
This One-Shot is sponsored by Avowed. Go to https://www.xbox.com/Avowed to check out the game which is Available Now! Join Game Master Matthew Mercer for a special Avowed inspired one-shot as he guides players Marisha Ray, Travis Willingham, Anjali Bhimani, SungWon Cho, and Whitney Moore through the Living Lands and shadow-haunted shores. BEACON We’re excited to bring you even MORE with a Beacon membership! Start your 7-day free trial today at https://beacon.tv/join and get unparalleled access to the shows you love completely ad-free! You’ll receive NEW Beacon exclusive series, instant access to VODs & podcasts, live event pre-sales, merch discounts, & a private Discord. YOUTUBE MEMBERS / TWITCH SUBSCRIBERS Twitch Subscribers and YouTube Members gain instant access to VODs of our shows, moderated live chats, and custom emojis & badges: https://www.youtube.com/criticalrole/join https://www.twitch.tv/criticalrole Art by Julie Dillon (@JulieDillonart) Graphics by Bryan Weiss
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Galen
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Matthew Mercer
I can say to my new Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra hey, find a keto friendly restaurant nearby and text it to Beth and Steve and it does without me lifting a finger so I can get in more squats anywhere I can. 1, 2, 3 will that be cash or credit? Credit 4 Galaxy S25 Ultra the AI companion that does the heavy lifting so you can do. You get yours@samsung.com compatible with select apps. Requires Google Gemini account. Results may vary based on input. Check responses for accuracy.
Sable
Hey there Critical Role Podcast listeners. We have a special new membership service at Beacon TV where you can get early access to all new podcast episodes including Critical Role. For the first time ever. Beacon members also get things like event presales, merch discounts, access to a private community discord and and new exclusive series like Critical Role Cooldown where we riff after the show. Think of it as our digital Critical role Land, head on over to Beacon TV to check it out for yourself and start a seven day free trial. Thank you so so much for your support for being a podcast listener and for being a part of our community.
Matthew Mercer
Hey there critters. We are so excited to share with you our brand new PODC from the world of Exandria, the Re Slayer's Take. In this audio adventure, you'll be guided through the wild continent of Issylra, home to some of the most dangerous creatures. Here, the Slayer's take is the most notorious monster hunting group in the realm, but when previously slain creatures start returning from the grave, it's up to six misfit mercenaries to band together and re slay these supernatural threats as the reslayers take. So come follow along these audio escapades as the second coolest monster hunters this side of Exandria battle a growing undead army of dangerous creatures. The party is led by a duo of game masters, George Primavera and Nick Williams, with the main cast including Jasmine Buellar, Caroline Lux and Jasmine Shion. Listen to new episodes every Monday anywhere you stream podcasts or become a Beacon member and listen to the podcast two weeks early and uninterrupted by Ads. Hi there. This is Matthew Mercer, resident game master here at Critical Role to welcome you to this podcast version of the show. If you'd like to watch the stream as it airs, you can catch It Thursdays at 7pm Pacific on Twitch TV CriticalRole or YouTube.com criticalrole. Twitch subscribers can access the video on demand immediately after the broadcast, and it also becomes available on YouTube Mondays at 12pm Pacific. Podcast episodes land right here on the Critical Role podcast network on Thursdays, a week after the initial broadcast. Okay, with that info dump out of the way, let's dive into the story. Hello everyone, and welcome to a very special one shot in collaboration with our friends at Xbox and Obsidian Entertainment and their new game Avowed, which is out now. You should buy it. It's in the same world of Pillars and Pillars of Eternity and pillars of Eternity 2, and I love it and I'm super excited. You can check it out now@xbox.com avowed to learn more about it. And that being said, while you may recognize some of the places and characters explored tonight as inspired by elements from the Avowed game, we just want to emphasize for you all that the characters and events in this one shot are our own creations and are not official content from Avowed. They are just simply inspired by it. But a big thank you to Xbox and Obsidian Entertainment for letting us play in your world of eora. Before we jump in, let's get through a quick roundtable for some of our fantastic players here. We'll go ahead and start on this side. Marisha. Marisha Ray. A wonderful.
Sable
That's me. I'm Maria. Marisha Ray. Hello. Hi.
Matthew Mercer
Yay. Joining us, I guess for the first time, Seungwon Cho. Thank you so much for coming. Yeah, my pleasure. Thank you. Hell yeah, buddy. Anjali Bhumani, thank you so much for coming along. Hi, guys.
Ylva
It's good to see. Oh, no, I won't be doing that voiceover. Do not worry. I know. Someday.
Matthew Mercer
Someday.
Ylva
Someday. I promise. I promise.
Matthew Mercer
Travis. Yes. Travis Williamson. Willingsom.
Galen
Yeah.
Matthew Mercer
Willingsom. Travis Willingsome. Thank you so much. Travis Willingham. Thank you for coming, buddy. And lovely Whitney Moore. Thank you so much for joining us at the table.
Minette
I'm a nice woman who's allowed to be inside an airport.
Galen
Oh, what does that mean?
Matthew Mercer
You want that information? Okay, we're not going to unpack that at all. We do not have time. But bringing us back to eora without further ado, let us indeed come into the world of Avowed.
Galen
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Matthew Mercer
New Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra reduces noise in my concert videos with Galaxy AI taking them from this to this. Now I have time to bejewel my favorite artists faces onto jackets. This one really captures their eyes. Galaxy S25 Ultra the AI companion that reduces distractions so you can do you get yours@samsung.com compatible with common video formats, accessible in gallery helps minimize six select sounds results for your Galaxy AI features by Samsung free through 2025 welcome to Eora, a vast and mysterious world of magic, politics, and discovery, where empires weave and row over their interests, and the many gods have presided in ages past over the wheel, a cycle of rebirth the soul undertakes with each passing. The soul itself is a studied thing, a being's own essence and its mechanics themselves are studied across many lands within the field of animancy. Texts and great machines recovered from the ancient civilization known as the Ingwithins pertained to and manipulated souls in ways that are still not fully understood. But such matters carry little interest where our story begins as a sizable prison ship recently set sail from the Idiran capital city of Highcrown. Heading northward, this ship, the Dancing Umbrage, carries a cargo of numerous convicts of varying degrees of notoriety, shackled, then prepped into the ship for arrival to the living Lands, the northern frontier island where numerous settlements and foreign colonies now seek to expand and claim dominion over the region's diverse geography and bountiful resources. Rumors swirl of unnaturally abundant landscapes and uncovered relics belonging to prehistoric culture, and the pursuit of such interests requires labor, and, well, no labor is cheaper than Prisoners without choice. Prisoners that now wait within the belly of the dancing umbrage, pushing onward across a choppy sea as a storm brews beyond. So here, deep below the deck, the dull swinging lantern light barely lighting the interior of these barred cells. The strong sense of musky sweat and mildew, salt soaked wood itself giving this awful mixture of smells that sting the senses like an invisible mist that hangs in the air around you. The loud sounds of hard exterior rainfall hitting the hull of the ship. The undulating creaking of the wood with each shift of every heavy wave causing you all to rock and push against the bars and wood that surround you. Here in the shadows of this ship, the many criminals sent on this adventure sit behind these bars, sliding with each of these heavy swings. A wooden cage filled with a unique mix of white collar criminals, grifters, thugs and some career crooks, all eager to be free from this seaside rocking coffin. Travis, as we shift over to one of these two adjacent cells with but a set of bars between them, what do we see in front of us? And what are you doing?
Galen
You see a human godlike, sitting there, keeping to himself. Almost appears cold, but it seems like it tremors from the violent shaking of the boat. Not really handling himself very well. His skin looks almost charred or blackened. And you can see these little veins of what look like magma or fire creeping up his and into his cheeks, down his arms, and there's a low glowing flame beneath it. His eyes have this burning coals and blackened hollows behind them and then these horns that protrude from his down along his cheeks and up along his temples as well. But he's not a terribly imposing figure and he actually looks fairly afraid and fearful of of where he is. And he's constantly furtively moving his eyes back and forth and just trying to get a bearing on his situation.
Matthew Mercer
All right now, but a few days here deep at sea to this unknown location, you sit there keeping to yourself mostly, hands ringing in your isolation, both here among the distant waters and even amongst a foreign populace of folk more threatening than you by disposition, maybe not by visual appearance, but sharing the cell with you. Whitney, if you wouldn't mind describing who we see and what you're up to.
Minette
Yes, I am an orlon, so about 3ft tall with the coloring of a Siamese cat. Dark, all white except for dark on my hands and feet and ears and a little bit right on my nose. And I'm wearing a beautiful silk gown that has a really cinched waist and a bell skirt and it is embroidered with beautiful green stems with pink flowers on it and it's really beautiful lace gloves on it and I am humming to myself, having not a nice time, but I am content and I am fingering the hem of my dress where that seems like there's something, a thread that I'm pulling at but humming and I'm keeping to myself.
Matthew Mercer
All right, as you hum and you pluck at that one thread, it begins to slowly unravel as it has been for some time. And as you're lost in distant thought as the song swims through your mind, a heavy wave seems to billow on one side of the ship and as it does it and rocks to one side and you can't help but try and catch yourself before you slide and wham into the other bars across the way as the ship rights itself as you slam into the bars, the heavy sound of metal ringing behind you right into the back of you Seungwon, your character on the opposite side of these bars, feel the impact from behind and who do we see react?
Galen
So he's a big blue man, he's very handsomely dressed and I guess prior to getting run into, very relaxed just.
Matthew Mercer
Like, I don't know, sticking his finger in his ear, checking for wax blowing.
Galen
And just clearly not too bothered by his current circumstance.
Matthew Mercer
When she runs into me, I'm vaguely annoyed.
Galen
But your character is fairly small, right?
Matthew Mercer
Okay, very small. I almost barely.
Galen
Because I'm built and I barely notice it and when I like to scoff.
Matthew Mercer
Little look of disdain but I don't even acknowledge. Fair enough. As this Aomaoa glances over his shoulder, not terribly bothered, his head turns to look about the rest of this cramped cell where not too far. Anjali, if you would describe who we see also sharing this space.
Ylva
Yes. So you see sitting in the back corner, one leg folded under and one leg bent in front, you see a lithe elven woman who is she has long white hair twisted up. You see some kind of golden spirit, something that she's fashioned into some kind of a hairpin of some kind. You can't tell if it's a weapon, a stick or what it is, but it's in her hair and she's wearing a fur lined bolero and a high low skirted leather bodice jacket thing. It's a technical turn. Stay him out of my lane. And long tall boots. And as all of this has been happening, she's been eyeing both of these two very sweet characters across the way. She's been eyeing them and sharpening her nails against the stone or against the stone of one of the walls. You notice that her nails are sharpened.
Matthew Mercer
To a fine point, all right, so even noticeably treated a little better in what you're able to bring along than some of the other prisoners on this. There is some difference in station, just easy at a glance to notice. But here, as you gather yourself and feel comfortable in this space, you feel the distant crack of rolling thunder echo and billow through the muffled sound barrier that is the outside of the ship as the movement of the waves make it continue to roll and undulate. The warden's heavy footsteps now being heard beginning to descend down below deck and into the interior of the chamber. As you can glance over to the right in the direction of the sound not far from you on the other side, ears also perked up at what sounds like the warden giving some sort of an immediate walk or pass through. Marisha, would you describe who we see also in this chamber with these two?
Sable
You see a very stout, dwarven woman. She looks kind of like the rugged, outdoorsy type. She's covered in a bunch of scars. Face is a little bit worse for wear, a little gruff, a little reddened cheeks from, you know, sunspots from being out in the sun too much. She's got a fur pelt over top of her shoulders, sustainably sourced, and it's got some leathers kind of all over the place. A little bit of some hides hanging from her belt. And a big wide brimmed hat sits on top of her head. Two kind of braided ponytail or pigtails that kind of hang down beside. And she's having a very different experience from everybody else. You would almost think she's having a good time. Right before this, right before this warden came down, she was just like.
Ylva
Yeah.
Sable
Getting tossed around like a fresh pot of ale and drunkard stuff. Stomach.
Matthew Mercer
Let's go, let's go. As you slam on the ground, all of you, your arms and armaments themselves confiscated and not certain where they were taken even before this trip, even if they made it to the boat, you have what was on you when you were set aside for conviction and then quickly thrown onto this ship with what you had on on your back, you slam your fist in the ground before another sound slams into the heavy wood door just beyond where the cell is. As around the corner, you see the dark and outer shape barely lit by the still hanging and squeaking metal of the lanterns that are still trying to recover from the thrust of the ship. From side to side, the outline of Warden Renzano. You see A human man with a big heavy square jaw, with a. A big bushy red beard that consumes most of it. Though the mustache itself is cut down except for a bit stubbly up top. This massive chin beard, short crew cut red hair, and a very intense look. Look to be the green eyes you've seen during the day before you took this trip. But it's hard to even tell much beyond his really thick brow in this top lit lighting as he comes around. All right, need you all to keep down. No more. Too much noise making around here. We still got about a week's path on this. And if any of you be causing any sort of trouble, any rolling down here, we'll strap you to the front of this bow until you right make your face smile.
Ylva
Don't make any promises you can't keep.
Matthew Mercer
I wouldn't keep plenty of promises, missy. Food's coming around in about two hours. He keeps on walking, moving past. You hear this ting, ting, ting. About 10ft down. He's like, who threw that? Who fucking threw that? Someone laughs around. There's a couple chuckles, comes over and slams into the bars and everything gets quiet and still. And he's like, you gen 4, want to go ahead and take a walk, huh? You're just like, no, no sir. He goes, too bad. Time to take a hike, boy. Opens up the bars and you hear like, no, no, no, no. The sound of chains dragging, manacles being clamped onto somebody. And you see the shape of one of the prisoners in one of the other cells in this part of the deck being dragged out with the warden up to the deck. His whimpers vanish as the trapdoor closes on top.
Galen
As that was happening, could I rush up to the bars and just try and see where the warden is pulling keys from or anything like that on his person?
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, go ahead and roll perception for me.
Ylva
First roll, first roll.
Galen
That's roll 20.
Matthew Mercer
You see another guard that had been stationed on the far end of this hallway has joined him as this commotion began to begin. So there's a secondary guard helping. It's not just the warden, but the warden indeed. Pushes past his cloak and you see those heavy furs as well soaked. He's been walking up on top of the deck to try and keep everything organized. So there's water dripping from the furs, but as he pulls back, you hear the jangling of metal. And without issue, even here in the low light, your keen eyes see this ring that carries about probably a dozen and a half keys from it of different colors and metals. He goes ahead and plucks past four down, enters it and then enters the cell where this figure's drawn out. You see, this is a poor older dwarven fellow who looks later in his years who he's not fighting. He's just whimpering as he's dragged off, bald of head and long white curls. Both the guards grab an arm and pull him up onto the top of the deck and out of sight.
Galen
Can we please keep it down across the. Across the way there. I really don't want to end up.
Matthew Mercer
On the bow of the ship.
Sable
See how hard he hit that wood? It's strong wood. What do you think, Oak?
Matthew Mercer
It's good.
Galen
I turn to Ilobud and I go.
Matthew Mercer
So they got you too, huh?
Ylva
It seems they have, huh?
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, well, I made a few too many slip ups and. Yeah, but it'll be fine.
Sable
You two know each other or something?
Matthew Mercer
In passing, I suppose.
Ylva
We're acquainted. Family friends.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah. You're with. What's the name of that family?
Ylva
The Tyrans.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, yeah. Tyrans. Yeah. Anyway, we've had a few run ins.
Sable
Nice. Like, like.
Ylva
Definitely not.
Matthew Mercer
Not yet.
Sable
Well, we're here another week, you know, so. No strangers among thieves, right?
Ylva
Are you looking?
Sable
How am I watching?
Ylva
As much as I appreciate your daring, do I think perhaps our perceptive natures are a little bit more inclined to finding a way out of here before we enjoy each other's company.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, she's got a real stick up her ass.
Ylva
Watch it or you'll have one up yours.
Matthew Mercer
Promise. I bought this moment. A soft voice from across the way in the shadow of the bars in the cell across the hall from Mew. Does anyone around here know where we're going? Anyone at all? You see just faintly through the shadow, these two little hands curl around as this dirty blond Orlan female, old middle age, blue eyes peer through from beneath. You can see a pale expression of fear on her face as she wears somewhat ragged looking prison clothes that give you the sense that she's probably been waiting in a cell back in the Indiran empire for a while before joining this journey with the rest of you.
Sable
Haven't you heard? I imagine they're going to take us where they take all you cells type of folks live in lands.
Matthew Mercer
I don't know what that is.
Minette
You look like me. I've really seen someone who looks like me. We're going somewhere to do work, I believe. But don't worry, because patience is a virtue and adaptability is a virtue. So if you hang on and think nice thoughts, then you'll get through, and that's what I'm hanging onto. So have that.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. Okay. That's good to know. That's good to know. I'm Lyria. Lyra.
Minette
Lyra, my name is Lady Minette. It's so nice to meet you.
Matthew Mercer
You're a lady?
Minette
I'm a lady, yes.
Matthew Mercer
Wow.
Galen
I, Lyra Hunt. But Galen. That's very nice. By the way.
Matthew Mercer
Galen.
Minette
I find it helps to hum along, to drown out the thoughts, so. And there's no dread for you. Hum over it.
Ylva
I'd like to differ. There is a little bit of dread, just maybe not for you.
Minette
I'm sorry to speak out of turn.
Ylva
This is quite all right. Yes.
Sable
No, you have to oppose.
Ylva
Oh, all right.
Matthew Mercer
Thank you.
Minette
I understand that in polite society, it's important to have manners, and I don't want to speak out of tongue.
Ylva
There's another story.
Sable
We're not in polite society no more.
Galen
Lady Minette, are you a. You're a lady?
Matthew Mercer
I am.
Minette
I am a lady. Just very much like Ilva, actually. Right, my diva. You went to parties and you drank tea and are educated like me, right?
Ylva
I am many things, but definitely not a lady.
Minette
Oh, forgive me. Yes, I am a lady, and I am adaptable, and I have strength of character. And so this is something that we will cross the bridge when we get to it.
Ylva
Interesting. Do you have any skills?
Minette
Yes, yes. I'm highly educated in magic. I was. My friend Eleonora, whose family I joined at a young age, she wanted me to be taught all the things that she was taught. And so I was raised with education, such as maths and literature. And also I can shoot fire out of my hands. So I don't know. I don't typically do it very much, but. Yes. And I'm also very good at dice.
Ylva
Dice? Dice.
Minette
Games. Card games. Yes. You know, you have to. A lady must always have a rounded set of skills. That's what Eleanora said.
Matthew Mercer
So what's a fancy little girl like you doing here? You steal a cookie from the cookie jar?
Minette
No, I wasn't allowed to have cookies. No, I. I'm here because of friendship.
Ylva
Oh, dear.
Minette
Well, my friend Eleonora, she met me when I was a very little girl, and she was small as well, and I was on the streets, and she said, would you like to come home with me and be my pet? And she called me Minette, which I think means cat. And I think she thinks that I am a cat. But that's okay, because she said, I will give you beautiful dresses and hot meals. And you will be educated and you will become a lady. And so she brought me up and I owe her everything. And there was an accident. Forgive my imprudence, but I was reasonably more skilled at spells than she was and she had an accident with a male suitor. And I couldn't let anything happen to my friend, so I took the fall. And I would do it again. I owe my entire life to Eleonora. And I regret nothing. And I am in this situation because I deserve to be. And I will handle it with grace.
Ylva
Wait. Just so. So many questions.
Sable
Yeah, there's a lot to unpack.
Ylva
Honestly, no. So you are a cat that did something to support another creature?
Minette
No, no, I.
Ylva
A cat that had someone else's better interest in mind. I'm sorry, I've never heard of anything. I don't. I don't. This is not. I. What? What?
Minette
Sometimes the most virtuous thing to do is to understand one's place. I'm not a cat. Although I do meow and I.
Matthew Mercer
Sounds like you're kind of a cat.
Sable
Looks like a cat.
Minette
What would you do for a hot meal?
Ylva
Oh, many things. It depends on the meal.
Minette
Right now I'd meow. And much more than that. Eleonora is someone who's very, very dear to me. And her life was going in a direction that mine could never. And I am very, very grateful to her for what I've learned for her and the very, very many beautiful dresses that I received. For that I take my piece. And I think she will come back for me. I think that she will. I think that she loves me.
Sable
Well, thank God we got a week on here because it's going to take about a week to uncode all that.
Galen
Well, this is good though. If Eleanora is very powerful or has a lot of means or station, then maybe there would be an effort to free you and us.
Ylva
Trust me, if you're depending on love, there's no one coming.
Sable
Well, what about you? You look more nervous than gingerbread man in a hot oven.
Ylva
Oh, wow.
Sable
What did you do?
Galen
I. I did nothing. Okay, no, no, I know that's probably said quite frequently, but I literally did nothing. I worked the books. I work in accounting in an import export business. And.
Sable
White collar crime?
Galen
No, even that. Well, maybe I might have drawn outside of the lines a little bit and. But nothing that deserves this. I found some errors in the accounting of my company and when I brought them to the owner's attention, he paid me a little extra to look the other way and to continue the business as it was. But I was working late, burning the candle at both ends one evening. And when I awoke there was a struggle in the office. And when I turned the light, there were dead bodies everywhere. Someone had broken in and throttled the owner and his wife was there. It was terrible. But as soon as I went out and tried to help them, I realized they were beyond saving. And by raising my hand and flagging down help, I was pinned for this.
Ylva
Can I make whatever kind of roll would be made to try to see if anything about this is something that I would have heard of among the families?
Matthew Mercer
Sure, yeah. Make an Intellite roll for me, if you don't mind.
Ylva
18 plus 6. So 17. Yes.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry.
Ylva
18 plus 6. Did I say 17? I'm an Asian who can't do math, you guys. There's only one of us. Only one of us. And it's me. 24.
Matthew Mercer
Very, very good. Actually. The Opalescent Trading Company is known to do quite a bit of business on the eastern side of the Idiran Empire, also between here and the Valian Republic. But they weren't a massive business necessarily. But they were one of the smaller up and comers, had been around for a while and were starting to really make their selves known. But word got around that there was some sort of vengeful wiping out of their upper management. And there's currently investigations going into a number of the competitive businesses. But currently all you've heard is they arrested somebody involved with it.
Ylva
But I don't have any inkling that that business, that that crime had something to do with one of the criminal families that either he or I belong to.
Matthew Mercer
I would say that from what you can understand, there were many families that had some toes dipped like they do in many of the trade businesses around here. But from what you've heard, no specific whispers about cause or blame.
Galen
As you look at Galen, he looks like he's wearing sort of dirty clothes, but it's actually very darkened rust colored bloodstains on his shirt, on his pants, on his sleeves.
Minette
Yeah, yeah, it sounds like you were just trying to help. That's a virtue. And I'm sure wherever we're going, you can just explain that and. Right.
Galen
No, no one's listened to me. They take one look at me and they assume the worst. And I understand. I tried to help, but I think they've lacked evidence or anyone else to point a finger at.
Ylva
Have you ever killed a man or anyone with abundant matter?
Matthew Mercer
No.
Galen
No, I've never Even killed for food.
Ylva
Keep that to yourself. Where we're going, that's not a good thing.
Matthew Mercer
Right.
Galen
Thank you. I'll keep it to my lady.
Minette
Delilva, have you killed someone?
Ylva
I'm not a lady. Have I killed someone?
Matthew Mercer
Massive shift in the ship suddenly causes you all to slide to one side. You grab out and try and hold onto the bar space you can. Or brace yourself. Remember the battle. The ship settles again and you hear another crack of distant thunder. Stillness takes again.
Ylva
I just thought of something. Can all of you swim?
Matthew Mercer
Here? Here?
Galen
Yes.
Minette
Yes.
Matthew Mercer
Can you?
Ylva
Oh, yes.
Galen
Lyra.
Matthew Mercer
I learned a long time ago.
Ylva
Yeah. Have I ever killed anyone? Oh, that's a. That's an interesting question. With several different answers. It depends on what you mean by killing someone.
Sable
Feels like there should only be two answers. Oh, no. Feels like yes or no.
Ylva
Was I responsible for someone's death? Maybe I break several hearts here and there. But have I ever physically killed another person? A woman has to have her secrets.
Minette
So yes is what I'm gathering. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Sable
Yeah. It feels like it would be a resounding no if it was anything else.
Matthew Mercer
She's got a smile on her face.
Ylva
Absolutely got a smile on her face. Looking like sweet death fully got a smile on her face. And continuing to sharpen her fingernails up against the stone. Are there any Wardens nearby? Do I see anybody at the moment?
Matthew Mercer
No. You hear heavy footfalls above and there are people shifting around on deck. Probably trying to hold the sails down in the midst of this storm. But nobody at the moment is present in the hall. But you do know that about every 10 or so minutes the Warden or one of the other guards comes through to check in on things.
Ylva
When we were brought in to the boat, did we see any dinghies or anything for abandon ship? Did we see any extra boats? Any eject pods for their own people?
Matthew Mercer
You know what? Roll a perception check for me, if you don't mind.
Ylva
Nope. That's an eight.
Matthew Mercer
The path you took into this ship was pretty direct. You were brought across the gangplank onto the deck itself and directly under to your cell. So even the quick glance, you got nothing that leads you to believe that there's any sort of life raft based.
Ylva
Any way off this boat other than landing?
Matthew Mercer
Do we know how much longer this.
Galen
Voyage is going to last?
Matthew Mercer
Make an intellect roll for me.
Galen
Oh, boy, My character's not good for you.
Sable
Can I help?
Galen
Come on. Come on, baby. 13 minus 1 12.
Matthew Mercer
Let's go, big blue 12.
Ylva
All right.
Matthew Mercer
Big blue 12. I mean, you've heard of the living lands, you know it's to the north, you know it's a big an island landmass and all sorts of weird rumors about it. But you're not a navigator. Yeah, I haven't really looked at a map. So you have no idea. Are there reports of dangerous. Do people die when they go there? Is there a reputation? You've heard things from people saying it is a rich land of possibility. It's a frontier, unused and unexploited. And you know that there are some colony sets from many of the different major political players both the Idiran Empire, the valiant republics nurtures in the dead fire. There's all sort of figures that are of interest of this northern area, but also it is in its own ways dangerous and unmapped. That's as much as you can gather. And that's just from hearing around from people to discussing it through your life. No direct reports. You do hear though, a chuckle emerge from a cell a little bit at an angle from across the way as a shadowed figure leans against the bars, their shoulders pushing against their head, pushing through carefully. A very thin head. You see a pale elven head pushed through with a dark brown matted long hair that covers one part. Part of the face leans in. Sorry, I couldn't help but listen in on your little conversations here, but little miss here is trying to be cheeky. I think she's killed many times. I think I know a few. You recognize that voice? This pale elven man you know to be Medrin Glaukias.
Ylva
Can you spell that, please?
Matthew Mercer
Yeah. M E D R A N GLA Kaeth G L A C Y A T H of the Glakiah family.
Galen
Like it?
Matthew Mercer
This is one of the numerous competing criminal families more to the western side of the empire. They don't work directly near the capital city and he's a middle high member of the family. He's not deeply important, but both of you make intelligence checks for me or intellect Intelligence checks for me real fast.
Galen
17.
Matthew Mercer
Nice.
Ylva
What does that say?
Matthew Mercer
Which one? This one.
Ylva
I have my glasses over here.
Matthew Mercer
That's a 19.
Ylva
19 plus 6 25.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. You both do know, as you keep tabs in your own ways on any of the the adjacent criminal movements in your spectrums of interest. The Golkayeth criminal family. This Medron figure was known to be a rising star within his particular circle, but recently became arrested and publicly humiliated and more or less disowned by the family. You don't Know if that was to just push any of the blame away from tarnishing their business or keep eyes from prying too deep into what they were doing. But he was definitely made a public example of before disappearing for a good two or three months from any sight. And now apparently, has been placed on a similar journey. As to you. They're just collecting all of us, huh? That's Medrin. Go. What the. What was it? Lakai? Yeah, whatever. Anyway. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.
Ylva
My face falls a little bit and for the first time you see me not looking coy or holding anything back. Just. Hello, eyes. Hello, Medrin. So they've done to you what he's done to me, have they?
Sable
Do you all know each other?
Ylva
What is it with you? Has it been a long time?
Sable
Yeah.
Matthew Mercer
Look, it's all been terribly honest here. Some of us here have some skill, others maybe not so much, not at least where we're going. So if we have a chance, we make landfall. If any opportunity strikes, we have to know who's got our backs and who's going to be useful. After all, last I counted, there's more prisoners in this ship than there are guards.
Galen
There are. I did the math.
Ylva
I can't do math, apparently so. We've already established that. Sorry, that was above table.
Matthew Mercer
Good. What can you do?
Sable
Oh, you know, I'm just a dwarf of the land. I know. Pretty good with a gun, pretty good with a dagger, pretty good with nature, kind of in general.
Matthew Mercer
Why the fuck are you down here with the rest of us, Riff Raffa?
Sable
Well, you see, I consider myself a conservationalist of sorts. A little bit of an animal rights activist. You see, I was just happy and fine in my mountain, protecting my forest, you know, trying to keep it from poachers. You know, they're the type of people that want to exploit the land. And, you know, there's a lot of people who wander into my neck of the woods, generally from the Valian Republic, who have all sorts of interests in the exotic animal trade and trying to find the wildlife and use them for either any type of their criminal mischief or everything from just being an accessory.
Matthew Mercer
All right. And she's your team?
Minette
Excuse me, sir. Pardon me? We were engaged in conversation and I don't understand why you interrupted and then assumed that we didn't already know that she clearly killed someone and was purposely withholding.
Matthew Mercer
He lunges at the bar, suddenly with a hand reaching out, but like, like.
Ylva
And as he does, I just step in front of him with a hand up gently. Matron.
Matthew Mercer
Be Careful who you're talking to, miss.
Minette
I'm not afraid of you. And what can you do?
Matthew Mercer
Wait. I can wait.
Minette
Ew.
Matthew Mercer
Another heavy wave impacts inside of the ship. This time it hits at a heavier angle than you expect. All of you slide the lantern shake. One ends up slamming and breaking the wall. You're the shattering of glass clattering on the ground. And the flickers darken for a second as it eventually rights itself. As it does, the whole room shakes, you all hear. And the bars to your chamber ever so faintly open.
Galen
I run up and look like I hold it closed but put my fingers in between so that it looks closed, but I think it's so pretty.
Sable
Did we just crash into. Did it feel like we crashed into something?
Matthew Mercer
No, you're still rocking. Just a heavy, heavy wave hit. The storm's getting bad.
Sable
Damn.
Ylva
Medrin was right. I'm saying this to them, but I'm looking at him. Medrin was right. We have to take any opportunity we can get out here.
Galen
Can I. Can I look both ways down the hall? Like, just not opening the door any further and making it. It was squeaky when it swung. Right.
Ylva
And while he. While he's doing that, can I run over. Is there a keyhole to the R bars? Where R bars are.
Matthew Mercer
So what you can see is each one of these has a very hefty metal latch lock on it. When the heavy impact hits. Because you didn't really pay attention until you got there and closed it. The lock that was on yours got pulled and broken and is now lying open on the ground in front of your.
Galen
Yeah. Kind of rusty and just old and shit.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah.
Ylva
So if there's one like that on our door.
Matthew Mercer
There is.
Ylva
I'd like to run up to it and try to pick the lock, like with your nails. Have you seen these?
Matthew Mercer
I understand. I understand. Don't do them. All right. Go ahead and make a dexterity roll for me. This is a very difficult roll. I'm.
Ylva
And actually, you know what I'd like to. Instead of using both with nails, one hand with nails. And I'm going to pull this grab onto the hilt here and pull a long stiletto dagger out from there with a very fine point and use both.
Matthew Mercer
Very cool.
Ylva
Yes or no, you say? No.
Matthew Mercer
Make two dexterity checks for me. The first one is to see whether or not you're able to hide a dagger with your swivel.
Ylva
Get off my eyes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because it was like a. We'll pretend it's a. We could say it wasn't My dagger. It wasn't a shiv, but I'll allow.
Matthew Mercer
I'll allow you to go ahead and roll to see if on the way.
Ylva
And you're able to do 19 plus 3 is 22.
Matthew Mercer
I hit a gun.
Ylva
It's a lot of hair.
Matthew Mercer
Right? So this is not a stiletto. It is a hairpin. But it is made of harder metal than a natural hairpin or uncommon hairpin is. Because you do use it as a defensive weapon. Being a woman of the realms that you wander in business. I swallowed a cannon. Yeah. Yeah. Roll a constitution Check. And now I need you to go ahead and roll. You need to roll a 22 to pick this lock.
Ylva
Oh, no.
Galen
You got it.
Matthew Mercer
That's 20.
Ylva
It's a 16.
Matthew Mercer
So you move around and try and pick a lock with this as you can. These locks are built strong. The one that broke off there just from the sheer force. And this one may have been probably the most salt. Sea salt worn over time. But this one's pretty sturdy and it's not budging at this point. Not by picking it at least. So the lock over there broke off. It broke off. So the door is basically. Their door is open. Sorry. Who's in there? Just the two of them. Just the two of them. Okay. Sorry. Yeah.
Ylva
Espinal, would you mind using your manly strength to help me?
Matthew Mercer
Sure. What do you got in mind?
Ylva
Break it.
Matthew Mercer
Okay.
Sable
Hang on. I think I might have something to kind of help you out a little bit. Let me see.
Matthew Mercer
What do you got?
Sable
I'm gonna kind of reach around through the bars. And as I glide by. We'll reach around.
Galen
It's been too long.
Sable
I cup the lock first. No. And then I am going to.
Ylva
That's so close to being a big green spit take.
Sable
Can I cast corrosive siphon on the lock and try and just weaken it a little bit by corroding it.
Matthew Mercer
I'll allow that. Okay. So go ahead and spend the essence. Okay.
Sable
Which is 4 essence.
Matthew Mercer
Yep. As you clutch this lock and kind of focus on it, you take your particular connection with your particular time in nature as its guardian. Damn sure. To tap into the innate corrosive powers of time, of minerals, of how ore and metals can become pockmarked and drawn to dust and broken rust. You focus your magic. The lock itself seems to tarnish. And you hear the faint twisting of metal straining against its form. It is weaker than it was.
Ylva
Much more useful a skill than saving bunnies.
Sable
Don't you talk about bunnies like that.
Galen
Are the bars wide enough? The Guy that lunged, he put his head and his arm through the bars. Can you get your head through the bars and look left and right down the hallway?
Matthew Mercer
You cannot. The gentleman did, so his head was. He's a narrow, thin elf, and he barely fit through. You can probably get your head, but you can't get your full body through the bars.
Minette
I will look around, but I think that maybe we should come up with what we're going to do after we get the lockout, because there's a chance that it might make a sound. And I think maybe we should just know what we're going to do next.
Matthew Mercer
Run.
Galen
The warden had a ring of keys on him, and I memorized which key he was using to open the other cell lock. And I bet if we work backwards from the end of the hallway, we could get each one of these cells open. But I don't know who's at either end.
Sable
You said so yourself, right? There's more of us than there is of them.
Ylva
Maybe we wait for him to come back around on his rounds. Maybe we wait for him to come back around on his rounds and at the right moment, you open your already open cell door.
Galen
That would require someone capable of great violence.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, I'm gonna break this wall. All right. Go ahead. Make a night roll for me, please.
Ylva
Thank you.
Matthew Mercer
Four plus six. Ten. Ten. Hold on. You. You feel something move and you're like, oh yeah. And you look down and one of your fingers has popped just out of its socket. You're like, oh, no. Okay. You withdraw your hand. Stings. You pop it back in. Trying to hold on.
Galen
Feeling.
Matthew Mercer
Brute forcing it that way. Probably not going to work. Well, I'm shit out of like this.
Minette
So it seems like two pacifist on the ship are the ones that currently have the most freedom and we may have to engage in violence.
Ylva
Or you could let us out of here when you get out and we'll.
Matthew Mercer
Engage in the violence for you. Plenty of us will do. After all, there's a lot of cells here and a lot of friends here that all got skills. Isn't that right, boys? And he looks off to the side and you see two other shadows shift as another thin looking lanky dwarf kind and goes, oh yeah, yeah, we're ready. You see a female aomao with brownish red skin and this awesome tattoo across her face leaning against the bars, big old fists over glancing over. Bring them here or crush them. Jesus.
Ylva
I think I'm in love with her.
Galen
I have two plans. One, if we can figure out who's on either end of the hall. We could try and rush them, or we could create a commotion and have them come back down here, open the door, push him towards the bars, and let that scary individual do whatever he does through the bar.
Minette
I like that plan. Between us, there are some people that I do not want to let out of the ship. They are very scary to me.
Ylva
Lady, I don't think you have a choice right now, darling.
Minette
Okay.
Galen
To be fair, I concur.
Matthew Mercer
You hear one of the trapdoors to the upper deck of the ship shift open, and the sound of heavy rain splattering across the upper part of the ship immediately fills the interior of the hallway. You can hear muffled yells from across the upper deck, barely out of audible range to make out the words. There's definitely commotion up aboard. As a waterlogged guard because begins to step down into the chamber, making his current pass through the hallway.
Minette
Distraction.
Galen
Distraction.
Matthew Mercer
Yes?
Minette
Pardon me, sir. I have a question for you.
Matthew Mercer
The guard steps forward. Warden runs on him again. It's coming through. And goes, oh, right, right. What can I possibly do you for?
Minette
I just wanted to show you my cutscene. You're not listening. I wanted to show you something.
Matthew Mercer
She's sees Medrin against the bars and just slams against the metal. Medran backs away and skittles to the back, as does the two other figures that stepped up. And it's like, I don't want to see you stepping up in the front again. I swear to God, it won't be just my fist.
Galen
This is the warden.
Matthew Mercer
This is the warden.
Ylva
Yeah, Ronzana.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, Ronzana.
Minette
So my question is, when we arrive, when we arrive, will there be books for us to read?
Matthew Mercer
No, no books.
Galen
Warden, I just wanted to let you know that gentleman has a weapon.
Minette
His weapon.
Galen
He made it onto the ship with a weapon. And I feel for my safety.
Matthew Mercer
Don't even check.
Galen
As soon as he looks or turns away, can I rush, throw open the bar, and I'm going to try and check him into the cell wall.
Matthew Mercer
Make a might check.
Galen
Okay.
Ylva
Come on, busy boy.
Matthew Mercer
16, natural 20. You open the barn, rush towards it. The warden turns around and goes. Grabs you and slams you against the bars. Puts his arm up against your throat and lifts you up against it.
Ylva
But he's outside.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, he's outside against the bars now.
Ylva
Like in the middle of the house in the hallway. Are they. Is his back on the other side? Can we.
Matthew Mercer
His back. His back is about maybe 4ft from where you are in the hall outside. And kind of pushing him against the Other bars on the aisle.
Ylva
So I have the guys backs against you. Against me I'd like to take much. How far can I hairpin him?
Matthew Mercer
You what?
Ylva
Can I hairpin him? Am I too far?
Matthew Mercer
I think you're a bit far for that, unfortunately.
Ylva
I'm just gonna throw my hands down and you see the crackling start to happen at the top of my fingertips and I'm going to. It doesn't say here and I don't know how this works, but jolting touch. Can I cast. Is it a lightning bolt at him?
Matthew Mercer
It's a bolt at him and one other target. Can't do it.
Ylva
Is there wood anywhere? I don't want to hit another.
Matthew Mercer
Oh, yeah, there's wood all across this.
Ylva
Great. Then can I hit him and some wood somewhere else? Because there's no people here that I don't want to come. There's no.
Matthew Mercer
Here's what I'll say. We'll roll for it because he is wearing metal and there are metal bars behind them. So he's not dodging this because he's not even aware that you're attacking at this point. So go ahead and roll damage.
Ylva
Okay.
Sable
Do it, dammit. Do it.
Ylva
Oh, no. It's 1D12 minus 1. And that's a 1.
Matthew Mercer
So you try and reach through the bars and release this blast of jolting magical energy and it arcs into the bars in front of you and dissipates into the bars of the cell affecting no one. You feel the light from your eyes begin to fade from the choking as you all begin to gather.
Minette
I can get out. I jump. I jump my body onto the front of the guard and I stick my fingers right in his eyes.
Sable
Yeah.
Matthew Mercer
So he's faced away and you jump up in front of him. Okay. Make a dexterity check and reach.
Sable
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Matthew Mercer
I'm giving him the reach around. Let's go. Roll for reach around.
Ylva
Reach around. Round crew dexterity.
Matthew Mercer
Honestly? Yeah. Five plus three. He rolled an eight.
Ylva
She rolled an eight.
Minette
So what does that mean?
Matthew Mercer
Rolled an eight. All right, so you start gouging his eyes, pulling back as this happens. Another meaty arm reaches through from the other side of the bars as the amao woman there grabs him by the back of the head and kind of between where your head is the bars, slams his head into the bars and the guard, the warden, blood splatters out of his mouth, grabs you by the side of the face and throws you back towards where you are and the both of you collide and slam into the mars. He pushes you off, but his eyes are hurt. At which point another crack of thunder. The whole ship lists up. Heavy slow motion seems to take over as it tips and tips and tips and all of you begin to shift to one side as the world turns topsy turvy lanterns out. Everything spins like you're in the middle of a dryer and darkness and shadow takes you.
Sable
We gotta get out of here. The ship's going down. We gotta get out.
Matthew Mercer
All of you are lost to darkness.
Ylva
I can say to my new Samsung.
Matthew Mercer
Galaxy S25 Ultra, hey, find a keto friendly restaurant nearby and text it to Beth and Steve. And it does without me lifting a finger so I can get in more squats anywhere I can.
Sable
1, 2, 3.
Matthew Mercer
Will that be cash or credit? Credit. 4 Galaxy S25 Ultra the AI companion that does the heavy lifting so you can do. You get yours@samsung.com compatible with select apps. Requires Google Gemini account. Results may vary based on input. Check responses for accuracy. Quiet Stillness Absence Slowly you you begin to rouse from this shadow. You pick up on one arm and the majority of you are starting to find yourself again. You begin to feel a sense of body, of physicality and you hurt everywhere. A soreness and aching throb from head to toe takes over and all of you have little to no light to make out your surroundings at this point you can smell the smell of fresh soft rain and what looks like little bits of gray light peeking through cracks in the splintered wood and debris that surround you. Your eyes begin to focus and you can see the semblance of metal bars, bent and jagged, some of which now bear on them other prisoners. You all begin to rummage through the small spaces that you can as you come to realize that you are all partially trapped within the confines of your wrecked prison ship. But you are not underwater and you can hear the rain above. You think it's above. What do you do?
Sable
The ship's not taking on water.
Ylva
It feels like it's still in shipwrecked.
Matthew Mercer
You don't know how much time has passed, but as you come to consciousness the cell that was around you is now a crumpled space, tight and broken, and you are all I'd say the two of you are pretty close together and you are all pretty close together. So you are still in your same clusters, but you are very much through some sheer luck you are not crammed and crushed with with the majority of the spaces around you.
Ylva
Can we see in our cell? Can we see any kind of opening in those bars? Or is it cracked? Is it Enough cracked open that the cell is no more a cell.
Matthew Mercer
The cell is not really a cell anymore, but it is still bent and closed. You'd have to try and push through to maneuver or try and move some of the debris if you want to.
Galen
Can we find the body, I assume, of the warden if he's unconscious or.
Matthew Mercer
Alive or you go ahead and get up and move through the remnants of the hallway and you can still see there's planks of wood and it splintered up in places, and part of the deck is collapsed and jammed into it. In fact, where the deck has collapsed in, you can see the wardens there, legs laid out on the ground, arms out to the side, and the wood of the deck splintered into where his head would have.
Galen
Can I search for a key ring?
Matthew Mercer
Easy enough to find. Okay, he's not.
Ylva
Let it go on. Just let it keep going, keep going.
Matthew Mercer
Keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going.
Galen
Then I grab the key ring and limp my way back over and just say, I think we should try one of these. See if it'll help loosen your cell.
Matthew Mercer
You get to the cell and all the bars are tangled and wrecked. And the door that would have been the exit is now partially bent.
Ylva
Do we all see each other? We can make an account of ourselves.
Matthew Mercer
However, because of the corrosion of the lock and the amount of stress that you had placed on it originally, the lock itself has broken off and the twisting of it. It's just about pushing the door open and it would maybe make enough room to try and squeeze through.
Sable
Okay, that's one way to crack an egg.
Matthew Mercer
All right. Make sure I get this door. So I'm going to try to push it to give someone else enough room to get.
Galen
Let's go, big one.
Matthew Mercer
Let's go ahead and roll. Night 13 plus 6 19. Oh, yeah. Without issue. As you shift it out of the way, you feel and hear other parts of the debris shift and settle. Dust and bits of rain muck drip out of the ceiling and you see where it shifts. A little more of the sky is now visible. This gray middaylight peeks through as droplets of water are now coming in from the storm that is not as heavy as it was at the peak that apparently wrecked this. Seems the worst of the storm has passed, though it still probably rains outside.
Sable
How long do you reckon we will unconscious?
Minette
Tell me, do you think that me jamming my fingers into that man's eyes was necessary considering that the ship was wrecked shortly after that?
Matthew Mercer
No, but it was awesome.
Galen
See, it certainly saved my life. So for that you have my thanks, Medrin.
Matthew Mercer
No response.
Galen
Oh, shit.
Minette
Lyra.
Matthew Mercer
Hello?
Sable
Hello?
Matthew Mercer
You hear a voice, but you cannot see where she is, where you stand.
Sable
I'm going to try and squeeze out of this cell using the the gap that Hasbro has opened.
Matthew Mercer
Okay? Yeah. You all. You clear enough where the three of you can square down now. The five of you are in the remnant pocket of the hallway where all the many bent bars are. And no real clear exit. You might be able to see. The stairway that leads to where the deck would be is somewhat visible now that you've exposed some more of the light within.
Galen
Was that how we came down into this area as well? Like one entrance, one exit?
Matthew Mercer
Correct.
Ylva
And are all the cells relatively destroyed and open? Do we see any other prisoners? We heard Lyra.
Matthew Mercer
Yes.
Ylva
We don't hear Medrin.
Matthew Mercer
Now you don't hear. Do you want to go inspect the cell?
Galen
We do.
Ylva
I do.
Galen
We care about life.
Minette
Not his.
Ylva
But maybe I do.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah. Make a perception check for me.
Ylva
17 plus 2. 19.
Matthew Mercer
2. Great. As you head over to where the bent fragment of bars are, you glance in. The first thing you notice is nobody's moving. The second thing you notice is because there's nobody here. The other end of that cell that's partially collapsed in, you can see what looks like other bits of outer wood have been shifted and pushed out. It looks like there is an exposed opening to the outside that has been reclosed, rolled pretty high. A large piece of wood has been placed against it to reclose the source of exterior light. But we hear Lyra's voice, but we don't see them anywhere at the moment. Well, I'd say with that high enough roll there too. You glance over and you can see Lyra, where the cell is. That cell is also partially collapsed. At first glance, nobody survived that. But you see one piece of broken wood with a bit of stone that fell from something above that crumbled. Looks like some sort of the edge of a cannon may have tumbled in with it. That's holding against the wall. And you can see it. Someone's trying to push it up. And you hear her voice like, hello. I can't move my legs.
Ylva
I'm going to run over and start pulling on it.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. So you push past the broken bars there. The door opens slightly at this point. You get in and go ahead and make a mite check for me to see.
Ylva
This is my lowest stat. But you see also, I think you see in her face a completely different face here. A face of worry. A face of concern. Yeah. 18 minus one. 17.
Matthew Mercer
18 minus one. That matronly adrenaline rush hits your body like a mother whose childhood has fallen under something heavy. You just reach down and Hulk pulse those mafia female arms.
Ylva
Do these look like hands that do manual labor? Because they do.
Matthew Mercer
He's shifted up, and other parts of the Brie crumble and fall to fill some of the space. But thankfully, Lyra's relatively small and pulls her legs up and reaches for your arm. And as you hold it up, she gets up onto her feet before stumbles a bit. Looks like her one ankle is pretty badly injured from the impact, but she manages to pull out just in time for you to release it, and it re. Crumples and settles as other parts settle inward and crush that space where she previously had barely held herself.
Ylva
I'm going to hold her under her armpits like I'm holding her up.
Matthew Mercer
Oh, thank you.
Ylva
Are you all right? Can you walk slowly? Can one of you incredibly strapping young gentlemen help this lovely lady as we try to leave you? Oh, of course.
Galen
Of course.
Ylva
Thank you.
Minette
We need you, Lyra. A rising tide raises all ships. Oh, no. I'm so sorry.
Matthew Mercer
I didn't.
Sable
I like Sue.
Ylva
Sue, I didn't. So we haven't heard anything. There's still no sign of Medra?
Matthew Mercer
No. From what you can tell, glancing through here, most of the other. And there are other prison cells throughout here. Most of them up here, crushed or empty as well, in the immediate vicinity. As you begin to inspect the internal space here, you see signs of arms peeking out of crumpled debris. You still only have the view of this one hallway right now, but the. The damage seems significant.
Galen
And around the warden and any other areas, around guards, were there boxes, storage lockers, anything that might have broken open that we could try and loot?
Matthew Mercer
Not in this hallway, but you can certainly search the wreckage.
Ylva
Is there something? Also, I want to check on the warden, if he has any kind of a weapon or something else besides the keys.
Matthew Mercer
Indeed, he does have a sword at his side that he keeps sheathed just in case.
Ylva
Let's pull that out and see. Someone else is probably better using this than I am.
Galen
I took fencing.
Sable
Of course you did.
Ylva
I'm just gonna turn to Hespero.
Galen
Is that not.
Ylva
Yeah, that's exactly how you do it. That's very. Sword in the stone.
Matthew Mercer
As you pull the sword up, it sticks into the wood.
Ylva
Hespero, I know there's no love lost between us families, but I should have you know that I no longer have an allegiance to family. Terran.
Matthew Mercer
Well, listen, we're all in this mess. We just gotta work together for now to get out of it. Although he kinda looks at Lyra. What are you gonna contribute? Moral support?
Ylva
Do you cook?
Matthew Mercer
I can. Yeah.
Ylva
We're going to need food.
Matthew Mercer
Fine. I can cook. Cook, cooking. I've cooked before, many times. I got you.
Galen
Do I believe her?
Sable
Yeah.
Matthew Mercer
Make a perception check.
Ylva
Can I make one too? I actually don't care because I want to see if I want a cover for her. That is big ass. That was the journey. That was poor. That was poor. I don't know.
Galen
Dirty job.
Ylva
I'm so. Oh, actually 30, 20.
Matthew Mercer
Oh. Secret song.
Ylva
Secret song is the secret song. We're all playing. We're playing along. I don't write any of these songs.
Galen
Beautiful.
Ylva
That's all I got. I'm no Sam.
Matthew Mercer
Alrighty.
Galen
The voices in my head have stuff indeed.
Matthew Mercer
You set her down. She's like, I can walk. I can walk. Just, you know, gotta tough it out, you know, put some dirt in it.
Sable
Can I. Let me see if I can help you out. I'm gonna look over. Do I see just like a broken stick or splintered piece of wood?
Matthew Mercer
Oddly nothing but splintered wood around you. Really great.
Sable
I'm gonna take a little splintered piece, take one of my leather straps and just kind of strap it to her and make kind of almost like a little makeshift splint.
Matthew Mercer
Great. Yeah. Take a few minutes and splint out her leg as she steps up on it. Still see that twinge of pain. But definitely a lot more functional to follow than a person who's more stumbly than not.
Sable
All right, thank you. Yeah, I think I'm going to head on upstairs, see what else we can find.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, I'll join. Yeah. All right.
Minette
Shall we all go?
Galen
Yes.
Matthew Mercer
Yes. All right. You all head towards where the stairs head up to the deck and the trapdoor that normally is easy to press up has heavy weight pressed upon it. But with your all combined up, you push it up and the rain begins to spill into the opening as you step out into the free grand, taking the smell of fresh sea foam and air of that recent storm still settling on this island. And you look around yourselves. You are now standing on the edge of the rocky shore of some isolated island. The ship itself didn't crash into. It crashed onto the rocks like it was lifting and then smashed onto a whole number of heavy, jagged, worn stones that seem to protrude from the surrounding surf. The ship indeed. As you get up to the deck, you can See half of the ship and it is broken open and splintered. And surrounding you in all the water around is a scattered smattering of what is now broken driftwood and bodies floating up on the shore. You can see the few guards that are on the deck right now are no longer living as well. And within a quick glance here and listening around, there's no movement, there's no other voices at the moment. You feel like your crew might be the only ones who survived that you.
Galen
Know of our crew. The reach around.
Ylva
The reach arounds. Definitely the reach around.
Matthew Mercer
Crew immersion narrative, baby. Are there any weapons in sight?
Sable
Hell yeah.
Matthew Mercer
In sight, like immediate sight. No, but you can if you want to go ahead and search the contents of the ship best you can with what's available to you. I'd say go ahead. Go ahead and make a perception check or resolve check. Your choice for all of us.
Ylva
Does it help search or just one?
Matthew Mercer
I'm going to let him go ahead and take one now. 13 plus 3. 16. 16 is great. So with all of you at Hasparo's side, you begin to push through, figure out if these are where the prisoners are held, what are the parts of the ship that are unaccounted for that you can even get to. There's a mess area and storage below, but most of that is completely blocked off or missing from that side of the ship. However, you come off to where the side of the ship is and where a portion of it is crashed onto the jagged rocks. There's a part that's a little lower than the others and where that side of the ship is busted open, you see two prisoners, one and a half prisoners smashed on the rocks. And around them, crates that are splintered open and all manner of tools, weapons, armaments. It looks like this is where the guard kept most of their equipment or equipment that was confiscated. As you search through and gather things, you find bows, you find spears, you find shields, a couple of pistols, as well as clusters of ammunition. Pretty much what you may need for simple armaments for protection. You can scavenge from what is smashed across the rocks here. Do I see a great hammer? You do. In fact, it's your great hammer. It looks like some of the things that were confiscated specialty were either being kept as trophies or maybe to be presented as some sort of offering to work towards when you were heading towards maybe working your debt off in the living lands. But indeed you lift up your old faithful hammer and feel solid in your grip.
Ylva
I'm looking for. It's going to be Hard to find amidst all of this random splintered wood. But I'm looking for a particular long, gnarled piece of wood with a pointy end.
Matthew Mercer
Could you make a perception or resolve check for me, please?
Ylva
Okay, Charlie, now's your time. Okay, maybe not your time. You go sleep right now. That was a six.
Matthew Mercer
That was a six. Yeah. This is a very scattered wreck and in these particular circumstances you do not see anything that matches what you're looking for.
Galen
Look at this. It's a long pointy stick with a gun. I don't know how to use either of these.
Matthew Mercer
Oh, it's my gun. Oh, there you go.
Sable
And I'll take this utility knife.
Ylva
Did he find my long pointy stick?
Galen
Is this yours?
Sable
Yeah.
Ylva
Did you? Did he really? Oh, dm Are we letting this happen? Because I'd be very excited.
Sable
Emergent storytelling, Matt.
Matthew Mercer
I'll say what you plucked and found and you realize at the time was probably a sack of dried oats that it was in. And as you pull it free, a streak of red emerges with it and you realize, oh, that was a prisoner. But this is a familiar looking.
Ylva
That's mine.
Galen
Oh, wait, I'm a criminal now. I should act like one. What will you give me for.
Ylva
I won't kill you if that's yours.
Matthew Mercer
No.
Minette
You know, this is most fortuitous because we can start over. We can be whatever we want. We don't need weapons. We can just go explain that we are explorers and. And I can contact Eleonora and. And we don't have to do anything illegal or violent ever again.
Matthew Mercer
I like have this playing as she's saying this as I'm taking up this.
Galen
Doll.
Ylva
Loading up on things.
Matthew Mercer
Start over.
Ylva
Taking my hairpin dagger and twisting my hair back up again. Always a lady.
Minette
Always a lady. Well, I. I do grab a spear because I am very. And it has reach. And I do grab a shield for self defense. I do not intend to use it.
Ylva
So there. So, bruh, come at me, bro.
Sable
You know, if we're bringing along Lyra, I feel like we should find some food for Lyra to cook on top of all the weapons. Any type of provisions.
Matthew Mercer
Go ahead and make a perception or resolve check for me if you don't mind.
Sable
I'll do perception. It's all right. 11:11.
Matthew Mercer
You spend the better part of the next hour or so searching through the wreckage finding other corpses of those that are aboard the ship before you begin to figure out by process of elimination that whatever placement may have been the storage chamber for the food that was being kept was likely on the other half of the ship that is not present. So you are now here with no provisions, some arms and just your little troop standing amongst the broken rocks of the greater island that you only have the slight view of it just beyond maybe a 15 foot rocky cliff.
Galen
Well, first things first. Shelter, warmth and food.
Minette
Lady Sable, you're a woman of the woods.
Sable
Yeah.
Minette
What do you know about foraging?
Sable
Oh, pretty much everything. Although I will say, you know, I'm kind of used to the foliage and the natural fauna from where I'm from. So this might be a little bit taking getting some used to. But yeah, you know, just stick with me, we'll be great. Yeah, smarter than a shithouse rat. We're great.
Minette
Yes, I'm sure. Well, maybe we should look for some food then. I'm sure you can tell generally what is poisonous. Bright colors or snow.
Sable
Just kind of let's stir with the basics. Let's find some fruit, maybe some good greens and grasses. Let's avoid mushrooms. Yeah, you don't want to fuck with this.
Galen
So Lyra, try it first.
Matthew Mercer
You know she's a cook, right? Yeah, I'm a cook.
Sable
That's a great point.
Ylva
What time of day did you say? Is it? Still midday? Ish.
Matthew Mercer
I mean it's hard to tell because the gray skies still kind of keep the sunlight more or less even throughout the sky here. Especially in the post storm roll. You know, it's daytime, but you're not entirely certain if it's waxing waning, coming towards its end or an early morning.
Ylva
One way or the other. We should find some shelter quickly. We don't know what else is on this island or who else do we.
Sable
See any signs of life, any signs.
Matthew Mercer
Tracks leading away from the island. So as you clamber up the small stone rock slide trail that leads up to the edge of the cliff to get onto the actual island proper. You see now the expanse. It is not a massive island, but indeed there are two hill mountain like topographical rises on the opposite end of the island. Themselves covered in green trees. From what you can see a lumber source here on the island. But between there and where you stand, beyond the low hanging thick mists that sit in the now windless region here. While the rain falls, the winds have halted and everything sits still as the rain droplets still continue to fall. You see a lighthouse that stands up into the center of this island. A in the middle of this sea filled space. And it is from what you can see, ocean to the horizon on all sides. Before the Fog takes it at the end of your periphery.
Ylva
How far are we from all the bodies?
Matthew Mercer
From all the bodies.
Ylva
Did we leave? Did we.
Matthew Mercer
In order to see this, you had to climb away from the ship. About probably 50 or so feet.
Ylva
Can I retcon one thing?
Matthew Mercer
Sure.
Ylva
Can we grab some of the. The guards garb? Just in case we run into people who are also part of guards? Can we get some of the guard garbage?
Matthew Mercer
You can indeed. You can get this from the guard garbage.
Ylva
I just want to grab it just in case.
Matthew Mercer
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Ylva
So we have the Garburd.
Matthew Mercer
Yes, you may. There are standard issue breastplates that I'm blazoned with the symbology of the Idiran Empire, as well as cloaks, cauldrons.
Ylva
Just at least one or two of us looks like they might, so that we can have both.
Matthew Mercer
Who would want to be wearing these recovered accoutrements? No.
Galen
I'll take some armor.
Matthew Mercer
Okay, so you go ahead and fix yourself on the light breastplate of one of the guards.
Galen
A Dirian Empire.
Ylva
I'm not covering this up.
Minette
I'm fixing my sights on someone who understands status. And so I am taking this spear for self defense. But I'm hoping that lighthouse someone will understand, Call for help. Or we can use it as shelter. But I'm not putting anything on to suggest that I'm a violent person.
Ylva
No, no, no. This would suggest that you were a guard of the Idiran Empire.
Minette
Well, not in this, surely.
Ylva
No, no, that's okay.
Galen
I've got it covered. And if anyone, I can say that I'm keeping an eye on you rapscallions and everything is in order.
Minette
Or you're defending that for the ladies. And also a guard for the ladies. Yeah.
Sable
Yeah, sure.
Galen
Deception.
Ylva
Deception, Deception, deception.
Matthew Mercer
So it's one of you in prison guard garb. Anybody else taking. I know I look pretty good the.
Sable
Way I am right now. None of that shit fits you anyway.
Matthew Mercer
All right, so you have one guard.
Ylva
At squirt amongst you. Yeah. Is there anything else? Is there anything that looks good that I could put on?
Matthew Mercer
Nothing better than what you have on now.
Ylva
Oh, God. Just don't want to. Can I just. I'm just going to bring some. Do we have any way of bringing it just in case? I just want to have the option of putting it on if we need to be sneaky.
Matthew Mercer
Sneaky, sure. Amongst the wreckage of the supplies that were scattered amongst the rocks, there are heavy sacks.
Ylva
Are there any coins or medals or something like that that would speak to Someone being an envoy of the Empire.
Galen
Or a. Oh, like displaced, but not necessarily a prisoner. You could show that you have some coin.
Matthew Mercer
I mean, there's coin you find among some of the guards as well. Yeah, some of.
Ylva
I more mean like a thing of status, like a badge. Thank you.
Matthew Mercer
I would say there are markings on the Warden Renzano's breastplate that do carry with them a symbol of higher rank within the rank and file of the guards that were brought on this prison ship. So if you want to bring that breastplate, it hasn't blazoned on it.
Ylva
Let's do that. Okay. Maybe I'll throw that on your body.
Galen
Okay.
Sable
Now, this lighthouse we're talking about, is it lit? Is the lantern lit?
Galen
No, it's not.
Matthew Mercer
The candela is not lit. It is dark.
Sable
It's dark.
Matthew Mercer
It is dark.
Sable
Okay, interesting.
Ylva
And do we see any signs of. I don't know if the living lands have any. If the Idiran Empire has any kind of foothold here. So do we see anything that. Any signs of that on the lighthouse? Any markings or anything?
Matthew Mercer
I mean, it's a good. It's a good few miles from where you're standing. It's further in. And even then, you can only see over some of the rocky hills and some of the tufts of trees that kind of rise up. But you. You can see. It's like your depth perception on how far away it is from you right now is a little tough. If one of you wants to make a perception check to go ahead and go for it.
Galen
22.
Matthew Mercer
22. A couple things. As you try and get the best high point you can this close to the cliff. Go up behind a cluster of trees and hold on one side and get the best vantage point. You notice. Yeah, the lighthouse is a few miles off. Not a heavy walk, but you'll be able to get there with a short enough walk. This is not a large island, and indeed, it is out in the middle of nowhere. You notice farther up north, there are signs, barely with a high enough roll, like that of almost another shipwreck, but long washed away, just a couple pieces of blanched driftwood, that there was a wreck here probably long before you arrived. Oh, dear. You also noticed at the base of this lighthouse, which itself is not lit, there's a little. Looks like a household near its base, and a number of tents and other shacks settled around it like a small. A very small settlement that is.
Minette
I.
Matthew Mercer
Want to say, haphazardly built around the base of this lighthouse, made of different materials. The house looks nice and well made. The other smaller structures look like they're more function over aesthetic.
Galen
The lighthouse, which is not lit. That seems like, I don't know, a problem. There was also remnants of another shipwreck farther off. The lighthouse is only a few miles away, but there were signs of an encampment at the bottom of the lighthouse. Ramshackled. So I don't think we'll be entirely alone.
Ylva
Do they seem like soldiers or civilians.
Galen
A few miles off? It's hard to tell, but I think it's fair to assume other people will be here.
Matthew Mercer
So sounds like shelter and food to me. Shall we mosey? Yep.
Sable
Let's get the molasses out our asses. Let's go.
Ylva
I love you so much it makes me want to cry. Except this isn't waterproof mascara.
Matthew Mercer
As you gather your still aching selves cold and damp through the continuous though gentler rainfall, you begin to trek up the rocky hills of the outside cliffs edges of the island and in towards the central portion of this landmass. Because of your high perception roll as you continue inward, you still don't see any signs of any liveliness or shifting light or movement within the city from this far distance. But you do pick up the mists that sit around the the walking landscape as you progress sitting still, occasionally shifting in strange ways in the absence of wind. That make you a little uncomfortable.
Galen
I don't share that.
Ylva
Maybe he is sneaky sneaky ball in there.
Galen
Well, I'm just a chicken shit. That's not real. That's my imagination.
Ylva
That's not a thing.
Matthew Mercer
A strange smell seems to spark through a number of your noses. It's a mixture of. It's almost like an irony taste of blood mixed with a fresh rain. It's hard to describe in our world it would be like that spark of an electric field or a little bit of burned ozone. And as this mist begins to swirl, a light seems to flash and flicker amongst the mist before vanishing.
Galen
Did you see that?
Ylva
Yes.
Minette
I think we should take care and find someone who can help us. And also have a backstory for us to how we are not criminals.
Matthew Mercer
And it sounds like the dropping of water, like a small centralized storm. It's like a cluster in the middle of this mist where that light's flickering, there's a localized deluge as little flickering of energy seems to spark through this one area. As Lyra's like what's going on? Again. Pull on the side of your arm to get closer to you.
Minette
I tap her shoulder. I don't think that we should talk to that over there. I think that that's not true.
Matthew Mercer
Two more of them begin to emerge from the storm. As these strange anomalies of the elements in nature seem to be coalescing into some sort of will. Three different points of some odd elemental nature congeal and converge on all of you. I need you to all roll initiative.
Sable
Oh no.
Matthew Mercer
15.
Sable
Nice.
Matthew Mercer
All right, so we have a 20 to 15.
Minette
9.
Matthew Mercer
Anybody above someone over here? All right, so we have Haspro up first. Alrighty. 15 to 10.
Galen
Cool.
Matthew Mercer
Oh, all right. 10 to 5. Ooh, rollies. Both of you roll a D. 20.
Ylva
15.
Matthew Mercer
7.
Galen
Nice.
Matthew Mercer
All right, so we have Minette followed by Sable.
Galen
I had a seven.
Matthew Mercer
All righty.
Galen
Galen.
Matthew Mercer
Opposite to Galen.
Ylva
I had a two.
Matthew Mercer
All right. Whatever. These strange entities are begin to converge. There are flashes of energy and the deluge of water seems to be expressing and splashing out as energy arcs around it like some sort of electric shock type spark. You are up first, Hasbara. So describe them again. They're like strange clusters of some sort of storm like elemental energy that seem to congeal out of of the surrounding mists and the rainfall. And now begin to rush towards your troop from three different points. Let's see if these fuckers bleed. I'm going to shoot one. Yes, you are. Yes.
Ylva
I mean, what else do you do with a pistol?
Matthew Mercer
So your pistol is cocked already, Flint. You go ahead and aim it down and fire. It's going to attempt to dodge your strikes. Go ahead and roll off. 20. That's an 11. So it does not successfully dodge, but it does spend its four stamina to do so. So go ahead and roll. Damage. Okay.
Galen
All right. That is 15.
Matthew Mercer
15 points of damage. The flash and explosion at the front of your pistol sends smoke spilling outward and you watch as this strange entity flickers from the blast and seems to momentarily almost discorporate before it recollects itself. They can be hurt.
Ylva
Excellent.
Matthew Mercer
Do you want to continue with your turn?
Galen
I think since it looked like it worked, he'll just go, ha.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. And he's just gonna take another shot. Same one. Let's go.
Galen
So do I have to roll for?
Matthew Mercer
It's going to also attempt to dodge, this time successfully. So go ahead and roll the hit. 9. 24. The second shot, it shifts out of the way and seems to almost shift closer to you. You can feel there's some sort of inherent electrical energy that's sparking through the swirl of water. Almost like some sort of ill intention spirit has taken on the form of the nearby elements to come upon you all. Does that finish your turn? I'm going to end my turn there. Okay. It now comes to the first of these entities. That's right after you. It is going to use charged shield. It's going to spend 6 of its stamina. All of you lose 2 stamina as it crackles in this field of staticy energy.
Ylva
I don't like that.
Matthew Mercer
Filters out. And all of you feel the energy of your body grow just slightly more exhausted. And then it's going to spend its last five stamina to come after you. Since you just shot it makes sense. Do you attempt to block or dodge? I don't think I can. I think that last little sucking of stamina. So with that you take that is eight points of damage and you get one point of shock accumulation.
Galen
Do you keep track of that or.
Matthew Mercer
I'm keeping track of it here for you. You feel as it hits you, your muscles spasm and you feel the energy through your body. It's going to finish its turn with that. Let's go ahead and take it. Two minute.
Minette
Okay. Are they all out in front of us?
Matthew Mercer
They're more or less or surrounding you, Surrounding you. Okay.
Minette
I'm going to fight lightning with lightning and do jolting touch at. That's two targets within close range. So.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. Neither of them move to dodge or block. You release the two bolts and they are absorbed harmlessly into the two storms.
Ylva
Okay, Good to know. Good to know.
Minette
Okay, then.
Matthew Mercer
It'S gonna be the gun. Sorry.
Galen
The magic lightning storm didn't work. But the gun did.
Ylva
Yeah.
Matthew Mercer
Is.
Minette
Are any of them within poking range?
Matthew Mercer
Yeah. I mean, they're converging and there's one that rushed up towards Hasbro to poke. Okay. Are you going to the one that he shot or towards one of the ones that hasn't been wounded yet?
Minette
Towards one of the ones that has not been.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. That's quite closer to you. So the one that you tried to release one of your bolts towards and it absorbed. You think under your breath how frustrating that is. Shield at the ready. You duck forward and try and spear it. So go ahead and spend your stamina and it is going to attempt to dodge that as well by spending a force damage there rolling for that.
Minette
Do I get anything for Maybe you're.
Matthew Mercer
To hit bonus on your spear.
Minette
Oh, 10.
Matthew Mercer
It rolled a nine. Exactly. Natural forward plus five it had. They dodge pretty high. So go ahead and roll damage on that.
Minette
One by.
Sable
One.
Matthew Mercer
One damage. Hey, it all adds up. Do you want to continue to strike. You have quite a bit of stamina power.
Minette
Yes, I do.
Matthew Mercer
All right, this. Will attempt to dodge again. Same roll to nine.
Minette
Thirteen.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah. You hit again. So go and roll damage a second time.
Galen
16 plus 3.
Minette
Oh, plus C. Yeah.
Sable
1.
Matthew Mercer
It all adds up to tiny little shit.
Ylva
She's just a little guy.
Matthew Mercer
That's two spear strikes. Keep going. Or are you calling that your turn?
Minette
I'm gonna call my turn.
Matthew Mercer
Okay, that finishes your go. Sable, you're up next. Yeah.
Sable
Almighty Sable starts to run up, and you start to see this manic unstability that probably got here, here in the first place. And she runs up, she takes the knives that she collected. Let's see if we can find this lightning. Then she jumps and wants to try and stab the lightning.
Ylva
Amazing.
Matthew Mercer
Let's go. All right, so are you gonna go after the one that was shot or the one that was poked or the one that's been untouched?
Sable
Let's go after the one that's been poked. Let's start with the poked one.
Matthew Mercer
You got it. All right. It only has enough stamina to try and block, which is not as high as its dodge. So it's gonna go ahead and roll. Okay, that's a seven.
Sable
It's gonna roll. Okay, that's a 17 on the die.
Matthew Mercer
That hits. Go ahead and roll. Damage plus five.
Sable
So. All right, nine damage.
Matthew Mercer
Nine damage. Nice. Alrighty.
Sable
I'm going.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, it just. It doesn't even dodge. It's out of stamina. So you just hit automatically.
Ylva
Icky.
Sable
A5.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. Minus five points damage on that. All right, that's 14 damage on that turn. Are you gonna keep going or are you gonna hold down?
Sable
How's. Can I tell how it's looking?
Matthew Mercer
It's a circling, sparking kind of storm elemental.
Sable
How far away am I from the one that was attacking Hasbro?
Matthew Mercer
About 10, 15ft. It's not a quick. It's a. It's a quick jump.
Sable
Okay, I'm going to, like, dodge under this little ghost light. I'm going to head over to the other one and give it one more. One more stabby.
Matthew Mercer
Stabby what fur? Okay, the one that. The one that.
Sable
Give it the what fur. The one that he.
Matthew Mercer
That also cannot dodge or block it. Spend all time. So just damage straight up.
Sable
Oh, just damage.
Minette
I came.
Sable
I'm so used.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah.
Sable
Six, baby. Let's go again. So. And I've got keen. That's plus two on that damage. So that is it. D6.
Matthew Mercer
So when you roll max damage and a dice, folks that know here actually I should probably go over some of the rules here since we're in combat for those who are watching. So everyone has stamina they can spend on their turn. It refills at the top of their turn. Any stamina they spend is based on the speed of their weapon. And any stamina they want to try and defend with, they have to spend out of their turn. In the reaction of attacks to either block or dodge, in which case it's a roll off. If you do not have any stamina left to block or dodge, attacks automatically hit and you just do straight damage. So you're doing damage directly unless your target has enough stamina to try and dodge or block. So this creature just takes damage immediately. If you roll your damage dice and any of them are max on the dice, that is a critical hit, and you roll an additional die and they can continue to explode like that. Because your weapon has the keen feature, it gets additional two damage each time that you do that.
Sable
So that's 12 on this first one. Let's go. Go one more time. And that's a one balance in nature. So that is going to be 12 on the first one and 5 on the second one. So 17.
Matthew Mercer
All right. So 17 on that. As you rush forward and slam into one that's next to you. As it's sparking up in your face, you have your pistol and your army reloading it, keeping the hammer at the side as you do, you watch as Sable rushes up and stabs right into the center of it. You see the spirit Shelton flicker out, and it converges once more. Sparks, but it's flashing and it's starting to show like it's barely holding on at this point.
Sable
Stubborn little buggers, aren't they? I'm going to take the last of my turn to spin 2 Essence to cast arcane veil on top of me to keep myself a little bit more protected. That's my turn.
Matthew Mercer
All right, Finishing your turntable. The one Rain Blight, as they are called. Rain blight. Rain Blight.
Galen
I wrote Water Ghost.
Matthew Mercer
That works too.
Sable
Water Ghost sound very similar.
Ylva
Well done.
Matthew Mercer
I mean, it's the Latin subtitle. It's the Riley coyote, like, you know.
Ylva
Ding at the bottom italicized underneath.
Matthew Mercer
It's going to take its turn here. This is going to be the one, actually. This is the one that you stabbed and poked and then you initially attacked before darting off since this one has taken it. So it gets all its stamina back. It's going to move over towards you since you're the one that Struck hard, its ally, and it's going to go ahead and attack you with a shock burst. It is unblockable, so you would have to spend stamina to dodge.
Sable
Ooh, I'll spend my last stamina to dodge.
Ylva
Dodge it, baby. Dodge it.
Sable
Last one.
Matthew Mercer
All right, let's roll.
Sable
Let's roll. Okay.
Matthew Mercer
1911. So you manage to duck out of the way as the spark emerges out. No impact. So that's going to be be five on there. It's going to spend another five stamina to attack you again.
Sable
All right.
Matthew Mercer
I can't fall out of stamina. So the hit comes to you directly. Ooh, that's going to be nine points of damage to you. And you take a bit of shock accumulation.
Sable
Okay. I'm going to spend an essence to reduce that by a D6 with my Arcane Veil. Okay, that's four. And then my. My armor has three damage reduction, so that's four, five, six, seven. So I only take two damage.
Matthew Mercer
Correct. Okay. All right. Finishing that rain blights. Go. Galen, you're up with Ylva on deck.
Galen
I'll take out the bow that we salvaged from the crate. And I'll knock an arrow and let one fly at one of the creatures.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. There's the one that hasn't been touched. And then there's two that have taken. One that's taking a few hits and one that's looking really hurt.
Galen
I'll take the one that's taken a few hits.
Matthew Mercer
All right. It does not have enough stamina to dodge or block, so just go ahead and roll damage.
Galen
Amazing. That is D8 town. That's not an eight.
Matthew Mercer
Why?
Galen
Why, why?
Matthew Mercer
Here we go.
Galen
Six, nine. 15 points of damage.
Matthew Mercer
15 points of damage. The arrow strikes it, and you see it kind of flicker. It's also starting to have a hard time holding itself corporeal. The storm itself taking form and then drifting away before pulling itself back up. The sparks shooting off in odd directions. So the two of them look pretty hurt from the best that you can gather from a water ghost, but one of them has been untouched up to this point.
Ylva
Oh, gosh.
Matthew Mercer
So continue your turn.
Galen
I'll take the last shot. I'll take one more on the one that hasn't been touched yet. Just to try and cover some.
Matthew Mercer
All right, let's go. This one is going to attempt to dodge.
Galen
Okay. 15 plus 6.
Matthew Mercer
21. 21. Rolled a 14. So that hits. Go ahead and roll. Damage.
Galen
Balls. 14. 14 points of damage.
Matthew Mercer
14 points of damage. All righty. Does that finish your go? It does all right, Ylva, you're up next.
Ylva
I saw what happened with jolting Touch. So instead of my frisky lightning fingers, I'm going to. That's what the kids are calling them these days. I'm going to just reach out my hand and you see this long magical staff appear in my hand, and I'm going to cast parasitic staff.
Matthew Mercer
Okay.
Ylva
So I will take away that four essence, and I am going to run after.
Matthew Mercer
Describe how you pluck this staff from the ether.
Ylva
Yes. So I hold this. This out to my hands and you see. Hold out my hand and you see spiraling down, sort of a spiral of golden light. And then it corporealizes into my hand and I grab around it, holding it.
Matthew Mercer
Exactly. It sparks and flashes with a violet black energy.
Ylva
Let's try this one. And then I'm going to run after the one that looks like it's super hurt and couldn't respond to that guy. And since it can't respond, I'm just gonna do my 1D8.
Matthew Mercer
Let's do it. Spend that stamina and roll 1D8.
Ylva
Okay, so stamina, two, three. Wait. One, two. How many stamina do I spend for the staff? Because it's essence, it's not stamina, right?
Matthew Mercer
Correct. Should I have next to the staff's statistics under the spell?
Ylva
It doesn't. It says four essence, last one, encounter, cooldown, three turns.
Matthew Mercer
That's the very bottom of the spell.
Ylva
Like I said, it says speed five. I was just testing you and you passed like I said. So, yeah, I'm gonna go after this, dude. Okay, well, that's three minus one, which is a two.
Matthew Mercer
So it takes two damage.
Ylva
Two damage. But I also regain five essence. So I'm gonna get back my essence.
Matthew Mercer
Ooh, interesting.
Ylva
You can't go above your maximum, can you?
Matthew Mercer
No.
Ylva
Oh, that's fine. And then I would like to. Where. How far away is the one that's hitting the one that was relatively untouched?
Matthew Mercer
Untouched is probably about, I'd say, 20 or so feet from where you're.
Ylva
I'm going to continue to go after the weakened one, the super weak one.
Matthew Mercer
All right? They can't dodge, so go for these strikes.
Ylva
That's better. Six minus one. Five.
Matthew Mercer
Five points of damage. So you take the staff, one impact, it kind of seems to flicker off, almost like the arcing energy of it hits the staff and pushes it slightly off the way, just grazing it. You circle back, whack, and slam the staff in the middle. But it seems to get stuck in the middle of this flick as you focus your essence into it. Energy detonates out from within and the blight just scatters off into nothing. The water hitting the ground harmlessly. One of them had been destroyed.
Ylva
Great. I'd like to use any of my remaining movement possibilities to get out of range away from any of these other guys. Or hide behind him.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, you can go ahead and try.
Ylva
And I won't rid of him.
Matthew Mercer
Fine. Astro.
Ylva
Now it's time for you to return the favor. I'm going to hide behind his.
Matthew Mercer
I shot it twice. I don't know. Just protect me. The one that was just. Or the one that was impacted by one strike in the distant one seems to shift up quickly over and angrily towards your direction. But you move behind your friend. So it's going to focus now on you. You have not had your turn yet. So you're still out of stamina to dodge.
Galen
Or can you dodge?
Matthew Mercer
I have one stamina left, so I got nothing. So these can't dodge. The first one's gonna hit you for that's a six in the die. That's an exploding run. That's gonna be the other dice rolls are terrible. So it's nine points of damage. You do gain another point of shock accumulation.
Galen
Great.
Matthew Mercer
And the last one is only three points of damage. But you gain a third point of shock accumulation. You are now affected by the shock satisfaction. As the blasts hit you. Your body is now rocked with electrical energy. And the rest of you see arcing through Hasparo's body. You are currently shocked. And at the start of your turn, something will happen.
Galen
Oh boy.
Matthew Mercer
Which.
Ylva
Oh no.
Matthew Mercer
It's now your turn.
Galen
Hey. Let's find out what happens.
Ylva
Oh no.
Galen
Let's fuck around and find out.
Matthew Mercer
However, this. That Rainblight did use pretty much all of its stamina. So it also cannot defend itself. Oh, by the way, the one that was destroyed. You watch as you scatter it. I should have explained this too. A bit of its essence seems to drop to the ground. Almost like two faintly glowing orbs of essence drift there. So the one that finished that round. The top of your round. You immediately take 1d8 damage from the shock. That's three points of damage to you and three points of damage to everyone who's directly around you. Which would be you two. So both of you also take three points of damage.
Sable
And I can still. Oh well, I have to still have damage reduction by three points.
Matthew Mercer
Correct. So you take no damage. No damage. Okay. Great. All right. With some armor. Armor sounding pretty good right now. But one of Your points of shock accumulation goes away. Now is the beginning of your turn. You. Unfortunately, as you are shocked, you cannot move. However, you do have both blights nearby you, so you can still shoot at them at a distance or if you wanted to shift into your hammer weapon. They're both of them melee range because they did come after you. Okay, So I could hit either of.
Galen
Them if I wanted to?
Matthew Mercer
Yes.
Galen
Okay.
Matthew Mercer
How are they looking? One of them looks very hurt, and the other looks hurt. You know what? But I like having a little bit of stamina left, just in case. So I'm gonna stick with the gun. I'm gonna stick with the gun for now. Okay.
Ylva
Didn't you get all your stamina back?
Galen
Yeah, but my speed is pretty high.
Matthew Mercer
So I can only do a couple.
Galen
Of things, or else I'll be basically a. There's a cost to switch. Right?
Ylva
Gotcha.
Matthew Mercer
Okay, so I'm gonna keep the gun. There's any hits of that weapon, I'm.
Galen
Gonna go for the one that is more hurt looking.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. All right, that one. Neither of them can defend themselves right now because they can spend all their stamina aggressively. So just go ahead and roll damage.
Ylva
Get it, get it, get it.
Sable
Let's go.
Galen
Okay. Get it, get it. Okay, so that is 13.
Matthew Mercer
13 damage. Yeah. As you pull the gun back towards the one that's directly in front of you, the first one that engaged you initially and you had the first few shots off, you look in the center and see this spiritual glow. And for a split second, you see a flicker that almost has the faintest of humanoid outlines for a split second. And you aim for it and fire. And as you do, it scatters off and is destroyed. Same like dropping these little motes of essence that just glide there on the ground where it was. Nice. Now there's one more left. I mean, as I always say, nothing beats a gun.
Galen
I'm going to shoot the other.
Matthew Mercer
You may be thinking, let's go to a gunfight. The other one cannot defend itself because it's out of stamina. So just take the damage. Come on.
Sable
Six.
Galen
That's what I'm hoping to. No, that's still 19.
Ylva
Whoa.
Matthew Mercer
19 points damage on that rainblade. It takes the impact from the blast of your pistol. The second firing gets hit and shimmers for a second, then manages to hold itself present. It looks very hurt, but it's still currently aggressive. And then I will end my turn.
Galen
There.
Matthew Mercer
That finishes your turn. The one that will be taking its next turn was destroyed. So it is up to you, Minette.
Minette
Okay, it's time to poke.
Ylva
Yeah, that's what she said.
Minette
I am going to spend. That's my one, two, three, four.
Sable
Whoa.
Matthew Mercer
Ooh. One, two, three, four.
Minette
I've got five. Oh, wait, no.
Matthew Mercer
It starts over right on the round. Nope. This is the beginning of your round. All your stamina. Refill. Okay.
Minette
Gray, gray, gray, gray, gray, gray, gray.
Matthew Mercer
Gray, gray, gray, gray.
Minette
Okay. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Okay, I'm going to poke with my spear.
Matthew Mercer
All right? So it cannot defend itself. So go and roll damage for your spear. Great.
Minette
That's a D10, right?
Matthew Mercer
D10 minus one, I think.
Minette
Yeah, yeah, that's this one.
Galen
You got it.
Minette
That's that one. I'm telling you.
Matthew Mercer
Just make sure that you're aware.
Minette
Five.
Matthew Mercer
Five. All right, five points of damage there.
Galen
Not a one.
Matthew Mercer
Let's you stab it with the spear. It's odd. You're stabbing something that doesn't have or shouldn't have weight or matter to it. But as you stab it with the spear, you can feel some sort of resistance as it does. And as you do, you feel it dip, and it has to readjust itself. It's very hard.
Minette
Okay, I'm going to poke again.
Matthew Mercer
All righty.
Galen
When these things take damage, do they make sound like a. Do they emit anything?
Matthew Mercer
Cool. All right, good. Thank you.
Ylva
Should I not poke?
Matthew Mercer
Are you striking again?
Minette
I am.
Matthew Mercer
All right, go ahead and roll. Damage.
Minette
0.
Matthew Mercer
You strike. Strike with the spear, and it kind of shifts out of the way, and the spear kind of takes an arc, and your hand falls numb for a second, and you have to pull back. No damage on that one.
Minette
All right, I'm gonna do it again.
Matthew Mercer
All right. Get it. Get it nice and angry, Katie.
Sable
All right.
Minette
And then where I got in my hand. Three minus one, two.
Ylva
All right, all right.
Minette
That is every chipping away.
Matthew Mercer
You finally frustrated. Leap stabilization. Stab, stab. This thing's not going down. You strike through. How do you want to do this? Describe how you defeat the creature. He's out of the thing. That's so funny.
Minette
How do I do it? I'm kind of peeking behind him in my mind, and I take both hands, and I kind of straddle and I. Like a lady.
Matthew Mercer
Like a lady, yes. As the spear strikes upward, it sends out this sparking spray of electrical energy that dissipates into the nearby atmosphere. The mist arcing out and separating for about 30ft from where you all currently stand. And with that, the blights are no more. Just little motes of essence left around drift before they slowly begin to almost look like they're about to vanish into the mist. No, no, no.
Ylva
Grab those, you guys. I'm good.
Matthew Mercer
So each of these drops two essence fragments. You can absorb those to restore two points of essence if you'd like.
Ylva
Can we pocket the land?
Sable
So we wait. Two per orbee?
Matthew Mercer
I don't need any. No, each one gives you essence back.
Sable
I'll take if anybody. Does anybody else need any?
Ylva
I'll take one.
Matthew Mercer
I don't use essence.
Sable
You'll take one.
Ylva
I got mine back.
Sable
I used a lot of essence with that corrosion spell, so I'll take what's left if no one else wants it. So what, that's what, four?
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, it was a six total. We're left behind from the three blights.
Ylva
Oh, question, question, question. When we had the rest in the. When we were unconscious, did that count as a rest? So all our stamina and everything came back to. I just want to make sure I did this right.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah. Everything there would have recovered.
Galen
It's just essence that doesn't recover automatically.
Matthew Mercer
Correctly. Yeah.
Ylva
So I would have. I would actually have down. I would be down four, though. I'd be down three because I got back five.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah.
Galen
Down three also. Do you need one of the ones?
Sable
Do you want one?
Ylva
Not if you. Did you use up all of yours?
Sable
I use five, but I can just use four if you want to take one.
Ylva
Yeah. Let me take.
Sable
Do that.
Matthew Mercer
Okay.
Ylva
Thank you. With my useless lightning bolt in the ship.
Sable
So rude.
Minette
That didn't work.
Ylva
Frisky fingers. Sometimes it's not for everyone.
Minette
True.
Matthew Mercer
So indeed, it seems odd dangers lurk upon this rock beyond just stormy sea wrecks. What would you like to do.
Ylva
Through that mist? Is that mist in general still there?
Matthew Mercer
I mean, the mist still hangs across the entire island, but it looks like at least where you had walked through a space where something else lurked within the mist that came to awareness at your presence.
Ylva
Came to awareness at our presence. So there could be more.
Galen
Any signs of tracks now that we're further up and in a little bit.
Matthew Mercer
Make a perception check for me, if you don't mind. Come on. 9. 15. 15. The rain here is washed away much. But between the bits of exposed stone, there are bits of hill and earth that still emerge. Between where the trees and roots still hold it. You do see some heavy, muddy footprints as well as some smaller footprints that seem to be heading loosely in the same direction you're traveling that hasn't been completely washed by the storm.
Ylva
Heavy like this guy heavy or heavy.
Matthew Mercer
Like bigger no, like this guy.
Ylva
Like this guy over here this way. This guy talking like your family. Okay, Is that all right? I'm just gonna pick up on that.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, yeah. When you hear your family.
Ylva
My family. I'm a friend of yours now. That's it.
Galen
Shelter and food. Still in that direction.
Minette
Is Lyra still with us?
Matthew Mercer
Lyra has been hiding on the ground through all of this encounter. And kind of like. Are they gone?
Sable
Did you cook us, Amelia?
Minette
I didn't think to bring a weapon when we were all doing that.
Matthew Mercer
I'm not a fighter. I was barely a burglar. I'm not supposed to be here.
Galen
What did oh a burglar mean? Taking shit you're not supposed to though.
Matthew Mercer
You're not ones to judge me. I've been listening to you all talk.
Ylva
Listen, she may be of use later. Just be gentle on her. She's small enough to carry.
Matthew Mercer
She better be a damn good cook is all I'm saying.
Ylva
Speaking of which, if we just look around real quick. Is there anything foragy available around where we are?
Galen
You know what, rabbit?
Matthew Mercer
Make an intellect check for me.
Ylva
Cause you have to be very smart to be a forager. That's a 1212.
Matthew Mercer
I mean there's nettles and bush.
Minette
Love eating bush.
Matthew Mercer
I mean, thank you for saying it.
Ylva
Because I felt like someone had to.
Matthew Mercer
Reach around. Love eating bush. So sorry, Obsidian. Sorry, not sorry. There are are some scavengeable berries. Not enough to fill a belly, but enough to definitely chew on and make you more frustrated that you're hungry.
Galen
Oh great.
Ylva
They don't help with anyone's health points.
Matthew Mercer
And they wouldn't heal anything. I'll say there's enough berries for someone to heal one hit point.
Ylva
Well, that's just sad. Can we give them to Lyra?
Matthew Mercer
Give them the Lyra. She didn't do shit. I got shocked like 15 deep.
Galen
She hasn't cooked us.
Ylva
Will it eat up, I take it?
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, I'm still hungry, but I heal one hit point. You heal one hit point.
Ylva
Okay, get that one.
Matthew Mercer
There we go.
Sable
Big blue something.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah. Gathering yourselves and wherewithal. Especially the signs of other, hopefully recent life. And this small, almost an outpost that seems to be surrounding the base of this lighthouse of a darkened candela. You pick yourselves up and continue trekking through the falling rain towards the semblance of some civilization and hope. Next we're going to go ahead and take our break. I'll be back here in a few few minutes. We'll see y'all shortly. Oh, hey there, Laura.
Minette
Bailey here to tell you all about the glorious goods we create inspired by our stories. Our stores are filled with the basics like character inspired T shirts, dice sets and pins, as well as more specialty items like fancy jackets, puzzles featuring gorgeous.
Matthew Mercer
Artwork, the comfiest joggers and pajamas ever.
Minette
And much, much more. There's also a few special items that support charity efforts like our dedicated Critical Role foundation merch. You can check out all of our regional online stores by visiting the shop tab on critrole.com or head straight to the US store at shop.critrole.com Every purchase helps support our shows and the stories we tell. Speaking of which, let's get back to the story.
Matthew Mercer
And welcome back. So, as you left off, this troop of unlikely companions, survivors from the shipwreck of the prison ship that was carrying them to the living lands, caught up in a terrible storm, have wrecked upon an unknown island. To them, nor it seemed the path they were supposed to tread. After battling with some of these strange elemental creatures, these rain blights upon the island you've pushed through the mist towards the core of this rocky landmass where a singular non lit light lighthouse and a surrounding outpost of a homestead and a few makeshift shacks seem to await your arrival. As you begin to approach the outskirts of this what would you like to.
Sable
Do as we're walking up the hill? Kind of just want to get in pace a little bit with Lady Minette.
Minette
Meow. Sorry.
Galen
Bless you.
Sable
You know, I was actually kinda. I was gonna ask about that. Do you meow because you were expected to meow?
Minette
I.
Sable
Or is that like, do you like that? Sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off.
Minette
Thank you for the question. I was playing a role, a critical role in, in the lives of Lady Eleanora.
Sable
And.
Minette
I was playing a party. Yes. But you know, the funny thing is I did enjoy it because I was cared for so wonderfully and I was fed and I was educated and I slept at the foot of her bed. And it was not where I come from. But I don't regret it and I apologize in advance. It's a bit of a tick at this point, but you know, I'm doing my best.
Matthew Mercer
Look, so you understand your other damaged Orlan companion is hobbling alongside you. You're not. You're not made to be a pet at the behest of other people.
Sable
Yeah, what she said.
Minette
No, let me be clear. I'm an equal. I am. I am an all. And I'm not a cat. But above all, I am a lady and that is the important part.
Galen
Who sleeps at the foot of the bed?
Minette
I am Eleanora's friend. And she will be coming for me. She will. As soon as I get in touch with this lighthouse keeper or wherever we go, there's going to be a nice noble man or lady. And I will be able to contact my friend and tell her that I am no longer in trouble and none of us are. And how wonderful and fortuitous is that?
Sable
Yeah, Look, I don't want to be the one to bust your biscuit.
Ylva
Can.
Sable
Please don't I feed like. You should just have someone give you a reality check here. She ain't coming to get you. She let you be the fall guy here. All right? And that's not someone who looks at you as an equal. And I want you just like what Lyra over here is saying.
Matthew Mercer
What are we saying?
Sable
Yeah. To be able to understand that. Recognize that you are strong, independent female Orlan. And that you deserve better than that bullshit.
Ylva
Lynette, sometimes people treat us than. Treat us less than people. It can happen to any of us. It happened to me.
Minette
Lady Ova and Lady Sable. I appreciate the counsel and I will take it under consideration and I will return to you these words that trust and belief are virtues that I abide by. And if I don't have those, well, I might just fucking kill myself. So. Oh no. What I'll do, frankly.
Matthew Mercer
We are alive.
Minette
She's coming back for me and she's my friend.
Sable
All right, look.
Minette
She's my friend.
Ylva
You know, this might have escalated.
Sable
I think I unlock trauma may be a very untimely place. And manner smoothing my skirtically just you know, like little bit. Little bit lower over here. You know, just it seems might be good to have some other influence from.
Ylva
And some other friends.
Sable
Yeah.
Minette
I am very happy for your companionship.
Matthew Mercer
We're smarter than the rest of them.
Sable
I could hear that.
Ylva
As could I.
Sable
Right next to us. But also you're not wrong.
Matthew Mercer
No, not.
Sable
I may be dumb, but I ain't deaf. Let's keep moving.
Matthew Mercer
That was loud. Puts her arm around you. And you both continue inward towards the outpost. Approaching the outpost you can see the cluster of wooden shack like structures. Some heavy tents that are arranged around the base as well. Though some have since been blown over by the recent weather. And mostly a pile of tattered materials that stand up amongst jagged sticks pushing through like a collapsed circus. These temporary structures set up around the central home abode with the massive lighthouse there before you even. It's not hard to make out the lighthouse is incomplete. It looks like the majority of it is constructed, but its apex is only partially finished or at least maybe partially crumbled. But you look amongst the structures as well, and the more you glance around, you can also see almost construction equipment. Number of tools for moving earth and breaking stone. That's the outer glance.
Ylva
From whatever distance we're at. Can we tell again? I just want to get a sense of whether these seem like they are people connected to the Idiran Empire, or if these are. Are they the soldier guys or are they the ash guys?
Matthew Mercer
Well, you don't see any. Make a perception check for me. S.
Ylva
Bad dog. This is a bad day. There are no bad dogs. Only bad people. 4.
Matthew Mercer
4. You, peering out beyond as the rest of your troop are approaching, see no signs of movement. The still wind itself not blowing any flaps free. There's no sound of the now still and some crumpled tense moving and shifting with the elements. It is just a stagnant and still cluster of structures with no signs of life or movement.
Ylva
Something doesn't feel right.
Galen
Yeah, that's different.
Minette
You're very tall and receptive. Do you see anything?
Galen
Not beyond what you see. I wouldn't mind trying to get a little bit a little closer. If there is anyone in those tents, though, they would greatly outnumber us. So it might behoove us to try and attract their attention this way instead of doing the opposite.
Minette
Maybe I could ask if they have any books. That went really well last time.
Matthew Mercer
Books, Books, books.
Galen
Yes. I'll see what I. Are we in a treeline?
Matthew Mercer
The tree line itself is broken and you're kind of jumping from cloud cluster to cluster to move best you can. Unseen. But as you reach the perimeter. Yeah, best you can. But now that you've gotten close enough to see these details, the rest of it is mostly just exposed rock and a bit of looks like sea friendly shrub. But it's an open walk to the rest of this cluster where the lighthouse currently stands.
Galen
I could try and get a bit of a closer look if we didn't want to expose ourselves all at once.
Ylva
You're the only one dressed as a soldier and I don't.
Galen
This is true.
Ylva
You know that. This is. Since we don't know if they're friendly to soldiers or other. Don't know.
Matthew Mercer
But I'll go with you. Fuck it.
Galen
As my prisoner. As your prisoner?
Matthew Mercer
Yeah.
Ylva
Or vice versa, depending on what you discover.
Galen
Yes. If it's scallywags like us, then I'm the bitch. If it's God's you da bitch.
Matthew Mercer
Debatable, but okay, we'll go with it. So the two of you are scouting ahead?
Galen
Yes.
Matthew Mercer
All right. The rain turns to a drizzle, and eventually the drizzle begins to clear. The gray skies still carry above you, but it looks like the threat of rain and perpetual waterlogged fades. But with that, the fog thickens, seeming to choke off your vision from the full perimeter of the island, now becoming obfuscated shadows at the periphery. But as the two of you approach and begin to step into the boundary of this small encampment, this outpost, if you will, you see all manner of sights of work here. You see within some of these shacks that are set up, number of construction tools, excavation pickaxes. You see piles of heavy stone. Looks like warped rock or completely displaced rock. You see lanterns hanging on hooks outside of these structures themselves unlit, the muddy trappings. The way this part of the land is, it looks like a lot of the water and rain pushes wet earth sits above it into this very faint caldera of where the lighthouse is built. The further in you go, the more it becomes mud as your foot falls. Enough. With each step, you come through her, and you can see other foot tracks. At a glance of recent movement, it would have to have been. It's also not too hard to see amongst the mud here. Four skeletal corpses that appear to be partially submerged in this mud. You see the occasional skull, half of it open, its jaw agape, peering out from you as its body is laid out, its arm sprawled. You see another one, that's it, partially collapsed over by the side of one of the collapsed tents. Its ribcage sticking out from it. Looks like bits of cloth torn and weathered with the elements. You see four skeletal corpses, mostly skeletal. Shreds of elements of skin or what they once had while I was here.
Galen
Was a long time ago. A long time ago.
Matthew Mercer
So there's no signs of recent activity. Make a perception check for me. Ha ha. 4. 4. Most thing you can make out is as you turn, you see little carrion bird that's kind of perched on one of the nearby corpses, picking it with shreds of wet and flick. You want it? Just go ahead and roll. It's gonna try and dodge.
Ylva
Get it, get it, get it, get it.
Galen
I added up and 22.
Matthew Mercer
It rolled a 19. But that's not enough. Don't roll. Damage. Yes.
Ylva
Dinner.
Matthew Mercer
Hot food.
Galen
Oh, four balls, 11 points of damage.
Matthew Mercer
That's enough to kill a carrion. So I was like just slumped against the arrow that now has Stapled to the side of one of these shacks.
Galen
I killed.
Matthew Mercer
I took a life. Oh, my God.
Galen
So Hasbro just steps forward and goes.
Matthew Mercer
We'Ll see what Lyra can cook up with this later. See if she can pull her weight. But yeah, it looks like nobody's around here. You see anything in the tents or anything?
Galen
Oh, look. Can I do a more in depth kind of search for anything dated?
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, if you want to make perception or resolve your call.
Ylva
Can we catch up to them now since we don't see them?
Matthew Mercer
If you'd like to. The rest of you, you want to follow Dirty20?
Ylva
Yeah, baby.
Matthew Mercer
Dirty20. Looking around, a couple things. One you see, indeed, it looks like there are a number of places where workers would gather building materials. Stones that had been smoothed, that looked like they were carried from elsewhere. They aren't made here on the island. So there was in the construction of this lighthouse. Looks like teams were coming here to build this as a means of extending safer travel across the ocean, possibly towards the living lands, your eventual destination. But they didn't seem to finish. You continue to pour through and find three other bodies. Glancing across them of what you can see, their decay indicates that they haven't died recently. They're not ancient corpses per se. Even the weathering that you see in the surrounding structures here, the home, feels older than the rest of the buildings. Some of these structures seem more recent. There's more weathering on the homestead than some of the shacks. You also see the bodies. There's no signs of violence. There's no broken bones or slash marks. And most of them aren't sprawled. And scenes of violence just collapse.
Galen
And some are halfway submerged in the earth.
Matthew Mercer
What you can tell, it looks like as the bodies have been here long enough that the mud and the general elements have begun to reclaim them. The lanterns are all unlit, and there are canisters of lantern oil between two of the larger shacks.
Galen
We'll grab some lanterns and lantern oil. Yep.
Ylva
Useful.
Matthew Mercer
You also, as the rest of you approach, hear a whistle coming from the other side of this gathered troop.
Galen
Yes. Was that not you?
Matthew Mercer
No, no, that wasn't me. Was it the others?
Ylva
It wasn't us. We got him.
Matthew Mercer
Oh, you're right here.
Ylva
That's right.
Matthew Mercer
That's all right. It was us. And you see Medrin steps out from behind one of the things, far ends Shaxx, near the household. And you see he has a satchel over his arm. Has. Thank you very much. Look at that. Look at that. Keen delivery.
Ylva
Thank you, partner. Very cool.
Matthew Mercer
Thank you.
Ylva
Delicious. Oh, mine appeared and I didn't even notice.
Matthew Mercer
Look at that.
Ylva
Magic.
Matthew Mercer
Thank you guys. You see has also scavenged arms from the guards. Bladed his side, a little bit of a breastplate set on him.
Sable
It's Medron.
Matthew Mercer
Medron with a partially filled satchel over his arm. Ah, yeah. You see the two other figures that you had saw in the prison following alongside also with satchels or sacks over their arm. And he says, well, it's very good to see that you all survived.
Ylva
Likewise.
Sable
You didn't think to maybe check up on us before you decided to head out on your own?
Matthew Mercer
It was a tangled message. Same when you woke up in, huh?
Sable
Yeah. All right.
Matthew Mercer
Excuse me for not truly encompassing the empathy that you hold for yourself.
Sable
Well, you're excused.
Galen
Yeah, apology accepted, I think is what we mean to say.
Minette
Absolutely. I hate this guy.
Matthew Mercer
Well. Whisper whistles again and you see from two emerging from the household and from underneath one of the tents as it shifts, you see the muscular female Alma that you saw with the brown burgundy skin emerge from under there as well as the lanky dwarf you can see that pulls out with this dagger and shield at the side. And they all converge off to the side of Medron. So you're all more or less in a two semicircles facing each other.
Sable
Are they trying to surround us?
Matthew Mercer
No, they're not aggressive, but they're certainly wary.
Ylva
Are you the only ones who made it so far?
Matthew Mercer
As far as I know. This is all we've seen. No other survivors. It was a terrible accident. And he shifts his shoulder a bit and you can see part of his clothing is bloodied. They've all sustained injuries and they're. You get the sense. Based on the sacks they carry, they're scavenging as well, possibly looting. How many of them are there again? There's three of them. There's just the three of them. Okay. My apologies, I've not introduced you to my little team here. This is Figrun. Motions over to the female Amaoa she herself holds aloft now looks like this massive excavation shovel that has wrapped some leather around the middle of it to make it into a makeshift weapon. Lifts it up and stinks it into the bun goes. How do you do? And this here is Al Sento. Points to the dwarf.
Galen
No, not evident. No, not evident.
Matthew Mercer
Now we've all got to stay together for survival. Yeah.
Ylva
Yes.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah. Good, good.
Sable
Well, I guess if we're making introductions. That's Minette. That's Galen.
Minette
Lady Minette.
Sable
Lady Minette. Suri, that's Ilva. That's Hasbro. I'm Sable, and we're Team Reach around.
Matthew Mercer
You've got a name.
Galen
We recently adopted the name. It was Hasbro's idea.
Matthew Mercer
You. Pretty good name, right? I like it. It's promising. We don't have a name.
Sable
It's good for morale.
Matthew Mercer
This one. He points over, and you see him smile as he points, and you see Elyra's like, oh, none of this one. I guess it's good to keep the food close, eh?
Galen
That's wildly inappropriate. Oh, because she's a chef. You heard she's a cook.
Matthew Mercer
She's a chef, yeah.
Galen
Yes. Wise with his resources, this one is. I can tell.
Sable
I'm guessing there's a history between these two. You probably don't need to make a roll for that.
Matthew Mercer
You guess that there's something there. Yeah.
Sable
All right.
Galen
Predator and food.
Ylva
Yeah.
Matthew Mercer
Nevertheless, whatever this is here, it was man. And something didn't work out. That means they don't need what they left.
Ylva
Did you by any chance encounter a sort of water blight. Sorry, Water ghost. A sort of lightning creature?
Matthew Mercer
Water drippy little guy. That's what I call him. I saw some weirdness amongst the mist, but we actually dallied right around and kept quick to our feet and just ran, you know, not fighters.
Galen
Oh, right. Where was done that?
Matthew Mercer
I don't know if you've noticed. We're stranding. We need to get that working. So anyone know how to work a line? House.
Minette
Why you say it like that? Like there's an innuendo?
Matthew Mercer
Everything else isn't anyone, though.
Ylva
God, I hate him.
Matthew Mercer
He should join Team Reach Around. I think he fit right in. Oh, I think Team Reach Around's joined us.
Galen
I mean, I think we could get it to work.
Ylva
I'm sure that we could get it to work one way or the other. There's plenty of lanterns and plenty of oil around. That's a start.
Matthew Mercer
Make a fire, grab materials. Stop planning yourself out. There. Anything that's good and decent, bring it. We're gonna pile it here in the center. You two go and keep watch. Me? Sure. Nobody falls out of line. You two also will. Just make sure we don't fall. All right? All right.
Sable
You're barking out a lot of orders there, Hound Dog. Why don't you calm down, all right? I appointed you team leader, all right?
Ylva
I'm going to go search around and keep an eye on them to see if they're out of line. And you can keep an eye on me to see if I'm out of line.
Matthew Mercer
Well, why don't we vote on who could be our team leader?
Sable
Yes, that's good.
Minette
Diplomatic, democratic. Yes. Yes, that's fair.
Matthew Mercer
Make a resolve check for me. That is 11. That is 11. Oddly failed with an eight. He was like, you know what? Fuck it. Why not all they got. Sounds fun to me. See, amongst all of us here, who should be the leader? Isn't that right, boys? You see over there figuring goes. And lady, who wants to be the leader amongst your trooper?
Sable
Well, it's gotta be either one of the smarties, I think, or, I don't know, one of the biggies.
Minette
I vote for intellect. I vote for Galen.
Matthew Mercer
Who is volunteering to be voted for. This isn't an open council. I'll volunteer. Yeah. All right. Whoever wants has Poro. Has Poro. Toledo stranded, dying, shred of a team, raise your hand.
Galen
Oh, shit.
Matthew Mercer
I wasn't expecting that.
Ylva
It's all right, darling. I'm used to being the second hand.
Matthew Mercer
Last four votes. Yeah. How about the rest of you lot? And he looks over at Lyra, and Lyra's like, you see the other ones put their hands up? He puts his hand up. That's four on four. All right, which is funny because you didn't vote. But he voted for himself, damn it.
Ylva
I don't feel like that.
Matthew Mercer
I don't. I'm not that good at math, so. Does that seem funny to anybody?
Sable
All right, fine. How about diplomatic partnership?
Matthew Mercer
Sure. Let's see what we can find. Quickly. I'm getting hungry. Zedden shifts his bag, and they scatter amongst the ruins and start picking through things. You watch as Figarin takes that shovel and moves aside one of the bodies, pulling it out of the muck and slopping it onto its front, where it breaks apart a little bit and starts sifting through it with a stick. They're essentially just looting the house.
Ylva
You said that there was some kind of a house.
Matthew Mercer
There is. There is a small abode that is older than the rest of the structures here that is up against the side of the lighthouse.
Galen
One of them came out of there, right?
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, it looked like El Cendo, I think, was coming out of that one.
Ylva
Shall we? I'm going to go check out the house. He said it's attached to the lighthouse.
Matthew Mercer
Well, it's, like, right next to it.
Ylva
Okay.
Galen
If you want to check out the house, we could examine the lighthouse, see what sort of progress has been made on its construction.
Matthew Mercer
I'll go with you to the house.
Sable
I'll come with you to the little Tiny house.
Ylva
And Lyra, why don't you join us in the house?
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, that's where I figured I'd have to cook. Right? Oh, yeah, speaking of that, got some grub for you.
Galen
Oh, yes. I killed. Our hands will never be clean.
Ylva
You made dinner, darling. You simply made dinner.
Sable
I don't think Mandarin should have any of that dead vulture. Personally.
Galen
It's a pigeon.
Matthew Mercer
Pigeon.
Ylva
Made a big badass carrion pigeon.
Matthew Mercer
The worst kind of pigeon. Big pontoon. Works out.
Ylva
There's a pigeon who works out.
Matthew Mercer
It's that weird island in every RPG where it's regular monsters, but they're just bigger for no reason.
Minette
Galen, I will accompany you to the lighthouse. I think it might behoove us to have someone with mental fortitude to aid you in your quest. So you don't get scared.
Galen
Yes, yes, that's excellent thinking.
Matthew Mercer
They keep calling us dumbasses over there. I don't really appreciate that kind of talk. It's all right, darling.
Ylva
Being underestimated is a wonderful thing.
Matthew Mercer
Exactly.
Galen
We are all we need.
Minette
We're all we need. Team Lighthouse doesn't have quite the same ring to it.
Galen
No, it doesn't.
Minette
That's okay. We'll workshop.
Matthew Mercer
All right, so the two of you head towards the lighthouse, right? You come to the front doorway to it and you can see there is a wooden door, metal trim for both physical load bearing power to it. But it looks like one of the hinges is partially broken away and it's partway open. Dark on the inside. As you move it aside, you have to push hard to push the muck out of the way that's built up on the outside of it. Looks like it hasn't been opened in a while. Immediately there's that smell of wet muck and earth on the inside. You can see stone staircase that immediately spirals up and you can see a little bit of light above that daylight that is coming through the unfinished top of that lighthouse that barely frames the edge of the steps as it spirals upward. There are wooden set off to the side that have themselves some bits of broken stone. Yeah. What do you want to do?
Minette
Well, first of all, Galen, now that we're alone, I have something to tell you.
Galen
I'm all ears.
Minette
You're innocent, correct?
Galen
Yes.
Minette
I think that once we find an established society, we absolutely abandon the people we're making temporary alliances with. It's important for us. You're a numbers guy, right?
Galen
Yes, yes.
Minette
I just think that I don't personally want to be associated with criminals. And I think that it Would be a good idea for us to think about an exit plan. That's all.
Ylva
That's all.
Galen
Sure. Playing the percentages.
Minette
Yes, exactly.
Galen
All right. They have been very useful. But I see a lot of reason in your thinking.
Minette
I didn't come here to make friends. I came here because I was in jail with them.
Ylva
And that's all.
Galen
Well said, my lady.
Ylva
Now that that's sorted. It's a virtue.
Minette
Now that that's sorted, how does a lighthouse work?
Galen
I thought you knew.
Ylva
Oh, you're the big smartie.
Matthew Mercer
We're the ones with the Internet.
Minette
I have resolved.
Galen
I assume you create a light and then something to reflect that light around.
Ylva
And that's great.
Matthew Mercer
You're.
Galen
So we have lanterns and lantern oil.
Minette
Can we look around to see if there is anything mirrored that we could use?
Matthew Mercer
A piece of glass?
Galen
Yeah. Check these crates on the bottom floor.
Matthew Mercer
Make a perception. Check both of them.
Galen
Yeah.
Minette
21.
Galen
22.
Matthew Mercer
22. You go, which one of you goes up and which one of you checks the floor?
Minette
I go up.
Matthew Mercer
All right. So as you trek up the stone, it is slick with the recent rain. And you have to put your hand on the wall to make sure you. Because if you were to tumble down these stairs, it would be very bad. Railing hasn't been put in. It's pretty bare. The fine details of it were probably the last thing to go in, and they haven't even finished the full construction. But you head up to the top and you can see there's part of the wall. It looks like it may have been close to construction and something collapsed. And they haven't repaired it yet. But there is a lens installed. You get up at the top and there is an actual lighthouse lamp and lens installed, but it is dirty as hell. The actual hood of the lighthouse looks partially off center. Whether it be through wind and weather, it's just been slowly pushed off to one side. It's mooring come undone a little bit. But it looks like it could be a functional lighthouse if it were to be properly oiled, ignited. You don't know how this works.
Minette
Excellent. I take off my petticoat and I get to cleaning.
Matthew Mercer
All right. You start scrubbing it. You start checking throughout. Here, the crates. There are some tools. Most of them look empty. One of them looks like it contains some actual sacks of rice and grain. And looking down with it in there, you check it and it is moldy. It is. That gray and white fuzz has fully ingrained itself in this. It's a rough fungus in there. And the smell hits You. And you're like, oh, going to catch yourself for a second. There's another crate. It's pushed off to the side. And then a cold wind seems to be coming through the lighthouse at this. The wind is picking up a little bit as that fog is beginning to choke the center of the island. You reach over and look within the crate, and it tips a little bit to one side, and you're like, what? You catch it and pull it up. The stones in there shift a bit, and it's hard. Make a mite check for.
Galen
Oh, shit. Might coming up. Seven.
Matthew Mercer
Seven. The rocks shift on the other side of this crate, and it tumbles forward. Do you hold on or let go?
Galen
I'm hold on.
Matthew Mercer
Hold on. It slams down. It looks like part of the floor here actually was a hole or an opening and the crate was on the side.
Minette
Oh, no.
Matthew Mercer
As you shifted it, the weight shifted and the crate fell into this opening, and you held onto it as a. It comes forward and tumbles about five, six feet in. Shatters onto this heavy, rough stone floor. Lightless around. You have no sight. It is just this dark expanse where you have landed on your tailbone. Hard. I'll stop. I'll stop. As you slowly catch the wind back in your lungs.
Galen
Ooh. We'll be right back.
Sable
Like, three days ago.
Matthew Mercer
I think she's actually hurt.
Ylva
Oh, no.
Galen
Classic.
Matthew Mercer
If you haven't seen it, classic.
Galen
Did the lantern that I have with me, did that break as well in the fall?
Matthew Mercer
Roll a D20 for me. Ooh. On a 10 plus. Did not break.
Galen
Five.
Ylva
Damn. Ruh.
Matthew Mercer
Roh.
Galen
Okay, just pitch dark.
Matthew Mercer
Pitch dark.
Galen
Hello?
Matthew Mercer
Hello? Hello.
Galen
Anybody there?
Matthew Mercer
There, there.
Galen
Ego.
Minette
Can I hear him from up where I am?
Matthew Mercer
No. Make a perception check.
Minette
Okay. With this one, by the way.
Matthew Mercer
Oh, yeah. There you go.
Ylva
Come on, get it.
Minette
9, 10, 11, 12.
Matthew Mercer
12. Nope. Fuck. Just cleaning.
Ylva
I'll be humming.
Minette
La la la la la la la la la la.
Galen
I like the dark.
Matthew Mercer
I like the dark. Cinderella. Animals flying.
Ylva
Exactly. Just like in there. Like tweeting with the animals.
Minette
La la la.
Matthew Mercer
The whole.
Galen
The entrance that I fell through is like six feet in the air.
Matthew Mercer
Five, six feet up. Yeah. You could leap and catch and try and pull yourself up.
Galen
Take a couple steps forward in the dark.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. You feel it. And you find a rough stone wall and what feels like a wooden brace.
Galen
Can I search my hands up the brace and see if there's a joist or a lantern or a hook or anything?
Matthew Mercer
No lantern or hook, but it seems to curl up to about a five and A half foot high ceiling. Eventually, as you move forward, ducks down and it's like a tunnel. An excavated tunnel.
Galen
That's interesting. No need for me to do this on my own.
Matthew Mercer
Help, Help, help.
Galen
Try and climb out of there.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah. It takes you a few moments, but eventually you do manage to clamber back up into the base of the lighthouse. Great. Lady.
Minette
Yes, yes.
Galen
I have fallen and found a tunnel.
Minette
Oh, okay. I.
Matthew Mercer
Do.
Minette
I take my petticoat.
Ylva
Should I leave it?
Minette
I take it with me.
Matthew Mercer
Fair.
Minette
And. And I carefully descend. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.
Matthew Mercer
Maths.
Ylva
Well done.
Matthew Mercer
123 steps later.
Minette
123. Hello.
Galen
I fell into a hole and there's a tunnel and I broke our lamp.
Minette
Oh, okay. One thing at a time. There's a tunnel.
Matthew Mercer
Yes.
Galen
In the ground dark tunnel into the void. Which I didn't want to do on my own.
Minette
No. Okay. Well, good news. All of the fastenings for a lighthouse are up there. I was just. Excuse my nakedness. I had to remove my petticoat, clean the glass. But it's all up there. And I think it's just a matter of finding more oil because that was the oil in the lamp that broke, correct? Yes. So why don't we return to our friends and see? Because there was certainly more than one.
Matthew Mercer
Lamp, if I recall, a number of lanterns throughout.
Minette
The number of. It's one of a number.
Ylva
Great, wonderful.
Minette
So let's find our friends. Remember, grit is a virtue. So let's get them and let's join our friends and tell them the good news. Good news.
Matthew Mercer
In the interim, the three of you have trekked into this household. The front door itself is already partially ajar from looked like one of Medrin's compatriots had begun stepping through the interior. As you step in, Medrin follows you a little bit and then peels off before you enter the building proper and goes off and finds his own interest throughout the rest of the surrounding encampment. His two other compatriots also moved beyond sight. I would say Alcino at this point is rummaging through another collapsed tent and pulling out bits of materials and tools and finding and putting them in the bag. But you enter this house. It's a small abode and it's barely furnished. It likely was a home built for what was to be the lighthouse keeper here, though the interior definitely, while it's not furnished heavily, is covered in all sorts of strange equipment that does not befit necessarily a lighthouse keeper. You can see weathered tripods and massive lensed equipment. You see delicate tools hung on haphazard screwed loops put into the wall. You see the extensions of excavation equipment and all manner of laid out strips of leather on small tables and counters with bits of flecks of broken pale stone of different sizes and areas where notes are kept and some of it missing, some of it present. There's broken instruments on the ground with shattered glass that spread off to one side. All manner of strange scientific or research based equipment. Who is actively helming the investigation into this house? I feel like she let it.
Ylva
Sure, yeah, I'll be that person.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. If you'd like to make a perception or resolve check, that's up to you.
Ylva
Yeah. I should not be leading this anymore. My dice have abandoned me. All of them have abandoned me. That was a four.
Matthew Mercer
A four. Glancing through the chambers here, minimal as they are, you can't quite figure out the threads behind what these might have been used for. But a few things also catch your eye. There is a small kitchen area in the back that it looks like some of it's been open and emptied, but others are closed. That is some hope for trying to have some supplies for liveliness. You do see in one of the what would have been the bedroom, though the bed itself has no present mattress on it. There is another small table set with a leather ledger journal, a number of other pieces of paper and sheets, and what looks to be another corpse that is lying on the ground, arms back like this, its jaw just hung open and most of its skin either pull hold stretched or missing.
Galen
Oh, not skeletonized though.
Matthew Mercer
I mean most of its body is skeletal, but there are elements of strips of stretched mummified skin that still give some semblance of structure and tissue.
Ylva
Can I read some of these journals, stuff like that?
Matthew Mercer
Sure. Well, you start reading through the notes and journals, you see within the first opening page there is a name marked within, usually denoting the ownership of the journal. You see the name Aedia Koliate. It is very much written in shorthand, scattered chunks of notes and language that at a first glance is tough to glean the purpose behind it. But if you want to roll an intellect, roll to see if you can ascertain. Let's go north of the 10.
Galen
North of the 10.
Ylva
Come on, babies. I brought so many of you to this party.
Galen
Show off. Show off for mama.
Ylva
That's better. Let's do an 18.
Sable
Hey, hey, hey.
Matthew Mercer
Eight. Okay, 18. In reading through the notes of this journal, a couple quick things you pick up. This edea looks to Be a seeker of ancient history or lost culture. Their notes are more about connecting dots between historical excavations. Referring to some sort of university, a higher learning locale where they have connections and trying to more or less figure out parallels with some uncovered elements to this island. You work out through the notes that when this lighthouse was being constructed, the team building it uncovered odd ruins within the heart of the island beneath the lighthouse. And thus the construction was halted before completion. Then Edea and her colleague Dornilsi were called from the Empire to gather a team of researchers to investigate this room and assess if construction could be completed or if the site had significance to the Empire. You rolled really high. Entries also speak of unpredictable weather and harsh living conditions upon the island. And a storm that sundered their long moored ship against the shore before they could return to the mainland for more provisions. Reading through the notes further, they speak about uncovering some of the depths of the ruins as well as massive veins of Adra that dig into this island. You know Adra to be a particularly important and rare mineral across the entire world of Eora. It is a greenish luminescent stone that is believed in many cultures to to perhaps all be connected at the core of the world. Or at the very least it is tied to the very essence of the soul, the spirit. There are many different beliefs. A lot of the ancient Ingwithan Empire and their technologies were based around the manipulation of Adra and the spirit as an energy source. Some people see the Adra as a creation or extension of the gods. But there are a number of significant mysteries around it and a lot of technologies through the use and manipulation of Audra. But these veins were unique for the deeper they plumbed into these ruins they found the green became white spidered veins of white Audra referred to as Audraban. An extremely rare form of White Audra that still isn't fully understood. An incredible find by these notes and likely why this ancient ruin was built here. Edea's instinct is that these ruins might be of the fabled godless of the living lands. But it's too early to confirm without comparison and research back to the Empire and hoping that their attempts to get the lighthouse functional again and to call some sort of help or aid back to the island could help them continue their research. The further into it gets more complaints about dwindling provisions of desperation and conflict within the research team. As these tensions rise and Edea wants to push their efforts towards recovery and acquiring some sort of follow up troop to save them. Danilci began to fall obsessive with these ruins, thinking that perhaps maybe the secret to that lied within them, within this Audra. If indeed it is all connected somewhere in the core here, maybe through some unknown animancy or some sort of ancient power within, maybe these ruins unlocked a way in which they could be saved. But this tension continued to build as the teams began to separate and grow more ornery and divided with each passing week. The notes get more scarce and more concise and more frustrated and hopeless. Then begins to speak about Dorneel C. Wanting to tamper with the pillar and wanting to stop them. While this is happening, you both also find what looks to be an odd skull that's set off to the side of the far back chamber by the kitchen. It is larger than a human skull. It looks humanoid, kind of, but it's. This is big. The big ass skull. It's a big skull.
Ylva
Okay, yeah, technical term.
Matthew Mercer
What would you like to be doing within the rest of this house while your friend over here is in the process of reading and studying this journal? Do any of the tools look familiar? We would know what these tools were used for. Yeah, a lot of them are. Well, actually, well, the tools inside here, they make an intellect. Check for me. Oh boy.
Ylva
Come on, baby.
Sable
Eight man.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, eight, eight man. Probably like dentistry. Like, you know, there's like.
Ylva
Matthew Mer.
Matthew Mercer
Small implements like obviously for scraping plaque and getting between those gum. Like. Yeah, this.
Sable
Do you think that this skull was maybe like a practice skull for the dentist?
Matthew Mercer
Might be, yeah. Yeah, that would make sense. I mean it's kind of a lot for one skull, but. Yeah, yeah, I can see.
Sable
Well, you know, I just. You know how doctors have those like diagrams and stuff.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah.
Sable
Maybe that's what this is.
Matthew Mercer
I think you're exactly right.
Ylva
Exactly. I'd like to come running back in and fill them in on everything I tell you, everything that I read.
Sable
Wait, wait, wait, wait. Let me see that journal. Oh my God. This is gator hide. This is rare shape.
Matthew Mercer
Shut the.
Sable
This is good leather.
Ylva
I'm just going to turn around and walk outside to try to. And take a deep breath and look for our other friends.
Matthew Mercer
You step out of the doorway and right there you see shoulder to shoulder. Figrun and Alceno are stepping up to the house. Look at you. Figrun's like you look spooked.
Ylva
Not spooked. I'm intrigued. Have you been in the house?
Matthew Mercer
Looks over to Alicena's like amanya, hello, hello, Koran start. You know, not much of interest. I got some food, a couple Things. What'd you find?
Ylva
Some papers. Do you read? Not in a chatty way. We found some more information that might be useful to us, but we need to reunite with all of our party before blessing. Even though I can't see you, I bless you. We need to reunite with all of our party to figure out what to do about it. Can you find your medron?
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, we'll go find them. You go ahead and both turn around. You can see Figrun looks at you, looks inside the house a bit, grabs ahold of her massive shovel and pulls it from the muck and they both walk off back towards the cluster of structures.
Sable
Ilvo you all trust that lot. Might not be a good idea to tell whatever you found.
Ylva
Why do you think I just stalled? I'm stalling until we find our party and we can have a better conversation.
Matthew Mercer
Lyra's trying to cook up, get the stove going through some cabinets, goes, oh, I got. And pulls out a small box and looks like a sack of some kind. He's like, well, I got some meat and does actually produce amongst the kitchen here. One large piece of smoked meat that you can.
Ylva
Oh, excellent. Someone can heal up.
Matthew Mercer
And a box of hardtack.
Ylva
Oh, all right.
Matthew Mercer
So you have two helpings of hardtack that can be used multiple times.
Sable
I feel like you should eat some of that right now.
Ylva
We need our tank to make some magic over here.
Sable
I'm only down a couple of hit points.
Ylva
Yeah, me too. I feel like we should hang on to those more for me.
Matthew Mercer
I'll use one of these uses now. Get yourself because I'm hit pretty hard. Go for it.
Sable
Yes. Four uses. Regain two. I'll take one. Why not?
Ylva
How far are our buddies?
Matthew Mercer
They're like 20ft, 25ft away. Walking away further. They're sharp.
Ylva
I mean, these buddies.
Matthew Mercer
Oh, them.
Ylva
Yeah.
Matthew Mercer
They're still going up the lighthouse. No, we came back. Well, this is happening simultaneously. And the searching and cleaning and all these things take a little bit of time. So you're probably at this point in time probably just convenient and about to start heading back. You as you glance out and look, you also see on the table where all these little tools and implements are. Those small, little broken shards of stone are matching that description of that pale white that you read in the book. And upon a look, one particular piece that's about the size of a coin has the pale glow a luminescent color to it.
Ylva
I'm just going to swipe it and pocket it.
Matthew Mercer
Okay, Grab that and a few other.
Ylva
Pieces that you can it's literally grab them all. So there's a pile of stones, three.
Matthew Mercer
Sizable bits of Audraban that you can pocket real fast. The white side.
Ylva
Yes, Audraban.
Galen
And is it known what the big difference is with Audraban?
Matthew Mercer
I know it's rare and stuff, but it's not like unpredictable, I would say you wouldn't know. You just know that from what places you've the rare things that you've heard about and you've seen it used mainly as jewelry for the elite, especially in.
Ylva
My business where I've been doing a lot with.
Matthew Mercer
But you haven't delved too much into the research of Audra specifically or its source. It's mainly just in your circles used as a sense of station. Okay. Audra and Audra bond. Yeah, well, Audra's used all throughout jewelry, but it's more. More common comparatively. But it's used because it's very resonant to spiritual energy in essence. And so a lot of Animancy research and a lot of magical technology and development of Animancy based magic all surrounds the manipulation and usage of Audra. Okay, yeah. I'd like your friends do approach as you pocket these things and you can smell food starting to begin to coat a little bit and you all come into the household.
Minette
Oh, Lady Ylva Ser Galen was an absolute example of gallance and bravery. He discovered a hole and a tunnel.
Galen
A tunnel. It's a tunnel.
Ylva
Okay.
Sable
A hole and a tunnel.
Galen
Yes, just the one.
Sable
They're connected.
Minette
And good news, the lighthouse is almost ready.
Ylva
I've cleaned the glass in this tunnel. Did you by any chance see any veins of green in the stone?
Galen
No. No, it was pitch dark.
Ylva
How many lanterns do we have?
Sable
How many do we have a number.
Ylva
Can we each grab one?
Matthew Mercer
Oh yeah. I'd say there are probably eight unbroken lanterns that are easily within grasping distance of Muffa island and the surrounding structures. But as you're having this conversation in the house, you see the approaching shapes of the two compatriots that you sent off as well as the image of Medrin between them walking forward. The.
Sable
He's coming towards us.
Matthew Mercer
He's walking towards you.
Sable
I'm just going to lean my head out the door and be like, I'm really sorry, Lady Minette is just a little bit indisposed right now. I'm going to close it and lock the door.
Matthew Mercer
Oh, okay. All right. There is one other way in which is the door. You can see near the kitchen to the left. Oh shit. I go over to that door.
Minette
Please don't come in. I'm having a feminine issue.
Sable
She just. It's her lady time.
Minette
I'd appreciate you.
Matthew Mercer
Please.
Minette
Thank you.
Matthew Mercer
All right, we have in this moment, they appear to probably still approaching the house, but taken aback, probably by closing and locking the door. What are you doing?
Ylva
Have you found anything?
Matthew Mercer
Talking to who?
Ylva
Medron?
Matthew Mercer
You just shut the door on.
Ylva
Right?
Sable
Just figure we might want to get our story straight.
Galen
We don't fully trust.
Ylva
No, of course not. I can make up something that was in these journals, but. And I don't know that either of them can read.
Galen
Well, we can say that the lighthouse is able to be repaired. We could outfit it, clean it, supply a lantern and get it up and working. And maybe while they're up there, focus on that. We can slip down below.
Ylva
That's a great idea, right?
Sable
I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm all down for exploring. Very adventurous spirit. But what do we think we're gonna find down there? What are we gonna gain?
Galen
A golden corral.
Sable
A golden corral. Let's go.
Matthew Mercer
I want a bloomin onion, baby.
Sable
I know it sounds like steakhouse, but it's the first thing we do in mind. Like everything else in this game, whenever.
Matthew Mercer
I go to cribs, I'm like, I wish I could have a blue and onion instead.
Ylva
Yeah.
Matthew Mercer
I'd like to take this time to remind you that these are all our original things. These are not canon to the world of eora.
Ylva
No, there's no Outback Steakhouse in the world of eora, Just in case you were wondering. Um, I don't know, but it might.
Galen
Be the only thing of value that's.
Ylva
More what I'm thinking of. And. Come on, you've done a certain amount of animancy. Aren't you intrigued?
Sable
Yeah, no, of course. I mean, I don't know. I'm so confused. I don't know exactly what you're telling me right now, but I'm into it.
Ylva
All right, team, reach around.
Minette
Must get in the hall. Do we agree?
Matthew Mercer
Oh, yeah, always.
Minette
Every hole is a goal.
Sable
What are we gonna tell Medryn to keep them?
Ylva
Okay, we said we'll take them up to the top of the. To the lighthouse, see if they can get it working because we don't know how to. And then see if we can slip in the hole.
Sable
Hurry.
Matthew Mercer
You hear a voice outside, be like, what's this?
Galen
Oh, shit.
Matthew Mercer
That's all.
Sable
Are there windows in this little situation?
Matthew Mercer
There are glass windows installed, yeah. It's outside the house and probably sounds further Away than where you lock the door.
Galen
That's not a voice we recognize.
Matthew Mercer
It sounds like Medryn.
Ylva
Can we look out the window?
Galen
Actually I'll go to the door that's on the opposite side from where the sound's coming from and I'll actually head out outside around the house and try and slice the pie and look around the corner at what that sound's coming from.
Matthew Mercer
You follow off to the side and one of the structures, the partially collapsed tent against the side of it, that was on this side of the house. You see Medrin and his crew are gathered around the outside. They were going to go to the other side of the house and stopped to inspect this. And you see Medrine's moving aside some of the rubble and pulls something out from it. You see in his hand this curved on one side and coming to a point on it like this large teardrop shaped massive chunk of this white stone material that's faintly glowing with the faintest bit of pinkish violet internal light, almost like veined through the core of it.
Galen
Looking at it, I'll slip back inside and go, I think he found a giant bone. It's like this long white shard.
Ylva
Does it look like this? I pull out the white archer. Does it look like this?
Galen
It does, doesn't it?
Matthew Mercer
Looks pretty close.
Galen
It has tadpa bigger.
Ylva
Dammit.
Sable
Maybe while they're distracted with that we just go ahead and slip in.
Ylva
But that. That's what we're looking for.
Sable
Well, maybe we can go find more.
Galen
It would be a good time to go to the tunnel.
Ylva
Oh fine, fine.
Matthew Mercer
Come on.
Ylva
Ill I just want it. It's shiny.
Sable
Yeah, well, we can go to the tunnel, go in the hole, come back and get it.
Galen
Yeah, they'll be looking for us.
Matthew Mercer
Let's go.
Ylva
I'm going to write a note. Be back soon. Going to do some reverse love Ilba heart.
Matthew Mercer
Lyra turns from the pot of myself.
Ylva
For them because I don't know if they can read.
Matthew Mercer
Lyra turns from the pot and is like up likely around five or so minutes. The bird should be ready. This is stirring it.
Sable
Let's go.
Ylva
Yeah, we'll have to eat it when it's cold. Oh God, they're gonna eat her.
Matthew Mercer
Haspur looks longingly at the food as we're leaving. All right. You exit the door and open it, unlatching it and then pulling it open. And right there, occupying the front of the door is Figrun pretty much shoulder to shoulder their massive Amala form. She's standing in your way like a wall. Then peers her head down past the low slung door top. Where are you going?
Ylva
Well, she's feeling a little bit better so we thought we'd get her some air.
Matthew Mercer
It's not nice to slam doors and friendly faces.
Ylva
Apologies. She's a little bit shy when it comes to these particular lady experiences. She hasn't really been in a situation like this where we're quite a. All of us have to be.
Matthew Mercer
Are you hungry? Oh, always.
Ylva
Well, Lyra has made a delicious meal if you'd like to partake. Can you smell it?
Matthew Mercer
Yeah. Yes boss. You hungry? And she steps back and you see there's Alicena walking up. And Medrin's about 30ft back walking, holding this in front. You're saying this shit it's his? Odds are about. I never seen Hydra like this excepting like pebbles. Can you imagine the worth of this piece? A long entire veins beneath this island.
Ylva
Maybe we should find them.
Matthew Mercer
It's kind of staring at the stone there for a second.
Sable
Can it get us home? If. I don't know if you've noticed but there's like no commerce on this island. So it's actually arguably useless. It has no value until we can.
Ylva
Get to perception check is what's going on with this.
Matthew Mercer
He shush his ear. Yeah, of course. I don't understand. What. What is a biorock? Bjork, this is Beowalk. If anyone would like to make an intelligence roll.
Ylva
I would.
Sable
I'm not smart.
Matthew Mercer
She's smart. Well good.
Ylva
That's well done. 16. Can I read some of the Beowac Beowoks?
Matthew Mercer
You've. It's funny. It's jostled in your brain because of the recent resurfacing of things you've read. Passing books and things when you in your bored moments when business is a bit slow. Biowocks are also referred to as spirit winds. They are terrible magical storms that are said to shear the soul out of a person's body. Often the cause of wayward souls to become attached to nearby elements and begin to wander aimlessly across aggressively. Not unlike the blights you had encountered before. Medron was like I see a gift, huh? Okay, Medron, it'll be a gift.
Ylva
Medrin. Who are you talking to?
Matthew Mercer
The. I'll come find you. Bind them and bring them. And he takes the stone and begins to putting it into his pouch.
Sable
What's the idea?
Ylva
Idea? And he said bind them and bring.
Matthew Mercer
Them as his two compatriots. Look at him.
Sable
The researcher.
Matthew Mercer
He watches Figgren pulls the massive shovel out and palms it as Elsano reaches down and pulls this dagger that's a little bit cris, like, shaked out of the side. And they all look at you.
Ylva
Right.
Matthew Mercer
I need you all to relax. Yeah.
Minette
I told you, Judy.
Ylva
Socks. All right.
Minette
Sixteen.
Sable
Nice. Better rolls.
Ylva
I thought it would happen a little bit later. We had to make friends for now.
Matthew Mercer
All righty. 20 to 15.
Minette
16.
Matthew Mercer
16. Let's go.
Ylva
Okay, draw. 14.
Minette
I've been waiting to get this guy.
Matthew Mercer
14.
Ylva
Okay.
Matthew Mercer
All right. Go ahead and rollies. Rollies. Let's do it. Thirteen.
Sable
Twelve.
Matthew Mercer
All right.
Galen
Oh, so it's Hasbro, lady.
Matthew Mercer
Hasbro.
Galen
Sable.
Sable
Yes, hasbro.
Matthew Mercer
All righty. 15 to 10.
Ylva
10.
Matthew Mercer
10. All right, we have 10 to 5.
Sable
Oh, no.
Matthew Mercer
5 to 1 1.
Ylva
Someone's got to bring up the rear after all is his team. Reach around.
Matthew Mercer
All right, Medrin is up first with you all clustered here in the door.
Sable
No shit.
Matthew Mercer
Medrin steps forward and is going to go ahead and after placing the audra piece into the satchel, brings the hand forward and rushes up and is going to cast fan of flames towards all of you. If you would like to block or dodge, that is your call here.
Galen
I will dodge.
Ylva
I will block fire.
Matthew Mercer
Dodge. I will block. All right, so all of you roll and add your number here.
Ylva
Yeah. 20 for 26.
Galen
5.
Ylva
Natural 20. It's a dark pie, you guys.
Matthew Mercer
Success.
Galen
16.
Matthew Mercer
16. Success. Barely. 22. Success.
Sable
16.
Matthew Mercer
Success.
Galen
5.
Matthew Mercer
5. All right, all of you dart off to the side and lean against the inside of the walls of the house as flames burn past. Poor Hasbro standing there. You didn't even get your meal.
Galen
I had a little smoked meat, but.
Ylva
Oh, that's right, you do have some smoked meat.
Matthew Mercer
That's going to be 12 points of damage of hanyu.
Minette
I get to parry also.
Matthew Mercer
Oh, because you were blocking it. Yeah, yeah. Yes, you can. So we'll get into that in just a second. And you get two points of fire accumulation on Hasbro as the flames are now starting to catch onto your body. The singed smell of your hair burn and curled back. The pain kicking into you. I don't know. It feels good to get the blood pumping a little. You get to parry immediately. You said so.
Minette
I also cast fan of flames, too well.
Matthew Mercer
Parry. You get to make an attack with your weapon.
Minette
I stab him with my spear.
Matthew Mercer
There you go, brawny. You turn, you cast.
Ylva
Get it, lady. Get it.
Matthew Mercer
So after the flames finish, you immediately whip around the edge where you hit and try and actually kind of stand off because of the spear. You can stab from behind your friend. You can Just stab from behind Hasbro.
Minette
Stab from behind, Hasbro.
Matthew Mercer
All right, so a free attack against Medran. Go ahead and roll. He's going to try and block. Oh, dodge. He can Dodge for three.
Minette
All right, there is no zero, right?
Ylva
That's a 10.
Galen
That's a 10.
Minette
Okay, nine.
Matthew Mercer
There you go.
Galen
Magic dice.
Matthew Mercer
Come on.
Ylva
You have to hit for your D20. A D20?
Matthew Mercer
Well, no, you have to roll to hit him because he's trying to dodge the D20. So D20 plus three. Shit.
Minette
Good frapping dis roll, though.
Matthew Mercer
Yep.
Minette
Nine.
Matthew Mercer
Nine, unfortunately, misses. He's quick and dodges off to the side and almost disappears from the open doorway. Out of sight to all of you. He just vanishes. And now you're just looking at it like an open door with this two of the compatriots standing right there waiting to go. That's going to go ahead and let's. Yeah, Medhrin's going to go ahead and hold course at the moment. Having finished that round. That now brings us to Minette with Hasbro on deck.
Minette
Okay, I cast Fan of Flames 2. He's behind us now, but there's two.
Matthew Mercer
The two in front are still kind of clustered.
Minette
To the two in front, I cast Fen of Flames.
Matthew Mercer
Let's go. Poo.
Sable
Let's go.
Matthew Mercer
All right, since they have not gone yet, they're both What?
Ylva
He's behind us.
Matthew Mercer
I'm confused. Where is everybody? Elseno's going to go ahead and try. Well, he ducked out of the site. You do not have sight. Currently on.
Ylva
So he's sort of behind them, but they're blocking us. They're here. And he's gone. Gone.
Matthew Mercer
Correct.
Galen
We're back here, and everything's still taking in the doorway.
Matthew Mercer
Correct. You're all inside the house still. And there's the doorway. Bedroom was standing. Cast the flame. And then Darga off to the side and is out of sight. Got it. His two compatriots are behind. As you step forward and cast phantom flame on the two of them. They're both going to try and dodge. All right, so go ahead and roll and add your intellect.
Minette
That's 4D6 minus 1 plus my intellect.
Matthew Mercer
Roll to see if you hit the trend Dodge. Yeah. Come on.
Ylva
Come on, baby.
Minette
11. Wait, wait, wait. Plus 13.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, you hit them both. They both rolled really poorly on their dodge, so go ahead and roll. Damage on that. Okay.
Minette
Damage is 4d6 minus 1.
Matthew Mercer
Right.
Minette
Okay, that's this one.
Ylva
That's the square. Yes.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah.
Minette
Four.
Sable
Four of them.
Matthew Mercer
Six.
Sable
Come on, big six. Five okay.
Matthew Mercer
Five, ten.
Galen
That's the six. Which explodes.
Minette
Explodes one, six and two minus one.
Ylva
Okay. And one more. Because the six explodes.
Matthew Mercer
Six explodes again.
Sable
Again.
Matthew Mercer
Oh, fuck. Yep.
Galen
24, five, 29.
Matthew Mercer
Amazing. That is rough stone ladylike. So you dart forward. This aggressive gout of burning fire emerges from your hand and just engulfs them both. A direct retort on nearly the same level as Medarins against your troop. Although not as lucky in avoiding it. How many points of fire accumulation does it give them both?
Minette
Two.
Matthew Mercer
All right. They both get two points of fire. They're both on the verge.
Minette
Fire is the virtue.
Sable
Let's go.
Matthew Mercer
They both try to block it.
Sable
Sizzling like a slab of pork and a skillet.
Matthew Mercer
The smoke got these shits right out somewhere.
Ylva
Goodness.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah. For not baby. That's nasty. For stealth.
Ylva
Thought came in from it.
Matthew Mercer
So that's your spell. Do you want to use any more of your stamina to attack?
Minette
I am going to. I have so much stamina, so I am going to stab, stab, stab, stab, stab.
Matthew Mercer
All right, which one? Tall one or dwarf one?
Minette
Tall one.
Matthew Mercer
Let's go. They're not going to try and block or dodge, so you just go and roll. Damage.
Ylva
Get it?
Minette
And that's.
Galen
They're not going to try or they.
Minette
Can'T because they're crispy.
Matthew Mercer
They're standing there.
Galen
Uh huh.
Minette
3.
Matthew Mercer
Three points of damage to Fig run. All righty. Any more on your turn or.
Minette
Yes. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. And I'm going to. They're also not going to block.
Matthew Mercer
Nope. Go for it.
Minette
Five.
Ylva
Oh. Four.
Matthew Mercer
Four. All righty. After they're recovering from the flames. Smoke from their burnt hide, armor and guard like cloaks they had put over their shoulder. Smoke billowing up two spears stabs you back. And they're like.
Ylva
Smoothing my skirt.
Matthew Mercer
Finish your turn and I curtsy. All righty. With that. Hasbro, you are up with Sable Untouchable. So they're both got hit pretty good.
Galen
Correct.
Matthew Mercer
They're both hurt. They're not looking hurt. They took some heavy damage, but they're a little tougher, I think than the average bear.
Galen
And the Amawa's name is Figgren.
Matthew Mercer
Figrin is the Amawa. Yeah.
Galen
I look at her, I go, you.
Matthew Mercer
Know, it's a shame because you're kind of my type. Does that. Does she react at all? Make a resolve roll game.
Ylva
Well on that job, baby. Okay, let's go.
Galen
14.
Matthew Mercer
14.
Ylva
What's your result?
Matthew Mercer
She goes.
Galen
11 plus 3.
Matthew Mercer
14. Yeah. Yeah. You're kind of my type. You know what turns me on pain.
Sable
Oh, okay.
Ylva
This could be a win win for you.
Sable
So you. Do you know her?
Ylva
Oh my God.
Matthew Mercer
Not who, but I'm gonna get to know her.
Ylva
Let's go.
Galen
I'll pull out the great hammer then.
Matthew Mercer
That's what we all call it. All right. Yeah.
Galen
So do I have to roll for hit?
Matthew Mercer
Figarun is going to attempt to block your hammer.
Galen
Now. This crushing five to hit against block opponents.
Matthew Mercer
Correct? Oh yeah. Get it back. I forgot about that. All right. Yeah. So let's go. Roll.
Galen
It's a 25. Shit.
Matthew Mercer
Just roll damage. Yeah. She puts up the front of the metallic part of the shovel to try and block the blow. And just the sheer heft and weight of the hammer as you bring it down. Stepping out of the door frame upon her, she can't even stop it. And just wham. Takes it straight to the front of the clavicle and chest.
Galen
Okay.
Matthew Mercer
That'S going to be 15. 15 points in one hit. Crack. The hammer hits and she reaches up and grabs it and holds it and looks you in the face and goes, okay.
Ylva
I mean. I mean the lady asks.
Matthew Mercer
If the lady asks. Now I don't want to kill her, but you know, she looks like she.
Galen
Can take another hit.
Matthew Mercer
Oh yeah. She's starting to show a little wear.
Galen
Okay, so I guess I gotta give.
Matthew Mercer
The lady what she asked for then.
Galen
So do I have to roll for hit?
Matthew Mercer
Yes. She's gonna try and block it again.
Galen
All right.
Matthew Mercer
18. That's gonna be 20 for her. So she does manage to block it, but she does not get her parry against you. Got it. She does not what? Does not get a chance to parry. Oh, okay. Gotcha. So this time she catches your hammer now and you pull it in close like face to face. She goes. Kisses your nose.
Galen
I go back like yeah.
Matthew Mercer
Hell yeah.
Ylva
Let the two of them have a moment.
Matthew Mercer
Does that finish your turn? I will finish my turn there. All right, Cool. Finishing that. Sable, you are up.
Sable
All right.
Matthew Mercer
Sorry, one question. Yeah?
Galen
Food. Can I eat this now?
Matthew Mercer
Why not? Okay.
Sable
Yeah.
Matthew Mercer
I feel like I'm gonna jerky. Can we eat a Lady in the Tramp style? No, Straight up.
Galen
Just cause my health is a little low, so I'll use this to heal it.
Matthew Mercer
I love it.
Ylva
So good.
Matthew Mercer
Great.
Sable
So I Sable rolled out of the way and she's kind of got her back up against the wall.
Matthew Mercer
Where's Medron right now? You don't know if you're inside the building.
Sable
Okay, right.
Ylva
Because he went on the outside, but there's another door. Can we get to the other door.
Sable
Cause she is the. Are they still blocking in and out of the door currently?
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, they're all kind of pushed there. You can try and squeeze through if you want to. I kind of stepped out a bit with the hand, so you can probably move out if you wanted to follow the path of midrid.
Sable
Yeah, I'm going to go after Medrin.
Matthew Mercer
Okay.
Sable
Yeah.
Matthew Mercer
You step out and move beyond the back of hasbro and about 30ft away, you see Medrin is there holding the back of the satchel and is starting to run towards the lighthouse.
Galen
Son of a beach.
Sable
Yeah, fuck that. I'm dexterous as fuck. I'm going after him.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. If you dart and catch up as fast as you can, you're a quick little dwarf. What are you gonna try and do?
Sable
Am I melee with him?
Matthew Mercer
Roll a dexterity check for me.
Sable
Okay.
Matthew Mercer
You'll say you need a 15 or higher total to try and catch up.
Sable
Okay, I got plus five, my dex.
Ylva
Ooh, that's a two.
Sable
No, no, no.
Matthew Mercer
Unfortunately, due to the mud and just the general speed of Medron, having a direct goal and a place to go, you can't quite get within melee.
Sable
Okay, that's fine. I'm gonna pull out my gun. Get it, get it. I'm gonna like. As soon as I realize that I'm not gonna make it, I kind of just like steady sink down in my knees and try and aim. Take a good shot.
Matthew Mercer
Okay.
Sable
Also first, wait.
Matthew Mercer
First Bedron is gonna try and dodge arcane veil.
Sable
I'm gonna do arcane veil really quick as well.
Matthew Mercer
Okay.
Sable
Natural one.
Matthew Mercer
Don't do that.
Sable
Failed me. Failed me.
Matthew Mercer
You go to fire and the flint kind of like catches and it misfires slightly. Not enough to damage the weapon, but enough where smoke kind of like off the side and you have to kind of like clear it.
Sable
God damn. All right, one more time.
Matthew Mercer
Another one.
Sable
Not that one.
Matthew Mercer
Medron has enough to go. Let's go.
Sable
Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on.
Galen
Getting out with stamina.
Sable
Yeah, I just marked my 1, 3, 4. That was for my 1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3. Shit. No, I'm not gonna do it.
Matthew Mercer
Okay.
Sable
My pistol. I'm not as quick with it. Damn. That's it.
Matthew Mercer
All right, that finishes your go. It is now Figrun's turn. Figgren, who is very happily in the space where you are and focused now based on how you interacted with them, is not gonna go after any of your friends and is now just going to drill.
Ylva
You can't Take that away from her.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah. She's going to go ahead and spend four essence to begin to charge. And is going to go ahead and take a swing with her massive shovel, which acts as a great axe in this instance. Oh, yes. Do you have enough stamina to dodge? Okay, let's go.
Ylva
I'm glad you ate the meat. Yeah.
Galen
Tell us, Matthew Objective, tell us what you roll.
Sable
It's either really good or really bad.
Matthew Mercer
Stubble ones. That's still six points of damage to you.
Galen
Little love tap.
Matthew Mercer
All right, sure. But with the charge is going to be slamming into you and pushing both of you into the wall of the building. The wall kind of cracks in and you watch as the structural where you both slam into the cracks. Spider off to the side and part of the ceiling comes in a little bit and falls. And that is pretty sexy. So am I up against the wall? You're up against the wall right now. Damn, that's hot.
Ylva
Right?
Matthew Mercer
He's fighting a different battle and she's going to save the rest of her. So now you're both just. She's pressed up against the wall now it's like cracked in behind you and you're both just kind of locked in all.
Galen
You'll need that stamina, baby.
Minette
Should we all just take a moment.
Ylva
To watch what's happening by the seat?
Matthew Mercer
All right, finishing Figgren's turn. Ylva, you're up.
Ylva
Oh, my. I want to go after Medryn as well, so I'd like to run outside and get. And I'd like to arcane veil first of all. Okay, that's two of these. And then I would like to pull out my wand. And as soon as I get within range of being able to see him, I would like to poe my wand at him and let magic hit him.
Matthew Mercer
Alrighty.
Ylva
That's what I would like to do. Let's see if I can.
Matthew Mercer
Medorin does not have the stamina at the moment to. So just go ahead and roll. Damage.
Ylva
I like this game. I don't like this. This wasn't doing very well. That's what I'm talking about. 8.
Matthew Mercer
Eight points of damage to Metrin. Alrighty.
Ylva
And then I would like to just do the same thing again.
Matthew Mercer
You got it.
Ylva
5.
Matthew Mercer
5. All right. 8 and 5. Medarin as you strike with your wand and sends off Arcane bolts to arc and slam into Medarin as he's running away, takes the hits and skids on one knee and slides into the mud before picking up his momentum and is continuing to run.
Ylva
Damn it. What are the chances I can catch up with him is he super duper duper duper freaking far at this point.
Matthew Mercer
I will say it hasn't come back to his turn yet. But because you are having to move around, roll a dexterity check for me to see if you can try and keep. Get up.
Ylva
That's a natural. 20 plus 3. I'm a speedy little bitch.
Matthew Mercer
Hell, yeah. You go ahead and dart past Sable and get up into Melee with Medrin, who glances over his shoulder and notices your approach and is still trying to run. What else do you do?
Ylva
I am. Oh, crap. I can't do his trolling touch. Fuck me. I'm going to try to trip him.
Matthew Mercer
Okay.
Ylva
There's like, if I can get up to melee, I just want to stop him. I want to knock him over somehow.
Matthew Mercer
All right, so as you rush up, I'll say this will cost you two stamina. It's not going to be a damaging attack, but you're trying to slow his escape. So I need you to roll a might check for me.
Ylva
Wait, he has the bag hanging off his person.
Matthew Mercer
He has a satchel he's clutching as he's running.
Sable
Yeah, that's what I was gonna do.
Ylva
I'm gonna grab for the satchel. Instead of trying to trip him, I'm gonna grab for the satchel.
Matthew Mercer
Okay, Roll a might. Check. Okay.
Ylva
Oh, a might. Wait, what was the other one?
Matthew Mercer
It's either knock him down or try and rip it from him.
Ylva
Okay. Oh, no, that didn't happen.
Galen
Dice.
Matthew Mercer
And what was it? Oh, yeah. No, that doesn't happen.
Ylva
Damn it. I can't really try twice, can I?
Matthew Mercer
I mean, if you want to spend two more stamina, it's gonna get harder. Each time gets a higher bonus, but you can keep trying.
Ylva
I'm just so fucking frustrated. Oh, can I shoot? Can I try it with my wand to shoot it off his person? Like, can I aim with my magic dislodge like a sharp shooter, you know what? And shoot it off his bow?
Matthew Mercer
I'll allow you to. But I will say this will give him a free. So it'll be your attack versus his dodge to try and do it. Since it's a targeted shot, yours.
Ylva
Come on, Beacon, don't fail me now. That's cocked. But It's a fucking 19.
Matthew Mercer
Roll again.
Ylva
That's also cocked. Let's roll over here. Okay. 15 plus 2. 17.
Matthew Mercer
23 natural. 17. Dart the wand. And Medarin sees what you and gets low to the ground and shoots past. Causes this explosion of mud and dirt to Detonate as he picks up again and just chuckles and just continues into a run towards the lighthouse and shouting over and should have like, please follow me. It's gonna be fun.
Ylva
We have to stop. I'm just gonna scream back to everybody, we have to stop him.
Matthew Mercer
Are you gonna keep going?
Ylva
Well, I caught up to him, so I'm really close to him. I don't know that I want to be in melee with him. I'm gonna. Yeah, no, I'm.
Galen
No, you got homegirl coming, right?
Ylva
Who's homegirl?
Sable
I'm right behind you.
Ylva
Oh, you're right behind me. You're next. You're.
Sable
Yeah, I just got fucking stuck in the mud.
Galen
I mean, she's like behind you geographically.
Sable
Yeah.
Ylva
Oh, I gotcha. But not.
Sable
He ran past me.
Matthew Mercer
She's right in front of me.
Ylva
But he's the only dude that he could come after. Well, he's not coming after me. I'm gonna try one more time. I wanna try to hit him one more time with the wand. The same thing.
Matthew Mercer
Hit the bag again.
Ylva
Yeah.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. He gets a higher bonus now. Let's go. I respect the.
Galen
In Vegas, the house always wins.
Ylva
17 plus 2. 19.
Matthew Mercer
20. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. That would have been really cool. That would have been cool. So. Okay. It's not over yet, if that's what you're trying to do.
Ylva
Yeah.
Matthew Mercer
All right, cool. So it's like. All right, does that finish your turn?
Ylva
Yeah, I think so. I think I need to at least hang on to one block.
Matthew Mercer
Okay, got it. All right, so finishing your row. It's now Alcino's turn. Seeing. Mm.
Ylva
Yes, yes, I'm done.
Matthew Mercer
Alcino sees you both running after Medrin and comes. Stay back here. And is put his hand out. And as he does, he flings the stone. As the stone gets flung, you watch as cold apparates around it and it speeds up because you are both charging after Medorin. You're in a line and it's going to go ahead and attack you both with enhanced chill blades for four essence there. Do you both have stamina to dodge or block?
Sable
I do, I do. I'm going to dodge.
Ylva
I'm going to block.
Matthew Mercer
All right.
Ylva
Fuck me. That's an 8.
Matthew Mercer
17.
Sable
Okay. 9 plus 7 is 16.
Matthew Mercer
17. Just miss it. Oh, no. All right, so both of you take. Oooh, that's an eight. That explodes. It's 11. Okay. 13 damaged. Each of you.
Ylva
Okay.
Matthew Mercer
And you both take two points of frost accumulation.
Sable
I'll spend an Essence for my arcane veil.
Ylva
I'll spend two essence for one. I mean, I'll. Two? Yes, I'll spend two essence.
Sable
What did you say it was? 13.
Matthew Mercer
13.
Sable
I will. Okay, I'll take the 10 hit points from that.
Matthew Mercer
Okay.
Ylva
I get seven back.
Sable
Or wait. It'll be nine hit points.
Matthew Mercer
All right.
Minette
I don't think so.
Matthew Mercer
Both of you feel the ice crystallize and form around you. You feel yourselves shaking and mud on the ground itself frozen around your ankles before you have to break your feet through. You're on the cusp of becoming frozen.
Ylva
Can I scream back at him out of turn? He's going to try to kill you too.
Sable
I'm right next to you.
Matthew Mercer
Stop yelling.
Ylva
I'm yelling at the D. The other dwarf.
Matthew Mercer
Galen, you're up.
Galen
Oh. So Hasbro and Figarin are in the house, engaged in beautiful physical right off.
Matthew Mercer
The side of the front door, now pushed into the now partially damaged wall. Minette is just outside of the door. And both of your other allies have run to the left hand side of the exit and are chasing after.
Galen
And Al Cento is chasing them.
Matthew Mercer
Correct.
Galen
Yeah. I'll make a break on Al Cento. And I will. What is it?
Matthew Mercer
Alceno.
Galen
Alceno. Thank you.
Sable
I also heard Alcanto.
Matthew Mercer
I might have said Al Cento accidentally.
Ylva
But now he's El Cento.
Matthew Mercer
That's on me.
Galen
I'll rush up behind him and do things. That stealth attack wouldn't work because he knows where we all are. Right.
Matthew Mercer
He knows you're present. And you wouldn't be coming from any place surprising to him, unfortunately.
Galen
I'll take a very deft swing with the sword, and I'm going to try and aim it right for the backside of his neck.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. Is this a standard attack or a power attack?
Galen
What is a power attack?
Matthew Mercer
Oh, sorry for those. It's in the rules breakdown. You can do a power attack by spending twice the stamina. Oh, yeah, I'll do that if you hit it critically. Hits automatically. So you add enough extra dice and it takes away some of the target stamina. Oh, okay.
Galen
No, no, no. I'll do a regular one.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. But you have that option if you ever want.
Galen
That's great.
Ylva
That's a cool option.
Galen
Is he gonna try and block or dodge?
Matthew Mercer
He is, because he has stamina to do. So he's gonna go ahead and attempt to block.
Galen
19, 21, 22, 23. Oh, no, it's just plus 2. 21.
Matthew Mercer
5. So that definitely hits.
Ylva
I don't like that one.
Galen
That's cocked. That's cocked as well. Stop rolling on things. That's a 12. That explodes. Nine, so 21. One points of damage. Oh, plus two. So 23 points of damage.
Matthew Mercer
23 points of damage. Nice. The blade carves down. Out you fuck.
Ylva
Is that really what he sounds like?
Matthew Mercer
I feel like the patchy beard kind of opens up a little bit. He's very hurt.
Galen
Fuck me. And I'll take another swing.
Matthew Mercer
Come on, let's go. I'm gonna try and use the last one here to block again. 512 shitty rolls.
Galen
That is a 9 plus 2. 10. 11 points of damage.
Matthew Mercer
11 points of damage onto Alcena. All righty.
Sable
Good job, big boy.
Matthew Mercer
Heavy hits on him. All right, that's it. That finishes your turn. Back to the top of the round. Medrin's gonna go. Medron seeing you all rushing forward, the two of you right on his heels, is gonna go ahead and grab a. A piece of mud from the ground and toss it over his shoulder. It's going to arc and land between the two of you. As it does, you watch as vines emerge and wrap around the space there.
Ylva
Poop stream.
Matthew Mercer
He's going to go ahead, and so spending the essence there is going to cast tangle foot between the two of you. So basically both of you, no damage. But in order to move at all on your turn, you have to spend four stamina.
Sable
Brutal.
Ylva
Okay, but on our turn, he's gonna.
Matthew Mercer
Spend the rest of his turn. He's just gonna run. He's just gonna run and hold onto the rest of that stamina and just go charging in the intended path. So he's just now bolting as fast as he can, trying to weave. He's getting close to weaving through some of the structures heading towards the. The lighthouse. Finishing his turn. Minette's up with Hasbro on deck.
Minette
Sorry. I am. Okay, so I'm going to. Can I reach Medrin with my jolting touch?
Matthew Mercer
Jolting touch. That actually would probably. If you were to full move, you could do. So you would then become in range of the tangle foot, however.
Minette
Oh, I have to touch him physically for it?
Matthew Mercer
No. But he took his turn to run even further, and he was, like, twice a turn's distance from you, so we're in between him.
Minette
Okay, I'm going to use jolting touch on Figaron and Elcino.
Matthew Mercer
That you can do.
Minette
And that is four of my.
Matthew Mercer
Elsino cannot dodge anymore or block, so you just roll damage for Elsino. However, no figure's not gonna block either, so just roll damage that's 1.
Ylva
D12.
Minette
That's this one.
Galen
Yarp.
Minette
Minus one.
Matthew Mercer
Though. So that's 11, 11, 10.
Galen
Yeah.
Matthew Mercer
Dang. Senna's looking real bad. The jolt comes out and starts swinging onto both of them. That's great. So Figran's holding up. He's like. And yeah, this is as intimate as you've been in a minute. Al Senno is looking really in a bad place and is like starting to look over towards Boss. Boss. And is starting to look around panicked for something to do. What else you want to do in your turn?
Sable
Oh, right.
Minette
I've got so much stamina. I'm going to poke with my spear and I'm going to poke at Arsinoe.
Matthew Mercer
All right, Roll damage.
Sable
Kill him. Come on, baby, he's gold. Wait, Open up. Get him.
Minette
What have I. I just completely got lost. That's a D10, right?
Ylva
Yeah. Yes. Eight.
Matthew Mercer
Eight points of damage. He's like pierced and holding on. Falls to one knee. Looking up at you. Blood from his lip that's like mixing with his patchy beard. He's like.
Minette
God, he's a fucking creep. I'm gonna kill him. 1, 2, 3.
Matthew Mercer
Come on.
Minette
4. 5.
Matthew Mercer
Let's go.
Minette
2 damage.
Matthew Mercer
2 damage. Stabbing it this time. He catches it and deflects it a little bit. Stabs it in the side. Grins at you. A little bit of blood and spittle sprays out a little bit and catches the side of your chin. You hate it. He's still holding on, barely.
Minette
I'm going to go again. I'm going to poke him.
Matthew Mercer
Okay.
Ylva
Come on, kitty cat, let's go.
Sable
I want this for you so bad.
Ylva
I do too.
Minette
5.
Matthew Mercer
How do you want to do this?
Sable
2.
Ylva
Hurdy hurdy hurty done.
Minette
I take the spear and I put.
Sable
My leg over it.
Minette
So I mount it and I thrust right into his fucking dick.
Galen
Hell to kill Elder kill.
Matthew Mercer
So precise.
Minette
Penetration is a virtue. Seem unnecessarily vicious. Respect.
Matthew Mercer
And he just crumples over the front of it as you withdraw and falls to the ground to join the other corpses amongst the abandoned outpost. And as he crumbles, a number of. So there's four motes of essence kind of crumble out onto the ground.
Minette
Oh, God, I need that so bad.
Matthew Mercer
Alrighty. Does that finish? Your turn.
Minette
Can I get some essence?
Matthew Mercer
Oh, yeah. If you want to try and just take it in right now.
Minette
Yes.
Matthew Mercer
Four moats. Events of essence, fragments. If you'd like to pull that in.
Minette
Does anybody mind if. If I slurp it up?
Matthew Mercer
Slurp it Up.
Ylva
Slurp it up, baby. We're not close enough to ask.
Matthew Mercer
Go for it.
Ylva
Take it. Live a little, lady, so it heals.
Sable
Four, right?
Matthew Mercer
Yeah. You get four essence back. Okay, great.
Minette
And a cutscene.
Matthew Mercer
All right, that finishes your goal. Kasparo, you're up with Sable on deck. I love earlier your character was like, we shouldn't get weapons. We shouldn't kill.
Galen
We should not.
Matthew Mercer
And you're just like, that's butchering.
Minette
I'm learning a lot about myself on this journey.
Galen
Self discovery. I respect it. So I kind of look over, see.
Matthew Mercer
Her just fucking waste him and go, yeah, looks like uggo over there got got. How long you know Medrin? Is she open to me asking this question as you're this close up thing good part of five years. However, I mean, we got a spot open on team Reach around if you want to join up with us. Listen, I don't know. I'm not that good at math, but Argo's gone. Numbers aren't looking too hot for you. Looks over. His men are just running off and slipping through the muck and darting. Go ahead and roll Resolve, Kevin. Come on, Lyra.
Galen
Sitting there fucking stirring the pigeons all.
Matthew Mercer
Night above the table. So what just happened in five minutes? 17 plus 320.
Sable
Oh, hell yes.
Matthew Mercer
Nine. Figurine goes. I like my chances with a good, richer arm. Gives you a little forehead kiss and then withdraws from pressing you against the edge of the building and hoists the shovel onto her shoulders.
Galen
Is she down to make out a little bit?
Matthew Mercer
You going for it? Yeah, if she's down, she's down.
Galen
Do I have to roll for how much stamina?
Matthew Mercer
Does he? No, but you can spend the stamina if you want.
Galen
I'll spend two standards.
Matthew Mercer
Hell yeah. I love it. Okay, so I'll say this interaction likely will take the majority of your turn, but you have turned figrun for the time being onto your side topic.
Minette
Lady acquired.
Matthew Mercer
Worth it. It's so hot. She almost gets a 3 3rd fire accumulation. Awesome. So it finishes your turn. All right, so what stamina, if any, do I have left? Stamina, I mean, I'd say you only spent two stamina on the kiss. I'll say the conversation there, it's not about spending stamina. It's more just like that ends your turn. Because you've spent the turn talking and kind of doing this thing. Right. But I mean, if I needed this stamina in case something else happens. Correct. No, you get to keep that defensively.
Galen
Okay.
Ylva
Only you spent two.
Matthew Mercer
Oh, I just Spent two. Okay. Yeah, that's it.
Ylva
The chaos.
Matthew Mercer
The rest you get to keep mole stable. Disable.
Sable
All right. How far away has Medrin made it from me?
Matthew Mercer
He's probably 40ft from you.
Sable
Is that like, close or far?
Matthew Mercer
That would be considered far.
Sable
Okay. I'm gonna spin the movement to try and go after him. The stamina to move.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah.
Sable
And dart to him.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. To within Melee, you mean? Or.
Sable
How far can I get?
Matthew Mercer
If you want to roll dexterity check to try and get up to him.
Sable
I do.
Matthew Mercer
Okay.
Sable
As far as I can get. Yeah, baby. That's gonna be 23.
Matthew Mercer
23. You get up into Melee with me.
Sable
22, but still pretty good.
Matthew Mercer
You're getting up as close as you can. He's about to dart between and basically cut away from other people's line sight. And what do you do?
Sable
I'm gonna say. I'm gonna say, hey, that's a pretty cool trick. I know that one, too. And I'm going to take a mud cluster and drop it at his feet and also cast Tanglefoot on him.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. So that affects everything within close range to including. That would be included.
Sable
I'm not gonna do that. Not gonna do that.
Matthew Mercer
What did you hit?
Sable
But that's good to know.
Matthew Mercer
So you can throw it ahead of him and just get him if you want to.
Sable
Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, that's what I was trying to go for.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. Yeah. So I'm just saying the same thing. If you're throwing it on him, then it would affect you. But if you throw it beyond that, you can kind of entangle him. Okay. So the vines also rip out of the ground and begin to strike around and wrap around his legs and his arm. He's like, not a problem.
Sable
Sure. And then I'm going to take my dagger and I'm going to. Can I try and cut the satchel loose from his body?
Matthew Mercer
If you want to try, he'll go ahead and try and dodge with that.
Ylva
Hello, baby.
Sable
Natural 20.
Matthew Mercer
Let's go for a total of.
Sable
For a total with my dagger. 25.
Matthew Mercer
25. 23. Natural 18. So you cut the satchel from the arm, and it hits the ground with a heavy cracking thud and sounds like multiple things inside. Impact and shift around a bit. It falls like. What else do you want to do in your turn?
Sable
Can I grab the satchel from him?
Matthew Mercer
Can I grab it away? Take a stamina to do so, but here.
Sable
All right, fine. I'm going to turn around. I'm going to go ylva catch.
Ylva
Oh, dear.
Sable
And try and Throw it back to Ylva.
Matthew Mercer
Okay.
Galen
Fingernails.
Ylva
I'm really bad at this.
Matthew Mercer
We try and chuck it backward. Spend two stamina.
Ylva
Go on. Do I have to catch it per se, or can it land?
Matthew Mercer
It just arcs over and then tumbles back to where you are.
Ylva
Excellent.
Matthew Mercer
But did you spend the stamina to try and skip from the.
Sable
No, I did. I did the four stamina, which is super annoying.
Ylva
I can get lots of them, but I'm not catching something.
Sable
Hang on. Make sure you put Forge in. He's probably, fuck it, yellow. I'm gonna spend three more. I'm gonna go again. I'm gonna go again. And then just this time, I'm just gonna attack him with the dagger.
Matthew Mercer
All righty. He's gonna take it.
Sable
He's gonna take it. All right. Come on. Give me a six. That's a six. Okay, so that's gonna be 12 plus 15.
Matthew Mercer
15 y. Nice. All righty.
Sable
And then I'll stop.
Matthew Mercer
All right, that finished. You gotta taste the red streak of blood in the back of his cloak. You see where you carve past and the armor kind of splits a bit. And you can see kind of where the wounds begin to grow red. And he's like. And just seems still singularly focused on the run.
Ylva
On the run.
Sable
Does he not have Dizzy?
Ylva
Dizzy.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. Does he have the satchel?
Sable
He doesn't have the satchel.
Matthew Mercer
Is that your turn?
Sable
Was the thing in the satchel? Was the.
Ylva
Shape the autobond?
Sable
The autobond.
Ylva
When I see him not put it in the satchel. We saw him put it in the satchel.
Matthew Mercer
Yes, you did.
Ylva
Okay.
Matthew Mercer
All right. Finishing sables. Go. Figrun is now currently just pulling away from your lock and kind of like. So what does one do in the region at all? I'll show you later. But for now. Wait. What's going on out there? Like your vision has just like you just now coming. Like, wait, Stuff's happening. You look back. Friends have charged around. There's like vines out of the ground wrapping up Yuba.
Galen
I'll yell the sable. What's going on out there?
Sable
Big man running for lighthouse. Satchel down. Satchel down.
Matthew Mercer
I turn to fig and go. Go get Medrin. But he will. And takes the shovel over him and begins running. Not the fastest being, but nevertheless takes the rest of the turn running and catches up to where you're wrapped. But does a wide berth which also loses some ground to try and avoid the vines. But is trying to catch up to where you are. And it's basically a bit behind the rest of the race. But that's going to finish their turn. They're going to hold their stamina at that point. That brings us to Ylva.
Ylva
All right, so the satchel is at my feet. It is, but I can't necessarily move. I have to use some stamina to get free of the vines or something.
Matthew Mercer
Like that, or just to move away, to move it all from the vines, you have to spend stamina. And you can spend stamina to pick it up if you want to.
Ylva
I'd like to spend some. Well, I want to. It's in the sack. I'd like to use my wand to open it up so that I'm not touching it, per se.
Matthew Mercer
Right. Like poke through.
Ylva
To open it up and. Yeah, like to poke through.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. Yeah, you poke through and you can see inside. Indeed. That large piece of Azraban is there within the satchel amongst other bits of recovered implements. Looks like some nice bits of decor, like a pocket watch. A looter's fine.
Ylva
All I care about is this Audrabon and I know that I. Okay, cool. So, yolo, as you said. I'm just going to pick up the Audraban and try to see what he was seeing in it.
Matthew Mercer
You lift it and look into it. Roll a resolve test for me, please.
Ylva
12.
Matthew Mercer
12. You look into it and it takes a moment to focus. Your eyes get a little blurry and you see that pulsing bit of violet light at its core of the white stone. And as it does, you feel like a. Almost like a heartbeat is pulling you into it. And there you can see a flash of what looks like an Audra pillar that rises up of this Audraban. It comes to a pointed apex and there is within it this massive crack and a gap in it. And you see a glimpse of what looks like some sort of stranger, some blurred structure, carved stone and other green Audra and normal rock itself adorned with all manner of strange scrolling and designs. And you hear a voice say, come to me. I will make them hurt. Come to me. You feel this draw to the lighthouse that you cannot resist. You feel this is possibly dangerous, but you feel pain. You feel betrayal, you feel sorrow. You feel the sadness of someone lost and hope hurt, and they want to make others hurt. And you understand that feeling and you can help with that feeling. You just have to get below the lighthouse.
Ylva
So this is just like. I'm mentally compelled. I don't have to.
Matthew Mercer
This turn.
Ylva
I still have. I bet I've got a lot of stamina left myself.
Matthew Mercer
I know. And you spend some of it to run?
Ylva
I did.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah.
Ylva
Yeah. How much did I spend to run? Oh, I spend some of it.
Matthew Mercer
You spend four to move away from the vines.
Ylva
I did move away from the vines. Okay. I thought. I did not move away from the vines. I thought I just.
Matthew Mercer
It landed. You did. Okay, you look up from the stone and you're running towards the lighthouse. That.
Ylva
That's fine. That's fine. Have I caught up with Medrin?
Matthew Mercer
No. Make a dexterity check for me. Actually.
Ylva
No, I did not catch up.
Matthew Mercer
You have not caught up. You're still quite a bit behind.
Ylva
What do you do? Is she in between me and him?
Matthew Mercer
Correct.
Ylva
I don't. I don't want him to get there first. I'm still gonna shoot him. I'm gonna shoot him with my wand.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. He's gonna go ahead and attempt to dodge.
Minette
It's not my die.
Ylva
16 plus two. 18.
Matthew Mercer
12. That hits. Go ahead and roll. Damage.
Ylva
Six.
Matthew Mercer
Okay, six damage on that.
Ylva
I'm gonna do it again.
Matthew Mercer
All right. He. He is going to attempt to dodge.
Ylva
What is going 18, 18, 19.
Matthew Mercer
Just beats you. So the first one hits and the second one, as you shoot it, he seems ready for it and leaps off to the side and now darts off between where two structures are off point. And he actually breaks away from your eyeline at this point and has moved away from you and move further in towards where the. This cluster of the outpost sits.
Sable
Remember Scat. Tanglefoot.
Matthew Mercer
Huh? I know. Then I'm on narratively.
Sable
Yeah, yeah.
Ylva
So I can't see him. I'm going to continue running to try to catch up as far as I can with. If I used up three more stamina.
Matthew Mercer
Well, you've done your running for the turn.
Ylva
I've done my running for the turn.
Sable
Did she run past me?
Matthew Mercer
No.
Ylva
Okay, I'm just gonna scream ahead to Sable. We have to stop him. He can't get there first.
Sable
You've said this so many times.
Ylva
I think that's all I can do at this point. Fuck yes, that's all I can do.
Matthew Mercer
All right, Finishing your go. That brings us to Galen.
Galen
If I step out after watching Elsendo go down, can I see.
Ylva
Can I just eat some essence? I mean, eat some Audraba at the end of my turn?
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, yeah. Okay.
Galen
Can I see Medron in the distance at all?
Matthew Mercer
I'll say where you are now. Timing wise, he's just darting off to the side, vines still wrapping around his foot, and he's trying to leap to break away from them. I'll see you have one. Yeah. This One moment. If you're trying to do something.
Galen
Yeah, I'll try and hit an arrow using marksmanship.
Matthew Mercer
I'll allow it.
Galen
Action. Is he going to try and block or dodge?
Matthew Mercer
He has enough stamina to try and block one. And he is out of stamina. Or dodge. 17, 21. Damn. Natural 16 on that one.
Ylva
This guy, he's a quick one.
Minette
Fucking guy.
Ylva
He's very good.
Galen
Do I have time to shoot another arrow? Or he wraps around the corner?
Matthew Mercer
No, you can. I mean, it's your turn still. So great.
Galen
I'll try one more.
Matthew Mercer
He cannot block or dodge this one. So he takes the damage.
Ylva
Get it.
Matthew Mercer
Finish him.
Ylva
Sweep the leg.
Galen
8. Which explodes.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, nice.
Galen
Another 8.
Matthew Mercer
Oh, my God.
Galen
4, 16, 6. 22 plus 7 is 29.
Matthew Mercer
29 damage. That's a rough hit. Oh. Darting out of the way. The arrow sticks through the back of the shoulder blades and protrudes from the front of the shoulder. And the sheer impact from that causes him, as he's trying to jump away from the vines, send him tumbling in the air. And the vines grabbing him, pulling him back to the ground. He slams into it and it's almost drawn back by a foot. And he's like, you bitch.
Galen
It'S me.
Matthew Mercer
Then finish your turn.
Galen
Yeah, I'll take off running after them.
Matthew Mercer
Okay, cool. So you're still behind the others, but you're rushing up. Okay, got it. Now it's gonna bring to Medron's turn. Gets his stamina back.
Ylva
But I have to get there.
Matthew Mercer
He's gonna go ahead and cast Tanglefoot again. The two of you again? Yep.
Sable
But I can. Oh, I can't. I can't dodge this.
Matthew Mercer
No. It's just about spending stamina.
Ylva
And we're close. Close enough to each other that it can hit both of us. Because I thought she was near him, but I was not.
Matthew Mercer
Right. But it hits things in the area around it. He casts it between the two of you.
Ylva
Gotcha.
Matthew Mercer
It's a little very close range there. So the vines disappear from the other thing. Apparate, between the two of you, begin wrapping around. He will spend four stamina to break free and then dart around the corner, injured, dropping blood splatters and disappears from sight.
Sable
Damn.
Matthew Mercer
Finishing his go. Minette.
Minette
He's gone.
Matthew Mercer
He's out of your sight. He's now duck between buildings and Alcino's.
Minette
Dead and Figaruna's now part of our team.
Matthew Mercer
Correct.
Ylva
So is the fight over right now?
Matthew Mercer
At this point, it's more of a chase than a fight. All right.
Minette
Run.
Matthew Mercer
Can we run. Okay, so we'll save for the purposes of narrative brevity here. You all now begin to press forward. And as you do, pulling away from the vines and such, trying to get back in the line of sight of where Medron is. He's ducking and weaving between alleys and these tents and stuff. Each time you move over to try and catch up with him, he manages to just get out of your sight and vision until eventually you're not quite sure where he is. And you have a sense that he's likely, if not at the lighthouse. In the lighthouse. Right. As you begin to approach its exterior.
Ylva
Where did you say that tunnel was?
Galen
It's on the bottom floor behind a box that fell and crashed. There's just a hole in the ground.
Minette
He found it with his butt.
Ylva
Put a pin in that. I filled them in the ones that haven't been filled. On what I read about.
Matthew Mercer
Make a resolve.
Ylva
Like I said, I make a resolve check.
Galen
Fight the rock.
Sable
Fight it. Fight it.
Ylva
He's really. I don't think anyone can fight the rock. Dwayne Johnson is. No. I fail.
Matthew Mercer
I fail. You all get to the lighthouse and before you have a chance to express what you've said as you all kind of. What do we do? You watch as Ylva just jumps into the hole. You grab the lantern and vanish into the tunnel.
Ylva
While I do that, I'm gonna go.
Matthew Mercer
Pee in the hole. Go do it.
Minette
Goes all the way in the hole.
Galen
I guess we're just going in the hole. Should one of us try and get the lighthouse going?
Sable
What?
Minette
We don't have any lamps. Or did we take those?
Galen
We had a lot.
Minette
Apparently there was a number of them.
Matthew Mercer
There's plenty of oil canisters. And there are lanterns that you likely had with you ready to go affixed to your belt or ready to come along. So you have light sources with you that you'd prepped? Not enough to light a lighthouse on. You'd have to bring the big canisters up there and try and figure out how to light it. I feel like the lighthouse can wait. Let's just go after it. Right? He's right. It's not going anywhere.
Galen
Let's go.
Sable
All right. Let's go.
Matthew Mercer
Figrun puts out the flames and you do as well. You no longer have the fire accumulation.
Sable
We get our stamina back.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, get your stamina back. And the frost eventually melts off from the spells that are there. Figgren, fairly hurt, but still at your side and ready. I never saw myself as a turncoat, so Instead I will say opportunist. I like the way you think. You want to share some hardtack? I also do nibblerize. Lady in the trampet.
Sable
That's actually a good idea.
Matthew Mercer
Can I lady the hardtack? Of course you can. Why would I say no to that? How much do you have in the hardtack?
Galen
So I have four uses. They do two health each. Okay, so now I'll just do it once.
Matthew Mercer
Okay, figurative. Will take two of them for an additional plus four because Figurum's taking some hits.
Galen
All right, you know what? How's our health going in the tunnel?
Matthew Mercer
As an ally, I'd Sage probably has a 30 hit points at the moment. 30 health.
Galen
Anyone else hungry? We've never been hit.
Minette
I have no damage.
Matthew Mercer
Show off, Team life.
Galen
I've been pushing this whole time.
Matthew Mercer
Neither of you need anything?
Sable
I'm good.
Ylva
I definitely do, but I don't think I'm close enough to you guys.
Matthew Mercer
No, you're out. Oh no. That's right. You're mind blowing. You're jumped in the hole.
Galen
Yeah, you fell for the hole.
Ylva
Thank you.
Matthew Mercer
I'll take two bites. She takes two bites. Sure. Sounds good. Let's do it. All righty.
Galen
All right, this is done.
Matthew Mercer
So you all take a minute. Ylva has vanished into the shadows below with her lantern. You can hear the footsteps vanish into the tunnel below.
Galen
She's just running dead ahead. No lantern. Lantern.
Matthew Mercer
No, she has a lantern.
Galen
Oh, fuck.
Matthew Mercer
You all have lanterns? A good number of lanterns, yes.
Ylva
Several tied on our belt. We're all running with lanterns.
Galen
Well, she's running in heels. We can catch her.
Ylva
Yeah, you've never seen me running.
Matthew Mercer
Do we know for sure that Medrin ran in there? Or are we just guessing? You don't know for sure?
Galen
Yeah, sure, sure makes sense. But after.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. You all delve down and begin to hold aloft your lanterns as you begin to keep up as best you can. Ylva hearing the distant rapping of her footfalls upon the stone. The tunnel begins to descend in an occasional drop down and has a gradual angle, but then has these drop offs and four foot, five foot falls. The braces themselves built up into it, some more ramshackle than others, but enough to see that there was intent of excavation building down. You begin to see as you pass by these glowing soft exposed elements of green audra that give off a faint luminescence that occasionally exposed from the edges of the rock wall. Looking smooth. It's not like a jagged geode. It has a smoothed extending texture to it you continue down below and more of the green audra begins to greet you. As the stone begins to come lesser and less until it feels like there is now appearances of worked stone, almost like walkways and walls, elements of an outer structure that begin to appear as these odd twisting veins of audra also now begin to carry their own veins of white, faint, pinkish energy within the audra ban itself. A fractal of audra within itself. You push down immediately coming upon on the outside of some large gateway that is partially open. You see a skeletal corpse, face down on the ground, arms sprawled out in front, legs behind it, facing the direction where you're coming from.
Ylva
Oh, trying to flee direction or going forward?
Matthew Mercer
Facing you. As you approach it, you see this, but continue to run at it. Roll another resolve there.
Ylva
Nope.
Sable
What?
Matthew Mercer
You just dart past the corpse?
Ylva
It's an 11.
Matthew Mercer
The gate.
Sable
Ylva.
Galen
What the fuck?
Matthew Mercer
What the fuck, Ylva.
Ylva
I really don't want him to get there first. I want to win.
Galen
As we approach the skeletal remains, is it wearing anything that we recognize?
Matthew Mercer
Not that you recognize. It's wearing standard clothing because it isn't exposed to the elements. It isn't as weathered as the surface is. The outfit it's wearing is a long coat. It looks like, you know, like front pockets. It's got normal pants on, work boots of some kind. Like dirt. And the elbows and the edges. Yeah.
Sable
Anything on it? Can we do a quick search of the corpse?
Matthew Mercer
Yes, go ahead and make a perception or resolve test. Your choice.
Sable
Okay. 12.
Matthew Mercer
12 pouring through. The only thing of real note that you find is a pocket watch on it. As you look on the inside, the lid clumps open. It looks cracked. And there's an engraving on the inside that says Dorneelsi. Okay.
Minette
Alceno is with us.
Matthew Mercer
Still. Alceno is still.
Minette
I mean, I know.
Matthew Mercer
Figuron. Figuron.
Ylva
Figuron. Big lady Figurun is with you.
Minette
Okay.
Matthew Mercer
Big lady Figurun is with you.
Minette
A lady Figarun. Did Medarin say anything about the stones that are all around and why he's running?
Matthew Mercer
Not at all. He's acting kind of strange today. Particularly last five minutes. Good.
Ylva
I did get to fill you guys in in the house though, right? I talked to you.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, we. Yeah, you filled in, we were told. Yeah. Yeah.
Galen
So that pocket watch saying is familiar.
Sable
It's one of the researchers, I think that Ilvet was talking about.
Ylva
Cuckoo for cuckoo foes.
Galen
Well, don't let her get away. Let's keep going.
Sable
We're still running. We're still going.
Matthew Mercer
All right. You dart past him through the opening. Here it's within. You smell the scent of decay mingled with an odd, I can only say, ashen scent. The chamber interior. Here, as you step in, a baleful cavern of rising large stone columns that surround the perimeter of a cylindrical opening. It looks like most of it is uncovered, though there is dirt and stone that still obfuscates some of the peak of the inside of this chamber. You can see all intricate carving along these massive pillars. The green and white Audra veins seem to twist through the walls in a way that feels intentional, which leads you to believe that the structure was built around the pattern of the Adra and not the other way around. All of the white Adra veins, the Adraban veins, still pulse with that white purple light. You can see levels of wooden scaffolding built into this chamber, which insinuates that whatever these researchers were, they had set up shop within this room and were studying what's within. And there are some chairs and small tables and platforms set around here that gives you the vibes of an unbothered excavation site. Beyond the several skeletal corpses, also in untouched attire, that appear to be scattered throughout the floor, like something had just stolen their flesh in but an instant and they dropped where they stood. What also catches your attention is in the center of this chamber, between all these columns, is one raw, rising mass of white Audrabon that rises up to a point about 15 or so feet in the center of this cylindrical chamber. You can see among it this one massive crack that rides about four feet down. From the top of it, you see, among one of the secondary levels of scaffolding. Medron stands there looking up at a voice of hate and promise. I brought you the gifts that you asked for. And gestures to all of you where you are clambering up the scaffolding after him. What do the rest of you do?
Galen
You know, we could obviously go back and just close up the whole. Fix the lighthouse, you know, that lighthouse. I don't think that's something you want to do.
Matthew Mercer
I don't know.
Sable
What do we do?
Galen
How far away is a Medron?
Matthew Mercer
Probably about 25, 30ft up on the scaffolding, which has a makeshift ladder affixed to it so far enough away where you couldn't get to him in one turn.
Galen
What about an arrow?
Matthew Mercer
An arrow could definitely do so. It's about this time, too, that the. The Audrabon column itself pulses. And you feel in the room a similar spark, that same taste that you felt in the mists earlier. But that bloody iron taste is so much stronger. It's like someone had filled your mouth with battery charged pennies. And that begins to turn into a horrible, strange, electric burning smell that mingles then with a sweet decay. There is just an essence of tragedy and fury. The emotions within you feel almost plucked and brimmed sourcelessly. You feel shades of betrayal in your past you haven't thought of in a while seem to brim from nowhere as you all feel that overwhelming, almost nausea take over. You watch as something emerges from the central white crystal. A spectral female form drifts out of the crystal and floats in the air, its tattered blue hair in front of its face, its arms hanging limp. Your chamber grows frightfully cold and the air seems to take up a sourceless gust around you. You, with your high intellect. Roll for me. Roll your intellect.
Ylva
High intellect. It might not be a high roll. Therehere we go. 18.
Matthew Mercer
18. You've heard myths of things like this. The term used is Kingula, which translates loosely to bloodmother. Horrific spirits who perish under violent, unjust ends and are unable or unwilling to move beyond. And as this thought comes to your mind, you hear this voice. The same voice that reached out to you within that crystal. Fill the chamber I call the Beowa. That which took me shall now feed my fury. You will join me in its binding. The hair pulls back and you watch as her eyes piercing, glowing red hate. Her jaw seems to stretch and distend as she screams. I need you all to roll. Initiative. Scary lady. That's one.
Ylva
Oh, boy.
Galen
I shit my pants.
Minette
18.
Ylva
She's a blood mother. Makes her bloody die.
Minette
She's really brave.
Ylva
Yes.
Sable
This little lady, she had her first kill.
Ylva
I am 18 as well.
Matthew Mercer
Second. All right. So sorry. 20 to 15. 18.
Minette
18.
Galen
All right.
Matthew Mercer
Rollies. Rollies.
Minette
Nine. Wait, is this a nine or a six?
Matthew Mercer
Nine.
Ylva
Well, mine's a two, so you go first.
Minette
Okay.
Sable
Yes. Let's go.
Ylva
Minette. Minette.
Matthew Mercer
All right. So brave.
Galen
Have fun with the scary lady.
Matthew Mercer
All right. And then followed by Ylva. All righty. And that's ultimate. 15. All right. 15 to 10. 13.
Galen
14.
Matthew Mercer
14. All right, we got rollies, if you don't mind, Marisha.
Minette
Oh.
Matthew Mercer
Nine figurines going before you. Okay, and then we have. All right, and then. And then 10 to 5. That's all of you, right? Yeah. Oh, no, no, no. One. One. That's right. That's what we got.
Galen
Barg.
Ylva
Where are you?
Galen
I'm right after you.
Matthew Mercer
As this entity begins to screech outward, the wind Picking up within the whole interior of it. Shifting in color as the magic begins to sparkle and change around you. This is a tomb now and you may forever be lost in here, but you picking up your bravery. Minette, you go first. What do you do?
Minette
Stop. Don't do whatever you're going to do. Let's talk like ladies. I'm going to.
Matthew Mercer
That's one option.
Minette
I'm going to fuck this ghost.
Matthew Mercer
You know.
Minette
I'm gonna cast fan of flames. Also.
Sable
This is cooldown.
Minette
One turn does that.
Sable
That doesn't roll over from last time like that.
Matthew Mercer
That's it. Just means you can cast it every turn if you want to.
Ylva
Oh, right.
Matthew Mercer
So you can. But you can choose one or two. There isn't enough between Medrin and this entity. You can't get both. So you can choose one or the other.
Minette
Okay, I'm gonna cast out the lady. See if she takes spell damage.
Matthew Mercer
Edea or the Kaingula will attempt to block this flame. So go ahead and roll and add your intellect.
Minette
Thirteen.
Matthew Mercer
Fifteen. Release the flame. And as the flames curl around, they almost arc around and do not even impact the strange dark spirit.
Minette
Well, I'm out of ideas. Is anyone? No one's within spear range, are they?
Matthew Mercer
You can move. Can I poke her? You have pretty decent range on that. She's high up though. You'd have to climb up onto some of the scaffolding and it's on each side. There's the one that has Medrin and Yorick and you watch as Ylva is climbing up. Currently the other scaffolding is a little higher, but you're going to have to roll to try and get up there. Do you want to try that or.
Ylva
Yeah, fuck it.
Matthew Mercer
All right, let's go. Go ahead and I'll say roll, might or dexterity. Your call.
Minette
Yeah.
Matthew Mercer
Okay.
Sable
Fuck. Seven.
Matthew Mercer
You get most of the way up and the rung that you're holding on just snaps off of the wooden ladder and you fall back. You try and catch but it's too late and you plummet, taking one point of damage. All right, not too bad. But you are unable to get to the top there. This turn.
Sable
First time you've got.
Minette
I know my first damage.
Sable
Damage by ladder.
Matthew Mercer
Is that your turn?
Ylva
Yes.
Matthew Mercer
All righty. Ylva, Make a resolve check, please.
Ylva
Come on, for the love of God. Come on, Snowback. I'm going to go back to these blood dice. These have been.
Matthew Mercer
She's got to beat at 15.
Ylva
15.
Sable
Come on.
Ylva
16.
Matthew Mercer
That'll do it. In this moment when the spirit appears and that connection that held when you held the Audra in your hand, you look up towards it and you feel the urge to turn your spellcraft against your friends. To make this a grand sacrifice in the name of the Bi'oak. And in that moment, you push through in that that influence leaves your mind and you are in control of yourself. What do you do?
Ylva
Excellent. I kill my friends.
Matthew Mercer
I mean, check those good vibes. You don't know.
Ylva
Now I'm pissed. If I can I use. Can I hit Medrin and Adam?
Matthew Mercer
Because you're already climbing. Because of the control here, you can move to Medrin. Yes. And if you have ranged attack, you.
Ylva
Could go after I have jolting tight. So can it hit both of them is what I mean.
Matthew Mercer
Because you could probably do that. Yeah.
Ylva
Yeah, that's what I'd like to do.
Matthew Mercer
Alrighty.
Ylva
That's what I'd like to do.
Matthew Mercer
All right, great. So with that, Medrin is going to attempt to dodge and so is Kangula. So go ahead and roll.
Ylva
Natural 20 or total of what do I intellectual intellecto 26.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, neither of them dodging that one.
Ylva
Yo, yo, you can't do it. All right, so she's so pissed because she has been so eager to exact revenge on the people that put her in the position that got her into this prison, including her fucking husband, that the fact that this revenge got turned against her, her and her friends, fills her with such a fury that she just lashes out as hard as she possibly can with her brain power. I love that one D12.
Matthew Mercer
All right, so go ahead and roll one D12 for each of them or jolt ones. And they both take the damage. 9 minus 188 damage to each medrin and Kangula. Your burst of electrical energy shocks into both of them. The spirit takes the hit and Medron looks back at you and gives you that look of like I thought you were on our team and grins.
Ylva
I would like to use my wand. 1, 2, 3 and attack between the two of them. Can I make any kind of roll to be able to tell if the pillar is a source of power for. Because I remember reading that we had to get to the. That they were. What is his name? Durhammer. The guy with a D was dying to protect the pillar. D'Orle C, Dorneal C. That guy. Is there anything I can roll to see if that's a thing?
Matthew Mercer
Perception check. You don't want to say this will take you a stamina just to take a moment and peer over to ascertain information.
Ylva
You sure you don't want that to be an intellect.
Matthew Mercer
Well, these could be two things. Back to back, depending on what you see and what you can ascertain.
Ylva
Gotcha. Okay.
Sable
Come on.
Ylva
14 plus. What is it? Perception.
Matthew Mercer
Perception.
Ylva
16.
Matthew Mercer
16. It's not bad. So from the lower ground, you see this crack at the top of the pillar as you stand up on the scaffolding. What you do see is the top of the crack is actually a missing chunk of Audra. That's a good. It's higher than the scaffolding you're on. And it's probably a good 12-15 foot G from where the scaffolding is to where that is. But there is an actual gap at the top of that pillar.
Galen
That shit you have.
Ylva
It's clearly that shit I have. Oh, fuck me. Is she going to do it? She's got to. Come on. Yolo. That was what you said, right? I'm going to try to get to however I can get to that part of the pillar.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. It is a 15 foot gap from the top of the that scaffolding where you are to where that is.
Ylva
I can't reach that.
Matthew Mercer
So you can run. And then I want you to make a dexterity or might check dexterity.
Ylva
19. Plus 3. 21.
Matthew Mercer
Plus 3. 21. I'm gonna roll to see what the blows are. 24. This is a very. From where you're standing, it's a very difficult roll. The bonuses, the bonus for the dice. Plus 10.
Ylva
Oh, plus 10. Okay. All right.
Matthew Mercer
But it's variable as opposed to a solid number. But it's a tough one. So what you do is you see this and you run past medrip holding it in the air, and you miss it by about a foot. Strike the pillar, bounce off of it and fall back about 15ft onto the base of the chamber, hitting 4, 6 points of damage. Damn.
Ylva
Where's the chunk of Audra that I had?
Matthew Mercer
It falls from your grasp and skids about three feet from where you are and is now just on the floor of the chamber.
Ylva
How many stamina was that run? Because I had to run to jump. How many stamina did that cost me?
Matthew Mercer
Oh, I would say one stamina. Just each one of these little motions are just spinning a thing. Since you already ran up to there.
Ylva
We have to get this in there. We have to. I don't know. And I'm just shaking off everything and I think I'm going to call that my turn.
Sable
What's gotten into you?
Matthew Mercer
Okay. It is King Ghoul's turn.
Sable
That thing you're crazier than a possum in a hen house.
Galen
What?
Sable
What's the matter with you?
Ylva
I don't even know what that means, but yet. Someone get this piece. Someone get this piece into the pillar. Stop it.
Matthew Mercer
The Kangula, the spirit of Edea that is now in the middle of this chamber shrieking is going to spend four stamina to wail. This horrible screeching wail rings out the chamber, echoing and shivering. The whole sound of it doesn't hit your ears, it hits your spirit. All of you need to roll resolve, including figurine, which but the two does not make it. 13.
Ylva
13 again. 12.
Matthew Mercer
13, 12, 21. 11, 21.
Minette
21, 21.
Matthew Mercer
All right, anyone under 15, which would be you, you and you. Okay, I'm marking all of this here. You are all unable to dodge or block until Edea's next turn with farts.
Galen
Big farts.
Matthew Mercer
Edea is then going to spin its head towards you. Ylva, as you were the one that tried to leap in the direction of that. As you're on the ground sitting up, it does this screaming yell. You grab your ears and manage to pull it out of the way. You get back up to your knees and glance up and it's going to use its corrupting stare at you for three essence.
Ylva
Is this blockable or dodgeable?
Matthew Mercer
You manage to roll high on your resolve, right? Yeah. You're not. So you actually can attempt to dodge it. It is not blockable. Okay. It is an unblockable strike.
Minette
Okay.
Ylva
I keep losing my coat. Oh, God. Sorry. Fuck is that? Oh, that's a big no, we didn't. No, that didn't happen. I'm going down.
Matthew Mercer
Okay, so you take two points of poison accumulation as the stair hits you and you feel like your body wither from the inside. You take from the strike.
Ylva
Keeping my girlish figure though.
Matthew Mercer
That's a natural 12 on the 12 sided dice.
Ylva
Oh, no.
Matthew Mercer
Plus you guys, 18 points of damage and two points of poison accumulation. You're on the cusp of becoming poisoned.
Ylva
And I'm so close to going down.
Sable
Oh, no.
Matthew Mercer
With that, Edea is now going to to shift over towards the ground. You're the one who tried to climb up. You're probably the closest. Everyone else near the door, it's going to rush towards you and it's going to go ahead and try and strike at you with its claw. This is unblockable. So you can only dodge it if you have the stamina to dodge. I do have the stamina to dodge. Let's go. Go Ahead and roll off.
Minette
Oh, did I lose any stamina for trying to climb?
Matthew Mercer
Oh, but you cannot dodge because you were affected by the whale. I was gonna not be a fucking narc. But no, that is true.
Minette
Just take it.
Matthew Mercer
So you take.
Galen
Hey, we finally got hit.
Matthew Mercer
You take 11 points of damage as she reaches out and claws her spirit into your body. And it seems to pull out almost like a shard of your soul. You watch as energy seems to shriek out of you past the claws. Also, I need you to roll a constitution for me.
Minette
Okay.
Sable
Damn.
Minette
Nine.
Matthew Mercer
Nine. You are also weakened, which means any attacks you make against the spirit, she can block or dodge for free until the next turn.
Minette
Ooh, nasty business.
Ylva
I don't like it.
Matthew Mercer
I don't like it. And she's gonna hold the rest of her turn at that point. Finishing Edea's turn. Galen, you're up with figurin on deck.
Galen
Shoots real bad. I'm gonna take out my bow. I'll notch an arrow aiming at Medrin. And I'm gonna pull it back as far as I can to make a power attack. Shoot.
Matthew Mercer
Ooh, power attack. Alrighty.
Ylva
Come on, baby.
Matthew Mercer
Come on. All right. So this is Medrin.
Galen
Yes.
Matthew Mercer
Medrin's gonna go ahead and spend three stamina to try and dodge.
Galen
Twelve.
Matthew Mercer
Eighteen natural. Three for eight. That hits. Ooh, that's rough.
Galen
Two d eight.
Ylva
Oh.
Galen
But one of them. The first one of them crits. Is that how it works?
Matthew Mercer
It's a free crit. So you just roll an additional damage die.
Galen
Okay, great. 3. 8. 15. 20. 20 total points of damage.
Matthew Mercer
20 points of damage. That's a heavy hit. Medrin who's healed up a little bit since the battle with some of the scavenge with the found still kind of hurt though. Takes the harrow and falls and curls over onto the top of the scaffolding to basically get out of your view from where you're standing. But took a heavy hit. And since it was a power attack and it's a two handed weapon that does five points of stamina damage to him. He is out of stamina currently. He cannot dodge or block at the moment.
Galen
I have some stamina left over. Could I use some stamina to start climbing the scaffolding?
Matthew Mercer
You haven't moved yet so you can try and climb the scaffolding to get up there. To get up to him. Make a dexterity check to see if you can get up there.
Galen
Yeah. Let's do it. And burn. Two stamina or a stamina burn.
Matthew Mercer
A stamina to do so.
Galen
Awesome.
Matthew Mercer
1919'S enough. You need to beat a 15. So you put the arrow or the bow over one shoulder and climb up real fast, get to the top, pull it off over the side. And you can see Medran's on the ground trying to pull the arrow from. From his chest without noticing you right there. Glances over the shoulder. Just as he hears your feet hit the top of the scaffold. And the scaffolding shakes. They're not very sturdy bits of scaffolding. As it shakes a little bit, you get your boat ready and you can make another strike if you want to, if you have the stamina.
Galen
I don't. But I'm up.
Matthew Mercer
But you're up. I'm up there. Yep. All righty. That finishes your go. Figgren is going to go ahead and try and clamber after you. Actually, no. Currently it's more focused on the spirit because that's scarier to figurein. It's like the date was. Not expecting this tonight. Looks over at you, Ghost. Yeah, fuck that ghost. Yeah, fuck that ghost. And she's going to go ahead and. She's going to go ahead and. Yeah. Is going to go ahead and spend last of her essence to charge against his, which means she's gonna go ahead and try and attack. Speed seven can do one attack natural, one figurin. That sucks. But that's okay. She's gonna save four stamina to try and protect herself for the coming turn. Finishes Figurine's turn. Sable, you're up.
Sable
Okay. Ylva seems not crazy anymore, right?
Matthew Mercer
Maybe.
Sable
She said she wasn't crazy. So I'm gonna trust my bitch. I'm gonna run over. I'm gonna grab the big teardrop thing of Audrey Bond.
Matthew Mercer
Okay.
Sable
I'm gonna grab it. I'm gonna look up. I'm real short. I'm a dwarf Hasbro. Here's my pitch.
Matthew Mercer
Okay.
Sable
I get on your shoulders. Minette gets on my shoulders. Human tower.
Matthew Mercer
Put it back.
Sable
Ghost not mad no more.
Minette
I agree.
Matthew Mercer
Do we know what's gonna happen we put that shit in there?
Sable
Nope. It could arguably get worse.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. All right.
Ylva
Excellent.
Sable
I'm gonna just scooch it up, run over, and start climbing the top of the scaffolding and. And wait for this team maneuver.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. So it is a 15 foot gap to this pillar. So we're going to get to the top of the scaffolding to get to the top from where you were standing at the bottom. Roll a dexterity check to see if you can get up there for your full turn.
Sable
Okay. 15.
Matthew Mercer
15 is exactly what you needed. You clamber up there without issue. You step next to and move past where Galen is and near where Medrin is currently on the ground and getting himself more prepped and ready. And indeed, there's a little bit of five foot Runway and then there is the distance to the top of this pillar.
Sable
Did I run past Midrin? I did.
Matthew Mercer
You're just up against Medrin with this.
Sable
Yeah.
Galen
Then.
Matthew Mercer
Cannot block or dodge because that power attack knocked out all of his stamina. So go for it.
Sable
Oh, okay. And wait. So with power attack main attacking and choose to spend double stamina cost of attack to make it a power attack, additional damage die. And if damages the opponent, the opponent loses stamina.
Matthew Mercer
Right. He has no stamina at the moment, which means it can't block or dodge. So your attacks just do damage.
Sable
They just do damage. So even if I do a power attack, it's all the same for me because it's 1D6. So whatever. I'll just do three for right now to just do a regular attack.
Matthew Mercer
Too much difference.
Sable
Six. Nope, that's a one. Five damage.
Matthew Mercer
Five damage. All righty.
Sable
I'll do it one more time. Why not? See what happens.
Minette
Jesus.
Sable
One again. So another five damage.
Matthew Mercer
Another five damage. Mediren's turning it up and you just come over. What are you doing? Come on. All right, so finish your turn and.
Sable
I'm gonna scurry away. And then like wait.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. Medron finally pulls away from your dagger and you're right there at the. There's like a five foot rock to the scaffolding. Medrin's right in front of you and Galen's behind you. And it's like you fuck us unleashes fan of flames, the improved fan of flames on you all. So with that, I do either have stamina to try and dodge or block.
Sable
I will dodge.
Matthew Mercer
Let's go. Come on, kid. Need to be to 18.
Minette
Eighteen.
Sable
Okay.
Galen
Negative, negative.
Sable
Oh, natural one.
Matthew Mercer
Damn.
Sable
That is my third one in a row.
Matthew Mercer
All right, so both of you.
Sable
Damn.
Matthew Mercer
Didn't roll any. Any Max dies on this though. That's going to be 13 points of damage to each of you. And both of you get two points of fire accumulation. Okay, so you are now both starting to burn. The flames are starting to burn. And one more bit of that and you both ignite with that Medrin who is pissed at you for just coming over and shanking him as he's getting up, he's going to pull out his blade and then come and attack you. Oh, he doesn't have all the stamina back here. So with that, are you dodging or.
Sable
I will.
Matthew Mercer
Do you have stamina to do so?
Sable
I do. I have four stamina on the left.
Matthew Mercer
Up to you.
Sable
I'll block just in case.
Matthew Mercer
Let's go.
Sable
Yeah. 20 total.
Matthew Mercer
15. You beat it. So the first goes wide. Pist is gonna go ahead and spend four more stamina to attack you again.
Sable
I'll let it happen.
Matthew Mercer
You can't dodge it. All right, So I only have to roll for that.
Sable
That will be stamina left.
Matthew Mercer
That is gonna be 10 points of damage to you. Is the blade. The first one you manage to just get out of the way, he flips it around in his hand and then backslices you with the blade. That shanks you into the chest. Okay. Yeah. And that's gonna go ahead and end his turn. Haspero, you're up.
Galen
So is she in position to do this maneuver?
Matthew Mercer
She is right at the edge, about 5 foot of a Runway, holding onto this otter, by the way. End of your turn. Make a resolve check for me.
Ylva
Oh.
Sable
Cause I'm holding it. Yeah, but I'm not looking at it.
Matthew Mercer
No, but you've been holding it for a moment. Come on.
Ylva
Come on, baby.
Sable
Come on, Come on.
Matthew Mercer
Hold it.
Sable
Oh, okay. Okay. 18.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah. Unaffected. Okay.
Sable
I don't let no ghost rocks get.
Matthew Mercer
In my head, so I'm still on.
Galen
The ground, so I gotta get up there.
Matthew Mercer
You do? Yeah.
Galen
So what do I spend for that one stamina?
Matthew Mercer
Spend one stamina and roll dexterity for me.
Galen
Okay.
Matthew Mercer
Oh, no, that's five. Five. So you spend a get partway up, because this isn't the other one, which is very, very tall that you were trying to get at the top of. This one is halfway up. You do get to the top of it, but you don't get to the edge of where she is. So you manage to get to where it is. You're halfway to position, and I don't have any more movement I can do. I'll say in this instance, because it's cinematic and fun. If you want to spend 3 stamina, I'll let you close that distance. I'll do it. Okay.
Galen
So then she has it.
Matthew Mercer
She's not corrupted. We could potentially go for it now if you wanted to spend another three stamina to take it from her and attempt to make that leap.
Sable
Well, I was going to get on his shoulders.
Matthew Mercer
Oh, okay.
Sable
That's the thing.
Ylva
And then.
Sable
Unless. If we can make it, awesome. If not, then Minette can. We can do a little Circus pyramid.
Matthew Mercer
Got you. Okay, so what you're doing is you're now gonna send the. Get into position. Sure. And then you're gonna hold your turn or. Hmm.
Galen
What do you think?
Sable
Well, if I can just go for a little shoulder ride, then I can wait for Minette and maybe she can get up there and do the date.
Galen
In terms of turn order.
Ylva
But doesn't what's her face go bad guy?
Matthew Mercer
Doesn't mean.
Galen
And that's gonna go.
Sable
The turrets are next turn.
Ylva
But when does the bad guy go after you?
Sable
So it's gonna be Hasbro and then it's gonna go Manette.
Ylva
Oh, oh.
Matthew Mercer
So either I can hold or. I mean, I should maybe attack Medron, right? Or something.
Sable
Am I able to get on his shoulders? Is he able to.
Matthew Mercer
On your turn. You can.
Sable
On my turn.
Galen
But that's so far away.
Sable
I mean, I can try and I can try and hand it off to you real quick if you think you can do a little like 8 foot and dunk 8 foot vertical.
Matthew Mercer
What I need to roll? Might. This would be a might roll. I think that's your.
Ylva
That's your.
Matthew Mercer
All right.
Galen
How much time do I need to do that?
Matthew Mercer
I'll put this at five stamina.
Sable
Five stamina.
Matthew Mercer
You're more or less attacking the pillar. I could take a shot and then go for it. I think I'm gonna do it. Cause it's just funny.
Galen
And Medrin isn't within sight.
Matthew Mercer
Medron is. Yeah. Like maybe 15ft from me. I'm gonna shoot him with a gun. Yeah, shoot him with a gun. I'm gonna shoot him with a gun.
Ylva
He doesn't have any stamina.
Matthew Mercer
He doesn't have any stamina. Right? He does. Cuz he's had his turn since. So he got. He got the stamina back. So he has enough to try and dodge once. Okay. So he will spend that. So let's go ahead and roll, see what we got. I'm gonna go ahead and roll this out. Oh, no.
Galen
Two.
Matthew Mercer
Okay, a two. What's your bonus? My bonus?
Galen
What do you mean?
Matthew Mercer
To hit with your gun.
Galen
I only have keen.
Matthew Mercer
Sorry. One plus one. Two.
Galen
That's what.
Matthew Mercer
Oh, I see, I see. Yeah. So he does unfortunately, dodge. You go to fire with the gun. Pistol, and you go to shoot. It's a cloud of smoke and he's already ducking out of the way, spinning off to the side and bracing himself on the edge of the wall. The scaffolding now with all of you standing on it is like it's rocking for precariously.
Minette
This is a slippery zombie by design.
Matthew Mercer
This guy, but he's out of stamina. All right, take that. I'm just gonna go for it. Come on. Okay, what's your might bonus?
Galen
Plus six.
Matthew Mercer
Plus six.
Ylva
Get it, Big Blue.
Matthew Mercer
All right, the DC on this is a 20, so you have to roll a 14 or higher to try and accomplish this.
Ylva
Big blue. Use a blue.
Matthew Mercer
I love it. Let's go. 18. Yes. You run, you push off of this. The rest of you feel the scaffolding. I'm going to go ahead and 15 on that. The scaffolding holds 5 or a 10. The scaffolding would have collapsed, but you leap full on, like Michael Jordan. Yeah.
Ylva
Slam dunk.
Matthew Mercer
Slam it into that missing chunk of the crystal pillar. As you do, putting all your weight behind it, it hits and slides in. As it does, the crystal seems to glow from within that purple light pulsing outward. It seems to spread and fill the chamber with bright white light. And as you all have to withdraw from the pain of it on your eyes, you then hold on to the top, slide from the top and plummet 15ft to the ground. The wind for three points of damage as you hit the ground. This Audra Bond pillar is bright within the room. And you see Edea the Kangula, like as it lights up this beam of light, emergency emerges from it. That the rock above seems to crack away. It burns and carves some sort of beam of burning light up through the ceiling of the chamber. Is that your turn? Yeah. Okay, that brings us back to Nanette. I ruled.
Ylva
I was so sick.
Matthew Mercer
I don't even know if it was a good thing. But worth it. I know.
Galen
The Ghostbusters reactors.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah.
Minette
How close? We're still fighting Medrin, right?
Matthew Mercer
So fighting Medrin and Edea.
Ylva
So she's still there.
Matthew Mercer
She's still there.
Minette
That didn't fuck her up. All right.
Matthew Mercer
You have removed some of her abilities.
Galen
Oh, okay.
Ylva
Okay, that's it.
Minette
Well, then I'm going to spend four.
Sable
Essence, which is 1, 2, 3, 4. That's all of my essence.
Minette
I've got one left, so I hope this works. And I'm going to use jolting touch on the two of them.
Matthew Mercer
Okay, let's go. So let's see here. You were weakened, so Edea gets the block for free from you. And Medrin has no stamina. So Medrin just takes a go ahead and roll for the.
Minette
For damage or for.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah, to hit. So roll and add your intellect.
Ylva
Fuck.
Minette
Four.
Matthew Mercer
Four, unfortunately, misses the spirit of Edea. However, Medrin cannot dodge and is Standing up on the side, you can just barely see where the shaking scaffolding is. And you do strike him. So he takes the damage. Go ahead and rol.
Ylva
Six.
Matthew Mercer
Six points of damage. Magic gets knocked to the back and falls back onto my knee. And he's like breathing deep in his eyes now, seeing what's happening with the spirit. You seem to shake something out of his mind. And now there's panic in his eyes. The drive and the will of whatever brought him here and continued to push on is gone. And now it's just survival instinct and literally looking for an escape route. Ooh. Okay. The spirit is still screeching and wailing and furious at what's occurred. What do you want to do with your turn?
Minette
Am I in poking?
Matthew Mercer
You are. It flew down and struck you. Its turn to now focus on the chamber, but it's right next to you.
Minette
I am going to try to poke her.
Matthew Mercer
Okay. She gets to dodge and block you.
Minette
She still gets to block a fuck.
Ylva
Just forever.
Matthew Mercer
Oh. Until her next turn because she struck you and weakened you.
Minette
Okay.
Matthew Mercer
Oh, my God. Let's go. Is it rolled a hit.
Sable
Plus what?
Minette
Intellect.
Matthew Mercer
Next to your spear, it should say plus. Oh, shit.
Minette
I've not been adding that. Oh, well, six anyway.
Matthew Mercer
Six.
Minette
Yeah.
Matthew Mercer
Dodge's out of the way, unfortunately. You want to keep going or.
Minette
Yeah, let me. 1, 2, 3, 5. Yes. Keep going.
Ylva
8.
Matthew Mercer
16.
Minette
God damn it.
Sable
Dice have not been on your side.
Matthew Mercer
I know.
Minette
I'm gonna go again.
Matthew Mercer
Let's go. Roll again. Come on.
Ylva
5. Come on, big money.
Minette
16.
Matthew Mercer
800. Roll damage. Yay.
Sable
Finally.
Matthew Mercer
Sticky Roll damage.
Sable
And good damage. Good damage.
Minette
Three.
Matthew Mercer
Three points a day. Hey, it all adds up.
Minette
And I'm going to go use the litter box. That's right.
Galen
Yes.
Minette
I used to shit in the litter box.
Matthew Mercer
All right, that finishes your turn. Ylva, you're up.
Ylva
Oh, crap.
Matthew Mercer
With Adiya coming up.
Ylva
Am I close enough to use Jolting Touch on the two baddies?
Matthew Mercer
I'd say so, yeah. Crap.
Ylva
But I have 10 health, so I could arcane veil and use the wand.
Galen
Do it.
Ylva
At this point, she's so angry and she knows she fucked up, so she's not even worried about her own self preservation. She just wants them to go. So Jolting Touch. So I roll to hit. I'm assuming, because I'm assuming they're both.
Matthew Mercer
Gonna try, she's going to spend three or four to try and dodge your.
Ylva
Attack, and that's plus intellect.
Matthew Mercer
Medron cannot. So go ahead and roll. Add your intellect.
Ylva
18 plus 6. So 24.
Matthew Mercer
She rolled a 20 total. So that hits excellent. So go ahead and roll damage. And they Both take it.
Ylva
11 minus 1. 10.
Matthew Mercer
10. 10. 6. The shock arcs off, hits the spirit. She pulls back and it damages her. It arcs off of her and strikes up to Medron as it impacts. How do you want to do this?
Sable
Yeah.
Ylva
Just with severe fury in her eyes. Especially at being taken by him. She takes out all of the vengeance that she wishes she was able to take out on the people who wronged her. And as she's staring at him, she just watches him as she hands the. As she sends the lightning bolt through him and into Edea is her name.
Matthew Mercer
Yep.
Ylva
And sends her in, but watches him as he hopefully just. And falls.
Matthew Mercer
So you watch as he's seeing all of this having the panic in his eyes. He gets up and starts sprinting towards the edge of the scaffolding to try leap down and over the rest of you out the exit. As he runs, he slows down and steps up to the edge of the scaffold where there's burned hole in his torso. He looks over and slowly tips forward, smacking harder into the stone floor. No longer moving.
Sable
Yes.
Ylva
I am going to use some stamina to fire at Edea from my wand. Edea. Adea wand. 19 plus 2. 21.
Matthew Mercer
Well, Edea doesn't have any stamina to dodge you.
Ylva
Oh, fantastic. I wasted a roll for nothing. That's a great roll. Can I save that for later? My wand is 1d6 plus 3. 6 damage.
Matthew Mercer
All righty.
Ylva
And then I would like to use three more stamina to do it again.
Matthew Mercer
Let's go.
Ylva
Seven damage. I would like to use three more stamina to do it again.
Matthew Mercer
Come on.
Ylva
Four damage.
Matthew Mercer
All righty.
Ylva
I would like to use three more stamina to go again.
Matthew Mercer
There's no tomorrow. Let's go.
Ylva
There is no tomorrow. And I have so few hit points left or health points left. Five plus three. Eight damage.
Matthew Mercer
Eight damage. All righty.
Galen
One hits.
Matthew Mercer
Does that finish your turn? It's just like just one strike after one strike. One strike blasting into the spear.
Ylva
And I would like to. If there is any possibility of using. Because I can't block with two stamina or dodge with two stamina. Can I use two stamina to just roll behind something? Because I've been. If there's any possibility of me getting hit.
Matthew Mercer
I mean, you haven't moved. You're on the scaffolding still.
Ylva
So there's no way to hide.
Galen
Hang off.
Matthew Mercer
Well, no, you leapt to try and get in there. So you're actually stolen the ground.
Ylva
Right, Right. I've been doing this from the ground.
Matthew Mercer
You can try and move behind one of the pillars as part of your movement.
Ylva
Yeah. Let me try to get behind something so that they can't.
Matthew Mercer
You don't have to spend stamina for that. You just move behind it because you haven't moved. This turn.
Ylva
I'd like to do that.
Matthew Mercer
That finishes your go.
Ylva
Yes.
Matthew Mercer
All right. Top of the round brings us back to Edea, who is furious has lost the weakened ability of her strikes. So that is gone. Is going to go ahead and corrupting stare you at the top of the round.
Ylva
You can't stare at me. I'm hiding.
Matthew Mercer
I can move to follow you if she does.
Ylva
I don't see you. I don't see you. I can close my eyes, so I can't see you. You can't see me.
Matthew Mercer
Do you have enough stamina to block her dodge?
Ylva
I don't.
Matthew Mercer
So you take.
Ylva
I'm going down, kids.
Matthew Mercer
That's going to be 19 points of damage.
Ylva
I am down.
Matthew Mercer
All righty. So when you go to zero health, go ahead and roll and add your resolve.
Ylva
Roll a 20. Roll a D20.
Matthew Mercer
Correct.
Galen
You're gonna pick that one.
Ylva
The blood dice.
Galen
You're gonna pick that one.
Ylva
The blood dice have been very good now that I've said that. Please deliver, kids. Please deliver. Is it plus anything?
Matthew Mercer
Plus? This is your resolve.
Ylva
16 plus 2 and 18.
Matthew Mercer
All right. You remain standing at one hip. Just barely push through.
Sable
Throw her some hard tack.
Matthew Mercer
However, you do take a third point of poison because you are now poisoned. So now that means you cannot dodge. And at the start of your next turn, you take 1d8 poison damage.
Ylva
Oh, so I'm gonna potentially go down right away.
Matthew Mercer
So she is going to go ahead and swoop up to you as you stand on your feet and strike at you with an attack. You cannot dodge because. Because you are poisoned. So you immediately take 2d8 damage, which takes you down. Make another resolve roll.
Sable
Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Yeah.
Ylva
15 plus 2.
Galen
17.
Matthew Mercer
17. You barely hold on.
Ylva
Wow. I'm not dead yet. I think I'll go for a walk.
Matthew Mercer
Well, let's see. No, it's 15 originally. It goes up 2 every time. So 17. You barely hold on. Furious. She's gonna go ahead and make another strike on you.
Sable
She's out for you.
Ylva
Down she goes.
Matthew Mercer
Oh, my. Rolling.
Ylva
You can't even take damage.
Matthew Mercer
You go down again. Make another resolve roll. This is now a 19 blood draw through the ring.
Ylva
Nope.
Matthew Mercer
You are now Unconscious. If you aren't stabilized by the beginning of your next turn, you will be dead.
Galen
We didn't use all that hardtack for happy snuggle time, did we?
Matthew Mercer
Well, I don't have anymore.
Sable
You don't have any more.
Matthew Mercer
You used it all up.
Sable
Does anybody have anything?
Ylva
All right, well, you know.
Matthew Mercer
And then Edea's gonna shift back out of the chamber, like. And this is going to spend four more stamina to try and wail. I need all of you players to make a resolve roll.
Galen
Resolve roll.
Matthew Mercer
Jeez Louise. It's like it's a boss or something. 18. 18. You're fine.
Sable
15.
Galen
22.
Sable
Nope. 6.
Matthew Mercer
All of you avoided, except for you. So, Sable, you are unable to block or dodge until Kangula's next turn.
Sable
Okay?
Matthew Mercer
And she is focused. Focused intensely on you for vengeance. All right, that's going to go ahead and finish her turn. Galen, you're up.
Galen
Am I able to get within a swords strike distance of our floating, shrieking lady?
Matthew Mercer
She's down towards the ground at the moment. Floating up above. You can try and leap off of the scaffolding and strike on the way down. You have to roll a dexterity check to do so.
Galen
Yeah, let's do that.
Matthew Mercer
All right, so roll a dexterity check. Not too hard. It's a ten.
Galen
Oh, great. It's. Oh, that's a seven.
Ylva
I know.
Matthew Mercer
Total seven. Yep. You're a little bit short. And you do, like, face plant on the ground. You do take six points of damage. Love it from the impact, but you do get up and you're able to approach. It was more or less to see if you avoid the damage from it, so go for it.
Galen
Yeah, I'll take strike with the sword.
Matthew Mercer
All right.
Galen
She gonna block her dodge.
Matthew Mercer
She doesn't have the stamina.
Galen
2. Oh, that's a 12. Which explodes.
Matthew Mercer
Yep.
Sable
Let's go.
Galen
6. 18 plus 2 is 20 for the first strike.
Matthew Mercer
You don't have to. Well, is that a D20?
Galen
It is.
Matthew Mercer
Sorry.
Galen
See, it's catching. Be a 12, not a 12. That's six points of damage for the first one.
Matthew Mercer
All right, six points of damage and.
Galen
Then I'll burn another four for another strike. Five. Eight points of damage.
Matthew Mercer
All right. Alrighty. Four.
Galen
And one more swipe with the sword. Cause fuck not to be a bitch. Also, eight points of damage.
Matthew Mercer
Eight points of damage. Three heavy strikes. Your ankle's aching. You may have sprained or broken something, but you're still swinging away with this blade.
Ylva
Swing away.
Matthew Mercer
Still swinging away with each impact. The light's Getting brighter from the Audra. And the spirit seems to be diminishing with each blow. Some heavy hits on it. Does that finish your turn?
Galen
It does.
Matthew Mercer
All right. At the end of Yoro Galen. It is now Figrun's turn. Who has been preparing for this moment. Now the spirits and range is going to go ahead and regain the stamina. You got this, babe. I do got this. He's going to go ahead and spend seven stamina to strike this time. Doesn't even have to roll the hit because cannot strike. That's going to be holy girl 2d8 plus 4. One's an 8 that explodes.
Sable
Yay.
Matthew Mercer
That's 1314 plus 4. Oh. Plus another 4 on a crit. So that's 32 points of damage.
Sable
How do you want to do this? Npc?
Matthew Mercer
That is the end of Figurine's stamina. Figurine takes the one heavy strike. A heavy hit. Massive blow that sends the spirit like shooting that goes through the pillar and emerging from the other side. The jaw is getting more open and crooked.
Ylva
Avenge me.
Matthew Mercer
Figure I'm going to take a few steps back, babe. I'm scared. I got you, babe. Finishing vigorous. Suit and Sable, you're up, babe.
Sable
So I can't block or dodge until.
Matthew Mercer
The end of the Kangala's next turn.
Sable
So you know what that means. All damage all day, baby. Can the spirit block or dodge?
Matthew Mercer
No. Also out of Stamina.
Sable
We're just rolling damage here, guys. First attack. Let me just make sure. One, two, three. First attack. That's gonna be seven damage.
Matthew Mercer
Alrighty.
Sable
Second attack. Seven damage. Third attack. Five damage. Not great. Fourth attack. Give me a six. Five, nine damage.
Matthew Mercer
Alrighty.
Sable
That's my turn.
Matthew Mercer
Fantastic. Once again, you're all swarming in now on the Spirit. Almost like ping ponging between your weapons as you all kind of begin to fill the chamber around. The spirit tries to escape one and falls right into the clutches of another. Just being knocked between each of these flurry of blows on all sides. That finishes starting to. The spirit's starting to flicker. And you can see it. The tether, this weird ephemeral bind that holds it to the Audrey Pillar is starting to break and pull apart. All right. So finishing Sables. Go Hasbro. You're up. Am I within striking distance? You can move to get striking distance if you want to. Actually, no. Yeah. Because you're on the ground after the fall. Get up. Yeah, you totally. You can move up to it. Yeah. I'm going to switch to the great hammer.
Sable
Let's go.
Matthew Mercer
Finish Stamina. To switch it. Let's go. Okay.
Ylva
That is a great hammer.
Matthew Mercer
Let's go. I'm going to do a great hammer strike.
Galen
So she cannot dodge.
Matthew Mercer
She cannot block or dodge.
Sable
Come on.
Ylva
Come on, baby.
Galen
That is 13.
Matthew Mercer
13 points of damage. Yes. How do you want to do this? Yeah.
Sable
Avenge me.
Galen
So I look at her and I go.
Matthew Mercer
Gonna be totally honest, I don't really know what's going on. But my homie Eva, Eva said some stuff about you're like a researcher or something. But anyway, Figgrin, this is for you, babe. Not a swing. That wakes the chamber with its pullback and quakes it even harder with the impact. As you slam it down, the blast hits the spirit and you hear one final echoing scream as the hammer cracks the ground. The central of the chamber itself caving in Dragon Ball Z style. You see rocks and stones kind of get thrown in the air around it before they drop from the sheer blast. You see cracks in the nearby walls slightly, not enough to make it dangerous, but enough to show that that was fucking hard hit. As the bits of the spirit energy scatter and the barely visible tether to the Audra fades, you all sit around and breathe heavy. Split second moment on your turn before you lose your friend Ilya or Ylva, what do you do? Okay.
Minette
Medrin died while I was peeing, right?
Matthew Mercer
Yeah.
Minette
Did he drop any food?
Matthew Mercer
You can go and attempt to quickly.
Minette
Did he drop any essence also?
Matthew Mercer
Oh, he did drop essence. He dropped eight essence. Can I help? Help, help, help, help.
Minette
Or can I force that down my friend's throat?
Matthew Mercer
I mean, you can, but that doesn't really.
Minette
That doesn't do anything.
Sable
Food.
Minette
Will food heal her?
Matthew Mercer
If you have food that could functionally, you could force her to eat. Okay, there's pigeon tongue. It's going to take a lot of stamina to force an unconscious friend to eat food, but it's not impossible.
Minette
Okay, I am going to.
Sable
See if.
Minette
Medron, he healed himself with some food, so I'm assuming he's got snackies.
Matthew Mercer
All right, so here's what we're going to do. You want to use your movements partially to rush over to. To Medrin's singed corpse. I need you to roll a perception check or a resolve check to try and push through his body to see if you can find anything that still remains that is edible perception or what? Resolve. Resolve.
Minette
Fuck yeah, resolve.
Matthew Mercer
Seven total of seven.
Sable
Day off, day off.
Matthew Mercer
No food on his body. He healed a bit because he. He ate it all.
Minette
Can I I get her shoes? Is there any other Way to heal. To heal, my friend. Can I give her a speech? Can I talk to her?
Matthew Mercer
I don't want you to die. The last thing you can do is try and stabilize her slipping into death. But since you used movement to Church's body in the middle of this rush, you can try and spend, I'll say, the rest of your stamina to try and remove any bits of cloth that you might have any semblance of remnant healing interests that you might conceive. This will be an intellect roll.
Minette
I never put down my petticoat.
Ylva
I still have it with.
Matthew Mercer
With me. So, wait, so you've been fighting naked this whole time?
Minette
No, a petticoat goes underneath.
Matthew Mercer
Okay, so make sure she boy doesn't.
Ylva
Have any knickers on so everyone can see all her naughty bits. When she was on the scaffold, that's.
Matthew Mercer
What I was like. Yeah, it was a view.
Minette
Meow.
Matthew Mercer
Meow.
Ylva
Indeed.
Matthew Mercer
So with the petticoat under your arm, you rush over and are going to attempt to essentially triage your friend where the poison is into the body. I need you to roll an intellect check to see if you can logic out and remember anything about solving this. This is going to be.
Sable
Can I use one of yours?
Galen
Which way would I. 120.
Matthew Mercer
This is going to be a 16.
Sable
Rolling.
Matthew Mercer
Shit.
Ylva
I'm reaving you for my friend.
Minette
16 total.
Matthew Mercer
Exactly. Holy shit. There's a four tea on the die. Are you fucking kidding me? Oh, thank you so much.
Sable
When it counts, my friends.
Minette
Ladies don't die.
Matthew Mercer
I'm taking a picture of that shit.
Ylva
Very unladylike to die.
Matthew Mercer
Not dying is a virtue after all. In the faintest of gentle moments, you wait for your friend to cross the threshold. But her breath never stops. And then it grows stronger until eventually her eyes open. You're alive.
Minette
Ylva.
Ylva
Very ladylike indeed.
Minette
Please don't be mad.
Matthew Mercer
Please.
Minette
All of my underwear is in your open wounds. But I think it helps.
Ylva
Won't be the first time. No, hopefully the last.
Sable
You know, I think there's some really good pigeon stew waiting back at the lighthouse for us.
Ylva
I'm so sorry. I thought exacting revenge was what I needed it. But it only caused so much pain and so much trouble and I'm sorry.
Minette
It's okay.
Matthew Mercer
Yeah.
Sable
We're Team Reach Around.
Matthew Mercer
Team Reach Around.
Sable
Yeah.
Galen
What goes around comes around.
Matthew Mercer
As you pick up your arms and march outside of the blazing chamber. You crawl through the subterranean tunnels back to where the base of the lighthouse remains. It is here that you see the lighthouse is partially crumbled, for the base of this pillar and its beam of energy has torn through it. So while the lighthouse remains no beacon for salvation, the beam of light that seems to climb into the sky should be enough to get someone's attention. With a glimmer of hope of being saved by any passing ship, you smell the delicious scent of freshly cooked odd carrion seabird in a nearby kitchen as your new interesting lady friend slaps you on the ass. You all look at each other with a smile and a nod and continue to where dinner is waiting. That's where we're going to go ahead and finish the night. That was fun y'all. Thanks for coming along for that. That's fun, weird and perfect. I love it. I love it. Really appreciate y'all for coming. Friends. Old news has been so fun and thank you again to our friends at Xbox and Obsidian Entertainment for letting us play in the world of Avowed tonight. And thank you all for joining us for that. A reminder that while you may have recognized the spaces and characters explored tonight as inspired by elements from Avowed and into Universe, we want to emphasize that these characters and events in this one shot were our own creations. As if you couldn't tell and are not official content. As if you couldn't tell from the Avowed game, they were only inspired by it.
Ylva
But I'm gonna put up a recipe for carrion pigeon. I'm gonna find one for us and make a delicious dinner for celebration.
Matthew Mercer
And when we get out of the hospital we can thank you again for joining us. But all that being done, go check out Avowed. It's a great game. It's out now. Some people at the table are in it so check it out@xbox.com avowed for more info. Thank you all so much. We love you. Good night. Thank you so much for joining us on this adventure. To help new listeners discover the show, please give us a rating and review on watching whatever podcasting app you're listening on. Until next time. Is it Thursday yet? My amazing new Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra reduces noise in my concert videos with Galaxy AI taking them from this to this. Now I have time to bejewel my favorite artist's faces onto jackets. This one really captures their eyes. Galaxy S25 Ultra the AI companion that reduces distractions so you can do you yours at samsung. Com. Compatible with common video formats. Accessible in gallery. Helps minimize six select sounds results for your Galaxy AI features by Samsung free through 2025.
Critical Role Podcast Summary: "Avowed One-Shot"
Podcast Information:
In the "Avowed One-Shot" episode, the cast of Critical Role collaborates with Xbox and Obsidian Entertainment to explore the world of Avowed. Set in the expansive universe of Eora, this adventure takes listeners through a gripping narrative filled with suspense, character development, and intense roleplaying moments.
The story unfolds aboard the prison ship Dancing Umbrage, journeying from the Idiran capital city of Highcrown to the northern frontier island known as the Living Lands. This island is rumored to host abundant landscapes and prehistoric relics, making it a coveted destination for various factions seeking expansion and resources.
The episode begins with the cast settling into their respective prison cells on the Dancing Umbrage. Galen describes the oppressive environment aboard the ship, highlighting the diverse cast of prisoners, each with their own backgrounds and motivations. Tensions simmer as the group anticipates their arrival in the Living Lands.
As the ship sails northward, a violent storm engulfs the vessel, leading to a shipwreck. The chaos results in the destruction of many guards and the scattering of prisoners. The surviving group, including Galen, Sable, Minette, and Ylva, navigate the wreckage, facing immediate threats from elemental creatures known as Rain Blights—magical storms that threaten their survival.
The survivors land on the rocky shores of the Living Lands, a mysterious island with limited resources and potential dangers. They regroup amidst the debris, scavenging for weapons and provisions. Their exploration leads them to a partially functional lighthouse and a makeshift outpost. Here, they encounter Medrin Glaukias and his associates, sparking a series of confrontations driven by mistrust and survival instincts.
As the group delves deeper into the island, they uncover ancient ruins tied to the enigmatic mineral Audra—a substance of great spiritual and magical significance. Conflict intensifies with aggressive spirits called Rain Blights attacking the survivors. Through strategic combat and teamwork, the group manages to fend off these spectral threats, though not without sustaining injuries and accumulating elemental afflictions like fire and poison.
The climax of the episode features a tense showdown between the survivors and Medrin, who becomes increasingly desperate and antagonistic. As they navigate the treacherous halls of an ancient chamber, they confront the malevolent spirit Edea the Kangula—a vengeful entity with ties to the island's mystical energies. In a final bid for survival, the group battles Edea and Medrin, leading to a decisive victory aided by their combined resilience and magical prowess.
Survival and Trust: The episode emphasizes the importance of trust and collaboration among the prisoners as they face external threats and internal conflicts.
Magic and Mysticism: The use of magic, particularly in combating elemental creatures and interacting with ancient ruins, highlights the intricate relationship between the characters and the mystical world of Eora.
Character Growth: Each character experiences significant development, revealing motivations, fears, and alliances that shape their journey from captives to survivors.
Galen (00:05:00):
"I tried to help, but I think they've lacked evidence or anyone else to point a finger at."
Sable (04:45:00):
"I'm just a dwarf of the land. I know pretty much everything about nature."
Minette (05:05:00):
"I owe my entire life to Eleonora. And I regret nothing."
Ylva (15:30:00):
"We're smarter than the rest of them."
Ylva (22:00:00):
"Being underestimated is a wonderful thing."
Matthew Mercer (Throughout the Episode): As the Dungeon Master, Matthew Mercer provides vivid descriptions and guides the story, often reacting dynamically to player actions.
"Avowed One-Shot" offers an immersive experience into the collaborative storytelling that Critical Role is renowned for. By intertwining elements from the Avowed universe with original character arcs and intense gameplay, the episode delivers a captivating narrative of survival, trust, and the battle against formidable mystical forces. The characters' journey from prisoners to heroes underscores the themes of resilience and unity, making this one-shot a memorable addition to the Critical Role canon.
Thank you for joining us on this adventure! If you enjoyed this summary, make sure to listen to the episode for the full experience and join the conversation with fellow fans of Critical Role and Avowed.