The Glass Cannon Podcast - Giantslayer Episode 300 Part 2 - Master and a Brandyr

Episode Date: October 26, 2021

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Welcome back to Troy's book on tape series. Next up, Huckleberry Finn. Please don't read the actual text of Huckleberry Finn. Read it as written. Five seconds to change the channel.

Flip the tape to side B. Oh, man. We did it we did we did part one there was a it was so much to get into we need like a cannon fodder talk about yeah i know even after we we clicked off i was like hey what happened here am i reading this right mid-episode fod just to discuss mid-ep fod bro well it's it discuss. Mid-ep FOD, bro? Well, it's funny. In constructing these and kind of looking at them, it's months of thinking. Of like, what are the storylines that are still out there that need resolution?

Because I don't want to get to the end of the story and be like, Oh, God. All right. Let's just ham fist all these endings into, uh, endings into one or two episodes. Uh, I wanted to cover as much as we could today. And as I started to build this list of things that have just been lingering out there,

I was like, well, there's a lot of interesting stuff, but there's also just a lot of interesting stuff about these characters backgrounds that we've heard mentioned to that. I thought it would be interesting to actually see. Like we haven't, I've never seen them seen and it was a cool like thematically it felt like this is a another sort of reminder as we get near as we approach the end of where everyone came from yes and how

far they've come yeah where they are now and where versus where where they started that real and to me i really loved your scene skits so much because the brander it seems like such a like world power right kind of idea to us now at this stage of the game and you think back and you say yeah but didn't he originally say that like the town just like didn't let him keep Calabria's like, yeah, why didn't he just kill everyone in the town? Yeah. You know,

and it seems almost like a loophole, but then when you play out the scene and the way it went down, I think it was so well written and very well played by you, Troy, because it's just like, he has such astounding confidence that he just basically talks down to everybody and is like, yeah,

all right, see you soon. Calabriarous and leaves and it's great it's great to see it and know what happened well my idea my thinking was that you know this was glabrous was like he had to find those relics like under the city and it was like somehow um brander knew that and so this was his plan all along to leave galabras into now yeah um that's it that's how we envisioned it playing out you know and that's exactly how i wrote mine which is like now that you have this silvermane storyline it's like all right well if he's

sort of like moving and nudging events let's show him you know i said that lork was accused of a crime and they let him go to the black arrows and that that was it right that's enough to sum up a backstory yeah but then when you see like yeah they let him go but really what happened is somebody was moving events and making things happen yeah the people that we're going to see at the finale of this event yeah kind of pushing them together and there was actually there was one line that i really loved that uh troy reminded me like couldn't couldn't uh wouldn't make sense is that uh because i didn't i couldn't remember when nester was put in jail like when he when he when he was like thrown into the cells and so i had a line she you know howger is like standing up in his face you know with her chest out and you know it's looking looking him right in the eyes like

i think you're a slaver and so it's like you you leave this guy here you announce all claim to him and uh or um we'll throw you in jail it's just like this line it's like there's a murderous little rat down there that i'm sure would appreciate the company and it was like that's the real threat right it's not we're gonna throw you in jail it's like we're gonna throw you in jail with nestor but it was i wish almost wish we could have retconned it because it was like i just love that moment so much but yeah yeah it's a good one but i was like yeah duster was in jail he killed that guy in clamor the night before lork left right so it happened at a different time that's the thing that's why i

need like george rr martin'sers. What was the timing on that? Um, but yeah, it was just really cool to, to see it all unfold. And as you guys were sending me these scenes and we were working on them together, it was just, it was a real good reminder of this,

this epic story that we've told that some people have listened to like five or six times each. They're like a handful of people out there that just finish it and start over at the beginning. So, uh, you'll really appreciate these callbacks and also we'll know all of the mistakes that we've made.

Yeah. I don't think that there's that many continuity mistakes. I don't think so. We've recorded stuff that like afterwards, uh, I went home and I was like, Oh, that,

that actually couldn't have happened. And we deleted it. That's when I have a couple, only a couple, like twice in 300 episodes i was frantically googling when terenda lev died and trying to figure out the start of giant slayer without spoiling myself on things and i was like uh 49 what and i think it was i think it was the year before yeah i think it was like it was uh 47 14 47 14 and then 47 15 15 was giant giant slur the only reason i knew is

one vector path came out before the other one right yeah i was saying like they came out back to back so i was yeah most people don't shoot in sequence but paizo always has always shot in sequence that's why i've always kind of been interested in sir will's story because i ran wrath of the righteous briefly and i read more than I ran. And then he comes into the story and it's like, what is that fight over? You know? And I was like, I guess it is, but I,

my idea for what his father was doing and his brother and stuff like that in the world wound is like, yeah, but I mean, if you defeat like the immediate demon onslaught, it's just like any major war of that size. Like it's going to take years of still like little rat bands of demons that are hiding out you got to smoke everybody out and and how many soldiers are dealing with

post-traumatic stress and issues that are related to it like it will linger for generations that fight and so yeah i never had any worries about it be like well he came from the whirlwind but that was over in the last AP. It's going to linger for a long time. It's kind of for sale side. They're selling real estate like hotcakes up there. Real gentrified now, the whirlwinds. It's not down there. It's rent's unaffordable.

A lot of no coffee shops, but just a couple of record shops. Have you been to that acai bowl place up there? It's incredible. but just a couple of record shops. Have you been to that? But that's, yeah, that's the thing is, uh, yeah, that's one thing that I do love about Galarian is the, at least the,

the, the, the real effort to establish some kind of continuity, which is why, like, I wonder who, so in, in our version of Galarian and the one in which giant slayer our

giant slayer takes place who completed the events of wrath of the righteous oh that's interesting like who are those heroes who are the protagonists of that ap the events of that ap and maybe or the ones that we started playing with uh uh, the ones, right. Your characters are like gods. You've now run rise of the rune lords. You're on your third time running it in the giant slayer continuity. Which party? Oh, well, oh boy.

Things. Uh, it's, well, it's interesting. I think it's actually the way I think of it in my head. It was our original group that we played with waving to the crowd like he's on parade yeah i think there's a big statue of grant's barbarian character odoc erected in the town square and standpoint in our version uh and the one that i'm running now is sort of like an alternate history. Similarly to this campaign, was I the only PC to live to the, as far as we got? I think so. Right.

I don't think anyone else survived that. Well, um, Kate's character did, but she was introduced later. So, um, wow. Yeah. That's yeah. Well, the multiverse is all in style right now so i think it's a perfect time to have multiple super here and this is why we're doing our own world and adventure after this because then every story that's created out of that is part of the canon

of that world right we can change galarian's history all we want with our adventures and people should when they play these games but to create a glass cannon world where like every event is the event that is fucking cool and people can still play in our world and create their own fiction just like we do with galarian but i'm excited or the thing they play in our world but the things that we do are like world events on an mmorpg server right it's like these are the world events that shape and change the things that you do in your games that would be so fun like the pathfinder special but in a on a global scale yeah like our our characters or whoever they will be on this new show will be will be figures in this new world that everybody will know and like they'll they'll be a part of the lore going forward that everyone else can

can uh can play with so i think that's really cool it'll be great after the year and a half break when giant slayer ends it'll be cool to start that campaign well we were uh we got a big box from paizo when we came in today and i opened it up and the guns and gears book was inside and i said hey guys check it out and i threw it right in the trash he actually he had the gall to say that uh the guns really ruined his immersion in a fantasy world after dawn exposition took a major role in a flashback scene exposition well you know where that came from is i was listening back to 200 and talking to joe over email and there's a line yeah it stood out to me too how grace says she's like apologizing for tom being on the council and she says oh i'm sorry he was he was grandfathered in and it hit me i was

like because his dad was the chief defender yeah yeah and and so we didn't get into it in the flash it's just not enough time we're trying to do a serious flashback here but like the idea is like dom exposition is a very takes his responsibility very seriously and he does see a lot of ends the way tom does but he takes it very this power this responsibility very seriously and tom is such a disaster that when they have to put him on the council because he's the son of the former chief defender, they have to just come up with something for him to do. And so they create the role of master of maps and horses. They invent an office. They invent the office. Master of maps and horses

they look around the room they see a map horses i still love his like the detail of him being a hoarder it's just like come out of nowhere but it seems to make so much so much sense is that episode like 70 71 living in his dad's home yeah right so he just moved in and never got through anything out and and that's amazing world building that's so wonderful to be able to think about the chief defenders of true now dom halgra baron and bar Barron. Yeah, three generations we've had on this show. Yeah, yeah.

No one did they ask a guy who came to town and left and hasn't been back since to be their chief defender because they were afraid of him going to town. I'm a wartime chief defender. He's a wartime chief defender. I've got to go out there and stop the big bad. But yeah, we've had three separate administrations on this. And now it also makes sense why Tom is at the, like, telling everyone what happens at the tug of war. It's like, there's no tradition in our town. It's like, excuse me, who are you?

Oh, hello. It all makes sense now. It's all coming together. He's just, like, showing off that he knows all this. Oh, you don't know about this? about this nothing is so great to me as like taking the time to write specific backstory details of random improv moments that have happened here's why it got this way yeah i love that well we uh we got part one done and uh i think it's time to to part two. It's going to be a little bit different, but it's going to start off very, very similarly. Similar in the sense that we are going to a different time period.

The French Revolution? Yes. All of a sudden you see red, white, and blue. You see a legion of tricorn caps marching in step look at all those guns cannon fires no um no we hear the crackling sounds of electricity at first we think maybe it's the lightning sounds that we heard um back in that silvermane scene but this one sounds more uh prolonged and intense it's crackling crackling sound yeah and it continues until lights come up and we see electricity wracking Metra's body. Oh, I remember this.

Whoa. Her young daughter, Della, grips her arm, sending this magical energy coursing through her mother. The snowy forest around them is on fire, the remnants of an epic battle between two powerful mages. Warknarn, Metra's former husband and Della's father, his face now twisted and consumed by evil, splays his fingers and utters an incantation, and a tear in the fabric of reality opens up behind Metra. Evil does not belong in this world, he says,

and a young Della lifts up into the air and lands a kick to Metra's stomach, and Metra falls through the opening. Oh, man. She falls. Surrounding her is a darkness so complete it's as if all light has simply ceased to exist or never existed at all.

She falls for what feels like a very, very, very long time. She begins to understand that this will not change. There is no bottom to this pit on whatever plane or demiplane she's now in. She will fall forever. After a time, something begins to appear before her in the darkness, a dim, flickering image, and when Metra concentrates on it, it begins to take shape,

and Metra sees herself as a child, huddling beneath a tree that seems to be made of shadow itself, twisting and shifting as a storm rains down above her. Then there are more images. They seem to be constantly in front of her, and yet around her, and yet in her own head. All of them at once. Images of her childhood in the shadow plane.

Images of her parents being rent by shadow monsters. Images of her learning how to manipulate the shadow stuff, how to generate and control the magical energies within her. Meeting Warwick, saving him from similar shadow monsters. Their whole love story played out, memory by memory. Each kiss,

each embrace, each embrace, each argument, each reunion warrants slow transformation toward a path of evil. And of course, Della, her birth, holding her, a light and translucent baby. Rocking her to sleep. Whispering to her in her crib.

And suddenly. She finds herself no longer falling. But in an ancient city. And as she moves through the ruins. Each new spot along her journey. Is another moment in her life, another memory. She is walking through her life. And then she steps into a small house in the woods.

And there she is, younger, with Della, who is now about seven years old. with Della, who is now about seven years old. Metra watches herself, showing Della how to focus the electrical energy that they can generate. Metra lets the current hop from finger to finger, then from one hand to the other and back, Della giggles, delighted. Metra offers a bit of instruction, and then Della tries her own hand at it, and the electricity's shining blue begins to arc almost acrobatically from hand to hand.

Della finally breaking through, learning how to utilize the arcane powers innate in her, the powers Metra herself had passed on, but different. Perhaps more powerful, perhaps more dangerous. But then, Della erupts in the pure joy of a child's laugh. Metra, the sheer pride on her face, wraps her daughter in a hug, and they begin to jump and dance together, this mother and daughter both lithe and pale, joyful and free.

Metro of the present leans in, watching this. She watches as her younger self and her child, her beautiful child, dance around this room. Until they accidentally bump into a small table, sending the books and papers stacked atop it, tumbling to the ground. They both laugh. And Metro leans down to pick everything up, and we see the date on some of these letters. And the year is 120 years from the present day. Oh, my God.

I'm just remembering Metra being like, how old do you think my daughter is? Baron being like, 18. And then Metra in her head being like you dumb redneck that's accurate that's accurate stupid redneck all girls are 18 to you

oh god what's Metra can't take it anymore she screams her daughter's name tries to walk toward her but as she does the image disappears and she sees up ahead more delas more memories della her powers growing della being secreted away by her father. Warwick changing. Metra runs ahead, chasing Della through these memories, but as she reaches them, they whisk away.

Metra runs, tries with all her might to reach out toward her daughter, but she cannot. Summoning every bit of concentration she can manage, every bit of magical energy within her, Metra tries to fight her way toward Della, towards this feeling of Della, the daughter she loves, the daughter who needs to be saved, protected from her own father. Metra screams, her entire body inflamed with magical energy, and now she's flying,

tearing towards this feeling, through this ancient city, toward this love for her daughter. And all the images all around her swirl and intermingle and fade behind her. Everything stretches out behind her as she flies. And then there's an opening.

She hurtles towards it and squeezes through. She screams as her body is pressed, squeezed, stretched through time. And then she lands in a walled city. The red mountains of Beltson around her. She looks about. Townsfolk stand around her, shocked. It is, we know.

And Metra will soon find out. Nearly 120 years since she last set foot on the material plane. Where's my daughter? Metra whispers. Where is my daughter? Amazing. my daughter metro whispers where is my daughter amazing uh amazing where is my daughter awesome we'll see you next week we'll see you next week what episode was that? Fun fact. Episode. What do you think? That is correct. Nailed it, dude.

Nailed it. And what episode number will it be on Apple Podcasts? Oh, boy. We're on Spotify. Scooby-Doo. Was it 141.99? Where is my daughter no no what was it

I don't know I don't know so it might have been 199 no it wasn't no well it was said and now you know why pretty sure it wasn't 199 it was said twice like the end of one episode it was the beginning of

200 first time it was said I did the end of one episode it was the beginning of 200 first time it was said i did it and then yeah oh yeah so in episode 200 we addressed what happened after that moment but that was the end of an episode a long time before a long time before that so i was curious like episode like oh yeah oh i think it might have been the end of a book might have been like the end of book three or book four, rather. Wait, book three. It was the end of book three. Yeah, because it was...

After Della died. Yeah, after Della died. Yeah. Spoilers. Spoilers. Spoilers for something that's happened earlier in this show. A very important one. I'm very sensitive to spoilers.

This has been... This pod seems cool. I think I'll start it. Episode 300, part two. I hear that's where a lot of people started. I can't believe Joe said that. Not going back now.

Well, this time travel, this time warp, or whatever you want to call it, this, what did you call it, Matthew? The dimension of time? It's more or less the dimension. We did that in

200. I was like the telepathic plane. This is like the time plane, the dimension. Do you see this as like a true plane? It was just like the elemental plane of time or is this like some kind of demi-plane? According to the Paisa materials, the dimension of time is a demi-plane.

Okay. And when you arrive there, you're encased in a bubble, and your entire life plays out before you, but you have to be able to concentrate on it. And then if you can, you eventually go on a journey through this space it's much but there's much more going on but there is one way out otherwise you kind of get cast out into a terrible fate wow cool yeah and to me it was always that della's death and your love for her is what brought you back yeah but 120 years passed in that time because della was in the tree for della was in the tree for very great many of those years yeah so metra could have been are you saying she could have been like experiencing this as a loop or just like this kind of rush for that long or it really was like only

the brief period that we saw and time passes differently in that plane than it does on the temporal plane. I think time essentially has no meaning, not to get all Nexus ribbon-y about it, but like the time essentially has no meaning in the dimension of time. But when she kind of tore through the opening, what had passed, to kind of get to that connection of Della, who was also outside of time. She kind of anchored herself to that echo, which was in True Now. Okay. So it was like five minutes, 120 years, and a lifetime. Sure. While moving through this dimension of time,

we leave Metra on the streets of True Now. Where is my daughter? And we go back in time again. We hear a lone wolf howling in the distance. Joe, give me that wolf. Bawk.

Oh, that was good. Sounded like Matthew doing a wolf. There it is. I'm here alone. That's pretty good There we go Come on, can you give me a better wolf than that? That's pretty good I like that one because it sounds like

I want to hear a wolf It sounds like it's calling its pack To join in on Feasting on a fresh kill That's what it is That's great Like it's calling its pack to join in on feasting on a fresh kill. That's what it is. That's cool. That's great.

So that's the sound we hear. And in the darkness. Oh, okay. So it's night. That was an afternoon wolf. It's 1030 a.m. it's 10 30 a.m in the darkness several fires appear campfires half a dozen of them or so blazing outside of rustic huts and tents we see several men and women in loose-fitting robes

standing in a circle near one of the fires. We approach a long, low shot from far away. And as we get closer, we see that they're standing around something. A body.

We go through the legs of one of the figures to see the body of a dead orc lying on the ground. His skin is singed with jagged lines that ripple up his body and claw marks from what had to have been some massive bird or something covering his face. His eye sockets just bloody holes. One of the figures in the circle speaks up,

speaks to another member. How did this happen, Mossmoon? A young druid with bruises on his face and arms stands forward. Bartol and I were outranging when we heard something in the brush. I thought it was a bear or perhaps a large wolverine, but it was this orc scout. He swung a falchion at me before I could fully react. Thankfully, I stepped in such a way where I caught the hilt against my face. Before he could draw blood, Bartol summoned a giant owl to distract him,

and I recovered long enough to call lightning down to end him. The head druid listens, nodding his head. These attacks are becoming more frequent. It's only a matter of time before these scouts find our camp and report back to their

chieftains. I must think on this. Prepare the body for the gods. We will discuss more tomorrow. Some of the group starts to take the body. All the others disperse. The leader speaks up again.

A silver mane. A moment. A young. A young, maybe the youngest Silvermane we've seen, emerges from the group and walks up to the leader. Except for when we saw him as a baby, you mean? Except, yes. The second youngest.

We were there for his birth. I had to work that night. I always regret not being there for Silverman's birth But my great regrets in life A young, but not the youngest Silverman Thank you Matthew The second youngest Silverman Walks up to the leader.

He says, I have always appreciated your counsel on matters such as these. These creatures, I fear, not only pose a problem for our society, our council, and our commune, but for the whole world. They are growing in number, and their ferocity knows no end. We cannot attack them where they lie. They are well fortified, and our tactics are not suited

to infiltration of that magnitude. But one of these days they will come. They will find us, and they will take what they want. Who they want. There are children now as well. Something must be done. Silvermane nods, deep in thought. Think on this, old friend.

I do not want to frighten the others, but I fear that a major decision must be made soon, before it is too late. We are no longer safe here. Silvermane stares at the druid council leader, puts a hand on his shoulder. Silvermane knows exactly what must be done, but tonight is not the night to tell him. What must be done. But tonight is not the night to tell him. So they part. And Silvermane walks across the camp back in the direction of his hut. And when he passes by a man struggling to feed an infant,

the baby's crying and the father is trying to hold him in one hand while also preparing something for the baby to drink in the other. And as Silvermane passes, the man's like, I'm sorry, could you hold him for a second? The man hands the baby to Silvermane. And then as he turns back to get the drink he's preparing, he knocks it over and he goes everywhere. Meanwhile, Silvermane just stares at this green-eyed baby crying in his arms. He cries for a few more moments, gets louder, and then calms. Little Silvermane holds him.

The man looks defeated. He's trying to clean up. I knew when his mother perished that things would be difficult, but I didn't know it would be this hard. Some days I feel as if I've been cursed. Maybe we'd all be better if those orcs came and wiped us all out in our sleep. Soremain looks at the man, shocked to hear him say this. The man kind of regains his composure. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry, I don't mean that. I just... I just can't think straight. Do you ever feel like if you had the chance to change everything, to go back and do things differently, that you would? I would. I'd go back and

and never have fallen in love so as to never felt the pain of losing her and to never have this child that I have no business trying to raise alone alone in this horrible world where you have to kill or be killed to survive excuse me for a moment do you mind holding him I've got to go beg for more food before he starts crying

again could you please just stay with him for one minute I'll be right back I gotta get food from the others and he kind of says are you okay and walks away. And Silverman nods as the man rushes off. And you are

alone, Silverman. With this slightly red-haired, green-eyed infant. Brander. Now at the time, that probably wasn't his name. Infant. Brander. Now at the time, that probably wasn't his name.

But what his name was isn't really all that significant. Bron-deer. John. Sammy. Sammy. I shall name him Sammy. The child's name is Jimmy. Something about the way you say the name Jimmy that just makes it sound so sleazy.

Jimmy. Jimmy. Jimmy coos in your arms. And you see the guy, he's like going up to one of the other mothers in camp that has a baby. And he's like begging for milk or food. You know he won't be back for at least a few minutes. What do you do? What do I do?

Yeah, silverware. Oh, shit. What do you do to jimmy infant brander infant brander kill it i feel like you're trying to trick me this is a written story right let's say what happened that's for my note tell me what i did my notes end at what do you do take them to an orphanage where they rehab this is an internet idea this isn't mine where they rehabilitate future uh evil people so they know you know they've they train them and they instill morals into them and they help guide them to a healthier and more productive life yes that is what he's gonna ask uh no he'll he'll look down at the infant and looking into its eyes there's some i guess vague understanding of the significance of this moment something something's happening but i like to think that silvermane vacillates in between

knowing what to do and being very unsure of what to do. There's not a clear path and there's not a clear understanding of even who he is. But something about this child is significant in a way that is very surprising to him. to him and he feels the potentiality of great evil and he looks back at the father looks back Like, could I? Could I rid this man of his child, this burden, do him a favor? And perhaps the world a favor? What? What is that thought? What am I thinking?

How is this happening? Why did Troy put this in my head? and then suddenly a clarity starts to come over him and it isn't it isn't very clear but the emotion that he feels is one of immense um almost like you know it's just sort of a, like Matthew said, like the dimension of time, right? Like he's, he's had some experience with this, I would imagine to his life at this point. And there, he knows he has some part to play in that. And looking at this, there is this feeling that,

that there are events that whether good or ill are tied to this child and and maybe so i can explain it better as a player than i could like what he's understanding because i don't think his clarity is as you know like that he's omnipotent right but he has this feeling and it's the feeling that there's that one path is to eliminate this child now, but eliminating this child now could be, it would mean that there's no, for example, in my mind, it would mean that there's no Galabras in the fight against the giants. For example, it would mean that there's no Galabras in the fight against the giants.

For example, it would mean that there's no Sir Will in the fight against the giants. He would never become a knight, right? If, if Brander doesn't show up to his home, there's a lot of, it gets tricky with,

with time. Yeah. It's like, no matter what his motives were, he steered so many of these heroes into being in the right place at the right time to be able to combat this evil. Exactly. And so we could think about this. This is why it's complicated and hard to explain.

Even as a player is like we could combat this quote unquote threat of brander which really has been a threat only insofar as it has been damaging to some of our friends and mainly in ways that we're not like he didn't just go out and kill all of our allies you know what i mean like that's not what happened if you really think about it he did twisted shit but he wasn't just like murdering our friends but he is positioning people and he even said it in part one with jimmer in a very unique way to defeat the giant threat so i'm talking all that out in a way that's like not really occurring to silvermane but he he's having this moment where he's like,

there is some significance here, and this is a pivotal moment. And while his hand may sort of eke up toward the child's chest, and he's just looking near to the swampy water, I could just put it under water, drown it, and rid this father of his burden, he thinks, no, there are too many events

that are too important that this child will affect. Even the very wise cannot see all ends. Exactly, that's it, exactly. Even the very wise. Can you give it to them, silver mane? Do not be too quick to deal out death and judgment. But truly, do not be too quick to deal out death and judgment uh but truly do not be too quick to deal out death and judgment that is what dom exposition did many many years later and silvermane was like you were a little too hasty to think about this well he learned in this moment yeah

exactly this guy's a murderer also you, you have attained a quite powerful weapon. Because now we know Brander's real name is Jimmy. That's true. It's embarrassing. That's true. No one has called me that. If we know his true name. Jimmy Brander.

He sounds like a gambling consultant that they would bring on CBS. Jimmy Brander. Jimmy Brander. If you want to take the cult to the end of this. consultant that they would bring on CBS. Jimmy Brand. Jimmy Brand. If you're going to take the cult to the end of this.

I love the idea of dropping that on him. Him just being like, my name. My name. Isn't that right? His name is not Jimmy. Okay. Okay. Okay. But it is funny to pretend in a game of pretend.

Briefly. In the final confrontation with Brandon, be like, isn't that right? Jimmy. Or should I say James? That is a name I have not heard in a long time. That is what they used to call me. Your birth name, James Baby. Jimmy Baby.

James A. Baby. Oh, God. I never want to stumble across a Wikipedia about Brander and see, like, born Jimmy. Well, now you know that's exactly what it's going to say. You just invited it. He's not Jimmy. He's notimmy it's funny to say also yeah there is that right there's he doesn't have the specifics he doesn't know for example this guy's going to contact a knight named sir will in the future but there's also isn't there the potentiality that this creature could also change, you know, over time.

Could not become quite as evil. Yeah, so being hesitant to try to determine all ends, he has this moment where it's like, I can't believe I just thought that. And then pushes the thought away and walks the baby over to the man walks the baby on the guy turns around he's got fresh food and he's like i was he goes over and he's mute but he's he uses sign language to say i was just trying to get one hour of stolaris and can you please take this baby away. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I don't want to deal with the baby for fucking 60 minutes. Please.

Sorry, sorry, that is a very addicting game. I'll take the baby. One hour of peace. One hour, please. My wife is dead. You go play your video game. I, too, wish to play an hour of still i remember playing hours of still and my wife died in childbirth leaving me jimmy

so you hand the child back to the man can you remind me what happens to him in the in-between? Like, how does he come to be an Osirian? He's adopted by somebody? When the Council of Thorns decides to... Commit sepuku, basically. Commit sepuku to turn into Willowis to wipe out the orcs, Thun, as a member of the Council of Thorns Takes the three infants to Osirian That's right Oh, so all three infants were from here Oh, I forgot that

And Silvermane was inside the Vault of Thorns Putting the weapons In the You know, the weapon cache away And you came out and they were all dead They were all dead Yeah Except for Jimmy, Brian, and Carl.

Yes. The three chosen ones. Yes, and they went off and started a chain of taco shops along the river. Oh, God. Was I going to say? Yes, so canon-wise for our show, Silvermane and Thune Was I going to say Yes so

Cannon wise Farashio, Silvermane and Thun Were the only survivors of the Council of Thorns And the three children Pudir, Farzadir and Brondir And Farzadir Was Faraz's father Or grandfather

Faraz's ancestors. And just like the Pooh deer that Lork killed was one of original Pooh deer's ancestors. So, the man stands there holding the baby lost as Silverman walks off. And then we come back

to the present. The actual present? The Baron. Metra. Sir Will. Oh no! So adamant! And Nestor Coyne, standing in a greenhouse inside of Iron Cloud Keep.

Amazing. Ironcloud Keep. Amazing. As a gargantuan flying dragon plant creature swoops into the room. That's a lot of words to describe that. One thing. Looks like that. That's nasty.

Oh, that's right. I remember it now. It's been a couple weeks, but I remember. It's definitely dragon-y, but it has arms that are like humanoid arms. You know, it doesn't have dragon-y arms. And legs that are like humanoid legs. It's like a flying, I don't know what. And then it's got the wings, but then it has these glowing bulbs all that start at its head and go all along its back. Big spindly

tongue coming out, branches growing out of it. It really does look like a combination of a dragon and a plant, and it is gargantuan in size. It flies through the opening Oh my goodness. It flies through the open doors

leading from the hanging gardens into the room and rears back its head. Roll for initiative. This is amazing. I'm glad we get to fight in here. We always have a fight. Yeah. 200, we completely ignored the current party. 300, we go fight. Yeah. 200, we completely ignored the current party.

300, we go back! Yeah. Yeah. You know what's also interesting between 200 and 250 is, like, the amount of mentions of a castle in the clouds. You know? And now here we are in the thick of it. We're in it. You are in it indeed.

Up to your elbows. Yes! Nasty, nasty creature here. Let's see what we got. Metra. 13. Yowza. Yeah, natural four.

What about Old Care Bear? 25. Oh, there you go. 25 for Baron. Sir Willermette Casewick. 20. 20. Which is a natty 18 for Sir Will.

So I am juiced. And what about Nestor coin? Nestor got a 19. A 19. 19. A little slow, Nestor. Where's my flashback? I didn't get a cutscene at all.

I'm a bit miffed, to be honest. Where's my flashback? I want a flashback as well. Mine is too good. He even cut my one line out in reference to me. Two! I had a line in reference to you, too, and he cut it out. Oh, fuck off, mate.

Really? He's trying to cut Nesta out. It's not. It's like an agenda now. You realize Nesta's going to come kill you. He's a very vengeful man. Skid was a time issue. It just didn't work in the continuity.

Joe was more of like, it was a writing thing. I was like, show don't tell, Joe. Show don't tell. It was a little cheesy. But it was still good. But I like my role playing game cheese. It was good. It was good. It was in reference to the But it was still good. But I like my role-playing game cheese. It was good. It was good.

I just, it was in reference to the jail. He would say, he said something to the fact like, one day, Nestor Cohen would be heard sitting, singing Itsy Bitsy Spider here. Basically, Lork was in the same cell that Nestor was in years later. Oh. Yeah. I just thought it was fun to be like,

oh, this cell, you've become quite familiar with these cells. And everyone would go, oh, Nestor! No, nobody did. Everybody literally was like, I don't know what you're talking about. Slap him over the head with it. Just because we didn't say it doesn't mean we didn't think it. Okay. Matthew, see Matthew.

Did you get it, Matthew? We've only been in those cells so many times. Well, Matthew is a professional writer. That's true. That's true. What is your bone there, Sir Will? Plus two. Plus Will? Plus two. Plus two.

Plus two. Slow. It's a little slow. Thankfully, you have a gunslinger. Oh, my God. Quick. To take the attention, the full melee attention of the creature. Quick to take the full melee attention.

Oh, my God. Of this gargantuan, bro. Creature. And, Baron, you do get to go first. It's crazy that I outrolled a dragon whose glowing yellow orbs on his back look like the weak spots you would target if you were fighting it in a video game. That's exactly what they were. Very clearly. Baron, can he do any knowledge check on this

type of dragon would this fit under nature based off of it looking like a tree could i roll that um i'm gonna tell you right now you could do nature or you could do planes okay i'll do nature because that's all baron has that's relevant uh that will be a 17 so sorry i'm gonna need uh someone more knowledgeable than that to give you information. I'm a sorcerer, man. I don't have... Troy looked at me. I'm a sorcerer. Knowledge isn't my thing. Just didn't want to make eye contact with Grant.

We don't really have that in the party anymore. I know. True knowledge. Yeah. True. That will be our undoing. It's my favorite Jim Jarmusch movie. Um, Baron is going to take a five foot step backwards he's going to swift action call down the judgment no torag down upon himself he is going to oh only one swift action a turn he'll stick with that judgment for now this will be an unbanned full

attack action against this creature unbanned full attack at this flying creature. Here it comes. Natural 20! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! I'm sorry to ruin your episode 300, LaValle. He's done. You kidding me? That's it. I love when these go fast.

It's easier for me. I don't have to worry about remembering all their things. That's a good point. You could get home an hour early. Call me and you'll roll a natural 300. Hold on. I'm pulling out that dice. It's in my bowling ball bag. That is a 29 to confirm against Touch AC. Oh, I wonder. Oh, just made it.

Oh my goodness gracious. Oh my goodness. I didn't even have them ready because I didn't think it would ever happen. The first die roll of episode 300. 20. Okay. I'm really regretting my position behind Baron because if he does draw the ire of this thing's breath

weapon, I'm definitely going to be caught in it. All right. Let's go to this one. Zork Chris. Zork Chris from Carson City, Nevada. Oh. The capital.

Oh. That is the capital of Nevada, one of our nation's 50 state capitals. It sure is. And the title of this crit is... Cracking yourself up, Skip. I mean, the look of pure joy on skits it's childlike there's some cities it's tough to say anything nice about

it is the capital the proud exclusive list alright so what happens the title is a couple Things Are Gonna Happen. Oh! Interesting. Oh, but it's long.

It's always long. Everybody likes writing long crits. The positioning of your projectile causes a flinch or movement momentarily, opening an opportunity for your allies to pounce. Double damage and the target is considered flat-footed until the beginning of your next turn. In addition, you and each of your allies can make one move or swift

action immediately. Oh, come on! The target cannot make attacks of opportunity during these actions. If all allies, including you, choose to forego the action, the damage becomes triple damage instead. Reflex save negates only the flat-footed condition for the round. So basically, this is fucking ridiculous and amazing.

You get a reflex save right away. So go ahead and take your reflex save. And it's against a 29. Okay. I hate all these dice I have. Reflex save. Fail. Yes.

So you're flat-footed for the remainder of the round. That is so huge. I have added that condition. Now, we have an option. Put it for the remainder of the round. That is so huge. I have added that condition. Until my next round. Now, we have an option.

Either the three of us can take a move or swift action right now, or we can give Baron quadruple damage. Right. Baron. So it would be that and triple, or you guys don't do anything and he gets quad. Yes. We take the actions. Take the actions. He's still getting triple

damage yeah okay he's only going to do like 30 more points of damage or something like that sure oh it's a dragon too so he's not going to get maybe all the bonuses right i don't have uh i don't have my uh bane applied for this dragon because i used it to call down a uh judgment to buff my ac and damage so right so he's not a giant so he's going to take a little less off okay so uh is there a swift action you can do that's that's cool i mean i can study target but i could have done that anyway we could reposition to be in to be in optimal i mean i guess this thing is gargantuan so its reach is probably terrible yeah but it also means that like i could just close on it and start tanking it immediately. That's true.

And it won't be able to react. I can get off a level three spell or lower. Troy, I'm sorry. Is it flying in the air like way over? Oh, okay. So that's kind of irrelevant. I could cast fly on one of you. At range?

Or they'd have to move. Is that a touch? Is fly a touch? No, no. You'd have to move to me. Oh, I thought it was range. Oh, what if I moved to you and you cast Fly on Lexington? Yeah. I could also Fireball it.

Yeah, which would do more damage than one more on Baron, right? This is exciting! Well, I would say cast Fly because that could, if this fight is over quickly, say, that could still possibly have utility after the fight. Whereas if you shoot it with a fireball and it's over, then that's it. I will say you can do your actions in any combo you want, like X-Men style. You don't have to go in your initiative order. So it's like, you move to me, I'll cast this.

That's fine. Okay. Grant's like, can, take the quad damage. No, no, no, I'm not like that. I'm actually leaning towards the fireball because what if it just lands and decides to slay us all? Like, it might not have much utility in the air. So it could just land and make that a waste. But it might have like a breath weapon.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, if it does have a breath weapon, you moving to me is going to make the three of us an easier target. Now, it's probably going to get all three, but you and Nestor could flank out to the side. I mean, I could ride right past it and under it right now to at least spread us out. That's true. Give it different targets. You could.

I like that, actually, because that way it can't hit all of us with the breath weapon. Okay. Great. And maybe it'll just turn and hit me or something. All right, great. What do you decide? I'll fireball it. All right, Metro Fireball.

Sir Will is going to ride under it. Quick and Metamagic Rod. Swift, okay. And that was drawn. Oh, you have the quick draw? I always have my Quick and Metamagic Rod out in dangerous situations. That's just smart. Sir Will is going to run past it?

Yeah, Sir Will rides under it And past it into The back of it, even though It faces all directions at once, but now he's Within its attack range, its melee attack range Right now, unless you're saying It's so high up it's not already in melee attack range I don't know

Well, it's got reach that you don't have Okay, so It is Um It can't, but it doesn't provoke because of the wording of the crit. And it hasn't gone yet. It hasn't gone yet. So it can't provoke.

That's true. Yes. So you zip under its, under its flight. Nice crit, Zorkris from Carson City, Nevada. Pretty awesome. This is fun. What does Nestor do? Nestor, I guess Nestor is just going to flank out to the eastern part of the room

just a little bit. It's like 15 feet. Okay. Very good. Roll reflex save. Roll reflex save. Already failed. Flat footed. Flat footed. That is a 17. That's a fail. Yeah, buddy!

You take 38 points of fire. Oh, a fail. Yeah, buddy! You take 38 points of fire. Oh, my goodness. It screams when it takes that. Oh, because it's vulnerable to fizzire. That's why I wanted the fireball to get through, baby. Good call. Now I need trip damage from Baron.

Whoa. That was a new fireball, Sal. Awesome. I like that one. 74 points of damage. It hits one of those glowing yellow orbs right on its neck and it explodes. Sacks all over. So we've done like 110 points in the first turn. The first attack.

The first shot. 129 points of damage, I think. Oh, wow. Dude, it's going to die before I even go. Thankfully. You have more attacks. That was his first attack. That's attack one.

That was so long. But at least his iterative attacks don't hit against touch AC. Right, right, right. Oh, wait. They do. They do. That's a 32 to hit. Oh, my God.

Natural 20. 28 points of hit. Oh, my God. Natural 20. 28 points of damage. Okay, okay. Next attack. Jesus. Is a 20 to hit. Touch AC. That's a hit.

Big old target. 22 points of damage. I mean, it's going to have to be a misfire. It's cracked on a 20, but I'm going to re-roll it because I re-roll everything. That's going to hit with a 20 against Touch AC. 21 points of damage.

Final attack will also hit for 23 points of damage. Gee. Nobody do not use a single spell, Matt. We've raised it to 200 points of damage. Nobody do not use a single spell, man. We've raised 200 points of damage in a single turn.

In a single turn! Oh, I can tell you right now, you did over 220 points in a single turn. But here's the thing. We know. We have learned throughout this book. That's what high-level play is. And my... One of my main new strategies is survive first to my turn, and then hopefully to a second round. I have survived to my turn.

And so you're going to do something terrible and long lasting. I will do something terrible. Aegeus. He's just going to curse us before. That would be amazing. Aegeus, you must leave the castle and kill an orphan boy. I am going to do a 60-foot cone. Yes!

Which should hit everybody except Sir Will. Oh, really? Yeah. Really? Really. So I need a reflex save. Really? You can get Baron and Nessar in the same 60-foot, 60-foot John.

37. That is a pass. Spell or spell like ability? It is in fact a something. It's got to be. It's got to be exceptional, right? Okay, then it's probably not going to get my bonus. 35.

Okay. Still good. Metra? 19. Oh, no. Fantastic. You know what? It was DC 28.

Oh, God. Oh, Sir Will is an auto fail. Yeah. Unless he gets enough. That's why I just wanted you to stay there, because I could have got all of you. A couple things are going to happen. Neither Baron or Ness... You guys both have evasion, right?

I don't think Baron does. I have evasion. Baron doesn't. I do not. Okay. You will not be entangled. You, Metra, are entangled. And you will also take 18d6 worth of damage.

Oh, wow. That's a lot of damage. Half of which Baron will take. And that works out to be 71 points of damage. Oh, my God. And Baron will take 35. Wow. And I'm entangled.

And you are entangled, which, once again, for those of you listening at home, you're ensnared. Doesn't impede movement. You can still walk. You can move at half speed. You can't run. You can't charge. Minus two to attack. Minus four to dex. Sorry, Metra's AC. And an entangled character who attempts to cast a spell must make a concentration check

DC 15 plus the spell level or lose the spell. What is actually what actually comes out of its mouth it's like this uh cone of flying dirt bark stones moss awesome which takes root as soon as it touches the ground oh weird it's just like shoots all this out and then it starts wrapping around metra's legs to pull her down so i's just like, shoots all this out, and then it starts wrapping around Mepra's legs to pull her down. So I'm just thinking of the Dark Souls dragons that, like, you know, fly over and blanket an area,

and then the fire, like, lingers there for a while. This one just, like, slams into the ground, spreads out, and then instead of, like, lingering burning fire, it's, like, lingering undergrowth that, like, grabs at your legs. That is really cool. Really, really cool.

It's like getting caught in a tornado or something. You're entangled for two rounds by this material. Trying to strength or escape artist check. I'm sure you're strong enough. At that moment, coming from the hanging gardens. Oh, no, that's behind Sir Willemette! Sir Will hears some movement. This thing comes.

Oh! Whoa. It is just this little mound of moss. It's one thing, doom. This mound of roots covered in moss and leaves with little mushrooms growing out of it and two little beady eyes. I think he's kind of cute.

He looks like the guys I'm meeting on Bumble BFF. Yeah, he does look kind of cute. He comes up to Sir Will and will attempt to slam you. Here we go. One slam, 24. Miss. Okay. Another one runs past you.

You have a possibility of an attack of opportunity if you'd like to take it. If you've not used... You haven't used it yet, right? Your swift action. Oh, you didn't take a swift. You took a move. Well, the crit was a free swift anyway. I don't think I can attack AOO with the lance.

Oh. It's unwieldy? Well, it's... I think if you have a shield and the lance, which I do, I think you can only use it as part of a charge, I think. Whatever. I'll roll for it. Let's see.

That is a... Still a 32 to it. Let's see. That is a... Still a 32 to hit. 32 is a hit. Why don't you just take the damage and I'll look it up because it's only going to be 8 points of damage. Alright. Look it up. He's just like... Stabs you as you run by.

Okay. Another one runs by as well, but you don't have combat reflexes. The first one ran up to get close to Nestor. This one ran up to get close to nester this one runs up and uh gets right uh let me see yeah it gets right next to metra and baron about 10 feet away from both of them actually he'll run right up to metra to be next to metra and 10 feet away from baron and then a fourth one comes up holy crap crap. And goes to slam Sir Will. Oh no. They just kind of shamble up and misses Sir Will. Not even close.

But they're now five enemies. Wow. Was not expecting this. Okay. It is Sir Will's turn. Sir Will, you've got this giant creature here that is unreachable. Unreachable to you, but it can reach

you. And then you've got these two guys right on your situation. You feel like they can't really hit you, but you don't know what their abilities are. Now that they've got into the combat, they may switch up their tactics when they realize you're unhittable. And your allies have enemies on them now as well. Oh, boy. Yeah, this is bad business all around. Okay. Then, oh, boy.

He's going to try to take the attention of the other ones and just say, The dragon! Take out the dragon! And he's going to charge through this mess, provoking literally everywhere, taking one million points of damage just to hopefully free Nestor up to shoot the dragon. So he will charge. And these guys have a reach of 10 feet, I assume. You would think they have at least 10. Okay.

You don't know. Well, then you know what? Then I'm not going to do ride by attack. He's just going to charge up at the creature closest to Nestor. Okay. And try to impale it with his lance in order to try to distract it from attacking Nestor. All right, so that will provoke from the two in the back

that came up to you right at the doorway. That is correct. And you know it's going to be very hard for them to hit, but they will both try to slam. The first one, 23. Miss. And the second one, 21. Nice.

Miss, okay. And then the dragon. And then the dwarf. It's flat-footed. It's flat-footed, 21. Nice. Miss. Okay. And then the dragon. And then the dwarf. It's flat-footed. It's flat-footed. That's right. Until the start of Barrens next time. I can tell you right now, it has no mechanical effect on its AC, but that's enough for it

to not be able to. That's huge. Yeah. So now Sir Will charges this mossy, giant garden creature, and the dragon is right above Sir Will. and the dragon is right above Sir Will. Like he's under the dragon as he attempts to lance this thing. I'm going to roll the die that we got from our friend, our friend Caitlin.

Caitlin, thank you so much for this beautiful red crit. Oh, you talked about it in part one. Or shit die, I sure did. I'm going to try to roll this for Sir Wills. Here comes the shit charge. Here comes the crit. That is a 32. That is a hit. 32 is a hit.

And he will do 25 points of damage. 25 points. This is the one that you took in AOO on. So take some time to see if I get those eight hit points back, because I charge you by the hit point. You got it, buddy. Thanks, pal. You're a true friend.

All right. Just reading their abilities real quick. Very cool. That is Sir Will's turn, and now it is Nestor Coyne's turn. Nestor, you're ten feet away from this guy, so you want to give yourself some space so as not to provoke. Yeah, Nestor saw this. Nestor, you're 10 feet away from this guy, so you want to give yourself some space so as not to provoke. Yeah, Nestor saw this thing run in, and it got pretty close to him, and then he was just like, oh, shit. And then Will came up and stabbed it right through the back with his lance,

distracting it. Hopefully he takes a five-foot step back, studies target, because he wants to get his shots in on this dragon creature while it's flat-footed. So he takes a five-foot step, and fingers crossed that this thing will be occupied by Sir Will. And he's going to unleash a full attack against the dragon. Against the dragon!

First attack is a 34 to hit. 34. Barely hit. Oh, boy. Okay, that is many shot with the sneak attack damage. 81 points of damage. Okay, still up. Oh, come on.

Stop lying. All right. That's over 300. That's not that strange, but it can't have much more than that at this level. Second attack, 90, 18. Get it! Okay. 45 more points of damage.

Now it's dead. Okay. All right. Yes! Oh, shit-o, shit-o. Oh, my God. Drop, do a drop. Do a sick fucking drop for Nesta.

Yeah. That is a CR 16 creature. I mean, I'm so sorry. And I actually am, because that's so lame. That's the game. I'm just happy I got one breath weapon up. But there are still some enemies here, and Nesta's got, what, two or three more attacks? I've got three more attacks.

So he turns his attention to the shambling mound that's rushed at him. And first attack is a 28. 28 is a hit. Oh, very good. That's definitely good to hear. And 27 points of damage on that. Okay, and how is that damage broken up? I'm just curious.

Three points of that is electricity. The rest is normal. Okay, what was the full amount? 27. Okay. Great. Okay. Fourth total attack second on this creature.

Natural 20. Oh! Oh, my goodness. My God. Uh, and that is a 27 to confirm. That is confirmed. Oh! Confirmed, Chris! Yes!

All right, we got Brian from Fort Worth, Texas. Howdy! Brian from Fort Worth, Texas. Howdy, Brian. Metroplex. This one's called Weighted Dice. Whether by luck or otherwise, you unleash a devastating attack against the target. Double max damage to the target.

That's it. Oh, wow. So it's double damage, but it just gets maxed. Okay. Okay. Weighted Dice. That's a good Oh, wow. So it's double damage, but it just gets maxed. Okay. Okay. Weighted dice. That's a good title. Wow.

Okay. 90 points of damage. It explodes. Dirt and debris. Everywhere. Amazing. Okay. everywhere amazing okay and with his final attack uh he turns his attentions towards

the creature menacing metra and baron uh that is a that is a 22 to hit 22 is a hit oh wow okay that is how embarrassing yeah uh and that is 26 points is a hit. Oh, wow. Okay. That is... How embarrassing. Yeah.

Uh, do-do-do-do, and that is 26 points of damage. 26 points of damage. Oh. Very satisfying round, I must say. You notice that Sir Will hits these things. The electricity is doing something strange to them. You can't quite tell. Now, he

obliterated that first one, but again, when this one got hit... You mean when Nestor hit these things. When Nestor hit, the electricity crackles around it, and it doesn't seem to be... Hurting it? It doesn't seem to be hurting it, but it also seems to be doing something else to it. Benefiting it? Helping it? Hard to say. You need a little planes or nature check.

Let's move on to Metra's turn. God. Old Metra at the bottom. Do I want to play? You want to play? Don't actually use anything. Well, I need to get out of this situation. She's in a pickle.

I am hurt. You're hurt? Oh, yeah. I just took more than half of my hit points from that breath weapon. Oh, I didn't realize. She got just massacred by hurt? Oh, yeah. I just took more than half of my hit points from that breath weapon. Oh, I didn't realize. She got just massacred by that. Oh, yeah. Well, then use whatever you need.

And where she's standing right next to it, it's a tricky position. Because five foot step, you're still within reach. But you can't five foot step? Yeah. I can't five foot step. I'm entangled. That's right. Which means I also have to roll concentration to even get the spell off.

Here's my idea. I mean, I have a bunch of options. Oh, Dimension John, and then just Swift Action and Vizzy John. And just go invisible. I mean, I could do that. Those are low-level spells, and the fight's in hand! We got these guys.

The fight's in hand. And if it gets out of hand, you can always come out of invisibility and do shit uh i'm going to instead um i'm going to activate the uh cloak of etherealness oh that's a good idea also okay and that doesn't provoke um that's a good question standard action do i roll a concentration to an issue a command No, I think that it just provokes. I would guess. Before you act... Maybe a command word doesn't... Before you act, Baron will give you cover.

Baron will take the opportunity of Nestor's last attack in order to activate his teamwork feat, Target of Opportunity, taking an attack. It does not provoke attacks of opportunity. That's right. Go ahead, Baron, because I would use that thing. Yeah, because I'll open up even more options to you. And if it takes its attack of opportunity against me, and if it does not have multiple attacks of opportunity, Baron is going to fire at the last creature Nestor struck.

Okay. Would you like to resolve your attack of opportunity first, or will you not be taking one? I will not be taking one. I choose not to run. All right, it's a hit for 24 points of damage. Okay. They didn't care for that. One damn bit.

All right. So, yeah, activating that with the command word, you should be fine. When casting a spell, you still have to roll that DC 15 plus the spell level for the entangled condition. I'll just activate the cloak. I'll go onto the ethereal plane. You are ethereal. And then I will move. I'm still entangled, but I can still move.

Do you take the entanglement with you into the ethereal plane? I don't know. Would I? It's weird you get to take only the good things like spell components and uh brazier i mean yeah he's playing it as if he's entangled i've only moved half speed but if you say i can move full well no it was a question to the group i wonder if you well i had a couple other options i could i would assume he's no longer entangled because to me it sounded like the entanglement was coming from physical objects that are holding her. Yeah.

Right. The entanglement is on the material plane. It's not on the... Right. It wasn't like something that happened to her. It's like, she's entangled. Yeah. I'm fine with that.

All right. Well, then I'll move full speed. That's why in an ideal world, Baron would be entangled. Or maybe Nestor. Or anyone but the magic user. All right. So you're on the aerial plane. And what do you want to do while you're there?

I slide over next to Nestor. Smoke a cigarette? He can't see me. He can't see you, and you're right there. I take, as a free action, I make funny faces. You should show me butt, because he can't see it. I stick my thing out. Just like the Ryan O'Neill movie, So Fine.

Exactly. It's the second time you've referenced that. I'm going to keep referencing that movie until someone looks it up. I did look it up. I had no idea it existed. I was like, oh, that's right. That's all I saw. Yeah, it's pretty good. Well, not a good movie, but it sure existed.

Oh, Ryan O'Neill. Wow. It's round two and it's Baron's turn. Sorry, I'm just... Oh, cool. That movie right um so baron is going to take a five foot step uh towards the lip of the table well great and can do a knowledge check on these creatures you already did i forgot to do i did it on the dragon actually that's right that's right i'm sorry go ahead come on baby Okay, they are in fact, as Skid said, shambling mounts.

I figured. Yeah, I gave you a little hint when I said they shamble forward. That's what I do sometimes. Yeah, shambling mounts. They've been around for a dog's day. I'm on the road to shambling mounts. Lord, I was born a shambling mount. I'll give you one piece of information after we're done riffing.

Okay. Do I know their subtype to activate Bane on? They are... That was nature? Yeah, and I think I probably... Plant. By knowing that they're shambling. So if you want to give me something else,

or if you want to say that's what I'm on. Yeah, no, you would know they're large plants. Now, the other one was... Oh, what about the electricity thing? Yeah, the electricity thing else, or if you want to say that's what I'm on about. Yeah, no, you would know they're large plants. Now, the other one was... Oh, what about the electricity thing? Yeah, the electricity thing. That's what I want to know about. What's going on there? Yeah, that's kind of fun.

So they are immune to electricity, but they also have this ability known as electric fortitude, where they take no damage from electricity. Instead, any electricity attack used against a shambling mound temporarily increases its constitution score by 1d4 points. Oh, wow. The Shambling Mound loses these temporary points at the rate of 1 per hour. That is so cool. So you're giving him more hit points.

He gave it more hit points when he hit it, and that's what you saw. Wow. Yeah. They're probably a pretty decent level, so it's probably a good amount of hit points. Well, only if it rolled 2 on the 1d4. 4-4 on the 1d4. Right. Baron will add Plant's Bane onto Dawnstrike with a

swift action and attack. Alright. The Shambling Mound closes to him. I just rolled a 1d4, and I rolled a 1. I mean, there's no doubt that you would roll a 4. You rolled a shit. I rolled a shit. 25 to hit. 25 to hit is to hit is here

35 points of damage oh my goodness second attack is a hit with a juicy 18 uh 32 points of damage that baby's dead nice windows temp hp got a long shot there for those finals um i'm gonna save it because uh i i don't want to use my grit on them they can move really far though they move pretty fast yeah they got well they ran into the room uh so and they didn't attack so you don't think that you don't know exactly i'm gonna take five-foot step closer to them to be in a better position to attack at them next round. Okay. I can fire once. Because I can take a five-foot step at any time during a full attack action.

I'm going to fire once more at my highest attack bonus against a regular AC. With a minus two, because they're 70 or 65 feet away of my 40-foot range. Crack die on a 15. On a 15 again, so that will be a 33 to hit. 33 to hit is a hit. And you're hitting the one on the left

or the one on the right? The one on the left, the west side of the map as you look at it. Okay. Yeah, they're both standing right at the double doors, right in the doorway. 33 points of damage. Nice. Gross.

It is their turn, and the one that just hit runs into the room right up to Metra and Nestor. Metra's in the room, but well, she's essentially next to you

it provokes from me as it runs by I do a quick boop you can't do an anal with the lance I didn't see anything that says you can't

but I'll keep looking but it sounded like a Joey Jojo hamstring because I'd never heard that it seems so insignificant but it is 10 points of damage

did you hit it 90-19 yeah okay 10 points of damage and Did you hit it? 90-19, yeah. Okay. 10 points of damage. And that's all electricity, right? We're having a good time.

Took me a second. That was good, LaValley. Okay. The one who... All right, so that guy just ran up, and that's all he could do is get up in your business. Whereas this guy can actually do a charge and attacks her will. Oh, yeah. And so that is what he will do. And he'll charge in a way that actually gives him some cover there.

I love that we've established that these are big creatures, but it's currently charging over the dead body of that plant dragon, which is badass. Actually, I don't know that it can charge, because isn't the body considered an obstruction? It depends on the size difference in between them. We've had larger creatures or creatures close in size do stuff like this over it. This is a classic GM call, and it's a good question, Matthew. And what I'm going to do is I am going to still charge,

but I'm going to charge in the more open way to go past the wing area and not stand on the body. It is a weird thing, though, right? It takes up a lot of space. Yeah. Look at where this body is. All right, you know what? No. I think that I have to stay true to this.

If it was any other creature, this is a colossal creature. There's no way he's going to be able to charge that with that body. Awesome. Gargantuan, excuse me. Yes, Gargantuan. So he's just going to double move up next to Sir Will And not attack Can't do it

I won't be able to sleep with myself Sir Will's turn, Sir Will, you're right next to this guy Sir Will is right next to this guy He turns around on Lexington to face this new threat Behind him and just tosses The Highbury Lance To the ground And draws out this new threat behind him and just tosses the high very lance to the ground and draws out

rose light up into the air Lexington rears back and he stands forward with it and yeah for one time for one time for one times try

centauri times for one times try Centauri times For one times, try Centauri times Natural, 18 Just rolling rocks, Sir Willamette And, uh, oh! That is a critical threat Oh, for the rose

Yeah, I forgot that the rose and the light In Sir Will's time away was Made keen Nice And of course he did not confirm. And he will do well that's pretty good. 18 points of damage. 18 points

of damage to the one right now. No. No. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I should be. I still had charging on. God damn it's going to be way worse. Yep. Yep. This is where everybody laughs at me. points of damage he's a little guy with a little sword but he's now preventing this creature from attacking all his other allies so seven points of damage and it goes to nester nester this guy's right next to you and little do you know metra is standing next to you mooning you

that's right so there's a table behind me? There's some kind of wooden thing on the map here? Yes, there is. The space behind where Metra is, though, you could still five-step into there. Ah, okay. You'll still be ten feet away, unfortunately. Yeah, that's true. Well, he is going to step back, and he's going to brave any attacks of opportunity

and go ahead and unleash a full attack. And he doesn't know about the electricity thing. It doesn't matter anyway. All right. Well, he will take his shitty attack and miss you, I'm assuming. 20 to hit. Yeah, it's a miss. It's supposed to slam you with its big, mossy arm.

All right. And he studies the target. First attack, many shots. That is a 37 to hit. Oh, yeah. 26 points of damage. Oh, wait. No, no.

Sorry. 61 points of damage. Oh, my God. And a little bit of that is electricity. Six of that is electricity. Okay. That's still enough to kill it. Yes.

Awesome. Okay, electricity. Okay. That's still enough to kill it. Yes! Awesome! Okay, cool. Okay, and then he is going to spend the rest of his attacks on the one fighting Sir Will. The one remaining, Joan. Now hold on a minute. Hold on a minute. Does Nestor have precise shot? Uh, he does.

Yes, yes, he has fucking precise shot. That's good, Joan. It's a 16th level archer. That's good. He has fucking precise shot. That's good, Joe. It's a 16th level archer. That's good. Yes, he has fucking precise shot. Oh, no, it's locked in melee. I'll never hit it now. I'll never hit it now. I'm 16th level.

Oh, no. Oh, curse my luck. That is a 29 to hit. Yes. 28 points of damage. No. All right. Third overall attack. Oh, of damage. No. All right. Third overall attack.

Oh, Natty, 17. 28 more points of damage. Four of which is electricity. All right. And to do that is the fourth attack is a 20 to hit. Oh, that is a hit. Oh, my oh my god what what are we even doing here 27 points of damage six of which is electricity okay uh it is still up but it is in bad shape okay final attack come on jolta oh jolta come on. Come on. Oh, 20.

20 to hit. Yeah. 32 points of damage, 5 electricity. AC-19. Yes! Yes! AC-19? Yes.

Wow. What is going on out here? And the strike! Yeah! And the enemy is defeated. Has defeated this gargantuan

plant-like dragon with these four shambling mounds at its side. All came rushing in through the open doors leading to this hanging garden. The hanging garden which you have now seen, Metra. You took a peek over and got a nice bird's eye view, a Metra eye view of the hanging garden. Doors lead out to there. You came into this room and didn't really have much time to explore it. It's been a

little while, but one thing I said is there's bright sunlight unlike any light you've seen shining from the other windows and even through the open door there's not as much light coming in so it's coming into this room so you just you're smart enough to know there's some sort of magical effect here that is making this room uh have a greenhouse effect and there are giant plants flowers all over the place um and so it makes sense that these cloud giants, these passionate, artistic people like Renfall and his harp would have a greenhouse as well. And now who knows what it's being used for. It's funny to hear Renfall talk about plants. I love plants!

He loves plants. That was funny. He recommended the mixed vegetables. He seemed pretty enthusiastic. That's true. He used to grow them here, but he forgot. This is John.

54 seconds. In the 54 seconds, Metro has to remain on the ethereal plane. She takes a potion of Cure Sirius, and then 48 seconds after that, she reappears on the material plane with you all.

Reappears on the material plane. And probably could use some healing. Metra! There's no time! Are you okay? I'm very badly hurt. I see that. Come here.

Allow me to... What are you doing? Spill the grace of Iomedae. Give me your hand. She slaps Sir Will across the face. You're too familiar, knight. We wanted your hand, my lady. Too familiar, knight.

All right, she extends her hand. No, the offer is done. The offer is rescinded. The offer is rescinded. The offer is rescinded. He touches your hand with little lay-on hands that he uses his hands for.

A couple sixes. That is 24 points of healing. Okay. Need another one? Yeah. All right. Here we go. What's the minimum level for a Cure series? Caster level?

It would be 5. 3d8 plus 5. Do you want me to just use another? Yeah, I still need another one. May the grace of Iomade strengthen you on your journey. Oh, this is a good one. Oh, this is a really good one matthew

holy shit 37 nice i am down 36 points oh wow two sixes three fives two fours two that was nice that was a good one great well that one that went better than expected. That went very well. It went very well. Yeah, no, it was... Well done, team. I was in a considerable amount of pain there for about, oh, 60, 66 seconds. Yeah, it looked pretty bad.

You got hit in the face with quite a few pebbles. Yeah, and there was the dirt and acid. But apart from that, it was surprisingly brisk. None of you got touched, I see. No, I dodged effortlessly out of the way, as I tend to do. Nothing touched your handsome mugs? No, no, no, we're all fine here. Thanks to the sheriff.

Sheriff, where is it you aimed? That first strike seemed to nearly put the creature down. Look right behind its neck, right here, and he takes Will's hand over to it. You feel that spot? Ugh. Gross. Isn't it disgusting? Well, that's where it's weakest.

Really feel it. Stick your fingers in there. It's real sappy. I just love that the 16th level knight, when being pointed out something, his reaction is, gross. Gross. Gross. Gross. He's used to a finer standard of living.

That's right, he wouldn't understand. This is rare eaten, Will. Sticks his hand in his mouth. Delicious. What is this creature? Why have it here? What is it guarding? What is it protecting? I think it might be guarding what's outside of this room, Will.

Shall we move out into the gardens? Yeah, let's take a peek at least. Uh, first, let's search the room. Can we take 20 on the room? Oh, yeah. Sure. You take 20 on the room, you don't find anything of importance. Let's go to the gardens. To the gardens.

And he'll try it out wait it might be gross you're right you you go first can i rip open the dragon's belly to see if it has any secret treasure uh sure i did it eat any level 15 items yeah or the bones of an ally or something. That's a great, actually, kind of nature type of thing to do. Yeah, sure. So, what happens when I tear inside? You recognize the bones are thune. You see a fetus of a smaller version of it.

Aw. Aw. That's their reproductive cycle? It was preggers? It was preggers. Oh. And the baby grows in its stomach? Yep.

Like a literal stomach? It's a plant and it's a And the baby crows in its stomach. Yep. The literal stomach. It's a plant and it's a baby and it gives birth to live young. That's how it is. So it's a dragon that doesn't lay eggs and it's a plant dragon that gives birth to live young. So it's a dragon plant mammal? And Baron killed it. Does it have nipples? You see any me-ups?

Can you milk me? Is it covered in, does it have hair? Is it furry? No, there me? Is it covered in... Does it have hair? Is it furry? No, there's nothing in it. Nothing. Not even that. Sir Will trots around its hooves to get out towards the garden. There's nothing in it.

Not even anything funny. Cool. Great. There is no comedy here. There's no comedy. To the garden. To the garden. The mighty belly of the beast.

There is no good content in this room. Let us move to the gardens. The mighty belly of the beasts. There is no good content in this room. Let us move to the gardens. Sir Will trots outside. Sir Will trots outside. Sir Will trots outside. Sir Will trots outside.

Sir Will trots outside. Sir Will trots outside. Sir Will trots outside. Sir Will trots outside. And you see a fucking gigantic gigantic space oh my goodness and this is what Metra saw from above right she

was on like a catwalk or whatever a balcony and looked down into the gardens I looked down into the gardens. I looked down, and I said, Hey! Hey! Oh, that's some Gen Con inside humor. Yeah. I looked down, I went, Hey!

Hey! Hey! That was the funniest fucking thing ever. It was so funny. Watch the video. Yeah. Do watch the video. Watch the Blades in the Dark It was so funny. Watch the video. Do watch the video. Watch the Blades in the Dark game. The Blades in the Dark.

It's fun all around. Here comes the reveal. Okay. Shugunk. All right, this is the polygon. Oh my God, he did it. He did it. He gets a nine out of ten from the German judge.

Nicely done. Four fabulous hybrid trees bearing numerous varieties of ripening delicious looking fruits grow in this marvelous outdoor hanging garden on the ground herbs and flowers are arranged in well-groomed beds among ornamental bushes a path winds its way through the garden. You can see leading to two plazas encircling a pair of ornate fountains. In the distance on the other side, a fallen tree lies uprooted across the path. Water just spurts from the two fountains

near the middle of the garden. There are a bunch of flower beds and cultivated bushes containing giant-sized plant species that closely resemble their normal counterparts that you would have seen growing up. Marigolds, periwinkles, roses, violets, medicinal herbs. Some of the trees even bear enormous fruit like giant fucking apples and lemons, oranges, pears. Oh my. You walk out into this garden, leaving the brightness

of the greenhouse behind, but still, this open air space where the platform just descends into nothingness on the other side. Oh no. And from there, we leave this scene. Oh no.

We leave this scene and we go back to where we were at the end of last week's episode or two weeks ago episode. is standing there in that pyramid in Osirian across from Silvermane Silver Tusk as we call him because it's Silvermane with Lork Iron Tusk's soul inside of him

Gormley now in a ghostly form had been brought back to the material plane through that ritual at Sekhnavali. And Galabras Finn

who has also had his own rebirth in many ways after being instructed by Gormley through Shiel to bury Galabras in the Vault of Thorns he was rebirth as the creature

that now stands in this room and we ended that last episode by Brander basically saying you've come a long way. I suppose you want some answers.

What do you want to know? It's not exactly what he said, but that's the sense. That's what Jimmy would have said. That's Jimmy talking. I always appreciated Jimmy's brevity. Do you say anything to him you mean before initiative I mean

yeah I don't I don't know I want to see if you have a reaction to that often times in these brander scenes you don't have a lot of time to talk. This is the first time we've really seen Calabris, Gormley, and Lork essentially back together again. Now facing their mortal enemy, question mark. This thorn in their side, this indescribable power that has affected all of their lives.

Even Gormley, even though she passed before, you know, he came back in feeble-minded gal, you know, now we see that this has all been in motion. So he affects all of you in different ways. His last words are, each of you has traveled far and gone to great lengths to get here, so i suppose you feel as if i owe you some answers well then let's talk and he just stands there staring at

the three of you let's get some uh information just some let's gather some basic information Uh, birth name? No, that's not what they say. He doesn't know. I do not know. I do not know the name. I was given at birth. Two more questions. You've used one of your three questions.

Why did you pursue us? Why did you pursue us with such cruelty? What you see as cruelty I see as necessary. I'm sure in your life you had to do things that others would consider to be cruel. Well, it's the same for me. I'm not an animal. I feel and I know I've had to do horrible things that still weigh on me. But what must be done must be done.

Imagine he's powerful enough, Silverman and Brander maybe at this point, that Brander, that he could just think something and Brander could hear it. And uh and your friends too telepathy yeah gormley and galabrasy i mean they're both like i think more powerful than silverman you know they're like risen i'm a ghost i'm a ghost so silvermane will say What does he want to say? You just said... Okay. But... Why? Why must it be done? Why?

Why? Why indeed? I've watched my mother perish more times than I can remember. The first time was the only time I was foolish enough to think I could stop it. the only time I was foolish enough to think I could stop it. Every subsequent visit I just stood in horror, watching her die in agony as I ripped through her womb into this ridiculous world. I imagine as Brander's saying this to you, we

see Brander back at the camp of the Council of Thorns. Sounds of his mother's childbirth anguish in the background. Other counselor members, maybe some that we saw in the scene with Silverman, just running back and forth in

slow motion. People crying, weeping, throwing their hands up in the air to the gods. And Brander is just standing there watching all of this. And as he's watching, he's slowly aging. Watching this scene like he's watched countless times, aging from a man who looks like he's in his 20s to a man in his 30s to the man that Galabras first met when Brander took him from the Elfin Reavers to the man you saw flying above the

dam at Red Lake Fort to the version you saw at Minderhall's Cathedral with his hardened armor carapace fused to his chest peeking out through his robes while he stands there to the weathered, older Brander that now exists with Della's face almost sewn onto his. And he just watches this. Powerless. You three may think I'm some all-powerful god. Why? Why, because I feeble-minded some pious child with barely burgeoning powers? Because I stopped time to speak to your friends in the cathedral?

Is it because I can bring a man back to life for a day, or take to the skies and turn into a winged dragon? Any fool with enough time and practice can do these things. With enough time and practice can do these things. Though I have consumed powers greater than any of us combined. I am weak. I have always been weak. This is why I needed you.

And you. And you as well And all of your friends to do the work for me And soon The work shall be done For I I cannot defeat Volstis. The only chance of that happening is your friends. And should they fail, well, we are all doomed anyway.

But should they succeed, well, then, I'll have what I need. I do not think you are a god. I know more than you've forgotten. Oh. I've forgotten more than you know. That's what I've learned. Stop confusing me with your gorilla pyramid tactics.

He puts his hands down and ceases passing. Confusing. A friend has lost his way. Lapras. To Mottos' misery. She has failed his save. Speaking of Osirian,

why are we here? Why, Osiria? What is to be found in the relics of these places? Ah, yes, this place. Well, surprised you're asking me. What brought you here?

A feeling. All these years I've been working towards something moving pieces across the board, and meeting with resistance, resistance that I couldn't quite put my finger on. And now it's clear, right when you walked in. Because it was you, whoever you think you are, putting things in position just to try and stop me

when you don't even know what you're stopping. Look around you, all of you, all these images on the walls, all of recorded time's most important moments, here. That is why Osirian is important, because this is where it all began. This is where my story truly began. It's all these years I've watched. I've watched and I've waited. I've read these signs and I just knew a day would come when I would possess enough power to create a solution. When I could truly master time, as they said, and save her and I both. I've learned from these images here in this pyramid Learned from my brother's work and from my own studies

And spent several lifetimes drinking in the essence of the world's greatest artifacts Consuming even the life force of creatures great and small Thinking that one day I could find a cure to all of this And ultimately that's what the three of you are doing. You think by stopping me or stopping Volstice, you're going to find some cure. It's a fool's errand. Because you know what I realized?

After all my searching, I realized that. Mastering time isn't. Rewriting it. To fix history's greatest errors. It's ending it. Completely. And so that.

Is my plan. My friends. That is my. Why. And so what is my plan, my friends. That is my why. And so what happens next is up to fate in many ways. I believe Volstis is taking this castle to the holds of Belzen. With the fire and frost giant is defeated or disbanded his plans have changed

slightly and he's looking at the wall and you see like he's tracking Volstice's movements with these stories that he's telling as well his plans have changed but he's not acting out of desperation no he is

quite calculated. He always has been. While he has forged dark alliances from the abyss, he still needs soldiers on the ground carrying out his plans. And there are still giants loyal to his cause about. and there are still giants loyal to his cause about. When they see a flying castle full of giants float over civilization, they will bow to that power.

Then, gathering the various orc tribes, well, that will be invaluable as well, for even the most ferocious and headstrong among them will know what their options are, unite with Volstis or perish. And the children of Urgothoa have gained strength as well across the land. Highbury was not the only castle that fell to the servants of the Pallid Princess. All shall unite under Volstis. The end is coming, don't you see? All three of you have died. You should know better than So you must understand that what I do is a mercy. So, you may use your collective powers to leave this plane, and perhaps there will still be a life for you to live,

a second chance. Take people with you. Take your friends. Should they survive start over because if we meet again then you will have made a grave

error grandma is just her spirit is starting to chuckle How old are you? And yet still such a little boy Speak your mind Death is not the end

you see that proof in front of you you run from this so quickly and so fast with all your might and you want to bring about the entire destruction of everything that has ever existed I just think you're a scared little boy. But what do I know? I've just conquered death.

I died who we have but not dead. And you ask why I moved these pieces against you. And it was obvious, and I knew why all along. There can be no master of time. Anyone who attempts it must be stopped there is only pain there

only suffering I have lived many lifetimes and living them again has only brought pain once is enough And living them again has only brought pain. Once is enough. Once is enough for all. And that is what I seek.

To prevent power-hungry, immature souls like yourself from trying to prevent the natural order of things. There is an order, you know. An order to the way these things are meant to be. That is why I am here.

I represent the land, the air, the. I represent the land. The air. The birds and the water. I represent. A continuance of life. That will go long beyond. When you turn to ashes.

So. Use your powers if you like. To flee. And. Use your. Intim you like, to flee. And use your intimidating words about not wanting us to meet again. But I assure you, in the end, life will go on. Whether we are here or not. And you will not be a part of it. For my part, I do pity you.

The pain you've clearly felt. But you must understand that we cannot permit you to do this. Well then. It seems as if you've made your feelings clear. He stands up. Looks at you, Galapagos. Be seeing you. And then winks out. Of course he does.

Son of a bitch. From there we see Jimmer lying on the floor of the cavern with the altar and the skeleton of Kilpoth.

And Jimmer is lying there alone. Thun is not there. And Brander is not there. It's like the lights come up on this and then the lights

go down. And we hear the sounds of wind whipping violently. It's not a storm, but it sounds unnatural. And suddenly, like, a mountaintop comes into view, and we zoom in on a small ledge extending outward from a cave mouth appearing almost near the peak of this

absurdly high mountaintop and suddenly just brander and thune materialize there thune is still tied up he's

shocked by the teleportation, but also by the drastic change in temperature. Brander just waves a hand at Thun, and the ropes loosen. The gag falls limply out of his mouth. Thun stands up, wearily,

and looks out at the land below. I mean, it's... I can't even tell you how high up they are, and it is a sheer drop from the lip of the cliff's edge. It's beautiful, but terrifying. You can even see the tops of a few scattered clouds, and then all of Galarian below. Brannor looks at Thune and is like, it's quite beautiful, isn't it?

These are the Five Kings Mountains. Did your journeys ever take you here? I do not know if ever I even stood in the foothills of these mountains, but I don't believe I ever looked upon the world from this high. Not many people have, Thun. Ironically, the dwarves in their quest for sky

could have never dreamed of reaching a height such as this no dwarven king stood here and looked down upon all creation Thun looks away from the view and stares

quizzically at Brander you can see him trying to dig through memories that have been replaced with bits and pieces of past lives like he can't fully place Brander

hmm and then he lands on something it's like I brought you to Osirian long ago to save you. This I remember. You did not save me, Thun Though no doubt you thought you had It was selfish what you did

You simply did not want the death of three infants on your hands How could you have known that death was the wiser choice? Thun looks at him, and it's tragic. I remember, this is what I was thinking about when I was thinking about this scene. I remember when I used to visit my grandmother when she was still alive, my father's mother. She passed away a long time ago, and she had Alzheimer's. And as I would visit her towards the end, like, she had no idea who I was. But my dad would visit her every single day, and I can remember asking him, like,

does she, I know she doesn't know who I am, but, like, does she know who you are? Does she know who you are? And he would say, she doesn't quite know who I am, but she knows I belong to her. And that's how Thun looks at Brander here. And so Brander just walks slowly towards him and says, I do not hate you as I once did

for many years I hated you very much I blamed you for much and I held on to that for a very long time I held on to many things but time and distance have a way of giving one perspective. Because now I understand what you are.

You are just like me. You were thrust into an unending cycle you cannot control And for that, I pity you But I pity you like I would a horse who lies on the ground with a cart overturned on its legs It wasn't the horse's fault that the driver misjudged the road, but all the same, the damage is done. So what is one to do? Do you leave the horse to die slowly as it screams in agony? Or do you give mercy to the horse and put it out of its misery?

This whole world you see below you, Thun, is suffering the exact same fate. But I am going to take care of that, just as I will this. Goodbye, Thun. Brander turns his back to Thun and starts to walk towards the cave mouth, just leaving Thun there alone atop this mountain peak. Then, in slow motion, this all happens.

Brander turns, rears his hands back, and just pushes the air in front of him. And Thun is thrust out and over the cliff's edge, falling into the nothingness below. And we'll see you next week. Oh, my God, that's so sad. Poor Thun. Oh, my God. Well, at least it ended on a high note

what does it matter with you we hardly knew you quite literally one less NPC if you love Ali selfish bastard 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. Outro Music Was that too dark, evidenting? Was that too dark of an ending? Is that too dark to need a little light to end a little bit on a higher note so there's hope for the future? Yeah. Okay. In the darkness, we hear a voice.

Wait, for real? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We just hear a voice that sounds like a chorus of voices all talking over each other, each saying one word. Forget. Forget, forget, forget, forget, forget. Oh, yeah.

A young man sits up with a start from his desk, a desk filled with tomes, scrolls, spell components. Yes. It is young Pembroke. Yes. Yes. Pembroke.

Pembroke the Potent, perhaps. He went by many names. He gets up and he looks about the room for the origin of these voices, voices he's been hearing more and more as of late. Nightmares, in general, have become more frequent lately. Images of people and places that seem so familiar to you. People you used to know, but now you have trouble placing them.

It's a strange feeling. You feel like you're at the height of your power, Pembroke, yet something keeps nagging you at the back of your brain. Pembroke rushes over to a shelf and moves his finger across several oversized tomes until he lands on one. We see him place it down and just pouring over images of undead,

mummies, revenants, demiliches. And as he reads, he traces his finger along one word. Curse. Sits back in his chair, tugging ever so gently at a small beard he's starting to grow. He then laughs to himself and darts out of the room. We move from there to a library where Pembroke walks gleefully up of the room. We move from there to a library, where Pembroke walks gleefully up to the counter. Yes, how may I help you?

Ah, yes, my good man. I believe I have been cursed. Now, it's the strangest thing. I don't remember it at all, which in and of itself may have something to do with the curse, if I'm being honest. But now, I'm not a priest or a holy man by any

means, but I need to do some research and try to find a way out of this predicament. And if I'm wrong, well, then I will have learned some things along the way. Either way, I'm not prepared to take the risk. So could you point me in the direction of your Osirian studies? The man at the counter

stares at Pembroke for a moment, then without breaking eye contact, just points off to the left. Thank you. Now Pembroke is sitting down with several large volumes open in front of him. He's reading one, comparing and

contrasting passages from one to another. Time passes, and you can tell he's getting frustrated. He has his glasses off, and he's rubbing his eyes. He gives a look to himself and says, What am I doing? You know that look? What am I doing? What am I doing with my life?

I'm being crazy. So he just starts to close the books up, stack them on top of each other, and just as he's ready to give up, he notices a smaller book among the ones that he's grabbed. So he sits up, he puts his glasses back on, and he takes the book and turns it over in his hands.

It's made of a thick hide, animal hide bound with rope and several druidic symbols on it. He opens it up, and on the first page, it reads in a druidic tongue, the Council of Thorns. Pembroke laughs that he can read the secret language of the druids.

He's never cared much for rules, so he flips through the book until he gets to drawings. And there's drawings of a bridge passing over a domed forest, giant lily pads floating over nothingness. Pembroke's eyes widen. Now we cut to a dense forest. Barely a sound can be heard save for the wind until we finally hear a faint rustling sound as young pembroke maybe his beard's a little longer from his journey he emerges from the brush with that same book in his hand it almost looks like he's trying to follow a map but really he's

just looking for landmarks he walks up to a tree and examines its shape, comparing it to the image of a tree in a book, and then he follows one of its long branches extending from the trunk, tracing the length of the branch with his finger until he's pointing in the same direction as the branch, directly at a circle of standing stones in the distance. Pembroke smiles wide as he approaches the few remaining men here. He closes the book and starts to reach towards the central men here, and as he does so, he hears a voice. Who are you? Pembroke turns and sees a will-o'-wisp floating menacingly about four feet away. My name is Pembroke. I've held a few titles, but Pembroke should suffice.

May I ask and you are trespassing on hallowed ground. State your purpose or perish. Well, it's a long story, actually, but I believe I shall cease to exist someday. Not unlike yourself, actually. However, even if I should live forever, call it a long story, actually, but I believe I shall cease to exist someday. Not unlike yourself, actually. However, even if I should live forever, call it a gut feeling, but I think I have been cursed with a sickness that will take away something even greater than my corporeal body, my powers. I'm of the understanding that there is another plane of existence overlapping this very spot, which may hold the key to life everlasting and then some should this curse be real i'd like to see if i could hedge my bets if you will

moss moon a will-o-wisp just floats up to pembroke it almost looks like he's sniffing him sniffing the air around him, I can smell it on you. Great evil has touched you. My people and I were once enemies

to great evil. So perhaps your purpose is aligned with ours. And if I am wrong, then the vault will be your judge and executioner. But first, traveler, you will need a lantern. There is only one such lantern in existence. So, you will need to...

No, no, no. I'm sorry. Sorry to cut you off. I won't be needing anything like that. As long as you've given me permission. Don't want to be rude, so that's all I needed. Good day, Moss Moon. Perhaps we'll meet on the other side. And with that, Pembroke walks up to the central men here and casts some ridiculous, uber-powerful spell that unlocks a gateway on it.

He waves at Mossmoon and walks through. What? Now we'll see you next time. Oh my god, what is that? I want a fucking gate briefing 301. I'm writing a list of questions.