Part 5: Descent to Danger | Starter Kit - Advanced D&D

Summary

Critical Role & Sagas of Sundry: Starter Kit - Advanced D&D

Episode: Part 5: Descent to Danger

Release Date: December 1, 2025
Host/DM: David Nett
Players: Leona, Eraviel, Igneous, Narlak, Shywin (with supporting voices by Tom Kavanaugh and others)

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Overview

In "Descent to Danger," the Starter Kit party investigates chilling evidence of shapechanger rituals infiltrating the city. After surviving a perilous ambush, the diverse team of adventurers regroups, examines the bodies of mysterious foes, and interrogates a traumatized young man at the heart of the conspiracy. The investigation leads the party to a dangerous plan: to infiltrate a cult’s lair in the sewers, just hours before a transformative full moon ritual, hoping to learn the source of these horrific transformations—and to stop them.

This episode is rich with character roleplay, mystery-solving, and tactical planning, spotlighting both the emotional stakes and teamwork found at the heart of an Advanced D&D campaign.

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Key Discussion Points & Story Progression

1. Aftermath of the Ambush & Night of Rest

• The party returns from a deadly alley ambush, carefully transporting two bodies: a female River thug and one of the shapeshifting "giant rats" (now reverted to human form).
• Each player’s character background is briefly described, setting the stage for their different reactions to the city’s underbelly:
  • Igneous lives in ancient city catacombs
  • Eraviel, a wood elf, lives in the Slum Quarter
  • Leona is near the university for blacksmithing
  • Narlak hails from the Foreign Quarter
  • Shywin, ever the loner, chooses affordable shack town living
• [04:42] Leona quips: "Rent is cheaper," encapsulating the setting’s gritty realism.

2. Grisly Discoveries in the Morgue

• Down in the precinct’s morgue, Medical Examiner Tylel shows the party the autopsied bodies.
  • The River thug: an undernourished, scarred halfling
  • The shapechanger: A teenage boy, whose loose, burnt-edged skin seems “pasted” over his real flesh, with disturbing runic scars carved into his liver and internal organs.
• [08:15] Tylel reveals: "There are some marks, scar marks carved into his liver... little weird rune almost."
• Players roll arcana checks—eventually, Eraviel (with help from her warlock patron) discerns that these runes come from an extra-planar language, hinting at dark, otherworldly forces.
  • [10:25] Eraviel: “I can’t identify it directly, but it is definitely not of this world.”

3. Runes, Rituals, and Suspicions

• The party attempts to research the runes and discusses possible translation via magical means or consulting the precinct’s limited magical resources.
• The seriousness of the case is underlined as they are summoned to Smiles’ office.

4. Interview with Young Liam, the Tormented Shapechanger

• The party meets Liam, a terrified teen wracked with guilt over his violent transformations.
• Liam reveals key details:
  • He was chosen and transformed by Shiren and her mysterious associate Grontok during a monthly ritual.
  • "I didn't want to be a changer... Sheeran told me I was special and that I would be the best of us..." [12:59] (Liam)
  • The ritual is performed during the full moon. Many of the Rivers gang, especially orphans, are selected for the transformation.
  • The party learns that the next full moon—and by implication, the next ritual—is tonight.
  • [16:09] “She found me at an orphanage.” (Liam)
• The party grows especially incensed at the exploitation of vulnerable children.
• [17:13] Shywin’s motivations: "She joined the City Watch because she is a champion for those who can't help themselves."

5. Planning the Infiltration: Location of the Ritual

• Liam draws a map to the Rivers’ lair in the sewers, warning of dangerous crocodiles (“the angry logs”) near the entrance.
  • [21:19] The sewer pipes by the West Wharf are revealed as the point of ingress.
  • Discussion of the lair’s layout, ritual timing, and the potential number of opponents—a formidable gang.
• The party debates the proper timing of their assault: ambush before or during the ritual to face fewer enemies or lure Grontok into a trap.

6. Preparation for the Sewers: Teamwork & Approach

• The party moves to the sewer entrance, utilizing Shywin’s “Pass Without a Trace” spell to cloak themselves in near-invisibility.
  • [30:01] The group navigates the bustling wharf unseen before slipping into the sewers.
• Inside, the party encounters a pool teeming with crocodiles, identifying them with sharp perception checks.
  • [33:21] “Crocs floating in the water.” (Igneous)
• Igneous uses his “Animal Friendship” spell to charm a crocodile, cleverly persuading it and its ilk to attack any pursuers, thus securing the party’s rear.
  • [39:00] Crocodile (to Igneous): “How can I help?”
  • [40:19] Igneous: “If other humans come in here behind us, attack them.”

7. Navigating the Danger: Traversing the Slippery Ledge

• The group takes careful precautions crossing the perilous walkway, employing both teamwork and individual dexterity. Tension runs high, with each player making dex checks to avoid the deadly crocodile-infested water.
• [42:23] Leona explains, “It would be wise for us all to hold on to each other so that we can pull anyone out of the water.”

8. Deeper Into the Dark: Advancing Toward the Lair

• Boosted into the next pipe, the party prepares for what lies ahead. With Narlak casting “Light” on his staff, they venture further, guided by their map and their resolve to put an end to this citywide threat.
• The session ends on a cliffhanger as they draw near to the Rivers’ lair—a showdown with the cult and their monstrous rituals inevitable.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [08:15] Tylel: “There are some marks, scar marks carved into his liver... like a little weird rune almost.”
• [10:25] Eraviel: “I can’t identify it directly, but it is definitely not of this world.”
• [12:59] Liam: “I didn't want to be a changer... Sheeran told me I was special and that I would be the best of us...”
• [16:09] Liam: “She found me at an orphanage. Yes. About six months ago... She took care of me.”
• [17:13] (Narrator): “She joined the City Watch because she is a champion for those who can't help themselves.”
• [33:21] Igneous: “Crocs floating in the water.”
• [39:00] Crocodile: “How can I help?”
• [40:19] Igneous: “If other humans come in here behind us, attack them.”
• [42:23] Leona: “It would be wise for us all to hold on to each other so that we can pull anyone out of the water.”
• [44:38] Teaser for Next Episode: “The sun will be down in moments, and he'll begin his ceremony... Your people escaped us a century ago. How fitting that you should bring yourself to me now.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:40–04:42: Recap, party backgrounds, and aftermath of ambush.
• 06:04–10:25: Morgue discoveries, autopsy details, and runic investigation.
• 12:18–17:13: Interrogation of Liam, revelation of rituals.
• 21:19–23:20: Mapping out the sewer entrance and lair logistics.
• 30:00–32:28: Entry into sewers; Pass Without a Trace spell and stealth mechanics.
• 33:21–40:19: Crocodile encounter; Animal Friendship spell and strategic alliance.
• 41:41–43:10: Crossing the ledge; dexterity checks and teamwork.
• 44:03–End: Illuminated advance deeper into the sewers, party ready for the lair.

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Tone and Style

• The episode balances investigative suspense, grim horror, and moments of levity—driven by the party’s camaraderie and the DM’s atmospheric narration.
• There’s a clear D&D improvisational energy with in-character banter, tense planning, and satisfaction in clever problem-solving (notably, the crocodile alliance).
• The players oscillate between gallows humor (about “angry logs” and “cheap rent”) and sincere investment in the plight of exploited orphans.

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Summary Takeaway

This episode is a pivotal escalation—transforming the party’s personal survival into a determined quest to tackle the heart of a monstrous conspiracy. With thorough investigation, emotional depth, and a thrilling descent into the unknown, the party prepares for a fateful confrontation beneath the city. The stakes could not be higher, for both their own lives and the soul of their city.

To see if their descent ends in triumph or tragedy, tune in to the next installment of Starter Kit—when the full moon rises, and the Rivers’ dark secrets are revealed.

Transcript

[Tom Kavanaugh]

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[David Nett]

Get your mother loving ears.

[Tom Kavanaugh]

On because your big time radio DJs got news.

[David Nett]

PayPal lets you choose how you want to pay for all the stuff. With PayPal I can pay in store, pay online or pay overtime.

[Tom Kavanaugh]

What's that? You want this translated into song? I hope you're sitting down.

[David Nett]

You can pay your own way. You keep those ears on, you hear. Don't just pay baby. PayPal.

[Narlak]

Learn [e-mail] Last time on Starter Kit we are being followed.

[David Nett]

We know that you have encountered Liam. And their faces start to bubble as they start to transform form.

[Leona]

They're all different, weird things.

[Eraviel]

Guys, wait for me.

[David Nett]

Oh God. Welcome back to your Starter Kit. I'm David Nett. I'm your Dungeon Master for this adventure. Sometimes in Dungeons and Dragons, combat is sprung upon you, and the party has no choice but to fight their way through. But sometimes, when you have time to plan, a clever party can avoid combat altogether. So when we left after last episode, you were in an alleyway, having been ambushed by a bunch of rivers thugs. Once you had gathered your wits about you, you regrouped yourself and made your way back to the precinct and then ultimately to home to rest. But you were very careful to pick up two bodies on the way. One of them, the river's woman, the thief who led you into that trap, bringing her with you to identify her if possible. And then you brought one of the fallen creatures, in fact, one of the rats that you killed. You brought that body that had reverted back to human. As you were resting, badly scarred, brutalized, some of the skin peeled back, it looked weirdly burnt, as well as the damage that you had done to that human. So you grabbed both of those bodies, brought them back to the precinct with instructions to your team's there to look at these two bodies, try to identify them. While you retreated to get some rest, everyone went back to their respective homes. Igneous, you live in the catacombs below the oldest parts of the old city, down by the southern tip of the city. Eraviel, you live in the slum quarter. That sounds terrible. It's just the name of the area. Most of it is bad, to be the truth, but you have reasonably nice apartments there. But you're very near the wharf gate, so you can leave the city quickly if need be. You're a wood elf, so sometimes you just need more space than the city provides.

[Leona]

Rent is cheaper.

[David Nett]

Rent is cheaper there. Leona, you live in the artisan's quarter near the university. It's good for your blacksmithing work. It also just keeps you close to work so you can be there on call whenever you need to. Narlac, you live in the Foreign Quarter.

[Narlak]

Because I am not from this world.

[David Nett]

Exactly. You live in the Foreign quarter. And Shywin, you live in shack town right outside the walls of the city.

[Shywin]

Also, cheap rent.

[David Nett]

Very cheap rent. It's actually. There are some nice buildings and nice homes there. It's just a town that grew up along the walls. Outside of the great walls, there are bad parts and good parts, just like everywhere else. But it's a good place for someone who's a little bit more of a loner to be able to separate themselves from the city.

[Shywin]

I'm comfortable right on the outside.

[David Nett]

So you all get eight hours of rest. And so this long, the sleep brings your hit points back up to their normal maximum.

[Eraviel]

Oh, that is lucky.

[David Nett]

Everybody gets your spells back.

[Mike Carruthers]

Good.

[David Nett]

You're gonna take a nice long rest while people back at the precinct look at the bodies that you brought.

[Leona]

I got all my stuff back.

[David Nett]

Got all your stuff back. All of your powers come back after that long rest. Oh, your armor for you. Because you rolled two dice during your short rest. Igneous. You'll get both of those dice back as well. So you're back up to your full five hit dice after your nice rest. You all get a nice solid 8 hours, but no more than that. You're out of bed, clothes on, heading over to the precinct. So if you guys want to move yourselves over to near where Leona is, that's near where the precinct is. Help me.

[Shywin]

Long arms.

[David Nett]

There you go.

[Eraviel]

Thank you, Jay.

[David Nett]

So all together, you come back to the precinct, and you had planned to meet up, so you actually meet each other outside. You feel much better. Your mind is still reeling from everything that's happened in the last two days. But now you've gotten some sleep. You feel like your brains are going to be ready to attack this thing. You enter into the precinct and up to your floor where your desks and your offices are. You're getting ready at your desks. You have a note from the medical examiner who looked at these bodies for you, asking you to come down to the morgue. So together, you head down to the morgue to look at these bodies. In the basement there is where the medical examiners are. They're actually a branch of the Inquisitors. They, like you, have some magical powers and some extra knowledge they're able to examine in these bodies. And the woman's name is Tylel, who runs. Who's running this shift down in the morgue. And she summons you in. She's all business. And she says, these are some extremely interesting. This one. And she points to the body of the rogue that you had killed right out. She says, this one seems to be normal halfling, mid 20s. Looks like she's lived a rough life. A lot of scars, a little bit of malnutrition. Exactly what you'd expect from a street fight thug. However, this one, and she points to the other body, and this is one of the rats that was a giant rat and then reverted back to human form after Leona killed him. This one is very interesting. What you see is a scrawny male. She says, you know, human male, late teens. But what's interesting about this. And she looks at the body, she kind of motions you over, and she peels back some of the hanks of skin. Now the skin on this guy is sort of like loose. And even over the places where his body's returned, it's like something bigger was inside of it recently. The skin sort of loose, lost its elasticity. She peels back part of the skin and the edges of it are a little bit burnt, even though no fire was applied to this guy, which you can say this is all very interesting. It looks like this is skin almost pasted over his original skin. And if you look in here, and she peels his skin back and lifts up underneath and brings up his liver, and she says, look right here. And you can peer close to the liver and you see there are some marks, scar marks carved into his liver. It just looks like a little weird rune almost.

[Narlak]

Do any of us recognize the rune?

[David Nett]

Roll an arcana check for me. So arcana is your magical knowledge. And you, of course, as a sorcerer, might have some of that knowledge.

[Narlak]

9.

[David Nett]

Okay, so yeah, you don't recognize this rune, but it's clearly magical writing. And the tylo puts down the liver and peels back another piece of skin. And you can see written right on, like the ribcage, another one of these runes cracks the sternum open. And you can see on the lungs, on the heart, there are all these runes burned into these parts of the body. And she says, but this, this is the most interesting thing. And she flips the body over and goes to the back of the head. And you can see on the back of this person's skull, some of the hair is missing and there's a big V shaped scar here. She just right away peels that hair back. She says, and you can see there's a chunk of the skull that is missing. And she says the chunk of the skull is missing also. A small bit of his brain is gone. She says, I don't know what any of this means, but it is fascinating. Thank you for this body.

[Shywin]

So since she's never seen anything like this before, it's likely that we never seen anything like this before.

[David Nett]

You've seen nothing like this before. I mean, Narlak was unable to understand what the Runes mean. But there's a bunch of them all over the place, written together.

[Igneous]

Not the same.

[Narlak]

Ravio. Perhaps you could if you're warlock ways.

[Eraviel]

Oh, my demon might. I mean, yes, I might know.

[David Nett]

Yeah. So roll an arcana check for me.

[Eraviel]

Arcana. Come on. Come on. Chacha.

[Igneous]

Ooh.

[Eraviel]

17.

[David Nett]

You actually do recognize this writing. So this isn't demonic writing or anything? Your hex blade doesn't recognize it as native to her. However, she whispers to you. And you can see, actually, there's a series of potted plants over on the side of the room, the kind of plants that dwelled corpse. You can see the leaves kind of wheeze around. You hear cha cha Cha. And you can see the leaves kind of weave around a little bit, giving you a message that you can read in those leaves. And it does tell you, in fact, that this is a language of one of the outer planes. He's. Cha Cha is unsure which one, but it is an extra planar language. You didn't recognize it as a language from Limbo?

[Narlak]

I'm angry at myself.

[David Nett]

But there is something out there that you know. A language out there that looks like it's written in.

[Eraviel]

Well, Chacha was unable to. I mean, I can't identify it directly, but it is definitely not of this world.

[Narlak]

Yes, yes, yes, of course. I must have been distracted.

[David Nett]

So you take a couple more minutes talking with Tylo, and she gives you her report, a couple of pieces of paper, and shoos you out. You guys head back up to your offices.

[Igneous]

Okay?

[Shywin]

There's not anybody who can just translate that that we can take them to, is there?

[David Nett]

You could try. I mean, you could maybe detect magic on the body. You could take this to a wizard or somebody member of the Arcanum in the Inquisitor's office. Right now. You guys are the most powerful magic users right now, so Gnarlock would be the closest thing to try to decipher this. And you can take some time if you want to just pore over this, line them all up together and try to see that you've been told it's an outer planes language. Grab some books and try to take a look at that.

[Narlak]

I'll definitely cast Detect magic on it as well.

[David Nett]

Okay, well, these things aren't magical. They've just been written down for you. If you want to go back down to the library, you can surely research the library.

[Narlak]

I'm going to write down every rune.

[David Nett]

Sure, certainly.

[Narlak]

And then go into our precinct library.

[David Nett]

So we'll let you do a little work there. And we'll hold that roll for you at the end. As you're working in the books there, the door to Smiles office opens and she steps out, looks around at you and says, I heard there was a bit of a kerfuffle earlier. I trust you are all right.

[Shywin]

We are now.

[Tom Kavanaugh]

Fine.

[Mike Carruthers]

Yep.

[David Nett]

We're good. Good, Good. I have good news. I think you should come into my office now. Do you stay and keep studying the runes?

[Narlak]

I would like to know what's going on.

[David Nett]

Okay. So you abandoned your runes and come into the office. You guys walk into Smiles office, and you can see as soon as you step in the door, there's a form huddled up on her couch, blanket over the shoulders. And he looks up at you and you see it's the young man that you encountered at the mansion. A little bit of a beard, baby face, kind of shaking and scared. Liam. And he says, how do you know my name?

[Igneous]

We just met your boss. Your boss was looking for you, too. And also, we should kill you, Liam.

[CC]

Cc.

[Shywin]

We're gonna call you CC for short.

[David Nett]

He says, I know they're looking for me. I didn't. I didn't mean to do all those things that I did, but I can't go back there. Please don't make me go back there. And Smiles leans against her desk and says, I think young Liam here has much to tell you.

[Shywin]

Yes.

[Igneous]

Yeah.

[David Nett]

Liam, start from the beginning.

[Mike Carruthers]

Please tell us everything.

[Shywin]

Please.

[David Nett]

He says, I'm so sorry that I hurt. He says to you, I'm so sorry that I hurt you. I didn't want to. You tackled me, and I was so scared. I didn't mean any of those things that I did.

[Igneous]

We'll wait on that till we hear the rest of your story.

[David Nett]

I didn't want to be able to change. I didn't want to be a changer. Sheeran told me I was special and that I would be the best of us, the best of the Changers. And I believed her. But now I don't want this.

[Shywin]

How did this happen? How did you become a Changer?

[David Nett]

She picked me. Sheeran picked me. She chose me because I was smart and fast. And she said Grand Tok had a special transformation for me. Grantok.

[Igneous]

Who's Grantok?

[Shywin]

Do we. Do any of us know?

[David Nett]

You guys can all roll. If you want an intelligence check to see if you've heard of Grand Talk, just add your intelligence bonus to the roll. 14, 15.

[Leona]

11, 8.

[Narlak]

14.

[David Nett]

So you haven't heard. You don't know of a Grand Talk, but you've actually Heard names like. That's a name that you recognize not of a person necessarily, but of your realm. Like Grontok is a fairly common name among the creatures of Limbo.

[Narlak]

Hmm.

[David Nett]

So he says. Well, Grontok, he's Chiron's friend. He helps us. He helps us be strong. He helps us get stronger and take what belongs to us.

[Igneous]

Okay.

[David Nett]

He says I was picked because I was fast and smart. And on our monthly ritual, Grontok made me into what I am.

[Igneous]

Monthly ritual?

[Narlak]

Does Gron Talk work with Shiren?

[David Nett]

He said Gron Talk's Shirin's friend. He helps us.

[Eraviel]

Might you all change or get forms around the time of a certain sort of moon?

[David Nett]

He says no. Our changing happens. Some of us who are more used to it, our changing happens when we want it to. For some people like me, I'm not. I don't control mine very well yet. Sometimes it just happens to me when I'm scared or excited. But eventually, I'll learn to control it.

[Igneous]

And that's what happened in the Flagstaff house?

[David Nett]

Yes. I tried. I didn't. You know, we were there. We were supposed to take whatever the Harpies had stolen. We were waiting for them to finish ransacking the house. We were supposed to take it. But we didn't surprise them. They knew we were coming, and they ambushed us. And when they started to attack us, I couldn't control it. It just happened. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt anybody. I especially didn't mean to hurt my friends. And you remember one of the river's bodies was also torn?

[Igneous]

Yeah.

[David Nett]

Limb from limb.

[Igneous]

So you tore the people out. And then we showed up while you were hiding.

[David Nett]

I hid when I heard more people coming. But then when you. I heard somebody coming down the hall, and I needed to get out of there, and so I ran. And then you tackled me. And I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that to you.

[Igneous]

It's okay.

[Leona]

Liam. When the change happens, are you saying you're no longer in control of your actions?

[David Nett]

I barely remember. I can see flashes and images. I know that I hurt him. I know that I ran. I know that I went down into the sewers. But I don't remember much of when I'm like that. I don't like it. I wish it hadn't happened. I wish Gron Talk had never changed me. I wish I hadn't listened to Shirin. I wish it never had happened.

[Leona]

Is that true for everyone who changes?

[David Nett]

I don't know. He says it's a special ceremony. It's an honor for us when Shiron chooses us because we're special. They say they can control their changing. I don't know if they remember what they do when they change. I can't control it.

[Shywin]

Did she choose you from an orphanage?

[David Nett]

He says she found me at an orphanage. Yes. About six months ago. Yes. I was getting too old. I would have gone into the streets. She took me in and she took care of me.

[Leona]

How many of the rivers change like this?

[David Nett]

He says we. Well, Grantak started performing the ritual just after I arrived. And the ritual only happens every month during the moon. And there's only a few of us each time, maybe 20.

[Narlak]

I must study the runes again immediately. I leave the room and go back and.

[David Nett]

Okay, start the day.

[Eraviel]

The news is it's maybe now 15.

[David Nett]

So you guys know when he says the moon, you guys know that the full moon is actually tonight?

[Igneous]

Ah, that was going to be. Yes. So the full moon. And you know where they perform this ritual?

[David Nett]

In our. In our home. In our lair by the sewers.

[Tom Kavanaugh]

Ah.

[Igneous]

Can you take us there?

[David Nett]

I don't want to go back there.

[Shywin]

Can you tell us exactly where to find it?

[David Nett]

Yes. I mean, I can draw you a map. Sure.

[Shywin]

At this point, Shywin, one of the things that you guys may or may not know about her is that she joined the City Watch because she is a champion for those who can't help themselves. And hearing that she's been taking advantage of these kids from orphanages incenses her. And she wants to go find Sharon and put her down.

[Tom Kavanaugh]

Yeah.

[Igneous]

And ground talk.

[Tom Kavanaugh]

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[David Nett]

Yeah, I could do so, he says. I can tell you, he says. There's he says, do you know where the sewers enter empty into the river and you guys vaguely know that this is what happens. It's right across the river, actually, from Shacktown there. You know, when you walk in through the high gate every day, you actually pass over them. So Shack town is right there and sort of right by the west wharf here. Before you come in to the gate, there are two sewer pipes that pour into the river right there.

[Tom Kavanaugh]

All right?

[David Nett]

So you can picture in your head now it's these two sewer pipes sticking out, pouring sewage into the river because sanitation is so fantastic in this age. But when you think about the river symbol, you think about those two dots above that river, the river that seems very much in your mind right now. Like those there the whole time. He says, that's where we come in. That's how we get to our home. He says, be careful, because of the. He doesn't know the word. He says, the angry logs in the water with the crocodiles. Okay, yes. They're right inside the sewer.

[Eraviel]

David, when you said angry log the first time, I thought you meant a poo.

[David Nett]

Well, there's lots of that as well. To me.

[Igneous]

I was there too. I was like, wait, angry log. Ah, yes.

[David Nett]

He says, the angry logs just eat the crocodiles, live right there inside. So you have to be careful. But I can draw you a map.

[Igneous]

Draw us a map to the lair.

[Eraviel]

And then maybe we, no offense, should lock you up if you can't control your jail.

[Shywin]

Yes.

[David Nett]

And for protection, that's okay, if you will keep me safe. I've done terrible things. That's what, I guess what I deserve.

[Igneous]

Lock you up.

[Leona]

Need to put you someplace very secure for your safety as well as the safety of others.

[David Nett]

Absolutely. I understand. I understand.

[Shywin]

Let's try to find a way to make this better for you, too.

[David Nett]

Thank you. Thank you. Please, if you can take this curse away from me, I would appreciate it greatly. And if not, I know that you want to hurt Shira. And I think that she's probably just a good person and doesn't understand this, but Grant talks. Who did this to me?

[Eraviel]

I understand not being able to act of your own free will.

[David Nett]

He starts to cry a little bit as he's sitting there in the chair, smiles, walks over and puts a comforting hand on his back. And she turns to you and she says, well, it seems like there's more information that you have this river's headquarters. Perhaps we want to attack it. And she turns to him and she says, you said that the ritual is on the night of the moon. Is that the full moon? He nods, and she looks at all of you.

[Leona]

It's tonight.

[Igneous]

That's tonight. What time does it start?

[David Nett]

The ritual?

[Igneous]

Yeah.

[David Nett]

He says once the moon has risen, the rivers will gather in the morning to greet the transformed special ones. But tonight, when it was me, it's just us and Gron talk. They take us to his room, and then we went to sleep. I don't know what happens after that.

[Igneous]

All right, so when the moon. We gotta get to him before the moon has risen.

[David Nett]

All right.

[Tom Kavanaugh]

All right.

[David Nett]

Anything else you want to ask Liam? No.

[Igneous]

He told us there are 20. So there's 15 of them waiting.

[Leona]

Well, but how many rivers are there total?

[David Nett]

He looks at his hands. A few dozen. I don't know for sure. I've only seen. Not everybody comes down. Not everybody lives in the lair. Some of us are above doing our work on the streets. So a few dozen, maybe more. 50.

[Eraviel]

I want to look at the back of his head. And just very gently, if you don't mind.

[David Nett]

He flinches away from your touch at first.

[Eraviel]

Okay. It's okay.

[David Nett]

Okay.

[Eraviel]

I don't want to hurt you. I just have reason. Just give me one second. Does he have a V?

[David Nett]

He does have that same scar. It's sewed up, but he has that same scar on the back of his skull.

[Shywin]

Nice.

[CC]

Yeah.

[Narlak]

Have I discovered anything more?

[David Nett]

So you're looking at those runes now with this knowledge, hearing the name Graham, kind of looking at this more closely, there's still a little bit out of your grasp. This isn't a language that you speak, and it's not an arcane language that you're familiar with, but you do now, knowing what you know, you can see how some of the runes would go together to indicate transformation. In this particular one, you see a couple of runes together that you think might spell. Might be indicative of vermin or a rat. So you think that this is almost like. These runes might almost be placed in the body to tell the body what to change into and how.

[Narlak]

Like, if I cut Liam open, there'd be a carrion crawler.

[David Nett]

It may be the case. Yeah.

[Narlak]

I'm not going to cut you.

[Shywin]

Okay.

[Igneous]

Yet. Yet, yeah.

[David Nett]

So do you guys. Are you going to infiltrate the river's lair? What are you going to do now?

[Shywin]

What time of day is it?

[David Nett]

So it's like midday right now. So, you know, like one o', clock, two o' clock in the afternoon. You've got a good long bit of day ahead of you before the moon would rise in the sky.

[Eraviel]

I wonder if. Yeah, I'll ask Liam. Are they there? All the time or they. Your rivers.

[David Nett]

Shiren and Granthok. There's somebody there all the time. Shiren's often there. Lots of us live there. Not everybody, but lots of us do.

[Igneous]

Does Gron Talk live there?

[David Nett]

I think so. His rooms are in the back. I know he's there during the ritual. I don't know where he is. Otherwise. I've never actually seen him.

[Shywin]

Because if we go too early, then we might scare them off, Right? Obviously we want it.

[Igneous]

But if we go early and there are less of them.

[Eraviel]

Right.

[Igneous]

We can kill them and lay in wait.

[Eraviel]

Yeah, we might do our own ambushing. But if Grauntak only comes at night. Yeah, we don't want to.

[Narlak]

Quicker we get there. We could get there, secure the area. When Gron'tak arrives, We could then ambush him.

[Leona]

Yeah, let's get down there and get the lay of the land. Before.

[Eraviel]

Yeah, I like that idea.

[Leona]

Before it's dark.

[Eraviel]

I do have to say here, as much as we didn't know what the rivers were, we should have. And they needed to do a little bit better job of picking a name, don't you think?

[David Nett]

Yeah. Right.

[Igneous]

This was pretty easy to figure out.

[David Nett]

Right.

[Eraviel]

It's so on the nose that we looked right over it.

[Igneous]

Come on, guys.

[David Nett]

Sometimes that's the best way to hide.

[Shywin]

Before we walk out, I go to Liam. Is smile like Captain Smile gonna take care of locking him up? Should we lock him up first?

[David Nett]

Smile says, you know, no, I'll take care of him. I'll make sure that he's comfortable, but also very secure.

[Shywin]

Okay. Be careful, Captain.

[David Nett]

I will be. Thank you.

[Shywin]

And I go up to Liam and I say, have faith, young one.

[David Nett]

That's nice. He nods and smiles a little bit. Thank you. Thank you for helping me. Thank you. You guys leave the office.

[Igneous]

We leave.

[Shywin]

We leave.

[David Nett]

You go out of the office, Smiles follows you and closes the door behind you and says, be careful. This is a day you are my best squad. You're strong, powerful, but this is dangerous. So have care. And she goes back into the office. Do you guys now this time you're going out. You're not going in disguise, I imagine. No.

[Igneous]

You're taking all the weapons.

[David Nett]

All right. Armor okay.

[Shywin]

I mean, they already know what we look like anyway.

[Igneous]

That's true.

[Shywin]

They've found us. Many people have found us.

[Igneous]

They should know by now we're coming.

[Eraviel]

That coyote we let run off was able to probably describe.

[Shywin]

Yeah. Just so we're aware. Before we're going to go do some recon. But before we go in tonight, I do want to take advantage of that Pass without a trace.

[David Nett]

Absolutely. So if you guys are going to sneak somewhere, that's going to be your most powerful ally there. Right, okay. So you guys head across the city, out the gates, down to the wharf, to that point where the sewage does spill into the river. And you can see it now. There are two sewer grates very like this, pouring sewage into the wharf.

[Eraviel]

Oh, my gosh. How did I not see that?

[David Nett]

What?

[Shywin]

I just saw it a little while ago today.

[Igneous]

It's the rudest thing in the thing.

[Shywin]

Well done.

[David Nett]

So as you approach, you can see that there are two of these right below sort of the wharf line. There's a walkway above it. It wouldn't be hard to get down there. Now, it's a bustling day on the wharf. People are around. So if you're trying to hide going into there, you may need to be a little bit extra sneaky. But you can certainly get down to those grates easily. And as with this one here, you can see that on one of them, the bars are bent just enough to squeeze a person through. Got it.

[Narlak]

If anyone does look at us suspiciously, I use message to them and I say official inquisitive business.

[David Nett]

You are wearing your clothes. You are wearing your clothes in their head. Sure, sure.

[Shywin]

How many times do I have to rest before I can.

[David Nett]

Now, if you look at your spell sheet, you can see. So what level spell is that pass through?

[Shywin]

2.

[David Nett]

Okay, so if you look at your spell sheet, there, there should be a number that tells you how many second level spells you have. So the first one, you have two second level spells. Okay, great. So you can cast that twice before you have to have a long rest to get it back.

[Shywin]

Okay, should we do that now so nobody sees us going in to recon the place and then do it again later?

[David Nett]

Well, Narlock has a solution about you being the police. If you want to use that. If you don't want anybody to see you, however.

[Shywin]

Right. Cause what if somebody sees us from afar that he doesn't talk to and is like, hey, we're not doing anything.

[Eraviel]

How long does this pass without a trace last?

[Shywin]

An hour for all of us.

[Igneous]

You can do it for all of.

[David Nett]

Us as long as you stay close to her. You all get the advantages of it.

[Narlak]

What if we go inside a building close by, you cast it on us, and then we walk out and we see you.

[David Nett]

No one sees us.

[Igneous]

Are we gonna do this to go into the sewers?

[Shywin]

Cause we wanna do a little recon work. Right. During the day.

[Igneous]

So we'll have an hour. Yeah, we'll have an hour to. To walk around.

[Shywin]

Yeah, all over the place.

[Igneous]

Let's do it.

[David Nett]

So you duck into just a little shack nearby. There's tons of little buildings and actually behind some crates and stuff, it's the wharfs of their offloading equipment. You stand close and you cast your pass without trace. And as Shywin casts, this dark fog emerges from her fingers and swallows her in almost a 30 foot radius. And at first it's very dark and very visible and then it fades and it's almost like she's blending into the background all of the time. You know where she is because you saw her cast this and she's still there. She's visible, but a casual glance might not see her at all. And as you get closer, you can see as you step into this haze, you all have these same effects.

[Shywin]

A veil of shadows and silence radiating from me, masking me and my companions from detection for the duration. Each creature you choose within 30ft, including you, has a plus 10 bonus to dexterity checks and can't be tracked except by magical means.

[David Nett]

It's just dexterity stealth check.

[Shywin]

So it's not like acrobatic dexterity. A creature that receives this bonus leaves behind no tracks or other traces of its passage.

[David Nett]

So again, if people are looking through at you, they might see you, but you'll get a massive plus 10 bonus to your stealth. So you guys move out of the building and because you're moving slowly here, there's no duress or anything, you kind of move slowly and cautiously across down by the pipes you become. Because you're moving so slowly, I'm not going to make you roll here. You move through the crowd, nobody sees you, you keep out of the way, you don't bump people. You're very quiet even inside you. The sounds of your own feet and stuff are muffled as you move with this pass without trace. So you're able to get down by the sewer grates, climb over the planking and down to where the sewer opening is. Do you slip inside?

[Tom Kavanaugh]

Oh, yeah.

[Shywin]

Yes.

[David Nett]

Okay. When you slip inside, you come to a large pool. There's sewer water pouring out of these grates into the river. But then there's a pool where it is sitting and festering while it sort of settles the detritus in. It settles to the bottom before the water pours out. They're trying to keep the river a little cleaner. And along this room, there's a big pool here and along the sides There's a little three foot wide walkway that moves around the whole sides of it. And at the far end, just about three feet above, there's another hole leading off into the sewers. And you can see a little trickle of sewage pouring out of that hole as well. It smells really bad down here. The way that it smells in that juncture that you found below. That's what it smells like here. It is pungent and powerful. The pool is relatively still. There's some stuff floating in it and then there's walkways around the sides that look very slimy.

[Shywin]

Do we see anything here? Anybody?

[David Nett]

Roll a perception check for me. See, this is where you're just trying to spot what's going on here.

[Shywin]

Hmm. Three plus five. It's eight.

[David Nett]

Okay, so just the smell is overwhelming. There's a sound of the pouring water. You actually don't hear anything out of place or anything here. Does anybody else want to check?

[Tom Kavanaugh]

Yeah, sure. Okay.

[David Nett]

Everybody kind of looks around.

[Leona]

12.

[Eraviel]

Ooh, 24.

[Leona]

Yes.

[David Nett]

Where was I? 17.

[Igneous]

Perception. 20.

[David Nett]

Okay, so the two of you. So everybody else, you look around and you hear the pouring water. You smell the stuff. You can see the walkway, hear the sounds of the wharf outside. But the two of you are looking out into the water. You can see several floating, almost log like shapes on top of the water. You kind of quick count them between the two of you, count eight of them and you can tell igneous just because of your knowledge of the place. And you've been down in the sewers and you've seen them before. They're definitely crocodiles floating in the water.

[Igneous]

Got it. Crocs floating in the water.

[David Nett]

So you'll want to not fall in the water.

[Igneous]

Want to not fall in love. Can I converse with them?

[Tom Kavanaugh]

Yeah.

[Shywin]

Can you make friends?

[David Nett]

Oh, you can totally. You can try. Now, conversing with them is one thing. You can always talk to them. Just your regular conversation. You can try to call them too, to have a conversation. Their disposition would be different from the rats, so we'll see if they're successful. But you also have a speak with animals spell.

[Igneous]

Yes.

[David Nett]

Doesn't mean you make friends with them when you speak with them, but you can actually just directly talk to them so they understand you normally. But you can use that spell if you want to. Either way, it doesn't guarantee they'll come talk to you or that they'll be your friends. You'd have to coerce them to you somehow.

[Eraviel]

Hmm.

[Igneous]

There's no other apparent doors in this room.

[Tom Kavanaugh]

Otherwise.

[David Nett]

There is that pipe on the far side.

[Igneous]

Yep. I'm going to try to speak with animals because I do have the six animal handling.

[David Nett]

So what does it say there?

[Igneous]

So this gained the ability to comprehend and verbally communicate with beasts for the duration. The knowledge and awareness of many beasts is limited by their intelligence. They can give you information about nearby locations and monsters. Whatever they can perceive, you may be able to persuade a beast to do a small favor for you.

[David Nett]

Okay, so that's the. You know, this is very similar to the innate power that you have. So it's not raised a spell shot. They'll just use your power. Speaking with the circle Shepherds, it's the shepherd circle power.

[Igneous]

Yep.

[David Nett]

But you're gonna try to coerce him to you using animal handling. What are you gonna. You gonna try to bait him to you? What are you gonna try to do? So the spell doesn't allow you to bring them closer to you. It'd be animal handling.

[Igneous]

Right. I was gonna try to use my animal friendship.

[David Nett]

Oh, you have that. That maybe seems like a better deal.

[Igneous]

Yeah. Let me use animal friendship because this spell lets me convince the beast I mean it no harm. Choose a beast that can see within range. It must see and hear me. If the beast's intelligence is four or higher, the spell fails.

[David Nett]

It's not. It's a crocodile.

[Igneous]

Okay. It might be a smart crocodile. Otherwise, the beast must succeed on a wisdom saving throw or be charmed by you for the spell's duration. If you or one of your companions harms it, the spell ends.

[David Nett]

So this seems more useful than to speak with animals because this is a creature that wouldn't normally be friendly to you right now. The crocodile might not be able to see you right now because of your past without trace spell. So you'll have to move away from the rest of your group in order to expose yourself.

[Igneous]

Can I get back to that?

[David Nett]

Oh, sure, certainly.

[Igneous]

Okay, good. As long as I can go back.

[David Nett]

You can walk and kind of step out so you become more visible.

[Igneous]

Visible. I'll step out and become more visible to the crocodile.

[David Nett]

So mark down the spell for me.

[Igneous]

Where do I mark it down?

[David Nett]

So you've got a spell especially you just went past.

[Igneous]

Yep.

[David Nett]

You can use it. Tells you how many of each spell level you can use per day. So this is a first level spell.

[Igneous]

First level spell.

[David Nett]

So you get four of those per day. You get three. You get three left.

[Igneous]

Three left. Cool.

[Tom Kavanaugh]

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[David Nett]

All right. And you cast the Spell. As soon as you step out of the concealment, several of the crocodiles start to move toward you. But one of them does take a lead, Sort of a curious lead moving toward you. So you cast the spell.

[Igneous]

So I cast the spell on that dude.

[David Nett]

Okay. You try to charm him, and he continues to move toward you, but slows a little bit and rises a little bit in the water. Kind of a curious look toward you. Comes up to the edge, and he opens his mouth. And you guys hear. But what you actually hear, because you speak with him, is, how can I help?

[Igneous]

Oh, good. We're looking for people. People like us who live down here.

[David Nett]

People are delicious.

[Tom Kavanaugh]

They are.

[Igneous]

You don't have to tell me, but in this particular instance, I'm just trying to figure out how have they get in and out of this room? Where do they go?

[David Nett]

He says they walk on the edge. Very frustrating.

[Igneous]

Oh, yes. And then where do they go?

[David Nett]

Once they walk and he kind of moves his. Points his nozzle in the hole.

[Igneous]

They go through the hole. That's the way they go out of here.

[David Nett]

Climb up. Sometimes they fall, though. Delicious.

[Igneous]

Oh, I can imagine that must be really.

[David Nett]

We share. Oh, that's nice.

[Igneous]

That's nice to see you guys share. That's good. So we gotta go through the hole. Great. Have you seen anyone come by recently?

[David Nett]

He kinda cocks his head. Recent isn't a concept that, you know, that they have a very strong sense of. He says, people come, People go.

[Igneous]

Anyone come. Well, they don't have it today, do they?

[David Nett]

Not really. Sewer.

[Igneous]

I think this is about as much as I'm gonna get out of this guide. I'm like, thank you. Hold on. I want to see about asking him for a favor.

[David Nett]

Mm. Succeed.

[Leona]

We got snow white over here.

[David Nett]

So the favor was something you could ask him if you speak with animal. But the charmed animal is kind of gonna do you a favor if you ask him. He's charmed. So as long as it's not against his nature.

[Igneous]

Yeah. I'm gonna ask you if other humans come in here behind us, attack them.

[David Nett]

Oh, yes. Should we wait until they fall in the water?

[Igneous]

No, no. You can come up out of the water.

[David Nett]

Oh, really? Yeah. That sounds fabulous. Absolutely. I'll tell my friends. We will do that. Yeah.

[Igneous]

Of other people after I have left and my friends have left. Go for them.

[David Nett]

We will.

[Igneous]

All right, Great. Thanks. That'll be useful.

[David Nett]

He says, be careful. Don't fall into the water.

[Igneous]

Yeah. I will make sure I won't hurt you.

[David Nett]

But my friends were very hungry yes.

[Igneous]

All right. We won't fall in the water. Nobody fall in the water.

[David Nett]

Okay.

[Igneous]

All right. So then I come back to the group.

[David Nett]

So he kind of swims around. You come back into the fog of the. You guys heard him kind of grunting and hissing at this thing. Parcel to.

[Igneous]

And so apparently we gotta go through this hole here, walk around. We be very careful. Don't fall in the water. The crocodiles will eat you if you fall in the water, and they're also gonna eat anyone who comes in after us. So that should cover our flank for a while.

[Shywin]

Sweet.

[Leona]

Gotta be careful getting out of here.

[David Nett]

Yes.

[Igneous]

And be careful now. Like, if you fall in the water, it's not going to be good.

[David Nett]

You guys are going to inch along the sides, kind of keeping your backs to the wall, trying to move. The rock is very slippery, so I am going to need everybody to make a check for me to move around here to avoid falling in the water. So hold on. First, this is going to be a dexterity check. So you're trying to keep your feet while you're moving around the walls. Are you guys taking any extra precautions that I should know about before you do this?

[Narlak]

Should we have the most dexterous one? Go ahead and then tie a rope and throw it back to us to prevent us from falling.

[Leona]

We have a rope.

[David Nett]

You can definitely try that. It's okay if you don't have anything you want to do. I just wanted to see if you were gonna hold hands or tie a rope to you, or you can make one of us fly hands.

[Leona]

Our leader as leader.

[Igneous]

Yeah, let's hold on.

[Leona]

It would be wise for us all to hold on to each other so that we can pull anyone out of the water.

[Tom Kavanaugh]

Yes.

[David Nett]

So you guys move along the wall. So we're just gonna go around and have everybody make your roll. So, Leona, you take the lead, and you make a dexterity check for me. And this is a. If you're not going to use acrobatics, let's just make it a pure dexterity check to keep your feet.

[Leona]

Can I use athletics?

[David Nett]

You cannot use athletics, unfortunately, there's nothing to hold on to. What you can use your strength for. This is dexterity.

[Leona]

A lot of that.

[David Nett]

Yeah, you do. So you roll and add your dexterity to that.

[Leona]

14.

[David Nett]

Yeah. You are able to make it by. It's only. You're trying to hit a 10. So we're just trying to hit a 10. So you are. You are able to keep your feet as you go around, but you're holding onto Igneous. So igneous, why don't you roll? Dexterity roll. Trying to hit a 10 or better.

[Igneous]

12.

[David Nett]

All right, tell. So you're able to keep your feet, which is good. I don't think you have a bonus to your dexterity, do you?

[Igneous]

So I do have a plus one. So 13.

[David Nett]

So 13 behind you, then, Arabiel.

[Eraviel]

18.

[David Nett]

18. So you're able to keep your feet shy win. Your dexterity is crazy high.

[Shywin]

So 19. Plus 5.

[David Nett]

So 24. So you sort of dance along the edge of it. And then last, you're holding Narlak's hand.

[Narlak]

Weird alien guy.

[David Nett]

Yes.

[Mike Carruthers]

12.

[David Nett]

All right. So you're all able to make it around the edge as we get there. Leona, you're very strong. You can boost everybody into that sewer pipe, and you boost them up into the sewers, and you find yourself just human, huh?

[Igneous]

Just strong.

[David Nett]

Pushing them all up there. And you find yourselves back in the sewers. This is like the rest of the sewers. It's about 20ft wide. There's a channel running down the middle. Murky water running down it, dripping water from the ceiling. The ceiling's about nine feet high. And you've got the map that Liam drew for you. You know that there is a crack in the sewers about a mile from here, winding through the sewers that leads to the river's lair. So you begin to move through here. You have good confidence you won't get lost because you've got a ranger with you that never gets lost. You've got Igneous and his rat friends down here should anything go awry. And you begin to move through the sewers into the darkness. Does anybody cast any light or anything before we go?

[Narlak]

I will cast light upon my staff.

[David Nett]

Right.

[Eraviel]

Thank you.

[David Nett]

Gnarloch holds his staff. A light bangs it on the ground, and the top of it, light shrouded.

[Shywin]

In the spell as well.

[David Nett]

So, yeah, you guys, the spell is still the spell, so you're still going to have that bonus as you move so you can see, but it will still be hard for people to see you. So as you guys move forward stealthily into the spell sewers toward the river's lair. And that's where we're going to end for this time. If you want to find out what happens as our party reaches the river's lair, you can join us Next time on Starter Kit.

[Narlak]

Next time on Starter Kit.

[David Nett]

The sun will be down in moments, and he'll begin his ceremony. The thing turns and sees you. Your people escaped us a century ago. How fitting that you should bring yourself to me now.

[Eraviel]

What a dick.

[Mike Carruthers]

Yeah, right.

[Narlak]

Oh.

[CC]

The Regency era. You might know it as the time when Bridgerton takes place or the time when Jane Austen wrote her books. But the Regency era was also an explosive time of social change, sex scandals, and maybe the worst king in British history. And on the Vulgar History podcast, we're going to be looking at the balls, the gowns, and all the scandal of the Regency era. Vulgar History is a women's history podcast, and our Regency era series will be focusing on the most rebellious women of this time. That includes Jane Austen herself, who is maybe more radical than you might have thought. We'll also be talking about queer icons like Anne Lister, scientists like Mary Anning and Ada Lovelace, as well as other scandalous actresses, royal mistresses, rebellious princesses, and other lesser known figures who made history happen in England in the Regency era. Listen to Vulgar History wherever you get podcasts.

[David Nett]

Hey, Michael.

[Tom Kavanaugh]

Hey, Tom.

[David Nett]

You want to tell him or you want me to tell him?

[Tom Kavanaugh]

No, no, no, I got this. People out there, people lean in. Get close, get close. Listen, here's the deal.

[David Nett]

We got big news.

[Tom Kavanaugh]

We got monumental news. We got spectacular news. Yeah. After a brief hiatus, my good friend.

[Igneous]

Michael, Ian Black and I are. Are coming back.

[Tom Kavanaugh]

My good friend Tom Kavanaugh and I are coming back to do what we.

[David Nett]

Do best, what we were put on this earth to do.

[Tom Kavanaugh]

To pick a snack, to eat a snack, and to rate a snack. Scientifically, emotionally, spiritually. Mates is back.

[David Nett]

Mike and Tom Eat Snacks is back.

[Tom Kavanaugh]

A podcast for anyone with a mouth. With a mouth.

[David Nett]

Available wherever you get your podcasts.

[Mike Carruthers]

If you love those, wait, what moments you'll love. Something you should know. I'm Mike Carruthers, and on my podcast, we explore the fascinating ideas hiding in plain sight, like how elevators change the entire world, how gravity affects your health more than you think, or how to instantly become a better conversationalist. Each episode is fast, fun, and full of insight you'll want to share, so give it a try. Search for something you should know. Wherever you get your podcasts.