The Glass Cannon Podcast - Giantslayer Episode 281 - Where There's a Will, There's a Way

Episode Date: June 8, 2021

Naximarra returns with grave tidings and a perilous proposition. 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

See yourself buying a home one day? Do future you a favor. Open a Questrade First Home Savings Account and help that future come faster. The FHSA is a tax-free account where all your investment gains are yours to keep and put towards your first home. With Questrade, you can open an FHSA online. No bank appointment needed. It's easy and only takes a few minutes. The sooner you get started, the more time your down payment has to grow. Open an account today at questrade.com. Last week on the Glass Cannon Podcast. Should we detonate the bomb then? The party debated a nuclear option. It is an explosion of terrifying power that could very well destroy the entire engine level above you

as well as the rocky base of the castle. But the risks outweigh the rewards. You could wipe out a lot of the giants. Maybe it would kill everybody in the castle. It might kill you as well but let's say you've had enough time to phase out of there. It could also land on fucking True Now. It could land on a town

like a True Now. Meanwhile, two wandering heroes. Until the storm tyrant ceases his advance upon this world, you, Sir Willamette of Highbury, need to work every waking hour if we are to survive. It

is seen. I know. I know. It is seen. Encountered an old ally. Not long ago, I met a dwarf named Ashpeak and found that our purposes aligned. The adventure continues. We'll kill Pothis no more. Naximara lives.

No. Hello everyone and welcome back to the Glass Cannon Podcast. I'm your best Troy. Troy! Your best Troy. He is the best Troy available. Best version of yourself of the day. Best Troy ever gonna get. Guess our best wasn't good enough.

I don't know what I was trying to say. I'm your best friend, Troy. I think that's what I was trying to say. I'm your best Troy. Friend. I think it would be better if we had Counselor Troy from Star Trek. That's true. She seems slightly more sympathetic.

It's certainly healthier for all of us. She was fictional. That's a good point. It does add a level of difficulty to getting her on our podcast. I want to open today's episode talking about the real reason that people listen to our show. A frank discussion about the concept of unwritten rules. I want to talk about Skid's feelings on the unwritten rules of baseball.

Oh, boy. Wow. I love the unwritten rules of baseball. I do, too. I assume he shares all of his opinions with Tony LaRusso. Well, they're coming under fire as of late because the new generation like beat reporters who are just like dudes with blogs are like you know what if you hit a home run you should be able to pimp

it without taking one on the chin next game uh so i'm really interested here skid because skid's an old-fashioned guy but he he keeps up with the with the new iteration of the game what do you think do you like it do you like the old you know i used to when i that was a big part of the appeal of baseball for me uh especially growing up and when i started to get into it in the late 80s there was this big revival it's just like this is what america used to be like it's just like this is a old american game and this is you know the tradition and everything but as i get older i realize how limiting that is and you know for a lot of people in this country the old way of doing things wasn't so great so it's like i i and i you know i think of something like it was a uh batista jose batista

uh in the playoffs for the blue jays like a couple years ago he hit that home run and he had the most epic bat flip of all time and it was amazing it was like fuck yeah like that was awesome not for rangers fans joey bats can go to hell like the sheer rotation of that back flip was was on spot yeah yeah it was like a crescendo it was like an orchestral crescendo crescendo and that was the kind of thing that you could use to sell baseball to more people rather than just aging, rapidly aging white people. So I'm all for doing away. Now I'm all for it. And especially like some of the stuff that's coming up lately.

It's like, wow, some of these rules are really stupid. They're stupid. They're really dumb. really stupid they're stupid they're really dumb so this is it's really come to a crescendo as of late because there was i think it was a twins white socks game and the twins were at the point where they like had used up too many pitchers and so they had a position player in just throwing meatballs and it was it was a 3-0 pitch and the white socks were up by a billion runs. So 3-0 pitch, you're taken all the way. And the White Sox guy just hammered an 82-mile-an-hour fastball. No, it was 43.

I was like, 82 is extremely good. It was like an Ephus pitch. It was like a first pitch. It barely crossed the plate. It's like if I was just playing catch, soft pitch. And he just throws it. And there would have been a strike. And the guy just crushes it. And next day they threw right at him and people are like what do you want to do

don't throw that pitch his own teammates were like yeah they were right to throw at him his own manager was just like yeah i support it yeah like what are you talking about you can kill someone with a baseball right a guy died poor ke Kevin Pillar took one out on the Mets. I know. Our own Mets, Kevin Pillar. But yeah, it's just like you're supposed to protect. You, Carl Mays, killed a man with a pitch in 1919, I think. That can happen again.

Yeah. Especially with guys throwing 100 miles an hour, like everyone throwing 100 miles an hour. It's like, come on. Yeah, but you're not, I don't think you're ever supposed to throw at their head. You're just supposed to ding them. Don't throw at them at all. Sometimes they do, though.

No, I know. I know. But that's not necessarily part of the unruly rules of baseball. It's just like, give them a bing. Hit them on the back. I've seen guys get thrown at because they're crowding the plate. I mean, that happens all the time. But that's going right at your head.

Get off my fucking plate because I want to be able to pitch inside you. Like Ricky Henderson used to just lean over the plate. And that's why he got beamed more than anyone in history. Don Baylor, actually. That's the record for most being hit by pitch. Leaned into it. There's also not 100% accuracy when you're throwing these balls. That's the thing, too.

They can slip out of your hand and hit someone in the head really easy. Guys miss their spots all the time. I mean, you can't all beie wilson dodging around those things right you guys sound like a bunch of softies i didn't know that you were going down this road look people everyone is throwing 98 miles an hour now yeah that's true everyone's throwing 100 98 miles an hour and the balls are more compact well no so no, I said they're not. But even still, it's dangerous. The unwritten rules of baseball I like are less about bodily harm and more like the don't walk in front of the catcher of the umpire.

Oh, that kind of stuff. That kind of like sportsmanship kind of stuff. I'm all for that. I like that. What about not walking over the pitcher's mound? Actually, I do kind of like that because I was watching the pitchers freak out about it. Wasn't it Dallas Braden that got really mad at a rod a hundred oh yeah and then he threw the no hitter like a couple weeks after that like there's a wall in my mouth yeah and it was the a rod reverse curse because he got mad at a rod and he was like who is this guy

and then the next time he went out he threw a no yeah this has been sports talk that's why people tune in is for this kind of my segue is what what are the unwritten rules of pathfinder because i would argue that there are just as many unwritten rules you're just not going to wear one uh i'm not gonna i'm gonna die at joe's head if he uh well i don't know what it It sounds like Joe would be in favor, though. I think he should institute that unwritten rule. I support it, says Joe. That's a little different. That's a little different. That's different because it's me.

I think the unwritten rule is like in Skid's case, is like if his character gets grappled, then the next round he commits suicide as his character. That's right. The character just kills himself. My character takes his own life. So if you, as the GM, want to grapple him, that's right character just kills himself so if you as the gm want to grapple him that's fine you can do that just be aware but get ready to start writing new

story because that character's dead instantly in the next round here's one that just came to me is like uh if uh i'm gonna do a perceptive check and you like oh fucking three uh 11 and you know you fail it somebody else being like I would also like to do a perception check. I feel like it's not real. You're not supposed to do that. Well that one I mean. Well it's called metagaming. It is metagaming but also at the same time it pretend

I mean like I feel like one player will sometimes throw a perception check just to save us all from being like perception check, perception check, perception check. Yeah. Whereas like we're all looking around. Right. We're not in the world of the game designated one person to look around for stuff. Only you may look ahead to where we're going. The rest of us are going to check our phones. So the GM is often like, I need to get this info out.

Does anybody else want to roll up a something? But there are a lot of unwritten rules. Yeah, I think, Joe, they probably all kind of pertain to metagaming. Metagaming is fine. Not all of them. There are things. It's about each table, I think. You have unwritten rules of your table and your group.

And there are certain things. You know this as a GM. You look at an encounter, and you come to the table, and you're like, I'm really, this is going to piss off joe and like i'm gonna have to figure out a way to keep him interested when he's immediately paralyzed and or panicked right or panicked and so the unwritten rule is just don't do it just let my character roam free wind in his hand yeah free range character no i just a big one that happens to me that always drives me crazy is uh characters who make rogues who like to steal from the party and they think

it makes them edgy like it's yeah it's like come on man we're all fighting the same boss at the end of this book could you not steal that potion and try to sell it for 50 gold drives me crazy yeah the unwritten rule it's, my character wouldn't do that. I am not going to follow up on this mission. I'm going to go hide in that bush and meditate. It's like, can you just play the game? Yeah, I think the key, like Grant was saying, is like you can, playing an evil

or a sociopathic character or whatever, but if you can do that, but it's on you to find a way to be that and still be able to contribute to the party i think it just strains credulity of the rest of the party to be like yeah why are we hanging out with this guy yeah exactly like you have to provide value otherwise why are you there you know a lot of unwritten rules we don't even know the regular rules. Yeah, we don't know the written ones. I know. We think we know sometimes. Other times we admit we don't.

Sometimes we remember it and then forget it four minutes later. That's right. And there's five of us. And no one says, hey, wait a minute, didn't we just say free access don't work like that? Didn't we just say that? That's called getting old. Yeah. Totally.

Yeah, apologies. Have we all applied the what aged template is that what it is for pathfinder well man these last uh few weeks matthew you may not like the marsh at 300 but it is hot it is red hot hot march i'm glad you brought this up i have some i have i have a bone to pick with you. Oh, look who has a bone all of a sudden. Put that away. I don't mind milestones. I'm just going to move on from that. I don't mind milestones. I just don't particularly

care for the automatic assignment of milestones to certain even numbers. Okay. So you'd rather have the March to 191 because 191 was the exact damage that killed four bears and now it's special. Sure.

You like that better than the march to 300? Well, it has meaning. But I think, but don't you believe like centennials, like hundreds are important. Sure. I mean, like they're good. Again, I don't have a problem with milestones. I just want the, I just want the milestone to have inherent meaning.

It does. It does. 300 episodes has inherent meeting meaning for me. After that, you can't put any more episodes on Apple podcast. That's right. Can't do it. Huge. So there you go.

There's your milestone. There's a good milestone. I mean, but like, hope you wrap up the story. That's it. My brain actually would prefer multiples of 52. Cause that would be the years of years of content we've been creating as opposed to just. I think it's so nasty after a couple of years when you start two, four, eight, 12.

It's a march to 104. That's also confusing for people trying to keep track of why we're marking certain numbers as important when they don't on on first glance seem to be not to mention those of us that follow the gregorian calendar the julian calendar calendar so year milestones do matter like does five years of marriage matter than four years of marriage? Well, I guess that is. Yeah. Is this all just a way for, but like it's a 10th anniversary more special than a 11th anniversary.

I mean, yeah. Cause I've been conditioned to appreciate the, you know, the metric system. Do you not celebrate? Is this all just a cheap way of you not buying anniversary gifts for your wife? You're using this as a way of like, see, honey, I don't celebrate any miles. Right. I don't celebrate Valentine's Day like we've discussed many times Again I do

I have no problem with milestones It's just the arbitrary expectation that they must be Even numbers ending in zero Oh it's your birthday honey good for you Oh it's your 40th Oh well that's just It's this arbitrary number ending in zero I'm not going to take you to Belize.

Well, that's a multiple of 10. Again, people can invest their own meaning in milestones, and that's fine. That's true. I just think that the general consensus among most people is that big, round numbers, we tend to attribute meaning to them. Yes. Why don't we celebrate? It's an unwritten rule, we might say. They pride numbers.

Because we don't do that. You can do it! We're just acknowledging the fact that everyone else on Earth does it this way. That's all we're doing. And if you don't celebrate Skid and my 50th birthday like you should, then you're out of the network. When are you turning 50, Troy? Eight years. I'll be there.

Seven and a half? I can't guarantee that. You can't guarantee that. I could be dead. You'll probably be there for my 50th, assuming? Eight years. I'll be there. Seven and a half? I can't guarantee that. You can't guarantee that. I could be dead. You'll probably be there for my 50th, assuming I make it. I will be. There is a pandemic. Matthew brings up a good point, though, which I'm loathe to say.

Thank you, Grant. I'm loathe to say it, though, Matthew. I don't like where this is going. Around the 260 mark, and I know we have that interesting beginning where we released three episodes on week one. Did we celebrate five full years? Because around 310, 312 is 52 times six. So, you know, it's probably like 315, 316 where we're actually at six years of this podcast. You know, that's a good point.

When does this app come out? But we released three episodes on the first day, too, right? Wait, is today 281? Yeah. Next week is our six-year anniversary. 282 comes out on the 15th. Oh, get out of here. Great.

Now I got next week's opening banter all set. There you go. Actually, and I want to say, the most meaningful milestone for me in this podcast are when we include a book. Because the story hits a... That feels more meaningful to me. For sure. That's more meaningful. When in room. That's more meaningful. But when in Rome.

Let's talk about... It's also about pacing. Because if you're going to do episodes like episode 100, and like episode 200, and like episode 250, you have to pace them. You can't have those too often, but you also don't want to go too long without them.

And that to me is the milestone. You can't just base them. It's a milestone for an epic story spanning episode where you look at everything. You can't pace them based on the Fibonacci sequence or whatever else. You have to have a set figure. You know what?

If we did do that inadvertently or advertently and someone were to figure that out, they would be a true fan. That would be some alias level shit. Yeah. That'd be awesome. Last week, we had a nice little side sesh with some old friends. A little guy by the name of Sir Willamette Keswick. Another fella we've met a few times Adriel Ashpeak

We also saw Shia El and Cat Benatar And we saw their journey It seems like it's been a harrowing journey ever since Cat Benatar and Journey? Wait, what did I miss? We did an 80s revival Are they opening for Billy Joel? Billy Joel's

playing the cathedral? It's the newest initiative to bring more people to Minderhall's Valley. They're doing a summer concert.

A festival. An outdoor concert. A free outdoor Minderhall's Valley festival. It's the Madison Square Garden of

this area. It's just like giants rolling, carrying port-a-potties.ies yeah it's like setting them down i love that you see when hendrix played the steps of minderhall's cathedral i have the album i got a bootleg yeah he did the national anthem it lasted 45 minutes uh we hadn't seen these characters since Second of Ali in episode 250, when they met up with the ghost of Gormley, Galabras. And those two disappeared. Haven't seen them in a while.

It was actually the summoning ritual of Gormley back into our campaign. They left, and so they've been traveling for a while, and we got to see a little bit of their journey, and then they get to Minderhall's Cathedral. And the whole while, Adriel is having these visions and these feelings that seem to be perhaps connected to what our main party is doing. It's unclear, and it's clear that Farron is having similar visions as well

as she looks into the fires of the forge. And so you guys, Sir Will and Adriel, go to the top of the tower, back on this old map I love. I haven't populated it with any pawns, but I just wanted to take you back to what these rooms look like

and you're back up on that broken tower where you fought the red dragon where Sir Will almost finished off Della. And as you're up there trying to commune with the spirits, a voice comes out of nowhere and speaks to you, Adriel. Calls you child of Kilpoth, son of the mountain. Claims to have heard your cries. She also says she knew your patron.

They weren't friends. They didn't fight over mates, but they respected each other's territory. For this voice, their domain was the Stormspear Mountains, and for Kilpoth, it was Ashpeak. The voice then goes on to say that they met another Ashpeak not long ago, that they met another Ashpeak not long ago, and that Ashpeak and his companions went and wiped out an entire encampment of giants that was in league with a common enemy of yours, Adriel. Also told you that Kilpoth is no more,

but Naximara lives. This voice continues. You're like, you don't see anything. You don't see any dragon. Is it in your head? Sir Will, you hear this too. Really? All of this.

Whoa, whoa. You're looking around and you see nothing. You heard movement in the wind. The voice continues. and you see nothing. You heard movement in the wind. The voice continues, We are all connected in this. Are you an ashpeak as well? I am of the mountain.

Somehow connected through blood and time to barren Redheart Ashpeak. So you are an ally of this other Ashpeak and his followers who seek to destroy a self-proclaimed storm tyrant. I am a custodian of the great machine that awakens against the tyrant's progress into the small folks' land. Yes, we are all connected, as you say. Then perhaps we are allies connected as you say then perhaps we are allies as well

and suddenly nearby a form begins to materialize that of a huge red oh yes oh shit I have the that of a huge red. Oh, yes. Oh, shit.

I have the artwork, which I don't think you guys ever saw on Roll20. Oh, I'm excited about this. Looks like. Wow. Just how sharp the armor is on her. Her scales are like a rose covered in thorns. It's like so distinctive

and she's got kind of badass Dragon Ball Z Goku hair out of her scales on the top. She's gone Super Saiyan. Oh no, I can't see her. Is she a she? You said they didn't fight over her. She, yeah.

Okay. Yeah, and she's got some sort of bracer around her arm there. I was just noticing that. Yeah, it's decorative. Don't make her go away. I can't see her yet. I'll leave her up for you.

The minute she appears, the biting cold atop the spire completely dissipates. And now you see why as you stare at the hot furnace deep within her throat. Sir Will, you immediately sense the presence of chaotic evil. Yeah. It's a red fucking dragon that killed your family, but you now know

that your hatred of dragons has been misplaced as it was Brander all along in the form of a dragon. Your whole life you've hated, feared them. That's hard to let go. Yeah, he's looking up as this dragon materializes,

and the wind is blowing his longer now hair into his eyes, and he just slowly reaches up towards his neck, and he touches the dragon foe amulet that's around his neck. Oh, wow. Yeah. Just breathes deeply and looks intently right at the creature's eyes. Oh, man. I can picture this. Yeah.

So clear. This tiny halfling standing on this. This incredibly huge dragon just in the air above him and he knows what's he going to do. She unleashes a breath weapon. Everybody roll a reflex. He was reaching for an ambulance. Keep your eyes on the tip! Surprise run.

Surprise run. She looks at both of you now and you see her. Huge. Mechanically huge. Flying? No, on the top of the spire. Perched on the top of the spire.

I could just see the stone, like, cracking. Yeah, yeah. It's like the weight. Creaking under her weight. Oh, love it. Even though I still can't see her. She's still up. Do it again, Troy. If he's on roll 20, just do that. It might be. It's funny. One time. Oh, there it. Even though I still can't see her. She's still up. Do it again, Troy.

If he's on roll 20, just do that. Yeah, it might be. It's funny. One time. Oh, there we go. Oh, that's awesome. Oh, God. It's also got that perfect mix of red and gold.

Yes. That just makes it look, it's just a real chromatic dragon feel. Very classy. Very classy. Very classy. She's just perched there. And she says, if your purpose is aligned with this other ash peak, then join me and we will turn the tide of a battle that began centuries ago when my great ancestor, Belgoroth, was imprisoned in the orb of Dragonkind.

Will will call out into the air, into the blowing wind. The sheriff, the one you met at the base of the mountain, he lives. It's a question. Do you know? I believe so. They have infiltrated the Storm Tyrant's castle. Will's eyes go wide.

I have studied my enemy for some time now. It is my belief, has always been my belief, that I cannot come within 100 miles of this storm tyrant without risking falling victim to his orb and succumb to its power just as Akazareth has. However, I cannot stand idly by any longer now that his final plans for domination are underway. While his armies have been depleted And his top generals destroyed He has grown more desperate

My eyes in the skies Tell me that his desperation Has made him more dangerous Than he ever was before. Do not think that just because the stone giants, frost giants, and fire giants have been momentarily defeated that he is weak. His anger makes him more powerful than ever,

and he must be destroyed with all haste. As the blood of Belgaroth flows through me, I believe that I have the power to destroy this orb and free my ancestor, Free my ancestor, sparing all red dragons from the shackles of enslavement by giants or any other lesser creatures. It's cool to think that, like, she sees giants as lesser creatures. Yeah, yeah, I love that. I love that. But if we aid you in this, what will you do with your newfound freedom? Again, the wind blowing in his hair.

How can we trust that you will not turn your powers against us? You are far greater and more powerful than those who seek to defeat the giants. and more powerful than those who seek to defeat the giants. Do you not think that in defeating Volstis, you too will end up with unimaginable power? Why should I not fear what you would do? Because I am bound by an oath, an oath of justice and faith.

I do not seek to subjugate anyone. You, however, I can sense the fire burning within you, the desire to break all shackles of law. It gives me pause, great dragon. That is all. Oaths break like trees against the storm. You yourself could be corrupted by this power. And you think to yourself how in this very spot,

not long ago, you almost became overcame, overcome by a desire to just end Della for her dabbling with demon's blood. Not anymore, he calls up to her, his voice strengthening. I have seen it. I have seen the great power that evil can unleash, and I have seen its subtle, devious ways. I have drank from the grail of evil, tasted its bitter flavor, and spit it out upon the ground. No more will I be swayed. will I be swayed.

My faith is renewed and restored. And I, Omedae, will break any temptation that comes my way. Fear not. My oath will never break. And what about you,

Ashpeak? Where does your heart lie in this great war? In this moment, the incredible sense of loss and emptiness pervades all of Adriel. Because Kilpoth being gone, dead presumably, it's like losing one of the most powerful entities on the entire planet but also like the library of alexandria and several other wonders of the world burning down at once when a dragon ends and silver dragons by contrast are brave bastions of good honor um everything that

that a red dragon is not um so canabris was the the ruler of canabris and the world wounds silver dragon yeah not not a ruler but like a protector protector yeah an overseer yeah yeah and they're lawful good right or are they neutral good silver dragons are they i think they're neutral good gold dragons are lawful good oh okay i silver dragons i can't remember but yeah so in that moment adriel kind of leaves the twin flames at his side and stares into the maw of noxymara where a flame also burns much like the magma inside of ash peak where he first learned his oracular gifts keelpath was unable to have any children, which is why she took an interest in raising me and the rest of the dwarves on Ashpeak. Even though she may have been in opposition to many of your aims, it is my duty to free Dragonkind. My duty to free Dragonkind.

For your influence and the rest of their influence on Galarian is kept in balance and is currently out of balance with false distatch. Her seed lives on, though. Within myself and within the teachings I have passed to Sir Will, her seed lives on though within myself and within the teachings I have passed to Sir Will I have seen him grow stronger forged by the trials and tribulations we have faced on the road and believe that moving forward he will prove

more consequential than ever I will aid you, Noximara. And you, Aveling, know this. The past is done and our futures are uncertain. But my desire is to stop the subjugation of my kind. Surely someone as small as yourself can understand this desire.

That I can. And I agree with Adriel. He has been wise and advised me in many things. I can feel it. Your fear. And I feel it as well. This force

we face, neither of us can do it alone. And so I agree. We shall unite to defeat this tyrant and see peace restored in Avastan. Good.

Then let's get to work. This is what I know. There is an energy field that surrounds the Flying Keep. An energy field powered by several magics we will have to resist. But my eyes have informed me that there are holes in this field as

well. Holes from the meteorite Volstis used when he attacked the hall to take it for himself. Holy shit. He has meteorite material just like Sephiroth. Oh my God, this is enormous.

Oh, I wonder if that is a piece of the puzzle as to why that bomb was in the ducts. Maybe it's a leftover from that invasion. Maybe, yeah. Go on. Thank you. We will get one chance and one chance only

to breach the castle's many defenses. If your friends live, if this other Ashbeak lives, you must find them with all haste. Should I withstand the power that Volstis wields, I will quickly transform into a creature they will not suspect. You must use all of your magics to increase my chance to resist the orb,

and then pray to your gods that they choose to protect you this day. So she's basically saying you need to help buff her against the power of the orb. Buffs to her. Will save. Protection against wind. Protection against elements. Altitude. That's the plan. Noxemar is just an annoying player at the table.

Sounds like Dalgrin. Before we go, can I just get some buffs? Yeah. I'm a red dragon, but I need a little help. How many taps we got left on that wand, she says. I'm a red dragon. It's an unwritten rule, a power plan, that you don't buff red dragons. And if someone could increase my armor,

for the most, how much party gold do we have? Laying around. You will be sharing XP with me. Oh, geez. All right. So Sir Will will be like, I shall pray on it. I have been, Adriel has been working with me

to fine-tune my spellcasting abilities to increase the connection I have with my goddess. I think I am very close, and I just need... I need time to pray. If you could grant me that, I may be able to find the spells we need. Yes, that is most wise though time is of the essence as i said we may only have one chance um yeah so basically what i'm saying uh is that sir will has got access to these spells but i don't you know i don't really know I don't really know this character that well,

mechanically, at this stage. Sir Will. Yeah, and I just need to dig into the paladin spells a little bit better. I mean, can a chaotic evil dragon benefit from protection from evil? You know what I mean? That would at least help it from the

mind control of the orb. I guess. I think so, yeah. I don't think you have to not be evil to receive the spell protection. Yeah, and just being around me is going to grant it a huge bonus on mind control

or charm effects. It's going to get the roll twice, if it fails the first one, basically. Why? Not roll twice. Isn't it like you get another saving throw? No, no, you're immune. You get another saving throw if you already have it,

if you're already under control. Ah, right. You're immune to mind control. Receives it. Oh, from the spell. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right, right, right. Obviously, you don't know the powers of the orb,

but that could... That could help. I mean, when you're. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right, right, right. Obviously, you don't know the powers of the orb, but that could... That could help. I mean, when you're around a paladin, it buffs your saving throws, typically, for things like fear and... I think mind control. So, this comes up a lot more in 2E, but, like, is it anathema for you to even do this to the dragon? No, I mean, I don't believe so. Not for... Anathema? Anathema. Sorry, did I say anathema? i don't believe so not for anathema i say anathema um

i always say wrong too yeah i had an aunt i had an aunt i went to anathema university yeah i uh i feel uh like no i don't think it is because i believe that the uh paladins of ioma day that especially ones like sir will that have been to the World Wound and have lost family in the World Wound, like, they sort of know that, like, you gotta cross that line sometimes. I mean, that's why he even adventured with Nestor in the first place. To use those powers to fight a common enemy for a greater good is, I don't think, anathema. Yeah. Here's what... Anathema. It's so's what... Anathema.

It's so funny. You looked right at me like I was dumb. Like, don't worry, Joe. We'll cut it. We'll cut it. Adriel can bring channel vigor to the table, which gives you a plus six will save. If you channel it to your spirit. Oh, wow.

But it only lasts for 15 rounds. So, like, I don't know if you, like, are you set up like at Cape Canaveral, ready to rocket directly into the flying castle or underneath it? Yeah, it's tricky. Like, you know, she said that she's feared getting within 100 miles because she thinks he could just unleash it. And that's the thing, sir. Well, you know this is a major artifact.

Protective of evil, you might as well toss it on there. But it's possible it might just break through it. And that's the thing, sir. Well, you know, this is, you know, this is a major artifact. Protective of Evil, you might as well toss it on there, but this it's possible it might just break through it. You definitely want to throw the kitchen sink on her just in case. So one of the ones I was thinking of is the Aura of Resolve, which allows each ally within 10 feet of the paladin to get a plus four morale bonus on saving throws against charm effects. So I don't know if that...

That could help. And with Baron, yeah, like with Adriel, rather, you just know, like, as you feel like you're getting close, you might want to lay that on and hope for the best. But this is a powerful, powerful artifact. And you brought up... It dominated multiple ancient dragons.

Yeah, is this a little... I worry this is a little bit like bringing the Grail Diary to the castle in Austria. My son would be that stupid. He's not stupid. Sure, but you're also talking about like, there's no other way.

You know, we have to like sir will feels like if the sheriff is alive and in the castle and that tyrant is more powerful than ever without his generals because he's unhinged then like sir will feels like he has to take any risk necessary to get there you're not going to get many chances to charter a helicopter. Right. Like this. This is a general statement for our lives. Well, I didn't have protection, but I thought, when's the next time I'm going to be in Haiti?

Bad idea, Gene. Bad idea, Gene. But yeah, knowing the whole spell list, I don't know. I'm not sure. Yeah. Well. And the only thing I can think of, you brought up like saves against wind and buffing that type of stuff. The only thing I can think of is life bubble.

But, you know. Yeah. It's more to protect yourselves than her. She's going to be fine. But you know that like as she gets higher searching for this castle you're gonna have to deal with with altitude problems so let's not overthink it you do what you can do uh you know she's magical a magical beast too she probably gets protection of evil on herself sir will already knows that adriel can cast wind walk which allows you to it last hours and you can move like the wind at 60 miles an hour

so like if something were to go down you know surface to air missiles go off and take out noxie marr on our way to the castle we'd be able to like turn into wind and fly there basically um i mean that could also be a thing if if you know noxie marr needs to get us 100 miles away and this thing lasts for hours and we can move 60 miles an hour. We can fly, like, from her back 100 miles off. That'd be really cool. Yeah. The question is, is what are these other protections?

She knows there's a ton of magical energy surrounding the castle. There are holes. But what else are you going to encounter? There are also plenty of things that might be helpful that uh are not a part of adriel's spell list so if we can get access to scrolls somehow you know that might help so i think i mean i i feel like we're in a situation where like we can't we don't know you know what i mean if we don't know we don't know yeah we could spend a half an hour of this episode trying to guess and prepare for it and then just be totally wrong.

It's such a huge waste of time. Like, I don't know. It's a very, it's like, without any intel, if there was a way to gain intel, then I think we would pursue that. If there isn't, then we just have to go. Yeah. Well, there is, unfortunately, but you'll hope for the best. You've told me protection from evil. intel then like i think we would pursue that if there isn't then we just have to go yeah well uh there is unfortunately but you'll you'll you'll hope for the best you've told me protection from able you told me this plus six if you're able to cast it within 15 rounds of 15 rounds yeah 90

seconds that's gonna give her like a plus 28 will save or something yeah but i feel like troy is just not saying that we're focusing on one thing when there's like other stuff, but I don't know what that other stuff is that this field does. I mean, I could just not like, like dispel flying or something. I mean, obviously it's a dragon. You're not dispelling flying, but, um, what if we tried to fly and individual aid? Is it dispel magic immediately? You know, is it an anti magic field?

And then we just fall out of the sky. Uh, little things like that. I just don't know what to expect. I'm happy to cast blindness, deafness on Noxymor if it helps. Powered Blind. You don't want to hear what happens next. See no evil, hear no evil. Thank me later.

Do you say goodbye the next day before you, I'm assuming you're going to the night Prepare whatever spells you think You want to prepare and then like are you just Gonna leave or are you gonna say goodbye Not even spend the night just spend Eight hours resting Yeah definitely gonna Rest and look at you know

Just try to look at spells I guess I don't know. This is like a multi. This is big, Troy. Yeah. You should have prepared us for this. Because this is like a multi-hour thing. Sure. Because I could prepare anything from the spell list, and I don't know what they all do.

Yeah. And unfortunately, Noxiamara, while she has eyes on the skies, knows only slightly more than you do. I mean, Adriel, at least, the benefit of being an oracle is that he's kind of stuck with a spell list for tomorrow, so. Right. All right. You say goodbye to everybody.

We don't have to play it all out. Yeah, yeah, let's get going. Fantastic. So she went out hunting for the night, or the day, while you were resting. She went out hunting for the night or the day while you were resting. She went out to just grab some sheep. Um, and she comes back,

you know, you put your protections on that. You want to put your air bubble, your life bubble, whatever. And she, as you Mount her back, you must leave the wolf.

Not an option. Can he climb stairs? Actually, actually, it is an option. Wait, really? Yep. I think so. I think so. I was just joking about... a callback from episode 83

you finally give him what he wants and he's not happy this is why we always say no to you troy god the wolf shall be my dinner now i have the energy to fly just like blood and bone just shattering and try our protection. Lexington, no! Just like blood and bone just shattering. Like a dog with a raw steak. Now I have the quick wolf energy I need for that long flight. Adriel sees this happen and just says, my work here is done.

All right, now I can fly. Wait, you really want to leave Lexington behind? Yes. Like I said, I don't really know this character, but I'm pretty sure... You don't need Lexington anymore. My plan is going to work. Okay. That's good enough for me.

I mean, if this goes horribly... Can't wait to read the board! I can't wait for it not to work. And then you'd be stranded on that castle with no Lexington. And then I can't wait to read the board. All right. So you say, what do you say to old Lexi before you jump on this dragon? Red dragon's back.

Your lifelong enemy, a chaotic, evil red dragon. He kneels down next to Lexington. He just says, Lexington, take good care of those that come to the cathedral while I'm gone. It should not be long, but I will need you directly. Be ready for battle, my friend. Adriel has trained us well. It is time to put our training to the test. I will see you in the sky castle alexa did just look to you like i don't speak english

i actually love like picturing you guys flying off and leaving lexington alone on the crumbling roof of this tower and just like oh just howling howling. Like, you know. Oh, yeah. Oh, you can totally picture it. There are so many badass images from this scene. So Will just mount up and just. She starts lifting up and then boom, goes invisible. So Lexington, when she goes invisible, that's when the howl happened because he just

saw his master disappear. Is it night? Is it nighttime or daytime? No, it's, invisible, that's when the howl happened because he just saw his master disappear. Is it nighttime or daytime? No, it's, well, you know what? I guess it would be night approaching because you guys had stayed up until like, I think it was four in the morning-ish, five in the morning when she appeared. So then you had to rest eight hours. So it's late afternoon. So the sun is setting in the horizon. Yeah. Against the like rising moon, the silhouetted.

You see Lexington howling into the coming night. And it's totally dark on the ground and at the base of the tower, but this bright orange light is still at the top of the tower, and the red dragon is brightly lit by it when it raises into the sky. Flashing, glittering off its red scales. Overhead shot of the tower and you see the giant anvil of Minderhall still standing atop the crumbling

tower. And you just take off into the sky! It's not long before you break cloud cover and you just spend the better part of the day searching the skies. I mean, she has a sense of things

based on these eyes in the sky she's spoken of, but, like, she's just looking and listening and maybe communicating with certain things. Where did you last spot the castle? I never saw it fly. When last my eyes told me of it, it was more than Ash Peak. Hmm. Okay.

But it has since taken off, raised into the sky. Yes, I believe it is traveling north. What its destination is, I know not. Traveling north, what its destination is, I know not. But we shall search between Ash Peak and all points north. She's just yelling to you across over the wind, howling behind you. Awesome. Adriel's totally relaxed, by the way, because he's flown on Kilpas back before. So he is just like in the oracular network with the two twin flames on either side of him just burning away.

And he's searching for the castle in his mind's eye as they're flying. You're like Wonder Woman in her invisible jet too right now on this invisible dragon. Troy said no to my lasso of truth though. It's a real trick. Can't do it. This is good searching for the castle music. So you're traveling for hours looking, and it's getting later. The sun dips below the horizon, and darkness is approaching.

The wind around you is getting stronger and stronger as the night wind rolls in. Eventually, you pass through a patch of clouds, and you see something in the distance that should not be there. Oh my God. Maybe you feel a little tension in the back of Noxymara because she's known for a long time about this power that Volstis holds, a power strong enough to imprison her ancestor and a power strong enough to imprison other dragons of her kind. It's just a fear.

A dragon of her importance would almost never know any fear at all. Right. This is going to be one of the very few handful of things in the entirety of the world that she might fear. And it's just forming this unlikely alliance with a dwarf and a halfling, hoping that this gambit will be the one that pays off. And you start to approach, and sure enough, you see that dot in the distance. Looks like a flying cloud castle.

You see Iron Cloud Keep? I don't even know if you have heard of this, because they, the main party, heard about Iron Cloud Keep probably at a time when Sir Will wasn't with the party, when Adriel, you know, wasn't really up to speed on things. I don't know what you know. Adriel has certainly seen things in his vision, and now, Adriel, you see this and you're like, this is what I've seen.

I didn't know necessarily what it was. Part of me knew. And now there it is. That's not what he says. He says, it is seen. It is seen. What did you say? Noxiamara just like picks up speed and starts flying forward.

And as she does. I feel like I'm in How to Train Your Dragon right now. Yeah, yeah, totally. Holding on tight, just the wind cutting through your face. Ah, toothless, buddy. Ah, toothless. Come on, toothless. She picks up speed, but as she approaches the castle,

something starts to change, and you feel the winds around you take on a force that isn't just convenient. It is hurricane force winds start picking up. It must be part of the protections of the castle, and you all just kind of clench

down, and you can tell that even Naximar is struggling to fight against these wings. All of a sudden, a lightning bolt streaks across the sky, narrowly missing Naximara's torso. Hold on.

She lifts her head up and as she flies, she spreads her massive wings out so as to protect you against the buffeting of the wings. And even she is fighting against this invisible force

and suddenly, she cries out. And you all feel it, too. This great power starts to overcome all of you. This feeling of sickening repulsion as you near the castle. Everybody roll a will save. Oh, shit. I don't have to roll those.

No, no, you guys are good. Is it a fear effect is it a uh a uh a charm effect is it uh i will tell you what it is it is a it is an abjuration spell so no it is not okay okay unless i'm misreading it here we'll save you say uh yes we'll say oh god thank god it's finally a poison spell or spell like ability because that gives me the plus two I need to achieve. It is not a poison spell.

It's a spell like ability, yes. It is a spell. It's a spell! That's right. You said it was adoration, bro. You said it was a spell! When you said poison, I was like, is that a poison? It's a poison. It falls into the list. I got a 28. 28. What'd you get, sir? Oh, God. My first roll is Sir Will. This is horrible.

Good thing you didn't bring Lexis. Oh, God. Oh, God. 25. Okay, so this sickening feeling of repulsion hits all of you, and Noxymara starts to, like, slow down from it. But her momentum is carrying her forward, and you don't know.

Something doesn't feel right. Let me put it that way. The speed with which she was traveling has slowed. Is it the wind? Is it this effect? You all, for a moment, you want to, like, jump off. You get that sinking feeling, like at the top of a roller coaster. She changes altitude a little bit.

I've got to play like it's an air pocket. Yes, yes. But all of a sudden coaster. I've got a plane like it's an air pocket. Yes, yes. But all of a sudden, you seem to get through this, although you are moving slower, and the winds start to slow down as well. You think to yourself, have you perhaps breached the hole in the magical energy field?

Because now the winds have completely stopped around you. There's just the normal wind, but she's moving very, very strangely. And then suddenly, a huge ballista bolt flies past you. And then seconds later, artillery! Another one, and she's invisible, mind you.

Another one comes through, and boom, hits Noxymara right square in the chest. She cries out, blood gushing out from where this ballista caught her right between her wing and her upper shoulder. She cries out, There are guardians on the platforms. They can see through our invisibility.

Do not let go. This is our moment. You look down and there's just blood gushing out of her open wound. She can't even take a moment to try and pull this bolt out. It's deep, deep within her flesh and all this, you know what I mean?

He just like closes his eyes for a moment and it's just sort of like silent in his own head and he just whispers, I am a day. Guide our journey. Heal our mount. And he's going to do lay on hands on Noxymara as he's flying on her back. Lay your grace on this creature of evil.

Yes, please. If it be your will, guide us in this. And he does 23 points of healing. Oh, 23 points. And would stop any bleed effect if she was bleeding. Right, so you see the bleed ceases immediately and the wound starts closing up around the edge of the bolt.

Adriel, you think now is as good a time as any to drop that spell. In a show of power of a 15th level oracle, Adriel reaches into the scales of Noxymaro, casts Channel Vigor on her, reaches out to Sir Will, casts Channel Vigor on him, casts Channel Vigor on himself, and then he reaches down and casts Heal on the dragon.

Whoa! Immediately restoring 150 hit points. The bolt comes shooting out of her with the force of the Heal. Get out of here, bolt! Get out of her with the force of the hail. Get out of here, bolt! Get out of here, you son of a gun! As the wound closes up so rapidly over it. Bolt rockets back into the guy who shot him.

Kills the entire, all three of the giants on the platform. She dips down and now is just dive bombing at the castle. It's getting closer and closer and closer. She says, we must make for the spire and then fly. And then I need to roll some saves. Oh, all of a sudden it's just like, well, let me roll the saves.

But you know, you're getting a bonus from channel bonus and I know protection from evil. And if it's a different type of will save, you can change the channel vigor to give you the uh bonus uh at least on will saves fortitude saves you can also do i should have joe roll this but i'm gonna roll it we must make for the spire and then fly and then all of a sudden it's like that it's a sound effect often used in movies that's sort of like vroom, you know, that like, not the scratching of the record, but like vroom. Noxemara cuts off mid-sentence,

and her eyes just glaze over. You can see those huge eyes. Oh, stay with us. There's nothing but a deep purple, inky darkness where the pupil and whites of her eyes once were. In a flash, her tail comes up, grabs Adriel by the

waist, and just flings him off of her back into the open air. Sir Will, you just see Adriel disappear into the clouds. Adriel! Noximar then violently turns in the air like an alligator doing a death roll, and you're flung off as well.

You're flying through the air with nothing but clouds around you. Time slows down for you, as they always say it does, moments before what you assume is your death. After all this time, you become overwhelmed by the irony of it all, that you will perish at the same hands it all, that you will perish at

the same hands of the creature that you've hated your whole life. You look up for a moment and just see Noxemar spinning and disappearing in the clouds. Your life flashes in front of your eyes. You think of your time with the Knights of Ozum. You think of that moment you met everyone outside Clamor in True Now, and you feel like you finally found your place in the world when you met them. You think about being imprisoned by your brother, being rescued by everyone, but watching Highbury burn to the ground,

your ancestral home, it feels like a lifetime goes by in mere seconds until... Wham! Wham! The ground comes up to meet you. Oh my God. You open your eyes

and you see that you are on an empty platform inches away from the edge. And you look behind you and there are stairs leading up to a door blessed inheritor you guided me here and we'll see you next oh my god oh that was fucking great that was cool that was fucking great. That was cool. That was good. He's back, baby! He's back, baby!

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