger, you know it's magical. But until you identify its properties, you can't attune to either of them. Because I was thinking that if I am like pulling myself out of the dream, almost physically pulling myself out, like I reach out I guess instinctively Like I reach out, I guess instinctively I would reach out for Ziki,

but I'm wondering if the ring would kind of interfere with that in any way. And instead. The ring doesn't interfere your thoughts. It's more that when you are not near Irina, there's just this sense of sadness. There's this sense of loss a sense of not accomplishing something that was very important to you like a failure a feeling of failure but only when you're far away from irena in the same room that feeling isn't there and actually there's this kind of comfort there's a feeling of a sense of belonging but it doesn't cause you to

like reach out to her and said unless you think xeros would do that like the ring doesn't make you do that but maybe xeros does like there's this kind of thing subconscious i think xeros xeros would reach out for ziki that's what i meant is if the ring super spike got in the way of that at all but yeah i would it doesn't reach out like the one ring yeah and then uh i guess realize where i am and for a second there is like fear in his eyes like his eyes are wide open and he's like a little bit of gate and kind of like not looking like he normally does at all where he's just got this sort of glare on his face all the time. And I guess once he realizes where he is, he'll then sort of lean back and just be annoyed that he was the target of,

I guess, what he considers to be one of Strahd's games. Sure. And almost just, like, pretend it didn't even happen. Just be like, okay. I think the two people that notice that the the the people that notice the fear everybody sees you go to your your angry you know this is a xeros is almost very always angry it seems like he has a very stern look so that doesn't surprise anybody but i think shadow and yes but based on your passive insights the two of you see that flicker of intense fear there's this this fear in xeros's

eyes that is very quickly masked or covered up by anger um but the two of you would pick up on the fear based on your passive insights i believe um yeah and well you're all now awake um You have a day ahead of you, so I hand it over to you. Friends, sorry. I only just got some sleep at the end. I assume you all struggled with the environment. But we should make way to Vallaki as soon as possible.

Daytime! And I say that with the most hesitation ever. It's not even safe. So, the wagon is the safest place. Let's get going, right? It looks clear outside at the moment. But yes,

we should make a start on the journey. Alright, I'll get the horses ready. Feel free to meet me by the wagon. First come, first serve for seats and I'll just head out towards the Nellie and Fatato give a little

zhuzh your draft horses that pull your wagon are you know accounted for looks like Ismark brought them to the sides of the windmill and tied their harnesses to a rotten

wooden stake that's been put in the ground. It looks like it was maybe a fence once, but it's long since dilapidated. But he's kind of loosely tied the harnesses. The wagon itself has been pulled in just to the side off the road itself and kept hidden behind the windmill.

Ismael just looks over and he's just like, I hope you don't mind, Jesper, but I thought that whilst you were exploring it yesterday, I should move it over and keep it off the road. My negligence. Thank you so much for looking after them. I didn't think. That's okay.

Are you doing well? I think so. I'll be safer once we're inside Vallaki's okay. Are you doing well? I think so. I'll be safer once we're inside Valaki's walls. They have guards and walls and lots of houses. And from what I hear, Strahd has avoided the place. Sorry, he says the devil has avoided the place. I feel much safer when we're there. Mark, I like your optimism.

And it fuels me. I appreciate that. What does worry me, though, is why Strahd himself would avoid such a place. Can it be worse? I don't think so. No, I think that it's just full of people. But, I mean, even the devil has his limitations, yes. But he still can't enter places where he's not invited.

And enough men, enough people, or enough men and women with good swords and good arms. I mean, he cannot fight an army by himself. He's still just one man. A very powerful creature he is. But even the devil must fear something. And there's a holy man. There's a church in Vallaki. The Morning Lord still has some power

in these lands, diminished as it may be. I hope so. I hope so. I look forward to its walls. Is Irina doing okay? Yeah, she's fine. And as you say that, Irina comes up behind Ziki and you can see

Irina is looking at your kind of sketchbook as you're sketching Ziki and she just leans over and seems to just be watching you it's quite it's very good it's lovely artwork that you've done oh thank you it's

been a struggle to try and channel some energy that's keeping me going with this. But I'm trying my best. As long as I'm drawing, then Lyra is with me and I can keep doing as she taught me. Who is this Lyra? Is that a god from where you are from? She is. She's the joy bringer, as she's known. She's the patron of joy, I suppose. She brings happiness to everyone.

She ensures that everybody is... I guess as long as people are celebrating the joys of life then that keeps her happy so I try and do what I can every day she sounds wonderful I only wish that we had such a goddess here in Barovia it would be good to have somebody

like you around to try and spread joy it's something that we have not enough of here. And until perhaps we are rid of things, but I'm glad. And like I said, your artwork is quite lovely. If you ever have any time,

I realized that all the photos and the paintings of Ismark and myself, they were all in the house. If you wouldn't mind, and the paintings of Ismark and myself. They were all in the house. If you wouldn't mind, I could give you some money or something like that but it would be quite nice to have something of my brother and I. Well, there's no need to pay. I'd love to do it for you.

It would be brilliant. It would be so much fun. Of course, I wouldn't be happy to. She kind of puts a hand on your shoulder um and helps you up um you don't see this ziki but as you close the sketchbook where you've been drawing this vistani camp the scene of the night time perhaps only the spirits that watch your adventures see this but as you close the book, without you even realizing you had drawn it,

in the back, looming out of the shadows of Madame Ava's tent, a figure with red eyes just staring. As the book closes. Ruin the joy. Not even your drawings are safe Zeke Zeke that's cool

you are all let outside what's the order who's traveling with who you've got the two riding horses and then the wagon who wants to go where I'll take the reins today is Mark so I'll be on the riding to go where? I'll take the reins today, Mark.

So I'll be on the riding seat. Yeah. So on the wagon you've got a seat next to Jesper. So the front of the wagon you can have two people sat. The back of the wagon the previous canvas covering has been kind of shredded by a lot of the bats. It will still protect you from like most things like rain and stuff like that but it's got a lot of the bats um it will still protect you from like most things like

rain and stuff like that but it's got a few holes and patches in it now um and there's enough seats for like four people in the back of the wagon um and then yeah you've got the two horses as well but where do folks want to be not that it's going to be important i could take one of the horses yeah so you want to just do what you had before so like Rose and Shadow on a horse Ismark and Irina on a horse and then the two dragon siblings with Jesper in the wagon do you just want to do that

I'll go where Rose goes I'm seeing lots of noddies in that case that is what happens you set off from the the broken mill that you had been resting in. And you begin to travel the roads. When you look outside, when you step outside and you look up, there are no ravens present.

the road turns north as it turns into a faint dirt track that weaves curves in on itself like a winding snake trapped around the forest's edge the path winds its way along these ancient woods. And for several hours, it is just you and the road. A faint, dismal grey rain begins to fall. The soft, pitter-patter of the raindrops hitting against wood and your armour and the soaking smell of wet horsehide fills your noses as you continue this dull journey. Eventually, the road turns to the west and begins making its way down an old, semi-cobblestoned trail through a thick set of woodland. The trees on either side, like before, are these gnarled, twisted branches.

And they seem ancient and thick. Very few paths or trails linger here. Occasionally you see the sign, the odd sign of lumber, where trees have been cut down, and odd red bloodstains stain the grass around the stumps.

It is not long as you travel down this road that a sound echoes. And it is a sound that one person in the group in particular knows all too well, because it is the howling of wolves as a large larger than you have seen before wolf comes charging out of the scrubland as fast as the swiftest horse and

attacks let us roll initiative it just jumps us it jumps you as if as if anticipating you to be here. Oh, wow.

These rolls. Coming in thick and fast. Zeke, your initiative. Oh, God. That is a five in total. Five total. Jasper, nine. Five total. Jesper.

Nine. Nine total. Shadow beyond the veil. Nine. Nine total. Okay. Rose. Nine.

Nine. Nine. Nine. Zero. Four. Oh, my god. And Irina completes the set

with a six. Look at that. Oh boy. Okay. Amazing. Right. I have to do a lot of rolls by myself because so many of the NPCs are going first. In fact, all of the monsters and horses

go before any of you guys. So bear with me. Horses, guys. Slower than horses. Bear with me. The direwolf comes charging and setting its eyes upon the kind of more thickly built and slower paced draft horses anelion fatado will pounce on to nelly uh trying to

bite sink its giant jaws into her flesh uh which it does so um it bites down deep and tries to drag Nellie to the ground as it does so. She will need to make a strength saving throw. This is where Mark just does a ton of rolling by himself. So the wolf latches on to the one of the wagon's horses and tries to bear it to the ground. But the horse, its immense strength, keeps itself upright. But you can see it's now the fear in its eyes, its nostrils flaring, its breath comes out like

steam as the wolf has latched on and carved a huge chunk out of its flesh on the neck. And it just kind of barrels down on towards it. Nellie herself will try and kind of stomp towards the wolf with her hooves. Wouldn't it be great if the horses just took the wolf down,

and we're just sitting there like... The hooves come smashing down towards the ground, but the wolf nimbly kind of throws itself backwards. The other horse, Furtado, fortunately, because it is lashed to the wagon by the reins cannot get onto that side to help and it's just rearing up the horses both kind of nearly coming to a full stop um in their panic as they as they uh reach for the air um the horses that you're currently riding on rose and shadow um will just keep running um all of this is, you're all still

moving at the time, it's not going to take any offensive actions because it will need to turn around to be able to get within striking distance of the wolf itself Ismark on the other horse will turn back he'll kind of like look back and just go like, ah

direwolves, we won't be able to outrun them, we need to try and we need to try and slay them uh and he'll begin pulling his sword free and he'll begin turning his horse around um which is just in time to see another horse come barreling out of the undergrowth on the other side as it rushes towards the wagon horses as well um In fact, actually, I can move you guys to here. Oh, horse map! Horse map.

Is that another wolf that comes out or another horse that comes out? No, it's another wolf comes out. Ah. This is a very crudely drawn map. Bear with me. out. This is a very crudely drawn map. Bear with me. That's cool.

That represents character. You guys should be able to move all of your tokens if you can't. Let me know. Yeah. So the other wolf comes barreling out the other side and rather than trying to go for the horse on the other side, rather than trying to go for uh the fatado the horse

on the other side it comes around the front of the wagon and will try and strike nelly as well almost acting together in a pack formation uh the two wolves uh leap upon their their desired prey uh in one swell one fell swoop and again it sinks its teeth in and poor Nellie is born to the ground as she would. Sorry, what? Is Nellie dead? Oh my Nellie.

Yes. As a beast does, I'm not going to give horses death saving throws unfortunately. Spare the dying? Yeah, I might let you spare the dying. I might let you. We'll see what happens. But yeah,

the two wolves, both wolves come barreling out of the undergrowth in a charged run. They leap onto the horse and just sink their teeth into her neck and drag her to the ground uh trot can you make a dexterity saving throw for me please uh did it do it do another one

that was a natural one in a you see this beloved horse go down and in your mind you know that you need to try and cut her harness before her tipping over takes the whole wagon to jack knives the whole wagon but whether it's the shock of seeing this beloved animal die whether it's all the stress and pressure of the previous 24 hours you just don't reach it quickly enough. The whole wagon jackknives, Zeros, Ziki, and Jesper, you all end up prone on the side of the road as the wagon is thrown

to the side. Holy shit. Rose! No, you don't take damage, but you are prone. So you're just kind of thrown out as the wagon spins on its axle. I'm going to... You can continue running if you'd like.

No, I'm gonna turn the horse and shoot one of the wolves. You cannot use your bow while you are guiding the horse, because you'll have two hands to guide it. Even if I keep it still? If I stop the horse?

If you want to stop the horse, make an animal handling check just to see how much control you have over the animal to bring it to a full stop in the presence of predators. Oh, hang on. Hang on. I believe. Hang on, love. Yeah on. I believe. Hang on, love.

You can do. 17. Yeah, okay. Yeah, it's enough. Yeah, you kind of... You guide the horse around. You keep her calm long enough with pressure of your thighs to stay in position and not run away.

You let go of the reins, pull out your bow, and yeah, you can take aim. Go for it. I will bonus action... Slayer's Prey. Slayer's Prey that's the one I'm flipping between which one do you want as Slayer's Prey

do you want Slayer's Prey the first one okay so the second one to act cool no doubt no doubt 14 to hit 14 will still hit

yeah 14 still hit the wolf thank goodness for that um da da da da da 5 damage with the bow and then another one with slayer's Prey. Wow. Rolling like trash today.

You are all rolling like trash. The arrow comes flying out. It embeds into the dire wolf's thick hide. It turns around and with blood-soaked jaws staining its white fur, it just... as it turns its eyes towards

you, Archer. So, Shadow Beyond the Veil. You are on the same horse. I will turn it around for you on the map while you take your go. Can I cast a spell and then a cantrip as a bonus action? Never been a pure spellcaster before, so I can't remember the rules. So, that's right, because Spare the the dying is a bonus action for you isn't it as for me the way it works is if you cast a regular spell as a bonus action you can only

cast a cantrip with your action so yes you can cast a regular spell and then cantrip bonus action because that's not covered by the rules so i'll'll say yes. In which case, can I cast Guiding Bolt at level 1 on the wolfie that Rose just shot? Yes, we'll call that Wolf B. Wolf B. Wolf Bernard.

Where's my fucking dice? I just had you up. There we go. So it's a ranged spell attack. 21 to hit. That will definitely hit, yes. The streaks I just had you up. There we go. So it's a ranged spell attack. 21 to hit. That will definitely hit, yes. The streaks of purple scarab-y light.

Golden. And then it's 16 points of radiant damage. Sends it sprawling but does not finish it off. You can see these kind of burn scorch marks of energy um and it's hide and it does seem to kind of like whip its head round in in the frightened aspect of a beast but it's not dead and then can i cast um spare the dying on nelly so because of

my grave cleric um ability i can cast it at a range of 30 feet yeah let me ask you a question kim do you think your mistress and you know who your mistress is do you really think she is going to give a shit about this horse i think seeing the despair on yes for his face and so in your prayer is that is that what you're channeling you're like you know that this will despair Jesper and you want to save him that pain I would probably channel the

feeling and the fact that we are in such dangerous lands and it is clear that these animals are crucial to us getting to where we need to go and the longer we're on the road the more dangerous it is. And also, look at what poor Jesper's been through. No, that's fine.

You cast your spell and you feel a chill kind of run through your body as you channel the dark energy of this of not only your magic, but you can feel that this land there's a strange

magic here is definitely influenced by this realm as well and as the energy of the the spell hits the horse where it touches you see its hide turns black uh as if it was a black colored horse but it's it's a chestnut brown you see it kind of spread this dark black patch but the wounds do seem to stem their bleeding and it is stabilized um you can see yeah thanks babe yes but uh how aware am i of what the hell shadow just did to my horse no you have no idea yeah it looks like you just fired some blank shit on my horse i i would say in yesper's condition no you saw shadow blast the wolf and it was hit by this golden rays of light and then you saw her

cast a spell and the wound stopped bleeding okay but. But you don't know the extent of like, yeah, the, anything else. Uh, I think in a fit of rage and despair, shouting No! Nelly, no! I'll run over and just slam into the wolf with my rapier and dagger.

So this is the one directly in front of you, basically. The first one that attacks you? Whichever one is closest to you. If it's Wolf B, you get advantage. It is not. I'll be hitting A. Somebody else gets that advantage.

I will name them. 23 to hit. Alpha. That will hit. Seven points. 24 for the dagger. Six piercing. Six piercing.

So both blows come striking in. The direwolf's hide is thick. The rapier barely, with all your strength, you kind of have to plunge it through into its paw. Then the dagger cuts a long part of its tendon across its chest. Its fur is matted. It's covered in sort of like a dark mud and filth. And the blade cuts,

but you can still see the creature is well within its fighting condition as you do so. Anything else, Jesper? I don't believe I can do anything else, but... Body Conspiration, is that a bonus? I believe it is! Bardic Inspiration is indeed a bonus action.

In which case, I will look to Ziki and say I need you! I need your joy right now! Please! Assist us! And give you some bardic inspiration.

So it's a d6 to something. I think you can use it on attack rolls, saving throws, or ability checks. And you can add that extra d6. And it lasts like 10 minutes, so you don't have to use it right away. Awesome. Okay.

Irina will see what's going on and she will turn around and do her best to uh assist in the fight as well um she doesn't have a ranged weapon uh so she will hold she'll basically hold her action for ismark taking her close enough that she can strike but she kind of pulls out a rapier and is aiming it down on the side of the horse as she waits for Ismark to kind of kick the horse into its position. Ziki.

Hello. Hello. So with sorcery points, I can twin spell. Can I cast Maximilian's Earth earth and grasp and twin spell it so the thing with twin spell is you look at the original spell if the original spell can hit is is one creature is the target you can twin it because it's basically twinning is adding another target if it affects a radius or an area, you can't twin it.

It says unoccupied space on the ground that you can see within range. Okay, so it does... So you couldn't twin that. Okay. Because if you placed it in a certain point, you might be able to hit both of them. So what's the range of the Maximilian's Earth and Grass? What does it say? Like one creature within a five-foot radius? Creature within a five foot radius

of it, yeah. You could place that. I'll freehand draw it. If you put it here, you can hit both wolves. Then I would like to do that, please. Yeah, cool. What do I need to do? Is this a saving throw

on my part? You need to make a strength save. A strength save of 12. Do you have any other meta magics like that you want to use with it so things like maximize or anything like that i've got twin spell and i've got subtle spell okay so yeah subtle spell is not really as relevant here um okay so strength saving throws what dc am i trying to be it's a, right. So that is an 8 for Direwolf A. And that is a 18 for Direwolf B. So A fails, B succeeds. Okay, so Wolf A needs to take 2d6 of bludgeoning damage

and is restrained for the spell's duration. So 2d6. Blah blah blah. So that's 7 damage total. 7 damage to A? And then... To A, yeah. And then is it just half or does

B take nothing? B takes nothing. And then Wolf A has to make a strength save again to be released of the restraint. Okay. What does this look like when Zeke casts it? I imagine it says here the component is like a miniature hand sculpted from clay. So I imagine she has like one of those reference hands that artists use.

And she just like, she bends the fingers into a fist and then uses that as like a draw to bring this hand out of the earth. And you just see it kind of reach up. It grabs the first dire wolf and crushes its front leg and you just watch as like all the stone and mud kind of cripples around it and it's holding onto the leg as well.

It's literally got the leg in its grip and you can see the wolf is trying to pull itself free as it does so. Do you want to move or any bonus action, Tiki? You'll have 15 foot of movement. I should need to stand up. I think I'll stay where I am, actually. Okay.

Do you want to stand? I'm assuming you stand up, though. Yeah. I'll stand up, yeah, yeah. Okay. Zeros, you are up. Well, with 15 feet of movement, I can't get to any of the wolves, so I have to stand up first. I can get there, and then I will just ready an action if anything comes close.

Actually, you know what? I'm going to throw a hand axe. Okay, yeah, you can pull a hand axe out. Yeah, how does that work, throwing it? Do I just use a regular roll? It's an attack. You make an attack with it. Whatever your attack bonus is. Yeah, it's just an attack bonus with whatever it says. So there you go. 13.

13 is not enough. The wolf... Oh, which one are you attacking? Because both of them you have advantage against. So roll again. It doesn't matter which one because if you attack A or B you have advantage. One's restrained, one's going in bolt. 18.

Like a Christmas tree. Which one? A or B? I'll go for B because that's the untouched one right now, isn't it? Or the one that the melee's not on. No, they've both been injured. They've both been injured. I'll still go for b anyway all right um so the one the guiding light of shadow's spell um helps pull the hand axe to it as you kind of throw it over uh nelly's body um and the axe

digs into its neck and just stays there as the wolf is like flashing around desperate to try and make its escape perhaps end of your turn okay wolf A will I think it'd be quite enraged it will attack Jesper I don't think that these things

are necessarily going to even when restrained you guys don't have any fire out, so they're not scared. So yes, but that is a 24 to hit you. Yeah. Yeah, I might do it. You take Jesus Max. Perfect damage.

Wow. Wow. Thank you. Man, my rolls. They're always there when I need them. 15 points of piercing damage as this wolf bites hard onto your arm and shoulder crunch um uh and then yeah that's its action so it can't it can't get away it can't move um it kind of just attacks with these blood red like bloodshot eyes in this kind of bestial

fury um uh fotado will basically spend its its movement to try and right itself um and then it just tries pulling away from the wagon in a panic um let me roll a strength chest but it doesn't quite manage to get free it's kind of half trapped under connected to nelly's body and it just can't break free of the the restraints uh the things around it uh is mark on his turn will basically ride his horse alongside um the restrained wolf and him and irena will both take slashes at it as the horse kind of goes running past um so is mark will make an attack with his long sword which will hit uh doing seven points of damage and then irena will do the same thing god too many npcs mark humes irena's attack oh she has advantage i should have checked for that doesn't matter matter. Even with the restraining, Irina just...

The movement of the horse throws her aim off and her rapier goes wide. Unable to completely connect in the attack itself. The second direwolf, fearing its companion, will... They're pretty selfish. They do work as a as a pack though but it's also quite injured i think the other one is going to be no i think well one of them can't run away but this one does the second dire wolf basically sprints off into the thick woodland, leaving behind the other wolf, seemingly to die.

As it vanishes into the thick brushland. Rose! Zeke has this other wolf still restrained. I'm guessing I can't see the one that just ran into the thick trees. You can. It's heavily obscured, so you'll have disadvantage against it. Okay.

Now, I will take a shot at the one on the ground with advantage, since it's restrained. It is. You don't get your Slayer's Prey against this one, though. Because that was the one that just ran off. Oh my god! Oh my god. Oh my god. That's not a hit.

No, even restrained. The horse bucks at the wrong moment, and the arrow just thuds into a tree nearby, as it takes the wrong opportunity to kind of panic and freak out a little bit. I protest against digital dice forevermore. It's worth itmore. I... I can't... Anything else?

Anything else you want to do on your turn? Weep slightly. Okay. No. You weep. Shadow. Is Kim gone?

She looks like she's gone. That's a phrase I'm sure she was just really chilling out. She says, Sacred Flame, Wolf A. she looks like she's gone that's a she is just yeah she says notice wolf a okay I'll make a save it fails it restrains it automatically fails X saves okay so whatever a sacred flame damage I think you can still roll. We just don't see her on V-Mix. It's 14d6, if I recall rightly.

I don't believe it is, Tom Hazel. I don't know if it is. I think it's Kim's having some internet issues today. I will roll a d8. Five. Yeah, I did it for you, Kim. Takes five points. Jasper, you are in front of a heavily injured restrained wolf i know you're trying to fix kim at the minute uh i will follow through with my earlier threat uh say leave the damn horses alone and while it has been still restrained i assume by

the gripping earth yep didn't try and break free plunge with my two bonus actions that i used last time i realized i didn't attack a dagger and then a bardic inspiration but anyway you did all right well just ziki doesn't have the bardic inspiration then just because she never used it so you just you didn't spend it. Okay, cool. I'll just do my one-two effects. Rapier first. That's a 19 to hit. You don't need to roll anymore. It's dead.

Yes, there's rapier. It pierces through its skull. And the whole creature just goes slack and drops. It's kind of matted, dirty fur, falling apart. And just one eyeball pops out from its skull i kind of want my hand axe back how far away is wolfy sure uh well we'll let we'll let trot finish that off uh ziki yeah it's it's about 50 foot into the the scrub into the woods

um okay i actually know it could have dashed it's 100 foot into the woods. Okay. Actually, no, it could have dashed. It's 100 foot into the woods. So it's heavily obscured and it's 100 feet into the woods with your hand out of sight. No, that's for you, buddy. I do have another one. Zeke, anything you want to do?

Just before Tom's go. Let me see. So do I notice that he's about to try and scurry off into the woods? I think you can see your brother looking like... He's looking in the direction of the wolf that ran away. Yeah, I think so.

I'll just say, don't worry about it. It's fine. I'm running in place. You can see my legs spinning. I'm about to fall. Like Sonic is speeding up. No, don't fall off on your own. I could stay here. Well, it's Zeros' turn.

If Zeke doesn't want to do anything. It's a hundred feet away. I could try and... I mean, I could throw it 60 feet. I'm thinking, maybe I use another hand axe. Oh my god. Maybe I'll get the second, first one.

Really? It's kind of like a sunk cost fallacy thing, right? Okay. Can I? No, I won't. It's a massive waste of resources. I'm not going to do it. I'd have to run

action dash and then use an action surge to then throw another handaxe, hoping that it would kill it, just so I can get one handaxe back. That's just not worth it. I won't. I won't go for it. It's gone. It's gone. You just let it go.

By the time it gets to you, Rose, it's another 100 feet it it's gone okay okay it's gone you just let it go um yeah by by the time it gets to you rose it's another hundred feet and it's now out of sight it's 200 damn it it's gone i have a range of 150 feet damn it you can shoot you i think you can go even longer than that but you just have disadvantage you can shoot 300 players pray you it's It's more that you can't see it. The woods are so thick that you just can't see it to aim at it. What about Slayer's Prey? I don't know. Does Slayer's Prey let you, like...

It's not like Hunter's Mark. It's not the same thing. No, you can't really track it. It just does extra damage to it. It's not the same. Fire and Fire will roll a d1000. You never know. If you want to just try and take a blind shot

into woods in the rare hope of you. Can I just do that? Because I feel like Rose would because she hates wolves. I feel like she... Well, you could also... You're on a horse. You could take your horse like 50 foot or like 100 feet into the woods.

I don't want to go into the woods. You and Shadow. I don't trust the woods. How much do you hate wolves? Not that much, but enough to at least take a pot shot at it. Take a shot. Make a shot with disadvantage. Let's see if the...

It'll be trash anyway, so don't worry. It's looking that way. Yeah. Oh, yeah, that's trash. What's the total? 15! I will now roll a D100. I will give you a...

This is such a ridiculous shot. It's going to be like a 5% chance to hit. So we'll say 95 to 100. No. You hit. So we'll say 95 to 100. No. You hit. But I rolled a 15 to hit it. With disadvantage.

That would have been a hit. That would have been a hit if you weren't basically going hmmm. It's also heavily obscured. I think heavily obscured is plus 5. But if I move the horse into where it went, Dane. Right, but the trees are so thick that it's not like a path

that you're looking down the path. This is just wild trees. You can't see it. I'm literally letting you attack a creature where you have no idea where it is in a big wide view. And it's just like,'s see i like to think that it at least grazed it okay you can think whether you like you don't see where the arrow lands uh in rose's mind she did a great job it's dead done cool done we are we are We are still trying to get Kim in.

Kim is having some issues. Which is so weird because on Sunday it's fine. It's just every Thursday. So weird. Okay, but the horse is stabilized, right? It's how well trained in medicine is Zeros?

Do you think that Zeros would be able to tell? I mean, is it breathing? Yeah, you go over and you check. There is a very shallow breathing. This horse is unconscious and incredibly wounded. Okay. Because I feel like Zeros would do something if the horse was dead.

But... I'm going to turn to... The thing is, I'd turn to Shadow now and ask about healing, but Shadow's not around. So is anyone else doing anything? Well. I mean, I think Rose was still probably

looking at the forest in an angry way and just generally is quite pissed off just now because wolves so she's probably not really thinking about the horse at the moment Trot do we need to like take the stream down and

restart it for Kim to rejoin I don't think that's going to help, to be honest. I'm doing loads of things at the back end to fix it, but feel free to carry on. Yeah, okay, we'll just carry on. We'll try and carry on. It's an individual problem.

It's just to be. I mean, worst case scenario, if we can just get her back on voice, like, I don't know if you can patch her in through Discord or something like that as a worst case option that might be something um his brain he's like I'll do something all right well yeah for the time being let's say that shadow is attending to the horse but not using any spell slots just kind of like looking at it to try and like sort out the wounds and, you know, bandage it up and all of that kind of stuff. Yeah.

Okay. You have a dead direwolf corpse. Ismark and Irena, you know, are on their horse. Ismark is kind of looking around. You can see him kind of scouting around, keeping his eyes on the sides. What are the rest of you doing? Rose is scowling in the direction of the wolf. Can Zeke move

to the side of the wagon where the wolf went off into the woods and just keep an eye out in that area? Sure, yeah, yeah. Make a perception check for me, Zeke. Okie dokie. went off into the woods and just keep an eye out in that area sure yeah yeah make a um perception check for me ziki doki check my perception that is a 17 total 17 yeah you you focus on the tree line and keeping an eye out you can see that the woods themselves are very very old uh there is a a sense of age here and the trees gently sway in the wind delicately

rustling leaves you get the sense that you are being watched. You have that sense that something, someone is watching you. But you don't see anything. You don't see any other wolves. You don't see any other beasts. You maybe see a few birds up in the trees in the distance. Maybe a couple of crows or something like that. But yeah, no wolves. No immediate threat okay

i just uh while it's all in the background uh yes but is inconsolably uh upset at the fact that he's lost nelly and he's kind of crawling towards that that will be his actions for the foreseeable future yeah i think like shadow is shadow is also okay in that case shadow is not only tending to the wounds but he's trying to reassure yes but that the heart that she is alive that that she can be saved yeah i consider this like a breaking point for yes but it's kind of like the last thing he had was his wagon and his horses so i feel like that's Oh trust me Jesper you've got

plenty more I can take from you Thanks Mark So what's Zeros doing then? What's Zeros up to? I think if I know the horse is alive then how is the wagon looking? I mean we tipped in that thing and we need that Yeah that's an interesting one Make a And how is the wagon looking? I mean, we tipped in that thing and we need that. Yeah.

That's an interesting one. Make a intelligence check. Just make a straight up. Intelligence. Let's see. 17. That's zero. Hell yeah.

Smart. Smart zeros. So there's some good news and some bad news. I don't know. The main thing. Which one do you want first? So there's some good news and some bad news. The main thing... Which one do you want first? Good news or bad news? I'll take the bad news first. I'm that kind of dragonborn.

Bad news. One of the wheels, as it tipped over, has got a pretty bad crack all down one of the main wheels. If you ride the wagon hard, really bad crack all down like one of the main wheels. It's if you go, if you ride the wagon hard, like if this thing goes at like a horse's sprint, that wheel's probably going to break.

And it's kind of like multiple fractures. Multiple parts of it are broken. The good news is the axle and the main kind of function of the wagon itself is fine the the wagon can travel but you're going to need a skilled you know carpenter or you're going to need a new wheel basically on this wagon um to go at any sort of speed you can travel a a slow trot um but any sort of like fast movement is going to be dangerous or risky with the wheel is it still faster than walking i guess it's more relaxing right like it's not after that's the thing is this whole journey you've not been going at a sprint this whole journey you've been kind of

going at a slow gentle pace because otherwise the horses would get too tired right horses can't run for five hours horses can sprint for a short period of time very very very fast and then they're very tired um so it's it's not going to slow you down it's just that if you have to have another um like with the bats if you have another pursuit before you get this fixed yeah they're getting kind of common, those things. These roads, they're not good. Okay, yeah, I guess I'll be looking at the wheel. Shall we... I think that

after scowling at the woods' general direction, Rose would turn her attention towards the wagon. Is it still tipped over? It is currently, yeah. It's not been righted yet. You can see Xeros analysing the wheels and stuff. Yeah, I think

I will... Can I see if there's any... or think if there's a way for us to maybe fix it a little bit? Like, if we can patch it enough to at least

help. Do you have any training? Do you have any training in carpentry? Are you trained or proficient in any carpentry skills, or? No. Then you do not have the knowledge, nor the equipment to do so what was that zeros i've got smith's tools but that's metal work and stuff like that right like that could help but

yeah you're gonna need a carpenter really um there's actually probably an actual term for somebody who makes wagon wheels but i can't think of it um but yeah a carpenter would be better suited now as a smith you might be able to reinforce it at a later date if you have access to like a proper smithy um but yeah it's going to be a struggle here on the road um okay so no unless you have magic that can mend um this is not fixable now no um i think in that case uh she will probably just suggest to Zerus that they try their best to get it back the right way around

and probably see if anyone else can help and I think Shadow I'm receiving a message from the afterlife that Shadow is going to heal the horse,

so I can roll that for Kim. Oh, good. Like a whopping five hit points, I believe. Back to the horse. You roll bad when you roll for us. Yeah, I know. It's funny, isn't it? Amazing rolls as monsters,

terrible rolls as NPCs. Every time. Every time. Every time. So, yeah. So, Zeros and Rose, I'm not gonna make you do a role for this because you're not under any sort of, like, threat. You can just right the wagon. It's sweaty. You get covered in a bit of mud.

And it's kind of tiring, sweaty work because you have to unhitch Nelly while she's being healed. Like, one of you has to keep the other horse calm whilst xeros is kind of probably doing a lot of their more heavy lifting whilst rose is kind of maneuvering um the horses themselves and kind of pulling them etc all right thanks kim kim's uh apparently cussing no, there you go. She did it for one more point. There you go.

Can you hear me? Oh, we can, yeah. Okay, you just can't see. You are low frame rate, but you are there. I'm just in low frame rate. I'm shrouded in shadow. I don't know what's going on. There's nothing wrong, seemingly, in my head.

It's a weird thing because Sundays works perfectly fine. I just don't know why on Thursdays. It might just be a portal issue. I'm just in shadow. Anyway, the point is the horse is healed. The wagon is righted if, yes, damaged. Jesper is still very inconsolable, but you see life return to the horse.

You hear the kind of deep kind of breath as it blearily comes to as Shadow's paws drive healing energy into it. Thank you. Thank you, Shadow. You don't know what this means to me it's fine I could see you were in distress

just took me some time to warm up the magic touch more stress than you know I feel very stressed right now, yes. This whole situation has created a lot of stress between us, I believe. Either way. I also feel for the animals.

They're all under his control. As much as I don't want to put my sword through the heart of a dire wolf, they can't be attacking our horses. It's our only escape. They are his servants, Jasper. It's a sad thing, but the more dead wolves, the less dead Barovians.

True. They're merciless. They're not all under his control. Some of them are just driven to murder and kill and hunt. They are. Let's be glad that it was not something worse than just direwolves.

True. True. I guess we have to see the silver lining in something. But look at my wagon. Does it even work? Well, it will, but I don't know. We're probably going to have to buy a new wheel

for it. Xeros had a good look at it. Anything you think you can do? Unfortunately, I cannot heal wagons. I'm not a carpenter or any sort of

engineer I was given this wagon by by the Vistanis to travel to your world to fetch you there could be someone in Vallaki who can fix it but maybe they might

know other Vistani who might have a spare or something like that, Something that can replace it? Maybe. We're not too far now. Less than an hour away from the town. Maybe on three wheels we can limp it there. Let's see. Yeah, it's not that it's on three wheels the other the fourth the broken

wheel will still work it's just any intense pressure or speed is going to put this under stress um and the less weight on the wagon will be a massive help as well um and you're not going faster than travel places yeah you can basically if the two yeah if the two dragonborn siblings are willing to walk it will help immensely um you'll just obviously be less there's no no more escaping any last minute chases if anything comes after you um the road winds through this narrow section of forest and then it meanders into a valley watched over by dark brooding mountains to the north and south the woods begin to recede revealing a sullen mountain berg surrounded by a wooden palisade thick fog part presses up against the wall as they're looking for a way inside hoping to catch the town slumber the dirt road ends at a sturdy iron gate with a

pair of shadowy figures standing behind them uh the gate is is wrought from thick crisp iron and you can see that tiny symbols of a rising sun have been engraved onto each of the bars. The two figures as you draw closer appear to be a man and a woman, a Barovian man and woman, each armed with a long pike that can fit between the gaps of the bars. And they look out. They look down from the high walls

towards you. They just watch you as you begin to approach the gates. I thought they were looming statues, not people. No, these are actual two living seemingly

healthy looking Barovian guards. They wear a simple set of chainmail with a kind of like tin-rounded helm Barovian guards. They wear a simple set of chainmail with a kind of like tin rounded helm with basic leathers, thick boots, thick

gloves, and these long pikes that look like they could jab down from on top of the walls if they wanted to. Hail! Hail! What business do you have in Vallaki travelers we seek safe passage

and to take residence here you'll find safety in Vallaki it's you didn't travel through the night did you no but the day has been bad enough on us as you can tell with the wagon.

Oh, what happened? Wolves? Dire wolves, yes. Tsk, ah. Yeah, by the night they've been a menace around the woods lately. Oh, come in. Uh, you should find it safe here for the time being. Um, just don't cause any trouble. Or, uh, the Burgomaster,

she'll take care of you. Her and her little soldiers. So no trouble, do you hear? No trouble from us. We'll keep all the trouble outside these walls. Where are you coming from? Barovia? The village? Yes.

And then, for the first time, the guard who's been sort of talking to Jesper and looking at Irina and Ismark, two Barovians who are at the front of him, and Rose, who's human, who looks like a hunter or a traveller, perhaps with a slightly strange hair colour. But then the female guard nudges him and is like, Hey, look. And she points to the two dragon men and the walking cat. Like,

By, what fiends are you bringing in? What are these creatures? God, creatures? They are people. I've seen many fiends and these are definitely not fiends.

You have nothing to be concerned about with these people. Oh. What? He looks stunned. He just looks completely flabbergasted that these things can exist. She kind of looks and is like, I don't know about this.

We've never... That one looks like some sort of shapeshifter, and she points in Shadow's direction. And these lizards that walk, dragons that walk, like men and women. Perhaps we should talk to the Burgomaster before we let them in. Hold on, hold on, friends. How about we let them talk for themselves?

Please introduce yourselves. They can talk? And they're like, whoa! It's okay, it's nothing to worry about. I'm Zeke. I'm just an artist. I just draw. Hello. A dragon that speaks. And they kind of

look down at you. This is my brother Xerox. As soon as they see Xerox, the guards, like, all the fear in their eyes is exemplified as they see a huge h the guards, like, all the fear in their eyes is exemplified as they see a huge, hulking, muscly dragon with three swords on his back. They're like, oh! Three swords and only one hand axe now. I'm not even going to, like, Zeke introduced me.

Right, so you just don't say anything you're just like she did the work for me okay yeah you can see that they're still a little bit anxious Ziki if you want you can make a persuasion check for me if you'd like okie dokie

let's see how disarming oh perfect plus four so it's eight in total. Eight in total, okay. They don't seem to make a huge impression. They still seem to be as uncertain as before. Shadow, would you

say something? I assume this is like a hand up. Waving my paw. Hello? My name is... I'm not sure about this. I don't even let the cat speak.

My name is Shadow Beyond the Veil. Hail. Greetings. As you can tell, they are very adept at looking after themselves and they have helped us survive

our journey here without them we would not be here us Barovians of Vistani friends of Valaki not all Vistani are friends here at least you weren't always the new Burgomaster is more lenient,

but you must understand, friend, this is a safe haven. We've kept beasts and even darker things. I can, uh... Things that are darker from entering our halls. I just think that we should... The Burgomaster should

know about this. She'll be able to make a decision. I don't think that... Ah. Just wait there. And you see the guard beginning to make his way down from the wall. Alright. But if we get attacked by direwolves when you're gone, that's on you.

The woman just kind of looks awkwardly like, I guess so. I'll try and fight them if they come, but maybe just move closer to the gates a little, but not too close. Stay there. Stay there, but come closer. What a fantastically warm welcome.

I'm sorry, but you have to understand that this is, we're protecting our people. There are things out there in the mists, things that can take the shape of people, things that walk on two legs. We've never seen anything like their kind before. And they point at the dragonborn and at Shadow like... It's just we can't...

We just need to be sure. That's all. It's just precautions to keep everyone safe. And if you get welcomed, then you'll be safe too. She kind of looks awkwardly and shuffles on her feet. She seems to hold herself quite nervously, like she's not really trained to be a guard very much. She doesn't seem to have any formal military training.

She's just been slapped into some armor. It takes probably about 10 15 minutes um before through the iron bars you see something of a very odd sight you see a very well-dressed elderly looking woman she's not ancient but she's definitely perhaps on the better part of 50, um, wearing very fine gowns, um, very well dressed. Um, beside her is a very large, like almost as broad as Zeros with as,

as musc, as arms as muscular as Zeros's are. Um, but he has a very long shoulder cape that covers his entire right side. Um, very handsome, darkly. So,

um, thickly so, thick brown hair, is kind of walking beside her, like her arm in his arm. And the two of them are making their way to the gate and they are surrounded by what I can only describe as clockwork soldiers. They walk in this kind of stiff manner.

They appear to be made out of things like bronze and iron. They have all sorts of whirling gears and cogs. They clutch weapons in their hands and shields as they kind of awkwardly move beside them. The guard that ran off earlier is also with them as are um a couple of other individuals very well dressed who appear to be some sort of entourage or people that are helping uh the the humans um as they arrive uh the woman looks through the bars and has a kind of a very soft smile you can see that her face has been weathered by age a little bit, but she still retains some of that noble grace that elder women have. She was played by a famous actress.

Imagine a Helen Mirren, kind of like, you know, still looking extremely well for her age. And she kind of looks through and is just like, well, what do we have here? Some very strange visitors to Velaki. You were right to come and fetch me, Boris. But I will take it from here. So, she looks around.

My name is Burgomaster Fiona Wachter. I am the Burgomaster here. What brings you to my town, strange travelers? You are in the company of a Vistani and she points towards Jesper. So my gut tells me that you are not from Barovia, clearly.

You have traveled from another world, yes? Not quite true, I'm afraid. Yes, some have traveled from another world, but the two here... Is Mark and Irina. They are from Barovia. here. Ismark and Irina, they are from Barovia. Yes. I remember you, boy. And she points

at Ismark. I met with your father a long time ago. When you were no more than a boy. This one, I don't remember the girl. But you, yes. I remember that handsome little face, that blonde hair. Yes. Yes, I remember you.

But the others, they are not from Barovia, and she points towards Zeros and Ziki. So what do you say for yourselves, dragon folk? We just want somewhere to rest and gather our strength. We're on your side.

We're not here to cause trouble. We just need a place. Music. Music to my ears, my dear. Of course, of course. Valachia is a safe haven for anyone who comes here. You can rest assured that there is,

well, there is no need to fear the monsters beyond our walls. Not once you are here. Come, come, Boris. Open need to fear the monsters beyond our walls. Not once you are here. Come, come, Boris. Open the gates. Let us welcome them in. This is the way of Vallaki now. I know that before, the previous Burgomaster was, well, shall we say, a little bit more suspicious of travelers.

But that is not new Vallaki. New Vallaki, we welcome friends into our home. Do not mind my clockwork soldiers. They are my way of keeping Valaki safe. Not as corruptible as guards are, but

they keep the place calm and secure. Very good protection against some of the evils of the mists. The gate is pulled up by a heavy chain. As you can see, a series of pulleys. The gate slowly begins lifting. And yeah, the Lady Fiona kind of steps back

and gestures for you to follow. She points at the very large, tall, broad, muscular man. He looks significantly younger than she is. He must be in his late 20s. He looks kind of around a similar age to Ismark and Irina. Ah, my husband. And she kind of gestures to him, Nikolai. And he smiles, but the eyes are just so dead. The smile is

there, and it's this kind of twisted sneer. Welcome. Hello. Thank you. Thank you for such a gracious welcome. Oh, of course, as I mentioned,

Vallaki is a safe haven and a place for you to ease your mind, heal your body, and cleanse your soul. She smiled. So, I'm afraid that our... the previous tavern of the town is... well, it's no longer open. But I have set up something temporary in one of the

abandoned houses near the village square. If you require food or wine, we have it in droves. For a price, of course. But come, come. I will leave you to it. Boris, attend back to your duties. Come,

come, Nikolai. I fancy a walk. Perhaps we should go to the church. Yes. Dear. And she begins making her way off in the clockwork soldiers. So creepy. Okay.

Follow after her. Ismark looks very concerned. What do you make of that? She was not the burgomaster the last time I was here. It's been years since I was here last, but the last burgomaster was Valakovich, not a bit of an eccentric man.

He was convinced that Vlachy would be safe if he... Kept the people's morale high with these ridiculous festivals, but... Lady Fiona was just a wealthy woman. She just was a wealthy woman here before. I'm guessing he died and she's taken over. It seems safe and calm. What? It's all different.

Just taking everything that's shot new and I'm like, get rid of it, just throw it out. Just change it. I love it. Yeah, what do you guys want to do? So Vallaki is a very large town. I'm going to show you guys a map. I need to just scroll over a little bit.

Is it about as big as Barovia? No, it's much, much larger. Much, much larger. It's completely surrounded by a wooden palisade wall. Yeah, I mean, keep in mind that this is still a rural development, so it's not like a city.

It's still a town. There are streets, there are streets there are buildings of all shapes and sizes um with all sorts of different things uh buildings that you can see um but it is still a rural town for the most part um it's it's still you know compared to baldur's gate and water deep this is still a country town in the sticks to you guys. But it's larger. And yeah, there is a feeling of safety here. As you just

begin to make your way from the gate down the street, you can see families. You see women and children and men walking about. You can see a few shops selling things like produce. It seems people are living a

fairly normal life here. Yeah. Immediately trust none of them. Nothing is okay here. He looked alive. Nikolai, the lady fiona's husband he was alive he definitely was flesh and blood it wasn't like he was like a frankenstein or anything like that like he had pink skin he had you know he moved with grace he didn't have the awkward

clumsiness of any undead you've seen he just had this dead stare like just like a really haunted cold emotionless stare yeah like was it like this no no he didn't have any stitches around his skull and no he didn't look like the soulless the soulless had like a sadness to them if anything i would say yeah shadow you've got a pretty high insight. He looked like a stone-cold killer. This is like, you've seen the look of people in Baldur's Gate, like professional killers, like that kind of look. He looked like he was a scary fella. And yeah, he had this long half-cloak

that covered most of the right side of his body. But he looked as strong as Zeros. He was incredibly broad and muscular. We can't judge Fiona. She's very young. Clearly still able to get it. Yeah, absolutely.

She'd get it. That's going to be me when I'm 50. So, you know, no judging. Sorry, Ted. She's a cougar. Excellent. Anyway. Any cake shops around?

Anyone eating cake? Is anyone eating cake here? No cake. Never any cake. At the very initial part of the town, at the gate, you do not see any cake. Being consumed,

no bakery. I felt like Edna Mull when I said that. No cake. No cakes. No cake. No cake. No cakes. Yeah, there's kids. Yeah, there's not many kids kick yeah there's kids

there's not many kids but there's kids you see one or two a lot of the people here that you see as you're making your way down the town it mainly seems to be yeah all like mature adults don't see a lot of children but there's definitely some but yes it's lots of kind of like

varying ages from younger to older older couples and adults. Elderly folks seemingly going about their business. Some chopping firewood outside their homes. Some appear to be airing out clothing

and blankets and things like that. Can I ask, what's the sky like here? Because if this is a strad untouched land right apparently is it like parting clouds or is it just still the same dreary same dreary yeah same and this is all over barovia like you you look up to the sky and as you were traveling it showed no sign of changing overcast no gaps in the clouds it's just constantly overcast thick gray clouds there's that dim hazy sunlight of an overcast gray day

but it shows no sign of changing i played dnd to escape the real world yeah this is just england we're in england boys that's a shame in it um you as you are passing down the road um just making your way down the main street of valaki you do see to one side you see what appears to be a large stockyard um with several like locked like several sheds like wooden sheds um in the inside of which you can see a dilapidated um well not dilapidated but you can see an abandoned uh carnival wagon so much larger than yes there's a fully kind of like contained room like a fully wooden little house effectively um it looks abandoned you can see that it's had some signs of wear and tear it looks like it's been rained on um there's a few things kind of lingering around it and uh

what appears to be like some sort of like cage that's been opened and just left empty um but yeah that's you see that on your way. You travel further down the road, and yeah, you see various different buildings. But it all looks fairly normal, you know? It all looks pretty standard. We should probably get the wagon tended to. Yes, I was just thinking that. Nelly could use some additional healing.

I'm not entirely convinced I was incredibly successful during my stressful period. Oh. I'll hop off. I guess we're already off the wagon. I'm riding it, maybe? I'm the only one riding it? Yeah, I think you'd be riding it, yeah, just to guide the horses.

I'll cure wounds, Nelly. Okay, sure. Easy. Whoa, Nelly. Easy, girl. How long have you been waiting to say that? How long has it been? Look at his face.

Do I need to roll for it? Don't just roll your D8 plus your mod your mod just same normal healing normal healing rules apply the horses oh wonderful uh two four just two four yeah okay yeah you you see some more of the wounds hell it's still pretty bad she's gonna have scars along her hide um around her neck from these bite marks but yeah they the kind of main damage is is healed um leaving just these thin lines and scars no as you continue making your way yeah well my so my question then is where are you going where are you going to get this rest for nelly like you how are you going to find uh somebody to fix the wagon? You seem to be coming up on a town square, which is a large part of the center of Vallaki itself.

There are people around. What do you guys want to do? Do you want to check out the square? Do you want to go and find a shop like a carpenter? Do you want to try and find somewhere to rest, like an inn or a tavern? Let's find somewhere to rest for now they'll have a stable hopefully my only concern is the burgomaster mentioned that the establishment that we are trying to arrive at is no longer

here that's a little she said it was closed, which is strange. The Blue Water Inn, I went to it the last time I was here. It was good people. People I trusted. I wouldn't mind checking it out. I wouldn't mind going to see what's become of it. Should we head in that direction? So does that mean that both

Ismark does not recognize the new Burgermaster, who is very different from the sounds of it. I recognize her, but... But we're also hearing that there have been some changes around here in terms of the tavern. It seems like

we should be on our guard. Oh, yes. I mean, you saw those clockwork men. I've never seen anything like that before. No, who's making those, I wonder? I seem to remember my father mentioned that there was a toy maker here in Malachi, but, I mean, those weren't toys. They were incredible. They were machines that could walk and carry weapons, but

I think I used to have a little wind-up monkey from a man here. What is Mark? It used to say something on the tag. What was it? It was something like, Is no Blinksy, is no fun.

A toy maker called Blinksy, or something like that. I am here. Honestly, I find the windmill and the ghost children more comforting and welcoming than what I'm learning about Velaki and who I meet here. Blinksy, honestly. I mean, anyone that can make toys in a place like this, Shadow, Blinksy, honestly. Anyone that can make toys in a place like this, Shadow, they have at least

some goodness in them. Most people would think it's a waste of resources. Why am I getting Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Child Catcher? You make cake. Getting like Chitty Chitty bang bang child catcher

toy maker kind of this place is giving me like the weird child catcher toys are banned kind of no it's very creepy I likey I've already had cake ruined

for me toys are probably next we should go see the toy maker I didn't say that had cake ruined for me. Toys are probably next. We should go see the toy maker. I didn't say that. We should find this inn. Yes.

Why it is closed and look for a suitable alternative if we can't use its facilities. That sounds wise. But I think Irina looks to Ziki like, well, perhaps, perhaps maybe once we're settled. Ziki, I think a toy maker, perhaps that's something

I think that that would fit with what you were talking to me about earlier. If your joy bringer is anywhere, a toy maker seems like it would be a place to start. Yeah, that's true. I'd like to go have a look see what kind of work they're doing alright

can I just whisper can I whisper to Rose at the back of the group and just nudge her and be like I bet you the toys are made out of children's fingers honestly yeah that could be very possible.

No, that's some good cake-making fingers. They're not going to waste those around here. Every part of the child goes into our pastry. Nothing wasted. It's a renewable resource! They're at least cursed

to make children I don't know, walk single file into a bakery to then be ground into dust and made into cakes. Yep, definitely bad things. Could be. Well, you guys travel along the road. You head to the other side of the square. When you pass through the square, by the way, it seems mostly empty, but there is a large

uh there's a large fountain in the center of it um uh with a statue of a man that you will recognize because it is a statue of strad um just that looks like it's been here forever it just looks ancient most of the features are worn down but the cut of the coat the the demeanor of which it's presented it's unmistakably strut um but there are also wooden signs that have been kind of propped up like little kind of poster board signs that have been put up everywhere um uh and they basically just say the same thing which is uh i'm not gonna find it now but they say something along the lines of wine and food to any to any and all. Burgermaster Fiona Wachter encourages you to live the best life you can.

Enjoy these days for what little we have. We share all with any who would any who would share with us their blessings. all with any who would share with us their blessings. The church of the ruby rod each evening sundown. Interesting.

You just pass that so you make your way through the town until you come to an inn. You can see that the inn is a large, would have once been a prosperous looking building, several floors

tall, plenty of room inside, but the windows are boarded shut. There doesn't appear to be any sign of life. The windows, all of the windows have been filled with wooden boards um and yeah it does it seems to be kind of shut up and abandoned there is a raven sat at the very top of the building looking down um watching you all as you approach it seems to have something silvery in its beak um as it's just kind of cocking its head,

hopping around on its feet, looking towards you. Look. It's back. I swear they're mocking me. Is that the same one? Make a perception check. Can we all do it or just Rosieie i think i think rose and shadow would i don't know if anybody else is particularly interested in a bird i just feel very persecuted by these birds right now 23 okay it's just like 11 oh i haven't rolled double digits yet rose you're looking at it and you're

just like is it i can't tell it's too far away shadow you notice two things first of all this is not the same raven um it uh it has one you can see that one of its toes is missing from its foot like you're super keen vision you can see it's kind of got one of its feet is missing a tone um in its mouth it's holding a little key like a little brass key like a door like a front door key like a little kind of brass key and it's looking it's like watching you um well it's not the same as our windmill friend but it does have a little trinket, some key. Maybe if I can... If only ravens weren't my natural enemy.

Core. Core. Kind of hops. It bobs up and down. You see it does that thing where it kind of leans its neck in and bobs up and down. Does anyone have anything shiny?

Can you lure it to trade? Zeke, as you step close to this inn, as you move next to the inn itself, for the first time since you have arrived here, there is a genuine sense of relief and safety emanating from within this building.

This is not just the comfort of a welcome hearth. There is a sense of joy here, but it's not born from a comfort of hearth but almost the the safety of a great church or a temple a kind of holy reverence that protects and enshrouds those within it and it's some something inside this inn is projecting that on this building you can feel a sense of comfort here shadow you don't that you can sense that there is you can sense there is something divine about this place but to you it would not have the same feeling as a comfort but you do get the sense of of a temple or a blessing or a church you get this sense of safety but for you you, as a Dark Cloak, this is not for your people.

This is perhaps for people like Zeke and Xeros and Jesper. This is a place to come and revere, to come and offer reverence to another god, a god of light, not to your mistress. I'm still just trying to try this raven. I'm just trying to try the raven

so Shadow's trying to do that Jesper, Rose, Zeros, what are you guys doing? Zeke as well can I hold up my silver bracelet and try and use that to draw the raven in oh yeah so you kind of like dangle it down the raven looks for a moment

and it flies and it lands on your arm. And it looks at you. You will see now it's got a little key in its mouth. It kind of tilts its head at you, and then it kind of like, scrabbles around on your hand to get you to kind of

turn your arm over, and then it pecks at your hand until you open it, and it drops the key in it. And then it just stays on your arm. Ah! Ah! Ah! I feel like it's trying to

tell us something. It makes that soft clicking noise that birds do as it kind of like nuzzles its beak up against your hand. Ah! Okay, well I've got the key now.

Can I try and like just give it a little noggin stroke? It looks at you for a moment. It looks at Zeke, it looks back at you and then it kind of lifts its chin up and you scritch it and its feathers. Don't stroke

it, filthy thing. My hackles are up. It just caws at Shadow's direction. Doesn't seem to like Shadow. Shadow's like genuinely quite agitated and like... Hmm. This is probably the most

animated you've seen her. Sorry, what's that, Tom? Can I try the door to this place? I'm just guessing it's locked It is locked Yeah, it is locked Ismark looks towards Zeke He's like, that's quite a blessing, you know

Ravens are supposed to be good luck Here in Barovia Having one come to you like that, that's very rare Don't listen to the cats. It's comforting to know, thank you. Does the key that it dropped, is it quite small or is it like, does it look like

it would fit in the inn? Looks like it will fit the front door. Do you want to try it, Ziki? I guess this is the natural direction of things. I suppose we'll give it a go. Can I give the raven my bracelet in return?

See if he wants that and then I'll try the key in the door to say thank you. Do you take the bracelet off and hold it up to the little bird? It takes it and it flies away. Thank you! You're never getting that back.

You're never getting that back. If Ziki opens the door the key fits perfectly and with a click you can open the door. Okay. Filthy.

Yes, I guess I'll go in. I'll just make my way in. Okay. Zeke opens the door and as you do, you step inside. You feel this relief. You feel like protection wash over you as you step inside. The inn inside is full of cobwebs and dust looks

like it's been abandoned for weeks now um the the tables are all stacked the chairs turned upside down on them um care has been taken the things like the bottles behind the bar are still there um but a lot of it looks like it's otherwise been abandoned but your attention is immediately drawn as the sound of you entering seems to alert somebody um who is kind of stood in the corner of the room two figures in fact both standing one is a disheveled looking man in robes um he has a great big unkempt beard and scraggy looking hair he looks a little thin and malnourished, but you can see dark circles under his eyes. He holds a kind of crude looking mace in his two hands,

and a holy, sorry, in one hand, and a holy symbol of a sun in the other. And he turns immediately to the door. He's like, no, back, back, you fiends. I will not have the devil here. Be gone by the power of saint andrew and then the figure behind him which rises up kind of almost in defense of this figure is a skeleton it is a skeleton that moves on its own but unlike any skeleton you've seen before its bones each

have all been intricately carved with holy symbols and it radiates light and warmth and goodness and the bones just hold up a hand only allies of the light and that's where we're going to end today's episode

bone bros jack skellington hey bud so episode so trot that is absolutely a throwback to a certain someone we know a whole character the whole character that uh when trot ran this for me uh did a thing with those bones that inspired uh my idea um so if you're watching barry's not watching but i'll you know i will for me did a thing with those bones that inspired an idea. So if you're watching, Barry's not watching, but I will let Barry know that his legacy lives on. That's his character. Well, it wasn't his character. It was what he ended up

coming to the possession of said bones. Yeah. So the robed figure appears to be brandishing some sort of holy symbol and has a big glowy skelly boy with him um very cool normal what you guys think i know we had some tech issues did you enjoy that sorry guys i had no idea what yeah can't be helped can't be helped but apart from that what do you think what do you think of a lackey obviously cursed we're gonna die here it's blessed it's like trying to uh ride a mario kart level that you've played your whole life but it's the mirror version

it's like this wait this shortcut's completely different it's like i've what yes i love it i like it one of my favorite things is seeing your reactions to the stuff i change that's one of my favorite things because i know what you know about certain things and i'm like oh well let's see what he thinks when i do this uh and then he changed and then yeah seeing stuff it's always fun yeah yeah it's great yeah Tom what do you think of your spooky dream oh man I mean

fuck Strahd just get out of my head how do you know it's Strahd because it's just a Strahd-y thing to do. Put a big face in the sky. Make it look like you can see your own body.

Like, get out of town. Get out of town, Buster Brown. Get in your thing. And fight us. Is that what you want? No! No! He just can't speak through the group. and fight us is that what you want no no looks like that's what Tom wants

he does not speak through the group a note Tom wants to fight Strahd enter I just

we just zoned him come on if you think you're Strahd enough Rihanna oh yes

that's gonna be a huge episode Rihanna perfect and we will see you again on that's gonna be a huge episode yeah perfect and we will see you again on Thursday we love you

take care stay safe and we'll see you next Thursday for more Curtis Stroud wash your damn hands you nasties and then we'll be back

not this Sunday but the Sunday after for Eros that'll be the next Eros because we're into a break alright thank you for watching we will see you next time take care everybody

bye bye goodbye the next Aramis because we're going to have a break. All right. Thank you for watching. We will see you next time. Take care, everybody. Bye, everybody. Goodbye. Thank you.