Legends of Avantris - Tainted Grail | Ep. 3 | The Broken Men: Part 1

Episode Date: December 11, 2024

Equipped with magical protection the heroes embark what may be their last quest...   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/ht2-ttV_lF8?si=F4uA7tqdjeUpaLwC

Welcome to Legends of Aventress. Last time, on Tainted Grail, our three brave, wizened adventurers with experience and age finally laid eyes on the wonderful city of Camelot. It didn't take you long before you approached the city walls and became acclimated to this city. Many of you have never seen a city this large before. large before. It was a very unique experience. It might have been overwhelming for some of you, but you all managed to find your way. You met some of the locals. You interacted with

different people who, some were friendly, some less so. You found your way to an inn and were able to secure lodging, keeping your ear out for what was next. Any kind of hint, tip, anything that might give you a lead on where to go next. After some dicey encounters with drunks, nobles, barns, and women, you were told that there would be an open court day. And it's something that happened only once every month or so. A day where the people of Avalon and especially Camelot could air their grievances, bring their concerns to the queen, that this was your best shot at speaking to somebody who might have any idea to help you in your predicament. It wasn't long before you spent the day dealing with the bureaucracy, the lines, the advisors,

shuffling you this way and that way until it was your turn to speak to one of the court wizards, and that's where you met Archibald. There was some conflicting feelings about this wizard. He seemed earnest and like he wanted to help you, but not everyone was entirely convinced or sold on his knowledge. He did ultimately tell you that what you sought could be found potentially in the northern most point of Avalon, in a castle called Castle Crow's Nest. It was Christoph who was most keenly aware of the name of this place and the denizens that live there.

You learned of Mordred, the necromantic former knight of the roundtable, who has hold himself up in said castle. There are whispers that he's made packs with the four dwellers there. That he learned necromatic magic from Oregon, the goddess of war, death, crows, and black magic. Knowing that this difficult journey just got that much more difficult, and you were headed where many have fallen before you, You didn't let it deter you. Archibald said that he had a way to help. He could craft special candles called weird candles. Wonderful black wax candles that are made from the tallow of weird creatures.

It was then that you knew you'd have to set out into the weirdness yet again. This time, hopefully aided by the order of weird hunters. A group of men and women who live on the outside of the castle wall, the castle walls, who devote their lives to making a little bit of coin by keeping Avalon a little bit safer, with daily, daily weekly hunts of these awful creatures that lurk in the mists. You met them, they seemed eager to take new recruits. It's not uncommon for these recruits to perish in untimely ways. After being introduced to the rest of the crew, you set out in a hunt of a...

You set out to hunt a weird bear, a creature that they'd been tracking for several days. Captain Oliver Ezra, the young healer, Mercer, and the even younger hunter, Frederick. Before long, you were locked in a mortal battle with this terrible creature. But the weird bear did not fall

before taking Frederick with him. It was a sad day, but you were able to secure the parts of this animal that you needed, using horses in a carriage to bring those pieces back. You got back to the order of Weird Hunter's Lodge, where you drank to a successful hunt, to the remembrance of Frederick,

and to the knowledge that you would be able to bring all of this to Archibald, and he'd be able to start the process of converting this weird bear fat into tallow and thus candles. Captain Ezra said that he would help you with us. It's not uncommon for them to bring specimens to Archibald the Wizard. You also know that you have at least another remaining five days in Avalon.

Excuse me, in the kingdom of Camelon. You are wounded. The fight was intense. You certainly did not walk out unscathed. Healing will take time. We will begin the session by going around the table, and I will give each of you the opportunity to talk about what you've done in the remaining five days. You know the process for making these weird candles is a long one. Archibald is long toiling away, especially knowing that the queen had previously ceased.

Research and work that would be devoted towards finding out about the reignition. re-ignition of the Menhir Stones, which you all kind of thought was a little strange. But Archibald said, he mentioned that he was continuing in secret. So it might take him a little bit longer than normal to create these candles. What have you done for the past five days in Camelot while you are recovering, enjoying the city, and physically, mentally preparing for the task at hand? Who would like to go first? I'll go first.

Please. I spent some time at the apothecary. When we first arrived in Camelot, Balto went to the thing he was most familiar with. When he wasn't with his chums, he was talking to the apothecary's, learning about the local flora and trying to figure out what was unique to Camelot, how they brought things in from distant lands, looking at exactly. things he'd never seen before asking about all of that knowledge. And doing a little trade, I think.

As I recall, he even was able to fill his healing pouch up a little bit. He's revisited the apothecary a few times, and with the obels? Yes, I was going to ask you, what did you spend your obels on? With the 50 obols that I have, I purchased some of the rarest of the the concoctions, the tinctures that they offer. Effectively, mechanically, I'm purchasing the healing essence. Okay. But it's almost as close to magic as you can get before you enter magic.

Basically just extremely potent, distilled flowers and roots and that sort of thing. A powerful medicinal decoction. Wonderful. Speaking of magic, in your time with the Order of Weird Hunters, you encountered the young healer, Mercer. That's right. Who you all witnessed cast magic. Maybe for the first time in your lives.

Maybe you've seen other people cast magic, but you know that magic is rare. It's hard to harness. We saw it backfire on poor young mercy. That's right. How have you spent your experience points in the remaining downtime? That is what I've been really spending my time with. Instead of with the apothecary, I made those purchases, and I spent the majority of my time when I wasn't at the shared inn where we sleep, talking to my brothers here, just constantly going back to Mercer, talking to him, asking how this cultivated in his mind.

Did he read what was required? He sent me to an Allmother shrine in Camelot, and it was there that they were able to teach me the words. but it was the, I think the combination of the phobia that I feel, the fear of the four-dwellers and everything that I experienced in traveling here, and seeing the possibility of magic that has instilled Balto with faith. He has experienced grace this week. This week, for him, the gods are real again for the first time, and it is in the Allmother that he is placing his fate and his soul. So, mechanically, I have levels of... leveled up, I've advanced, leveled up is wrong, I've advanced my character to start to dive

into what they call sorcery. There are four schools of magic, I understand. That's correct. And because I am a reason-based character and I've been going down the healer route, because I was given enough experience points, or at least I earned enough experience point, I was able to spend that on enough domain advancements to eventually create the discipline of sorcery which means that I, Balto, with enough faith and with enough magic might be able to cast a speller to me.

I gotta give it up everybody. Gotta give it up. Goh. Balto has the ability to cast magic, which we will talk about a little bit later. But you do these things. You visit the apothecary, which is the form of medicine that you know best. But you can't get the image of Mercer using this healing magic out of your mind and you spend the remaining amount of your time learning a bit of your time learning a bit of the form.

more about the All-Mother, learning a bit more about how this magic works, and you believe that for some reason you're a bit more sensitive to it. Maybe it's the nature of you being a medicine man. Maybe it's the time you've spent in the weirdness. But something about it allows you to feel like that you're close enough to this that you may be able to harness it. Well, my attempts to harness it, narratively, I would say, have failed so far. I've not yet been able to even create a spark within my hands, thinking back about the globe. of golden energy that Mercer was able to produce. I will continue to pray on this.

Well said. Who's next? I will go. Jasper. Jasper, when he's not been in his cups, he's been scheming. He kind of started to fall back, and being in a city, started to fall back in what he had remembered

being a tactician, strategist, advisor, a ruler, a lord. and he managed to track down the man who recognized him and discovered that his name was Osgood Lothwell, a minor, very minor lordling, sworn to House Frosby, who is squatting in his castle, at least so he believes.

And a second son to this house, and so not an heir, and he basically tailed him until he could get some dirt, and then threatened him and exhorted him, and basically kind of extorted him into being his informant and his man, so to speak. And so he dealt in secrets and was writing letters, sending letters,

because he started to follow the advice that he used to give to Young Benedict that some swords are one with quill and ink rather than sword and shield. And so he basically is sewing discord and plotting against, reaching out to old allies against House Frosby. And while also realizing that he, there will be combat afoot. So any time where he's not plotting or drinking, he will spent basically in an archery yard

or, you know, basically practicing a shot and perusing the magical item shops that they're on. Yeah. How did you choose to spend the obols that you were given for the work that you had done and also extorted from this gentleman that you cornered? At the shop, I was able to secure one of a healing balm, I believe. Yep. And a nice medallion, an amulet that would probably, I would have perhaps purchased this. Good choice. At a religious shop, both of those would be kind of like a holy, perhaps like a holy water. and an amulet of the Allmother.

I would also, I would have visited any kind of church of the Allmother as well and done some praying, perhaps for the first time since I left deliberate praying at a church. And so I would, yeah, I would have visited whatever kind of like church gift shop there is and picked that up.

Awesome. So you do this. You know that you have quite the journey ahead of you, and that's not going to deter you from drinking. Of course not. But you are going to focus on healing and staying loose and practicing your archery, but not before seeking some form of sick, twisted revenge in the form of extortion of this drunken, what was his name, Osgood, Osgood, Osgood, Osgood. Osgood, Lothwell. This drunken Osgood.

Second son. It is only because of his connection to these squatters in your former castle that he recognized you in the first place. And then that is what tipped you off, that it might be war. following this individual, tracking him down, and extorting him for all that he's worth. After getting revenge and flipping this person into some sort of informant, perhaps getting that much closer to the goals

that you have in mind, you spend your remaining time, doing a little bit of shopping, but mostly resting and preparing for the journey ahead. Well done. Christoph, you also have all a lot of time on your hands. But you also have the most recovery to do. Oh, yeah.

I would say, one of the first things that you did upon being triumphant against this weird bear is returned back to the inn. To see one innkeeper, tavern woman, Bridget. That's right. You told her previously that you had to leave pretty early in the morning and you might not return. because of the dangerous hunt that was ahead of you.

And you notice as you walk in, bruised, battered. Maybe a new scar. Yeah, absolutely. There is some absolutely visible woundage. But heroic, valiant, triumphant, Bridget's eyes light up when she sees you. Cannot believe that her brave Sir Christoph has returned. Because in some world, she was very certain that she might not ever see you again.

You talk, you enjoy a meal, a nice drink, you wait for her shift to be done. And she brings more drink and food over. You have a lovely evening together. It's not long before you're laughing together like old friends. you feel the warmth, you feel the happiness that she is to have you there and to talk. And it isn't long at all before you get up to leave for the evening, perhaps returning to your own room. And she stops you. And she gives you the option and invites you back to her room instead.

I accept. What you choose to do? You need to get it out, man. You got all these paws. I'm kidding. I'm teasing. What you choose to do. Yes, please.

You choose to do is up to you. Double text in her. And you have the remainder of the week to do what you'd like to do. So 100%. I'm beat to hell. And probably for the first day or so, I would take it very easy. But in that experience with the weird bear,

realizing that, like, you know, Christoph is mainly used to fighting other men, right? Like, other humans. Yeah. And he hasn't had a ton of experience fighting these weird mutated beasts. And he's gotten beaten to hell twice now. So I think he's realized that his skill

with the sword is sufficient, but he needs to bolster his protection. So during the days, he would basically take any kind of odd job sort of sell sword adjacent that he could. So whether that's being a doorman for a classy establishment, basically like a bouncer,

or like personal guard for a specific event. or it's like security for like a party or a festivals, anything that he can sort of do to earn a little extra coin and then go to the blacksmith and basically get his armor and shield sort of reinforced and bolstered up so that he is far more hardy than he used to be. And I spent all of my experience points on my defense stat. So it is now from, I win from 10 to 13.

Nice. That's a pretty big jump, but it costs quite a bit. And my shield and my armor also got a bit of a boost. Well done. You do this. You have no problem finding these odd jobs and little bits and things that you can pick up here and there, all manner of things, very much like you described. And with the money that you got for the reward for defeating the Weird Bear as a bounty, you also make enough money to buy a new shield,

to upgrade your shield, and also reinforce your existing armor. You had your eye on this beautiful plank mail, and you really, deep down, you were like, that's for me. But you tried, you worked, you worked, but you could not make enough money to get there, and you thought, old trusty armor, I'm going to keep this, I'm going to reinforce it,

you know, maybe someday, maybe someday. And I would spend the evenings socializing, with Bridget and having a little Camelot fling. And, you know, I would still, you know, drink with my friends. Are we staying at the end the entire week? Yeah, we have a whole week. So, A, I would have given Bridget a few hints about how your bandages needed tending to.

Oh. For two reasons, I couldn't find you, and you needed to change your bandages. And two, I see that as a way to give my buddy and Allie Upe a little bit. And, yeah, no, just that. Okay. Oh, and I'm picturing the Raiders of the last arc. Where does it hurt scene the first night?

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Sweet Jesus. Absolutely. I definitely would not sleep in our shared room, though. Yeah. What did I say? Wrenches Love nights. You find yourselves all together on the final night you will be in Camelot.

Again, your final night in this inn, you've grown accustomed to being here. You weren't used to this, albeit just a touch, but opulence. These are some of the nicest quarters that you've ever spent time in, at least in the last couple of decades. You know, some of you come from more expensive or rich backgrounds than others, but this was something that you're not looking forward to giving up. You know that the journey ahead of you is going to be extremely difficult. You know that you have to head northwest to the northernmost point of Avalon. One of the most dark and evil places of Avalon, Castle Croseness.

The mere mention of it sending shivers down people's spines, but most people won't even talk about it. Most people don't want to recognize that it's even real because of the horrible stories that come from that area. Real or not, nobody's truly sure. You enjoy one last evening, just like the old days in Briarbrook, drinking at the inn, playing cards,

enjoying the warmth of a fire before you all turn in and rest. Is there anything that you all would like to do before going to bed and knowing that you'll be meeting Archibald the Wizard and Captain Ezra of the Order of the Weird Hunters in the northern gate of Camelot?

To leave. To leave. The next morning. I would... I would sort of mentally prepare, make sure that physically I'm fully good. I don't know how we want to handle how many hit points we have. You will be fully healed at the end of this time. It is a lot of time has passed between Balta being there as well and you, you know, being able to stay at this nice inn, you have no issue fully healing over almost an entire week.

Go ahead. I think that I would like consider for a moment like with the rest of the coin that I could extort from House Lothwell, like sending back food or supplies. But I feel like I've kind of relapsed hard into like the scheming and the political machinations. So I've kind of like lost sight of it a little bit. I know it's our main quest. But like I think I'm like, oh, it's more important to say like fuck you to House Fraud's me. And so I think that's something where I thought, oh, we'll do that when we get back.

So it is something that I'm not doing, but something that I'm not doing, that perhaps is something that I've considered, though. A little bit of your old habits die hard. This resurfacing of your nature. This Jasper from another time kind of comes back for a little bit, and you lose yourself in the different kind of drunken feeling that you get from the power that you wield

over these individuals who are used. you are able to manipulate and extort, and you like it. Maybe a little too much. Mm-hmm. I think I will miss the bed the most. Is that what you're doing? Yeah, I'm like going full monk mode at this point, right? Like, I'm certainly drinking and playing card games,

and I'm enjoying our last evening together. But there isn't anything more for me to do other than continue to look inward and to continue to enjoy the luxuries while they are the All-Mothers' blessing upon me. I would sort of mentally prepare, make sure that my wounds are closed up, and then I feel good. I would sort of sharpen my sword,

make sure my shield was sort of fully reinforced. And then I would give Bridget the Noges night of her life. You know what I mean? This would not be something that's uncommon for Christoph whenever he leaves a new place, right? Or, you know, whenever he sort of leaves the place that he's been staying for a few weeks. And he would have his own way of saying goodbye. He would basically speak to her the lyrics of Freebird and then go to bed. Yeah, final night. And you do this. And it is with the rising of the sun the next day that no matter how much you try to delay it, maybe you're not fully ready to accept it, but the day is here and you find yourselves waiting.

As the sun is cresting the hills, you are waiting just outside the northernmost gate of Camelot. You're expecting Archibald the Wizard and Captain Ezra any moment now. You have this time to discuss amongst yourselves. Are you okay, Christoph? Yeah, I'll be fine. Are you still wounded anywhere? Do you need attention? I think Christov's wounds are more of the heart than of the body. I'm going to miss Bertie.

That's what I called there. Did you? Birdie. Yeah, these things, they're sore for a bit, but it boils in time. And there'll be a new town. Well, maybe not anymore. What the... I may have a birdie of my own.

I'm close to securing a political marriage. For you? Yes, for me. Oh, don't it. What have you done? What did you do? Well, the daughter of House Lothwell is... Lord Lothwell was having trouble finding a suitable match for his daughter.

With the help of her brother's word, I think I might have been able to help him out with that problem. And then once a terrible accident at the hands of a strange swordman. named Christoph, there may be a shakeup of power. First, how much are you paying? And second, I hope both of you understand the odds of us coming back to Camelot are close to zero. Yes, it is a death mission. We... So many have gone before us and been unable to return. And who knows what skill, what talents they possess that we may not.

Why do you have to end it on the past? And on grudges? I mean, certainly, there's got to be a better way. My past found me the moment I came to Camelot. Who am I to question? The workings of fate. And my payment. True knighthood.

Even a castle. A castle. That's what you told Bridget, perhaps. Maybe you can even bring her home to a castle. And if we are unable to secure safety for Briarbrook, there will be enough room for the entire village. Castle in the south. In the south.

By the sea. Harkinly gets that. Does Boulto get a castle? Do you want a castle, Balthor? If Baltho survives, I will perhaps join the clergy of the Allmother. And I will spread her good blessings across the peoples of Avalon. Every good castle of any noble worth his salt does have a church. Perhaps you can serve there if all things go well.

I do not think that I would stay in one place for very long. What risk, you bolto? You know traveling in this fucking land is death. If we make it back, then I will know that I have the grace of the old mother. And I would be able to walk with confident faith. I will pray to her endless mercy that you don't get picked off. by highway, man. So pleasant thinking.

It isn't long at all before you see walking towards the gate from inside of Camelot coming out to meet you is the elderly wizard that you recognize to be Archibald and the older gentleman, but still tall, standing very upright, Captain Oliver Ezra. And they walk up to you. They don't wave, they don't seem to make, Derek's on dice at me.

It's over there, it's fine. Is it all my gosh? I'm under attack. Don't touch my darn. They walk up to you. They don't wave. They don't make notice. They are moving quickly,

but there seemed to be a reason that they wanted to meet just before sunup. They're keeping a low profile. And Archibald walks up and says, yes, yes, it's good to see you again. How are you doing? Hello, Archibald. We are alive. Good, you look great. I have wonderful news. The candles are finished. Oh, all right. How many were you able to make? Enough?

Well, the good news is that I was able to test just using a little bit of the rendered fat. I didn't have to waste too much in my testing. That being said, I'm left with about a dozen candles. Each one should burn for about eight hours. A dozen candles. How big are these candles we brought back? So much weight for fat. Yes, yes, and you did a wonderful job. But I would have preferred if you had killed three weird bears.

Nonsense. You would have died. I know you would have. You did well. trust me. And he goes into a messenger bag that he has kind of slung over his shoulder around his body, and he

pulls out a small wooden box that's kind of a oblong that looks like it would hold 12 of these candles. And if you open the lid, you can easily see them. They are deep, deep black. It looks like a black candle.

But when you look more closely, you can see ever so slightly really runes etched all down the sides of these candles, just kind of as if he had taken some sharp implement and just drawn these runes, carve these ruins, ever so slightly into the candles. Here, here, here, take them.

Now, I know that 12 doesn't sound like a lot. It doesn't. And that's because it isn't. I'm not surprised. But you're going to have to do the best that you can. That means using them when you know you need them and don't use them frivolously. Understood?

All right. Are there any guidelines or rules on when we should use them other than odour weirdness is blowing in or it's thicker than usual? That's a good first indication, of course. Creatures that go bump in the night, big ones, fordwellers, the candles might help. And it's at the mention of the four dwellers that Balto and Christoph, You especially seem to react to that word.

It stirs within you the horrific memory of poor Leo being ripped apart. Leo's like death rattle. Yes. Slays in my mind. Yes. My advice, if you want it, is to save as many of those candles as you can

for inside the castle. Now granted, the main The mists will be most thick surrounding the castle, so it's important you use them there too. But I wouldn't advise going into the castle without any of those candles left. The candles protect us from the weird. That's correct.

When you light the candle, the mist will part around you. It doesn't give you a lot of space, a few yards on all directions, but it's better than nothing. Do we expect more weird than the castle? It's hard to say. If the legends are true, the stories, well, let's just say I don't envy where you're going. As long it doesn't affect them. I've spent a decade fighting in the battlefield below the castle. I don't know if I can express to you just how fucking dangerous this is going to be. Remember, while you're traversing the woods, especially where the mists are thick, the winds can shift.

shift. Don't let the candles go out. Do you best to keep an eye on it. Don't drop them, especially in the mud. Well, then you're not holding on to them. Bolto, this is your fucking job. I have the box on me now. I will do my best to keep the light with us. The silver lining to this quest is that only Bolto needs to survive. Why do you say it this way? Because you're the one who will know how to access the knowledge and bring it back to save Briabrook. I will do my best to reach the castle and breach it with both of you and return with the knowledge.

The tomb, it is, will we know when we see it? The, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, restoration spell is on parchment or in a book. It could be a series of books or scrolls, most likely written in the common tongue. You shouldn't have any trouble reading it. How to use it, that's an entirely different story. If you managed to find it and if you managed to survive, maybe you'd stop back here. I could certainly help you crack it. We will steal it and I think in your hands, in the hands of Camelot, we will not just been

benefit our village, but perhaps all of Avalon. That's right. You are potentially doing a service for everyone. I know you care very much about your small settlement, but keep in mind, this could be for the greater good. Plus, you might even find information in that castle about the Grail itself. Imagine King Arthur himself walking Avalon once more. Can you imagine? Do you really fucking believe that thing actually exists?

Oh, God, young Pristov. I don't know. But if anyone's going to find out, it might be the three of you. Maybe you'll find a fucking leprickle. There's no way. King Arthur has been dead for centuries. I wish there was more that I could do for you. But this is the best that we've got.

I wish you luck. And I hope one day to see you again. Thank you for all that you've done for us. At the very least, Bolter will return, but... The two of us have castles to come back to, if all goes according to plan, so... That will inspire our survival at any cost. You say so, Dunnington. Captain, uh, has been silent this whole time.

He's kind of taken a step back. He seems to be looking around over his shoulder, keeping an eye out for... You're not sure. Guards? Prying eyes? You don't know. But he's obviously doing, uh, some sort of a lookout. He hears Archibald wish you well and wish you good luck and nods and sternly, but with a slight smile in the corner of his lip, almost as if he believes what Archibald is saying and that you might unearth secrets that nobody knows about. He seems hopeful. And with that, provided there is nothing else that you need to do, you set out. And he's not coming with us. It is just the three of you. As we leave, as we turn to leave,

Christoph's shield, before he got the new one, you would see very much that it was very often covered in kind of like a dirty tarp, a dirty cloth. And then when the tarp was pulled off, you could see that there was like paint, but it was chipped and it was worn and it was old, and there was sort of paint of these two large,

watch towers on his old shield. On his back, there's a shield that is covered in a cleaner cloth, and I would put my shield on, and I'll say, well, the good news about all this is that in Camelon, nobody knew who the fuck I was. So all I can

bed is proudly now. And I'm going to rip off the tarp, and on my new shields, you'll see sort of a, a pristine, almost like updated image of the two large towers that was the emblem of the eighth Karig swordsman. And sort of in, whatever I could have afforded

for like whatever sort of artist that I could find or if the blacksmith would have done it. Yeah. But the shape of the shield now, right, instead of it being sort of like a fully circular shield, it is now more of like a heater shield. like a knight might wear, with a representation of my home village. Yeah, the Blacksmith absolutely would have someone that has the ability to do this,

and you worked with them to make sure that it was just right, and you are proud. You are proud to be displaying this house symbol, this, this... Yeah, because I don't really have a house, right? But basically, this is sort of like, this represents the village of Kerrig and where I grew up, grew up and the men that I fought alongside with and died. So sort of in their memory and honor. Yeah. A personal coat of arms.

Yes. That, thank you. A night would normally take without having a house. And then, if this was a film, it would smash cut back to the tavern. And Bridget would be cleaning glasses and helping people. And then the camera would pan up to the wall and you'll see my old shield hanging on the wall.

Oh, I love that. Well done. Well done. If I may add that floor. And as she's cleaning the glasses, she looks a little more sullen today. The people frequenting the inn had commented that she looked so much happier than normal. And today she seems to be a little more down than normal. As she wistfully looks up at the shield that you've gifted her to hang on the wall. And you set off.

And you know that this is going to be a long journey. If we take a quick look at the map here. Oh yeah, let's fucking go. I've got half of it because we don't need to worry about the bottom half so much and I know it's probably tough to see on camera, but I wanted to show it on. And if you want to eventually pass it over here, I can get it on the battle.

That's the back way. Yeah, we'll do that. And I think it's upside down. Yeah, okay. So a huge map, another awesome thing that comes with everything. I will hand this to you. You know that this is gonna be a long journey. When you first opened up the box of

weird candles, you notice that there is a nicely hand-drawn map that Archerbald has given you as well. It's not anything fancy, but it's enough to let you know where you're going. And some of you may even be familiar with a little bit of these directions. And I will hand this over to you as I begin to describe what you are seeing. The initial part of this journey is not difficult. It is mostly flat or hills, meadows, as you are walking and enjoying the sunlight throughout the days that you are moving.

It isn't long before off in the north as you are heading northwest. You look to your north, and Christoph, you point out two large towers that very much resemble the ones that are on your shield. And you tell your friends about where you're from and what it means and why it's so important to you that you have these things on your shield.

You point out this place that you are from. It's far in the distance, but even at this distance, you can see how large the great towers stand. And I would tell them this is the history of that these were like great guard towers, sort of like as a forward guard post for Camelot that were built when he was still alive, and they've since fallen in a disrepair. And just talk about home and, you know, what it was like growing up. You continue north as you are walking.

up, yes, that direction, and then heading west. And you know that you are near what they call the land of the giants. You're not exactly sure why they call this the land of the giants. It's one of those things where there are many stories. And as you look kind of to your south, as you're coming up and around the ridge that is north of the land of giants, you see what look like these giant's

statues. But from this distance, the statues would have to be dozens, hundreds of feet tall? You're not sure. It's unbelievable. But as you watch these statues in the land of the giants over the course of days, you think that the statues are not staying in place. And you don't know if the name is literal or not. You spend several days walking along. You have plenty of food and rations. It isn't very dangerous. You pass the occasional carriage traveling merchant.

You're always careful as you're traveling any kind of main road to watch for highwaymen. And if I may steal back the map. Please. It's very cool. I'm having the best time. You almost start to get. to get the feeling that this is too easy. It's, it's, you've been able to stay to roads, you've been able to stay to relatively easy terrain, you haven't really had to cross into the woods

until after four days, five days on your journey, you start to approach what they call the fern sea. This is, it's lots of vegetation. It is a sea, it's lots of vegetation. It is a sea, of ferns, which is how it got its name, very clearly. It's not hard to see. These trees are not like the trees of the forest that you previously walked through. It's thick, it's dense. These trees have these large leaves.

They're not, you know, they're not small individual leaves. They're much bigger leaves that as it formed this, this canopy as you begin to approach. Like fern frogs. Yes. Yes, but much bigger, much bigger. The trees are giant like fronds that all come together, I presume. It's surmised that perhaps these trees, these giant firn trees, grow the way that they do

because of the elevation of the mist that is here, the weirdness. It's still very unknown what the weirdness can do to plants and animals in its entirety. And it isn't long at all before you're on the edge of this fern sea. And you start to smell and see that familiar mist ever so lightly. There's a kind of a sickly sweet smell to it. And you're not sure if it's because of the fern sea itself or the mist or some combination of the two. So we're walking through the forest or in the forest. You know that your only way through is through this fern sea.

Beyond the fern sea is some mountain passes, some treacherous land, and ultimately the only pass that leads to Castle Crow's Nest. But first, you'll have to make it through the fern sea. Alto, do we think we should like one of those? We have only the twelve candles and they left for... Third of a day, maybe? Maybe. Whoever would like to, all three of you can if you'd really like to,

I would like you to give me a roll of looking for weirdness, mysteries. Gotta find it. I know that's the discipline. Yep, it's creative. Uh-oh. Where? I don't see it. Is it the bottom right if you're looking at the chart?

Oh, yes, thank you. Creativity, weirdness mysteries. Give me weirdness navigation if you have that discipline. Otherwise, just give me a weirdness mysteries check. 14. Oh, Jesus. Three. Three.

It's just creativity plus the role, right? Yep. Five. Okay. Jasper. You are the one who notices that the mist here is not very thick. And if you had to put a number on it, you'd think that it was weirdness level one. And that Archibald had very clearly told that, you know, that the mist here is not very thick.

you that you would want to use these candles when the mist is much thicker. We don't need these now. We need to be very judicious. Who knows how long we'll spend around the castle and inside? Are you sure? Yes. It's going to get far worse than this. Are you telling me you're afraid, Raina? Brave, brave, brave, Sir Reiner. It's just been a long fucking time since I've been through here. And the realm of the Raven King has only gotten bigger

in the time since I deserted as far as I can tell. Just keep an eye out and ear out for crows. I always do. I'm going to pull my sword out. Yeah. And sort of tread a little

carefully. I don't think I would be trying to like hustle and run. I mean, I guess we may be like power walking, but very alert. Yeah. And you know that as the mist gets thicker, it's going to be more difficult to travel anyway. I mean, you've experienced this several times. It's not really the distance that gets you. It's the speed with which you can move through these weirdness affected areas that really is what slows you down.

So you proceed forward. You know that you are heading northwest and following your map, your rudimentary map. You know that eventually you will be heading directly north. But for now, you are cutting northwest through this weirdness, weirdness-infected Fern C. We only, we only use the candles when it's absolutely necessary. Even when it's a nice to have. If it's a matter of life and death,

that is when we light them. All right, my lord, it's your calling. It's fine, I'll live with that. I also have brought salt from the aviades. in Camelot. And it is with these salts if we needed, I would be able to create a circle of protection from the weird. Does it protect against the beasties that live in the weird? If the circle is broken, then anything can get in. It only protects against the mists.

Not the creatures that lurk within. Not the monster. Better than nothing. Until then, all we can do is pray to the Almotha. We have none such creatures find us. What that means, though, is that if we need to make camp within it, we can make the ring. How much of that do you have, Maltau?

Of the salt, the salt. It is not just that it is the salt. It is going to require my prayer in order to apply. of life. Your prayer. It may need magic to work. How forward have you been with your... Yeah, I was going to say, are we like shocked and stunned? I think that you know that I've been going to this shrine and that you know that I've been berating Mercer, going back to the camp and talking to him whenever he's not out on

mission. The idea that perhaps the medicinal, grounded knowledge-based Balto, that you've known is transforming wouldn't be a shock, but it would be a surprise that I'm suggesting this is a possible solution to a problem. Wait, magic is in the stuff that Mercer was doing. Oh yes, it is a blessing of the old mother. You think you can do that?

I believe it is within all of us. I have faith. I have faith in the old mother. I have faith in you, Balto. The old mother is with us, I feel. I feel that. That is what the priests at Briarbrook said. You spoke of the all-mother.

All the time I have known you. But in old country, God's do not answer the prayers. Here there is hope. She is real and she is merciful. and if we cannot win through Mies perhaps with her mercy, that will see us through. You are having this conversation as you're walking, and it isn't long before the mist begins to get a little thicker,

and a little thicker, and a little thicker. When you approached the Fern Sea, it was about midday. And just like the previous experiences that you've had in the forests where the weirdness resides, The sun doesn't penetrate the leaves, let alone the miasmic nature of this weirdness. And it is dark. Not so dark that you can't see, but an unsettling dusk, almost permanently. As the mist begins to get a little thicker, you can almost feel it in your throat.

It's not so bad that you can't breathe. It's not so alarming that you are concerned yet. But the first thing that I'm going to need you all to do is make a mental resistance check, which is going to be your conviction plus five plus a 1D10. It's not bad. This is where I'm a not Viking. Conviction plus five. Yeah, it's conviction plus five plus whatever you rolled.

15. Nice. 16. Nice. Yep, max roll. Oh, nice. I'm going to click confirm. No way.

Oh. Wow. Wow, you're fucking... I'm relaxed. You're relaxed. That is unbelievable. My mind is calmed. Well, it's funny you say that.

So, first off, gotta give it up for the first crit confirmed, I think we've had, positive. I had a... What in the first of the second? Oh, so this is the second. This is my second. This is your second. This is my second one of the hundred.

So, I haven't gotten one. Mechanically, that acts as a 15. So what was your total number? So, um... 15 plus 6. Plus 5 plus your conviction. Right. So my full mental resistance is, yeah, so 21.

Well done. And normally what would happen is if any of you had failed your mental resistance check, I might have you roll on the torments table. But because you, Christoph had a critical success, instead of rolling on the torments table, I'm going to assign you one. And that sounds really bad, except that it's called calm mind. Oh. On a 10, instead of the torment being a bad thing,

it's a good thing. Drawing on their inner strength, the character overcomes the shock. Their sanity is intact and they benefit from a plus one bonus to all of their actions for the next hour. Congratulations. Holy shit, all right.

Crick confirmed. Wow. You are, you can all feel this weirdness. Again, it's kind of thick in your throat. You can feel it on your skin. It's not pleasant. But in this moment, you, you, you, you, you have a thought of the foredweller,

and you falter for a moment, but you shake it off. And not only you shake it off, you steal yourself, you redouble your effort, and you are emboldened. And for some reason, you feel calmly at peace. Oddly at peace. And yeah, I get that sort of anxiety and that sort of paranoia of my scarred disadvantage. But then I think of Camelot,

and I think of the end, and I think of our week there. And... Bridget sneaking in, I got some turkey legs. I get you. It sort of calms me down. And it settles me a little bit. And I just generally, I think, more relaxed than I've been in a long time.

Yes. And... Lades. Chris off, we're going to make it, aren't we? Through the grace of the old mother, right? Through the grace of the old mother. All mother's mercy. Yes.

That's right. We all have something to get back to. It is in this moment, while you're sitting here in this little bit of clearing, gathering gathering your thoughts and sharing this moment of inner strength, that I need you all to make an awareness perception check. If you have the vigilance discipline, you may use that instead. Six. That's a Warray plus perception. Six.

God, I'm rolling hot! I'm rolling hot. Can we both get a little, I'll get one boostie? Yeah? To seven? Yeah. Only if you'd like.

Yeah. That's my third 10 in a row. Oh, 1 in 1,000. Yeah. Did you add your plus one from your inner column? I didn't. 15. Did you call, did you confirm?

Oh. Oh, you meant 10. 10,000. Let's fucking go. No. Oh, okay. So it's a 10 plus a one plus whatever your awareness

and your perception is. Yeah, so your total should be a lot. 10, 14, it's 15 totals. Okay. Christoph, you are feeling you who first hears the snapping of branches and almost too late.

Maybe not for you, but certainly for your companions. As six enraged beasts jump out from surrounding you from all sides. These are weird wolves. They are twisted, rotting flesh, exposed ribs. One has an extra leg and a paw growing out of the back of its spine. One of them has a second head growing from its neck, not fully

formed, but gnashing and thrashing all the same. I need you all to roll for turn order. Let's go! All I will say is seeing that they're all lunging in and that I'm in a pretty good position. Dunnington! I'm just assuming that they're going to go for him. You attempt to shout this warning to your friends who were not as vigilant as you were in this moment. This podcast is brought to you by our Patreon. Become a patron today at patreon.com slash legends of avatrous 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 Saltmarsh. You can also go to The Crookedmoon.com to pick up your own copy of our first published supplement, The Crooked Moon, a folk horror toome for Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition.

And don't forget to snag all the extra goodies like dice, miniatures, plushies, a tarot deck, and more. Thank you. We know that Christoph scored an absolutely giga initiative. Jasper? I did. I failed my crit confirm. Oh. But I got a crit.

Oh. So pretty good. Yeah, you got a 10. So 10, speed is... 14. Okay. See, mine's a 19. I thought I told you,

and so I'm gonna have to re-roll if you don't remember. That's totally fine. That's gonna be a seven. I forgot what I rolled. Uh-oh. Oh, I'm sorry, Nate. Okay.

Thank you, Speed 3. I just, two monsters. Boto, protect candle. I know that look. That's the music. change look. That is the music changed look. Let's fucking go. Andy's music change look, everybody.

I don't even want to know what that looks like. Okay, so... In this moment of mental clarity that Christoph has and was reassuring his band of brothers that everything was going to be okay. On a relaxing week. A pack of weird wolves managed

to sneak up on you and surround you. It was only Christoph that heard them coming. Balto and Jasper, unfortunately, are beset upon. And things are looking a little rough. I'm just hoping four or five. Now is a really awesome time to just take a moment, explain a little bit how magic casting works in the system.

I think I've been telling Rich for weeks, I think he's gonna be very excited to hear how this works. I'm just gonna give you a really quick overview because I want people to buy this game. I'm very interested in people learning about the system and going to export a bit more. The way you cast a spell is by making a role that generally has a difficulty of role 11. They all start off at roll 11, very baseline, middle of the road.

Use your discipline plus your associated way, plus a 1D10. There are different things that then affect the difficulty. All spells have three different casting times. They can be cast as a ritual, which means the first time that a ritual spell goes to, to be cast, it will take two full rounds to cast the spell. Two full rounds to cast a ritual spell. A channel spell requires one full round of focus to cast it. And instant is you cast the spell on the same turn.

You may increase the difficulty of your spell casting role by three points to lower it from ritual to channeling and another three point increase to lower it from channeling to instant. And you have to declare this before you make the roll. Before you make the roll. So you can say, I would like to cast my ritual spell, but I'd like to do it at an instant. It will increase the difficulty of the roll by six.

That's pretty cool, man. You can increase the number of targets that the spell is affected by by increasing the difficulty of the spell cast by three per target. The environment with which you are casting the spell can affect the difficulty. If there are no minor description,

disruptions and unfamiliar environment, it might not affect the difficulty. Whereas if you are trying to cast in a very difficult combat situation, it can increase it by six. You may then spend additional magic points to lower that DC by three points per magic point you spend. So if your spell costs one magic point initially and you calculate that the DC has been changed all the way up to 21, 24, you can spend additional magic points to lower the difficulty back to a manageable range.

But you have to keep in mind that you only have so much manner and you recover it in different ways. Just like health, you do not get all of your magic points back on a long rest. It requires meditation, and it depends on where you are. You are most likely to recover your magic points when you're in a city, somewhere safe. When you're out in the wilderness, it is much more difficult

to maintain the mental focus that it requires to get back those magic points. So it's pretty cool. So it gives you a lot of really neat decisions that you can make to really affect how you choose to spend your magic points and how you use them and how difficult it will be. So hopefully that's a good overview.

When it arises, we will absolutely answer any questions that you may have. But in the meantime, in reverse turn order, I'm going to need stances. To make it easy, the wolves are going aggressive, aggressive, aggressive, balto. Offensive. Offensive.

Offensive, Jasper. Defensive. Defensive. Offensive, offensive, offensive. Defensive. Fantastic. Christoff, you are up. What would you like to do? See, like looking around, I'll look at Dunnington and I'll say, Get to the treeline and stay behind me. And so strategically, we should really have to have them all attacking, but we're gonna have to try to figure this out. I'm just gonna, I guess, get... Sorry, these are numbers, it'll be helped, it'll be easier for me, I apologize. Um, I'm not in range of that one. Could you remind me of movement stance? I know it's too late.

Yeah, no, no, it's okay. Yeah, it's too late for this round, but for next round, movement is essentially the equivalent of the dash action. Okay. It allows you to move a bit farther than you you normally would, twice your normal movement. But you can't use an action. But you cannot use an action, but it does increase your defense by your, by your potential, which yours is three. So it's like taking a defensive maneuver, which is nice, but you can move farther. Sorry, Christoph.

Good thing. Should have done that. Sorry. Hmm. Do I have a sense of, like, do I know the initiative? Like, do I know one and two are about to strike first? I would say you don't know that really. But if you, you know, I'm not going to like dingy if you met a game a little bit.

If you see that like I'm out of position and they're coming at me. And I even yell that. And like, yeah, you yell that. I would say, I would say that's very fair. I would say you, you would be able to tell roughly which wolves are closer or kind of currently lunging. You would have an idea that if you, you know what, give me an awareness perception check. Let's fucking go.

We have survival points. We do have survival points. We replenish them at the end, and we still have the pool from chat. This is a seven. Should I bump by eight? Or should I re-roll? No, seven is there. I would re-roll.

I'm going to re-roll from my own pool. Yeah. Same. That's fine. We just faded. We all have three survival points. That being said, Yep.

Okay. Given that I said I was going to protect Dunnington, I am just going to basically back up, like, here. Yeah. And if I don't know that they're necessarily gonna attack. No, because I failed that role, I'm gonna go up here. And I'm gonna basically bum rush the wolves,

hoping that they can get to me before the wolves get to them, not being aware of the initiative order. So I am going to lunge in to number five. Okay, give me one moment, I apologize. No, no, take your time. It just requires a lot of math. Oh yeah. Big number.

Yep, I'm good. Okay, I'm going to swipe the right number five. Attack number five. Yeah, go ahead, let a rip. Roll your attack, which is going to be your combativeness plus your discipline,

plus your attitude modifier, and then one D-10. I'll keep that. Yes, I mean, we have a long session to go. That is a 13 to hit. Yeah, that hits. And then that is a 15, oh, no, 13, 16 for my damage rule.

Okay. You sword-raised kite shield, absolutely ready to go. You charge it number five, and using the shield, you bash this thing's head up and out of the way, as you then bring your sword down, causing an absolutely massive gash in the side of this thing. You felt like you've done an unbelievable amount of damage. Oh, and if I could also use my unpredictable feature and just add an extra damage to that? Yeah. Because it's a plus one.

One more damage? Yeah. You've carved a huge chunk of this thing's flesh out of its side. Yeah, maybe as I'm running up to it, I see like a rock and I like kick it into the wolf and like it knocks its side away as I come in for a slash. Perfect, you do. Number one is going to move towards Jasper. Yeah, yeah. I'm already dead. That's going to be 13 to hit. Defense, I'm a 12. Okay, so that's going to hit with the extra two damage. You are going to be. to take three points of, do you have any protection? Oh, yes, you do.

So it's three points of damage, do you have any protection? I have one protection. So you will take two points of, you'll take two wounds. Okay. Okay. Can I have my, the medallion that I got from the people break to reduce it by one handage? The one that you received from Sasha?

Yes. From Sasha. You may. As this wolf sinks its teeth into you, you are prepared to take it. take a pretty nasty bite. But then there's a flash from underneath of your doublet. This, this wooden token that Sasha gave you so many weeks ago, flares up and cracks, and it reduces the damage by one. So you only take one wound. And then number two is going to do the exact same thing, attacking Jasper. Thank you, Sasha. Clever girls. This one completely

misses. It goes up and the blinding light from the cracking of this wooden token, causes it to critically fail and it misses. Jasper, you're up. I'm gonna flavor it as it basically I stuck my cane in its mouth. Yeah. And like a stick. You're trying to keep it in there. It is worth noting just so you know that you cannot attack

a melee unit with a range weapon. I am going to run away. Okay. I can make it two squares, diagonally, correct? Yes. You can take the dash action if you want to. I cannot. You would have had to decide that as a stance.

Oh, there's no extra dash action. That's right. That's right. I am going to basically move away as quickly as I can. Yeah. Getting back and I will say, we need to get back to back. Gather together. And I'm going to use a strategy role.

Yeah, leadership. Leadership. Yeah, you make a leadership role using your strategy discipline. Absolutely. I'm going to use the discipline. I'm going to use. one of my servival points. Okay, to re-roll?

To re-roll. Okay. I'm gonna use another, this is really important. This is very important. Thank you, Chat. I know that this is an early combat, but. That's okay. Okay, that's fine.

12. 12 leadership. 12 leadership. Okay, you shout out this command, and your allies hear you, and they trust you. They know that you are a wise, strategic man, and you will all get a plus two bonus because of your advancement. Otherwise, that would have been a plus.

Plus one. So you get a plus two for the next two rounds. Awesome. OK. Number three is going to Rush Balto. That is going to be 14. Easy, bup. 14 attack.

That hits. My defense is currently 10. OK. That's right, because you took the offensive stance. So that is gonna be a total of six wounds. I don't think I see this wolf coming. I see the ones that Christop goes after. I see the ones that Jasper is fleeing.

And then from behind, ah! No, animals really do hate you, Balto. Oh dear. And then Balto is up. Five. You take you six. And that's my sixth wound there. And I agree with Jasper of order.

Back to back, quickly. Can I do that? I don't think I could do that. That's pretty far. I would go like heat, heat. Like one and a half. Yeah? Or, yeah, well, it's, you know,

I think given that it's three squares and we're doing the diagonal, I think that's probably fine. I'm not going to ding you on it. You're good. Yep. That's fine. Okay.

I will reach that spot and then I will pull out one of the few things that I'm guilty of is taking some cobblestones from Camelot and I pull out that commel stone and I whip it around my head in my sling and I let loose the same beast that dug into me. Number three. Number three. Yep. And I will roll to attack and I get plus two to your tackle. I'm actually going to roll these tokens to represent. Oh yeah. That's a big roll. 10 plus five is 15. 15 total? Yep. Oh, wow. That was to hit. Yeah, no, that doesn't. And so 16 is the amount of damage that I do. That was my damage roll. Nice. Offensive for the last time. Good, good hit. I managed to hit strike the wolf and hope that it doesn't continue coming at me, but I'm guessing it's still up and around. It's number four's turn.

It is going to rush Jasper. Yep. Oh, no, that's me. That's you. 13 to hit. Oh, it hits. By one. By one.

Okay, so that's three total damage to you. My attention is one, so that's two? Yep. Ah! Stopping clever girls. This wolf, they are, they look hungry. They look like they haven't eaten in a long time, and they are persistent as they continue their advancement.

Number five is gonna go after Christoff. Oh, that's gonna be a 10 for a crit. Let's click confirm. No good. So it's gonna be 18 to hit you. Does it have to beat my defense? Yes, it has to beat. Meet, meat is your good.

It does not hit. Oh, let's go! I guess they have to crit me. You easily raise your shield and you catch this wolf as it is, this is the one with the extra head girl. out of its side, and this thing is hard to look at. It's gotta, it's saliva's going everywhere, but you raise your shield, and you are,

you've never been happier to have bought a brand new shield with your crest on it as number six is also going to attack you. Critical fail. Fail does not happen, it misses. And if it's not within melee range, it just moves to melee range. Awesome, you need everyone to re-roll. You're the first armor from Iron Man

where you used to like walking's victory. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's roll order of action, here we go. It is plus three, right? This is insane. It will be plus two from the leadership role. Speed. 13.

Okay. 12. 21. Why did I not become fighter? Fighter man, fight good. Sorry. Yeah, yeah. It was another time.

Can we use, can I bump this? Can we bump from 12 to? Like, how many, how many do we have? It's up to you. We have a good amount. I would like to use, yeah, let's use three. I want to use three. Yep.

I'm now a 15. Balto was 13? Yeah, with 13. I'll take that. I'm trying. I will absolutely take that. That is exactly what I wanted. It's a lot of enemies.

That's the good use of the, uh, awesome. Reverse order. The plus one. Oh, it's on. Offensive stance. Offensive stance. Offensive.

Offensive. Offensive. Offensive. Jasper. I am going to go deep. Offensive. Defensive. Okay. Christoph, you're up. I will immediately redouble slashing back the other way

against the wounded wolf. Number five? Hoping to take it out. God, this is lost. What are you spider? Oh, I rolled one on my attack last time. I'm teasing. No, it's all good. I love it. I absolutely love it. I'm rooting for you guys. That is a 21 is might to hit roll.

And it's 24 for damage. Holy crap. Getting laid, got it given the biggest glow up. Oh my God. He got the biggest grow up. 24? 24. Oh, my gosh. It had been 17 years.

Oh. You dealt over 20 points of damage. You kill it instantly. It had one hit point left, because it had 24 total obtuse. But because you dealt 20 damage to this thing without even Blatting and I, you redouble your effort. and bringing down your sword with the mighty muscles that you have,

you easily cleave through its neck and cut its head off clean from its body as it falls to the ground. Number six is up, though, and it's going to attack you. May I use my movement now? You may. Is number six dead, actually? Was that the one you flipped over? Five is dead, thank you.

We can walk through each other? Yeah, right? It's fine. Yeah, you may use your movement. Perfect. Number six is up? Is that the, is number six? Oh, no.

Yeah, it's going to immediately go for Jackson. On your six, Dennington. That's only 11, though. Oh, no, it misses. Okay, no good. Jackson, you're up. Christopheed me up. Christoph, you left me open.

One. Actually, I'm just going to goopety-boop-ty-boop-ty. Yep. Boop-ty-bo-y-bo-y. So that's right. That's the point is I'm getting up in here. The wolf next to you that's lying down and that's dead. Everything is dead except for that one head.

I'm going to shoot sex. Yeah, shoot sex. No, for it's six. Yeah! Good, we're rolling hot. For the most part. 16, uh, six, oh hold on. I could do this defensive.

So, you minus two, but then you plus, or sorry, you minus three because your potential is three. But then you would plus two from your leadership. So it's only minus one. Yep, so it's so, hold on, I got, I got, so six, so it's plus, so basically it's nine plus six, that's 15. Yep. plus two.

Is 17? 17. And then 17 to hit. And then did you subtract to your stance? Yes, I did. That also, so you got 17 after the minus. Yes, because I'm just going by the defensive stat here. Great roll.

Yeah. So 17. 17 hit and 19 damage. That's amazing. So 19 damage to number six. You deal a devastating blow to this creature. This crossbow bolt, Crossbow bolt, you are loosing and trying to get it right in its eye.

You think you're, and you almost did enough damage to one shot this. Instead, because you were previously attacked, you falter a little, and your aim is not as true, and the crossbow bolt lands in this creature's neck. Number three is up, and it is going to go directly for Balto. I believe, right? It's right here. Is that Christoph? This is Christoph.

All right, it's going for Christoph. No, it can't hit you. It cannot hit you. So it misses. Balto, you're up. Quick housekeeping. Number three should have one additional health point. I forgot to do a minus one

because I am now in the okay wound zone. Thank you. That's right. You have to keep in mind that as you get damaged, you minus to your rolls. Death spirals, everybody. Yay. Dark fantasy death spirals.

I will turn and I'll attack one of the uninjured ones. I'll attack number one here. And I will roll. That's going to be a That was a four Six plus One is a seven to hit No good

Okay, I go wide, I go wide I'm trying to avoid Christophie barges past me and I I let loose the stone but it disappears into the wood Survival Point Yeah, use one of your survival points Oh well we have survival point thank you chat I'm just accepting things free right yeah I

Three. All right. All right. Tell these wolves! I'll roll this. That's going to be a nine, ten to hit. You met it. You didn't beat it.

Their defense is 10. So did you have the plus two leadership, but minus the one? Yeah, yeah. Seven, nine plus one is ten. And then minus one. Oh, yeah. So unless you want to spend two and out, you guarantee a hit.

Their defense is 10. We're going to spend two. Yeah, we're saying to chat. Thank you, you know. All right. All right. You got 11. So that's 11 to hit.

What's your game? 12. 12 damage. So two total points of damage to number one, you said? Yeah. Okay. All right. Oh, good. Stone go, yay. One is going to, oh, you get your movement to.

And I have a different, fuck out. I'm gonna go back over here for the Jasper. One is going to still go after Baltimore, and can make it? Oh, hello. These three? Yeah. Yeah.

Ooh, woof. 17 to hit. Yeah. Yeah. That's 19. of damage, 19 total is the damage amount. What is your defense and protection? My defense because I'm in defensive mode right now is 14.

So you'll take five wounds. But you have two protection. Then you take three wins. Oh, yeah. One, two, three. Okay, I'm still okay. Number two is also going to go for Balto. They have more than three movement so they can make it

to Jasper and Balto. So just put him in front of Jasper, he's gonna attack Balto. Oh no. Oh, he hates animals, yeah. Animals hate him. Ooh, that's gonna be a 16 to hit, which will be 18 total points of damage. Yep.

Which if it's the exact same calculation, will be one less damage, which is two more wounds. That's correct. I am now in bad territory. Okay. This is not good. And then lastly is number four. It's just gonna go for Christoph. And I have to double crit here to get you.

I got a nine, no good. So you are easily deflecting these wolves while it looks like your companions are not having as much success. No, they hate. Top of the round. Let's roll for order of action. Do we still have our deuce? Yes, for another round.

Or doze. Double tens, I am going to. Neither. I'm going to use my unpredictable against number one. So number one has to roll it to the finish. Oh, okay. One. Eh, one less.

Okay. Still very high. 12 for Jasper. Hold that for one second. Sorry, no, you're good. I'm just mixing these up so I know what order. They're in. You said Jasper got a 12.

Correct. Okay. Balto? 11. Yeah. First off. 15. Ooh.

Wow. Okay. And at the top of. And at the top of the round, you can get rid of that token. Another wolf is going to come into the arena. Oh, no. From the east, which will be Ritchie. North will be Derek.

Over here? Sorry, north, sorry. Northeast, south, west. East is the TV. Oh, God. Apologies. Okay. And then where's number five? He's just going to go last because he spawned.

Number one is up. Number one is on Balto. Oh no! Come on. That's a 10? We didn't do postures. Oh, sorry, apologies. Offensive for all of these, Balto, I assume you want defensive. Defensive. Yeah. Jasper, defensive, offensive, offensive, offensive. Offensive.

It was a crit. I did not confirm it. But that is going to be 18 points of damage. 18 points to hit. 18 hits. Which is a total of 20 points of damage. Minus 16 is four of wounds to me. Yep. I am feeling critically bad. Okay. Christoph, you're up.

I will... One and a half. Gotta get rid of... Well, I guess you're going to be able to move. I'm going to move there, and I'm going to... Are one or two damaged? One is...

Two is not. One is taken damage, two is... When you can finish off one, I'm going to finish off six. And you guys got to get back here. Yeah. And I'm going to, knowing that I have the extra bonus on number one, I'm going to swing in and try to one shot this one.

It's on my arm right now. That's not bad. So seven, I think that's... Plus 12 is 19, plus 1 is 19, 20, 22 is my attack roll to hit, and then 25 is my damage roll. To which number? To number one. You kill it instantly.

You are just an unstoppable monster as you see that Balto is in trouble, and you make a motion to move as quickly as you can to try to help. And I will look at Balto, and I was like, fucking run! And reminding you that this isn't, this is an arena, like this is woods, so you could just run into the woods if you wanted. The body of the wolf goes still, but its jaws are still clenched. And I have to yank the jaw open in order to release it.

I'm trying. I'm trying to help. That's awesome. Number three? Where's number three? Oh, me out. Three's here. Going for Christoff. Nope, no good. Miss. Jasper, you're up. I am going to...

Five is here. Yep. Presumably you don't see her here if I... All of the screaming. As I... Get out of here, Borto! and I'm going to take my crossbow, lean on my cane, and after reloading it, and I'm going to shoot at number two.

Okay. I'm going to use a survival. Okay. It's meant to be. So I'm defensive. So six plus six is 12, plus two is 14. Should we boost it? I don't think so. It's not it's gonna survive no matter what.

Yeah, right? So we should 14. 14 to hit? Yeah, and then 16 damage. Yeah, that's good. You do a good amount of damage. You lose another crossbow as it sinks deep into the hindquarters of one of these wolves and it yelps in pain.

And that's my turn. Balto, before you take a turn, I need you to roll a Mental health check. No, no, hold on, hold on. Hold on, hold on. I have plus one to all my rolls. You do? You do, but you're absolutely slaughtering everything.

I don't think of a difference. Roll in awareness? Actually, roll me a combativeness Feats resolution roll. And if you have the strength discipline, you may use that in Combative Feet? Roll? I don't think that's right. I don't have combativeness or feats?

No, feats. So you have combat, yeah. So just you're gonna roll a D10 and add whatever your combativeness is. You won. Three. It is in the struggle of these hounds absolutely relentlessly following you and biting you and latching on that one of them has sunk its teeth into your satchel.

And in the absolute thrashing and nightmare scenario that this is, the box of weird candles is loosed. It hits the ground and three of them spill out into the dirt from the box and are immediately trampled by the other wolves that have been chasing. They are squashed and you have lost three of your weird candles. The box lays with the lid open a few feet from you. You may take your turn.

Two is almost dead. Well, not almost, but. I see in these candles the hope of our entire quest. And so two is, I have no idea what two's health is, but I will have to pull out my, where is it? I have it here. You have it there. My brown vintage Barlow Imperial Two Blade folding knife.

I will attempt to stab it into the top of the wolf's head and hopefully fell it so that I can recover the box. I'm not going anywhere. I'm ignoring the run attack. You're going to be using the close combat instead of your shooting, which I don't know how good is. Oh, is that a critical fail? No, I'm going to use a survival. Okay. All right.

Jesus. Oh, dear. It's better than nothing. That gets me a plus complete. my combativeness, I get to 10. So if I could boost by one, then I would do one damage. You would? To which number?

To two. Okay. Yeah, you do one damage. I stab into it and then I reach down. Can I also pick up or is it just stab? You can, you can absolutely begin to try to move towards the box and collect it. Collect it. Close the lid and get it back in your satchel.

The other three weird candles are very clearly unsalvageable. Where do we want the box? I can put it up. Oh, you have it. It's next to you. I would say like, you know, there really is no equivalent of a free object interaction, but I'm giving you that essentially, right?

Where you know, at the end of this turn and by the end, beginning of your next turn, you'll have gathered the box. The candles are being destroyed. I am just confused and hurt. That's the best I can do. You're staying there. It is in this moment. from the western side of the clearing,

you hear a rumbling. It sounds like the thundering of hooves, and in that moment you hear, Charge! As a man wearing full plate armor, burst forth from the clearing on a horse. What in the hell? He rides valiantly towards you

as he passes by four and six and lops their heads off in one fell swoop with his shining beautiful sword. What does his armor look like? It is warm. It is not new. You can tell that this is a man who has been on the road for a very, very, very long time.

His horse looks strong, he looks strong. But his armor isn't clean, it's beaten, it isn't polished. It looks like somebody who lives in this armor day in and day out. And he has seen your plight, and he has seen your plight, and he is there to help as he effortlessly lops the head off of two of these wolves as he rides by, and he yells, get yourselves together, men.

Do not fear. I am supremely Dane, and I'm here to help. It's fucking . Oh, mother, be great. And six are dead. Amazing. Where is number two? Two's right between Bolto and me.

Yeah, that's the one that I just gave a tiny stabby, stabby with like a wind of knife. It is going to try to redouble its effort on you. It is locked in mortal combat with you. That is at 16, which will be a total of 18 to hit. That will be, that will hit. I'm in defensive mode, so it's 14, and my protection is two.

So I believe that does two wounds. That's correct. Ow. How are you looking? I have two wounds remaining. I'm nearly in agony. Okay, all right, so you're critical. I am critical.

Oh, fuck. And then number five is going to, in the confusion of this night, bursting out through the attempt to go after the man on the horse. I didn't do any damage to two. I didn't strike him through. Oh, because you forgive your health deterioration. Okay. That's all right. The wolf attempts to attack this, this, this, this, Sir Brindley-Dane. And. Oh, right here and is unable to do so. The man on the horse is very easily able to deftly ride around this creature who is making an attack.

I need you all to roll your new order of action. And we do not have the two things anymore, correct? So I don't know, it was active, but I didn't go first. It basically just... You guys did get two full rounds of it at the end of this round, because this was the end of round three. Oh, okay. Got it. Yeah. So we do not have it now. Yes, you will need to reapply it.

So I have 12. 12 for Jasper. Oops, sorry. I bumped the mic. Okay. Alto, what did you get? Eight. Oh, there's only three left. Which one did I miss? You have two, three, and five.

Two, three, and five. So one's close down. Okay. And I'm going to use my, it won't matter for initiative, but I'm going to use my plus one. on number two. Okay. Unpredictable nature.

Did I manage to pick up the box? Yes. Okay, I have the box. You will have the box at the beginning of your character. We are down. I'm gonna count the candles here. You notice now that the wolves numbers are thinning. They don't seem as strong. They don't seem as fervent on finishing you off.

Something about them, they've lost confidence because their numbers are dwindling. Brindley Dane is up first. He is going to just circle around number five there and kind of put himself between three and five behind Christoph. Yeah, right there. As he makes another swift motion with his sword, absolutely massacring number five. He lops it in two at the midsection, bisecting it cleanly. Oh, I didn't do the thing. Offensive, offensive, defensive, defensive, defensive, defense. Movement.

Movement. Oh, movement. Movement for Balto. Beautiful. Defensive for me. Christoph. Actually, I'm offensive. Offensive. I'm offensive. Offensive. Oh, yeah, defensive. Defensive. Okay. You're up first? Unless I see it otherwise, I'll be defensive. I figured.

I see this night charge in and Oh my God, maybe the old mother is real! As I attack number two. Well done. Okay. Oh, God. Oh, God, give me those, give me that. That is a 10, 11. We're not helped, right?

So, sorry, 20, 21. He's dead. You massacre. You are almost renewed, empowered by the sight of this night. And you strike true just like he does, easily cleaving number two in two. And then I will turn to the final wolf, at least that we can see, and try to act like a barrier between it and Bolto.

Okay. Jasper's up. I will look at Chris Havis and I will say, she is real and she is merciful. And I will, after reloading my crossbow, I will point and shoot at number three. With my offensive stance, I'm using a fucking survival pole. I can't roll shit. That's bad six.

We can bump it two if we want. Okay, yeah, let's bump. Offensive is 11. Just bump in three. Max. No, no, 10. Didn't you take defensive?

No, I changed my mind. Wow. Was it 11 or plus 10? What do you have me down for when I have offensive? I'm sorry. No, you're good. Just here a moment. I have you down for your attack is eight, so offensive. it would be plus three, which would be 11.

Okay, so plus, yeah, I fucked this all along. 11 plus, oh, so just plus 11, plus 11. So 11 to hit, or no, 11 plus 6 is 17. 17 to hit and then 19 damage. And we added 3. We added 3. 19? So 19 plus 3 is 22.

22. Oh. Oh. 22 damage. You, number three has been wounded. It's, it, you, you, again, you all feel kind of renewed and empowered by the appearance of this sudden help. And you sink a crossbow deep into the throat

of this horrific monstrous wolf. And it stumbles for a moment. It goes in a death row to try to leap for Christoph, but before it can, it falls over, slump to the ground, dead. Not quite like the hunting I remember with my Lord Father. Whoa! As this mysterious knight pulls up on the reins, and he quickly hops off and ties the horse off to a tree nearby.

Are you all right? I would have started my run into the brush, finally, having taken the candle, and literally just fall into my knees and collapsed from exhaustion. and blood loss. I'm dizzy. I'm hurting. Quickly. That one needs medical care. Quickly! Grab him! I will...

Brindley Day, you're a gift from the gods. Thank you, Braves, tonight. And I will run over to, as much as quickly as I can. Over to Bolto. And I'll say, thank the old mother I bought this. What did you do to those animals? Baltho! I'm going to pull out the healing

potion, the holy water to the Allmother, as I will basically splash it in Christoph's wounds, not Christoph, sorry, Balto's wounds, the best that I can, and I believe that is only three wounds. Yes, the potion is three, yep. Yes, I will heal you three wounds. That takes me back to bad. I am no longer critical.

You're still critical. Or you're still critical. Well, yeah, right. You're right. While you're doing this, I'm on the threshold. Brinley Dane has untied his horse and remounted, and he trots up to the three of you and says,

quickly, you must follow me. I have a spot. I've been traversing the Fern Sea now for several days. I'm looking for someone. There's a spot not too far from where the mists are. Can you all walk? If you help me up. up.

Braves tonight, can our companion ride on your steed? Yes. Here we go. Yes, get him up here. I'll hold him close, and I won't move too quickly. You must stay close, all right? Yes. And Brinley Dane begins to lead the way.

His horse is not moving quickly. You're very easily able to keep up, but he's moving with confidence. Being astride, this is almost like a war horse. This is a very large horse. It doesn't have problems moving through the forest, through this fern forest. He's leaving you in a direction with confidence that he knows where he's going and it is quickly approaching dark

You know this only because it's getting darker and darker not because you can see the sun or the sky It's just getting uncomfortably dark and it isn't long before he lights a torch and he raises the torch high above him one hand on the reins while he has Jasp excuse me Balto holding on to him on the back of this horse after maybe an hour walk, you find a small clearing where the mists are not nearly as thick as they were. There's a small fire and a makeshift tent, really more of a tarp pinned up to some trees. And he says, we've arrived. Get him under the tent. We can start to administer medical care. What are you doing out here? As he dismounts his horse and he ties it up and begins to help in any way that he can.

You know, we could actually hear the same thing. Uh. Asking me, Sir Brinley Dane, what I'm doing out here in the Fernsea. Yeah, where the fuck are you doing? Yeah, uh, Gareth. Thank you so much for your help. He, Boulthau might have been done for, had you not shown up? Don't tell me you've never heard of the order.

How I heard of the order? Oh. Roll for me. You can all roll for me. You know what? That's where I'm a Viking. We can all roll? Hold on.

I don't know the disciplines as well. That's what's taking me a moment. I apologize. I mean, between us, how many disciplines do we have? Not many. I only have one. I only have two. Here it is.

Reason, erudition. If you have heraldry or politics, you can use that instead of your erudition. I'll use erudition. Heraldry and politics. That's pretty cool. I didn't stap my guy very well. 14. 14?

14. Okay. 7. I don't fucking know. Erudition? Yep. That'll be an 11. Okay. D minus three.

Or minus. Oh, of course, I should not. We both have 11. 11. 11. You have all heard in different varying amounts. I'm going to do this. What the order he's referencing.

The moment that he mentions an order and you realize that this is a knight on a horse, for you, Christoph, you remember the phrase order of wandering knights. Balto, you might have heard of them referred to as Knights of the Wood. And Jasper, you absolutely have heard of this Order of Wandering Knights, and he looks at you, he says, well, of course, we have several names.

We are knights who don't necessarily kneel to any given politics, to any given kingdom or city, and we roam Avalon helping those that we can. We've carved out a little name for ourselves. Some people refer to us as the Order of Wandering Knights, the Knights of the Wood. There are several different names that they refer to us have. But we know no home, and we make our way as we need. Ah, I have heard of you. I've heard you called the Briggin Knights. That's right. Not necessarily the nicest name, but one that gets thrown around.

The Knights of the Wood. That's right. We're often found in different parts of Avales. on where the mists are thick, where we can help people. We're doing what we can without the looming threat of petty wars and politics. Yeah, I wish we could repay you with coin, but fresh out of that. We will have coin and castle when we complete our quest, Sir Brinley. Coin is nice, but it's not going to get us out of this predicament. You haven't told me what you're doing out here. We're headed to Castle Crow's Nest.

I... We lost three candles. Oh, what we're trying to say is that, and I'm going to try to, from what I know about, is it weird for me to see a night in full plate in barding alone? I've heard, perhaps heard of like,

you know, these knights of the woods, but I'm trying to get a sense of anything afoot. Does he seem a little sneaky duplicitous? I don't necessarily trust him. I'm grateful. He seems trust worthy, but I'm on edge. Balto's dying. Okay.

One thing at a time. Yes. You recognize this man who claims that his name is Sir Brinley Dane to be one of the Order of Wandering Knights, but you do find it very odd that he is a singular knight when the order very much references a band of knights.

It is unusual to find one of them generally alone. They travel as a group of wandering nights. So this is definitely odd to you. When you mentioned Christoph, the castle crowsnest, immediately his face hardens. You cannot be serious. You're headed to Castle Crow's Nest. Oh, I wish I was fucking joking.

Oh, we are. We are on a sacred quest. We can use some help if you're looking for something to do. We come from a town called Briarbrook, and we have learned that the only way to restore the Menhir Stones of our village, and perhaps all of Avalon is in crow's nest. Oh, everyone's aware of the problem. Menhire stones are not what they were hundreds of years ago.

We know this. You think you're just going to solve it? The three of you? Yes, we have no other choice. If it wasn't for the queen and the decree to stop all of the research and the exploration, the Mania stones are dying and she cares not. All three of you, please make an awareness perception check. I'm going to confirm, oh, I can't crit if I'm hurt. I can't. I have a 10, but is a negative thing? Three?

No, no, no, no. You still go to 15. Yeah. Treat it like it's like a natural 20, right? In D&D, you will click confirm. Okay. So you still had a 10, but it's gonna be minus three, seven. Awareness.

Nine. Mono no aware is five. 14. It's Christoph and Brinley who first perking here. And Brinley's tribut trying to process all that you're telling him, but when he hears this noise, his already stony face grows a little bit more sullen as you begin to hear the croaking of crows. Not many, but you definitely hear it, and you think to yourself, how long has that been

happening? Is this new? Or were you distracted by battle in the travel that you've been making through this firm form? Is everyone else here to fucking crows? Upon noting it, you do. succumbing to madness. No. No. The activity of the crows

has been bad lately. That's why I'm out here and why I'm quite concerned that you're insane enough to go to Castle Crow's Nest now. This is not a problem that the three of you might just solve

on a whim? I'm inclined to fucking agree with you, but there's no other fucking choice. I don't think you understand. The town that we call home is going to get swallowed up if we don't do this. And so we're going to fucking try

or we're going to fucking die trying. All of the people that still live, that gave us shit about whether we lived or died, live in that town. We cannot let the misclaim it. You must understand, Subrinly. You.

If your order of your brotherhood is as noble as you claim. Well, that's very knights of the woods of you. I'm certainly not going to try to stop you, but I'm not going to not tell you that I think you're crazy. What other choice do we have? If you know where this Mordred is keeping his secrets of the Meneerstones, and it's not in Castle Crow's Nest, we'd be happy to explore.

Your guess is as good as mine. If you're really that hellbent and finding certain doom, you'll definitely find it in the castle. I don't know what else to fucking deal. We've got candles. Uh, you know, that's the one edge we have. We've got these fucking candles.

There's nine candles now. Weird candles? Yes. Nine of them? Yes. Unbelievable. Three of them were destroyed when we were attacked by the wolf.

Well, that's unfortunate. So delicate. The wax is just... Fat now. Tends to be the case. We will have to make do with what we have. You all didn't happen to run into another night while you were traipsing about this fern sea, were you?

No, I never had the chance to be knighted. And Christoph here is not quite yet tonight. To answer your fucking question, no. We haven't run into any other nights. I'm looking for one of my brothers. Sir Eric, the madness took him and he ran off on his horse, been chasing him for days. Drew a mad by the weirdness.

Of course, what else? And you've seen no sign of him. I've seen hoof prints from his horse, absolutely, but it's hard to keep out. Anything, straight in this fern sea. It's a nightmare. Look, I don't want to dash your hopes. If you think the mission we're on is hopeless,

the odds that he's alive or even if he is alive, and his mind is still his own is pretty low. So, if you'd rather take on a new quest, good night, you could come with us. Your offer is generous, but I'm not giving up on my brother. Suit yourself. The knights are strongest when we're all together. We can't continue to help people if we're splintered, fractured.

I will find, Sir Eric. If we help you find your brother, would you swear on your honor to help us find the secrets within Castle Crohn's Nest? I've already stated I don't have a death wish. I might be able to help you on your way, but I'm certainly not going near that castle. I will do much more good alive and on my horse with my brothers, riding across Avalon, slaying the evils that are afoot every day.

The greatest evil of all is in that castle, Sir Brindon. That is the source of it. That is the heart of the darkness. You must understand. Your brotherhood must understand that that is where the most good can be done. If you wish to do good, if what your tenants are is not actually banditry. He smirks and he gives a little laugh. I've heard it all before.

You're not going to goad me into going on a suicide mission. You're more than welcome to spend the night here with me and my camp. I'm going to continue looking for Eric. And then if we part ways, we part ways. You're the ones with the candles. I'm not spending a second more in this forest than I need to. Well, we thank you for your generosity, Zabrinli. We must ensure that our companion here is well enough to travel.

We still have a long way north. Absolutely. I'm more than happy to spend time with you until... I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name. And he looks to you. I am Bolto. Until Balto's back on his feet. I'm happy to offer what food and protection that I can.

while you're in your weekend state, even if it takes a few days. I'm fairly certain that Eric is nearby. If I have to make this a base of operations as I continue my search, you're more than welcome to spend time here. There's safety in numbers. Thank you. You saved my life. You are sent here by Allmother. Look, we don't want to be a burden, especially after what you've done for us.

That being said, we're not getting very far with Balto and estate he's in. So I don't know if it makes sense to stay days and risk more of those fucking things. We need Bolto to survive. He is the one who must bring the knowledge back. Bolto, are you able to heal yourself? Could you perhaps instruct me or Christoph? Just tell me what to fucking do and I'll do it. I'll kneel down beside him and I'll just like, be at the ready. I will...

I meant to save this for you. But if we must not... If we must... If we have to keep going, I would... Drink this myself and see if it's... heels and I will pull out the this very delicate little container that almost

glows with golden light this is sealing essence it is the best I could find at the apothecary in Camelot now's the fucking ton you look like shit I and we cannot delay I am Here to heal you. You need to fucking heal yourself. Before you can heal us, Spolto. Don't try to be some martyr. I know you've just converted to the old mother.

It doesn't work like that. Let me see if it does what they say it does. And I will undo the seal at the top. and very quickly I will turn it. And I'm frustrated because it's not a shock. It doesn't immediately swirl down or pour into my gullet. Instead it very slowly into the back of my throat. And I have to sort of hold it there, almost shaking.

And one of you might need to even steady my arm. I will immediately grab your arm. So I can... All supervise. Hopefully not get it into my beard, but get into my mouth. And every time I have just enough to swallow. I pull the bitter, salty solution down and in. And I understand that healing essence gives me six points back.

Oh, that's correct. My God. But I don't know how fast or how that works. Does it just happen, or do I... You are confident that if you spend the evening resting, that by morning it will have taken full effect. Okay. And it's getting late.

I mean, it is definitely night, and you are all very acutely aware that traveling at this point would be dangerous. So I will enjoy that in the morning, but not seeing the immediate benefits of it, I would see if I could heal myself. I would like to try to pray to the Allmother to see if I could actually push and capture some magic that might close my wounds and Make sure that the decoction I've taken have taken full effect. Okay. So my understanding is that you'd like to use sorcery, ancient knowledge to cast mystical healing? I would like to cast, yeah, I would like to use ancient knowledge to cast mystical healing as a ritual. Okay, yes, so it is a ritual.

It costs one magic point to cast. The mage sends a fraction of magic near the target's wounds. The target immediately recovers six health points and gains plus one bonus to defense for the next 24 hours. Holy shit. So taking a look at... How many wounds? So take a look at what we're doing. I'm going to kind of walk us through this first time you're doing this.

Yep. We know that it is going to be a base of 11. The target is just you. You are not increasing the casting time. You're keeping it as a ritual. Yep. You are currently in an environment that has minor disruptions. You're unfamiliar with it.

So the modifier, as far as the environment goes, is not difficult. But what I will say is that this is the first time you've ever tried to cast. the spell. I've never been able to produce magical healing before. You've tried to channel the All-Mothers will and some of this magical weave, the weirdness, but, and you maybe have had varying degrees of success of something happening, but you've never successfully cast a mystical healing spell. So I'm going to increase the DC on my side. Okay. I also am still going to be down negative three, I believe, because I'm still in critical condition without the... That is correct. You have minus three to all rules while you're in critical condition.

But you may spend extra magic points to reduce that. To reduce the DC by three per match. You do not know what the difficulty challenges. I'm going to increase the magic by one to spend two to get rid of that three that is hurting me. And a peaceful serenity will cast over me. So just one additional magic point? Just one. Okay. And I will, that's gonna be two magic points.

So you will, when you make your roll, you're going to add 1D10 plus the associated way, plus the discipline. So for you, it should be... Oh, so it's not plus, I always fuck this up. Right now for sorcery I have plus seven because I poured 50 points into it. That gives me two disciplines. That should be the discipline.

Anything you roll plus 12. So plus 12. So plus 12 is what I... Correct. Okay. Any sorcery roll is always plus 12. That makes me feel a little better. It's very hard to fail these when you are not under duress.

Even if you haven't cast this before, you... Yeah. I've got the amount on here. Go ahead. This is Metagaming. But I was like, no, Christoph not like that. No, you need to hold his arm. Nope, you got to help him.

Let's keep him steady. If I can try to use a leadership, I don't know if I can use that in order to help that role. Why don't you fucking do it yourself, Dunington? That's not how supervising works, Christoph. I will, here's what I'll do. Give me a leadership role. Okay.

And what I'll say is that this might affect the DC, the difficulty threshold. I'm using one of my. The DT. I keep using It wasn't meant to me. You would have started your gray die. I'm praying.

I'm praying to the Allmother. Okay. I got a nine. All right. I will... What did you roll? I'm going to roll. Okay.

I will close my eyes and you'll hear Balto whisper in sacred grove neath starlit sky. All mother's voice, soft and high. Spirit to spirit. eye to eye in her embrace our spirits fly.

Oh, gosh, it's your life. And I'll use this fucking survival point. We're using this. We're using this. We're using all this shit. Roll away from yourself. One more, one more, one more. One more.

Oh, one more, one more, please. Oh, one more, one more, one more. Use the rest of it. Use one more. And the leader can cut us off every time. Yeah, you're good. One more roll. One more roll. Okay, what's your role? 16.

You say these words, there is this prayer. Your companions have never heard you pray like this before. It's kind of jarring. The words are beautiful and the way that you say them, you say them with such conviction that from your clasped hands, a little bit of light begins to pour out, just a touch through your fingertips, through the cracks in your fingers, and you, it starts to go.

It starts to go, it's getting a little bit brighter as you're reciting these words. You're feeling a level of confidence that you've never had before when you start to cast this spell. And as you're nearing the end of the spell, it momentarily goes out. Before receding with an absolute brilliance, this light pours forth from your hands as you are able to cast your healing spell upon yourself. And the mystical healing is successful. You will heal, recover six hit points, and you gain plus one bonus to defense for the next 24 hours.

You have successfully cashed your first magic spell. One of the most dire times in your life. Ho! Boto! For a brief moment, the darkness in the Sea of the Fern Sea is pushed at bay. There's this brilliance where it almost appears to be daytime for a brief moment. And then after the healing is done, the light is gone,

and the darkness returns. She is merciful. Oh, mother be praised. Speaking of merciful. Thank you. teach you how to do that? In one way, in another way

the old mother did. Praise beaded the fucking old mother. I mean, look at you. Do you still doubt our quest, Christop? You know, if it really is, who will? So be it. Well, I, for one, am very impressed.

Well done, Bolto. We can use all the help we can get. I had no idea that you could cast magics. This is the first time I've ever been able to do so. Well, from the looks of it, you've been doing this a while. Well done. And now that you're better, Boltoe, I took a nasty bite from one of those mistwolves.

The old medicine is still good. And I'll get to work applying first aid onto Jasper. As soon as I have caught my breath. Take your time. Yeah, give me healing rule. There we go. So you're healing me. That's fine.

That's fine. Just straight up healing. If I can use a decoction, I'll get a 19. And I also enjoy miracle worker, which means you get an additional whatever. I think it's just a plus to the roll. Yeah. Yeah, so you easily heal. You work to, you know, you apply treatment to Jasper, and you're going to heal two wounds, Jasper.

Let's go. I'm only missing one wound now. As the evening is winding on, you see that Sir Brin deane is doing things around the camp. He's muttering to himself. He's looking out into the Fern Sea, but he's not wandering away from the warmth of the fire. And what I would ask you all to do as a group is decide how many nights you think you're going to spend here in order to be well enough to continue on your journey. I think just one. I think we get started in the morning.

I mean, unless I don't, I can't tell how. If the tecoction and the blessing of the old mother takes fact, I should be good in the morning. Fire the fucking gods. All right, we're leaving the morning. Oh, we appreciate the offer, sir Brinley. We will sup with you this evening, and then first light we must away. I understand. Brimley, I have no way to thank you other than to say thank you.

However, I am good at making wine. Thank you. If you needed a little pick-me-up. I wouldn't say no in these dark times. Thank you. And I'll have put in whatever that is that numbs the pain for Jasper and having offered it to Brimley as just a minor beer.

I sincerely hope that you gentlemen and are successful. If you, if you are, if you manage to make it to Castle Crows Nest, if you find some long-lost secrets there, look for the wandering nights on your way back. As soon as we can turn around with what we seek, we will be back here. If it makes you feel any better, we don't plan on staying there a fucking moment longer than we have to. Not one second. May it best not be. Cheers. Hey. Cheers.

To the Allmother. To the Allmother. And he drinks deeply. And he's told you that he's going to take watch. He doesn't need much sleep. He's going to continue to plot how he's searching for his brother, Sir Eric. Not literal brother, brother in arms. And he's going to take most of the watch.

If anyone would like to help him, you are able. But he assures you that it isn't necessary. that he's done a very good job navigating the weirdness and finding a little spot where the mists are relatively light, much lighter than they have been since you've stepped foot in here. And if there's anything else you'd like to do, other than that, you can go to sleep. I think we would, I would help where I could.

I'm elated by the discovery of magic. And so I almost struggled getting to sleep. But knowing that we need to rest, and that rest is good for me. I am my own best doctor, and I eventually close my eyes. I will probably have stocked several wine skins, and I probably am done,

like finishing the wine tonight. And with the special, with the water that Balto's made me, I just pass the fuck out. I would stay up and watch with Sir Brinley, not necessarily. I don't think he's a bad guy, but not trusting a stranger to not, you know, cut our thirds of the night. Of course.

Oh, and once he's asleep, I definitely slit his throat with my hunting knife. You can certainly try. A wise man would say. No, no, no. Are you staying up all night, Christoff? No. No. He will wait till he goes to sleep and switch.

He very much tells you that you are more than welcome to join him for as long as you like, and that he will get some sleep at some point, but he is going to sleep at some point, but he intends on sleeping very little, mostly in the middle of the night and to be up super early the next morning. I would plan to, after maybe half the night, wake up Dunnington and then have him wake up Bolto to finish the watch if he needed to get more sleep.

But at least share the load with Dunington. Okay. So the watch will probably look a little something like this. Brinley and Christoph, begin the night, talking, passing the time. Brinley is very, very concerned though, about Sir Eric, Sir Eric, and he tells you about what happened and how this came to be.

And when it is time for Jasper's watch in the middle of the night, he goes to bed as you do. And then he would arise with Balto when it's his watch at the end of the day, or sorry, at the end of the evening before morning comes. And that's kind of the order that would be proposed if everyone is okay with that. Yeah, perfect.

Awesome. So you're all able to get sleep. But, Balto, it's you. At the end of the night, the night is often darkest before the sun rises. And you awake, and so does Sir Brinley Dane. And you are, he gets up, he stokes the fire a little bit. He's not keeping a large fire. He's keeping a low fire.

And just enough to provide a little bit of light and to keep warm. And you're talking about whatever you'd like. Maybe you're telling him a little bit about how you learn from Mercer and things like that. And I need you to roll an awareness perception check. It's plus a Warray. Thank you. Have I healed yet? Oh, cricket hard.

Yes, yes. You've healed. So you get the additional six from the potion. You all get an additional one more for healing with a full night's sleep. Full health. So that would be a total of seven for you, Balto. How are you looking? Oh, so minus 12s, because I took the six and six.

Six and six. Plus the one from the full night's rest. Plus the one, I only have one wound left after all that. Did you do medicine yourself? And I didn't even like first aid myself, but we could go back and say, I mean, I'm sure I would have bandaged up like closed wounds and stuff. I was trying to ask you how I can tell me. You consumed medicine?

Yeah. That counts for the first aid that you could administer yourself once per day. I'm full up. So one wound is pretty good, all things considered. I mean, I only had 14 of my... That's crazy. That's insane. 19 wounds.

Healed over fucking night. That is crazy. That's pretty good. So I wanted to know that because it affects my role. Yeah, yeah. I need a correct confirm. Absolutely. Roll that die again.

You think? Yes. It blessed you. It blessed me by the all- by the all-mother. Roll towards me. Oh, that's okay? Oh, it didn't work. So 10 plus. 10 plus two is 12. So best I can possibly do unless I quit conferred. You've got about two hours for the entirety of your watch. And it is over the course of this two hours while you're chatting with Sir Brinley-Dane that it's not apparent at first. But the noises are getting louder.

The croaking, the squawking. Crows, ravens, you're not entirely sure. It's getting a little louder over time. And by the time you finally notice it, it occurs to you that you should have heard it sooner. It's loud. It's louder than it's been. It's growing to a point where it's cacophonous

and you're worried that it might even wake up your companions. And Brinley all of a sudden has this look on his face and he says, that cannot be good. The crows? Ravens. They keep a watch for Mordron himself. They're always patrolling. The closer you get to Castle Crow's Nest,

the more you're going to hear and see those things. They're nasty looking too. They don't look like normal ravens and crows. I don't have time to get into it right now, but beasts and flying birds do not get along with me. I'm not sure that these get along with anyone. We should rouse to the others and get a move on. You said you were only spending the night, correct?

I'm already collecting my things and putting my things into the pack, making sure that I have easy access to the candles, but that they are well secured into my pack. I cinch it down. Yes, we have what we need, I think, to make our way all the way north. Let's get the others. And as he says this and he gets up and he goes to walk toward the others, it's not too far off.

from where your camp is that you hear. And immediately, Sir Brinley Dane bolts up right. Sir Eric! No! And he runs off into the forest. Thank you so much for listening to the Legends of Aventras podcast. We hope you enjoyed the session. If you want even more campaigns to listen to, become a member of our Patreon at the Pearl Dolphin Tier or Higher

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