
Part 1 The group carefully navigates the dangerous domain of the Damask Queens and confront the dangerous guardian of a verdant home... DAGGERHEART Daggerheart is OUT NOW! Visit https://daggerheart.com to learn more. Purchase your copy at friendly local game stores, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other bookstores, or Critical Role shops: US: https://shop.critrole.com UK: https://shop.critrole.co.uk EU: https://shop.critrole.eu AU: https://shop.critrole.com.au CA: https://canada.critrole.com AGE OF UMBRA Small communities hold fast against the darkness of a dying world in Age of Umbra, a dark, survival fantasy 8-part Daggerheart mini-series with Game Master Matthew Mercer and players Ashley Johnson, Laura Bailey, Liam O’Brien, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, Taliesin Jaffe, and Travis Willingham. Death lurks around every corner, but five characters of the small community of Desperloch must band together to fight for hope for their community, risking it all for those they love. BEACON ...
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Matthew Mercer
I'm gonna put you on, nephew.
Travis Willingham
All right, unk. Welcome to McDonald's. Can I take your order, miss?
Matthew Mercer
I've been hitting up McDonald's for years. Now it's back. We need snack wraps.
Laura Bailey
What's a snack wrap?
Matthew Mercer
It's the return of something great. Snack wrap is back.
Ashley Johnson
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Liam O'Brien
Cash Flow Crunch on Deck's Small Business.
Travis Willingham
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Marisha Ray
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 pre sales merch discounts, access to a private community discord, and new exclusive series like Critical 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.
Liam O'Brien
Hey there critters. This is Ashley Johnson and Telus and Jeffy and we're popping in here to talk about our new podcast on Beacon. Weird Kids.
Travis Willingham
In this series, we're diving into our.
Ashley Johnson
Lives as former child actors, from unraveling our eccentric upbringings to embracing all the.
Travis Willingham
Delightfully odd interests we still have.
Liam O'Brien
Today we're covering so many topics like antique toys, taxidermy, Japanese pop culture, and honestly, anything else we come up with.
Travis Willingham
Weird Kids is available exclusively on Beacon. But good news, we're offering a one month free trial on Beacon TV so you can take a look before you become a member. Just use the code weirdosacon TV to start the trial.
Liam O'Brien
You can also find fellow weirdos by following the series on our heirdkidspod Instagram and using the hashtag weirdkids.
Travis Willingham
So to all the misfits, outcasts and weirdos out there, come take a seat at our table and celebrate all things unconventional, nostalgic and wonderfully weird. Welcome to Weird Kids.
Liam O'Brien
New episodes release every Tuesday.
Travis Willingham
Hey there, Matthew Mercer here and you're listening to the podcast version of Age of Umbra, a dark tale and campaign setting from our recently released tabletop RPG Daggerheart from Darrington Press. You don't need to know anything about the rules or system to enjoy the story, but if you're inspired to want to play along, we have several short how to Play resources we lovingly call get yout Sheet Together, available to watch right now on Beacon TV and YouTube.com criticalrole this is part one of the episode right now and part two arrives the following Tuesday. If you'd rather get instant and ad free access to the full episode, consider becoming a Beacon member where you can watch bonus content like the cast discussing each episode and Critical Role cooldown. Receive Critical Role shop discounts including on Daggerheart and much more. Sign up now at Beacon TV and that should cover it. Now let's dive into the adventure. Hello everyone and welcome to tonight's episode of the Age of Umbra. Umbies Umbies Age of Umbies before we jump in, we do have some announcements to get through. Solar Gardens is a new Darrington Press board game that embraces the power of creativity and optimism. In this tile drafting game, players take on the role of a visionary architect special specializing in carbon neutral engineering to build a rooftop garden in harmony with nature. It's beautiful, it's wonderful and you gather points by building things like solar farms and windmill systems to create tranquil garden environments. It's a very cozy board game experience. You can pre order Solar Gardens now at Critical role shops releasing July 31 at Gen Con, Darrington Press Guild stores and other friendly local game stores. Plus, alongside Solar Gardens, we'll be releasing a Darrington Press promo pack celebrating Critical Role's 10 year anniversary, able to feature exclusive promo cards for six of our games including Solar Gardens Art Cards, Alt Art cards from the Menagerie for Daggerheart, New Queen By Midnight, Bizarre cards and more. So get them as a gift with purchase only at Gen Con and Darrington Press Guild stores. I think that's all the announcements we have for tonight, so let's go ahead and jump into tonight's episode of the Age of Umbrella. Okay, it's it's.
Sam Riegel
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Matthew Mercer
I'm gonna put you on nephew all right unc.
Travis Willingham
Welcome to McDonald's. Can I take your order? Miss?
Matthew Mercer
I've been hitting up McDonald's for years. Now it's back. We need snack wraps.
Laura Bailey
What's a snack wrap?
Matthew Mercer
It's to something great. Snack Wrap is back.
Ashley Johnson
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Sam Riegel
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Travis Willingham
Welcome to the Age of Umbra. Last we left off, our troop had trekked beyond the Amber Gate, survived jumping across the drowned sprawl, casting away spirits of old trauma, and began to ascend the Amber, or, sorry, the Ashkol region of the city. Upon climbing it, you were waylaid by two terrifying creatures that called the exterior of the Athenium home. And in that fray lost two of your companions, Adelia and August, both falling in the battle. In the middle of the trauma, Screev charged into the night, vanishing into shadow, and has not been seen since. You shouted for entry into the Athenium, and through a convincing display of what looked like divine magics, you convinced the guard to allow you entry. And for the night, and the first in a few nights, you prepared for an evening's rest near the safety of a sacred pyre. You made some contacts within that had more dubious fingers in the local merchant tile, and did some heavy trade for some new upgrades, some items to help you on this last leg of your journey. Little bits of information. You had drawn some attention as the one that had claimed or shown to have had this touch of the divine gift, which made quite a stir with some of the civilians locked here within the stronghold for generations. You had decided to speak on her behalf and go help heal a young boy who was apparently suffering stealthily gave a divine healing, more or less imparting this magic within his body to rid him of this disease. In doing so, received a terrifying interaction as he grabbed your arm and began to speak of things beyond either of your understanding before passing out into his bed. He will return as you just absorb the moment standing within this tent and him now fast asleep on the bed, healed.
Laura Bailey
I'll go to the bedroom door. Open the door. Is his sister still outside?
Travis Willingham
Indeed. The tent flap. Oh, thank you. It's been a minute. Hub opens up and she says, is he all right? He's.
Laura Bailey
He's fine. Your brother doesn't ever pretend to speak in other voices, does he?
Travis Willingham
No, not that I'm aware of, no. Why? Is he okay?
Laura Bailey
Oh, he'll be fine. Funny sense of humor, that one. Keep this to your to yourselves. I don't want others knowing that. A little bit of favor was shown this night. You get some rest and I'll head out of the tent.
Travis Willingham
Of course. You just go past and head back to the chamber that you were given for the evening's sleep. The rest of you have begun to give into the exhaustion of the past Few days journey. As you arrive, you can see everyone's in the process of setting for an evening's rest or possibly even just passing out in the middle of whatever action they were taking.
Liam O'Brien
How did it go?
Laura Bailey
Great. Little boy seems to be on the mend. They were very thankful.
Travis Willingham
Wonderful.
Sam Riegel
We have some wine for you if.
Laura Bailey
You'D like some wine? Yes, that sounds great. That sounds perfect.
Marisha Ray
Yes.
Travis Willingham
It's a little vinegary, but it's. You know, there's not a lot of functional wineries here in the domain wastes.
Sam Riegel
So I think you mean domain.
Travis Willingham
Sorry, the domain.
Laura Bailey
The domain estate.
Travis Willingham
Yeah, the haciend domain. We age of umbrella. Anyway.
Laura Bailey
We should be on our way in the morning, first light.
Marisha Ray
Yeah, of course. And Matt, remind me, since I put on new armor, does that automatically refill my armor slots to what the new armor is?
Travis Willingham
Well, did you take new armor or did you take over somebody else's arm?
Marisha Ray
I took Taliesin's. I took August's.
Laura Bailey
I think it's once you rest and then you fill up the.
Travis Willingham
You have to rest on a pair. If it's a new armor that you've purchased and dawned at a rest, I'll allow that to carry over. If it's like pristine armor. Okay. But this armor you received was already pretty wrecked.
Sam Riegel
Yeah. It has three slots off of it.
Travis Willingham
Okay. So you begin with three slots used on it.
Marisha Ray
Three slots used? Yeah. Okay.
Travis Willingham
All right. So as part of your restful sleep this evening, does anybody need me to.
Laura Bailey
Clear their stress or two points of their stress so you don't have to waste that in action? I can do it before we go to sleep.
Travis Willingham
Sure.
Marisha Ray
I have three points of stress on you.
Sam Riegel
I also have three.
Liam O'Brien
Oh, you guys are.
Travis Willingham
I can claim it.
Laura Bailey
Brochure and both.
Travis Willingham
Rock, paper.
Sam Riegel
What is it? Boulder paper.
Laura Bailey
Boulder parts and shoes.
Sam Riegel
Boulder parchment shears. What are you doing on four.
Marisha Ray
Boulder parchment shears.
Laura Bailey
Okay.
Travis Willingham
You're good.
Marisha Ray
Okay.
Laura Bailey
Then I'll go up and do healing hands and do a spell cast roll. This is a long rest 23 with hope. I'll mark a stress and clear two of your stress, if you would like.
Sam Riegel
Yes, thank you.
Marisha Ray
I'm going to repair my armor. We pick two things or three.
Travis Willingham
Pick two.
Marisha Ray
Two.
Travis Willingham
But because it's a long rest, you clear all slots of that type.
Marisha Ray
Right.
Travis Willingham
Or you can prepare if you'd like to.
Laura Bailey
That was the closest I got to a death roll last time, man. I didn't like it if you didn't do. I was your shield, I'd be rolling.
Marisha Ray
Really?
Laura Bailey
Oh, yeah.
Liam O'Brien
Oh, yeah, you were.
Sam Riegel
That was it. Someone need to. Is this a keep watch sort of a situation?
Travis Willingham
No. You are near a sacred pyre, so no one needs to keep watch.
Laura Bailey
And we've got a little undercity watchful eye on us as well.
Sam Riegel
If that's the case, can I go back in time and have you Travis, knock down her stress? I don't really need it. Would that help you?
Marisha Ray
Stress is my main mechanic for I am your shield.
Sam Riegel
And would that allow you to do some other action tonight?
Marisha Ray
Well, the only other action that would be on the table would be I've got one hit point, but I can deal with that. The only other thing would be if you we wanted to do armor. I'm doing armor for sure. So I could either clear my stress or we could like prepare and gain hope. You can do the same because how much hope do you have?
Sam Riegel
1.
Marisha Ray
So you do the same thing for sure. So because is hope your mechanic?
Sam Riegel
I use both equally.
Marisha Ray
Then why don't you keep your stress cleared? I will clear my stress by what he did. And then you can prepare or do whatever.
Laura Bailey
Paradise four and two.
Travis Willingham
There you go.
Laura Bailey
I could just give you four hope right now.
Sam Riegel
For free?
Laura Bailey
No, not for free.
Sam Riegel
What would I have to do for you, sir?
Laura Bailey
Dance. Do it slowly.
Matthew Mercer
Do it.
Laura Bailey
What are they saying?
Liam O'Brien
I was like, what is this? Why do I know this?
Laura Bailey
Take it off slowly.
Liam O'Brien
Take it off slowly.
Sam Riegel
Are you gonna give me four?
Laura Bailey
Oh, fuck.
Travis Willingham
Okay.
Laura Bailey
I'll give you two hope. Okay. Two hope.
Sam Riegel
Okay. Don't waste it.
Laura Bailey
You said you need it, right?
Sam Riegel
I can also prepare. Does anyone else.
Liam O'Brien
I can prepare with you?
Sam Riegel
Let's prepare together.
Liam O'Brien
Okay. Let's prepare.
Travis Willingham
Sure.
Sam Riegel
Yes. We're gonna prepare with each other by.
Liam O'Brien
Because I only did. I only needed to use one of those to clear stress.
Travis Willingham
How did you both prepare together?
Liam O'Brien
We prepare. Describe how you prepare the next day's adventure. Then gain a hope. If you choose to prepare with one or more members of your party, you each gain two hope.
Travis Willingham
Yeah.
Sam Riegel
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you want to pray together? Is that how we should prepare?
Liam O'Brien
I think it'd be helpful.
Sam Riegel
Okay.
Liam O'Brien
Maybe what I will do is I will just play music.
Sam Riegel
Oh.
Liam O'Brien
I think at this point I have dropped my appearance and I'm just back to my stone self. And I will just try to play some relaxing music for us to try to rest and sleep. And knowing that that was also used to. It was some form of prayer at one point in this body.
Sam Riegel
Yeah, yeah. I will be inspired by the music and also say a quiet prayer to Tyrus not really knowing what he is or they are. And express my regrets for the actions of the day. And I hope that Screeve Screven forgives me and hope that he finds his way back to us.
Laura Bailey
I actually wrote a prayer because I botched the last one so badly last time.
Sam Riegel
What's your prayer?
Laura Bailey
So I wrote, in dream I saw the pyre walk through ash and flame and veiled talk. A gift the world should never know. A heart that burns where gods ne' er go. They hide their light in humble shell to keep the pyres from ringing bell. But even quiet fires glow bright when stars are known by absence of night.
Marisha Ray
That was so beautiful. Alcatieri.
Travis Willingham
What? Did you do that?
Marisha Ray
Did you do that?
Laura Bailey
Did the. Did. Do I get.
Sam Riegel
Marcus Trepe sucked.
Laura Bailey
Marcus trapped.
Travis Willingham
Marcus Trapp.
Laura Bailey
I didn't like my nursery rhyme last time.
Liam O'Brien
I did not like your nursery rhyme.
Sam Riegel
I liked it.
Marisha Ray
That was beautiful.
Liam O'Brien
I thought that was quite lovely.
Marisha Ray
Wow.
Laura Bailey
Nothing happens.
Travis Willingham
You find, especially in the day's events. And for some of these evening's events, your shaken resolve settles into a needed slumber as sleep takes each of you. You reminisce on days of distant travel. The exhaustion and the purpose serving the needs of distant others for reasons never understood. And now instead serving a known purpose for those that you give care for. You dream of the one who pulled you from the darkness and the sacrifices he made to be freed from endless shadow. And now see the light of day, the light of flame, and a second chance at an impact on these realms around you. Though you cannot see it, where you sleep, you sense the proximity of the pyre. And in that imagined or not, warmth, you slip into memory of how much kindling you've watched and guarded. Of those you kept safe and those you intend to continue to keep safe. You can't get the look in his eyes out of your mind. Yeah. A glare from something not present. A memory that speaks to uncertainty as to whether that actually happened or. It was all in your mind. Was he possessed? Did something speak through him? Are you going mad? You seem to rest so easy so quickly. These visions continue to follow. Are you broken? Are you destined? You don't know the depths of the old faith and the new, but something calls you forward. And something has special plans for you. The night's rest is a welcome one. And the morning you assume comes as your chambers here do not see daylight. But the hustle and bustle of the next morning definitely rouses you and your sore bodies Sit up and prepare for what you need to do in the day or days to come. No bad dreams, just recollections. And maybe a renewed resolve.
Laura Bailey
Figures they'd be early risers.
Marisha Ray
Misty?
Liam O'Brien
Yes?
Marisha Ray
You might want to cover yourself.
Liam O'Brien
Oh, thank you. Yes.
Travis Willingham
I'm going to take a full fear on this because I can.
Marisha Ray
Wait, wait, wait.
Travis Willingham
Why? I gain 1d4 plus the number of players.
Liam O'Brien
That's right, because we haven't taken that.
Travis Willingham
Many long rests, even on the minimum roll. That would put me at max fear, which is how I love to start my day.
Liam O'Brien
I'll use a just appearance again so we can get through here.
Travis Willingham
You got it. Eventually, you make enough sound that one of the soldiers that was set in Paris not far from your sea being, steps forward and it's like it looks like you're working. Should I go fetch Commander Kieran?
Marisha Ray
Yes, I think this time.
Sam Riegel
Yeah.
Travis Willingham
Well, please stay parked at the Wanderin walks off. A short time later, the well, the stoic, well armored faun returns. Thank you. I hope you did find your rest comfortable enough. Unless you require my shelves. From our community, I understand your journey is one of haste.
Marisha Ray
It is, yes.
Laura Bailey
Thank you for your hospitality and protection. We won't forget it soon. If you ever find yourself near desperate, you can ask the same of us. And it shall be returned.
Travis Willingham
If that is the case, might I ask your names?
Laura Bailey
Yes, I am Idol.
Liam O'Brien
My name is Misty.
Marisha Ray
Brixton.
Sam Riegel
Snakes.
Travis Willingham
You notice a secondary soldier behind her out back? Is scrolling into a small leather bound booklet or journal. Closes it. On your return trip, and I do hope there is one you can find Haven once more within the walls of this stronghold. Success or not. Just ask for Commander Ciaran.
Laura Bailey
Thank you, Commander.
Marisha Ray
We will wish for success. Perhaps on my return, I could meet the other sacred pyre keepers and see the sacred flame for myself.
Travis Willingham
If indeed you return with such a branch that you seek, I'm sure they would like to see you as well.
Marisha Ray
Give them my regards.
Travis Willingham
Of course.
Marisha Ray
And before we leave, you had mentioned that your spotters were tracking the umbra winds and that it seems to be moving due east.
Travis Willingham
It's heading south at the moment, and it might move east thereafter.
Marisha Ray
But it is imminent regardless.
Travis Willingham
The wind is always imminent and sometimes moves erratically and with malice. Soul move swiftly.
Marisha Ray
Heard.
Sam Riegel
Hm?
Marisha Ray
Heard.
Sam Riegel
Heard.
Liam O'Brien
Like you heard?
Marisha Ray
Like I heard her. Oh.
Laura Bailey
Oh.
Travis Willingham
Heard. She heard me.
Marisha Ray
I know you're a goat.
Sam Riegel
Yeah, I thought you were calling us together.
Marisha Ray
All right.
Travis Willingham
Well, you'll be escorted out. Safe travels. Be mindful of those that would like to misuse your gifts, should they be true.
Marisha Ray
Thank you for the advice. It's hard out here for those of us who are touched.
Travis Willingham
I've crossed many an Aether weaver in my days. We are 100 years past, Divinity. Whatever is claimed to be touched by the gods, more often the knot is proven to be something else entirely. I would be careful where your inspirational dreams take you.
Marisha Ray
Yes.
Sam Riegel
Heard, heard.
Travis Willingham
She looks to the rest of you. Be careful. And walks away. Other soldiers step up to escort you back towards the gates where you once entered. Okay.
Laura Bailey
I'm sorry for that charade. I think a little deception can sometimes work in our favor.
Marisha Ray
Yes. I am more than happy to carry this burden.
Laura Bailey
It's very convincing.
Marisha Ray
Thank you.
Sam Riegel
Many holy people are martyrs. Have to carry a great burden. Maybe this will help you get to sainthood or whatever.
Marisha Ray
Just if we have further blessings from the gods. Yeah, perhaps. Perhaps if I walk like an aetherweaver. Talk like an aetherweaver. Walk like. That's silly anyway.
Travis Willingham
As you are escorted through the winding and crowded streets of the community of the Sellsian Athenaeum, the people begin to notice you walking back through and once again leaning into the prospect of these strangers that blew in and seem to be blowing out so quickly thereafter. As you begin to exit, you hear whispers behind where they go? Are they leaving? Who are they? Are they friends of the. I don't trust them. One of them kissed my grandmother. It's just all these strange little rumors and phrases and conversations. Some of them just odd creations. Others concern, others worry. But you watch as 2, 3, 5 people begin to follow. 10, 20 by the time you come to the gates, about to leave, the soldiers step to the sides. You turn and see 50 plus people are all there, waiting, clutching their clothing, many of which you had seen upon entry, and other new faces that are all looking expectantly all at you. Brixton. In that pause, one voice pipes up. You're not leaving, are you?
Marisha Ray
The divinity of the miracles that seek our calling unfortunately means we have to press on.
Travis Willingham
No, no. Stay, stay. Keep us safe. Please.
Marisha Ray
Find strength in one another. We are the enduring. There is no greater miracle than the community you all behold underneath this sacred pyre. Do not put your faith in strangers. We are kind and grateful, but that does not mean that others hold the same intentions. I've seen how glorious this community is in such a short time. Have faith in that. Hopefully we'll see you all again. She tucks her head.
Travis Willingham
And the gates that have somewhere open to the outside, you turn. As you turn and begin to leave, you hear feet shuffling, the voices louder, please don't leave. Hands start rushing. You hear soldiers say, stay back, stay back. You hear shields hitting people. The crowd is starting to crush and push towards the gate. Arms are reaching for all of you. You feel fingers grabbing at your elbows as you pull away. The guards end up pushing onto your shoulders and shove you out the gates as you push by. You hear louder, no, wait. Why are they going? Sounds behind you and silence as you now stand in the daylight hours under the clouded gray skies alone outside of the athenium.
Laura Bailey
Yeah, it can be. It can be like that.
Marisha Ray
So many people in such need, wanting of so much help and hope.
Sam Riegel
They have a pyre and they have a pyre. Yeah. Our people are going to be far worse very soon.
Laura Bailey
Yes, we should save up. Focused on the task at hand.
Liam O'Brien
That was very sad.
Marisha Ray
All right.
Sam Riegel
Onward, onward.
Laura Bailey
Snix, show us the way.
Travis Willingham
Sure, sure.
Sam Riegel
I'll lead the way using all of my different techniques.
Laura Bailey
Do you eat as you go? Do you just eat stuff?
Sam Riegel
I've always got a mouth pouch of grass going. Just always kind of chewing. Chewing a chaw.
Marisha Ray
Always be chewing.
Sam Riegel
I'll test the wind. It's this way.
Travis Willingham
Indeed. You lead the rest of the troop in a northward direction, heading around the exterior perimeter wall beyond the portcullis that is partially left up, with guards on the upper edge of the wall holding the lock to the chain as you step beneath. Closes behind you. Here you now stand on the northern rampart edge of the ashkart. Looking down below, it is 80, 100ft drop from where you stand into the rocky depths below. You see the edge of the base of the idol hollow mountains below, streams and rivers pouring down through rocky and wooded segments of the western mountain range and beyond. You can see the arcing points, these curved spikes that push up out of the range like the this massive crown of teeth on an impossible scale that surrounds the valley to the north. You glance ahead and beyond to the familiar Cinnabar Quarter, you can see the surrounding gates that rise up even further. They climb up this mountain range to the next segment there before you. You walk along the top of the rampart, the winds picking up, blowing your hair, blowing your cloaks to the side as you bundle up a bit, the chilled air tearing through your body for a moment and causing you to shiver as you continue to push on forward. Going to spend a fear. I'd like you all to make a strength reaction roll for me, please.
Laura Bailey
Because the sun is shining so warmly that you're afraid we'll get so sunburn.
Sam Riegel
Is this wind knocking us off or something?
Travis Willingham
No.
Marisha Ray
Soon. Standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon. Okay, this is a reaction roll, you said?
Travis Willingham
Yep.
Laura Bailey
I thought that was a 24, 21.
Marisha Ray
Sorry. I got 14, 15, 16, 10, 11, 15.
Laura Bailey
I think I misread that dice one time. Last game.
Sam Riegel
In a good way or a bad way?
Laura Bailey
In a bad way.
Travis Willingham
All right. Well, you rally yourselves and hold strong. The chilled wind not cold enough to cut through your physical constitution. And you push onward, scampering further beyond the athenium. You can look to the right hand side and see the rest of the ash call below. The multiple layered levels that continue downward. And here in the brightness of day, from this perspective where the mist hasn't quite grown as thick, you can see the droves of shapes that move through them. The hordes of creatures and undead and fiends and beasts that stalk below. All waiting for something to breach within the Athenaeum so they could storm the inside and devour every soul that you walked past the night before. Thanks. Ahead, you see the perimeter gates of the Cinnabar Quarter. You can see this beautifully crafted Gothic architecture surrounding the wall and the gates as they rise up to these fine points with iron rigged rods that protrude with an X affixed to them. Symbols of the elite houses of the old world still on display, rusted and brown. The painted stonework once probably a vibrant crimson. And places much has been scuffed away with weather and time, revealing the grays and whites of the stone beneath. But what catches your attention more than anything is amongst the beautiful partially cracked or shattered glass stained glass windows, the balconies that protrude from this perimeter wall, and the impressive unique architecture that denotes this shift in cityscape are the dozens of spikes that protrude from it and the skeletons and rotted corpses that hang from them as a warning.
Marisha Ray
We have to go through it, right? We can't go around.
Travis Willingham
We can certainly try it. A sheer wall on one side and the rest is to go back down into the ashcal.
Laura Bailey
I think inside the inner wall was what we read or learned.
Marisha Ray
I'll do that.
Sam Riegel
There a door?
Travis Willingham
No, there's a gate. And you approach.
Laura Bailey
Oh boy.
Travis Willingham
You stop for a second because you hear a sound. A far off distant high pitched screech, like a held note of a broken bassoon that gets higher and higher before it breaks into multiple tones. The sound of the umbral winds sourceless to the south, the umbra is moving. And as you get out of the light and into the shade beneath the gates that await you, you can See, the doors are ajar.
Sam Riegel
Lucky our fortune is turning.
Travis Willingham
There are smears of blood, old blood, across them. That read welcome.
Laura Bailey
That read welcome.
Travis Willingham
Come in.
Sam Riegel
That's nice.
Travis Willingham
And revelation.
Marisha Ray
Oh, that's right, because they're partiers.
Laura Bailey
They party.
Marisha Ray
They party already.
Sam Riegel
I like to party.
Travis Willingham
You step into the quarter proper and are immediately met with an opulent neighborhood of wealthy homestead and mansions that greet you. The cracked and broken, but still relatively well kept. In some places, cobblestone roads themselves greet each footstep with a heavy. In the still quiet you can see of many of the buildings, the dark and broken windows just litter the ground around them with a smattering of broken glass. Indeed, more bodies remain affixed to the outsides. Whether they be morning or celebration. Too far to know. You can see this once luxurious class of affluence in the old world has been long missing. And those that have taken up residence here are still enjoying wringing all they can from it. And those who wander through. You see the occasional structure shows some fire damage as well. You can see some structural trauma in places, roofs that look partially pushed in, some buildings that have a collapsed secondary roof inward. While some of the streets continue to get. As you step in quietly, you can see jagged wood barricades built into some edges of the road from shattered furniture or pulled parts of structures that have fallen. Or possibly from areas beyond where it looks like these piles of debris have been set up to either protect or hold firm some sort of defensive position or others to surround glass strewn campsites now abandoned fire pits long extinguished, leaving rings of black and soot where travelers or damask queens have set up for a night's rest or a night's revelry. Welcome to the Cinnabar Quarter.
Laura Bailey
The bodies that are on the pikes and posted inside the living areas, are they in various states of decay or are they mostly long decayed?
Travis Willingham
Or recently, as far as the buildings?
Laura Bailey
Yeah, all the bodies that are.
Travis Willingham
Oh, the bodies. Glancing around, the majority of them are long decayed. They've been here. They've been here a while. You do see two of them. You live in the Halcyon domain. You're all fairly familiar with the rate of decay. Yeah, there are some here that look like they've been here for a few weeks.
Sam Riegel
Got it.
Travis Willingham
Okay.
Marisha Ray
I guess keeping an eye out for any familiar bodies as well. Like a certain shadow stalker Screeve.
Travis Willingham
Sure.
Laura Bailey
Okay, so he fell into the wrong hands here.
Marisha Ray
Yeah, go ahead and make it extinct for me in case he also pops out of the shadows to try and he would never.
Sam Riegel
He's our friend.
Liam O'Brien
Amelia.
Marisha Ray
The cookie crazy guy that we knew for 24 hours.
Sam Riegel
He just has to calm down and realize we were doing. I did it for a good reason.
Marisha Ray
You were. I don't know if reason is in his vocabulary though. You said instinct. Roll.
Travis Willingham
Mm.
Marisha Ray
Okay. 17 with fear.
Travis Willingham
Okay.
Marisha Ray
Go away.
Sam Riegel
That's your fear dice going away.
Marisha Ray
It's not anymore. It's not anymore. It's not anymore.
Travis Willingham
Okay.
Marisha Ray
Fuck that.
Travis Willingham
Die keeping an eye out. You're thankful that this first leg of the district that you walk through, none of these corpses catch your attention as familiar. Like I said before, most of them have been here for quite some time. Some are just remnants of bone. What may have been a corpse, a partial corpse before has since long fallen and crumbled. And there is just a segment of a vertebrae or half a ribcage that still remains. You do not, walking through the center street, coast from building to alley to building. You pass by two of them and the doors are left ajar. You glance within and you can see that they've been somewhat ransacked. You see bookcases have been toppled. You see shelves have been pulled out, drawers have been yanked and emptied on the ground. And all manner of goods have been searched or pulled. And some. But also you look inside and see that some nice things are left as well. Fine mitts, furniture. You can see fine clothing still hanging in an armoire with the doors open. Looks like whoever may have come through some of these homesteads either had particular interests in mind or just had a unique taste they wanted to appeal to. But also this district has fallen over time. The apostasy led to most of those who lived here to close their doors, to lock their families away, to use their long gained generational wealth and in many cases extreme affluence compared to the common folk of the city. To keep themselves safe for as long as they could while the rest desperately tried to survive in the squad.
Marisha Ray
This was during the apostasy riots.
Travis Willingham
This is thereafter as well.
Marisha Ray
Thereafter as well. Okay.
Travis Willingham
And for a long time, this district kind of closed itself off and kept itself siloed from the rest of the world. Suffering gated community. And even then, in time, some of them ran low on their monetary funds. And those they paid to keep watch eventually wanted the rest of their bill paid or take what they wanted to fulfill that debt. That was where a lot of the damask queens begun.
Marisha Ray
And this is. Does the Cinnabar quarter still. Is it still granted a little bit of safety from the pyre from the Celsian or. No, we're pretty much.
Travis Willingham
The pyre is pretty proximity based. Yeah. What's in here? You do not see at the moment any roving beasts or monsters, or hear sounds that remind you of the ashcall. Part of that you imagine, and you probably know a little bit about this too, is because the queens also keep the area clear for themselves.
Marisha Ray
Right.
Travis Willingham
So they are keeping the area safe relatively for their particular troops. But then those that aren't must join.
Marisha Ray
So less kept safe by a pyre and more of a last of us community with just people with guns and on patrol.
Travis Willingham
That's a good way to put it. Yeah. Okay. But these wealthy homesteads might carry shreds of history, clues, useful artifacts or. Or possible bits of information to help you prepare for what might be encountered should you choose to search. But you can continue to move forward regardless. It's yours to explore or yours to sprint. But I am going to spend a fear.
Marisha Ray
Oh boy.
Travis Willingham
As you walk by one chamber and glance into the somewhat sundered living room area, the door half torn off of the hinges, and watch as a person walks out and looks at you, at.
Marisha Ray
Me or us, at you.
Travis Willingham
And then walks through a wall.
Laura Bailey
Ghosts.
Travis Willingham
You take your stress.
Sam Riegel
Ghosts.
Marisha Ray
Ghosts. Do they look like the ghosties from.
Laura Bailey
Before or do they look like people?
Travis Willingham
That one just looked like a person.
Laura Bailey
That's different.
Marisha Ray
Yeah. Did you see that? Did anybody else see that?
Laura Bailey
Did we all see it? Did we see it?
Travis Willingham
You're the only one that caught it. And then when you glanced back, there was nothing there.
Liam O'Brien
What did you see?
Marisha Ray
There was a person, but they walked through the wall. It was like. But it wasn't like the ghosts from the apostasy riots. It was. I kind of just peer around the corner, see if I can see them.
Laura Bailey
It was coming from inside the house?
Marisha Ray
Yeah.
Liam O'Brien
Do we follow?
Sam Riegel
We're probably losing, but maybe we should check inside the house and see if there's anything weird in there.
Laura Bailey
Just give it a quick over.
Marisha Ray
Did that person their garb, did it look more current or was it reminiscent of the apostasy?
Travis Willingham
Right.
Marisha Ray
Yeah, like the olden times.
Travis Willingham
The clothing you saw on them did not look tattered and dirty.
Marisha Ray
Okay. Okay. Interesting. Yeah, they looked pretty cleaned up.
Liam O'Brien
Should we take a peek maybe?
Laura Bailey
Yeah, quick peek.
Marisha Ray
Why not?
Sam Riegel
If our friends were still here, you know they would want to. We'll do it for them.
Marisha Ray
All right.
Laura Bailey
Fair deal.
Sam Riegel
Cordelia for Scream.
Laura Bailey
Cordelia for Violet.
Liam O'Brien
Yeah, for Violet.
Sam Riegel
Who wants to go in? You want me to go in? You guys want to Go in.
Liam O'Brien
I'll go in.
Sam Riegel
You'll go in?
Travis Willingham
Yeah.
Sam Riegel
Okay.
Marisha Ray
Go for it. Okay, well, we'll be right behind you.
Liam O'Brien
Okay.
Travis Willingham
All right, Misty. As you step in and begin to slowly check the interior of this ransacked homestead, you can make an instinct or not knowledge roll to see if you can learn any history about the denizens or discover things within that could be useful or informative.
Liam O'Brien
Thirteen with fear.
Travis Willingham
Thirteen with fear. Okay. You look around and find that indeed this place was torn apart. But you don't see any signs of physical violence. There's no bloodstains. There's no carving into the wood that feels like it was in the throes of battle or defense. There's a few marks carved here and there, but it's mostly like initials or a happy face people have come through here and decorated in their own unique way. But there's no signs of murder that you can tell.
Laura Bailey
Safe to go in?
Liam O'Brien
I think so.
Sam Riegel
Okay, we'll go in, snoop around.
Marisha Ray
Oh, boy.
Travis Willingham
You step into the building.
Liam O'Brien
Or we just leave. Or we just leave.
Marisha Ray
I don't know.
Laura Bailey
I came this far, I might as well see inside.
Travis Willingham
And you hear ever so faintly from the outside. Somewhere in the city enough where your ears just gently pick it up. Rain's fine. I know.
Marisha Ray
Hello?
Sam Riegel
It's just someone laughing. Don't call out for them. They're probably just going about their day. They're laughing and having a good day.
Marisha Ray
I feel like I'm being watched. It's weird.
Liam O'Brien
We must be.
Laura Bailey
Yeah, these houses have been picked clean. We can give it a quick once over, see if there's anything that'll help us. And then we'll be on our way.
Marisha Ray
Yeah.
Laura Bailey
Faster as we're in, faster we're out.
Sam Riegel
Is there any desk, shelves, papers, books.
Marisha Ray
Scrolls, maps, artifacts, daggers, relics, gems, coins?
Liam O'Brien
Artifacts, artifacts, relics. Old relics.
Travis Willingham
Well, you've expended your search of this locale. If somebody else wants to make an instinct or knowledge roll, you are welcome to try.
Laura Bailey
Want to get it?
Sam Riegel
Instinct or knowledge? I can certainly do it. Or I can help someone.
Laura Bailey
Go for it. My stats suck there.
Sam Riegel
Mine do, too.
Marisha Ray
I will spend my one and only hope to give you.
Sam Riegel
Don't spend your one and only hope.
Marisha Ray
That's what we're here for, baby.
Sam Riegel
Yeah, I guess so. All right. I'm searching.
Travis Willingham
Garbage. Good.
Sam Riegel
On her instance, you said instinct. 16.
Travis Willingham
16 with fear. God, I'll take that back.
Sam Riegel
I know, I know.
Travis Willingham
So you in searching around, you walk and you hear the floorboards creaking with each footstep. But it's a slight creak with the impact of the hard stone beneath it. As you're stepping around. You hit one that doesn't have that hard base floor stone beneath the wood and has a bit of a hollow clock to it.
Sam Riegel
All right. I'm gonna throw my head straight down and try to bash through the floorboard with my horn.
Travis Willingham
I will say easy enough for you to. Wham. You slam into it. The wood splinters once. You do again and it splinters up and leaves a small and awful one for could pass through.
Sam Riegel
Pass through. Like there's a basement down there or something.
Travis Willingham
There is an empty space below. No light.
Sam Riegel
I'm going to dive down into it.
Travis Willingham
You dive down, your eyes adjust. What do you see down there?
Sam Riegel
What do I see?
Travis Willingham
Yeah.
Laura Bailey
Who gets a jam?
Sam Riegel
I get to. I'm exploring. What.
Laura Bailey
Do rich people, people hide under the floorboards in their house?
Sam Riegel
Yes. It's just gold, weapons, tons of porn. I would say that it's some sort of ancient. Not ancient. It's like a larder. It's like an old storage for food and grains and other sort of long term items. Barrels of things and maybe a couple of shelves with a couple other boxes in it.
Travis Willingham
You find a subterranean storage room. It looks like it was maybe once used partially a wine cave. Partially Other bits of storage. Most of it is spent. There are still some elements that still sit around. But a little bit of grain held sacks. There looks like bits of fungus are growing out of them. Like they may have gotten wet at some point and it's beginning to spoil over time. You turn and find there is a door that is latched from this side. Like a wooden board had fallen and locked it in.
Sam Riegel
Like it was barring something from coming.
Travis Willingham
In and entering your room from behind it.
Sam Riegel
Oh well, I will throw off the. The beam and unlock.
Travis Willingham
Pulls open easily and a musty smell comes through. And as you glance through getting your torches ready inside you see a family of four. Long decayed, skeletal, well dressed in an outfit not too different from the one that you heard Brixton describe. Past through the house that had been down here for some time waiting out whether it be the riots or the growing unrest amongst the city. And then at some point accidentally locked themselves on the other side.
Sam Riegel
Idol.
Laura Bailey
Yeah.
Sam Riegel
Want to talk to some dead people?
Laura Bailey
Yeah. I'll crawl down.
Liam O'Brien
Wow.
Marisha Ray
What environmental storytelling.
Travis Willingham
Whoa.
Marisha Ray
That's great.
Laura Bailey
You sure can find them, huh?
Travis Willingham
You guys are moving down underneath. I'll go ahead and bring the light to a fitting subterranean space down there as well.
Liam O'Brien
Somewhere Altogether, at least.
Marisha Ray
I'll stay up just in case. But my head kind of. I'm like prone on the ground looking.
Travis Willingham
Looking to spend a fear to advance. The crowned approaches. While you're all going down there, you hear that same chuckle and three other chuckles distantly. It sounds like figures are wandering somewhere in the surrounding neighborhood.
Laura Bailey
Or distant, dirty. The Emerald Crown. Farah. The Ruby Crown.
Marisha Ray
Okay, whatever you're going to do, make her fast.
Laura Bailey
Okay. I've only done this a couple of times and it never really worked out. I'm sure this one will be different.
Sam Riegel
Yeah.
Laura Bailey
9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15 with hope.
Sam Riegel
This is spellcast.
Laura Bailey
It is spellcast.
Travis Willingham
Cool. 15 with hope. That is a success with hope.
Laura Bailey
Success with hope. The corpse answers up to three questions.
Travis Willingham
That ticks the progress down twice.
Sam Riegel
All right, that's progress. That's good.
Travis Willingham
That's good.
Marisha Ray
Oh, I didn't notice that those went up.
Travis Willingham
Okay, the progress consequence, right.
Laura Bailey
I reach out and I put my hand on the. Are we asking the large.
Sam Riegel
Is it a. You see man, woman, Sort of a.
Travis Willingham
Man, woman in what looks to be a bin. Like a teenager? Young adult.
Sam Riegel
So two adults and then two teens? Is that what you're saying?
Travis Willingham
Two adults and then teens.
Sam Riegel
Who do you want to tell?
Laura Bailey
This is your family. You found them.
Travis Willingham
This is not my family.
Laura Bailey
Mom or the dad?
Sam Riegel
Mom always knows more than dad.
Laura Bailey
I'll reach out and I'll put my hand on the upper breastplate of the mom and I'll. And you see this wave of light travel down my arm and you almost see a light emanate from within the withered rib cage. Just like. And the back arches and kind of sits up. I'm like. Ah. Stay, stay. Okay, first question.
Sam Riegel
Oh, I'm asking questions. I thought you. You're the spellcaster.
Laura Bailey
I'm the pestle baby.
Sam Riegel
Oh, boy. I guess. What were you hiding from?
Laura Bailey
Yeah, what happened here and what were you hiding from?
Travis Willingham
Brixton. What happened here? What were they hiding from?
Sam Riegel
This is the scariest part of the.
Travis Willingham
It really is.
Marisha Ray
What about me is world. Okay, wait, you said this was after the agent collaborative. Baby, this was after the apostle.
Laura Bailey
Yeah.
Travis Willingham
From what you've seen, a lot of the district lasted for quite some time. After the apostasy, it just dwindled over. Whether it be through solitude, whether it be through bad deals or eventually lack of funds or resources.
Marisha Ray
Okay, I'm going to say what happened here was the youngest of the child started showing signs of being touched and having similar abilities that we have seen idol have as well. And this Soon. And this current after the apostasy riots that was even more controversial than what it is even now. And the parents did everything that they could to try and protect their youngest from the marauders and the people who were coming to prosecute the youngest.
Travis Willingham
Indeed, as the body begins to express this information along we kept ourselves safe. Our friends would come by and drop goods for many years. We could not be anything but alone and free in our darkness. But all luck runs once true and dry. We've been forgotten until now.
Laura Bailey
You stay there. Be surprised. Second. Well, anything to know about this area as we head up towards the Orim?
Sam Riegel
Sure, yeah, go ahead. Yeah. Something about the. Anything they know about the path through the Oremweld. Ornweld.
Laura Bailey
Is there anything you can tell us or that we should know about the path from here up towards the wilds of the Orym Weald? Any dangers we should know of.
Travis Willingham
Ashley? Are there any boons or dangers beyond the corrupted curse and the thing that stalks that you must be looking out for as you pass through the woods?
Liam O'Brien
Well, yeah.
Marisha Ray
All of it.
Laura Bailey
The corpse takes on a whole new bro.
Travis Willingham
It's crazy over there.
Marisha Ray
That shit is crazy out there.
Laura Bailey
Out in the woods there's a huge duck. Huge dick. A huge duck.
Liam O'Brien
Yes, there's. I know this is so stressful, cuz I don't know what you have. You've planned for creatures.
Laura Bailey
Guess whatever you do.
Travis Willingham
Here's the cool thing about these games. Everything adjusts based on what everyone does. So whatever you say becomes canon. And I'll tweak it and push it into what makes sense. Within reason, of course. The.
Liam O'Brien
Path. Since there seems. Since when you were talking about it, you were saying it's dense wood of strong Druidic presence.
Travis Willingham
I think it was. Yeah.
Liam O'Brien
So.
Marisha Ray
The.
Liam O'Brien
Earth on the way there, all of the, you know, stuff that you walk on together, everything. Thank you. Thank you. I mean everything is alive in a way. And plays tricks on the mind.
Travis Willingham
Okay.
Marisha Ray
Interesting. Yeah.
Travis Willingham
Fairyland itself is shifting once on the mind of its protectors. But as the land grew cold, so did its will and humor. It now just twists.
Laura Bailey
Cool. Good.
Liam O'Brien
I should have said like. It's a smooth path. It's smooth sailing.
Marisha Ray
It's just so wonderful.
Liam O'Brien
There's the nicest part of whatever you've been traveling.
Sam Riegel
These people are of the godly world, right?
Laura Bailey
Potentially. Yeah.
Sam Riegel
I don't know if this works, but why don't we ask them if they recognize this statue? Why don't you show them your form and find out who you are?
Marisha Ray
That's cool.
Travis Willingham
Okay.
Liam O'Brien
I will drop my appearance.
Laura Bailey
Okay. Make room for you. You fucking. Don't you do anything. Do you or your kin recognize a statue or entity like this or anything like it?
Travis Willingham
Jocken hangs open, almost like completely dislodged. On what side? Not this one, but others like it. The vessels. The vessels. They went quiet. You are not empty. You are not hungry. What are you? You're not hungry.
Matthew Mercer
I'mma put you on, nephew.
Travis Willingham
All right, unc. Welcome to McDonald's. Can I take your order, miss?
Matthew Mercer
I've been hitting up McDonald's for years. Now. It's back. We need snack wraps.
Laura Bailey
What's a snack wrap?
Matthew Mercer
It's the return of something great. Snack wrap is back.
Ashley Johnson
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Marisha Ray
Tipping culture is out of control. Yesterday I tipped someone just for handing me a napkin. So when hotels.com gives me up to.
Travis Willingham
20% off for being a member, I finally get tipped. And you know what? It feels good.
Marisha Ray
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Travis Willingham
At hundreds of thousands of hotels.
Laura Bailey
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Travis Willingham
How many questions do you get to ask?
Liam O'Brien
3.
Sam Riegel
Was it up to 3? Or at least 3?
Laura Bailey
It is 3 questions.
Travis Willingham
Clacks back into the pile.
Laura Bailey
What's your biggest regret? I feel like that went really well. By the way.
Travis Willingham
Cool.
Laura Bailey
We make a great team.
Marisha Ray
Very impressive.
Laura Bailey
I feel like. Because. Because you said you saw something. We should try to put them at rest. Maybe we bring them upstairs and then we just set the house on fire. What do you think?
Sam Riegel
Sure.
Liam O'Brien
Great idea.
Sam Riegel
Yeah.
Marisha Ray
It'll certainly maybe cause a distraction. I'm assuming that the damask Queens will come.
Travis Willingham
He's kidding me. The hell's that? I thought I Heard a voice. Over here.
Marisha Ray
Alert. Alert.
Sam Riegel
Get down here.
Travis Willingham
Hey, crazy. You hearing things again? Oh, no. I heard a voice. I heard someone call out.
Marisha Ray
I flopped down into the hole.
Travis Willingham
And you hear, like, the footsteps over the wooden boards above the floorboard?
Marisha Ray
Yeah.
Travis Willingham
Oh.
Marisha Ray
I very gently try to scooch the floorboard.
Travis Willingham
You sure about that? You're losing your mind, friend. I lose nothing. I heard what I heard. Ghosts know what they're doing. But this was no ghost. I don't think I know voices between ghosts. I know what they are. You hear other voices shouting. I bring it around, sit up here for the night. Looks like it's nice and clean at midnight. It's the crown coming about 20 minutes behind. She's. She's being pulled in her esteemed setup. It's her birthday, after all. Oh. You hear other shouts, scraping sounds. Looks like this troop of the queens is building a camp in this section of the neighborhood.
Marisha Ray
Oh, my God.
Laura Bailey
Okay, I have a proposal.
Marisha Ray
Okay.
Laura Bailey
We lock ourselves in. We just die together.
Marisha Ray
Round two, baby. Let's go just join the family.
Laura Bailey
We take our torches, we set the house on fire. We go out the back way and hope it's a distraction.
Sam Riegel
We're under the house right now.
Laura Bailey
Yeah, well, we climb out first.
Sam Riegel
So we set the floor above us on fire.
Laura Bailey
Yeah, you set the floor you're in on fire. You never set a fire to the house you built.
Sam Riegel
You're in a dirt basement. Yeah, you climb back out, but that's where they are.
Travis Willingham
Bend to fear another way.
Liam O'Brien
So how did they get down here?
Travis Willingham
No, they were above you. Oh, you mean the bodies.
Liam O'Brien
The bodies.
Travis Willingham
This is their house.
Sam Riegel
They hid down there.
Liam O'Brien
They hid down here in the panic room.
Laura Bailey
Lock themselves in.
Liam O'Brien
But was there access to it?
Travis Willingham
There is an access towards the chamber that you were in, yes.
Liam O'Brien
Okay.
Marisha Ray
But there's no. I think what Ashley's getting at. There's no cellar door. If we kept going on the outside.
Travis Willingham
No, it leads back up into the house. Okay. I did spend two fear to count down the consequence time.
Laura Bailey
And did we hear the footsteps leaving the main floor?
Travis Willingham
That we're correct. They left back out into the street. So as far as you can tell, looking up and hearing, they're not in the house right now. They're just in the road or the street.
Laura Bailey
We gotta move.
Sam Riegel
Burn this motherfucker to the ground.
Laura Bailey
May you rest in eternal peace. Like, get upstairs with the torches and stick it under the nearest pieces of furniture and push it against the wall.
Marisha Ray
While they do that, I'm going to skidder to the Back of the house, is there a back entrance window, something we can sneak out the back instead of the front?
Travis Willingham
There is a somewhat crowded and debris filled kitchen right now where you can see it is already partially burned, but looks like it may have burned either in wetter weather or at a time where it couldn't catch the entire household. But you can see the upper wall shelves are partially out. On the side there is a window that is barred that you could try and push through, or a back door that looks like it is currently braced from the inside.
Marisha Ray
Okay, while they do that, I will try and I'm going to try and take the hilt of my greatsword and see if I can wedge open this door. Let's start with the door first.
Travis Willingham
Sure. Yeah. All right, go ahead and roll a strength action roll for me.
Laura Bailey
Burn a hoping. Use my experience. Open the fucking door.
Marisha Ray
Yeah.
Travis Willingham
Honestly, a great experience.
Marisha Ray
I was like, I'll use calloused hands. I've got no hope. I've got no hope.
Travis Willingham
There's no hope left.
Marisha Ray
Wait, 69. Yay. It's a grit in our minds.
Laura Bailey
Yep.
Marisha Ray
Okay, so it's gonna be 18 with hope.
Sam Riegel
Nice.
Travis Willingham
18 with hope.
Marisha Ray
I got a hope back.
Travis Willingham
You got a hope back, guys.
Marisha Ray
Feels good.
Travis Willingham
An 18 with hope would be a success with hope. Which ticks this down to zero. Okay, so as you set this house aflame, the fire begins to catch and curl up. Smoke begins to bill out right as you. The door opens about a foot before it catches. It's nothing. You can squeeze through into an alley behind the household.
Marisha Ray
We got an exit.
Laura Bailey
Let's go. This thing's only going to go up faster.
Travis Willingham
All right, then as that, you push around the corner into this alley. And as you dive around the edge, you begin to hear the sound of voices. Go. Hey, did you knock something over in there? The house on fucking fire. Cool. Gonna stay warm tonight, children.
Marisha Ray
Jesus fucking Beavis and Butthead over here catch flame.
Travis Willingham
You dart away from them, noticing your exit. Who's leading the next bit of you stealthily traveling through the neighborhood next?
Sam Riegel
Sure, I'll lead us through stealthily.
Liam O'Brien
Okay.
Travis Willingham
All right. Now if you're going as a group, we'll make this a group action roll. Cause it's fun. I'd like everyone to make a finesse roll first and then you will finish it.
Marisha Ray
All right, Is this with hope and fear as well?
Travis Willingham
This is reaction rolls.
Marisha Ray
A reaction roll. Okay.
Laura Bailey
Crit baby.
Travis Willingham
So plus one?
Laura Bailey
Uh huh. Or plus zero? Oh, sorry.
Liam O'Brien
I know what you're doing with my armor. I get plus 2 to rolls to move silently. Can I use that?
Travis Willingham
Yeah.
Marisha Ray
I want it.
Liam O'Brien
Okay, so 15.
Travis Willingham
Okay, that's just what you needed. Plus two.
Marisha Ray
13 plus one.
Travis Willingham
So now Snix, go ahead and roll a finesse roll and add plus one to whatever you would get.
Liam O'Brien
Wait, I have one more. 16. Doesn't matter though.
Travis Willingham
Yeah. Still got it though.
Sam Riegel
Okay. Am I allowed to use my path forward wayfinder ability to have advantage to find a place I've previously been? Have I been through here before? Or can I use my experience well traveled?
Travis Willingham
You tell me. Do you think you would?
Sam Riegel
I can use my experience well traveled.
Travis Willingham
Let's do that. It's less about you traveling through this part of the district, but you've heard enough about it and you've been around the outskirts of it that at least you know generally which parts of the roads and the layout of these upper layers too to where you can best keep out of main thoroughfares.
Sam Riegel
19 oh 19. With fear.
Marisha Ray
We will never know hope again. Hope has abandoned us.
Travis Willingham
You all continue to push through this part of the district until eventually you come to the next intermittent wall. There are one or more district breaks with their own gates that push through as you step to the edge. Snakes. You look past and notice the portcullis that is up there are sounds like multiple footsteps passing through. You glance around the corner and see two figures stepping through with. They have leather harnesses on with clumps of fur spikes that come off the front. Leather masks on their faces and tattered hair around that dangle side to side. Both of them carry this massive chain across their shoulder and they're just like. Then two more behind them with another chain and then two more behind them with another chain. Six pulling and then two more, eight.
Marisha Ray
They're going to be pulling one of the caravan. Yeah.
Travis Willingham
And then behind them you see this mostly beautiful little ragged in sections. You thought maybe a Cardiff at first. It is a carriage built for horses, but no horses reside in this city any longer. You see dangling from it as it goes, as it wheels. It shakes a bit at the top and all these little trinkets jangle and move as it slowly pulls through. All you can see all of them are jawbones. Jawbones that are hanging on little chains that just kink.
Marisha Ray
Specific. Yeah.
Travis Willingham
The windows you see there are. Curtains are closed and there is a door on each side as it pulls past. And then the portcullis seals behind it.
Marisha Ray
What do you do with us inside?
Travis Willingham
Yeah, yeah. You then watch as two figures throw. Or you can see now There were grappling hook ropes that were dangling from the walls that you noticed before. Until two other masked figures rappel down from the top of the wall, yank them down and then leap up onto the back of the carriage and hold on as it begins to pick up again.
Marisha Ray
Just peeking. Are we able to peek inside the carriage from afar and get a glimpse if there's any type of emerald or potentially ruby crowns?
Sam Riegel
Feels like ruby.
Marisha Ray
Yeah, it does.
Travis Willingham
You can go ahead and make a presentation roll for me if you don't. Sorry. An instinct roll to see if you can make out any details from the curtained windows.
Marisha Ray
Okay, guys, we're doing great. Instinct, you said 19 with hope.
Travis Willingham
19 with hope. That's great.
Laura Bailey
Really good.
Travis Willingham
Okay. You see this glimmer inside of a face peering through, holding on and clutching the curtains. A smaller squat looking halfling woman with black makeup around her eyes and down her nose and down her chin and across her cheeks. It seems to outline a dark coloration across her lower jaw, across her jawbone. She holds on them and looks out with a smile.
Laura Bailey
Oh my God, dude, it's Farah.
Marisha Ray
It's gotta be Farah, right?
Sam Riegel
Yeah, it is. Is she going away from us?
Travis Willingham
It is moving away from the parapet.
Laura Bailey
Left. She entered the city or is leaving the city.
Travis Willingham
Is entering the district that you're from. From the district beyond that you were traveling.
Liam O'Brien
We're traveling towards the creatures that are pulling the carriage. Do they have any similar rings and things like screaves?
Travis Willingham
Some of them do.
Liam O'Brien
Okay.
Travis Willingham
I was thinking smaller bits. You see the exposed arms. There are all manner of scars and designs carved into it that have since scarred over to create shapes and various. There's a lack of, or a lack of interest maybe in tattoo work or ink with them instead. They use a lot of scarification for insignia and self expression. And you see amongst their shoulders and parts of their necks, even you see bits of metal, whether it be crescents, bars or rings are threaded through the skin.
Marisha Ray
Oh my God.
Travis Willingham
Okay.
Sam Riegel
It's grief. He did not enjoy his time with this person.
Laura Bailey
No, he did not want it. They did not want to conduct her.
Sam Riegel
Win his favor back by maybe taking her out. We're not going to do that. That's crazy. That's crazy.
Liam O'Brien
I mean, I was thinking that too, but I don't know if we have the time.
Marisha Ray
Also, Screeve isn't here.
Liam O'Brien
Also Screeve isn't here. So he wouldn't know. Yeah, we don't even know if he's alive.
Laura Bailey
Do we need to get. Are we trying to get direction wise to the other side of the pork list that she was traveling from.
Travis Willingham
Correct. That was the direction you were going towards that outer wall. And then as you approached it, the portcullis seemed to be already open. And then as the carriage came through, it closed behind.
Laura Bailey
And how high is the wall that we saw the figures rappelling down?
Travis Willingham
20 or so feet. 20 or so feet.
Laura Bailey
I mean, we have 50ft of rope, but I don't have a grappling hook or anything.
Marisha Ray
Well, August did. He has a grappling.
Travis Willingham
We give it away.
Sam Riegel
We did. We gave it away.
Travis Willingham
Fuck.
Laura Bailey
That's right. One of us can fly. Right? Fuck.
Sam Riegel
Wait, where are we trying to get up? Up to the.
Laura Bailey
I think we're supposed to get up and out outside of where she just came from.
Sam Riegel
Was that where we were going?
Travis Willingham
Yeah. Those directions. When you're coming, you're passing each other.
Laura Bailey
You can. Or the top of the wall probably. Because that's probably where the portcullis controls are.
Sam Riegel
Once per day, I can move anywhere within far range. Is that within far range?
Travis Willingham
That would be. Yeah.
Marisha Ray
Come on, Mountain. Go.
Laura Bailey
Find those impossible footholds in the wall and the vertical wall.
Marisha Ray
If that don't make any sense. When you see them and they're like on the dam. How are you doing that?
Sam Riegel
Is that what we're doing?
Laura Bailey
Yeah. But you'll be up there by yourself. We gotta find a way to get the port close open.
Sam Riegel
Or do I bring a rope up there?
Travis Willingham
Take a rope.
Laura Bailey
Just in case.
Sam Riegel
You take a rope and then let it down to you guys.
Laura Bailey
You have to tie it to something.
Sam Riegel
Can I make a distraction so they don't see me?
Laura Bailey
There's a house on fire right now.
Sam Riegel
Oh, that's true. Okay.
Marisha Ray
And it's her birthday.
Sam Riegel
It is her birthday.
Marisha Ray
Yeah.
Sam Riegel
That's really sweet.
Marisha Ray
It is very celebratory. I don't think I've ever celebrated a birthday.
Sam Riegel
All right.
Liam O'Brien
I don't even know what they are.
Marisha Ray
Yeah.
Sam Riegel
If we get through this, we should all celebrate our birthdays. Yeah, it's a great idea.
Laura Bailey
Fuck. Up there.
Travis Willingham
Okay.
Sam Riegel
Okay. I'm gonna use deft maneuvers muscle for.
Laura Bailey
Rake 2 to.
Sam Riegel
Mountain Goat my way up. Finding little bricks sticking out.
Travis Willingham
So you run towards it because you're still in the alley where the wall meets some of the nearby buildings. There is quite a gap between the building and the wall. But you get enough of a running jump that you leap onto and catch one of the stones that protruded. Basically goat parkour off of it towards the other roof on the Other side and leap once more until eventually, clomping back on top of the central divider wall, you catch yourself and stop and glance over. I would like you to make a finesse roll for me with disadvantage.
Sam Riegel
Disadvantage.
Travis Willingham
To see if you are noticed. Arriving onto the wall from the birthday troupe. That is passing through would have been.
Sam Riegel
Such a good roll, except for the disadvantage part. 17.
Travis Willingham
17.
Marisha Ray
Wow.
Sam Riegel
With fear.
Travis Willingham
With fear. I'll take that fear back. 17 is a success. So as you leap there, you turn around and see the troop. And you see one of them looks over in your direction. And you catch them just in time as they begin to peruse the top of that wall, keeping a sentry watch. And you get low and there is about two feet of stone.
Sam Riegel
This poses a statue.
Travis Willingham
Yeah, yeah. And just continues to look past. Chews something and spits on the ground. But you feel like they didn't make notice of you. Up here. You see there are two winches rounded of chain with handholds on, four spokes on each that if they are pushed, it'll lift the portcullis up.
Sam Riegel
Does it look like they have to be pushed at the same time?
Travis Willingham
It looks like if they weren't, you'd have to be really strong to do it.
Sam Riegel
Oh, boy, that's not me.
Laura Bailey
Good thing you took some rope up with you.
Sam Riegel
I did, I did. I'll lash the rope around one of them or if there's any other thing to tie it to, and then throw it down to my companions.
Travis Willingham
Okay. I will spend a fear here to instigate an imminent chase. So both of these will start at 4. Your progress is to escape the periphery of the birthday girl before drawing the attention of this crew, in which case they will be wanting to find out who you are. And if you want to join the party.
Sam Riegel
We like to party.
Laura Bailey
If you drop to the rope, I'll give a shot at going up first just in case I'm successful.
Travis Willingham
It can help lift.
Laura Bailey
Can I make a. Can I try and climb the rope?
Travis Willingham
You can indeed. So you get the rope down. Do you just hold it yourself?
Sam Riegel
No. I'm gonna either lash it to one of these big winches or to the footing of it or something like that.
Travis Willingham
Okay. Yeah, you can go ahead and tie it around one of these winches. All right.
Laura Bailey
Okay. Plus 3, 6, 16 with fear.
Travis Willingham
Okay. That is a success. With fear. Both of these count down one. So your progress and your consequence both are getting close. As you pull up, you do indeed get up to the top of the wall and arise to the top Point as you do, you realize that you're a thicker fella. And as you. Your muscle is quite dense, and you carry quite a bunch of equipment with you. As you rise over the top and release the rope, you hear as you would the volume of weight and strength of you lifting up. Had just lifted the portcullis about a half an inch. Then as soon as you release the rope, it backs into place and you both get down and you. Some other folks look back. You glance over the stone wall. After hiding, you can see the crew is indeed forming a party brigade in the middle of this district. They are pulling furniture out of other houses and throwing them onto the burning house to turn it into a bonfire of epic proportions. Go Lakers.
Marisha Ray
Wow.
Sam Riegel
All right.
Marisha Ray
Do you want to adjust that?
Sam Riegel
I could if you guys are coming up. Or are we still going to open the.
Laura Bailey
You and I could try to open it. Or if you guys feel confident making similar strength or agility rolls to climb the rope.
Travis Willingham
Huh? It's for this. For this rope. It would be strength.
Laura Bailey
Strength. How's your strength?
Marisha Ray
Not great.
Laura Bailey
How's your strength?
Liam O'Brien
I mean, I could.
Sam Riegel
Or finesse.
Liam O'Brien
I could try to just wait at the door until.
Marisha Ray
And then we can, like, give it a shot.
Travis Willingham
Yeah.
Marisha Ray
All right. I'm gonna climb the rope. Climb the rope.
Laura Bailey
As long as you don't ruin it for everybody.
Travis Willingham
There you go. Make a strange rule.
Marisha Ray
Just try and brace it so that maybe it doesn't look. Sure.
Travis Willingham
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Laura Bailey
We'll kind of pull back a little bit.
Liam O'Brien
Can I spend a hope to help her up so she. Because I'm so tall.
Travis Willingham
Yeah. And so you go ahead and do it. Kind of boost her up.
Liam O'Brien
Give her a little boost and, you know, already give a extra.
Travis Willingham
Sure, sure.
Marisha Ray
I kind of perch on her shoulders.
Liam O'Brien
Yes.
Marisha Ray
Kind of cheerleader style.
Liam O'Brien
And I put my wings up a little to give a little extra.
Marisha Ray
Okay, great. Kind of give myself just a little bit of a vault. Okay. 20 total with hope.
Travis Willingham
Nice. Definitely. That's a success. With Hope, which counts this down by two. You have one more on the progress clock to avoid being discovered and escaping the periphery of this damask.
Laura Bailey
Let's try it.
Travis Willingham
Okay.
Laura Bailey
Wait by the door. I'll try and left.
Liam O'Brien
Should I stick my fingers underneath to try to help?
Sam Riegel
Seems like a good way to lose your finger.
Liam O'Brien
Okay, okay.
Travis Willingham
Okay.
Laura Bailey
Brooks and I will give it a. We'll give the portcullis.
Travis Willingham
All right, so this is me. A group action. Between the two of you, who is helming it and who is helping.
Laura Bailey
How about I'll burn Three hope to make this a combo.
Marisha Ray
Full tag team.
Travis Willingham
Let's go. All right, you both roll and choose which of the two rolls you want to take.
Marisha Ray
Okay?
Travis Willingham
Okay.
Laura Bailey
Okay.
Marisha Ray
Okay. That's so cocked. That's so cocked. Ultra cocked. Hope yours is good.
Laura Bailey
It is strength. Roll 22 with fear.
Marisha Ray
Okay, I rolled a five on the dice, so that's eight with fear.
Travis Willingham
Okay.
Marisha Ray
So do yours.
Travis Willingham
Yeah. Success with fear counts this down by one to a two. But counts this down to a success in the progress clock.
Marisha Ray
The birthday girl. I bet she's fun, though.
Travis Willingham
As you both work together, slowly raise the porklifts just enough so that you can squeeze through underneath. You do so, and then slowly lower it. The chain gets someone's attention. You hear a voice go, hey, hey. Hear that? They turn just as you lower it, and you see some of them begin to walk over to inspect it. You all quickly dart off into the next section of this district and head towards the northern side, which you had noticed from above the top of the wall. Through some of the alleyways and some of the nearby neighborhood will lead you to an outer gate on the northern side of it. As they begin to approach, you're already too far away. And as they begin to argue about one of them being like, you can't keep hearing things, man, we're going to think you maybe get a little off your locker there. And the guy's like, maybe I am. Maybe I am. As you dart off into the shadows, you can hear the distant laughing and screaming of what sounds to be the beginning of a celebration as you head towards the northern outer gate, avoiding the various other damask patrols that seem to walk along the rooftops, keeping sentry over the coming celebration until eventually you come to the exterior gate that is closed before you. And we're going to go and take a break. Oh, man.
Laura Bailey
One roll.
Marisha Ray
Wow.
Sam Riegel
Hey, we rolled good.
Marisha Ray
We rolled good.
Travis Willingham
We rolled really good.
Marisha Ray
Filled some of my hope.
Sam Riegel
Yeah, you did.
Travis Willingham
Wow.
Marisha Ray
Yeah, it feels nice.
Sam Riegel
It feels nice without the other people here.
Travis Willingham
All right, we're back here in just a few minutes.
Marisha Ray
Nobody died.
Travis Willingham
That's a wrap for part one of this podcast episode. Part two will land here the Tuesday after this episode episode at 5:00am Pacific, and we'll pick up this story right where we left off. Until next time, keep the umbra at bay and we'll be back for more of this adventure before you know it.
Matthew Mercer
I'mma put you on, nephew.
Travis Willingham
All right. Welcome to McDonald's. Can I take your order, miss?
Matthew Mercer
I've been hitting up McDonald's for years. Now it's back. We need snack wraps.
Laura Bailey
What's a snack wrap?
Matthew Mercer
Is the return of something great. Snack Wrap is back.
Ashley Johnson
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Critical Role Podcast Summary
Podcast Information:
The episode begins with the party successfully entering the Athenium, a fortified area within the Reach. After a harrowing battle where they lose companions Adelia and August, and Screev vanishes into the shadows, the group seeks refuge near a sacred pyre. They make crucial upgrades to their equipment through local contacts, indicative of their preparedness for the challenges ahead.
Notable Quote:
Matthew Mercer [00:00]: "I'm gonna put you on, nephew."
Within the Athenium, the party tends to a young boy suffering from a mysterious disease. Ashley Johnson's character performs a divine healing that not only cures the boy but also results in a cryptic and unsettling interaction, suggesting deeper mystical elements at play.
Notable Quote:
Ashley Johnson [14:19]: "I'll go to the bedroom door. Open the door. Is his sister still outside?"
As night falls, the party engages in rituals to clear their stress and prepare for rest. Laura Bailey's character performs a heartfelt prayer to aid their recuperation, revealing personal stakes and emotional depth within the group.
Notable Quote:
Laura Bailey [19:35]: "So I wrote, in dream I saw the pyre walk through ash and flame and veiled talk..."
Upon waking, the group plans to leave the Athenium. Their departure is met with a mix of gratitude and suspicion from the local community. Despite their efforts to blend in, a growing crowd obstructs their exit, leading to a tense escape sequence.
Notable Quote:
Marisha Ray [25:36]: "Thank you for your hospitality and protection. We won't forget it soon."
The party navigates through the Ashkart region, observing the stark contrasts between the opulent yet decayed Cinnabar Quarter and the surrounding desolation. Their description of the environment sets a foreboding tone, highlighting the socio-economic fractures within the city.
Notable Quote:
Travis Willingham [39:47]: "You step into the quarter proper and are immediately met with an opulent neighborhood of wealthy homesteads and mansions..."
While exploring, Sam Riegel's character discovers a hidden storage room beneath a ransacked homestead. The investigation uncovers skeletal remains of a family, leading to mystical interactions where Laura Bailey's character communicates with the spirits to unveil the tragic history tied to the Apostasy Riots.
Notable Quote:
Laura Bailey [59:07]: "I'll reach out and I put my hand on the upper breastplate of the mom and I'll..."
As the party delves deeper into the Cinnabar Quarter, they observe a caravan being pulled by scarred and menacing figures. An intense moment occurs when they recognize Farah, a significant character whose presence adds urgency to their mission. The group devises a plan to create a distraction by setting a house ablaze, aiming to facilitate their escape.
Notable Quote:
Marisha Ray [79:45]: "It's gotta be Farah, right?"
Executing their plan, the party manages to set the house on fire, causing chaos among the caravan patrols. Utilizing stealth and agility, they navigate through narrow alleyways, evading detection and responding dynamically to the unfolding situation. Their successful escape underscores their resourcefulness and teamwork.
Notable Quote:
Travis Willingham [85:37]: "As you both work together, slowly raise the portcullis just enough so that you can squeeze through underneath."
The episode concludes with the party narrowly escaping the immediate threat, their path clear but the journey far from over. The suspense builds as they prepare to face the awaiting dangers beyond the Cinnabar Quarter, setting the stage for the upcoming continuation of their adventure.
Notable Quote:
Travis Willingham [91:05]: "That's a wrap for part one of this podcast episode. Part two will land here the Tuesday after this episode..."
This episode of Critical Role offers a compelling blend of intense action, emotional storytelling, and intricate world-building, continuing the captivating saga of the Age of Umbra campaign.