Legends of Avantris - Curse of Strahdanya | Ep. 23 | Prayer for the Dying: Part 2

Episode Date: September 10, 2025

Reunited with Rudolph van Richten and Esmeralda, the Azran Expedition must delve even deeper into the Amber Temple to discover the true extent of it's mysteries.   Gain access to an exclusive campaign, Shroud Over Saltmarsh, over on Patreon: https://legendsofavantris.com/patreon The Crooked Moon, a folk horror supplement for 5e, is available for preorder! Get the Crooked Moon at: https://thecrookedmoon.com/ Watch more D&D adventures in the world of Avantris live on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/legendsofavantris Check out our merch store: https://shop.legendsofavantris.com  Join our community on Discord: https://legendsofavantris.com/discord Watch our many campaigns on YouTube: https://legendsofavantris.com/youtube  All other links: https://linktr.ee/legendsofavantris   Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/JYbaMPYvvGs?si=WhDkqdslAoZ6QkUJ

You are back at the Amber Temple and listening to Curse of Stradania, a Legends of Adventress podcast. Last time, my victory over the Azran expedition was all but assured. Four of them were evil and loyal to me, and the lizard priest, I stabbed him through the heart. It was over. But then the meddling dragon god butted his scaly head into my business, rebirthed Sarnax and holy dragon fire,

and cleared the minds of his friends. His divine intervention is getting irritating. I then fled, beheaded Esmeralda in front of her father Van Richten, and even that they had to undo with the terrible powers they bargained for. Am I allowed to have any fun? Oh well, the rest of the horror within the depths of this temple remains. There's plenty of opportunities to fall to evil or their demise. This episode is brought to you by our generous supporters on Patreon.

You can become a patron yourself by following the link in his show notes. We are eternally grateful for your support. With that out of the way, let us proceed with Chapter 11, Prayer for the Dying. How was tea time, Professor? It was lovely. We should go. Already? Yes.

Are you sure? You hear. Bear it. Here the words. No, Emma, I am I the princess of this castle. You pour me the tea. And that's all you hear. We've had a rest thanks to Kama.

We should go. We shouldn't waste much time. Oh, hell. All right. I just started to put my boots back on. And I, like, set down my glass of bourbon that's not finished. Perhaps you can ingest the mild poison as you go. That's probably not for the best. Sarnax.

Glass breaks pretty easy. And it won't last outside of you. Oh, hell. Professor, would you consider putting on your new spectacles that you found? Anything interesting about this? I forgot about these. I'll take off my current spectacles that I'll put on. They have the right prescription.

They're the ones that I found. They seem to adjust to your eyes. Do I get, learn their, in the short rest, did I learn their properties? Oh, yeah. Their spectacles worth about 250-go-old pieces. Got you! They suit you. These are very nice spectacles.

It feels weird using ancient spectacles of a dead maid, but... Maybe for the college, but... Well, are they red, they look red... No, they're silver... I believe they're silver spectators. Let me double check. The other one, they have...

They have... They have rose-colored lenses. Rose-tinted glasses. Uh... I will... It's taking me back, Professor. I'll put them away, and I will take out my own. All right, we should go.

All right. Oh, that actually raises the question. We're in the case, right? Yes. Can they get out of the case? Yeah, gold spectacles. I mean, we're not walk out and close the case. But you would know, because your case would literally start shaking and open up and they'd spill out of it.

So they can actually open it while I'm walking around. Yeah, great. Yes. while they're in the case. You can't trap people in there. They could attempt to get out, but no one could like, no one can carry the case

while there are people inside, except me. Is there any danger with the doll being? The doll's in a different compartment, but these things work funnily. I'm not too worried about it. Oh, that's what you think. Oh. So, you might be in the out.

I just know it. I just fucking know it. All right, Dan. I'm not exactly sure how it all works, but that works. I just kind of like, I like wide eye and look at Saranx,

I look back in the wizard and I... All right, lead the way, I guess. Useful items. So I will lead everyone out the front door up the narrow staircase

to the, basically opening, and I will open up my case and I'll walk out and I'll wait for everyone else to walk out. I'll put my shoes on. The arcane is a constant mystery

to me. Same, Saranx. It's a constant. journey of discovery. And as soon as they're all out, I will close that and pick up the case. You do. We're now standing once again in the main room of the Amber Temple. Silence is all around you as you look out around the room.

What are you going to do? Maybe we should find the sarcophagi and destroy them. Yes, the ones that gave us our powers. Well, yeah. I'm not sure how far as Morale got before she was captured. We should make sure that all of them are destroyed. And if Van Rington was on to anything, then one of them might be a little special. Yes, we can know, cannot leave any room unsearched.

I unfortunately did not have the means that Van Rikton was referring to in my power. Professor, you or Victoria. What a stance is destroyed? He mentioned something about shattering him. Oh, yes, I can. I can do that. You can do that? Yes. I, maybe not as many times as we might need.

but I can do my best. We should prioritize the ones that we've already hit, that have already consumed both of you, and then we will save one for Sardanas. Well, I can do it quite a few times. I'm just not sure how many suck-off guy in this temple. Let's get the three right. Yes.

And then we'll worry about the rest later. Yes. Yes. I think it's this one. Yes. I will lead them towards the across the hall. So you have. have your eyes are gone

and did you have anything else or just your eyes? I have like contagion but I haven't used it at all. So you have to, so each one of you, so you'd have to do it six, you'd have to have six crystals that you'd have to, six sarcophagia. Yeah, just there's two rooms. I got so my question. Oh, because I have two reflections. Yes.

I have the eyes and contagion. Everyone has two. Or those. Asmer over the shatter's in a radius. Can she get more and more than she got Well, you only have one. I only have one left because of the other, getting the other one, that God was the proper. And your contagion is gone, so your eyes are still missing.

My contagion is gone? Yes. So your eyes are still missing. Okay. It's a 10 foot. And then you have both of yours. You have both of yours. You have both of yours.

Yeah. So that's two, three, four. So you need four shatters. Okay. and I can try to take a whack to consume any resources. Let's try, yes. Let's go to the one with these bone wings

and I will lead everyone quickly across the hall here. These ones are all there. She got that first room. She got everything in that first room. And then she was captured. Got it. Cool.

So I'll go in there and I'm going to just assess the sarcophagogy. as closely as possible, try to find if there are any impurities at all as like a weak point and I will try to smash it with my NADNA. They seem to be nearly perfect, but you can make a strength

check to see if you are strong enough to, I will say it's very high for strength. Flat strength, no proficiency? Yeah, just flat strength. You're just using your pure strength and your weapon to try to try to do this. 23.

Okay. You are able to, for doing something like this is going to take you like four or five hits on it. Okay. And you are going to be able to diminish it for the most part. There are still bits of remnants of it. But you do feel which one are you going for? I'll say that left one, walking the left.

Northeast, north, north, north. North. North. You smash away at it. You're looking as your helmet is off sitting on the green. around next to you. You watch as her eyes completely removed.

Sunkin is you're whacking away. It's still able to see. And it takes a good three, maybe four minutes before enough of the amberish tipped away. You see that puff of black, dark blue, iridescent material, puff out of it and disappear into the ether around you.

As you all begin to hear strange slurping sound as her eyes are forced back. out of the recesses of her face and pop back into her face. Anyone who would have been in front of her would have been splattered with the mucus from her eyes. But none of you, luckily none of you were there. You now have eyeballs again. She's so crissastard. I want to go back in the mansion.

I want to go back. How do I look? You have eyeballs. Yes, the back. Do you feel all right? You can see? Yeah, yeah, I think that worked. and I'll start slamming away on the next one.

Wait, just take a, take a rest. I can, I can take care of these. Are you sure? Yes. Of course. Okay. And I'll walk out of the room. Shall we cover our ears?

Yes, I think that's best. Maybe I'll just... So you're expending two shatters to do this. It's a radius, so I'm going to... I'll run it right here and it'll hit these two. Okay. I'm going to step out of guard, but just the door, and then that way I don't lose my hair.

I'll go. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna just grab up my hands out in front of me, and it's gonna sound like nails on glass and a loud, shattering noise, but just like horribly, horribly loud. And that is exactly what happens. As you feel the gift of, you feel the ability, the gift of Shami Amari, the gift of suggestion, leaves your body, You no longer feel so capable of compelling others to your will.

And Clayton, as you stand outside, you feel it's almost as if your spine is being jerked this way and that as you feel the skeletal wings rip from your body. One and then the other, and where they have been embedded are two skeletal hands. And where the wrist is, the wings extend out as they skitter down the hallway. Two wings attached to hands. Oh, hell. Professor, you all right? You no longer feel like you'll die if you don't eat bones. Oh, I think so.

You feel all right. Oh, my full jacket. Oh, it's terrifying. You see the wood is slowly closing up. His jacket. It's all quicker. We all right? Are we all good now?

We are all good, seemingly. Let us make our way. Yes. Deeper into his temple. All right. Well, that's... clear this floor first. And I suppose we should just ask

these sarcophagi. Oh, and you would also, I'm sorry, we need to go in the other room because she wasn't able to get the raised debt. So if you want to get rid of raised dead, you do need to crush that one. Oh, in here. Just one more. In the first room, yeah.

There's one more. Oh, right. Yeah, yeah. Because you got two here. You got two there. Got it. I will go in and do the same. I'll cast shatters. You feel that that need that you

had for payment. for everything that you've done, slowly leave you. You almost feel a six-year summit when you think about the way you sounded when you told Van Rated that you would talk about payment later. It's almost if those words are haunting you. But you no longer feel the ability

to force the shadows to bring life. It's all right. It's clear in here. Well, by my count, there were at least a couple rooms we didn't get on the other wing. Yes. Do we get everything on this side? It's hard to tell you.

the end of this hallway has been quite destroyed. I don't know what might have laid behind it. Should we go take a look? We can take a look, yes. Maybe we stop in this room. That's a good idea. We saw the whole thing. Can I just take like another good look at this and make sure that there's...

Yeah, it's easy to tell that it's like purely destroyed. There's no way to get through that. Do I feel like are my eyes the same color? Like if I look in the reflection of my samurai helmet... Your eyes. So we'll approach the door. They're already kind of like blueish gray. So if they have like a haze over there, it'd be kind of cool.

Yeah. Yeah, so I guess we'll go to this door. I'll try the handle. See if it's locked. It has the dots. So it probably has to kind of warm a wall. It has a door. You at least can tell that by looking at it.

You make your way towards this door and you feel the same similar magics that you've felt upon trying to enter into the second room with a sarcophagy. You believe that there is a lock here, a magical lock. Professor, I think this is your one. I'll step away. Yes. Suppose I code. I mean, it's augmentum, and I will cast to spell magic on the levels out there.

You hear the click. as you hear the lock disengage. Here we are. We'll head in. We'll head in. Walking into this room, piles of treasure are heaped against the west of east walls of this stone room.

A 10-foot-tall statue carved from amber in the likeness of a hawk-headed humanoid stands in a wide alcove to the north. Behind it, a crack has formed in the wall. So there's a hawk statue, like right hereish. Yep. And those are, those were destroyed emper? Yep.

Were these treasures? No, no, no. Those are piles of treasure. Oh, oh. Similar to the shatter, but not quite. Yeah. Why treasure? You should be certain not to touch anything.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, sir, and I figured a one without the same. Do the hawk-headed things look at anything like the vulture statues that we saw? No. It appears to be a statue of a. hawk figure that that is made of pure amber. I'm going to grab my hand on that. I'll show you exactly what it looks like.

So it's made it too. Jackal, hawk, does this ring a bell to anybody? No. Perhaps it is some form of a sarcophagus. I want to go up and investigate it and take a look. Do not touch it to Professor? I don't accept any gifts.

I will see if it will often be a gift. the hourbell's warning. Do you have a gift for me? Does not seem to respond. Might you take a moment to pray? Please. I'll take my, uh, my beets, my prayer, be it's. Ilmeida, show me the secrets in this room.

There are no secrets in this room. My goddess, point to nothing for me in this room. I believe always as it seems. What are we looking for? Charcophagat. There's one in particular. seems to be a passage or a crack through the wall. Perhaps we can press further into this room.

And I'm going to shine my light in that direction. Does it look like we can even get behind the statue to get to the crack, though? I would say the statue is probably on the other side. So, yes, you could. So without the statue, we can get to the crack. Okay. Careful, sorry, ass. Shepherd, do you want to take a look?

I'll be right behind me. All right, fine, fine. And while he goes forward, I would like to get a quick look. A quick look through all the, just the pile, see if I can see any... You're messing with the piles? No, I'm not especially, I'm looking at them. And I want to see if there are any, like, books or anything like that.

You move from pile to pile. The first one seems to have thousands, hundreds of thousands of copper pieces. Gemstones galore, suits of plated armor, shields, the small child-sized sarcophagus messal deep within. made of black wood inlaid with gold. The next one, silver pieces, thousands, hundreds of thousands of silver pieces.

Even more suits of ringnail and breastplates, a rapier with a pink glass hilt, great swords, and even a gilded chariot. Next one, more gold. What appears to be tons and tons of bottles, but most of them, at least from this vantage point, look empty. Gilded, an inlage trunk that's closed. You can't see inside.

Jewelry. And eight painted ceramic statues of look to be saints or holy men. The next one. Ingates, hundreds of iron ingots, holy symbols, copper and silver chalices, sitting towards the very top of gilded skulls. with red garments and its eye sockets, surrounded by warhammers and pickaxes. Only two left as you move towards the back wall,

you see silver pieces everywhere. It appears to be a crystal ball, but as you look closer to it, you can easily tell it doesn't appear to imagine. Not quite what you were looking for. Bronze crown, life-size wooden ponies, and marble vases. And finally, the last pile.

What appears to be wooden coins, painted in gold, 15 copper pots filled to the brim with copper pieces, an obsidian scepter with gold filigree, tons of rusted helms, and there, line towards the back, a thin leather-bound tone. Hold on, hold on, before we go. Two things. I gave a quick look over. I didn't touch anything. I promise. But something I haven't mentioned yet.

Arabelle told me what we needed to destroy Shredaella. And what she told us, what she told me was that we needed to learn a lullaby. That half of it was here, the other half, the other half the other mother had. love of her. In our darkest hour and in a dark moment when things are looking grim we sing it. It will subdue her to some degree. It will eat us in the fight.

And it's here. It's somewhere in this temple. But, and I'll point over to the child-sized sarcophagus, you can see there's a sarcophagus in that pile over there. And it's about child size and something about it. I made a connection

with children and love. All right. And then on this other pilot, I'll point to the other one, is another wrapped journal. It could be information, but I'd have to read it to know. Could you give me 10 minutes? We got all the time in the world here. Are we able to close the doors that we came in? I'll walk over and do that. We got time. I'll take a look at this crack in the wall, I guess, while you're doing your thing. I will just ritually cast a tech magic and see what happens. You do that. And your attention is drawn

toward one part of the room. The amber statue, the falcon-headed man, stands towards the edge. Radiates with magical energy, a construct. This statue is not a statue. It is a construct. Oh, hell. So it could come alive at any moment?

Yes, we should stay away from it. But it seems to be inactive. Do we think it will come to life as soon as we disturb the book? Roll an investigation check for me, please. What are the other ones that were constructs? 22. There were statues, but we didn't need to detect. As you as you cast a check magic and look around.

You skirt the edges of this one particular pile, making sure not to touch a single thing, hoping that you'll be able to get advantage right on this book. But the way the light's shining is so hard to see. And then you notice the faint glitter. There is something written embossed on the edge. You lean over and you find a way in which the light is shining perfectly. And you see that along the edge of this book are the words, Snow dwarf in the seven whites.

Snow dwarf in the seven whites. Is that supposed to mean something? It's a children's... By Nitch Rackmay. By whatever you just... Nitch Rackmay? Yes. N-I-T-C-H, R-A-Y. Mitch Rack-M-A-Y. Mitch Rack-M-A-Chry.

Children's story? Any connection to the sarcophagus, man? I'll walk over to the sarcophagus and see if... can't read anything on it in the inscription. I will say we can use the same check, and that doesn't appear to be any symbols or anything, any indication of what it was used for. Would there be a lullaby in a children's book that could be?

Yes. Can we risk touching it, though? All right, all right. Everybody just pause for one second, and I'm going to take my attention and turn its word of the amber statue and use a hunter's sense. this.

You do that. Tell me what that does again. So I know that you said it was a construct, and I don't want to just be like, oh, let me Google a construct. It lets me know if it has damage, immune, resistance, and your vulnerabilities and what it is.

It is a large construct. It is an amber golem. It is immune to poison, psychic, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing non-madual attacks that aren't adamantine. And it is immune to charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, pet, poison. And so is

its creature type is construct? Yes, construct. Damn. Well, the professor was definitely right about something. I had an idea, but it's not going to work. I think we should go through this crack, see what's

in the next room. Well, if there's anything on the other side of that crack. If there's anything on the other side. Ben Rickon mentioned that there may be a wizard here. You may have some answers for this costume today

so I will I'll say yes we should investigate the next room and then have to come back so it seems wise shepherd will lead the way I will light your path this fucking way where this pathway is really thin and you can only fit

one in front of the other as you slowly make your way through, sliding along the sides of the crumbling stone until you spill out into a room. A golden marble staircase with a black marble railing hugs the north wall as it spirals gently up a 30-foot-wide shaft. Lying in the middle of the room are six rotting wood crates.

The amber-covered walls are sculpted to look like tentacles that entwine around marble basterleaks of kings, queens, pharaohs and sultans attended by myriads of slaves. The west, south, and east walls contain alcobs. And standing in each alcove is a tall, rough block of amber. Two wide cracks have opened up in the south wall, spilling rubble and shattered pieces of amber onto the floor in the southeast corner of the room. These are significantly larger than the ones that you had encountered before. We'll all fuck off a guy.

I'm going to walk up to the closest box and just take a look at it. and see if I could either see inside or see any writing on it, but I'm not going to touch it just yet. You don't see any writing on it or none of them are open. It just appear to be wooden great. They're old and like ancient. Not necessarily ancient, but they're definitely old. They've been here for a while.

I just want to take a look at if there's like any sort of dust that may be covering this or any sort of footprints that may be here indicating that someone has been here recently. trying to see if there's an investigation. Any sign of the wizard. 19. You don't see foot steps or anything like that. The dust seems to be fairly undisturbed. Don't see any sign.

I don't have any sign that we should be too. The sarcophagi seemed far more imposing the ones that we've encountered previously. Yes. Do you know anything about the dark gift that Stradania received? recognize if we were tempted to receive it for more than you. Well, perhaps it wouldn't have a dark gift to give.

Yeah, I guess we don't even know if they can do it more than once. Maybe something related to vascularism. Do we approach them just to... Yes. I am confident in my will if you wish me to speak with the entity. You should be the one, so I exist. Very well. Let's step forward to the one that's right now.

front of us. Give him hell, Sarnex. Uh, just give me, give me jargon. East, east. You begin to walk forward, you start to hear. Oh,

come closer. Let Zadune, the corpse star, fill you with might. I do not seek your dark blessing evil entity.

You hear nothing. Have you spoken with the Countess Stradania? You hear nothing. I'm going to step away from it. Entity of might. Useless. And I'll step over to the other one.

What did I say? Corpse. Corp star. Star. Corp star might. You don't know what her. Yeah. I'm going to go to the next one to the south?

South to the south. Close up. Except. My gift. Who are you, entity? Except my gift. The gift of de nebrace of magic and might. Magic and might.

I have no use for dark powers. My God is my power. I must walk to the next one. Come, close. Accept what I have to offer you. You have lies and trickery to offer me, Dark One. What do you offer? You hear nothing.

Eternal life. Have you made a deal before, Antity? You hear nothing. I'll step aside. This is an early war. They seem to have been lingering in weight. I believe the sarcophagus that Chardania would have used would be within her. And not within a sarcophagus.

So we don't accept the gift and just destroy the sarcophagus. Not the goose. Absolutely. Except the gift? No, no. Absolutely not. I can't even believe you would suggest something like that. Just to learn from it.

And then you'll be set evil and join her. Absolutely not. The fire lord did not intervene just to see you turn to wickedness yet again, Victoria. I think it was a good suggestion to Victoria. We cannot risk that again after everything we can through. And shall I just destroy them? Yes. Are we sure these aren't the ones we're looking for?

That's the only reason I would say we don't... That's all. Each one offered exactly one gift after it was taken. I will say you'd be smart enough to realize the moment they sent Sarnax had no interest, they stopped providing information. You know nothing from any of these. Yeah, I mean, we got nothing. I think we should find this wizard if he is in fact still here and alive.

before we destroy anymore. Sarcophagia don't seem to be dangerous by just exist in while we're here. We can always come back. Allow me to try one. I walk to the west one. Okay. Professor.

Steal your will. Yes, I, yes. Come closer. What can you provide me? What can you give me? What? No. Do you want?

The gift? Possibly. Tell me more. The gift of immortality of our death. Interesting. What's the nature of this immortality? The dark gift of the family. I see.

I will live forever. Always eternal. Is there a catch? You, wait a moment. Wait a moment. Nothing comes for free. Well, I'd certainly like to know the price before I agree. You must die of violent death at the hands of one or more creatures. What age you?

Slay another human, human that loves or reveres you and drink their blood. It's in one hour. You have the gift you see. I see. And will anything be able to kill me once I have this power? I'm not safe. Nothing at all. I'm not safe.

Can you tell me anything else about this power? To entice me? I'm tempted. You hear nothing. Well, I'll have to think about it. Thank you. I'll turn around. That's the one.

Well, that's a good thing we need to destroy it. Yes. Perhaps someone else should discuss with the other one if they see. sense the resolution I had in my God, the God of my shield, of my purity. Is anyone else? You said, I don't want your gift. What do you do? Yeah, literally.

He was like, hello? Fuck yourself. What do you even tell me? It was great. It was so sorry that. Anyone else like to discuss or should I? I'd be willing to talk to it. What have you learned?

I learned that it offers the gift of the vampire. the vampire. Wow. And that to make it happen, I need to die. One will need to die of violent death at the hands of those who hate you. Or that you must kill someone that you love dealing. And drink their blood. And drink their blood within and out.

So I believe we can presume that she killed her brother, Sergei, perhaps. and drank his blood. Do we, was she killed by the angry, she wasn't killed by the angry guards, was she? Yes. She was? And she was also killed by angry gods, maybe that's what happened.

I could do it. I don't think she would have killed her love. We knew that she threw herself off. No, Sergei is for brother. I'm talking. Speak of me. Sergis love. For Erina.

Tatia. Tatia. But, I mean, I guess the only thing that makes it weird is, I guess if she could, you've gotten from here to wherever she was when that happened, it just doesn't seem to add up to me, where the sarcophagat, not always here, or the dark entity was trapped here and was somewhere else when she made the deal, maybe? Oh, that is one thing that I believe I learned, DM, correct me if I'm wrong, is that this existed long before Sudania became a vampire. But, I mean, they were just like, what, out in the world? somewhere. Yes, they are dark beings out in the ether, perhaps.

I don't know where they came from. I know that they are great evil and that they were being trapped here. And they all mention stars. Yes. You learned from last week, what you learned and lied about was that the darkness, the little wist, is the vestage of a dead and hateful God. a shard of pure evil with shreds of sentience and awareness. That's what you learned.

And you learned that they are, that the wizards, when they built this place, tracked them in amber in the hopes of preventing them from wreaking their hell upon the world. And that the Amber Temple was here before Stradonia. They are ancient evil gods trapped here with just wisps of their sentience. So she just waltzes.

on in here. She found the one she wanted and accepted. Perhaps, however, she made a deal with the others in this very room. To have powers that we don't even know of, we know she is a vampire of immortal life. What else does she have? What allows her to walk in daylight? Perhaps this room has the answer. What do you like to try? Carpola. Sure.

I will approach the south. You will, Carter. Come. Accept my gift. I have been offered many gifts. What makes your so special? Except my game. What is your gift?

Do you want? I have spoken with your colleagues. I am intrigued. All of the exception. I mean, I have spoken to the other ones. I have seen. I have no charisma, but I have persuaded. 17?

They try to trick you, but you want the dark gift of tenepress. You want, upon your wild stream. And what kind of magic about that? Don't you think? I've learned many secrets from your colleagues. They have told me more than you. I will give it to you if you ask.

Would I be the first or have you given this power to others? Why? I want to be special. You are special. I don't know, as anyone else asked you. Have you told others that they're just as special? What makes me so? There's only one of you. one of you and you

could be. What kind of powers would you bestow upon me as a witch? You wait and you hear nothing. I will say you do get the sense that they are liars. They are. No, the entities, they're willing to lie to you. And once they kind of

realize that you're not truly going to take it, they stop talking. I'll say you've all been able to determine that. They prepare to often be rich them. What does that mean? Do I know anything about liches? I'm not sure.

Is this the power that Stradonia possesses? You will check in the library. Shepherd, Victoria, you'd like to talk to the next one. Oh, hell no. If I step up to that thing, you'd still gonna know him why. Victoria? What should I do it? I think Mr. Sarmix would feel that you've futed.

Victoria, you have mentioned before you had some witness. You may sense that. of making him watch for those. My thoughts, exactly. If they can sense the darkness within you, perhaps they will be far more forthcoming. All right. I'll approach.

As she approaches and walks behind a shepherd and just put a hand on their shore. To me, child of darkness, receive the gift as adduing the corpse. You've used our magic for you want it. I think I'd like to know a bit more, though. What do you offer me different from what I've used?

You could not do what you'd wish before. The magic's not quite powerful enough. What's you offer me? But with the dooms gift, you could raise all the dead. True resurrection flowing through. If you'll take it. We setbacks to this gift? It is only...

There's only enough magic, for one, to use it wisely. It's a dark gift of faith. You could save all of them. Wanted gift of resurrection. What do you mean? I mean, you already did that. I did something similar, that this true, full resurrection, more powerful chance to use it once. I guess I just don't get it.

Would she have chosen, will she have accepted all of these gifts? Just do what? Why not, right? If you're going all in on one, why not all of them? Well, she didn't have bone wings. She's not missing her eyes.

It's unlikely that she accepted all of them. Sure, but I guess my question is, why? Why not? If we destroy the man. It's a vampiric sarcophagus would that weaken her? There's a chance. It wouldn't crumble her very being. Seems too easy to me.

Not that we shouldn't, I just, I can't imagine that she would leave her only weakness sitting in some amber temples. But we were told that we could weaken her here. It might do the trick. It might do it. It might be the lullaby. That might be the reference. I see. Hard to say. Well, if it's more than that.

If it is destroying us, can she be saved? Does she turn wicked because of this deception? The same way we did. I got a feeling she may have been kind of evil before she stepped foot in here. I think she'd have had to be. She had the same human flaws that we all

jealousy hatred if she had the gift why not resurrect Tatiana right I mean why not just take it why not take them and just and be even more powerful

I would say this has come up so you would know this Tatiana's body was never found yeah that was best of it huh true resurrection you don't need the body to you I don't think so I mean I Meta knowledge I don't even know

but I believe and I guess Clayton would know that Yeah, right. You do. You need a body. You touch a dead creature. So you have to have something. If she knew where... Oh, right.

I would know anything about yours. I'm also curious, though, that perhaps the setback of this gift is that she can't let in some life. If we destroy it, what does that in some way helps her? Well, I guess we'd be rolling the dice. at that point. So she was in this room. Let's me take a look. I want to look to see how these,

how this, like, this was formed. It, looking right, I wrong, the station trip. But it goes. Ooh, that's bad. Looking around, it looks like there was some kind of

maybe an earthquake or some kind of natural disturbance that caused it to crack and splinter. And it is just a natural part of the, the inside of this mountain. Because you remember, you're inside of a mountain right now that allowed

this part to fall away and connect. That it wasn't intentionally supposed to connect. I propose we don't destroy any of these until we get to the library. And then we can come back and destroy them. Let's go up to Shepard. Shepherd, you are a great tracker

of creatures and beings. Can you not use your own powers to locate this wizard? I mean, I can try. We don't really even know what he is, what he looks like, or what he does. I can certainly look for disturbances or tracks of some sort, but, you know, it's a stone, sorry, it's not dirt. It's not the nature.

I can do my best. You tap into your blood, the fire in your blood. call upon that infernal magic to perhaps find this wizard. Are you hinting it something I've forgotten? I don't know if Rangers can cast a look at any person. No, I can't. That's not my arsenal.

Professor, is your magic still gone? Yes. Any interest in investigating these crates? Should we leave them untouched? Are they the crates magic at all? No. Enough magical. We should look through them given that we know she was in this room at some point.

Should we touch anything before we get to the library? We, we can, I believe we can handle anything that comes our way. And leaving a stone unturned might be odd due. So I believe we should look for these. Let's do one. Please, let's be great. So I will, I'll like lodge my Naginata in and try and like lodge the top of the open like pop the nails off kind of thing.

However it needs to be able to. You, yeah, you wedge or not. knot it in and you pop it off, it comes off easily. And just as quickly as you do, you see a body begin to rise out of it. A vampire spawn. Oh, great. As it dusts off the dirt from inside of this box, I need all to roll for an issue.

I don't 100 people TPK in this fucking place. I just my initiative always sucks. Is it still cold? Is it still cold? Okay, so we're still like. But you just came out of your home, which wasn't cold. I've been accounting for it, but thank you. A six a team. 19.

14. I will ask for it in a minute. I'm trying to change the music. Sorry, sorry, sorry. God, gone, friends. Okay. So for a hoist?

Vampire spawn. Do you have tokens? Yeah, I do you have a lot of vampires not talking. How many vampire calls? One so far, because we've only opened one. Here's vampire sparm. If you want to put it right in front of Kana. So we'll say can't open this one

because she was right next to that one. And we're all probably around. Going through my tokens, give me a second. I can just talk amongst yourselves. Why did you make me open this? I'm going to me junk. How long has this been here?

47 years. Don't they die without blood? I don't know if I know that. That's a great question, Rich. In a medicine, that's a fantastic question. So Clayton has lots of questions, and I'm glad we open this box. We should open the others. One at a time, maybe.

No, all at once. Probably should. Maybe all at once. Shepard, you see as this vampire spawn begins to make its way out of the box, looking directly at Kana, it looks hungry. It looks like it's been a long time since it's fed. They salivated. I'm going to draw both of my weapons and do a sweet little spin thing on each one as I point the first weapon at the vampire spawn and say, yeah, business is fucking usual. And bonus action cast slayers pray and they make two attacks.

Okay. First attack is 26. Second attack is a 19 plus 12 is going to get 30. You fought these before, so they are 15. me see. All right, and then I'm just going to unload. It's going to be 22 total

points of damage into attacks. 22? 22. Okay, yes, sure you did. Oh, Jesus. I love you, Nikki. Yeah, well, I'm totally. I love vampire spawns, too. I bet. You let loose both of your, all three, just fuck your little son now.

Just two. Oh, just two? Yeah. Jesus, what is it on with you? You let lose both of your both of your bolts into this creature and you see as it's flying back

dust and bone bits fly out of the wounds that are created on it as it seems to take all the damage That's my turn It is its turn You see as

it lets out a loud scream With its action All of the other crates begin to shake as these vampire spawn pop out Yeah, thank you Let me kind of

if we'd put it down one round though and it wasn't able to do that. Yeah, that's all right. But maybe if I just pretended not to hear you, we wouldn't have to fight them. There are seven, or no, six so take off number seven. They're only six of them. Well, this is gonna be a little tough

because the last time we did this, there were seven and we would have been ripped to fucking shreds if it had been. Don't put seven down? No, only put six. Okay, they're only six of them. Interesting. All right, all right. And they are all going to make their attacks against whoever's in front of, of them. The two that are off

to the side are going to move to whoever's closest to them, and I think that is probably to Kana. Yeah. So they're going to be flanking Kana. So the first one's going in on Kana, since there are three. I'm going to start with Kana first, and then move around in a circle. Okay.

It's starting off by doing its claw attack on you with an 18 to hit. That just hits. Okay. And it is going to attempt to grapple you. I need you to make a BC 13

Dex 18 okay you are able you are able to avoid its grapple it's going to instead attempt to claw at you again

with its second attack and it is going to be it's going to be more than it's definitely has come natural 17 and it is just going to claw you this time it is not going to attempt to grapple yeah oh cool

seven points of damage and 19 to hit. And then I need you to make another one of your another save. 16 doesn't hit, right? 16 does not hit. My AC's 18 now. I got a dirty 20.

And then the third one is going to be the same. So make another one for... Nope, no, don't make another one for me. Nope. So that's its turn. The next one is going to look towards Clayton and it's going to try and grapple you. It is going to hit, so I need you to make a dexterity save, please.

16. You save, so it's going to attempt to claw you, and it's going to miss. The next one is going to go in on Victoria. That is going to hit. I need you to make a dexterity save for me, please. Did you have it on 15? Huh? Did you have it on 15 for a future?

Oh, yeah, I wrote Natural 16. Oh! What did you do you say? That's it? Yes, please. Gosh, Dick holes, that's what I get for questioning you.

I got six. Okay, you are grappled by this entity. It is going to lean in, and it is going to attempt to bite you. 16? 15. Okay.

It is going to bite in on you, and it is going to do 12 points of damage, and your maximum HP is lowered by 12. damage. Oh, shit. That is less than ideal, as they say. Um, and then

I'm sorry, I'm trying to look at the map would still do this, and then it is Shepard's turn. It is going to attempt to do the same thing. A 15 doesn't hit. I don't think so. And, yeah, then that one's less. Okay. Connor. That's their turn. Connor, you will. I will just say, um, take care of the others. I've got these three, and I will take the

Dodge action. Okay. You said, lowered by 12 and 12th century. Yes, so 12 damage, and then you lower your max HP by 12. Got it. It's my turn, as I will take my lantern, it'll swirl around, as it'll swirl around me, and I will say,

Creatures of Darkness, this night has been the darkest yet in Borovia, but it is always darkest before the dawn. Give it to him, maybe. As the light is going to burst up and shine down as a a 30-foot radius cylinder appears

and beams down and they all need to make a Constitution saving throw and this is technically daylight and they all need to make a constitution

sandback throw DC 17 really 17 17 if this doesn't work I'll I'll be the street sweeper

if you will because I'm itching baby I'm itching maybe only one of them wait did you say 17 17 17

none of them has I got a 16 31 points of radiant damage plus of whatever else they suffer by being in direct sunlight well it'll be toys all easily because radiance yeah

because of yeah is it fire or radian well we'll fuck them up six ways in Sunday oh does dawn also well you may need to do that

like you said that's fall doesn't differentiate between friend and foe doesn't say that that's fun I mean what's the worst that happens I get a sun tan yeah so you only need to be a con saving throw too

I know that poor Victoria con saving throw no it's fine it's good it's worth it I pass would be 26 I think

so you take half I say 30 what 30 so you take 15 points if you yeah who wants to guess what I roll was it less than a four because that's what I rolled. It's a natural one.

Nice. 32. Oh, 17. Nailed it. I'm an edgy devil and I don't like this. So 31, so then it goes out of 15. I'm your dark golf girlfriend. Yes, tells you my big city golf girlfriend.

It's a half of your own friend. So what's at half is 15? Yeah. It'll be worth it, maybe. How am I'm going on a shortage? 15. Or no, did you fail? Oh, yes, I'm 31.

Shield your eyes. is... Say that first next time. Okay. Sarnix, is that your turn? Uh, that is my turn. And they're not dead? Nope.

Shit. But they are... No, daylight, correct. Are we, we're not blinded or anything. No, no, no, no, okay. The people that are affected... Just radiant damage. Yep.

Okay, Clayton. I will see the one next to me, and I will be... Oh, get away from me! And I will frostblight hits and to make a saving throw, a con saving throw, leave. Okay. Of course. It takes only two to six points of damage.

Three frost damage and it is disadvantage of its next attack. Yeah. And so I would be like, huh? Number six. And so you can also get out of it too. So I'm going to move here. Okay, we're going to make an opportunity attack against you. It is disadvantaged.

I know. He's known but not evil. Hey, miss. Okay, attack. He was clearing. Victoria, your turn. Magical darkness from the Phazer. Okay.

I am going, right. And I thought that was daylight. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh, okay. Oh, okay.

How bad. And run to the back corner of the room. Which back corner? Like, towards Clayton? You'll still be in daylight if you go there. So you can run here. Yeah, run towards Clayton. Makes sense.

You can both get behind and start off the go. I start off the house. Okay. I was okay. Yeah, that's fine. Yeah. Just take an opportunity. I mean, you're not going to like, well, you might.

So, I just, I cannot perform in any right now. I am bloody. Oh, shit. Okay. So, yeah. And then I'm going to, as a bonus action, to link a post. of healing from the rope

and I believe the end of course Okay Shepard So I'm gonna move around to this corner of the room mechanically and take an opportunity attack but I do a sweet

awesome T-flin wall between the two of them together to the corner of the room And then I fan the fucking hammer And I get to choose the creatures You do! So my good friends all

Which weaponry judgment 100% so I just pull out judgment and I'm like blam blam blam blam blam so let me double check what it says you'll be able to hit all of them

so they will all make dexterity stating throws at DC 17 yep and they're in sunlight so they're all in it and then I'm going to need a billion d-8s if anybody wants to help you know I need six more d-8s that's three so I need three I got three

perfect I got three as long as you're all different and it will be good yeah perfect you're rolling here? Yeah, I kind of do. I kind of do. Everybody listen to this.

You'll be able to give you. And I'm just going to count that one as a roll. So that's going to be 10, 16, 18 plus 7. All but one fail. 18 plus 7 is 25. Plus under the 5 is 30, plus 4 is 34 points of damage. What kind of damage? Force.

As I literally, it's high noon. spraying it's on. So that's, well, 17, right? 34, 17 to pass to the one pass. Yes, yes. So which one do you want to say past? I rolled for them in a row. It was number one that passed.

Thank you. And I will end my turn there. Yes, I don't. Exactly. What spell is that? I'm sorry. And then it was, what, 34? 34.

34? Yeah, 34 to total. 17 and past You watch As it pierces in and shoots through Number 6 completely obliterating Hey, this guy And then the rest of them die too

Oh, no actually Number 5 also is incinerated Yes! Better than 1! These since have a lot of fucking hit points. Yeah, I do. They have a fucked up. They have as much as I do. You have like 75-80s.

It is their turn? Is their turn? Yeah, unfortunately. The sunlight radiates around them. Two, three, and four are all completely burned to a crisp in the light. Nice. Last one is still hanging on. Who's it in front of?

Next to me. Kana, it is going to attempt to grapple you. That disadvantage. Yep. I rolled two natural ones. One in 400. One in 400. Got to give it out.

Got to give it out. It is a refavored sum involved. the name of the spell. That makes me really upset. And it's going to attempt to claw you with a 16 and a 17, so it is going to claw you. But it's just a shitty claw, so it doesn't really matter.

Sneak eyes. Sneakis and a deep point. Seven points of piercing damage. Or slashing damage. So I think I get one temporary one temporary hit point from the miss, and then the seven becomes four, so I only take

three? Yeah, and that's his turn. He's made a calm saving for now. The one guy that's all right. Disadvantage constants. Yeah. What happens? 20 points are reading advantage, which is.

I immediately draw concentration and the dawn blinks out. This is a test sorry now. I apologize. friends, it had to be done. No, it's fine. It's fine.

We make quick work of when time is of the essence, the power of fire is all consuming. I'm not going to lie, though. That's smarts a little bit. Miss Victoria, please come here, I apologize. For the sarcophic I melted.

Okay. Okay. That was upset. Anybody want to smoke? Anybody want to smoke? As I sin, some of your wounds. As I sinned some of your wounds. and I will heal you for a bed.

How does just two wounds do? Yay, close this. Oh, ooh. My highest record is molten a ass. Eight points. Mr. Samant, I think you are the god of suffering. That was nothing.

Suffering can bring great renewal. You know this. We got to be careful where we're poking around. All right. Well, I'm glad we could purge this place of whatever vile creatures or who, Who knows who made these things? Perhaps she did.

We should go back to the other room. Yes. Which room? This room. Shouldn't we go upstairs? I mean, there's a staircase right there in the vestment. I don't want to leave this book behind, this child sarcophagus. So we're going for.

Yes. I don't know. We should probably speak with a wizard first. If we'll crush anything. I'm not an expert in these things. I trust you, generally, implicitly. But I would bet my ass. that fucking amber statue comes to life the second you touch anything.

I've been in Borovia long enough to know that all this shit is fucked. Well, if the piles themselves aren't magical, maybe it can see and touch the pile, perhaps. I'm not sure exactly how it works. Look, I had an idea to maybe restrain the thing, but it's not going to work with the resources that I got. Perhaps we can just dispel the magic on it. I'm not sure it will work.

I tried to do that with that gigantic flesh construct that we fought the abbey and it didn't work, yes, that is true. So you think there's similar magics between the two? Could be? Some sort of animating non-living shit. I'd rather save my resources just in case that's true. Of course. We could prepare to kill it if it comes alive.

I believe it handles as one thing and... Well, yeah, I mean, you know, glad. As long as Connor stands in the front. Have you ready? I am a little out of breath from your shenanigans. I suggest we don't find anything for a little bit. Mr. Victoria is not feeling all that great, and I think we should go upstairs.

I can renew myself. I think I should no matter where we decide to go. I'm a little sore, but that's yeah, I ain't going to keep me down. I think at the very least, I would at least like to take the children's book, given what I know about the ele Lelope. Well, perhaps if we do it with Lucas, can this construct even get through to this room? Perhaps we just allow it to stay in prison.

All right, let me put it back on the map here. But then we have to face it when we exit, no. In case there is no exit. Perhaps once we leave, it will simply go. I don't think this is a good. I don't know. I'm going to put my hands over my eyes and like shimmering. dark. It's just a shadow is going to cover me and then come back out and I'll look a little

rosier and less bloody and I'll false-slave myself. I forgot that was a story. Do it. Damn. Which pile has the book? The six. It's the pile of the book. Closest to you, actually. This one?

That was it? No, I thought it was. Oh, no. It's the opposite time. Oh, okay. That one. No, no. Right there. There you.

Okay. I can reach it. I can reach it. Lucas can't be Oh, here it goes. Are you going to be upset or is Lucas going to be upset if his magical head is

torn from his body? He's what does happen to that case? He'll be fine, he'll be fine. And the hand will come out. Again, I just kind of look at Sarnax. And it will gingerly touch the book. I'm sitting on the crate with him. And the hand makes its way down.

Get him out of his fucking crack. My bad. get me out of this fucking crack I don't want to be 2019 I think Cona's also wrestling though just in the future Cona's just like fuck off

I'm all the way over there like y'all It's like the boys from number party meeting the boys are back in town boys are back in town I'm behind the um the you reach down an attempt to grab the book

your hand your mage hand closed around it slowly lifts it as you immediately hear the sound of stone grinding on stone, see this creature begin to move and turn, and it looks directly at you. I need you all to roll for initiative. Oh, shit. How damn, Professor.

Your mage hand does, but it's not at you. This is very accurate initiative. Accurate initiative for Conno. Would a 100% be a poor. Accurate. 100%. Why don't all my 20s go to dump stuff? Oh.

Is that a natty? Who's a natty? Oh, no! We said more of them doing, like, not. You see as this thing begins to move, its falcon head turns directly towards you. Its eyes glow with a pulsing red light. Cernet. I am going to...

I'm just going to hold my action. And I am going to cast... I'm gonna back up and get ready to cast sacred flame if this thing burst through to the upper center. So I'm gonna back up. How far? I'm gonna be hit towards Mexicana, shoulder to shoulder with kana, and if it burst through the other room, I'm going to cast sacred flame. That's my true. I'm guessing it awoke.

Yes, it didn't be prepared for anything. Excellent. Victoria. Oh, that's knock off on any quick. Uh, 16. Oh my goodness. I'm going to run forward and I'm going to just try to position myself as close to the opening as I can. Everybody cover your ears and I'm going to hold my hands out and the loud screeching and shattering noise will happen.

So you have to make a disadvantaged saving throw because it's made of stone and crystal or stuff. It's a construct. Yeah, so shatter is good against it. Kind of. Okay. What's the 16? It passes. Balls. Okay. So, yeah, it takes half damage, which is 3D. It's balls. So where did you cast it?

Just out here. Does it hit Claytonor? No. It's a 10 foot. Not only good. You're an awakening of amber. I'm going to come up with saying. You probably got up here to see it. Yeah, it's just like the coolie.

So half a 17. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I'm going to be so bad. He's probably big. He's pretty big. I think he'd be all right. If he can burst through, though, I guess. It's going to take him time.

I'm putting money on more right. Yeah. And then I would just back a little just so you could, like. How far did you move? And how far do you have left? I just back me up to score. Yeah. Okay.

Clayton, it's your turn. I will. use Frostbite. So it's going to be a constant and I will pull my maid

hand back and if I can use my free object interaction to grab the book. It passes. Okay, nothing happens.

I will back and yes, you're able to grab the button. There is only room for one. I described that when you walked in there.

With Shepherd there, you cannot move back. Oh, my bed. I will instead a, well, a misty step. So I'm going to

missy step here. and then I will back out one, two, three. Um, I'll say, Oh! Kermit! You see as it makes it,

it moves its way toward. It slams one of its amber arms against either sign of the wall. You watch as parts of the wall begin to fall away. As it does this, it's moving its way through. It's using one of its tax to widen the area,

and it is going to fit into that space with you. Loaves. Great. This podcast is brought to you by our Patreon. Become a patron today at patreon.com slash legends of Aventress and gain access to tons of exclusive perks, including a monthly movie night and a weekly Patreon exclusive campaign set on the high seas,

shroud over salt marsh. You can also go to the crooked moon.com to pick up your own copy of our first published supplement, The Crooked Moon, a folk horror tome for Dungeons and Dragons. 5th edition. And don't forget to snag all of the extra goodies like dice, miniatures, plushies, a tarot deck, and more. Thank you. It is then going to...

I love Mr. Comtruck. It's going to use one of its other attack. It's going to use other attack to slam down each. On top of view? Yeah, that's okay. Sure. A 25 to hit. Oh, just missed. Now I'm 17. You got me. Got me? So I'm going to use my reaction. So I'm going to use my reaction. the hell is rebuked.

24 points of bludgeoning. Yeah, I'll take all that, and then you have to make a deck saving throw. Fucking 10. It's fucking garbage. Oh, shit, that's so bad. Thank you. Damn. Yeah, no, it actually fails. It was advantage, but it failed.

So it's going to be 3D 10 days. It's a gigantic amber thing. It's a dex is crap. Yeah, well, it seems fucking awful. One gold, a three and a five. That's going to be 19 plus three is 22. of fire damage to it. So as it hits me, my body like

bursts into flames and like fucking gets him back. Like a hot end. 22? 22 total points of damage, yeah, from hellish beat. As it flams down into you, the hellish fire spills out of you

as you light the amber a flame. And you see as the flame flickers and mirrors itself back in the form. It seems like bits of it are almost look as if they're melting under the seat. That's as good as it gets for And that's its turn. It's right in your face.

Oh, is it my turn? Slayers pray it, and then I attack it for us. Let me roll individually. I always forget. It's going to be another fucking 19. That's three of them tonight. And it's 16. So both of them were plus 12. Both were well over 30. So that's going to be this plus this is this. Not good. Uh, six plus 12 is 18 total points of damage for two attacks.

And would I be able to trigger mine as well because he's, I can see that he is bursting through. Uh, sure. Uh, deck saving throw. I am going to run though, like a winner. Uh, 18. Oh, succeed. So I'm going to take an attack of opportunity to run. Uh, 21 to hit.

Oh, what do you know? It sees as you attempt to move away and it's safe. flams one of its amber arms down on top of you doing 22 points of bludgeoning damage. As I, as I basically like jump back and roll out from this thing, as I get up, I spit blood on the ground. Shephyr, are you all right? I don't look good. Connor. I don't answer.

Oh, what did I say? What did I say? And I will move up to the spot. I feel like I can stand. in the passageway enough to like... He's like widened the whole thing. He's winding the area.

He's in. But it doesn't... I mean, he seems like he probably could have continued, but... I do have reach. I'm just trying to stand in a way where like I'm trying to block his passage. I would say, looking around you, imagine that he's trying to make a path he can move through.

You don't know if he would try and make one where he can move alongside you. So if you're trying to block him off, that's probably a good way to do it. That's what I'm, I'm going to stand there and do that. I've got reach. I will kind of stand there grounded, both feet, like, firm stands, stogging out on both my hands, and I'll kind of like have it in front of me in a boring motion. And I will say, you shall not pass, and I will take the dog.

Okay, you do that. So are next. I am going to look at Conn's noble sacrifice. just leave her let's go guys I'm got this is your time it was a move it

oh do I have any spells oh I do have spells I do have spells I will did you tell us that it was resistant to fire I did not tell you that no no I mean I

I slayers prayed it so I would have known wait or no yes no it wasn't Slayer's prey it was Hunter sensed it yes so you told me I didn't tell you anything

about this okay oh I told you a construct. I thought, oh no, I did tell you. You did. Yes. It's immune. But I did not. I did not tell that. It was his question. But you can reiterate it to you. Poison, psychic, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing to non-magic weapons that aren't adamantine.

Right. And conditioned immunities are charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, pet, and frightened poison. I think I'm going to say, Connor, you will be fine. Trust me. Stand where you are and hold your ground. And maybe you get pulling your nagina a bit, a little bit. and I'm going to cast a wall of fire. It is a one foot wall of fire and it's going to be directly in front of Kana. And it is going to be warm on this side,

but on his side is going to blaze a rindy blasting heat on his side, blocking off the pathway. And it's going to need to make dexterity saving throw. Beads of sweat began pulling between my breasts. having already been reflected by don't. 12, he fails. He's going to enjoy some fire damage very replay. Sheffler's going to become an erotic novel.

Novelist that he's survival. 19. 27 points of fire damage. He's strong, gleaming pillars. Bleaming the wall of fire. Okay. That's it. Yeah, you do that.

And you see as it erupts into flames, the flames lick at this entity, you can see them reflecting the flicker of firelight. But it continues to focus on Connor. Victoria. Would I be able to shoot a spell pass for her? Yeah. Okay, cool. So I'll lift my hand and a black flame will kind of lick off my fingertips and I'm going to shoot a firebolt. That'll be 26 to hit.

That hits. 8. Dbage. You let loose your bolt fired. Spirles there, making contact with the chest, doing that small. And then I'm going to back on another.

Clayton. Um, I, Lou, what's the range on that can't trip that I would like to use? Um, 16.

So can we, like, how well can we see him? Could I? You can, see him, he doesn't have any cover. Okay. So I'm going to go there. I will use frost fight on him.

He's bashing open. So it is a Glacium and I will, he needs to make a con saving DC 15. No, no, no, no. Okay. So he takes... He's a 15? Yeah, no. No. Seven points of

cold damage. Okay. And he's disadvantaged on his next attack. And it is his attack. So he is going to, he is going to look in The keystere reactions the session You're going to be like finger down As fuck.

All right, you know what, fuck it. He's going to use He's going to use one slam attack That's disadvantaged against me. Yep. Okay. Does he move up by feet or? Uh-huh.

Oh, so he can still. Or does he have reach? That's what we're trying to see. Because he would need to wind this part too, right? Or I don't know how it works. That doesn't seem right. I don't know how it works, but I just go out there. That doesn't seem right.

She's got a big long pokey stick. So he's going to use one of his actions to widen the room and move up by feet, and he's going to use the other one to miss. Okay. Yay! Not getting out of reach. I harassed them enough tonight that they can screw up. And there's not even a saving throw for this.

Is he ending his turn there? There's no saving. It takes 5D8 fire damage. Aren't we just stinkers? Otherwise, he burns over a lot. Not that much. 12, 16. 17 points of fire damage.

17 points. As it just, is on the 10-5? Yeah. Yep. Yep. He just takes it. Yeah, no, he does. He does just think it. Do I have LOS on him? Oh, yeah. Then I'm going to make through a text. He's a big fucker. Oh, he's huge.

The first one's 18. That hits. Casseroos. A big one and a 17. 17 hits. Ooh, all three hit, so it's going to be Bop-p-p-p-p-p-p-b-b-b-b-b-b-b these four. His AC is 17.

10, 11, 12, plus 18. There's going to be 30 points of damage for three attacks. Your blast shoots off into the ceiling above you. Rocks begin to fall. No!

You die! 30? It's been to be 30. For three attacks, yes, 30. How am I ever going to just add 100 health to ever. We'll be all right. Yeah.

Oh, we go. I did. Do it again. We did. If advantage of stats ever comes to be, we're going to see what proportion of damage

is done by, um, by Sarnax and, uh, Shepard. I had a little bit of a head start on, on Sarnax. My guess,

a head start. It's like 70%. Sarnax is like 20% and the rest of us are 10. Can we get, can we get DPS damage meters? Yeah. Right.

That's my whole turn. 4 slash 3%. count. Conno, I do. I will use... Did you take the additional... Because you dodged last time, or did you not? Yeah, I dodged.

Yeah, and it missed, so you get one temporary hip point. One tip each foot. You don't forget. Thank you. You're welcome. I remind you by the smash. That's true. Hulk smash.

I will use a bonus action to lift one hand to my forehead and wipe my brow as I take second wind. Feeling the heat now, this thing cresting through it, will heal for a D8 and continue to take the dodge action as I stand my ground in front of this monstrosity. I love this little like wambo combo thing you've got where you have an

incentive to dodge. That's great. Yeah. It's fucking great. I mean, it makes sense I would never back down from the fight, so this is like from a big pillar. So you can just dodge. You're right, you're going to take the pillars as it's coming. As I'm like on to the train, I will say. On the net trap, I just.

Melt the ambush in the pleas of Geroz. and then just deck saving throw. This may not work. You know, it's just a deck saving throw. 15. 15 fails. 13 points of rating damage. I'm still using recount.

Reed, what am I using for class? Okay. It takes the reading damage. It's still holding strong, but. Victoria, you're up. You have. Votrola. Coat bottles.

Yeah, Votrola. Yeah, Vytoe. Um, I love your little gift. And you get it. I'm going to stay where I am because I don't have to move forward and I'm going to hold my hands out and the ground is going to start to rumble beneath him and bony hands are going to start clawing out and I'm going to use erupting earth. Kind of behind him a bit. Basically so that I'd do it about here so that it's a 20 foot. Yeah.

So it would kind of extend to the opening of it. that area. And he is going to take, uh, make a deck saving throw of 16. Oh, no, he's in 15. I rolled a 16. I was so excited. Okay.

He's a negative fucking one because he's a goddamn giant golem. Is that very angel? No. And I have death so frustrated. D-12. Here's two. Oh, sorry. I threw that at it. I'm glad you on fire chestex, though.

I'm glad you. I'm watching the hopes not for my life. No, no, no, no, no. In that moment, I was so excited about it. I love that. I've noticed several times when people have rolled and gotten bad rolls, people have mentioned the chess and I'm the only one using chess, I just want to say. So don't give that iron to anyone else.

Okay. Should I empower it? Three-year-roll? Yeah, do it. You roll as many as you want, right? Up to four. So I'll re-roll any. Does it each take a source-re-re-point, or one-st-re-re-re-re-point?

one roll up to four. That's really good. I can't wait until I put that. They're much fucking better. Okay. So that is going to be... Nine and one is... 18...

Oh, sorry. 19... 22, 3,000, 9, 67. 34. Damn. Sorry. I have to baby count. It's okay.

A baby count comes. 24 bludgeoning, yes. Is this magical bludgeoning? 34 bludgeoning. He adds from a spell, so it counts as magical bludgeoning. Well, I would check. It's just the earth.

He's the... Oh, no, that is important. That's true. What's it called? It's erupting Earth. Fountain of churned Earth and stone erupts in a 20-foot cube centered on that point. Each creature in that area must make a duck saving throw. A creature takes 3D12 bludgeoning damage on failed save or half as much on a successful. Ground is now difficult terrain until cleared.

So how does that worry about a spell call from bludgeoning damage? I would, I think, so I think the additional part of it is that the spell is for the difficult terrain. But the terrain is also bludgeoning at them because it doesn't say magical bludgeoning. So I'm going to rule that it is regular bludgeoning. Okay. And then whatever I would do to like the structural integrity of the cave that he said, And the tempter perhaps collapse. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't make the rules, but I'm just thinking maybe that might happen. I don't know. I don't know. Yeah, but please chat, let us know if we're wrong about that, and I will rectify it,

but I think because it doesn't seem magic. I think that's fair. So how much was the damage? 34. I can do math. I can do math. I can do math. I can do math.

Okay. Thanks. All right, and it's done. It's a difficult train? Yes. So I can put DT. You're next to it. All right, yeah.

No, thanks. Yeah. Thanks. Clayton. How are you going to fuck my shit up? Fuck, my shit. Um, I will. How's it looking?

Do it, like, crumbly? Is it grumbly, rumbly, tumbling? Yeah, it's bloody. If Amber could blood, it would be bloody. Is it the consistency of potatoes and molasses? Yes. It's probably smells. like hot

I don't know if I want to allow Maya to finish that sentence. It's a hot Kool-Aid. Like you literally don't have said anything. Anything. That's probably what it sounds like. I could have said anything. That's true. No, you guys are right. It's just like I never know what you're going to say. And I never would have felt that.

Everyone's, so everyone's asshole puckered That's actually a good point. Amarama says spells never say magical bludgeoning. Magical bludgeoning is for when it's a physical strike with a weapon. Yeah. Okay. So we will fix that. and I will add the additional damage. I know that there's an instance where,

I don't think it's a spell, but something, there's something that one's there. You're thinking of the elemental, which is something else. Yes, which is because it's a creature and only those bludgeoning damage, not inherent and magical. That's exactly right.

But if someone elemental will apparently be magical. So maybe with that ruling, oh, it is. There's another one, yes. He's good. See, keeping me honest. Oh, direct damage.

So the elemental will still be correct. Correct. That's direct. What I thought was in when I was going to go, well, actually. Thanks, John. You are a DM. If I asked those questions, please answer them. Oh, I was it 100% short.

I will be. Oh, it's Clayton's turn. Do I feel like it's coming at me? No, you feel like it's coming at Kana. Then I'll just, um, all frostb. Okay. Sure. Do you get the damage?

Oh. I can't hold for something. It's disd damage on a second attack. It takes, uh, Eight frost. Just get them out of there. Maybe they're messing on my dice. And how much you said, eight?

A cat, brittling. A bad kick, cat, bar. Yes. So, it is its turn. You watch as it takes one of its arms, and it slams it down on Kana at this advantage. And it will miss. It is then.

going to look out at all of you and I need you all to make a DC or I need you to make a wisdom saving throat. I get to add one of these six because he's under my slayers pro. Oh, okay, I'm not having fun with that. Look at that beautiful city. What is it? Con?

Wisdom. I get like, well, 25 wisdom. I suck, so 25. This could be close. 13. Oh, shit. This already goes through the wall of fire to attack home.

He's still in. does he take my... He's still in it. Yeah, he's still in it. He's got to move all the way to... He's on the other side, and so... Yeah, anyway. No, if he's only on the other side or in it.

When he passes through it and on the other side. He's in it. Oh, yeah, right? Yeah. Does he roll for your damage, right? Yeah, so it's no safe. There's no case. It's already failed it.

Yeah, because it's blood. Anyway, three, 11, uh, 17. 24 points of fire damage. What did you get? Oh, 25. 25. 25. 25, 25.

What did you get with the wisdom save? She hasn't rolled yet because she's a bagel eating bum. A bagel bum. Oh, nuts. You and me both. Their, uh, Victoria. Yes. Five.

I got 13. Sarnax. Not Sarnax. Shepernax. Shep-knacks. Shep-snacks. Jop. Chippenx.

I ship, like the snacks. Yeah, Shep Nets. Uh, Shepard, Victoria, you both feel as your bodies begin to lock up. You look down and where there has been skin you are now turning to Amber. You are under the effects of slow.

You... That's much better than petrification or so fucking fucking... You can't do more than one attack on your turn. Fli! You can't... You cannot take... You can either take an action or a bonus action on your turn, but not both.

Close. Yes, and your easy... By a two? Yes, and your easy is produced by you. Your God, the movement is in this half. And you're moving in this house. That's enough, rich. Settled now. It's not.

I should have casted that at the beginning in this fight, sort of. I just got nerfed to shit. And that's... You take disadvantage on the top? No. Okay. And that's what it does. You see is it's channeling this magic.

And you look around all of you and you see the subtle ship. Do you imagine if you stay under the control of this for too long, those might not be the only effects that's coming to you. Oh, fuck. Is it end there? 34 points of Florida It is a

Victorian's turn Oh good I'm like No I'm not a spell shit Because I have a bunch of Social points I am going to Cast a firebolt

Nice Here's simply Because I'm trying to reserve So on my spells I do nothing Except roll ones It's falling to roll the one Yep, every time you know that misses

Clayton I will pass Firebolt on it Hicks 15 Damage And it is its turn It is going to slam down

Kami Why did I roll? Well, I guess it'll try to do both its attacks on Kana. Or what year it does, I mean, disadvantage because you're dodging. Um, yeah, so the first one's going to miss. It's going to see if it can recharge. It can't. Still disadvantage. No, that would actually be, that would be hit 21. 21 hits. 21 hits. I took one temporary point of the worst miss. Yes.

22 points of legend and damage. And this is just regular, bludgeoning? Regular old bludgeoning damage. I can reduce that to 19. Yep. Okay. Is that ending its turn? It is. 31 points of fire damage. All right.

No. Shepherd. I can only make one attacks. That's it. Yes, you can. 18. That hits. 10 points of damage. How do you want to do this?

As violently as... No, I don't get. I just fucking shoot its face and does. You take judgment and redemption. and you attempt to move them both into place, but your muscles contract with the amber that feels like it's flowing through your veins, and you let loose a bolt of energy blasting into its chest as shards of amber fly from it, and you see as a crack splits down its body where the bolt of energy hit, and you see as it falls.

Kana, you are moving out of the way, dodging, as shards of amber are falling all around you. Where this entity had been is now nothing but a pile of useless amber. Are we still under the effects of slow? Yeah, forever. No, you're not. I feel are they trying to take out. No, they're good.

No, he's dead. It's it's it's over. I kick out the charts. Well, thank you for taking care of that. Now we can investigate this room, no problem. Sonax, I think Garrick's taught me how to handle the heat. You did very well, Carla. I'm impressed.

Thank you for keeping it in bay. No problem. I guess it was very grave to stand at something so massive. Oh, we've stood in front of scarier things. That's true. I'll, like, kind of broom the amber with my blade out of the way to make it less, like, difficult for people to walk on in case they want to go back in the way. It is still difficult terrain from the erupting currents. Oh, is it like...

Or is it just... It's just like... You can cancel that. I cannot. You have to physically clear it. Oh. It's like a one-time permanent. Oh, yeah.

So you could walk through the horrific skeletal hands that are... It takes a minute. Five foot square takes a minute to clear by hand. So, I mean, we can either clear it or just walk over it, but we're doing no rush. We'll just see it. If we walk through or we're not being affected by it, right? No, it just... It takes long.

We can, like... We've all the time in the world at this point. Professor, was the book that you retrieved worthwhile. No offense. I start flipping through it. Flipping through it, it's easy to tell. It appears to be a fairy tale depicting the story of snow dwarf is a snowy northern dwarf and his run-ins with seven whites.

So no signs of a lullaby or anything? Nope. I'll look at the child sarcophagus. You open it up and it is empty. All right. All that is there is everything I read off to. I don't think we should take anything. There are tons and tons of gold and gem pieces,

but you find no magical items, you find no spell scrolls or anything of interest outside of what appears to be, just a trove of treasures. You can come back and collect this if we feel the need, but I don't believe there's anything else describing the lullabye here. You're right. Should we proceed up the stairs?

Yes. We go upstairs. You make your way up the stairs, the sound of your footfalls echoing down throughout the rest of the Amber Temple. And as you spill in, though it's dark, your eyes are able to adjust to the darkness. Luckily, the radiance of the light coming out of Sarnasse's lantern helps to fill the room with enough light that you're able to see around you. The Stone Library has 20-foot-high walls and a 30-foot-high-volted ceiling. Covering the ceilings is a fresco that depicts angels being set ablaze in a hell. A black marble railing encloses a gold marble staircase that spirals gently down.

It's the one you just came up. Against the gray wall stands six, ten-foot-tall black marble bookcases. On their shelves are hundreds of well-preserved tones. Inbroidered rugs, chairs, and lit condolabras fill the southern half of the room. Perhaps this was the library. Any side of the wizard? Is the staircase the only entrance of this room? That you can see.

That I'm going to position myself in front of the staircase at the top. And the candles are wet? The opposite half of the room, yes. I'm standing at the top of the staircase surveying the room. Hello? Is anyone here? Your voice, that goes back at you. Do we think of this? This is the library that was referred to by Baumrickton.

It must be. Thousands of books. Not really feeling good about the fact there's light sources up here, so maybe we make a little haste, shake a little leg here. Would the tech magic still be going? Last ten minutes, I would... It's barely going. I'm going to run across the room.

There is definitely magic here. Every single one of the tones in the room has some type of magic. Like explosion, like trappy magic or? Abjuration magic. They're all protected. About what? Perhaps the spell that the wizard cast, I'm not sure exactly what. Well, maybe it's to prevent them from burning.

Could be. We heard great tales that there is a wizard that may still live here. If you can hear me, we would very much like to speak with you. We mean you no harm. And I just boomed that out across the room. voice that goes back at you, but all of silent. Perhaps we should take a little round. Yes.

Curious. So we'd like to investigate the room. That's how you're in the books. I'm not invested in. Oh, I will investigate if he wants to help me. I will as well. I'll just start reading the name. Are there the names all the spine?

No. No? No. Oh, God. That's how you're organized. Magic. Wisniz. The wisdom fucking knows.

My R-T-D. telling someone no ever. But how? How do you get an alphabetizing? How do you want? How do you know what book is what? I can't wait to bring the de decimal system. Is there a librarian in the corner that would know where these books were

what's so cute? I come bearing bread, yes. It's my olive branch from Strigger. You look around the room and taking extreme notice of the books, none of their spines of any rights. at all. There are varying colors, sizes, age. But no sign whatsoever of what they could contain. You make your way around the room. At first, you don't notice the wall. There appears to be some sort of door here. The center of the west wall looks that if you could find some way to grab a hold of it, you might be able to swing it open.

there's a door here there must be some kind of handle or leather and I'll look around for anything that's on a hinge or you imagine that you would have to just find somewhere along the seam and slowly pry it open but you can do it once you know it's there I'll try to open it up you open it up and you reveal a room dust and cobwebs fill this otherwise empty room

small, dark, and empty room. Do you go in? I'll stride my light bull's-eye business into it just to see if there's any fucking lurking abomination. You do that, and you do not see any invisible creatures hiding in room. Well, are we pursuing? Yes, I'll just start to walk in. I can watch our backs of a little bit of destination.

Great wizard! We mean you no harm, I'm 19. You look around the walls. here and you see it yet again, another door hidden in the wall paper and the paneling of this wall, but you can feel it humming the magic, another arcane lock. I'm going to walk with my back to the first door as I'm watching the staircase and just follow the rest of the game. I'll dispel the magic on the lock.

All right, you do that. I'm going to stay in the main room if everyone goes inside of a sailside. I'll tap, shepherd on the shoulder, and I'll say, keep your eyes sharp. and cast guidance for by the third time it's been able. All right. Thanks. I mean, Hoska. Why would a wizard's library be indexed for some common roughy?

Exactly right. You open the door. You wedge your fingers in the small indentation and pry the door open. Behind this secret door is a small, dusty room. Rising from the floor in the eastern half of the room is a scaly arm and claw, clutching a small box made of bone. Everyone please join me. I'll walk into the room.

Guidance is just skill checks, right? Yep. I'll be in the far back if there's no room. Shepard, have you seen anything like that? I look at it, I examine it. You look down in it, and you realize that the bone, the arm and hand that it's perched on,

but merely a carving. It's marble. the box itself is this beautiful and you've never seen anything like it you look around and you are easily from this side able to see there's a door that leads out of this room I mean it just appears to be marble I've never seen anything like that

I mean it's incredible craft of shit I didn't like this in Yonah nothing does this be as much now that I couldn't do I guess I will take 10 minutes to cast to take magic if it's run out or if it lasts,

depending on how long it lasted. Um, yes, you would be able to do that. Well, you already cast it in the other rooms. Yes, all the books.

It hasn't been 10 minutes. So you make your way through. You definitely can tell that there is magic associated with this. It's magic unlike any that you've seen. Uncropic, undead of magic. That's all I'm going to give you.

It's fercromancy. some kind of on death on this marble statue on the box of the statue on the box on the box itself do you think the uh the statues

keeping it contained is there any possible I mean it's a fucking hand it seems more decorative to me before we do anything perhaps you try to find this wizard maybe he can tell us more

I mean look I'm not touching anything. We've gotten to this point where I'm like, I'm done, right? But this is unusual. This is weird even for Brovia. It's awfully protected. You see, I found another door. Yes, there's another door leading out.

There's another door. I say, let's leave this for now. Let's go through here. And I'll pull open the hidden door. I guess it goes to go there that room. What I'm going to do is just put clean. Yeah, that looks. We're all on, on,

Clayton or with Clayton. We make your way into this new room. This 15-foot-high room contains the trappings of royalty, ornate furniture, exquisite rugs and tapestries, and decorative statuary. Everywhere you look are lit kundalabas atop's atop small tables. The beauty of the decor is undone by thick dust and cobwebs. Standing in the center of a room is a decrepit skeleton clad and tattered rows.

Red pinpoints of light burn in the skyline. skeleton's eye socket. The fuck. Do I know you? You have. What the fuck? Mike. Wait, if he's not this big as...

No, I just put that there. Oh, thank God. Jesus. I have another one. Can't you? I literally just almost lose my... Like, I thought it was a colossus. Like a skeletal colossus.

Look at that horrifying. Sorry, I'm trying. Look that horrifying creature. Oh, God. Did you take a look? He's in the... Great, great wizard. Oh, shit. Is this your wonderful library in Temple?

I don't rightfully know who are you. What do you want? My name is Professor Cleodon Azran of the Azran Expedition, from Hallory University, and we are trying to bring greatness back to this place. We're trying to restore the work of the mighty mages and wizards that once roamed these halls. Time is a fickle thing.

Indeed. I can't help you. Get out. You see as it looks away, there's a sense of almost confusion on its face. Can we help you before we go? Can our services be used? You weak, fleshy things go. Of course, of course.

You see as it means. forward and it puts its skeletal hands together. The bones click against themselves. Because it rests, the place where its nose should be is just a vacant hole that rests it along the fingers and it looks back and forth between all of you. There are a few moments where it makes emotions if it's going to say something and then it shakes his head as if the thought just disappeared and it continues to watch. I'll look at the presser and nod and step forward and give it like a full 90 degree bow and remain bow looking at the ground, not making eye contact with it.

I will say we have roamed these halls and we know that great evil has been entombed in many of these sarcophagi. We also know that this great evil has leaked out and infected many. The safety of this temple and what it has. safeguard it is no longer sacred. We have come from faraway lands to bring down Stradanya von Zarovich. That is not my fight. Perhaps not, but we know you hold great knowledge and wisdom here. You know nothing. We know more than you think we know. Great. Can you help us, please. We are looking

for knowledge on how we can bring her down. He thinks for a moment. No. And if that will be all, you can take your tantrums that way. And he looks towards the door. All right, of course, of course.

Thank you for your time. Does he look like a wizard of any kind? He, leaning up against the place where he sits is a tall golden staff. He's wearing ornate robes, a spellbook hanging. Oh, fuck. Three times as large as the one that you have.

Full. Holy! Chains wrapped around it. An ornate filigreed lock holding it closed. Yeah, he looks like a wizard. I would like to fart on the skeleton and steal it. So, to take man, he's still going. Yes.

I would like to just, and casually, walk. all Conna's talking to, I want to try to have my eyes dart around the room to see if I can get sensed like any other doors similar that are hidden or any other, anything I can learn about is guide by his surroundings. Looking around the room, these things that come to your attention are simply this creature, this entity, this spellbook around his waist, which is heavily magical. And towards the direction that he had motioned to Conna, you sent some type of, um, evocation magic. As you look up, you see a black sarcophagus attached to the ceiling in the exit out of this room.

And there is some sort of magical trap that you could tell is set into that. It's above the door we came in, or is there a different door now? No, it's a different door now. For the last time today, I'd like to narrow my eyes at him and Hunter sense him. So tell me what you know, or tell me what you learn.

Immunities, resistance, vulnerabilities, and what the creature is if it's not hidden from divination magic. This is a litch. That's what I was afraid. Not that I would have any idea what that is. It is resistant to cold, lightning, and acrotic. It is immune to poisoned, bludgeoning, piercing, slashing from non-magical attacks. And is immune to charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, and poison. What type of creature is a lich?

An undid. Perfect. I don't know what that. Shepherd is not what that means. Andy just really wanted to know. Can we get this? We can't just fucking each. Yeah, I just made it that big

so you guys would be able to like see it and really see what this entity looked like. I will, hearing him say tantrums, I will I will sit back on my knees on the ground and kind of get in a more less aggressive state

and I will half bow to him again and I'll say I mean no disrespect to you we did come in here on invited but we have many questions and you have much knowledge and we'll be eager to learn from you.

I have no knowledge. I lean in towards the professor and I say we should fucking go. Well we will be on our way is that to a library out there? What? There are several books. I have no

recollection. Well, we'll just be on all way, and we'll see ourselves at. And I will motion. So he motioned for us to go out the other way. Well, he motioned for Conno to go out the other way.

Well, we didn't tell any of you else to go. But not the way she... He specifically said you can leave and go that way. Yeah. He didn't want you to come in. You don't even know if he saw you walk into the room. Yeah, it's weird.

Outside of, like, or which way you came in, he just said, who are you? Right. Like, all of a sudden, he was almost shocked that you had appeared here. And I would say, you've all noticed he's acting very strange. Like, you can see that he goes to say things, and it's almost as if he forgets what he's trying to say. Are you well? Jesus Christ. I mean, I mean no disrespect, great, powerful.

No. My mind is not my own. Would you allow me to have? help you? He stops and he looks up. You weak, fleshy thing, how could you help me? You are a great being of magical power. You are a master of the arcane. I possess divine power. Perhaps your mind can be clear with this power. Only should you wish it. Roll a persuasion check. Twisted. I think he just shoots it. 17 plus...

Oh, that's good. I'm going to take it. I'm going to take it. I'm going to take it. Perception? Or persuasion? Yes. Oh, thank God I'm a cultist. 23. Thank God I'm a coldest. I gave my custom background.

He looks between Kana, who's now sitting back and looking at him with a serene look on her face and back to you. I will allow it. But if you slighted me, you will all pay the price. If there is one thing I have learned in this place

is that it is the most deadly thing you could possibly do to underestimate the power that your great temple holds. You will find no treachery from me. Allow me to approach, great. He sits up straight and you can hear every single bone in his body moving and clinking against the stone

of the throne that he sits upon. But he looks directly at you the two pinpoints of red light almost boring into your soul. He doesn't make a move towards you. He doesn't make a move to divert you from doing what you want to do. I'm going to, because I don't have any fifth level,

I'm going to cast lesser restoration on his brain. If I can. An attempt to cleanse whatever malady it is. You cast lesser restoration, and he continues to look down at you. Just as I expected. Palm tricks of the week.

At least I hadn't gotten my hopes. Apologies. If there's nothing more, you can go. I will say you did feel something, but you imagine that the magic you used just was not strong enough. Shit. May we? spend time in the library

with your permission I will not hinder you thank you great one we back out into the way we came I would like to back out yeah the way we can as well he looks at you as he watches you nodding and moving and he looks down in a way he seems like he's focusing on one of the things that you said

is he shakes his head and continues to look elsewhere and doesn't seem to notice if you exit through him I don't know what the fuck that was, but all I can tell you is that I had a real bad fucking feeling. I will tell you, friends, there is a malady on his mind. I believe I may be able to cure him, but our trials and tribulation today's left me tired and weak. Should I get to full night's rest, I think I may be able to help this wizard. I mean, help him how? I mean, look, you might think there might be something wrong with his brain,

but if we fix his brain, what's there to say that it doesn't just all of a sudden attack us? Yeah, I mean, he's dossal now. What is he to do? Yeah, this is a horrible, horrible creature. I mean, the power radiating from that thing is fucking unimaginable. You, Clayton, would know what a lynch is. Do you say that one, Mitch? No, I don't.

I would say you would, in your studies, as a little bit of him, a wizard being a professor of the arcane magic, you would know what a witch is, and you would have immediately known that's what that was. Oh, there you got. The fuck is a lich. What the fuck is a lich? The lich.

I heard lich from the sarcophagus downstairs. There's a sarcophagus below us. Which did you? You don't think that he succumbed to the sarcophagus, do you? He may have accepted the gift. Well, then how would just fixing

his brain fix him as he is. We'll destroy the sarcophagus. We can try to destroy the sarcophagus and restore his mind. We just got to make sure we understand that if this goes right, we got to fight on our hands. If we fight, we will die.

If we gain his ire in any way, he will all die. Then are we even willing to risk it? Because I'm not a full-fucked strength. Neither am I. We have his permission now to go from the library. Maybe we take that time. Yes, right.

come back. He's daff. I don't even know if it's worth fucking with that sarcophagus. He might be the one of the secrets that we seek, unfortunately. Damn it! You yourself, Shepard, said, the power he has. If he is at least indifferent to Stradania, what could be gained? This is... He is why we are here. I just don't want him to... Like the professor said, we don't want to draw us ire. I got a bad fucking feeling. you stay in this room.

I will attempt to grab one of the books. Wait, what room? In this room right here. You're going to keep us in this room with the creepy fucking hand and the necro fucking box. Yes. Jesus Christ. Or get down to stay safe.

In case these books are trapped in some way, you shouldn't be left alone. Yeah, what the fuck are you even paying us for? Stand back, please. And then I will leave them here. I'll stay in this room. And so the rest of them will. wait there. I'm going to walk into the library

and I will take my mid-chain and I will pluck a book off the shelf. You do that. You pluck the nearest book. It's got a red, deep, velvet spine. And it's heavy. It's a large book. Old. I open up. It is empty. You flip through every page

and it's pure white pages. I put it back. You're at the festival gone. Take another one. It's a dark, um, midnight blue as you pull it off of the shelf. This one's smaller, much more handheld. You open it up. The crisp, yellowed parchment is completely like.

I believe the abduration magic makes these books appear blank. You're not fine. You're able to dispel it. I can dispel one book, but there are thousands here. It will take, it is not worth simply... I suppose I could test it. I... think it wise to show disrespect

to this litch, as you said. I think our first course of action should be cleansing his mind, whether that be using my magic or destroying the sarcophagus. Victoria, if you feel up to it, but it could come with great risks as well.

Like I said, bear for a fucking fun. While he's doing Natchan on the bookshops, can I take a closer look at the undead statue now that he's said what he knows about witches and I see that

there's this undead statue can I make any inference of like what this umbed statue there's like this statue there's like you're in a different place yeah so the the pedestal is marble it's just shaped like that and then it's got the box

on the top and it seems to have a magic kind of undulating around it. I won't touch it but I want to look around it and see if there's any words or any sort of descriptions on it that I can read. Exa-Thanter. You see carved. Ex-A-Thanter,

you see carved into the box. Is this I guess I'm investigating the box? And that's E-X-E-T-H-A-N-T-E-R. Ex-A-S-A-T-H. What was that on? E-X-E-T-H-H-A-N-T-E.

I believe so. Yes, that is the bottom box. I'll do what that could be. I'll rejoin them not touching anything and I'll wait for the rest of the Did you have a character, did you investigate the, like the respect to those people? There's just like regular spectacles. Oh, worth 200 people.

Uh, or see you. Safe. Can we join us? Yes. Oh, yes. It's safe. They can say the blank books. They're being protected by something, but I don't dare to spell it. It would be disrespectful.

There was a name engraved on that bone box. Yes. Exothanter. Exitantal. Does that mean anything to you, Professor? We're sure that's a name. Sounds like gibberish. It could have been a word.

Yeah, it could have been in a different language. May I take a look? Please, show me. Sure. And I'll return to the word. the room and just point it out to him. So I can read any language.

Does it mean anything that? It just not. Wait, wait. How can you do that? At level 10. No fucking way. Third eye. And basically, once per short rest, I can decide what boon I choose.

And so I can either have dark vision, ethereal 16 in Imperial Frileian. That's so good. Yeah, I love that. So I can read every language. So I'll just keep that on unless I say otherwise. Yeah, that's good. So you can switch it.

Yeah, so every short-rass. I can switch my boo- That's boring. I'm free to touch it, but maybe a name, maybe some importance to him, I imagine it. This may be his philactery. What? What is that?

A phalactory. Yes, you said that already. What? It is part and parcel of being a litch. The being that we saw just from there. And I'm kind of talking quietly, so I can hear. his soul is not his.

It is elsewhere in an object. If we were even to kill him, if this is his phallactery, he would simply be reborn from the phallatry. It is impossible to kill a lich without killing the philactary first. So it's destroyed him. Not that I'll suggest. Perhaps not. I don't know enough about liches.

I've studied much about the shadow fell and death, and that's about what I know. But isn't it? odd. I mean, when we keep sacred things in our temples, we keep them away from the entrance of our rooms. Isn't it bizarre that it would be not hidden somewhere in his chambers? But here up in plain sight? That was hidden. Remember that there were two entrances. The front of door to his room was where he was directing you, Connor. Yes, this is a track, if I recall. Is this, oh, is this the front door? That's the front door. Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't quite see that.

This is a hidden chamber. The exact place he would hide this philactory. And it took two secret doors from the library to find it. I got to. Then we should absolutely not touch it, Professor. No, tell me to us. Do you think his name is exa... What is it, Exifander?

Exifanter. Exifanter. Wait, he said he didn't know his name. There's power names. There is. Do you think maybe reminding him, could do something. Yeah, probably get us all killed.

I would be more comfortable mentioning it to him tomorrow when we're arrested. I don't disagree with that. Is it worth destroying the sarcophagus downstairs? I think that we should speak to him first. Take this slowly. Perhaps we should investigate further and decide on the cross-slection. Right. Do you see anything of interest on the tapes?

No. the books. No, I believe it's just, just books and books and books. I believe we have three options. We tell him his name. We destroyed the sarcophagus or we sleep. We should decide which we, which path we take. I think he will be here tomorrow. It is probably damned to walk these halls forever. Perhaps the catch the curse of taking on the power of undeath is it with all of that great power you do not even know your own name

you're unable to use it for anything that actually makes you happy a true irony well do you think it wise us to continue exploring this place I would think not we are all weak bloodied bruise and burned then we should sleep

One more fight could be the end for us. I suggest we don't sleep in his quarters. You go back to yours. Well, I need to place my case down somewhere. I'd say you'd feel comfortable doing that in the library. All right? Okay. Just not in the room with his whatever it could be.

Well, then perhaps here. It's warm and lit. Let us get some rest. I'll put my case on the ground. Magnifico. Magnificus. Then the case will open up down in the stairwell. you make your way down all of you're following him

and you get to the door you open up you see four spectral servants standing their arms crossed they don't move you finally hear it's okay you can let them in they're okay you're bowling on entry they look at you and they all look

confused and they shrug and they look down the hall and they all pointed Arabelle you had them bomb on entry well I was the one who is in charge of making sure that both the old man and that girl who had no head but now has one that they are were okay and so I didn't know if people could get in the door are you charging anything here professor I'm not even sure no I'm the queen of this house

like you see that she has a pretty little crown on her head her hair is plated but roughly she might have even used the doll to plate her hair. We're one of the servants and they weren't very good at it. But she's wearing a bright pink bubbly dress.

It's covered in lace and frills. Her shoes are still her muddied boots. Are you in charge now? Hold on me test something. Farnham, bring me some tea. You see as the entity or as the servant looks from you to Arabelle,

Arabele nods and she scammed herself out of tea. Damn it! Thank you. Farnham. You should get some less. But you imagine they would still do your bidding. They're just placating a child. Arabele, I think that was very brave and very smart of you to have them off the door. So our subjects are safe then.

Well, unfortunately. Yeah, no, they're fine. All right. Wonderful. Good to hear. I think so. They were yelling at each other, and so I went in and said, don't yell at each other. And then they stopped.

We should get some sleep The servants will see you two rooms I have customized each one to be Hopefully to your liking Holy shit And Have a good night And if Kana and if Victoria

You want to stay in my room I have a tree house And I have some tea And I have one doll And a bunch of toys and dresses They will fit you though Because you're really tall But then I have a really big bed

And it even has curtains and we could all sleep there together if you want to, but you don't have to do but if you want to. You could stay in you. I would love to. I think first I'll have a bath and some tea. Oh, don't you? I have little empty cups that don't have tea in them, though.

Perhaps I'll spill a bit of mine into your cup. Okay, but I don't have a bath. But we could go downstairs and go to the swimming pool if you want to. It's a colder bath than I'm looking for right now. Okay, fine. I'll go to my room and then whenever you want to come in, you can just go there. I had one of, I have the pucus, I think, put up a sign that says Arabel's room. That's nothing.

Keep an eye out for it. Thank you. So I'm going to go to my room where I assume there's a lovely Victorian cloth of doctor. Yeah, are we able to beef and like, yeah, all have bathrooms? I'm going to go up and let my hair down and take a bath and just slip on like a long white nightgown and I'll pour some tea and go to Aarbel's room. for a little late-night tea party. Okay, you do that. And you join up with her.

She looks sad at first. You imagine that she's been thinking that you weren't going to show up. But as you open the door, you see her eyes light up, and she's in a frilly pink set of pajamas. She has these cute little slippers on her feet, bunny slippers.

And she looks over at you as she claps, and she has a place set for you. You look just as cozy as you can be. Yes, and I'm so excited now that you're here. Do you know if Ms. Kama is going to come? I'm not sure. I think just the two of us can enjoy ourselves until she gets here. Okay, I'm going to pour you some tea.

Please. She pours you fake tea and you begin to have a tea party with her. Everyone else. I would have seen her go take a bath. I would have gone and peaked in on the rooms with Ben Rickton and Esmeralda just to make sure that they're like safe and sound. or one, I peeked my head in and they look like they're so awake. Their doors are locked.

Oh, they're locked? Yeah. Well, I try the handle. I'll say you listen at the door enough, respecting their privacy and what they've gone through, and you can hear that they've been, Rickton is snoring. You can tell he was snoring before you even got down the hall.

Yeah. Esmeralda, you can hear that she's whimpering on occasion. You can hear the dreams coming through to her, but you imagine that she's softly asleep. I will grab my pack. Or safely asleep. Head to the bathroom, do my cleansing ritual with my ladle, left hand, right hand, wash out my mouth, and then base. And I'll put on a starched white kimono and loop the belt around my waist twice, and I'll head into the bedroom where I imagine.

The door opened and you immediately hear, Begone, Neve, whoever you are, I will smite you. Oh, hi, Kana. You don't sit down. I have a seat for you. Excellent. Thank you. I thought you were a dragon. Well, dragons are very mighty beasts. I would take that as a compliment. Yes. Sit down. I will give you tea. And you will be well protected in here. She begins to pour the tea.

The three of you enjoy a nice evening together. And as the evening winds down, you see as she begins to get tired, she's slumping at her. chair and you pick her up a little bit. Eventually, you notice that she falls over completely snoozing into a teddy bear she's folding. She both lift her up and move her to the bed. She pulls at both of you into bed with her and she snuggles up between you and goes fast to sleep.

And if you stay there all night, you just sleep in her room and she snubbed in that. I'll do that. That's fine. Gentlemen, I'm going to all nod and go back to me. Just out. I feel tucking all. I think the honest bath I can possibly. fucking take. And I soak

for like hours. Because this is a luxury that we haven't really had in six months or more. Oh, yeah. And I soak in the tub and try to boil myself with my red flesh. And then when I'm done... The plethora of

salts, oils... I'm not used to any of that. All of those things are laid out. Anyone else would have imagined you were supposed to choose one for each. Yeah, no, I don't get it. The plethora of sense have been poured in all the bottles are now empty and bubble bath is it's just

flowing and this tub is large it could fit three of you in it. It's nearly a jacuzzi. Once I'm done all that I will dress in a robe or whatever there's a robe providing for me and look for

paper and ink just to try to write. You find a desk in the corner of your room stocked filled with paper, ink, quills, et cetera. So I write for a while? Your red satin robe. Beautiful. You sit down and you satin smooth

against your freshly warmed skin. As you sit down and you begin to write. And I write a few letters and some notes to myself and then I go to bed and that's it. It's very like log cabin. Like what clear things. Furs everywhere like cow hides

on the walls. They're like horn. Like a mounted bison man. This is awesome. in the room? No, no, for me. He's imagining what Yonelna would look like.

We can do that in shows. Yeah, we can do that another time. I mean, a hot pink castle tree house. Yeah. I can't get any

better than that. You got like a gorgeous like zen garden. Yeah. You're sleeping in the fucking tree house. You're a race carpet. I'm sleeping in a poly pocket.

It's a Barbie princess, Ben. Yeah. You're sleeping in a poly pocket. It's 100% accurate. I will open my door and shut up behind me.

I'll kind of side of myself. It'll look exactly like my bedroom at home. And there will be a baby grand piano in the corner. And I will sit down at my writing desk. And I will kind of, I'll look at the piano kind of longingly. And I'll be like, I'll shake my head. I'll walk to my writing desk. I'll take out my spellbook.

And I'll pull out some of the scrolls that we found. And I will transcribe for power. OTILs. I trust you to handle it. You've got that book, too. The spellbook. Well, right. Well, from the book. Oh, okay. You can transfer it from that.

Yeah, cool. I am going to go to my room. Like, I'm walking around this mansion. Like, no intention to bake. I'm going to walk and try to find my room. Of course not. Of course not. What does my room look like?

Um, what would Clayton know about where he's, found you and Clayton and Starnax sensibilities and Iriots. What would he know about you regarding that? I probably want to know a whole lot, but you know, very natural, healthy. So it'll be very earthy,

very sub-garden. There would be lots of greens and it would be all you flavor it and however you want. I will totally take off my clothes. See him like I was in my vision. There we go.

And I'll stare, I want to look down to see if there is, there are scars from where I was stabbed. You look down at your chest. You see nothing at first. It's been similar to what you saw in the neck of Esmeralda, a thin, white line, barely visible. Where the blade has pierced your flesh. I'll look down at the lantern and I'll sit and I'll probably pray for a couple hours. And then like when it's getting pretty late, and I feel like the house is quieted.

I'm going to get up and go to Sheparder. Okay. You do that. I'm going to do a soft. Shepherds asleep. It would depend on... It's all happening. No, it is, but I like the idea of you being a stagher.

Totally. That's fine. I'm fine with that. Shepherds, it's me, Sarnax. Sarnax. What the hell? You all right? Of the Aedlewood, yes.

You know what? Jesus Christ, Sarnix. There's not more than one fucking Sarnax in Baroque. He's my callback number. So he hears me like muttering and like, like, I'm like cursing out of my breath. This is why I wanted you. And I get up and I open the door and I am in my red satin robe. I've dressed, by the way, at this point.

And you see Sarnax completely. Nobody at home get any fucking ideas. No, no ideas. Not whatsoever. Hey, hey. Please feed us all the pan art. Sarnax. You all right?

What's up? The perfect ship. Come in. Come in. Please. and I'll have my lantern It'll be dim Right

It'll be the very dim Kind of evening lantern And I'll place it down And I'll sit down I'll say Shepherd I Before I

Go sleep tonight I want to apologize To you For what For asking Too much of you Damn it, Star-Haf, we all got allowed, we got to apologize to each other for. I think we're beyond that at this point.

Nobody did anything wrong. We all made mistakes. We couldn't have known. Yes, I know. I know that I implored you to make the decision to accept the dark gift, but it was I that was I that made the case. I was the one that made it sound reasonable when we both. We're so steadfast in our resistance. Look, I'm not blaming anybody, but we were outnumbered anyway.

The professor hired me to do what the professor hired me to do. And I was listening to him. And everybody started piling on. I just felt maybe, you know, he's a pretty smart guy and he knew what he was talking about. I made my own choice. And I said that from the beginning. I'm my own person. I just chose wrong.

That's all there is to him. And somehow I'll have to live with that. And worse than that, what I asked you afterwards was the most selfish act of my entire life. And I'm very grateful you did not comply with my wishes. Look, buddy, I don't know what was going on. Something was severely wrong, but it didn't change how I felt about you. I appreciate that, and I am grateful every moment, every hour that had passed in our travel since. I have been grateful that it was Trudanya's blade that pierced my heart, not judgment or redemption.

Me too. Because if it had not been, no matter how Garrix intervened, I do not believe that he would not have been lost after the realization. came over you. And I want you to know that I am aware of the gravity of what I asked, but I was lost. I was afraid. My mind, I felt, was not even my own. Well, I have policed. If you can forgive the horrible things I said about Garrick, God forbid Garrix forgive me too, and maybe we might be even. I'll stand out and I'll grab my lantern. will not ask you what he told you or what he asked of you. But if you saw him, you stand here, we all stand here. He forgives you as he forgives me. I just hope you're right. I believe I am,

and that belief is all I need. Good night, Shepard. All right. Good night, Starbucks. I will turn, and I'll leave. And I will now fully throw. And I'm going to... Once you're in the hallway or when you make it. No, when I get back to my room. When I get back to my room, I walk out for a glass of water. I'm going to, is there, like, I'd imagine there'd be a large, like, tire or something in my room if that's possible. Well, yeah, whatever would be, like, not uncivilized. Yeah, definitely a huge fire thing and like the green.

A fire pet. Yeah. And the metal gray will be old draconic. Yeah. They'll have a drag on. I'm going to flick a little bit of light for my lantern, fire for my, fire, for my lantern into a

sleep well great fire prince I'll flip a little bit of a fire into the brazier and it'll

ignite and it's completely bright and I'll just kind of and I'll slither up like as close as I possibly can to it and I'll put my lantern down and I will you begin to fall asleep

and you feel nudging against your body. So you look down, out of your lantern, the avatar of Garrick's. It's crept out and has found itself resting against your body. As its chest slowly rises

and falls, it exhales, you see a puff of smoke. A couple of spurts of fireland. Sound asleep next to you. It's the chalester. I'll just look at it with one eye open. Without even moving,

I'll just, and I'll get a content look on my face and go to sleep. You do that. Scratches. Stratges. And you all enjoy long rest. Yay! We're playing. Oh, God.

I was so fucking topped up to tap down. Oh, my God. I was going to ask you, how many hours you've stayed awake? Three hours. I gosh. I do like how D&Dia be on automatically. only gives you half of your hit dice. Oh, does it?

Yeah. I love that. You don't have to go back and adjust it. Oh, that's great. All right. Gondaba. I want to have a moment in the morning with

Arabele when she wakes at the plate here. Sure. I will be awake before her, probably, but I'm just waiting for her. This is a child. You wake up to find both you and Victoria laying there. She had it open. Oh, you went back to your room.

did, yeah. Oh, you're in for it. You find, you find that Arabel is covered in powders and, um, and creams. As you see that in front of her, she has a small pink case. She's taking a tube and drawing it all over your lips as you wake up and you, you see her come in with a small spindly brush. She's brushing on something above your eyes and you look down and you see your hair is nodded. And there are bits of of cloth and is that it supposed to be a bow? We're going to

to be a rough approximation of a bow and she holds up a small mirror and you see that you look horrific. You have makeup all over your face.

Bright, bright pink lips. Your cheeks your lips are covered in four different colors of lipstick. None of the colors complementary.

Each eye is different shades of eye shadow and your hair is, it was a rough attempt at braiding, but instead she just nodded it in little knots over and over again on both sides. And that's what you see. She's also covered in makeup as well, but not because she was doing her own makeup, just because she was haphazard as she did it. Oh my God. You look, I cannot wait. I can't wait either.

I'm not sure how Victoria. Do you want to be dumbed in my teeth? I will, like, I will, like, slightly decline, Arbel. I don't do well in dresses. It chafes a lot. Do you don't give me that lip, Arbel? One tear starts to roll down her face. Sis child, and she rushes the color. There's a blue one. And a pink one. I will take the blue.

It will match your left eye and she rushes over to the cabinet and she pulls out what actually appears to be a very frilly blue. romper and on her it would be pants on you it'll be booty shorts and like a very small top but she gets you in it it's tight and it's it's chafin and it's not comfortable but you're in it oh about where are the where's the bottom half of this outfit in your butt oh wow I don't know. Right. Right.

It's not. I don't know if this is breakfast appropriate, Arabel. They can see my cheeks. It could. It could. Is there a skirt? You'd like me to wear over it? No, but I'm really hungry.

I think you beautiful. You're very beautiful, Arbaud. You want to go get breakfast now? Can I put a skirt on over this? No. Maybe a matching pink one? No. This is the outfit I chose for you.

But it has to match the other eye. I saw some of my eyes. I know, but you, but it only matches the left eye. You have to guy. I almost. But do you put something pink maybe over this to match the other eye? Oh, okay. And she looks up and you see as she looks down and she takes some of the, she takes some of the blue that's on part of her skirt and she rubs it over the other eye.

Now it's blue on both sides. Eat matches. Let's go. Can I please all already up for breakfast? You're all already up for breakfast. Yes. She grabs your hand. Are you ready?

No, let's go. Okay, let's go. Skip with me, Ghana. Okay. And she starts... Before breakfast, I would have also like to go out early or do something. Yeah, sure. So you are going to skip your way to breakfast.

Everyone else, what are you doing? I'm pulling wedgies out, going down the stairs. Very uncomfortable. Thank you, God, and we do this. I would just go out of very early and going down to breakfast. I think, like, how Erza would respond to this. Like, God, no. We'll be sitting.

drinking coffee and baking I'll be on the roof side I'll have one leg over the other drinking tea and reading my spell book and reading my spells I would have been up very early perfect I would have gotten very early as well

and sat at the writing desk in my room that just says please you know when you awake please meet me in my room to whom? I'm sorry shit I'm just hold it over

oh God I'm holding it over and don't wear any clothes Sarnat Yeah! Don't stress John. I saw you

what I was getting and I was looking for. And on the front I will write Janice in and I will slip it under the door. And I'll just wait.

This will be very early. Yeah, very early and you hear a wrap on your door a mere maybe 15 minutes after. So much and I'll kind of throw a robe

over my neck and I'll answer the door. You answer the door and you see Van Richten. He's leaning up against the, up against the frame. Well, you've summoned me as he.

Took you long enough. And he leans to the other side. Please, come in. I'm tired, but you won't know the difference. Walks in, he trolls straight past you, and he lays on your bed. I'll gesture him. I'm going to

say in my room it makes it seem a little bit. So my room is kind of Victorian style, so there's crown molding. It's deep blue walls with kind of black accented molding on it. There's a black marble

fireplace and a four-poster black bed with white silk sheets and a canopy that kind of comes down. So there's like a couple seats in a chaise lounge by a fireplace. So he immediately strolls to the bed and throws himself

down and he kicked one boot off and then the other and he nods to you and beckons you over. I must insist, please if you would join me like five. It's cold. Well, it looks like

you're going to make me work for it. He rolls off the bed and saunders over. He doesn't put his boots on. He'll look down. He sits down and he pats his lap. Wiggling. Yes. He wears a hole in us. I realize this is a bit unorthodox to call you into my bedcham. Well, I had no idea that you were harboring feelings if I'd known.

I would have come through them. I am, truly, I have great feelings about... Yes, well, I would like to start off by saying I am not the marrying kind, so I would get those ideas out of your head immediately. Neither am I. Oh, well, then we'll work out perfectly. I'm a bit confused, but... Well, you know...

When you're met with greatness and the radiance of my beauty, it's hard not to be... Let me get to my point. I wanted to apologize to you. For what? The way that I behaved yesterday, after all that happened with Esmeralda, I came to my senses later on and realized that I was quite rude to you. Talking of payment for such a thing, I don't...

Well, I know why I said it. It was the dark gift when I was being commanded by and I just... I should never have said something like that. It was horribly rude of me. And I must apologise. I certainly would never expect payment for

doing something like that. Happy that I could bring your daughter back to life. Well, I had to be a quick time I was going to follow that up with. But when you ended with bringing your daughter back to life, I'd kill us the mood a bit. And you see as he straightens himself up and he kicks one leg over the other. Well, this was not to the gathering I was expecting this morning. But none the same.

Apology accepted. Only if you do this old man of favor. Try. Give his kiss, right? It's fair enough, and I'll give him a quick pack of the cheek. He moves as if he's going to kiss you. Gotcha. And he allows it to land.

But, you know, next time, you actually need me for what you need me for. Make sure you send a letter in the evening. Thank you. And I'll see you at breakfast. Yes. You go ahead and walk out first. I have to put on my rooms.

I'll walk into my bedroom and close the door. Go about my child. Give rest of it. You can tell that he's like staying around for a little while, waiting to see if you're going to come back out and you eventually hear your door close and he walks down that. Good tea this I'm just drinking coffee

coffee and bacon and eggs I'm making it like it for the first time in like six months I can't stress that enough You eventually join the rest in the dining area And then shortly after You hear the sounds of giggling

And excitement As the door bursts open Okay don't get too excited Okay You promise The provost they're not going to be so excited. You're all right, Arabeau? What's gone?

Yes. I would like to introduce you to Kana, Princess of Castle Arabelle. And she moves out of the way with the flourish, and you watch as Kana walks in, she looks absolutely

dejected. Her hair in knots, her face completely painted in ways that should not be possible without taking some kind of fatal damage. And she walks in, the outfit is writing in all of her areas. And it looks like she's one wrong move. I immediately spit out my coffee.

I'm sorry. I'm my lantern. Professor, get back. Easy, easy. Hello. Come here. This is the greatest thing I've seen as we call it Barovia. Take off one more step, preacher.

Sonax. Please. Down, Sarnax. Settle, buddy. Very funny. She slowly moves over to, you know, Shepherd, and she jumps up onto your lap. She turns around to face. face you.

Her, you know, she's, she's five, six years old. She turns around to face you and she looks up at your horns. Can I do your makeup tomorrow? Are you the beautiful bitch shit that would look so good on your teeth? I don't know. I think you're doing a great job on Connor. She looks at you and she starts to whimper. I saw somebody die yesterday.

Oh, that's right, chef, but she saw someone die after that. She already cashed in that car. Professor. Uh, tomorrow, tomorrow morning. tomorrow morning. Yes, please. I'll think about it. Okay, I will accept this.

You can't sleep in my room, though, because you're a dirty boy. Agreed. Can't do that. Actually, I don't care. You can sleep in my room if you want to. Anybody can sleep in my room. I'm going to thank you for the invite. I'm going to stay in my own room.

The professor fixed it up real nice, even if it was a little bit on the nose. It was very comfortable. You didn't like the saloon, the swinging saloon doors. I was like a fucking Texas warehouse. You're just a nice touch. I can't say that I ever had a buffalo floor. You know what?

Thank you. I made sure that every floorboard creaked. It was incredibly. Covers cannot describe my appreciation. I'm glad that you all liked it. Please, I insist you must have some breakfast to keep your friend. I came down earlier on a evening breakfast. Well, would you like second breakfast?

I do. I just don't. She's a true. Now that we're all away, a little devil, we should be honest. I am really hungry because I am becoming an old lady. I'm becoming an old lady just like Victoria. And so I need to eat a lot of food. Excuse me.

Excuse me. I'm staying at Cullen. Sorry. I'm going to walk over and not make eye contact with anyone. I'm going to pull the wedgy out of my camel toe and sit down at the table and just like lean over my food and just start shoveling food as quickly as I'm trying very hard not to look at comment I'm not looking at anybody I'm just looking out at my bowl of porridge eat quickly we should be on our way where are we going today no you will stay you need to

keep an eye on our friends but you told me I only have to do that last night well things are taking a little longer than usual as these things sometimes do and your job's very important okay but it's a great job so far I know but I'm need another room. My dollies do not have enough space. What would you like? I would like the same thing that I have, but double it.

All right. And I want the pool in there, too. Oh, I'll have to do some rearranging there. Don't worry, I can swim. Our rooms all got a bit smaller, unfortunately. There should be a swimming pool in your room. I want this swimming pool to be.

shaped like a mermaid. All right. Please make sure she doesn't drown in your house. I want there to be a diving board. No, absolutely not. I will not. Oh, there's a small. I wanted to have a bubble activation switch so I can have bubbles in it.

Well, there's a lever. Oh, I also wanted to be warm. Can you make it heated water, please? Yes. Professor, maybe don't tuck yourself out before we even leave the answer for the morning. It's nothing. It's nothing. the tail of the small rodent and the confection.

Yeah, a mouse and cookie is what he means. Oh, and can they have a mouse named cookie? I don't know. That's something I can't do, unfortunately. Why not? You can't give me a stuffed mouse named cookie. Oh. Can you make him floating so he can play in the pool with me?

Okay, now I'm done. I will stay and protect the people in behalf. Thank you. They got up this morning and had breakfast. Make sure that they stay here. Did you know that Victoria is his Rudolph's new girlfriend he told me? And you see if she's looking down, she's pretending to read, there's a paper, but it's upside down. I'm literally just slack-jawed, like...

I'm going to loudly push myself away from the table and like just white porridge off my face and just go, and then I'll just walk away from the table, pulling my... pulling my shorts out of my ass and just, like, get it with knees together, walking out of the room. How many lives did she have? Two. Just the two. Sorry. She seems so pretty.

Kada. Tell me something only Kada would know. Be cleansed in water, and I will go take a bath. I hate. Kada, you don't have time to take a bath. You must be going to out. I don't care. And I slammed the door back to him. Did he?

I think she was the best. I'm like a fucking brush by hair. Thanks, Professor. And I just continued to hurry my call. coffee and eat my breakfast. Did everyone count two legs on Kama? Not eight. Yeah, just the two.

Oh, it goes. Oh, goodness. Asanax, are you well? I, I admit, Professor, there is one thing I have a phobia of. It's one thing that truly scared me from when I was a hatching.

I do not admit it rational, but she looked like a traveling circused cloud and a tail. What do you mean? She looked like a cloud. He looked like a horrific cloud demon. Very good, beautiful. Yeah, he doesn't mean it a bad way.

Do you not like to make her? If your intention was to scare me to the cold. No, I wanted to make her beautiful. Er, then she is already. There is, it's own unique beauty and fear, child. Really? Yes. So I should make her look scary next time.

may want to make her look pretty. Perhaps not like a clown or a spider, especially not a spider clown. Did she look like a spider clown? Not so that's why I was counting her legs, child. Pardon me. Pardon me. Run along now and eat your small rodent in convection. I'm not going to eat a mouse.

Oh, that's not children, not do that normally. Where I come from, mice? Do you want more liquor? No, I just found that if I make that noise, people stop talking. That's enough, Sam, perhaps ingesting mild poison. You want me to eat poison? No, please stop, Simon. Oh, no, no.

Professor offers you all the best. Now, why don't you go take a look at the new swimming pool you have in your room? It's a great idea. Oh, baby, Kana's there. I can try new makeup on her and she... Go on now. I will see you when you get back home, and she loves to star next time. The next time I get to do someone's makeup, I will make them look like a spider clown.

And then she runs out of the room. Because when I was a hatchet... Crudence, come here. I need to try something. I'm sorry, friends. Spooky spider clowns scare me. The reason is not scary. Sheppard, you've had enough. You've nearly eaten bacon.

Eating my weight and bacon? Yes. I can do twice that. I propose that you don't in case we have some moving about to do. Please. I have really stuffing my face full of bacon. We haven't had like delicious bacon. I'm like overindulging.

There's like literally like probably two dozen eggs in front of me, just shells everywhere. A side of like eggs. Yeah, right. Of every kind of bird I can possibly think of. and like a huge sighted elk. That is my breakfast. And routine. Some tea and some dry toast.

It's very exciting. Don't get a stomach egg. Midway through, you get a Lucas shows up, and he presents you with a letter. Clayton. It is a small message from Van Richten saying that Esmeralda is not doing well today. She was fraught with horrific nightmares, and she's very, ill that he brought her food earlier and that they will not be joining you this morning. And that he asks if they may continue to stay here at your request.

Of course. You let them know they can stay until we're ready to leave this place. Thank you, Lucas. All right, how are we ready to leave? So what's the game play? I believe we will have some like to come to cure the glitch of his madness. and perhaps he can help us. They are generally evil creatures, but they can be reasoned with.

Are you feeling up to it? I feel far better than I did yesterday evening. Can we perhaps use his name is about him? After Mr. Sarmax does what he will. I'm relying on you and your knowledge of whatever the fuck that is. You let me know when we're fighting or flied. Yes. Under no circumstances, we will be fighting.

If things go south, we will flee. Then we're all in agreement then, right? Yes. Yes. We run like the fucking dickens. We'll do what we can to flee. All right. Just stay behind me if we need to.

Get out of there. I prefer I'd be the last one out. I will come up. I will leave everyone up the stairs. We're looking far better, by the way. Open the case. Thank you, Sir, Max. I appreciate that.

and I'll I'll leave the you exit your case you step out you step out into the library just as it was when you left it the previous night nothing at all seems to have changed

just all you spill out into the room you close the case behind you and you look around with the books again pull a couple off just to double check they're all completely empty for usual what do you want to do? All right, Saunax, please.

Does it look any different, like, sunrise, sunset, like, outside? There are no windows. We're in the mountain. Inside of the mountain. Oh, we are now in the mountain. Got it goes. Yeah, this is all built into the... I keep forgetting. As we make our way, I just want to think to make...

Sarnax knowing what I know about restorative magic. I wouldn't be an idiot for thinking, oh, well, if I try greater restoration, maybe that'll look because it's so much stronger than what... That would make me smart, not an idiot. Good. Yeah. So, as like the perfect line of thinking, as we enter, I will continue to maintain how my arms and my lantern is held by and like in a very kind of submissive, graceful position. Do we see, is he still?

Oh, you're going straight into that room. Oh, yeah. Oh, I'm sorry. I was writing something down. Oh, I didn't. Hold on me. I don't know. I'm honest.

And I can roll my book. Yes, please. I'm going to crush. That is, that is insane. My first Natty 20, Port me. R-important. Wow, wow. Yeah.

That's awesome. Wow. Nice. Fucking huge. I will follow his lead and also enter like a submissive bow state. You step into the room and immediately you see this litch, this entity sitting on the throne, staring out. And he doesn't seem to notice you at first. Why?

What have you come before? I am Sarnaxo the evil. I come as a representative of Garrick's the fire lord, and I am here to help you. A fleshling like you, skin and boat. Yes. Roll persuasion check. Same exact same. 1723.

Wow. He looks at you for a moment, and he moves his hand up. You may try. I am attempting to make you well. You can bring back your great mind. He stares forward between all of you, looks at you, but he makes no move to outstering forward or to prevent you from approaching.

I'm going to use a fifth little skull slot to cast greater restoration on his brain. Oh, it's touch! So I'm going to go up. I knew it was touch. And we're all in the room, though. I need you to roll for initiative. I'm kidding. I just really wanted to see that look at Mikey's face.

I'm an asshole. I'm sorry. You drive that one out a little bit more, too. I'm like, she's kind of serious. I know. My handle glow and my lantern will kind of glow the same color. Touch his head. What does the lip smell like?

Decay. Death. Dirt. Are you hungry? This is why I had dry toast. I reached forward. And you place your hand on his hand, the one that's rest. the one that's resting on the edge of the throne.

You can feel the cold bone beneath your fingers. There are small patches of leathery skin still attached in a few places. Some of the muscles completely dried out the tendon, the sinew that's there, sinew that's there. Sine you can feel it. You try to remove. the image and the feeling from your head as you focus on channeling in this greater restoration.

You begin to cast spells. Instant. Action. Yes, one action. And you feel his deep intake of breath as all of a sudden he looks around at all of you. What are you doing in here?

Drake's? One, one moat. He looks down and he grabs your hand quickly. Thank you. Sonics. Dude. Yes, it is my pleasure to use my divine magic to assist your arcane. He reaches out and he grabs your hand again and he starts to shake it.

Exitanta. Powerful lich of the temple. And that's where one session. Mark me down as surprised. I personally think he should have been an evil uncoolitch who disintegrated the heroes instantly. But I suppose we cannot get everything we want. With the massive ancient library at their disposal, perhaps the expedition thinks they have found yet another boon against me. Where will they go next?

Find out in Chapter 12 of Curse of Stradania, Tomb of Sorrows. In the meantime, if you wish to watch Legends of Adventress tell similar stories of Dungeons and Dragons every week, you can follow us on Twitch. You can also enjoy our many campaigns on YouTube, support us on Patreon, and join our community on Discord. All links are initial notes. We welcome you to our adventurous family.