The Glass Cannon Podcast - Giantslayer Episode 201 - Plot Armor

Episode Date: April 2, 2019

Brandyr returns with grave tidings and a peculiar request. For more podcasts and livestreams, visit glasscannonnetwork.com. To become an official member of the Naish, subscribe today at http://www.jointhenaish.com. Want to be a part of Glass Cannon Nation? Follow us at twitter.com/glasscannonpod instagram.com/theglasscannon facebook.com/glasscannonnetwork tiktok.com/@glasscannonnetwork Get the best apparel and gaming accessories in the biz at https://glasscannonnetwork.com/store If you enjoyed this, we have several other series featuring Call of Cthulhu - Time For Chaos Delta Green - Get in the Trunk Pathfinder 2E - Glass Cannon Live! Strange Aeons Pathfinder 1E - Legacy of the Ancients Traveller - Voyagers of the Jump and so much more! Join us every Thursday night for Campaign Two of The Glass Cannon Podcast – a playthrough of the Pathfinder 2E Gatewalkers Adventure Path! Videos premiere on YouTube Thursday nights at 8PM ET with a companion podcast available at midnight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on the Glass Cannon Podcast... Perhaps someday you will see what true power is. A twisted villain returns. Brander has just revealed himself as a patchwork amalgamation of whatever he was before and bits and pieces of Delanarn. Confirming the hero's worst fears. You can go to hell and take me with you for all I care. But the conversation has just begun.

You look at me and you may think I am your enemy. But nothing could be further from the truth. And his dreadful message. And I hate to come off greedy since you've already done so much. But I do have another request. We'll leave the heroes speechless.

You work for us now. The adventure continues. Disobey us. And suffer a fate worse than death. No. Hello, my friends. It's Matthew. Hope you all enjoyed episode 200.

I sure did. Up until, you know, like, the end reveal. Honestly, before that, it was a blast. So I hope you had as much fun listening to it as we had recording it. Just wanted to let you know that there are still tickets available for our two Glass Cannon live shows in Indianapolis during Gen Con this August. Portland Show was a lot of fun. Big shout out to the awesome Portland audience. Praise Log.

And unlike last time, the video from that show will hopefully go up earlier than the day before our upcoming sold out Brooklyn show. So you'll be able to watch that. Also, posters from the Dallas and Portland shows are available in our merch store, both signed and unsigned. All of us are absolutely obsessed with these designs. So snag yours while you still can. All right, enough out of me. And now, and I would like to point out that Troy has forced me to say this, and I'm only doing so under protest, but the March to 300 begins now with episode 201. Enjoy. I'm sitting here right now, and I'm torn. Why are you torn, Troy? I'm torn, Matthew, because I want to do it, but I don't want to do it.

What? What, Kill Firaso? Record episode 201. What? I want to do it. I'm very excited about doing it, but it's hard, man. Why is it hard, man? It's hard to go from 200 to 201 but

you love marches i do love my march is over so it's time for a new march it's a new march and you know what sure it's the march to 300 that's important yeah i think an even greater march that we are beginning right now is the march to the end. Oh. Let's be honest. We've been doing that march literally this whole time. Shut up, Matthew. Shut up, Matthew.

The march to the end. That could happen. 280. Sure, that's true. It won't. It won't. But look. It could happen in 202.

We could all die. There you go. That's true. It won't. It won't. But look. Could happen in 202. We could all die.

There you go. That's true. But this being the March to 300 is like, that is it as far as Giant Slayer is concerned. There will be no March to 400. There will not. So it could basically be considered the March to the end. There's nothing after that. This is it.

We'll still celebrate 300 like it's 1999. But I don't know, man. I just I would love to just not do this. You get real moody. You're like you're like a teenager when you get into these situations where you're like, well, we did. We had this four and a half hour session was amazing. Every consecutive episode now has to be four and a half hours of this awesome original stuff that we came up with. Yeah. Then you get that in your head and

then you get real morose yeah i get morose and you're very very sad to be around i get very morose i remember sitting in just the waiting room before portland show started just just a week ago just very recently and like sitting there and being very nervous and wanting to die before all of our live shows and looking into myself and being very nervous and wanting to die before all of our live shows and looking into myself and being like rand always wants to die right before the live show normally i feel awful but right now i feel okay and that means i forgot something yeah i looked over at troy and troy just went no no i just always feel deathly ill so there's something about your like it's not pleasant to be around You want to continue to impress

Be thankful that all of you who come to the live show Only see Troy after the show I have a lot of energy Energy is not the problem Listen, here's the thing I know it's going to be great Maybe not 201 201 is going to be fine

What was that? I mean it being this new beginning for us. I mean, hell, it's hard to even say it's a new beginning. We haven't even finished book four. We're like on the cusp of ending book four. And crazy things could happen here. Crazy. Like insane things.

Any day we play this game, crazy shit could happen. I just get a little nervous. I know you do. Listen, I understand. There's got to be a Feast for Crows once in a while. It can't always be a Storm of Swords. Why are you doing this? You are the person who literally talks about how great a Feast for Crows is.

I do love it, but most people don't. It just needs a reread. I love listening. One time I was on the subway, and I heard someone talking. The fourth book is just terrible. Don't read that one. i'm like one time i was on the subway and i heard someone talking like the fourth book is just terrible don't read that one i'm like you're an asshole i've read it twice and it's fantastic you just gotta read it the right way listen we're getting off track grant troy's actually gonna look can i give you can i give you my perspective on 201 that's what i want to hear your perspective, can I give you my perspective on 201? I genuinely want to hear it on Mike Troy.

I think that book four, it's tough. It is tough. And it's a long grind. And 200 to me was great. And it was great in the way that like a good vacation is great. It's like you get away, you do something fun, you do something different, refresh the batteries. But by the end of it, I found myself being like, I want to get back in Dalgrace's shoes. I want to get back into these characters that are trying to take out Skirkotla.

And I'm rejuvenated for that and excited for that. And this whole, I mean, the way that it ended with Brander and everything in the temple and with these characters, you know, Pembroke and Feroza and Baron. I mean, Baron is basically talked about like a celebrity among that other group. And now he's back in the show. So I don't know. I'm really excited for it. Well, you make a good point.

Whenever my wife and I go away, whether it was our honeymoon to St. Martin or if it's visiting family around the U.S. Or just taking a trip somewhere. To a brewery. To a brewery. Brewery. Brewery. Brewery. Well, brewery. To a brewery. Brewery. Brewery. Brewery.

Well, brewery. That's the playroom. We actually leave for a while and then come back. As I'm unpacking my bag, I always say the same thing to her. I say,

what's the best part of going away? And she says, coming home. Coming home to you. So you know what? It's time to come home. Yes.

Yes. If all else fails, I can read you log lines from various quantum leap episodes that i love i would like to do that at the end of the episode bonus content bonus content just to get your Matthew has been in a real quantum leap groove i don't want to get off on a tangent here it's the 30th anniversary you can't stop talking about it and i love quantum leap but i haven't thought about it you're wearing the shirt and everything you're really into it celebrating it's just a big scott bacula month-long celebration

start sam beckett's a hero of mine i'm more of a ziggy guy myself listen al matthew why haven't i leaped yet i feel like your entire life could be that question why haven't I leaped? Why haven't I leaped? I've been doing such great work. That's good. Enjoy Ferrazza for the next couple episodes.

Guys, we're back in Minderhalsk at the evening. Oh, man. Joe, give me... I got to get that forge going. Give me a little something. Give me a... You got to get the forge going. Give me a little something. Give me a... You got to get the forge going. Give me a bouncy forge.

Time to make the donuts. Yeah, do you have some donut-making music? Music to make donuts and babies to. Now that they're peaceful, they make donuts all the time. That's true. The forge has been repurposed as a dungeon. You guys hear the Breath of the Wild cooking music the whole time? Ooh, that's good music.

That's good. That's nice. Well, we're back. It has a certain dark ambiance, the forge. Even though we turned things around there, it's still a weighty place, right? Yeah. There's gravitas to it. Gravitas, yes.

So being on the Enterprise. Yes. It has a certain understated stupidity. The Outlaw Josie Wales. All right. Really? It's a deep Seinfeld. Man, that's really.

You only know that one if you've watched it 50 times. Wait, what did he say? I missed it. The Outlaw Josie Wales. It has a certain understated stupidity. And George is like, The Outlaw Josie Wales. Oh, he's watching jeopardy yeah all right sorry wow wow man we are back you were right about 201

we're back in minder hall's cathedral slash donkeys. Brander has just revealed himself as a patchwork amalgamation of whatever he was before and bits and pieces it looks like of Delanarn.

Everyone in the cathedral is still frozen. With the exception. Of our four heroes. He just. Removed his robe. And he stands there. Staring at you.

And he continues. Let me ask you all. Are you familiar With Gopalas The Rune Lord of Gluttony I am I am Your voice, Skid's voice

Yeah I played Rune Lord For decades uncontended The Rune Lord's For decades, uncontended, the Rune Lord's forces raided the Northland tribes, saving the corpses for countless experiments in reanimation, though sometimes just for the sick joy some derive in defiling the dead.

Try as they might, the Kellid seemed unable to fight back, yet out of this subjugation was born one of their greatest heroes. From a young age, Ungerato stirred the voices of oracles and soothsayers who predicted he would become the mightiest warrior of the age and transform his people from weak hunters into an unstoppable force. The fiery-haired youth continued to fulfill this prophecy year after year as he vanquished powerful beasts and performed extraordinary feats of strength and endurance. After completing the rites of adulthood in his tribe, he departed into the wilds for five years.

And when he returned, he came back leading a pair of white dragons that called him master and accompanied by representatives from nine tribes throughout the Tusk Mountains who had sworn to aid Ungerato against the tyrants of Thassilon. Word arrived that a powerful weapon

forged in the heart of the Empire was bound for its capital, and Ungerato rallied his allies to attack the convoy. The few survivors from the Thassilonian caravan carried the name of the Keled Champion on their lips, who now possessed the Sword of Gluttony. Runelord Gopalus refused to accept failure. He sent a legion of elite soldiers to retrieve the artifact, only to learn that they too had fallen to Ungerato's hit-and-run tactics. Again the Runelord tried, this time sending an army of necromancers to animate the remains of the legion and continued the pursuit. Again and again, Ungerato and his allies cut down their Thessalonian

enemies, depleting Gopalus's treasury and undermining his authority. He's looking at you the whole time like he's teaching you a lesson at school now like all great heroes again looking in each one of your eyes Ungerato would one day

fall but the power of his vast destruction across the land was so great that he rose again as a Gravenite, infused with the sword of gluttony's power. Rather than turn away in revulsion at Ungerato's transformation, his strongest warriors embraced undeath as well by throwing themselves upon his blade so that they may fight for him forever. Now there are histories dating back millennia claiming that Ungerato was eventually defeated and destroyed soon after the fall of Thassilon

yet no one quite knows for sure for the destruction of a Gravenight is not so simple. I like to imagine him waiting somewhere in the darkness, biding his time, waiting for the perfect moment to return in exact vengeance on a world that has all but forgotten him. He picks up his robe and starts to put it back on. You look at me, and you may think I am your enemy,

but nothing could be further from the truth. You may look at what I've become and feel rage, but your friend was already dead. Would you rather she be left for the worms when she could instead live on forever with me and achieve true greatness? What I did not consume myself, I left as carrion for vultures, but I assure you it was not much.

Now your friend may have appeared to be a child in this world, but her story began centuries ago. The vault that you discovered her in, it was as if it preserved her out of time itself, and it was that essence that I needed to extract. Now, you may not appreciate it now, but I am a living monument to the woman you cared for, and when the world is ours,

we shall remember those of you who helped us get there. Speaking of which, and I hate to come off greedy since you've already done so much to aid me in my lifelong pursuit, but I do have another request. Whoever among you survives the battle with Skirkadla, strip her of her armor and bring it to me. I will wait for you outside the crypt. He like, kind of turns to slowly looks back. In case it was not abundantly clear, you work for us now. Do what is demanded of you, and you may very well be spared,

if that's what's meant to be. Disobey us, and suffer a fate worse than death. He stops himself and smiles. Perhaps someday, not unlike Ungerato's men, you will see what true power is and choose to serve it forever. And choose to serve it forever. But maybe that's a conversation for another time.

And he just turns and slowly starts to walk out. What about the boy? What boy? Calabras, the young clerk. You left him comatose in a state. Why? What do you know of the boy, Professor? I have been told. I have been told he was good. I have been told he could have aided us.

Why? Maybe someday, he can tell you himself. Of course, you may not live long enough to find out. If we refuse to turn over Skirkada's armor, what then? I'm sorry.

I thought I made it clear that it was not an option. But if you choose to disobey, we could have that conversation then. I do not work for you, abomination. I look at you and I see nothing but a pathetic attempt

to live, to live beyond. You're like everybody else I see someone who couldn't cut the steak themselves and had to rely on a poor dead girl's body to give him power I see a man who's all hat and no cattle and I'll go in there and kill Skirkadla

and if I die by your hand not giving you that armor I don't give a damn. I'd rather die and suffer an endless amount of torment than let you rule over this world in a monument to your own vanity. You can go to hell and take me with you for all I care. Yes! Yes. He turns back, standing like at the doorway. If only you were special.

If only there was something I could take from you. But the only thing that makes you special is that thing in your hand. Remove it, and you're no one. Someone remove what's between your legs long ago and there ain't nothing left worthwhile in you. Now get out of my sight, you son of a bitch.

I'll see you at the crypt, Ashpeak. Good day, gentlemen. Lady. Hood up. And he just walks. Just to be clear, were you complimenting his penis?

No, it's gone. I mean, if you did... Huge thing between your legs. Someone took it a long time ago. It's smooth like a Ken doll is what I'm saying. And that's fine if that's what you want. Anything worth anything? No.

Brandon's walking away and he's like, I think he liked my penis. Is that what I said at all? Maybe he is special after all. He knows what's up. He does what's up. He knows what's up. He knows what's up. That guy gets it.

Wow. Wow. That's crazy. That's crazy. I can't imagine what that was like with half of Della's face saying those words. I know. I know. Like stretched over his skull?

Yeah. So it's like misshapen? Yeah, it's a little bit out of place. It's not like the the the the vision of della you remember it but the hair and everything it's and it's not the same sort of handiwork that you've seen in the crypt it's not those gluttoners it's not that uh that creature that was made up of a bunch of other creatures that you fought in that room past the frostworms and the room full of dead bodies. Like, there was some true craftsmanship here, but it's as if it's not just a physical thing.

It's pretty clear that anything she was, he has consumed. Well, I certainly get the sense that not only is he not a part of skirk codless world he's not going in there himself maybe he's testing us maybe he can't deal with it himself but he certainly has skills and abilities beyond anyone that we've come across in that tomb so far i mean i think that's reflected in how we chose to react to him being here i mean i think anyone else we would have jumped on them we would have attacked them we are a little spent but yeah i think i think with the characters know they would sense that this is something yeah i think you know we can handle i think dogwraith has a good sense of yeah that and as soon as everybody froze around him,

even though he has his faculties, he's like, whoa. Something out of my league is happening here. And then he looks to Baron, obviously, and Pembroke and Ferrazza. He's talking to them. So they know something he doesn't know. And they're not doing anything. So it's kind of like, who is this guy? Yeah, you've never

seen him no i've never seen him so the whole time i'm so the whole time dog wraith is listening he's thinking like you know this one seems that it might be a bit beyond my pay grade i don't know i'm trained to fight the big ones and usually the big stupid ones This one seems like he's got a certain cleverness about him that is beyond what I know. Every time our tide is about to crash down on the forces of evil aligned against us, that son of a bitch has come in and turned the tide back the other way. He took the greatest, most selfless, purest hero I've ever seen on a battlefield and made him feeble-minded. He came and took the closest thing I had to a sidekick and a friend. Beyond that, she had powers I'd never seen before.

Della Narn took her away and wrapped him up in his sick body. He's changing all the time. It's like a cancer, something our healers can't even cure he is a perversion absolutely baron i see your pain but i gotta ask he seems quite genuine when he says he's not your enemy not saying he's not corrupt or an abomination as you say, Farazza, but what do you think makes him say that? If you look deeper, what do you think he's getting at

when he says he's not your enemy? I think the king says to his enemies before he sends them to the gallows that he is not your enemy. This man is a megalomaniac beyond any realm of mortal comprehension. I don't think there's anything

deeper unless you two disagree with me. He has his own motives, selfish and vain as they appear to be, but we have seen, we have dealt with evil persons in the past and if their

goals align with our own for a time, they can be useful. The only missing puzzle in the metaphor that he seemed to have been drawing between himself and Ungeratu is that Ungeratu had an enemy he was fighting against, the Rune Lord of Greed. That much is clear,

and he was able to slip beyond his own control and steal something of great power and then become perverted by it himself but live on perhaps he said the story wasn't told who is brander fighting against it's just us he stopped us every step of the way and And just like these bastards in this temple, he's been taking the pieces we've left behind and making himself more powerful from it. I don't know any other way to stop it because we're damned if we do and damned if we don't. But I've always been the unstoppable force. And I have yet to meet an unmovable object.

Well said, Baron. I think we must carry on towards our goal. If he wishes the prize at the end, we shall deal with that as it comes. But for now, we need to cleanse the temple.

If you ask what his enemy is, Scarecutler must rank among one of them. He wants what she's wearing, but is he not powerful enough to take it himself? Seems strange, doesn't it? It is a quandary, a mystery. He wants us to take it, maybe because he wants one of us or two of us taken out before he has to challenge us for it. If we all survive the battle, maybe then he doesn't get what he

wants. I don't know. Perhaps it just takes pure delight in manipulating those he sees lesser than him. Aye, there was a twinkle in his eye, something that said he gets a certain glee out of this. Uh, twisted evil. Baron understanding

that, um, he has control over being able to absorb bodies into himself he had some sort of relation with a dragon he took della he just froze time and we were the only ones moving he understands how powerful brander is so he also wants to try to subvert any type of surveillance did i say it right that time nope no survey surveillance there you go there we go surveillance i don't know why i'm adding the i anyway uh magical scrying or any other means of eavesdropping on us with a bluff check trying to say let's not talk too much about tactics while we're in this place so here's my bluff check to basically say that. Ooh, Natty 20.

Natural 20, 31. And he says something like, we best hit the dusty trail as soon as we can. Everyone else is unfrozen by now and has been listening. And Farron gets your drift by your bluff check and says, maybe we could all go downstairs to the safe room to talk about non-brander related things. And she rolled a two on her bluff.

I'm going out to stalk Lenny and Carl. What is that one from? That's from the Stonecutters episode. Oh, that's right. We have to stalk Lenny and Carl. So she just goes down back to where you first met Atena in the Forge heart. Yeah. You follow her down.

Yes. She stands there around the now living Forge. You're talking about what his enemy is, what his game is, and all of this. From the way in which he speaks, and I've now had the displeasure of hearing him on two occasions, it seems as if he's fighting time itself. You say that you don't work for him, yet you retrieve this hammer for him. You brought it to the forge so that he could use it on himself. Now, obviously, you didn't do these things on purpose, but all along you've been aiding him in his quest to escape time. And as she's saying this, Ferrazza, the idea of escaping time, destroying time, beating time,

and you've been having visions for who knows how long of being somehow not connected to linear time kind of rings strangely in you. I do not know what this means if it's just some sort of megalomaniac who just wants to live forever.

What does he say? He always found undeath so uncouth. Is it possible to be immortal and not be a brainless monster? Well, that's certainly possible if you've ever met a lich. They certainly have quite a wise brain about them, but they're not exactly alive either. They're not all zombies, those that are undead, but if his aim is to be alive, yet have the immortality of the undead, that's something I haven't encountered myself.

But I'll tell you, it makes a fun new target. I'll say that much. I'm curious as to how to take someone like that down. If you find out how, let me know beforehand. And he kind of winks at him. Yeah, he'll wink right back, apparently. I have a feeling we'll figure it out together, brother. It is strange.

I can certainly understand the drive to become immortal without resorting to necromancy, undeath, true life. But there are rumored to be other means of staying alive for many thousands of years. The sun orchid elixir in Thuvia is one that springs to mind. It is strange.

I wonder what he has stumbled upon. Strange magic. Curious. He said that his new body combined with that of Della would be a monument to her as well I don't know

what he wants to be but he wants to be something even greater than life or death itself or maybe on par with it he wants to be a symbol but symbols only hold power if people believe in them and it seems like with

the amount of power he wants to accumulate he wants an awful lot of people to have their eyes on him I'm going to make sure that that doesn't happen and if I die in the course of it I don't mind I've lived long enough.

I hear what you're saying, Baron. And I think he's mistaken about you. I don't think you're beginning in with that magical handbanger you hold at your side. I think there's a lot more to you, and he's underestimating you, and that's the best position you could be in. You've got to use it to your side. I think there's a lot more to you and he's underestimating you and that's the best position you could be in. You got to use it to your advantage. I think we'll figure this one out, but he, now I don't know your friend Della, so pardon me. I mean no offense

when I say it, but he definitely, you can tell by the look in his eyes that he has a certain genuine belief in what he's saying. That he does believe it's a monument to this woman you knew. And that's a scary thing. He believes deeply in what he's doing. But we don't let it dissuade us from our goal. We take him out, yes, but we never underestimate him like he's doing to you. He's not a fool.

He's not blind, and he's not lying either. He's got something happening there that's true and real. We have to believe that if we're going to take him out. That's what I believe. I appreciate your wise words, and kind ones at that, too, about me. You've only known me as an Ashpeak, and I'll tell you one thing.

I know the difference between him and I. It's that underneath my chest beats a proud red heart, and until its last pump, I will stand slow and steady against evil. Spoken like a true inquisitor of Toray. Ah, yes. Here in the foretart, it rings even truer. You got me all inspired now.

Worked up. I'm very excited. Now you, Pembroke, have to ask me. I wouldn't know the first thing about going against an intellect like that. You can tell it's something that is just so powerful in that one. But you, I don't know. I think you could match him. I think you could. What do you think his aim is in all this?

You think it's time is his enemy? Well, in my younger days, perhaps I could. Not the same man I was, but... Yes, he seems to be at odds with time, and yet he has some measure of mastery over time itself. The way he saw, he froze time here in the forge. Have you ever done anything like that in your studies? Well, years ago, yes.

I came close. But no, this is very, very advanced, advanced magic. Something beyond anything that we could reasonably deal with. I don't know. His aims are a bit of a mystery to me, apart from what he has told us. And this giant queen, this undead blight we fought against on the top of the mountainside, this is someone who is thrown in with the giants that are trying to take over the world of the small folk. It doesn't seem like this one's trying to take over much of anything.

He doesn't want to rule people, does he? He just wants what? What is this power? Just his own personal immortality? Yes, it seems his ambitions are on a more personal scale. But unchecked ambition leads to ruin, either

for those around them or the person themselves. We have to do everything we can. Otherwise, the giants run roughshod over the little people of Galarian. And, one way or another, he gets what he wants either way. Well, one way or another, we should rest. We are... we are spent. We are battered. If we... if we intend to take down Scarecrow,

we need all of our strength. Pembroke, you're more attuned to the arcane magics than I could ever hope to be. I only dabble in them. I'm curious. As the time warp was put around me, did you feel as if you were excluded from a spell that he cast, or that you and I were resisting it, or that we were simply unaffected because of something inside of us altogether? Was it his choice to do this? Or is there something within us that could keep us from being affected by his evils?

Do I have, can I do a retroactive Arcana check or Starcraft check? 31. Yeah, I mean, it felt know a whole person mass spell um and that you were just purposely excluded okay so like put it so wasn't in the middle of it i was thinking like i i was imagining time stop so i mean this is that's different so this is just a just a paralysis of everyone with like a a selective exclusion of us. Okay. What do they call it in theater when everyone freezes?

Stage freeze. Just stage freeze? Oh, I thought it was another word. Anyway. Cool. It's a ninth level spell. Stage freeze. Time stop is nine.

Oh, I'm just kidding. time stop is nightfall I think Dalgrith could answer you know quickly enough at that hesitation I don't have much capacity myself to resist such things believe me I know I've fallen victim to them before

I didn't resist much of anything I didn't feel a thing you didn't have much capacity to resist that barmaid back in Skelter either. I saw you looking, you son of a gun. Don't tell Firas. Read the room,

Baron. Oh, sorry, Firas. There's nothing wrong. He didn't... Alright, let's move on. If only you'd heard half the songs that I've heard sung by the skulls of the north about this dwarf, you'd blush. Let's not repeat them here.

No, Aaron is still here. All right. I can't carry it. There once was a dwarf from Skelt who wore a hide as his pelt. Once he pulled it behind. Finish it. Finish it. No one would mind because he was smooth like a Ken doll beneath.

Wait. That's one of the... Wait a minute. The compliment is... Instead of a bitch, he pushes him into the four chart. Bird's alive. What a twist. Wow.

Jalgrim kills Baron. I think that's really your only option left, right? Have the players kill Baron? That's right. Have to have somebody turn on him. I don't like that. You have to flavor kill Baron. That's the only way to kill Baron.

Sorry, man. Flavor kill. I really don't like omnipotent brander. That is not exciting for Baron. No. No. It's not good. It's not good.

And he's taking bits and pieces of the people you love, the people you traveled with. So there's got to be some connection. Now, he just looked you right in the eyes and said, you're not special. You have nothing to offer besides your gun. So maybe in that moment you feel like, okay, good, he's not going to eat me. He's not going to consume some part of me. But what's to say he wasn't lying? And if it's not you you is it one of them

baron also knows that that is a misstatement what he's trying to say earlier is that the difference is the will and the heart and the desire to save people and just general goodness that lies within him that's totally absent from that undead son of a gun or whatever he is yeah yeah he doesn't have any of that but what is it what is it about us like this group what has brought what is the common thread that has brought us all together because there there does seem to be an ample amount of of fate at play to bring us together on this quest and maybe it's something to do with that whatever that is that's drawn him to us or maybe it's him at somehow pushing us together maybe it's maybe it's maybe it's him driving it or

maybe it's the other way around i don't know baron you think back to being inside of blood march hill after you defeated uh screed in the skeletal champion finding treasure that seemed like it was destined for Gormley, Lork, Baron, and Galabras. His name was Galabras. God damn it! Deathly has a name!

It seemed right off the bat, you felt like there was some reason it was fated to you. You get to Minderhall's Valley and Atena, though Atena was off her rock was fated to you. You get to Minderhall's Valley, and Atena, though Atena was off her rocker, saw that you were the four to return. So the wheels of fate here are pushing all of you together. But also Atena said that it was a slightly different lineup. I know we had Jograthir and all those other giants

that corresponded to who we said we were, or at least we were told that, by a perhaps unreliable nerd. Right. But there was something that's changed within that prophecy up to this point. So the only thing, without having you explain something, either you don't want to tell us or you're not prepared to, I don't want to say which. The point I'm saying is that we and our passage through this adventure

seem to be reshaping the prophecy. Things are changing based on our actions, and that, my friend, is what gives me hope that the night is always darkest just before the dawn, and we are closer to dawn than we have ever been. The march to 300 begins now shameless plug if there is no hope there's no reason to go on yeah maybe maybe there are things brander doesn't know about yeah if you listen i'm hoping this forge was spoiler i'm

hoping this forge was either loud enough or like a fallout shelter enough to where he couldn't listen. You go back upstairs and they're all like, we heard everything. They traveled straight up the forge hut. And Brandon was here too. It actually amplified everything across the mountains. Well, I think that... Well, I think that though it might seem a bit inconsequential to take out Scarecrow at this point, with this one lingering over us, I think it's all a bunch.

He's just talking tough. We got to draw him back in. The only way we're going to learn his proper weaknesses, Baron, is if we spend more time examining what he can do and what he can't do. And if he says he's going to come to us when Scarecutter's dead, then maybe that's exactly what we do to draw him in. Dalgrith. We have to survive the combat with her, though.

If we go down from that, if two of us go down and we find ourselves weakened, he can take whatever he wants. You can't let it happen, Pembroke. I'll do what I can. What I'm saying is don't let me die, Pembroke. I don't want that responsibility.

I'd hate to be the one who fell short of the death of Dalgreath Deathbringer.. Oh no, it wouldn't be your fault. It'd be my own. I wouldn't want to hear all the songs about that. Dalgrith, I've broken bread with you and drank ale with you and I genuinely like you. But I still have to ask a question. I understand why

Feyraza and Pembroke are on this journey with me. But I also understand to ask a question. I understand why Feyraza and Pembroke are on this journey with me. But I also understand that you could have a much easier life not only just searching for simpler prey that you've killed before, that you knew all the weak points of, that you could subdue easily and receive the adulation and praise of thousands of women across Galarian. Congratulation and praise of thousands of women across Galarian. Or you could take it easy. Spend your riches and lucre at a local tavern, bar, hell, harem. I don't know what you're into.

But you're here. On the front lines. Fighting evil. I feel like you're hiding something too, but I have a feeling I'm going to like what I see on the other side of what's unknown during the unveiling. You're wiser than you look, Baron. But I will say, all the adulation only goes so far,

and enemies that are easy to take out only bring so much joy. You need to continue to challenge yourself. You need to continue to take down those that no one else can. And that's what makes it worth it. And usually those are the ones. Those are the ones that have caused the most harm to folks that can't take care of themselves. And to me, that's why I'm here. That's the ones we're here to protect.

Sir, you're in it just for the altruism. Well, I wouldn't say just for the altruism. I'd say I'd say that I'm pretty damn good at what I do, Ferrazza, and no one else quite is. I'm not a selfless man, but I also know that if I don't do it, no one else quite will.

I'll tell you a story if you can tell me one similar. Do you remember a time in which you couldn't protect yourself? Nah, of course I do. And he gets, like, serious for a second. nah of course i do and he gets like serious for a second i remember a time when i was sitting up in church with some people i thought were my parents they turned out not to be my birth parents though my ma raised me pretty well up at the five kings mountains i learned a lot back then later on after this event i would learn that love mostly remains unrequited at least when it crosses class lines and i learned that sometimes if you just want to do what you think you need to do

things get in your way but at this time I learned that sometimes things you don't expect end up in your hands. And you have a glimpse into the darkness. Which also, strangely, shines a bit of light itself. itself. I felt more helpless in that moment in that church when the priest came over, yelled at my parents, said words I didn't understand

in hushed tones, hiding what was happening from the rest of the congregation. I had no idea what I had done. And I still don't know how that moment's affecting me now. But I think back on it, Dalgreith, and I think I don't ever want to be that helpless again, nor do I want anyone else I come across that has good intentions and lack of malice in

their heart. has good intentions, and lack of malice in their heart. So I think you and I got a lot in common, even though our approaches might be different. I just want to thank you for being on this ride, brother. And he thrust his hand out. Yeah, I'll thrust his hand out as well. Grab it hard.

Give it a good shake. Thank you. There's been too many times to count, Baron, that I have felt helpless. Too many stories I don't want to tell, but I found the strength in others. I found the leadership in those that showed me what it meant to be good and strong in this world and it's not easy it's a challenge every day but it's a challenge i want to take on like i said you never want to take the easy road the harder it is the more it's worth doing that's what i always say and sometimes it's fighting great big monsters and sometimes it's just getting through the day. But we have to face that challenge, don't we?

Marvelous. Truly marvelous. Encore, encore. Lovely moment. It's a hero of song and legend. And reaching an accord with a hero. Every bit is equal, if you don't mind my saying. Of course! ...this is stories may not have gotten out. Baron, despite what Brenda said, know that I believe, we all know what a good person you are,

how instrumental you've been in overcoming this great evil. Pembroke, I look at you every day and I'm amazed that a man who has reached the absolute pinnacle of power in his youth and perhaps reached a bit of a nadir has reemerged from those depths and reached absolute power again. And there is nothing that I see but goodness in that heart. Eye blush. Thank you. And Feyraza, you lost the very purpose of your prophecy. You lost Pudir, the chosen one who you sought to save the end of the world, and yet you persisted.

And for that, I respect and I am proud to walk alongside of you. I thank you. I may they answer the world's call now. Well, the type of world you answer the call to is the type of world I want to live in. So let's go forward. Let's leave this hearth and move this adventure along. So you want to rest. And then what's the plan for tomorrow you initially said you wanted to go

through the catacombs um take that back door in maybe catch skier kata by surprise if that's even possible but you've got the doula hand to contend with as well before Before you even rest, let's just talk strategy here. What are you thinking? I mean, we also could go to the black doors. What are you thinking? We could also go to the black doors. We could just go. I think every single thing is awful.

Now, the Doolahan, I think we could take. If we got to jump on him and we know what we're doing I think but between the black door and the maze with those giant morgues yeah

equally awful for completely different reasons like in one case completely incapacitated paralyzed with fear running away dropping everything somebody dies

the morgues you know is that somebody just dies i'm gonna eat to death yeah yeah the maze that moves the actual morgues around in before he unveils fog of war to kill us got it sure sure i mean but to be fair they also probably move around on occasion probably They probably do. Don't be fair to him. He's never fair to us. To be fair, they're not pawns in a chess game. Do they work for Brander, too? I guess what I'm getting at is I'll go wherever y'all decide to go.

Yeah. I mean, I don't know. i don't know i mean i there i think the most direct option might be the best one for us but i don't know i don't know if that's true it is the most you're talking about the black door yeah is the most direct route that seems to be yeah i mean just looking at the map that we've revealed mostly i mean i think it is both the scariest and better route to take i agree you go first yeah i'm not opening it but yeah i'm not gonna touch anything yeah well whoever has the highest will save should be touching it i think should be approaching it first. That's not Dalgrith. But seriously, though.

It could be me. It could be Pember. We have to decide before we go. I mean, I think it should be Dalgrith. That way, those of us who can help you are around to help you. Fair enough. Because you're definitely going to fail. Well, yeah.

You know what? I don't care. I'll do it. Because it's not like Dalgrith is going to fight whatever comes out of that door. Right. You know what I mean like you guys would be in a much better position it's better for him to be incapacitated than anybody else

i vote the door i vote the door i'm good i'm good with the door so i think we're all resolved we are resolved and we're going to stone skin up at the forge forge arena at the forge arena and then what does stone thing give you?

Just bonus hit points or bonus AC? It's DR DR with a hit point limit As to what it can absorb It's DR 10 Adamantine I think DR 10 Adamantine For 120 hit points Oh and by the way

I think we misread it in the past Hate to be a bummer What? What? Why? Everyday Minter Hall's forge has 10 charges stone skin costs three charges so we could only get three of us with stone skin oh that's iron body is five charges ah stone of flesh is five stone shape is three call i never

realized so i i that kind of makes tactical sense we should should either put Feyeraz or Pembroke in the shitty position of not getting stone skin because you and I, I'm rushing up. I'm going to get in that shit. You're going to get in that shit. I should be the one to not have it because I have the mirror image stuff. No, it should be me. You have to get away. I have the cloak of ethereum.

That's true. Oh, right. You can go. Oh, yeah. Yeah. What is that? A swift action? Yeah, it should be her.

Good idea. I was just going to say that. Yeah, you should go. What is that? A swift action? Yeah, it should be her. Good idea. I was just going to say that. Yeah, you should go. You guys got me. Put her in charge. I'm not the hero Baroness. I'm just Grant. Yeah, Bishop should go.

Good idea. This little girl survived without provisions for three months. Why don't you put her in charge. It's on command, so it's probably a standard action. That's a standard action. All right, let's teleport into the room with the giant black haunted door. And are you kidding about dog wraith? You really want dog wraith going out there?

I was kidding, but does anyone want owl's wisdom? Yeah, I'll take it. That gives me a plus two to will save. So you have no enhancement bonus on your will save? No, and I have a ten wisdom. I would take an owl's grace. If you have limited spells, I don't want to push for it. As far as what's enhancing my...

You have enhancement to wisdom, don't you? Plus two. So I would still get another plus two on top of that. All right. I'll prepare another. You don't have to. I don't want to... No, Grant, I don't want you to be upset.

All right. Let's get this show on the road. Let's get this show on the road. So I have another possible way to open the door. So I was thinking that I would summon a Brillani Azata. Oh. And then at Summon Monster 5, have her open the door and us stand back and see what happens. Is there a way to dispel her if she turns against us?

I think I can dispel that as a standard action. I think. Summon monster. All right. So let's get there. I'll cast Owl's Wisdom on people who want it, and then we'll open the door. Okay. We'll use the Berlani.

Okay. Okay. So, boom. You got all your buffs, and you arrive in that room. I got to do my location check. Of course, yes, please. Oh, no. Let me grab you.

Wait, are you going to do the thing where you remember the forge? So we could get away? Yeah, I did. I cast get away before we leave at six level. Beautiful. So that we can return if we need if need be but i rolled a three oh what and that's a good thing that's good yeah i was so scared when i said three i forgot i rolled a double zero first it was like if i roll another zero it's it'll this

will be the worst possible thing yeah but uh but yeah, we're good. Do we want to get some resist energy going? Cold? Yeah, do communal. Can you do communal resist energy? Yeah, I prepped it. Sure. Cold, do we think? I mean...

Probably cold, yeah. What's this? I don't... Yeah, all right. Great. Place yourselves on the map. We have resist energy cold. In the position you'd like to be.

This is the room where you fought that devourer. There's that sunken black area, and then there's that sort of walkway all around it. Yeah, as soon as we're all set, Pembroke is going to start casting some Monster 5. A Berlani azada appears uh what do you tell us to do it's like if you would be so kind as to open the

door please and they can follow these simple commands like that no problem yeah uh okay it walks up to the door and goes to open it. Roll a d20. 15. That's good. One hopes.

Uh-oh. You just see it take a massive amount of damage, but doesn't kill it. What? What kind of damage? Electricity damage, frost damage, cold damage? Heat damage, fire damage? It's just like... Negative energy? Physical?

Physical damage. Some sort of magical physical damage. And the door's not open? The door is not open. All right, new plan. Let's go through the catacombs. Let's do something else. I don't know what's happening.

Grant, can you read the text of that we learned from our dwarven friend one more time? The text of what that we learned from our dwarven friend? Oh time uh the text of what that we learned from our dwarven friend that oh yes it is i apologize agra team said demand the decapitant lord remember his name or he'll come again and again speak with the haunt for this uh he also mentioned a secret door for the catacombs which we have found and do not deign to face the queen until you cross the open wound and look into the mouth of the princess. Farazza is going to step up onto the steps

and face the door and say Speak, haunt. Show yourself. I desire Farazza of as I said I am here to see your queen nothing happens nothing would have been cooler if something happened

cooler if something happened um is there a knowledge check or a detect magic to determine what is exactly behind this door or anything like that? Do we speak the Decapitant Lord's name at this store? We don't know the Decapitant Lord's name. Can I do a spellcraft on what we saw happen to the Azana? Sure. I'll aid.

Aid. I'll doing my own chick uh that is a 30 you rated yeah 33 uh 33 uh it looked like something hit it in the neck i know i know what it looked like i was sitting right there I was trying to figure out what happened yeah I mean where it's extra planar you would have to be on it's plane to see what actually

happened oh my god you mean the ethereal plane the ethereal plane is that where the summoned creatures come from

no not necessarily I think they come they come from all sorts of planes yeah the summoned creature came from From whence did it come Pembroke?

Come from the agency I assume I place a call the night before Normally very good about showing up Oh man I don't know I don't know I'm here I'm I'm I have no idea I have no clue do a religion check on the door sure all right here we go it's not great 15 the

haunted ask you to consecrate the doors. Oh. You wrote that down. Come on, Grant. You read it before. And then speak the haunt's name. But we don't know the name of it. Oh, it's the name of the haunt, not the name of the decapitant lord.

So I'm assuming. No, it's demanding the decapitant lord remember its name. Yeah. Oh. Yeah. But you don't know the first part. So you might be able to consecrate as an inquisitor. I don't know if you have that ability. I don't. I mean, I don't have that. Without. Yeah. But you don't know the first part, so you might be able to consecrate as an Inquisitor. I don't know if you have that ability.

I don't. I mean, I don't have that. Without the name. We need a scroll of consecration. I believe I have that spell. Teleport to scroll. Do you have that spell? Let's see.

Let's just say you... Oh, I might just have Hallow. Hallow does the same thing, but it takes 24 hours. Right? I don't know how long consecrate takes. I don't have consecrate. I use my only Consecrate spell in the battle. I actually have it prepared.

It takes a full day, I think. The casting time is 24 hours. Yeah, that's the problem with Inquisitor is just you're locked into your spells. I mean... You want to try it? For 24 hours? Yeah. You guys run interference and give me a little time and I'll...

Sure, but I just don't know that it's going to result in anything. Then what's the plan after you consecrate? Let's say you did. What else did Agra Kim say about it? Speak to Captain Lord's name. Oh, so it's to fight Captain Lord and get his name. But how do we get him to say the name? Because he just died without telling us last time.

Catacombs it is. Just going like... It's a puzzle. But how do we say the name? Because he just died without telling us last time. Catacombs it is. Let's go to the catacombs. It's a puzzle. We're all buffs. Let's get in the catacombs and deal with those morgues. Yeah, but we have to go through the Doolahan now to get to there anyway. So you want to just go fight the Doolahan? I prepared a spell to kind of give us a minute to get through the doors.

Okay. I also have another teleport spell in addition to the... Do you have invisibility? I... Not for all of us. I don't know. I don't have it prepared. I just...

I wish there was a way to hold monster on him or something and then cast Zone of Truth on him and then make him tell us his name. Like, I want some sort of way around it like that. If only a certain sorcerer were here. Oh, boy. Yeah, but it's also, like, it's mind-affecting. You know what I mean? It has no mind.

Oh, the Dullahan has no mind? Yeah, he's undead. Undead are immune to mind-affecting spells. Oh, I forgot that template applied. He seemed to have so much of a mind because he talked to us and asked our name. That doesn't make sense to me, but okay. Yeah, but they're still immune to mind affecting spells? I forgot that template applied. He seemed to have so much of a mind because he talked to us and asked our name. That doesn't make sense to me, but okay. Yeah, but they're still immune to mind affecting things. Understood.

I mean, if we get in there, I have a way to kind of delay him long enough that we can interpose a barrier between him and us long enough to get through the door. Alright, Ferrazza. The other thing we could do is I could try to describe... It's on you, then.

The other thing I could do is try to describe in intense detail a spot in the catacombs for us to teleport to. But that's... Oh, that sounds great. Actually, the best idea would be for me to give you the cloak, and you can just go there. Oh, my God, and get us right outside that door.

And then just come back and teleport all of us there. Oh, my God. And get us right outside that door. And then just come back and teleport all of us there. Yeah. Yeah, I could do that. Pembroke is going to see. And he's familiar with it and would be able to get there. Right, right. Otherwise, can't do it. All right, so let's just say you do that.

All right, so I give you the cloak. You go through. And Pembroke, you're floating through. And you see those creatures just walking about the maze. Oh, man, they're so bad, dude. And, like, if you're, like, ethereal, they're just, you're walking, like, through them, and they're huge. But now you know that place.

You come back here. Yeah, I study it as closely as I dare, and I come back, and it's just like, well, that certainly discourages me from wanting to go back in the flesh but I fear we have little choice at this point. Go we must. Hold hands. Hold hands. Gather together.

Take my cloak back. Oh, this thing. I need to pry the door. I'm very chilly. I need to private. I'm very chilly. I cannot. I gather everybody together and I teleport us into the maze. Oh, my God. I can't believe we ended up here.

Okay. I did not think we would end up here. 49. 49. So where do we end up? Right by the exit? Right by the entrance, we'll say. Or actually, no.

It's up to you. I mean, we really should go right near the secret passageway. Oh, yeah. I mean, I went all the way over there. So, yeah. I go all the way by the secret passageway. Yeah, you could teleport right into the secret passageway if you, yeah. I mean, I went all the way over there, so yeah. I go all the way to find the secret passageway. Yeah, you could teleport right into the secret passageway if you wanted to. Yeah.

Just inches away. Oh my god. Throne room. Oh my god. I said, shh, shh, shh. I said, listening for sounds of the mobs, like, making sure it's clear. Their feet dragging across. I don't know if any of you have taken a chance to look at Baron throughout all of this, but...

He's a mogue. He seemed very distracted. Morgue. Morgue. He's a morgue. very distracted. Mark. Mark. It's Mark. When you went to bed last night, Baron, in Minderholtz's cathedral, you had a very, very strange dream that's kind of been weighing on you

as they were thinking up ways to get past this haunt in the door. You were offering suggestions, but you couldn't get this image out of your head. You heard a baby crying in the distance. You didn't know where. And then you see a building up ahead, a small house. Looks to be two stories. It sounds like the sound of the baby is crying somewhere inside there. So you walk up. It's dark out. It's dark inside,

but you're able to see a little bit in front of you. The sound of the wailing is getting louder and louder. It sounds like it's coming from the second floor. You see a staircase. You go up the staircase. There's no one else around. It's eerily quiet. Again, a baby cries. It's behind that door. Slowly, from your perspective, you open the door and you just see the back of a man

holding an infant. Don't do it. Turns around and looks at you in its brander. You speak strongly. And they listen to your every word. Ever since the half-orc perished, you have been their compass. I thank you for that. I thank you for that.

I can imagine that seeing your friend transformed was difficult for you. Still screaming. So I'll just chalk it up to your emotions getting the better of you. However, you will retrieve the armor for me. And he looks at the baby. Isn't that right, Abria? Oh, no. Dirty pool. We'll see you next week.

You let her down, you dastardly... We're fighting Skirkala next week! Oh, Skirkala! Oh, no! The Glass Cannon Podcast is a Glass Cannon Network production and is an officially licensed partner of Paizo Incorporated. Giant Slayer is copyright 2015. Giant Slayer and the Pathfinder Adventure Path are trademarks of Paizo. All Pathfinder images are property of Paizo and are used with permission. you