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At Amica Insurance, we're built for our customers and prioritize your needs. Amica empathy is our best policy. Visit amica.com and get a quote today. Hello again, it's Brennan Lee Mulligan, and you're listening to part two of this episode of Critical Role. If you haven't checked out part one yet, pause this now and head over there first. What are you doing? Otherwise, let's jump right back into this adventure and the world of Ahriman. Light fills the glade all around. Levitating in the air, Wikander Haylovar summons a power to himself. Plants grow and bloom as the radiance of the sun itself. The fills all within sight. You see the giant shambling mound bowing to you, the dryad in the center of the clearing. The thorns dissipate into the earth as she looks and goes, what are you? Oh, am I levitating right now? In that moment of confusion, you collapse to your knees on the ground. Okay, you look over the fungal man standing over Teor looks, his skin badly singed by the light as the one sort of non photosynthetic plant person here going, my lady, I've been badly burned. As Hawthorne stays locked on you to answer her question, I'm just sort of panting and unaware of what just happened. Or at least unaware of of what was on my back. I guess I will try to climb to my feet and we are friends. We are Skinner. Stop. You see that? Over by Teor, the tiny little man has gotten one of his iron boots up on top of Teor's head and is preparing to crush his skull under his foot. And he goes hanging. Please unhand my. My. My man's my prisoner. How am I supposed to unhand someone with my foot? Unfoot him. Please. I demand it. You did see? He says, I'm getting your blood in my hat. And he. And he walks off. You see that? Hawthorne looks to you and says, you and your friends are safe. Though we have yet to determine if you will be permitted into the Glade. What are you? Good question. I don't really know how you are. I am, uh. You seem rather perplexed by a question whose answer I would assume is very simple. I'm a believer. I'm a man of faith. And a man of truth. The little three sprite triplets, like the sort of little lost boy looking fairies, zip around your head and say, truth. What kind of truth? Yeah. Some truths are bad. Some are good. Which one? The good kind. I believe we are all connected by light. And we are all meant to take care of each other and trust each other. And that good will prevail. And my friend here, the small younger one, Fimble, how old are you? I'm in my late twenties, but I hardly. That's his baby. Do you assume that the small folk are young? She just looks so adorable. How young do you think Skinner is? You see that the red cap has walked over to you, Cadigan. You see, he looks up, looks at you. Where are you in relation to Honeysuckle right now? So while this little conversation has been going on, I've been trying to make my way to her. That little ridge. Just scrambling up to her little body. And I'm almost there to her. Skinner's a bitch. You see that? Skinner senses that you want to say something. And as you get up there, he looks and goes, hey, get, you dirty all. What did you do? One moment, one moment. I'll just scoop her little body up. She's stable, but limp. Watch your wings. All right, hold on, hold on, hold on. I know what I'm doing. And I'll cast cure wounds on her. You see? Oh, no. It's a doll. My mortal enemy dolls. I feel that. You see? She lights towards the air. What does your magic look like as you heal her? Yeah, it's bad. Not bad. Evil bad. But it's like Michael Jackson. Yeah, like that kind of bad. No, it feels amateurish. It feels poor. It feels. It is taking everything in him to cast this first level spell. And a high level of concentration is not good, but it works. And it feels warm. It looks like it would have a scent, but it doesn't. That's what you think? Yeah, good point. Yeah. It's not great. A little bit of humble woodland magic. As she alights. Thank you. Uh, you're welcome. Uh, she turns around, skinnier, goes, honeysuckle you. And she zips right over to Teor in front of your face. Zoom. And she goes, you're wonderful. You sent the light to embrace me. Beautiful light. And I. I saw all the lights in the world and I felt so warm and then hot. Thimble. What? Your cousin here is most overjoyed. She looks over, she flies over to you and says, another pixie hi. She gives you a big hug. She looks over and says, we're cousins. But distant cousins, I think, because you're super distant because you're from. You're from Hearth or the Golden Orchard or something. That's right. A garden fairy. Yeah. That's wonderful. Well, none of you are allowed here. And you see that Hawthorne. You see that Hawthorne says honeysuckle to me? She says, mama. She goes, not your mom. And she flies over. Oh, no, Honeysuckle. Oh, shit. Her party grows. You'll throw her sister May and her. It's non existent. I love you. You see, she goes and lands over on Hawthorne's shoulder and she says, very good, Honeysuckle. And you see that much like a vining flower growing on a tree, that where Honeysuckle sits, flowers begin to vine around Hawthorne's arm and calm her down, seem to settle her war frenzy that she was in. She looks over as she does, you see Honeysuckle looks over at Yater and goes, thank you. You see Skinner looks and you see Skinner. Giant bloody tears are forming in his eyes as he sees that Honeysuckle has some affection for you. He goes, not like this. Not like this. God, I hate him. You immediately see Terry looking around. Big emotions just seem to fill this space as the verdant flowers grow. None more so than this massive mound of just faceless. It's just a massive. Not even a head. Just a big lumpen torso of vines and briars with long tendrilly arms that's just continuing to bow towards Wicked. I don't know if you can understand, but you don't need to bow to me like that. Bow down to you? How the fuck did you do that? I don't know. I don't know. We'll figure it out later. I'm gonna fly you around. Are those wings still there? As I fly around to the back of them, the light has faded, basically in the moment of seeming to. It really sort of is on. Wile E. Coyote rules. The second you became aware that you were floating, you stopped floating. You just. You see that? Hawthorne approaches Honeysuckle on her shoulder. The larger sort of myconid, the sort of fungal man, steps over and she says, I'm Hawthorne. What is your name? I'm called Wick. Wickender. And these are my friends. Honeysuckle looks and says, you travel with a God of the sun and you see that? Hawthorne says, honeysuckle, some things happened while you were unconscious. She looks and says, I have asked you a question twice and I will ask it again if you cannot answer. There will be some knowledge for me in the absence of information. What are you? You said a believer. Believer in truths. I don't know any truths to believe in that would make me capable of that. That I believe in the light. That's all I know at this point. I know that there were some who believed in gods long ago, and I know there are some who believe in religions and other things now, but all I know is that I believe in the light. Well, there are clearly some who believe in you. Schaffa seems quite taken with you. I've never even known that Shaffa. I didn't even know that Shaffa was capable of having emotions this complex. And you see that this Shaffa, which is the massive. Or this is this much mobility? Yeah. Normally they're just upright. You see that? She says, he's quite smitten with you. Oh, I'm betrothed, actually, so I don't know. Oh, I don't think Shaffa is. You see that? Rainbloom. Tyranny. Yeah. Are you getting married? Me? Nevermind. No, no. You see that? Hawthorne says the magic you wield is a potent one. And. My cousin. What might I call you? Thimble, my lady. Thimble. Thimble. Of course. You are welcome here. How did you find us? We fear if news were to spread too far and wide of the location of the glade. We won't tell anyone. Your scout told us. Told me there are many. I don't want to get her in trouble. Brook Meadow. She told you? In the company of these other mortals. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. She told me. Underwater. Yes, Nixie. Did you? But you brought these companions with you here, and you see that? Here, she narrows her eyes on tyranny, looking around and says, and at this moment, I think Wulfric rejoins you in the glade. She says some in your company are no stranger to the woodlands. But I cannot imagine that these others would have come seeking us unless you had brought them here. They didn't. We're on another path. To be honest, we didn't even mean to come by this way. But they're all good of heart. I fought alongside them for a long time. Except for these two. But you saw yourself. He comes with great gifts. If I may. We are charged in the protection of this vessel of the light. So please forgive me for my actions. I was only acting in defense. She looks to you and says, we defend our border fiercely. As you should. You see that she regards you all looks over. What do you think? Rainbloom? You see that? The myconid looks over and says, well, In matters such as these, if they are under the protection of one of our own, who can vouch at least for the character of these warriors, I would say to allow those for whom she can speak in. As for those to whom she cannot speak or speak for, one of them has just displayed rather a miraculous act of magic. So you see that? Hawthorne says it's too many. Too many and too many days with her. Are there others? Others like us? Tall folk? Big folk? Yes. Any like me? Yes. 1. We are searching for him. Did he cause trouble? Did he have stressed fur? I cannot speak to the nature of his fur, but perhaps we should to the glade. You see that? Skinner looks up and says, you can't bring him. That's so many. That's too many big folks. Colin. Potato? Are you calling potato? Why don't you put on some iron boots of your own and come down here to the mud to wrestle with me? Yeah, you see that? Hawthorne looks out and goes, Time has come to act. Making the safe choice day after day after day is not. You see that? She just shares a look with Rainbloom here that any of you are welcome to make an insight check into. If you would like perceptive. I'll do one as well. Goddamn, that sucks so bad. 1812. Teor. I think on an 18 you just look at fairy or otherwise as wild and big hearted and primal as these creatures of the realm of Faerie are. You know that they are stranded here in this world. And I think that regardless of a battlefield to a sylvan glade, you understand leaders making reckless choices because safe choices are meant to doom them. You can see that thing where they've been diligently repelling outsiders and whatever their situation is on an 18. Insight. You don't know. You don't have information about what that would be. But you can see the look of a leader who is realizing that, making the safe bet every time. They're watching their stack diminish. Come with us. Then she turns and begins to move. And as you leave this glade, you see it glows brighter. The flowers that Wick passes that have a natural light within them. You can see the quality of the light shifts from these deep purples or pinks or greens to become golden. Radiant golden and white light. And often there is a little burst of pollen and moths glowing with that golden light. As Wick passes by, Tyranny's eyes are locked the fuck in on Wick. She's taking a moment to herself, and she catches up. What just happened? I don't know. I don't know. But I did what you said. I lied a little bit. I said I was. You didn't lie. You didn't lie. Well, I said I was a believer. And I don't know if that's true anymore, but they seem to go for it and. Are you gonna be okay? Do demons and fairies have beef? I have. I mean, thimble, and I don't. So I think that's okay. I kind of think you do. But, no, I. I don't. Do you think she doesn't like me? She doesn't like me for sure. Well, I mean. No. Now, I mean, you did great. I think that you were. I think you're actually killing it. I think that you're actually doing a really good job. I think that you're really good. And I think that I'm not. No, no, you're doing great. You're doing great. You. You woke me up by kicking me in the neck. It was awful, but thank you. That was very bright of you. Okay. I think you're going to figure out what it actually means to be a believer. And I think that you are doing that. And I think that you're doing a really good job. So let's go. Anyone who would like to can give me a nature check on the way past that sylvan boundary stone. 18. Or if anyone speaks Sylvan, you can take a closer look at it. Okay. Yeah. Oh. Oh, actually, roll good. These rolls early. 23. 23. Hell, yeah. What do we get over here? Dirty 20. Dirty 20. 23. You read these warning signs. It says warning in Sylvan on it. And you see that there is a collection of sigils that are attached to some kind of innate magic. Deep into this glade, farther into the woods. Here on A23 Nature, you also see that this stone probably is carved from deep in the ground and likely has others nearby. You can almost sense their presence in that nature. Check throughout the wood. The message in Sylvan simply says, all who would seek to stab at the heart of creation know that it is your heart you seek to destroy. And that seems to be the. Add that dear. It seems to be. That's like the. It's almost incantation of a spell. It's like a warning, but it's written so poetically because it is also the words necessary of casting a protection spell. And you realize as you pass by the stone that you actually feel an arcane boundary. So not only is it a warning to people that can read, but it's also a. There's some kind of magic anchored to it. As you push through it, it's effortless tyranny. Even you're a little worried about, like, is this thing going to. You know. And you move through it fine. On that dirty 20 tear, you get your whiskers and your nostrils twitch for a second. That divine sense, which is not fully active right now. On that 20, you sense that. That these stones have been keyed to the undead and that they would not feel an ease of passage through this boundary stone. Great. Moving through the glade, you see, you guys are sort of in the back. Who's in the lead with hawthorn, probably? Yeah, yeah. You walk up, you see that rainbloom turns to you and is walking very slowly and goes. So you are a pixie of the Golden Orchard. Yeah. Really was. Yeah. Marvelous. How fares the noble house of Royce? Do you tend still to the gardens there? No, I don't tend to the gardens there. I haven't for a long time, actually. My condolences. Thanks. You have been lost as many of us have been. Well, I wasn't for a long time, actually. I was living in the city. Oh, dreadful. Yeah, but it was not so bad, you know. I had some good stuff going on. Oh, that's lovely. It is good to be back, though, amongst everything. Yes, it is very good. Where we are going. It is almost like a little piece of home. I've never seen home. You were born in the orchestra orchard. Yeah, yeah. It. Colors beyond counting. And you see that his eyes go prismatic, just like rippling, iridescent pools of color. Sunrises of every hue painted across the sky. Even the memory of it fills my stalk with joy. One day, perhaps. But for now, the glade is home. And, you see, moves these vines to the Side and before you, a massive hawthorne tree that is in full blossom. Small white flowers, red berries, black thorns, spreads out over an enormous grassy and mostly clover filled. It's a bunch of small, humble little grass flowers throughout this glade. And you see this crystalline mountain lake that deep in the waters, you see there are fish of silver and gold swimming throughout with small little mer, nixies swimming with them, little fishtails and fins. You see a massive awakened tree looking out over the glade. There are pixies and sprites and satyrs, all of whom are gathered here. And for a moment, it is this explosion of color and happy voices. Seeing Hawthorne approach, you see as Hawthorne moves, you notice a small intake of breath just from her seeing. And you realize that that tree that dominates the edge of the glade and the edge of the lake, and where they meet is her. That is her. That tree, as she moves through, you see that many of the fairies laugh and alight. You see the three little sprite boys that are with you. You see that Hawthorne turns to them and says, bix, Mac Flit. Let everyone know we're safe. And you see, they go, you got it. Tear off. How are they so young still, the three of them? Born here. Born here? Wow. Their mother came seeking out. Well, let me show you. You see that? She takes you to the tree. It looks like a lot of people are gathered there. As you begin to walk through this place, you see that for all of its wonder and magic, there is a lot of indication here of how people have come to be here. You see that there are wagons with some broken wheels or otherwise untended to off in a corner, you see there is a small area of meadow grass where some fairies are laid out with little flower bells casting light on them as they break breathe shallowly. Some of them, you see, appear to have soot caked up around their neck or mouths, as though they have been living somewhere too far away from anything of fey magic for too long. In other words, there's a tremendous amount of play and whimsy here. But you also see by the trappings of how everyone has arrived here that almost everyone here made it in the nick of time. Hawthorne turns and says, do any of you require rest or provisions? Our radiance is quite hungry. He did not eat today. And. And as you can tell, he is quite weak after a big show. Yes, well, with the power you wield, we must keep you healthy. She looks around and says, who's not Rust Blossom? And you see that a really small, flat clod of Dirt with some of the ugly red grass growing out of his flat little head. He's about just like a little plate of a fairy. No wings, just a little stumping. Guy says milady, and you see, she says, please fetch some food for our guests. You see Rust Blossom goes at your service. Strawberries. Yes. Yes, of course. You got it. And regular sized or. I mean, yes. Why would they be? I don't know. I don't know how things work here. I'm sorry. Yes, please. Not everybody's little here. No, I know that, but I. Yes, please. Yes. Thank you so much. All right. Look at you. Some strawberries. And you see sort of toddles off. Hawthorne approaches the base of where the hawthorn tree. It's one of those embankments where it's. It's probably like it doesn't slope gradually into the water. It's like grass. And then a little overhang and then dirt for about three or four feet before the water's surface. Almost like a little calling a three foot cliff a cliff is crazy. But you know what I mean. The banks are very steep and the grass is hanging over the edge where the roots of the hawthorn tree go out into the lake. You see that imperial embankment opens and there is a cave in those roots in the base of the tree where you see a number of fairies and other sylvan folk are gathered on blankets around a massive crystal that is jutting up out of the ground that sort of like eight or 12 sides. It's almost one of those things where it's coming out in a couple different directions with those jutting geometric shapes and it's just casting this silver light. And you immediately on that 23 from before recognize that this is what's making those plinths work. This is the source of the magic. This is what's making this entire settlement be able to exist at all. You see Hawthorn looks at this crystal in the base of her tree and you just see this weight fall over her. Because there's probably about somewhere between 80 to 100 fairies in this glade. And it's all hinging on this thing in her roots and whether she can keep it safe or not. You said your brother, one who looked like you had happened by. Uh, he did. 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You see that there is an older, very short woman, very thin, thin, old, skinny arms. She's smiling. She's got a bandana over her head and thick wild gray hair. She's sitting in a pile of blankets with blankets over where her legs would be. And you see that she looks out. Hawthorne goes, subri, may I speak with you? And and she says, of course. Hello my friends. Welcome. Is she people size or is she fairy? She's bigger than fairy size, but she's probably only about four, four and a half feet tall. Subbri, Subbri. You see that? Hawthorne looks and says, rainboom, our guests. Take them to the water's edge and make sure they're and you see that? Rainbloom nods and says, come with me if you'd be so kind. Rust Blossom comes over with a big plate of strawberries. You see that? Rainbloom goes, my word, how did we get so many and you see that rust blossom goes. I don't know, all the berry. A few minutes ago, all the berry vines went nuts. There's so many berries everywhere. Anyway, we're gonna. You see a bowl of the most exquisite looking fruit lands in front of you by the beam. Thank you so much for this. Normally you taste things for poison, but go ahead. I trust thee. Oh, fucking eat it. I grab a handful of strawberries, leaves and all, and stuff them above and just eat them right in front of him. I think the leaves are actually a little bit nightshady. No, no. Okay, great. I don't want to spill on my. It's Rain Blossom. Rain. Rain Bloom. Rain Bloom is our big mushroom man. Yes. I'm like, kind of bobbing up and down in the air. Rain Bloom. Can I. Can I go look at the. Can I go look at the Hawthorne Crystal? Yes. We've been calling it the Moon Crystal because it dims as the new moon approaches, and it seems to wax and wane with the moon. But it's just a name we've given it. I don't know if a prince or princess of faerie would tell us that's what it's actually called. Hawthorne was always, I suppose, left out of those other conversations around what it could be. Dryads, you know, they're more anchored to this world than many of the High Faeries. They grow roots here, you know. Yeah. Seems like you've grown some roots here. Yeah. I look back at Tayor, you see, flitting out, Rainbloom says, eat, drink of the water of the lake. It is fed from a clear spring here and is safe to drink, even for mortals. I'm sure many of you see, the fae around here are giggling and laughing and looking at the big folks. You see that there's a corner Tayre. You look over, Honeysuckle's talking to a bunch of other pixies, and they look over and they all giggle and get closer together as she points at you with a mouthful of fruit. I just walk up and kind of like, sidle up next to Teor, just shoulder to shoulder, and just lean to him under my breath and just say, it's beautiful. But every quarter hour we tarry here, puts a hectare between us and your brother, and I elbow him in the ribs and just walk back out. You hear the clatter of my wings as I fly off to the crystal. You see that as you're sitting here, Tyranny, and you've been. This is a place that feels so far from any demonic presence. But as Wick begins to eat. You see Shaffa, this mad massive shambling mound comes and sits next to you slightly beside Wick and just gestures its featureless torso in your direction. Tyranny is surrounded by a lot of good. And she extends her hand and places it approximates where an ear would to be and scratches the size. You see Shaffa, you realize, earns his name as he goes. A bunch of leaves sort of fall out and leans against you in a kind of conspiratorial way where it seems to be that the shambling mound is like we both work for the big guy. Cadigan, as you walk away, Wulfric comes up to your side with his armor and you see paws at his armor where it harnesses to his shoulder. And you see that there is a small rolled up scroll there. Yeah. I take a look at it, put my head up against Wulfric and look at the scroll and I. I unwind it and read it. A small note, quickly penned from Ulbhed, says, I cannot express how meaningful it is to have this knife returned. Nor can I express how many hidden treasures I discovered turning my house upside down in search of it. Yeah. The response makes Cadigan smile just a little bit. Because all the note said that he attached to it was just. It's not just a keepsake, it's a relic. And what he received wrapped up in the note was just the finely ornate crafted pommel, the handle of the knife, the important part, And the full tang of the blade. Az in my pocket, you see. The note continue. Having revealed that you have separated this magical blade from its ornate and beautiful handle. The note continues. Memory is a funny. I wept at the thought that I had lost something so dear. And in weeping realized I had walked too far from those memories. The things I felt are dear to me, even when they hurt. I don't know what use the blade has for you, but my wife used it for many years to feed and care for us. I hope that you find it useful to feed and care for those near you. And I hope, dear friend, that you are fed and cared for. You are welcome to bathe in my stream at the drop of a hat. At any time, Looking at the blade in your hand, I think you even feel a resonance. That humble little magic. You know, you don't describe your magic as being too advanced, but something in that blade, little serrated thing, sharp like tyranny's claws. There's something there. Moving into the cave. You see Subbri, who you can't even really tell what kind of Fairy she is. But you see that she looks over and as Hawthorne says, you're certain? Is it possible that he would have ignored your. And you see, Subbri says, anything is possible. But I did what we thought was right to do. I did what you had. And you see that Hawthorne stands up a little bit and gets a little bit intense and goes, I made the advisement that we do this. And it was accepted by those here. You see that? Soubri says, then do you wish to tell the companions? And you see that she. And I think that she turns around and sees you approaching now and goes, tell us what? Your friend's brother has left already, heading north. But the magic that your companion wields is powerful and it is a great aid to us here. Another voice speaks out from not too far away, emerging from the shadows. And you turn and see shadows part. Wet hair being moved from in front of an eye. And stepping from the shadows, bulbous, luminous eye, like a predator. I fly backwards a little bit. A woman dressed in rags, looking blue gray, like a long dead corpse, wet to skin. You see there's mud and algae and reeds sewn throughout her hair. You can tell that if she walked into the water, her hair would spread out, look like lilies. She's got long fingers for grabbing onto people's throats. As she steps out, she says, your friends left. But a source of light has entered the camp, hasn't it? And you see Hawthorne turns to face this and says, this is sallow. And you see that? You regard a hag. I was gonna shoot you. You regard a hag before you. Oh, man. Salo says, splendid light. I would love to be introduced to this wielder of the light. You don't think he might profess some beneficent cause or creed, perhaps? Why do you ask? Well, it's always of interest, isn't it? Mortal magic wielders, after all, can sometimes spell disaster for the fair folk. I look over at Hawthorne. How is she reacting to this? Hawthorne stands there. Give me an insight check. You can do so with advantage here. It's all fun and games. Still fucking. Oh, that was almost an add 20. Almost? That is a 24. 24 is very high. You see this sort of. You almost thought like, oh, maybe rainbloom. Maybe the big mushroom guy is like second in command. You realize he's a major domo. He's an assistant to Hawthorne. What's happening at camp is. It's Hawthorne's tree. There's Subbree, who seems to be uncomfortable with Something that Hawthorne said or did. And then on the other side of Subbri is Sallow. And this is like the angel and the demon. Yes. You just see a relationship pan out before you of Hawthorne being pulled in different directions. Looking at an angel and a demon right here. A buddy and a baddie. You see that? Hawthorne says, I am not certain. Your business is your own. You are safe here. Your friends are welcome, but they cannot stay. And they must be sworn to some degree of secrecy or permit themselves. We have means of confusing their direction on their exit flight so that they would not easily find their way back here. If they will submit to that, then they are free to go. I think some of them might. But if that's what must happen, we should be out of here soon. We're looking for Cid. The Lionfolk you said passed through here. Hawthorn looks up on that 24. Something bad is being concealed from you. You see? Subri Super's eyes look down. I kind of float a little closer. What happened to him? He left. You see? Supri looks out. Sallow smiles. And you see that as she smiles, even though she can look from a distance like a mortal woman, the corner of her mouth goes almost to her ear when she smiles. We sent him to the Wraith tree. The what? Subbri here is a bit of a soothsayer fortune teller, aren't you, Subbri? I mean, her fortunes aren't real. They don't come true. You see that Subbri? Her eyes well up with tears. She says sometimes they do. And you see, Salog goes, it was Hawthorne's decision that any big folk that came through, rather than subjecting our people to wanton violence and execution, why invite all that bloodshed? And we could send them to the tree and have a little bit of extra protection. Oh, fuck. When? Yeah, I think K appears, you're not, but I think Katagan here together. No, no, no, no, no. You're good. Sorry, Cagan, but you're. You're stealthy. You're stealth. You want to give me a stealth check and see if you're there? Yes. Yeah, give me a stealth check. I wanted to be there so badly. Sorry. I wasn't invading the scene. No, no, no. You got it. You know, it's good. Good. Ah, stealth. It's okay. Oh, actually, it's all. It's 18. 18. Okay. He'd come over there to throw away another. Oh, I think. I think Catagan Kan. If you step out now. Go for it. Yeah, I'll say what I said. When did this happen? They whip around. Sallow vanishes into the shadows. Is gone. And you see that Hawthorn looks out and says, you are not given entry to be here. Oh, fuck. Give me a dexterity saving throw. Sorry. Hey. Not great. Jax is high, too. Give me one for Wulfric as well. Oh, fuck. 12 for me. 12 for me. 1224 for Wulfric. Wulfric dodges to the side as you realize this lady's roots that you are standing right under drop down and pin you to the ceiling. Wrong room. Everyone outside. Wick, you got a fucking mouthful of strawberries and shit is popping off in the cabin. Oh, fuck. I'm sorry. Hawthorne. Hawthorne turns and says. What? Are we to assume that every outsider that comes here means us? Well, yeah, mostly. No, no, no. But he. He's so fucking dumb. I'm an idiot. He's just dumb. He's one with nature. But he doesn't know shit about us. Okay? And listen, he never even goes around other people. Who's he gonna tell? You see that? Hawthorne says you have until before dark to make your way out of this camp. And I will say this. You would do well to remember what we have lost. I can. I can feel on you how close you have become to their world and know that it bears its own risk. We will forget who and what we are. The door shut. You see that? She steps up into the roots and vanishes into the tree, ascending to be the tree itself as Subbree looks out, wiping some tears from her eyes. Anyone who wants to arrive at the cave at this moment can do so as the roots gently let you down. Fuck. Fuck. I was just like. I'm sorry. Fuck. Wick and I are riding him. Side saddle, of course. On, Sheffy. We don't have horses anymore. No. No. On, Shuffa. Oh. On Shaffa. On Shaffa. Oh. How big is Shuffa? Schaffa grew like, 20ft and has slightly diminished since that initial burst of magic and is now doing side paddles now, of course. It's like a big walking leaf pile. Oh, that's fun. He has permission to go. Good character. It makes sense. He's drunk. I'm not. I will go. He's always drunk. I got in trouble. You're in trouble? Can I fly down to Subri? Yeah. As Cadogan drops down. Yeah. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. No. Your friend is right to be cross. We don't. Hawthorne is tasked with a terrible burden to keep this place safe. It will be. I won't tell anyone. Neither will they. You see she looks up and says I shouldn't. She looks up. Because you're under the roots of the tree. She says Salo would speak with you on these matters. If you wish to speak to her, I will say only what I did because it is common knowledge a Lionfolk warrior came here desperately fleeing. He asked for visions of what was to come. He was seeking to make his way to a place known as Gormalais, where he had there a deed of title to a stronghold. He told us his plan was to petition the lord of that place that the deed had been given in an act of murder and should not be honored. He said also that he was searching for passage to the Far east, to old Obrademia. Searching for his brother. He's not with his brother. He will not have known that. He will not have known that his brother was. I know that the warrior who accompanies you outside is the brother of the one that we found here. He believes him to be Far east, he said, working as a mercenary. Where's the wraith tree I gave him? You should go and talk to Salo. I should say no more, but I. I gave a vision. You see her eyes wink. You see that she reaches her hands up, and as she does, she massages her scalp and slightly moves her bandana. And you can see the broken stumps of a faun's horns as she massages them. And you can see the burn marks of red hot iron that this soothsayer has suffered in the world of mortals greatly. I did see something in the crystal. No matter what Sallow says, I do see things. True. Sometimes I. I thought I saw the young man past the edge of the forest. I do not know if it was a vision of the past or of things to come. But I saw him in the forest holding the scroll that he had come here with, that he had shown to me. He was either in possession of it some time ago, or perhaps I saw a vision of something to come. But he looked out at wide fields and rolling hills, old stone walls of the kinds that. That farmers keep in their old ways. And I saw fluttering of crow's wings and him clapped in irons, wagon wheels and a road. Oh, no. I do get them right sometimes. I know I messed this up. I'm sorry. But listen to me right now, please. There are a few things I'm good for. You have to find out when he came through here. You have to stay on track. This is a hunt. Yeah. Was it yesterday? It was. No, now, now. Two days ago. But you guys realize because you guys went to all bids and played it safe. Not playing. Do I have. Do I hear them say this? That is two days ago. Yes, Subaru says two days ago. We have to go. What about Salo? You can go, but it needs to be fast. Please for tail. She'll tell me where it is. Super nods. Where? Sallow by the water's edge. Go go Suck. I don't like the day you need to use. Your insurance is rarely a good one. It's when the ceiling leaks or a storm takes out your roof and your plans. 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Excuse me, outside those of you who have not joined, you see Teor sitting out. What are you guys up to? As this scene is unfolding, we're playing fetch with Shuffa. I just threw my cane. Gooken, go get. I have a question for you. Do you have any visible signs of the candescent creed still on your person? Uh oh, just all your clothes, everything. Everything I own. Everything. My cane has a big candess and creed symbol on it. You see, as you're playing fetch with Shuffa, it's going back and forth. You see a bunch of these tiny little fairy children whose wings are too small to fly yet, and they have these little toadstool hats on, are running around towards your feet. And you see that about a foot tall is this. He's got a small rapier at his side, grasshopper legs and antenna. But otherwise sort of a handsome man's face. He's got a small white shirt and a vest and a scroll on his back. You see, he looks over as he's walking off towards one of the over. You see, there's a cart that looks like a traveling scholar's cart. You see, it has some writing on the side saying traveling professor. You see that? He looks over and goes. Children, back away from him. Back away from him. I'm sorry. Did I do something wrong? You bear a symbol that is not welcome here. Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know. Why, may I ask? Why indeed? And what have you told the people in the keeping of their old ways? Have you told them that it is not of the light to leave bread and milk for the smallfolk to take down charms? No, I haven't told them that at all. Is that something? Is that so? And you say that here, surrounded by strawberries, freshly grown. Well, hey, man, he's the one who grew the strawberries. Why don't you just look around and see all the beautiful abundance. He did that. I wiped my face of all the strawberry juice. You see, we have friends here, right? Yes. Well, the light giveth. Yes. And you see that he turns around and you see, looks at the children who are confused about what to do and just shakes his head side to side and walks off towards the carriage. Is that something that you were taught was to not feed Faye? I don't know. Do we? Is it my family's tradition? Give me a religion check. Okay. Things of the old world, really good. 22. Well, no, on a 22, you don't. There's no rule against feeding fairies. I mean, there's rules about not propitiating False divinity. The only divinity is the light, of course. So you wouldn't want to propitiate or offer worship to someone else. And if someone demanded worship in like a safe bed or food. And you start, I think you start to do the math in your head of the poetry of the hidden light, the poetry of the, the text. The reason you're suddenly going like, oh, that's the passage I would use if I wanted to tell people not to do that. And I think there's a moment where you don't doubt that that fairy is telling the truth, but you just go, oh, that's not the intention behind the words. And then you sort of have to, I think under 22, have to question. Well, that's not. Maybe it is. Yeah. Or you go, that's not the intention behind those words. Then you go, that's not my intention behind those words. Interesting. Teor, what are you doing? Teor is in a bit of self imposed timeout. He walked into a china shop with the subtlety of a raging bull and is trying to keep a lower profile profile, is sort of walking down near the water, just also very passively looking for any signs of his brother, but without trying to intrude with looks or anything. And is also keeping a keen eye on where that little fuck skinner is just making sure they don't cross paths again. And I think is just trying to put himself in his brother's paws. Why was he here? What did he see? What would he get from something like this? Where is he? Give me an investigation check. 19. You look around, I think on a 19 you're looking for CID stuff specifically. You see that crystal glowing and I think you are over by this moss bed where a lot of sick fairies are being tended to. You see there's one of them as you approach. There's an owl lying on the ground with a broken wing. But as it shines you realize that it's not an owl, it's a fairy. Who in that, you know, Howl in hell's moving castle, has the jacket over his shoulders. The wings of the owl are a jacket over this little fairy's shoulders. And there is an owl head with real owl eyes and a beak coming down. But it cuts at the edge of the feathers and becomes a jaw of skin and normal teeth. So it's like this halfway between, almost like puppet looking little owl fairy. But you do see that the wing, even though it looks like an article of clothing, is moving and is broken and is being tended to. As you get over to that area, you See a voice behind you goes, come here to finish them off. And you turn around and see Skinner standing there. Come here to finish the job. I offered my apologies before. You defend this place with great verve and passion. I admire that. I am sorry that I did not speak to seek to speak. First, I want to open you up and put my hat in you. What the hell? You see? You see? You see? Honeysuckle flies over and goes, skinner, stop it. Stop threatening to put your hat in people. And you see that? She says it's okay. What's your name, Mr. Sun Man? My name is Teor Brightsire. That's beautiful. I'm Honeysuckle. Thank you, Honeysuckle. Your friend here, Skinner, he who puts his hand in people. Hat. My hat. Your head. I put my hand on people. I put my hat in people. Of course, he has earned his angst. I see your friend here, though they seem to be unwell. You see, Honeysuckle nods and says, yeah, yeah. Some of the sickness is hard to make go away when it comes from not wood fire, but deep fire, dwarf fire under the earth, iron soot and ash, that's it. It can be hard. The sickness, the air makes your kind sick. Some of us fairies from hearth tend to do a little better. But for some of us that are supposed to be way out in the woods, it's a little harder. But you have that light within you. I do. If you will permit me, perhaps in a gesture of exchange, I would like to help if I can. Then I'll reach my hand out and I'll put lay on hands on the wing of this small creature and see if I can help mend that wing. I believe you can. Go ahead and give me. Even though you're putting five hit points in, go ahead and give me a medicine check because you'll heal the injury. But to see if you can set the wing. To see if you can set. Set the wing. Yes. That is an 11. 11. You see that? You begin to heal. You set the bone in place, but you can tell that it's not going to be an immediate fix. The bone, in other words. It was not going to ever heal because the bone was not connected in connecting it. Now there's time for it to grow together naturally over time. And the magic begins to start. That seal. You see that the owl looks up at you and goes, oh, thank you kindly, sir. That's the kindness of you done. It's a pleasure and an honor. You're not a fairy at all. No, I'm afraid I am. Not take time and care to mend that right. That'll do. That'll do. Stretches it. I don't mean to. To impose. I'm searching for one of my kin, someone who looks like me. And I hear they were here in your glade not too long ago. Did you know Sid? Tell Sidmir. He is my brother, Yes. I happen to talk with him for a little bit, as I done two days ago. Is not a warm welcome you receive here for big folk, which I can imagine looking over at Skinner, Skinner looks over and says, that's right. Keep one eye peeled, big man. And you see that he. Honeysuckle says, skinner, stop it. He looks over and says, bye, Taor. You see that? She looks over at Skinner and says, would you be my best man? As she walks off. And you see that this creature, this fairy looks over at you, says, no. Right. I spoke with him. Listen, I work with big folk all the time. I was only stopping on through here on my way to Dolmarchiar. We've just come from Dolmarkyar. Oh, well, splendid. As soon as my wings healed up, I'll be on my way there. And my brother, when you spoke with him, did he say where he was headed, what he was doing? How did he seem? Well, he seemed. Well, he wasn't in a good way. I mean, you didn't get a warm welcome here, but they were gonna give him a vision. He was. He's off looking for. He needed to make his way. He was trying to talk to the local. Some baron. He was trying to talk to some local baron. But. But he had a. After that I spoke with him because we. We had a mutual friend that I came up and conversation as he was, few people would go and talk to him, but we had a mutual friend in common that I'm actually on my way to go see that he said might be dead by this point in time. Although I hope. Did he mention the Aussie? That's who I'm off to see. Is he? I'm afraid so. CID said it was all but a sure thing. Apparently he was part of a plan to try and free him at the last moment. He was a great man. I served with him for many years. How did. How did you know him? I. I knew of him more or less through a connection at a place called the Archonaut. It's a museum in Dormakiar. There's. Oh, ho, ho, hold on a second now. Okay, he says, but I was coming with a letter for him because I know that Thiazi Worked with Thimble, who I don't know if she'd ever. If she'd remember me. But I knew that she knew half the fairies in Dolmarkiar. And I think we've spoken once or twice, if that. But she was working with Thiazi on collecting a number of things. And Thiazi had sent a letter off to a fellow I knew in Argosia about. You see, he says. But he says, are you a friend of Thembil's? I am. Well, I'm Jowf. Nice to meet you, Taor. Nice to meet you. You would recognize him as a balka, which is a type of fairy that has a single animal form it can assume and change into. And you see, he says, bad luck to carry a dead man's letter. And you see, he says not to give you bad luck, but for Thembil, it'll maybe mean something. And he just gives you a small envelope that looks like he was delivering to the Arcanad. Says, for better or worse. I think it was Thyazzi like to keep his distance from the people. So that if what were to happen were to happen, fewer people all go down at once. Very, very careful of him. I will. I'll be back in just a moment. It's all right. I'll be resting up and. And if you let them know that I'm here, you take off. You guys head to the lake. Arriving at the lake, us two. Yes. Cadogan. And he comes out. We are the best partner you could ask for. Arriving at the lake, you see algae. As you approach, center of the algae begins to move and rise. There she is. Tall woman, stands up. Hello, little one. A man. So loud. You better believe it. You look dirty with travel. Do you want to bathe? No, I like to be dirty. Give me persuasion. Maybe Thimble should be. I am not trying to. Oh, no. It's just the way he sounds. It's just a side effect. It's just a side effect. Yeah, it's pretty good. Doesn't mean she's not. Or intimidation, depending on the. On the fatwang you're putting on there. Intimidation's better, but I'll stick with persuasion. Since you said it is 18. 18. She looks and says, I would feel so much joy drowning you. Get on in, Cat. I just had a bath. Another time, Ranger. You've come to speak with me? Yeah. What can I do for you? Grace Tree. Where is it? Where did you sense it? Give me persuasion. Can Cat take his clothes off for advantage? Yeah. Like you. Right. What? Why did that. Not cocked. No, it was not cocked. But let's see. What. That one? No, it was a one that I rolled. You see, she looks at you and says, and why would I help you? Um. Cause he's gonna. She's gonna get in the water. Cause he's. Are you trying to sacrifice me to this woman? Because. Because we already lost one. I don't want to lose any more. What is it you don't want to lose? What is it you don't want to lose, little pixie family? Terrible thing to lose family. I've heard it's absolutely precious to have. Why are you here? In a place like this, you exactly fit in. Don't I? Am I not a fairy? Because I'm not. Delightful. I'm as much a fae as any creature here. The deep beating heart of the world knows shadow and light both. Regardless of the chatterings of the fool who wanders with you. Something dear is what you pursue. Then it's something, something dear. I'll have. You loved someone. I want something of theirs. A memory. Gone forever. Of course, fairies, little pixies are not great of stature. You need to make room. You don't have space in that heart for what you lost and the passion you'll need to get vengeance on those who took it from you. As a rogue, am I to assume. Do you assume. That Thimble speaks Thieves can't. I do. In her ear. Quietly. In thieves cant. I will say, tell her. And tell me, and I will remind you. He taught me how to read and how to write. There was. I had trouble learning how to write his name. Every time I'd try to make the J, I'd have to back up. It was too much trouble. So I started calling him Thaz. You see, as you speak, in the water around the hag's knees, you look and you see the door open. Thiazzi walks in, a little wax paper bag filled with caramel. Popped corn. Some kind of street food. A little spice, like a Tajin on it or something. He walks in. Who the hell is Thaz? That's. Well, that's you. It's. No one has called me Thaz since I was a kid. Oh, good. So someone else did. So you're used to it. Honestly, for you and you alone. We can go with Thaz. If anyone else calls me this. In your earshot, right in the throat, stab them. Okay. Throat, eyeballs, ears. Just like you taught me. One, two, three. That's how it's done. And you see, suddenly that smell of that Caramel and spice is gone. And you don't remember that at all. Why did you ever call him Thaz? You were the only one who did. You see that? Sallow goes. Wonderful. The information you asked for I would not give without some acknowledgment that memories given deserve memories new, perhaps. Something that you would not have seen before. And you look down in the water and just see a glimmer of a gloved hand sliding a massive bag of gold and a scroll over a table. And you see Kasimir's face looking down as a voice says, I'm very happy to know that your loyalty can be so easily bought. You see? Kasimir looks out and says, what loyalty? Pluck the Aussie. There's no loyalty in this world worth speaking of. Be excited to see that smirk rubbed off his face. When the rope snaps top, the image fades. Just a voice, right? Just a voice. You see that? Sallow goes. That memory was not as nice as yours. Follow the blooming jasmine past the promontory rock where the moss grows. Take a right. The gulch will follow. An hour or two's travel, you will begin to see the plants wither. The Wraith Tree lies at the end of that gulch. Hawthorne is a fool. The dead stalk this forest. And they should not. I'm sure you thought me in all of my darkness to be a believer of this strategy. I think it is a foolish one. We should not have sent Cid to go die at the Wraith Tree. But you have to understand. Understand? The spirit that dwells there animates the bodies of the forest come nightfall. And while the forest is stalked by the dead, big folk cannot find this glade. Even those sweet fairies of the light will make a devil's bargain if they have to. Good hunting. I hope your friend's not dead and she sinks into the water. Bitch. As soon as she fades into the pond and she dissipates and it feels like it's safe for one moment, I'll just go to Thimba and I'll say, hey, I promise you I won't let you forget, but we have to fucking go. And I'm gonna take off toward the direction of wherever I think my friends are. Forget what? You guys. You guys even. I'm like, why did you make it this sad? Fucking relax, dog. The five of you rejoin with the information that Kadrin now has. I was kind of running back towards. They were. When we were all. The sun is also getting low. Oh, no. And you can't stay here. Hawthorne has forbidden you. So we're doomed. All right. I will fill Teor in of everything that we know. Pertinent information. You as well. Fill in the squad. What? Yeah, that's crazy. Perfect recap. You were sent to the. To the wraith tree. We. We. We must leave immediately. Yeah, well, we have to. We can't stay here. Plus, past dark, they're gonna kick us out. Yeah, and times of the essence. I was given a letter of Theazis. Here, take this. But we must go with haste. I will hold on to it, too, for you. It's a teeny note. Yeah, it's really a folded up piece of paper with a little wax seal on it for you. It'd be like a poster that you could throw in your bag. Rolled up carpet. Rolled up carpet. You guys take off suddenly without any ability to see Jouf. The sun's getting low. Traveling through the woods is going to be fucking. No, Shuffer, you can't come with us. I have d. Come with us. Here's the deal. Shuffa's got a speed of 15 shuffle. No, shuffa. Sorry. You can't come with us. I just knelt first. I put my knee up. Irradiance on the head. Someday. I don't know if that. We can promise that. I promise you I'll come back for you someday. You see, Shafa sort of like molts a bunch of leaves. A bunch of leaves turn brown and autumnal on Shuffa's body. It sits down and goes. When I line up, as soon as you leave out, you look over your shoulder and see it's forming a small idol of you out of blood and clay. And you guys tear off into the woods. I'm going to need a survival check. Yeah, yeah. You've got advantage. I think Wilfred is off on the right flank. I'm off on the left flank. Darkvision. Darkvision with the light. Absolutely. Yeah. Go for it. All right. What do we do here? Not bad. Good. Not great. 16 was my highest. 16, 9. 16. You have exact directions. You can make it there, but your speed is lessened. So as the sun is setting, it's just a little bit harder. It's the quality of light keeps changing so fast in these hours of the day that finding the best pathway. It's like to find a good pathway, you need to be able to see some distance to what the terrain is doing ahead of you. And as the sun gets lower, that gets harder and harder to do. Yeah. Cast light on my cane to shine. The way you get light and what light does is it makes the area right around you safe and everything else fucking vanishes. Pure dark. Nice job. Very good. Thank you. So you guys continue forward into the Dark Wraith tree. Some spirit that was mentioned here. And you realize that the early conversation you heard between Subbri and Hawthorne. Why would they send people here? They didn't want to kill them there. Someone said something about another protector, and you suddenly hear moans in the forest. Oh, no, not that kind of moan. You see it. You see it. You see a camp counselor put on a flashlight and go, nuh, nuh. No way. I know from deep. From deep memory, I watch walking behind the bunks going woo, woo. All right, I can scatter. Sara. As we're absolutely trucking through the woods and we all sense this moan as we're running. Just nonchalant. Cadigan says, whatever you think is out there, it's worse. Keep moving. Point of clarification, back at Hawthorne's Glade, did we take a short rest? You took a short rest at Hawthorne's Glade. Hey, so catch that. We took a short rest, everybody. Short rest your characters. Helps a lot if you want to roll though. Yeah. Do you have hit dice? You want to roll? Yeah. Hell yeah. I don't have to do with. I'll take a short rest. Take a short rest. Confirm it's it. It's right here. Short rest so you can roll. You got 25 hit points. Awesome. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, God. And I meant to ask. There wasn't time for me to say it. As we were going through the forest, did I had. Never mind. It's too late. Why. I was gonna say, did I spot any like, foxglove or prickly poppy? As we had been going through the. For us before we got in any of our treks today, I think very possibly so. Yeah, there will be plenty more. Okay. Okay. Yes. For sure. You guys had had your short rest, surged through on that 16. You continue moving and have that thought in your head, sending people to the Wraith tree. As you hear the shuffling and groans, you realize perhaps whatever's waiting here takes whatever bodies it creates and adds them to the force that will visit the next victim here. Maybe you'll be joining that wonderful army right now. Roll initiative. Oh, man. We're right up in it. All right, which one of these guys. Who's gonna send me first? Surely we can do better. Okay, okay, okay. Okay. Surely we can do better this time. Whoa. Here we go. Okay, let's just talk to them again. I'm sure they'll listen this time. Did our Minis go away. What's that? Did our minis go away? No. You have them? No, we threw them away. They're one time use. Yep. Wow. That tree. Hell yeah. Okay. Can't repeat all tricks. Hell yeah. We'll put you guys here. What's your marching order? Wait, we had no. Actually, I'm not in the leading. Wolf freaking Taor. Yeah, you were lighting. You were probably up dead center. Dead center. Okay, then I was front. Center. Lighting up in front of him. I would actually say that for like formation order. I would probably be in the back making sure that there's no one behind us. Be in formation. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. And you're front and center, Thimble. Yes, I guess I was. Oh, I could be front and center. No, no, no, it's fine. You're. I thought those guys were flanked to the left and right. Yeah. In the front. And Thimble was in the middle and they were. And everybody else is behind you. Oh, okay. So you guys. But you're in the back. I am. I'm. Yes. Okay. And then front of the. Yeah. Okay, that's great. We're all bunched up, ready to die. Yeah. Got it. Great. We could spread it. We could spread it. Uh oh. Woodwork would be here. I'd be on over here. Spread it out a little bit above table. Have any of you real human beings ever been in like a deep forest at night? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Very scary. Yeah. Recommend prepping just to appreciate what you have. Hell yes. As you guys enter, you see deep in the forest, a writhing mass of dead vines. There is something here that killed this tree. And I think, Thimble. You look up and realize that the tree that is dead here once walked the forest. You're looking at the corpse of an awakened tree. And the one who killed it appears in shadow before you. No. Oh, he seems chill. Looking down at you. He's the one moaning. We were stealthy, right? With our bright lights. His own time. We're intruding. You see Love table. The figure floating in the glade. Floating right here. Floating by the tree. Looks up. Looks right at you. Thimble, You should not have come. Raises a hand. And shapes begin to emerge from the wood line all around you. I'm going to need everybody here to tell me their initiative that they roll. What do we get, Cat? Again. Eighteen. What did we get, Wick? Sixteen. Sixteen. What did we get? Tyranny 9. What do we get, Thimble 27. What do we get, Teor 8C with 7. Nine. Oh, okay. Thimble. Cat. Wick. Thimble. Cat. Wick. Tyranny. Tayor. Okay. Unsurprisingly, Thimble, you are first to go. How far does the range of your light extend on your body? Or do you have dark vision? I don't have dark vision. Yeah, my light is casting. It's the same as a light canter. Some way. Let me know how light. Let me how. This is important for this battle. How big is the light you are casting? 20 foot radius. Okay. And dim light for another 20ft. So that's 40ft. Great. Okay. And that's emanating from me? 40ft from you? Yes. Okay. 20ft and then 40ft past you. So. Gotcha. In the dim light, you can see shapes moving towards you. But Thimble, you are first to act. Go ahead and give me a perception check. Actually, as the combat begins. 24. Okay, 24. Perception. In that area of dim light, you see some shapes clambering towards you. These are the closest you see. Corporeal undead. But you see, they look to be. The rags on them seem to indicate that they were poachers or smugglers in life. But at a flick of the. The hooded figure's hand, they animate around you the wounds that they bear. Many of them you can see, are the wounds that they are soon to deliver to you. For indeed this is. Many of these bodies look like they were rent asunder by human hands. Jaws pulled by hands on bodies. Stomachs pulled open. Grape. Creep. Grape. Grape. Somebody didn't trim their fingernails. These are moving from the dim light around you. That guy's missing parts of his back. Oh, God. Can we see the wraith from where we're at? Or is he vane just pitch as the sun sets? He is in total darkness because I believe he is more than 40ft from Wick. I could be wrong about that. But let me double check and then. Yes. So let me see. Here's Wick. Yeah. So in the last bit of light, the wraith fully manifested as the forest plunge into darkness. Especially as Wick's lantern makes all of this fucking vanish into darkness. It's that thing of again, having a lantern or a light. And then dark makes everything just, you know, the void that is going to. So, Thimble. Yes. It is your turn. So wait, how many bogeys can you see? None. Bogeys. Okay. Thimble can see all the ones I just placed because they are all within dim light. You guys, right now it's sort of like Thimble clocks them. Exactly. You Guys are like, ah, shit. Moving in the dark, but there's enough sort of ambient light that you can sense shapes. Right. And I'm about 10ft off the ground as usual. As usual. Correct. Okay. I am going to fly up in the air. So I'm out of range, hopefully of most of these zippity zombies. And I'm going to cast. I'm gonna light up with the light of the moon stone that I had been near and the radiant magic that had been filling me when I was in that cave. And that pale blue whitish glow of the crystal is going to spread from my wings as I spin around and I'm going to cast fairy fire. Yes. In a 20 foot radius kind of in front of me. I want to try to get everything close to the tree and on the ground around it. Hell yeah. Do your people just call it fire? I'm gonna spread some pixie dust. Love some pixie poppers. Fairy fries. Fairy fries, yeah. Oh, my God. Okay, so he's gotta make a dexterity saving throw. What is your difficulty class? What's your dc? Is it really that low? Geez Louise. This is what I was saying last time. Why is it so low? We're level three. It's a tough. It's gonna be fine. It's gonna be fine. It's gonna be fine. These are squishy old zombies. It'll be just fine. Why is it so low? Are you just dropping it on him? No, it's in a 20 foot radius of any creatures that are in that. Gotcha. Okay. DC 10 deck. Dex. Yeah. Or Dex 10. Dex 10. Gotcha. Okay, the faerie fire you cast forward. The faerie fire you cast forward, hits towards there and vanishes into the darkness of the Wraith. It does not light anything on the ground surrounding within 10ft of that Wraith is not there. What's the radius on faerie fire though? It's a 60 foot range, but a 20 foot radius. Okay, so within that 10 foot radius of the Wraith, there is no sparkling whatsoever. However, you do manage to hit two zombies farther away from him. Oh, there's more who fail their save and therefore you get the advantage of on that. What about the little guy on the ground over here too? He's at the base of the tree. He is out of range of the 20 foot radius. If you were centering on the Wraith, it would have been. I was centering it. I wasn't centering it on the Wraith. Gotcha. Gotcha. Okay, in that case, let me roll for him as well. You got him as well. Hell yeah. Nice. Hell yeah. Nice. And we can all see those creatures now, right? You can see they're lit up. They. They emit a dim light now, so you can see within 10ft. And you get advantage on attacks against them. A fellow practitioner of the light, I see. How about it? He didn't knock over one of them. Look at that. Look at that. Baby, bring me a shuffleboard. Let's go. Karagan, you're on deck. By the way, Thimble. Great. Any bonus actions from you or anything else? I don't think I can do anything else. Oh, I'm gonna hide. Okay, go ahead. I'm gonna shimmy into the of that tree next to you. Should give me a stealth check. Okay. Yeah. You're tiny. Aggressively. 18. No wait, that's a lie. That's 16 plus 9. 25. 25. That's way better. So you see that as these undead lurch towards you here by this rotting necrotic tree, that the zombies lurch forward and you've seen effectively you take all of the glow on you and put it out there because you are fucking gone. It's just all this moonlight and crystal magic shoots off you, hits these three zombies that are marching towards you. And you are in the branches of that tree, completely obfuscated. All of your internal glow is dimmed. You're a shadow. Incredible. Katigan, that is you. Great. The top of the turn. Wulfric, nosy, exactly what to do. So he rips around straight to Cadogan's side like a well trained canine, right between his legs. And Cadigan just goes, now's the time. And they put their. They go forehead to forehead. It's really quick. And you can just feel this energy between them. And that empty quiver that has been on Wulfric's side the whole time starts to glow faint. And Kadigan's weapon starts to glow faintly. And in that quiver, this single bolt of white energy appears. And there is one bolt, magical bolt inside of this quiver. And then they push together as quickly as they can. And another red one starts to form. But it just doesn't happen. It just fucking fizzles out. And there's just the one magical bolt inside the quiver. And they break away. And Katican just goes. Good boy. And Wulfric takes off into the woods. And Katagan is the nearest enemy. This guy on the right? Yes. No, to me. Oh, to you. Probably this guy on the right. Yeah, probably this guy on the right over here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's going to look like he's going to close the gap to pull out his club and melee. And instead, as he's running toward it, out of his back, he pulls just a regular wooden bolt. Hell yeah. And for the first time ever, you see what this weapon is. It's not just a club. It's not just a blade. It's an atlatl handle. And carved into the notch of the wood is an atlatl handle. And he tucks in. At the same time, he hurls this thing as hard as he can at the nearest zombie. Hell yeah. Regular melee attack. Nothing magical about it. Ever seen one throw, see what happens? Hell yeah. Give me your attack roll, baby. Pretty decent. 17. That is a hit. Okay, cool. And then I1D8. Not great, but it is what it is. 7 plus 4. 11 points of piercing damage. Hell yes. You surge forward. You're back. As you approach north. And Timony, this is not your first time facing the dead in the dark forest, this bolt lodges itself. And you can just see. Even with their undead animation, muscle is still muscle. Sinew is still sinew. And you pin deep into the thigh, right in between where the groin meets the leg, shredding muscle and sinew. This thing hobbles to one side, still up, but lurching badly. You have bloodied this thing in a single hit as it lurches towards you. Which one did you hit? Right over here. You can see him. Hell yeah. That is going to be. It continues to lurch forward, however. Any bonus actions from that? No, I'll just consider Wulfric's movement the bonus action on that because we didn't employ his quiver reload, which is what it would be. But I'll say this for you and for the nerds, since this is a cooked up weapon that we worked on, it is reduced range from a bow. Cool. So it's not. I think it's 3060 for a bow. Is that right? You're the ogre, right? This weapon, because of its versatility, is a little nerfed in range. So it's 2040. Gotcha. So I gotta get within 20ft to make the dart throw. And that ends my turn. Hell yeah. To make the dart throw. Wick. That is you, my friend. I am a cleric of the Light. And as a cleric, I will activate my innate sorcery. My eyes glow. Just sort of overcome with the pressure and danger of the moment. I look at tyranny, unsure of what I'm doing. I've never really been in a fight. Your eyes are glowing. They are oh my. Oh my goodness. My eyes start glowing white. And I will charge forward trying to make her proud of me. And I'll bound forward and try to get these two glowy guys here in a cone in front of me. Great. So we're gonna go 5, 10, 15, 20, 25. You wanna get right up next to him and go 30? I think so. Because it's a 15 foot cone and I'd like to hit both of them. Yeah, let's see if. If I can. We're gonna call that 15, okay? Yeah, for sure. And I will cast. I don't hurt people. I don't like to hurt people. You do now, bitch. I disagree. And from my cane that's emitting light. The light will sort of increase and bubble out into. Into prismatic other colors that will dance around in front of me. And I will cast color spray on these two. And attempt to blind them. Hell yes. Great. What is the save that they make for color spray? Constitution 15. Let's go. The one at the far end is just almost outside enough that it makes the save. But the one right in front of you gets the full dose of it. Okay. So he or she or they are blinded. Let's see here. What does it say? Till the end of your next turn. That's right. They're blind. Hell yes. You see this one? This one fucking zombie in front of you has fairy fire and color spray. This is the most technicolor dream zombie Joseph. And is now fully blinded. Incredible. That is your bonus action. That's everything. That's everything. You here. Oh, the sun will never rise again. What? Too bad. What was that? Did everyone hear that? This. Oh God. This guy's so fast. That's not good. Oh God. The Wraith. Wraith is going to descend right here and is going to attack. Wick directed. Don't worry, they can't see me. That is a six. I've blinded them all. One. One second. Oh gosh. A lot of math. Oh yeah. There's lightning. More dice. Sorry. I should have cast this on you before the fight started. Not a problem. I need you should have. What? I should have casted the protective before we started. Stress is making me need to go pee. Go for it. Hurry up. Wait. Oh no, no, no. Okay, you already went. You already went. Don't worry. It'll all be over. Yeah. Uh, Wick, you take. Wait. Did you roll to hit? Yes. And I hit. What did you roll? What did I roll? On the die. Just what did you roll? Yes. Total. I rolled. Does a 14 hit. Oh, it would if I wouldn't. If I didn't cast shield and block it. Incredible. The shield raises your armor class to what, 17? 18 damage was coming your way. 18 damage with a stipulation. As this hand reaches out to you, you can tell that this attack on a. Before you shield the attack coming to you, this damage not only is necrotic damage, it lowers your HP maximum with each hit. Oh, my God. If your HP maximum is ever lowered to zero, you are instantly killed. Oh, I would like to lodge a 4 complaint. Formal complaint. Rejection. Yes. Just let it be known I object to this. I object to this. So, Wick, as you're creating light, pure darkness comes to you, raises a hand, and you can see that as you. Vroom. These glyphs emerge as they do this guttural thing in defiance of whatever happened earlier today, where you find this moment of deep belief to make everything grow. This is just a. And a pure purpose primal wing of light brow. Just bats this thing out of the way as a. And you see that this wraith's hand is severed through the forearm. No matter. Grows another one from pure shadow and smoke. Oh, no. Right away. Tyranny. Death itself now comes for Wicander. Haylovar, it is your turn. Quick question. Is there anything going on between demons and the undead? Is there any stuff that I should know, like alliances or. I don't know, maybe they like me. The reality is this. Give me a religion check. Oh, fuck. You have to, like. You gotta know your own stuff. Yeah, you can roll with advantage too. The wraith coming out almost dumped 18.5 damage in the wick. And a 1. Honestly, undead and demons are the best of friends. I mean, you're basically the same, right? What the fuck is the difference? All these fucking nerds. Taxonomy. What the fucking point? We're all monsters out here. They're all gonna live in the pit eventually. All right, I'm gonna come for the big guy, and I am going to cast Scorching Ray. Nice. At. Ooh, I'm gonna do all three at him. Hell yeah. Yeah. Go ahead and give me three attack rolls. 14, 4, and 11. Plus. Is there any. Yep, there's pluses. Oh, scorching ray. Plus. Plus seven. Okay, 18, 14. Plus seven is a lot. And seven. Eight. 19, 11, 21. So what are your three final rolls? 11, 21 and 18? Yeah, I think so. 21 and 18. Hit two of your scorches. Connect. Go ahead and roll damage. That'll be 4D6. Use Taliesin's dice. Okay. A 5 and a 6. 6 and a 3 and a 2. 5, 6, 3. 2. 11. 16. Death. No, no. I was looking at you. But I will smell. Great. Death looms over Wakander tyranny as you summon this fire. So, yeah, all of this aspirant shit is gone. Fire eyes. And you see fire. Tattered shrouds of necrotic fabric catch fire. And you can see that you do successfully injure this wraith as it turns to gaze at you. Two pinpoints of red light flash out from the shadowy hood. That is your action. Any bonus action from you? Any movement from you as well? Yeah. I'm coming up to join Wicked. And that's it, baby. Hell yeah. You rush to get into melee. Any bonus action? I have my claws. Oh, you have your claws out. Great. Perfect. Great. I can attack as a bonus. No, I don't think. Because you cast a spell. Yeah. So, Tyrion, that is your turn. Teor Pride, sire. That is you. Yeah, You'll. Now that I see that Wicked is in a severe amount of danger. You want to hex this wraith? Yeah. Go for it. Yeah. Hell yeah. He won't take. It's necrotic, which he probably won't take. But he gets a disadvantage and that's a cantrip. Yeah, I love it. So it's necrotic damage that you deal. Yeah. But I do get to pick a disadvantage, I think. Oh, yeah. What kind of disadvantage do you want to get? Dex, can I pull the team? Dex? Dex. Let's say Dex. I love it. Hell yes. So you are going to. And this is. Are you Hexblade subclass or no or what is this? I am pact of the blade now. New rules. Pact of the blade. Gotcha. Cool, cool, cool. Great sub. So he has disadvantage on dexterity. I love that. Teor, that is your turn. Yeah. I will rush forward, seeing that Wick is in danger now. My charge. My oath in my head. And you'll feel this rush of wind and just a blur as New York. Well, we'll jump forward and you'll see this. This flash of like, golden metal as I pull this solid flail out from beneath my cape. But you hear it go as it kind of like disconnects along the shaft. And I will swing down this flail on top of where this wraith is. Hell yes. Is it a magic flail or is it a regular flail? It's just a regular flail. It was the first badass. Just a badass flail. Wait, I have your flail. Wait, you're you're going this side too. I have your flail. What do you mean you gave it back? I gave it back? I gave it back. Interestingly enough, you gave it back. That's amazing. That is 20. 22 to hit. 22 is a hit. Amazing. I am going to also use my bonus action to, in that arc, pump a Paladin Smite. A Divine Smite into this hit. Hell yeah. As well. So I'll do the One D8 first, which is not gonna. I'm gonna use. I have this ability, Savage attacker to reroll this damage die, which is a one, which is total ass. Nice. That's seven on the flail hit. Seven plus. What's your strength? Strength is plus two. Okay, gotcha. Awesome. So you deal nine points of bludgeoning damage, and let's calculate the smite now. Yes. The Paladin smite, which I will use two D8 Radiant damage, plus an additional D8 if the target is a fiend or an undead. Ooh, nice. That's a good. All right. Don't you get to re roll that one? No, I only get to do it once. Once per turn. 13 points of radiant damage. Ooh, dang. You see that radiant damage of the things that pass through here? You can see that as your flail comes out. Once again, this light comes to you. Wick looking at Teyr in this moment, he once again summons the light into himself in a way that defies explanation to you. Boom. That flail connects, and you see that the wraith puts up a hand and it passes through and collides with the darkness in the center of his chest. And for a moment, you see a gaunt, skeletal, shrieking face. It's the first time you've seen a face under the hood in that moment of light, shrieking pain and torment. That radiant damage really scored a hit on this creature. And as a feature of the weapon mastery using the flail, it has a SAP feature where if you hit a creature with a flail, the creature has disadvantage on its next attack roll before the start of my next turn. Hell yes. Awesome. That is going to be the undead surrounding you with all the light. You guys. We're all just siphoning off angels. What's your story? We're the good guys. 1520. Not me, though. One of the zombies shambles and closes into melee, but has to use its action to dash. Their speed is very slow, but still closes on Wick. The other is going to take an attack. Which one? This one here? That is. Oh, let's see. That was a nat 18 on the dice and a 4 on the die. Takes a wild haymaker and misses my. This one is going to bud to the ground. This one also closes around one, but doesn't. Yeah, but does not have the movement necessary to. I'm hearing voices again. Ah, his name is Nick. My mistake. My middle name is actually Nick Wickander. Nickander Nicholas Haylavar. Okay, two are taking attacks on Wulfric. What's his armor class? Really? Ooh, on the pups I'm Pretty sure it's 15, but let me double check just so I'm not wrong. Okay. Yeah, it is 15. Okay. That is two hits for four and then nine damage as the scruff jaw begin to. And you see they just fight. One of them just collapses on top of Wulfric, getting his arms around and begins to gnaw into the jaw of the wolf. And as that happens, moving in from the treeline, even more undead. Oh yeah. Entering into dim, dim light. And you see out just in the area of the dim light, even another wolf, zombified, begins to lope in this tree. Do we need to be doing something more than this fucking Wraith? What are we doing? That is the zombie's turn. However, I cannot indicate how much worse the next zombie turn is going to be given how many of them had to spend their turn closing distance, which they now have. Wow. Oh God. That is going to be Fimble's turn. I don't hurt people. From my vantage point within the branches, could I tell if the non magical damage was doing anything to the Wraith? Nothing that has happened to the Wraith has been ineffective. Okay. The radiant damage was effective. Extra. Yes. Okay. Okay. Okay. Then from up above I will fly down behind the Wraith and charging with my new giant blade. I'm going to try to ram it into the side of the head first. Hell yes. Go for it. Okay. Go for it. Go ahead and give me an attack roll. And there's no. I don't think you're getting advantage on this. Unless actually you could flank. Yeah, I'll flank so that I can. Hell yeah. Go ahead. Go ahead and give me your attack roll. Okie dokie. Okie dokie. Seems fine. Okay. 18. 18. 18 is a hit. Yes. Okay. And here's where something very cool happens because there's no cheese here. You guys took a shot, short rest, which is as long as you need to attune to a new magical weapon. And you had no idea going into this fight that this would be the case. You Made the choice totally on your own. The toy sword, as Ulbin said, was given to his daughter to get rid of nightmares and other things, and deals an extra 2d6 damage to Incorporeal foes. Really? Yes. So you will roll an extra 2d6 on this attack. Did not know that until you used it. That's so cool. That's rolling 5D6. Because of the sneak attack too. Because of sneak attack. You're rolling 5D6. Wow. Okay. Oh, that's good. Oh yeah, that's so good. Okay, wait, so that's 12, 22, 23 points. 23 points of damage plus 6. Cause of the extra damage of just the regular attacks. Oh my God. Okay, plus. And then six from. So 23. So 29. No. Oh, 29. 23 goes to 29. But that other half is slashing, so that will get reduced. But you guys see this thing is shrieking at the light thimble as you describe what's on going with you. As you surge out of that tree, as I start to surge toward it, the light within me starts to build back up. So you just from the darkness this bright light starts to grow. And as I get close to the back of its head, it shifts around and I'm going to aim directly between the. Into the red eye, into the red eyes. One of its red eyes turns around and you. And as you hit fireworks like those that Ulbit has. Has waited years and never had a chance to fire shoot out of this thing's eye socket as this sword, made of tinsel and filled with play and dreams, stabs into his fucking wraith's eye as it goes his firework shoot out of it. It is still up, but has moved from fearsome to bloodied and removed from combat as it is reeling from this strike. Unbelievable. Any bonus action? Yeah, I'll hit it again. Oh, shit. I have a two handed attack, so I will hit with my rapier. Okay. Hell yeah. You have your own two weapons attack. Two. Gotcha. Unless you want this to count as a single. No, no, no, no. That's all good. Also there's a different. I don't know if you. Did you shift weapon masteries or no, because this thing has a different scimitars have a different weapon mastery as well. Good to know. I just took it and used it as I. As you should. In that case, yes you can. If I cannot do another attack. No, you absolutely can't. Matt always let us do things. Don't help me. My other dad says it's totally cool. No no, no, you're good to go. I will say that because you have not gotten a chance to train with this, you can have not adopted the new weapon mastery. For after this combat, you will get a chance to do that. Okay, go ahead and take your extra attack with your rapier. Okay, cool. That's a regular. Just kidding. Goodbye. Unless it was good. All right, that is a 23. 23 hits. Go ahead and roll. 20 damage. Okay, that is. Ooh, that's an 11 additional points. Hell yes. So you come through with this fucking tinsel, claymore, fireworks, and as this thing reels back, come with a pin and just like it's this fabric head, just fucking pin its hood and hear the crack of something underneath it. Even incorporeal, there's some shriek as this fairy brings the fight. Many years ago, the realm of death sought to stab at the heart of fairy, and the heart of Faerie is fucking stabbing back. Kadigan, that is going to be your turn. I'm going to fly up because with my fancy footwork, I can get away without any attack backs. That's right. And you have a space to attack from where you're not in attack of opportunity because you've attacked him and you're outside. Yep. You stab this guy twice in the head and fly straight up. And he can't do about it. Awesome. Nimbly. Bimbly. Bimb. That was the Wraith. That was the Wraith. He's still alive. Yeah. He's bloodied. Is he? I don't know. Yes, he is bloody. You can tell in the the one two of Teor. And Thimble has moved him from I am going to kill all of you to. This is a bad start to the night. That is going to be Khadigan. That is your turn. Yeah. All this crazy shit's going down, buddy. He's just locked in on his homie, watching Wulfric take 13 points of damage. Is that right? Nine and four. That roughs him up pretty bad. And as he threw this first dart on his first turn, he was closing the distance while he was running at this zombie on the side, and he switched. He just kind of flips the weapon in his hand and continues sprinting toward this fucking guy right here. And after he sees Wulfric take that damage, he's just screaming as he goes in and he will take a swing with his club. But because I have Vex and it was hit with a dart, I should get advantage on this attack because technically it's versatile ranged weapons. Let's do it, baby. Who doesn't know how to play D and D? Let's go. Not even gonna need it. That's. Ooh, the two I might need. But my first one was a 13, so I did it. Context. No, I didn't. Sorry. 13. Why do I forget? You rolled a 13 on the die. Naturally on the first one. On the first one plus six. That is a hit. Okay, so that is eight plus four. Four. You good? Not great. Seven. This is the one you hit before. Correct. This is the one I hit before. Correct. This is the one that I hit with the dart, the ski, the thin guy. So you're dealing seven damage to this one. That's okay. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Hold on a second. Features and traits. Tell me I know this character. I have some kind of special trait where I get to reroll my damage dice. Savage attacker will have per turn. I can reroll my damage dice twice and use either roll. Yeah, I'm gonna hope it's better. It is distinctly worse. Great. Still seven. Still seven. Okay. You see now, everything you know about fighting zombies. They are easy to hit. They are hard to take down. Yeah. And he's going to roll eight. A constitution saving throw on a nine or higher. Even though you reduce him to zero, you only reduce him to one. Oh, no. So be bad. I'll roll it in front of the board for dramatic effect. You want an 8 or lower. That is a 10. So you thud into him. You see? Stays at one hit point. Just clinging. Clinging to unlife here. That is your action. Any bonus action. Anything Wulfric is doing. I mean, all Wulfric could do would be attack. But I would have to sacrifice my attack to make that happen, if I'm not mistaken. Oh, for Primal Companion. Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Yeah. You know, for your. Are you having trinket flashbacks? I'm having trauma right now. Yeah. Yeah, I love it. No. Oh, yes, sure. For my bonus action then I'll use Hunter's mark on the. The fuck? The bigger guy that's got us on the Wraith. Or on the. Or the bigger guy. Next guy over here. We're in our own tussle over here on the big guy. Hunter's mark on the big dude. Great. Hunter's mark goes on him. Awesome. Oh, because then you get an extra that D6 damage I should have during the turn. Thank you, my Ranger Queen. I learned that lesson. I love it. Wick, that's going to be you, baby. I'm scared, man. Never say it out Loud. I'm scared, and I'm worried that this gentleman might. This gentleman. This gentleman might come after me. I'm going to let you know right now. Run away. In. In. We are having a ball, and I am so psyched for this combat. This guy can full stop kill you one hit, no sweat. Sure, sure, I understand. Wait, the Spectre guy or the Spectre. Okay, okay, okay. If he gets lucky, he can do you in one too. But he can specifically do you in one hit. I'll say. Statistically, I believe in the light, and the light will guide me. You said he was bloodied, though. So he's half the light from my cane and from my eyes and from the color spray before sort of starts to coalesce. And I just want to pin him down and keep him here. So I will cast Hailuvar's luminous lash, which is just a reskinned earthen grasp, but light coalesces around him and forms from the ground and will sort of lash around him like a whirlwind of light. Hell, yeah. I'm going to heighten this spell with my cleric ability. Sorcery points, and I'm going to heighten the spell, give him disadvantage on the DC6. Sixteen save. And he's making. What kind of save is he making here? It is a strength save. Strength save. It's a DC15. But because I've activated my sorceress thing, it's a 16. DC16. DC16. And he's making it with disadvantage, I believe. So that's what a heightened spell does, right? Yeah, sure. I never took heightened spell. Oh, you didn't? I think it imposes disadvantage for two sorcery points. So you are putting everything into this. You're using your innate sorcery. You're bumping the dc. You're giving him disadvantage, you're summoning the light. And thus he won't be able to attack you when you run away if he has that going on. And it should deal some damage. You have picked an excellent saving throw for an incorporeal foe to hit a DC of 16, he needs to roll an 18 on the die and he needs to roll it twice. Good thing about it. Rolling two. 18, 15. He's already failed. And then go ahead and roll damage, correct? Yes. I grab him with this lash of light. I wasn't intending on hurting the lad. Just kill him. But it causes eight points of damage. Hell yeah. Of bludgeoning damage. Of blessing as you surround him in the light. Go ahead and give me. I want. Give me intimidate. Or persuasion. As you're doing this, whatever you're doing, what's going through your heart as you're doing this spell? You said you don't kill people. Hey, baby, your life's different. Your life's different. Okay? Kill. Which is already killed. All my light. All my light. All my life, I've been taught that there is is shadow, and there is good shadow, and there is light. And the light must burn away the shadow. And this guy is walking shadow to me, and I just want to sort of burn him away. I love it. Looking away. Go ahead and give me intimidate or persuasion here. Persuasion's a better stat, but I want to intimidate him. Okay, that's 15. 15. As you look away, you see, he says, you see this wraith now being bound with these cords of light, and they start to illuminate a face. The face looks at you and goes, you wish to burn me away? I do. I was promised paradise. And on a 15 intimidate, it does not work. You look at him as you see something in him, and you see, clattering through his robes, now illuminated, some ancient holy symbol around him. The dead body of a cleric who has. Has been scraping across the centuries to find a paradise that he believed in just as much as you. This is very poetic for you. This is cute. Turn day is not going well. And that is his turn. He's not dead. He's not dead. No, he is not. Sir, can you back away? Can you back away? I can. I'm gonna use my movement to back away. Okay. Does your spell. You are at this. Pins him to the spot. It pins him to the spot, but he can still get a swing on you, I believe. Sure. So if you. And also, you've got zombies surrounding you right now. If you back away, you're gonna take multiple swipes from attack of opportunity. Oh, boy. Grow them wings. Fly straight up. Oh, can I fly? You're not feeling it right now, baby. Like two years from now. I used my bonus action, right? No, I didn't. Wait, sorceress, you bumped it to 16, right? Sorcery points. Is that a bonus action or is that just a free action? Free action. So I still have a bonus action, but I already cast a spell. I don't know how you as a GM works. I can't cast a second spell this round. Not okay. Have you been. You can cast a cantrip. I can cast a can as long as it's a bonus action. As long as it's a bonus action, which I Don't think you have. There's no. Like. I don't. No. I guess I will stand and take it. Have you been hit yet? No. How many hit points do you have? Full. 20. Full God. 20. So we are going to. We are going to roll in front of the board. Oh, my God. You're going to die. What? He. He hasn't hit me yet. He. What's your. Your AC right now is 12. He hits you. I'll just tell you, cuz this is going to be so bad. He hits you with 12. He hits you on a six or higher. Okay? It's a natural one. Don't hex or not. Shalon don't like Ernest goes to Camp. You are blessed. Get out of here. Blessed. Oh, boy. Your life sounds pretty. So bad. Mine's gonna be amazing. Double snooze. You know what? As he swings at me, I eat a strawberry. Yes. Beautiful. And the Wraith, surrounded by enemies, cannot fucking move. He is restrained. Restrained for the spell's duration. Wow. Cool. Hell yes. This Wraith is now in a tight fucking spot. Tyranny. That is your turn. Okay. Casting Hex as my bonus action. Last time. That's both of my spell slots, right? I believe so, yeah. Shit. Okay. Oh, shit. Aw, shit. All right. Yeah. Warlock baby. You have Eldritch blast. You had no claw. I'm gonna. Oh, I'm gonna blast his ass. Well, actually question before I ask, Boston. Will that affect my friends who are in the immediate vicinity? No, it will not. Okay, great, Eldritch. Blah, blah, blah, blah. Okay, go ahead. Give me an attack roll. Because he is bound. I actually believe that you have advantage on this attack. Hell yeah. Five. You're good. Is that a nine or. That's a nine? Yes. Plus. Plus what? Plus plus. It'll say on spell. Where'd I go? Where'd I go? Plus seven. Plus seven. Nine plus seven. That is 16. That is a hit. Oh, go ahead. Go ahead and roll. Damage from this will be force damage. You're gonna roll. One. D10. Oh, D10. Come on, baby. I'll use this dice yet. Come on. Five. Five. You reach out and searing demonic energy connects. You see that? This figure looks. And you crack the holy symbol on his chest in half as it clatters to the ground. It doesn't do anything else, does it? It does extra damage, but it's necrotic damage, which you can see is being sort of absorbed by the Wraith. And his Dex saves. Don't really do anything now that he's just fully bound right now that he's fully bound. Yeah. That is tyranny. That is your turn, Teor. That is going to be your turn. Come on. Kill him. Kill him. I'm coming up. The flail is taking a second swing. We're just going to go right. And you'll be rolling with advantage as well, just due to Wick's spell. That's fucking incredible. That is 15 plus 5. Pillow plus 4 is 19 to hit. 19 is a hit. Amazing. Okay, so I'm going to. I'm gonna dump my other divine smite into this one as well. So this is a 1D8 plus two. I'm gonna re. Roll that. That was ass. Six points of damage, plus two for strength. Okay. And then I'm gonna do the other divine smite, which is the first level divine smite that I have, not the Paladin smite. This is 2D 8, 5, 10. 10 points of radiant damage on top of that, plus an additional D8 because he's undead. 7, 17 points of radiant damage. Teor, how do you want to do this? Amazing. Yeah. Seeing. Seeing the barrage of hits coming in the flail almost like Godzilla's scales, like, start to glow with radiant light. And I'm almost confused by it. And I swing up and just crack into the middle, catching that. That dark, shadowy core of where the specter used to to be. And rip up and through all of this radiant light shooting out and dispersing the shadow. As you hear, the wraith is dispersed. Teor, as you connect with that final smite, you sever the shadow from this plane. And you can see as it goes away, you see the rotting face in the smoke looking out, flying away from you towards an endless plain of sallow gray rock under a black sky. Smoke, soot, ash. As you send this spirit back to an underworld, bursting at its seams with spirits of the restless dead. As this thing is banished, you know you have done what you must, defend your friends. You look down and see the shattered holy symbol on the ground. It begins to rust, corrode, vanish. And as it does, you hear, distantly, A roar muffled with pain. And that wooden lion's head on your belt burns into your side. What. What is that? In the center of the tree's trunk, a red rune appears in some ancient writing of the old Obra Demian Empire. I don't know if anyone here speaks celestial or has he ability to speak celestial, but I don't. But give me a religion check if you want to. I don't, but I would like to. Well, I was gonna ask you after this session once. Let's go away. Maybe you should give me a religion check real quick. Religion check. 17. 17. You look and see it comes. You have not formally studied this language but you somehow you understand it. You look at it your grandpa's. And you look at this rune and see that it is beginning to grow across the tree and inscribe a name on a 17. Religion check. This is something like a vampire's coffin or a Lich's talisman, right? It is effectively. It's housing something. It's housing. This is the hole that the Wraith crawled out of the underworld from. And that rune is. Is calling it back from the underworld where Teor just sent it. Oh. But you look and see that tree is basically. It's like a tap in the world. Its roots reach into the realm of death. And it's trying to draw that same Wraith back. Right. So that tree is the problem. Right. But the Wraith is destroyed. That is going to be the zombie. Zombies turn. I thought that was it. They would all die. But with him. Not a chance. Wait. Do I get my 8 temporary hit points from the death. Yes, you do. Oh. Oh. If it's. If it is still. Is anybody hurt? Like hurting Wulfric. Aren't you? Oh, Wulfric is hurt. Are you? How far away is Wulfric? Wow. Pretty far. A dance between the rangers. Not far. This is the first 20ft. Maybe the first time for this. Within 30ft. Is Wulfrick 30ft for me? I think he's within 30ft. Yeah, I think so. Here to here. Yeah. Immediately after I cast Divine Smite, you can expend one of my channel divinities to distribute two D8 plus three temporary hit points to creatures of your choice within 30ft. Including myself. Hell yeah, I do. Yeah. Go ahead and roll those temp HP and assign them where you wish. Three attacks are coming for you. Some of them are going to hit. Are you casting shield? Probably. Probably. Okay. I probably should. Yes. Okay. Although I'm. Yeah. I still have a couple spell slots. Okay. You cast shield once more and repel all three attacks. Five, ten. Fifteen. Twenty. This one closes on you. There are now four zombies surrounding Wick. This one is going to close on teor. 5, 10, 15. Okay. Two are coming for Teor. Okay. That's gonna be how many Hitlers he took 13. And he's only got 20. So he's only got seven left. Take as many as you all the way up. You tell me. Yeah. What do you want to get full 13. Serious? Yeah. For 13 for Wolf 45. Yeah. I'm glad you like my dog. Wulfrick gets hit for eight points of damage. Hey, thanks. You just saved his life. There you go. Is anybody else hurt? Nope, nope, nope. Remarkably not. Don't worry, the zombies will take care of that. Travis, you get close, clock twice. Yikes. For six and then four points of damage. So ten points of damage. As you take care of the wraith. You see these zombies launch. One of them hits you for six points of damage. Has his arms at the ready, but just cocks his whole body back and thuds his head into your face. Just the side of his head smashes into your snout. Boom. As you take that down, they just instantly damage you. They don't roll to hit or anything? No, they've been. He's been hitting. Oh, amazing. I have all your guys armor classes and everything. Everything back here. Which is why we're. We're moving past that quickly. Sometimes Fimble, that is going to be your turn. Okay, as I'm looking at these zombies, do any of them look fresh? Like Sid. Oh God. You are. Give me an investigation, girl. No, I mean what? You would have put out a lion mini. You would for sure put out a 18. 18. You don't see Sid on an 18 investigation. The zombie that just thudded its head into Taylor opens its mouth. Its long tongue lolls out over rotting teeth. The stink of abscesses. You see a giant pus filled blister in between the cheek and the mouth. And back behind the uvula, a small glowing red rune exactly matching the tree here. You think that the tree is what's keeping the zombies animated in this moment. Burn that tree. Burn that tree. Scorchy. However it is your turn. And you can tell that a couple more. Another round of this, someone's going to drop. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. I don't have any fire. All my spell slots. Do I even like I have. Wait, I gotta think. Clear. Supplies, thieves, tools. Do I have anything on me? Like adventure kit wise? Does it like create fire? Yeah, they have like. I have a lantern. But you have a lantern on you. Yeah, but I mean it's not lit. It's not lit. Yeah. Let's take a look here. Thimble in your inventory. I don't know if I. I think you should have an adventurer. Yeah. If you do not already. But it's up to you. As you are surging forward in this moment, I think on you, but also with your size, I don't think you have anything like oil or an accelerant? I think you have flint and tinder, but I don't think you have anything like an accelerant. But you can also delay your turn. Initiative if you want to. If you want to collaborate with someone else. And the lantern probably has kerosene in it or something. Yeah, Fire. I need fire to the rain. All right, Thimble, do you want to delay your turn until someone else can supply you with what you need? Yeah, can I? I will. Oh, he's at the very bottom. Cat, do you have, like. Do you have a lantern on you? Anything? I have oil and flint. That's about it. Okay, I need you to toss me your oil on your. After me. Right. I'm gonna delay my turn until cat can keep me honest. Give me one second. Yeah, I've got oil in a tinder box. Flip. Okay. Hell yeah. So Kaddigan goes right after you, and the Wraith is out of combat. So, Thimble, you can absolutely Katican, you toss it through the air. Give me a DC10 acrobatics as you toss this thing through the air. Oh, acrobatics. Okay. Fingers crossed. There we go. Dingies, foam. My. My God. Can you guide yourself? That's a four. But my acrobatics is a six. Hey, DC 10, baby. The nimbly Bimbly old man. So you. Thimble's on the other side of this tree from you, so you just volley hook this thing over this pine tree. Thimble, you see it cascading through the air. Grab it. You are good to go. You have your full turn. Fly forward and chew the. Where the glyph was on. On the tree. Some of the dry, viney sort of situation. I'm just going to try to and light the thing on fire, using your object action to just dump the oil out all over the tree. You look out. Hearing the shambling of the dead flying up the highest you have in this battle. You look out. Oh, God. At hundreds of bodies. Jeez. Brought in the forest. The oil comes pouring down the tree. I'm gonna need a difficulty 15 sleight of hand. Lighting a fire with flint and tinder is not super easy. Yeah. So this will be a DC15 sleight of hand. Come on. That's a 25. Let's go, baby. Finally, Thimble getting down as fast as you can in the vines. Oil pouring down within these vines. The skeletons of squirrels and rats and mice, some human skulls throughout. And you see desiccated gossamer wings. It's time to go home. As you strike the flint behind you on your back, the toy sword, a bottle rocket. Right? As you strike the flint sparks into the tree. And you look at the restless dead searching for a home. And the words welcome home written in many bright colors race through the oil. As fire of every color under the sun races over the tree. As the oil touches the room, all of the undead fall to rest. You have won this combat. Oh my God. Damn, that is welcome home. Nice play. That's amazing. And as the fire spreads and casts its light, teor you look from side to side. As the heat fades from the lion head, you look see them falling. You don't know what this could mean. The light that Wick can shine. The light coming from your flail here in the dark forest. The light spreads from fireworks and flame itself illuminating of glade. With no sight of your brother, his body does not lie among the now restful dead. Where he is and whether Subri's vision of the fate that might await him is true, we will have to discover on next week's episode of Critical Role. Oh my God. Hell yes. Hell yes. Oh my God. What an incredible. Are we out? No, no, we're not out. I've been told that we get a few moments of banter. That seems so natural. Yes, of course. Understand this. I'm authentic and I'm fun. Understand that above all else. Okay. I do love that with hundreds of zombies in the periphery. You said rest assured they can just take you out if you're like, you guys are on the cusp. Holy shit, Sam Wick popped off. What the hell popped off? We were popping off left and right and there'll be more popping off. And I just want to say, from bottom of my heart, is it Thursday yet? Yeah, there it is. Thanks for listening to this episode of Critical Role. If you're enjoying this story, consider leaving a review on your podcast platform of choice. We're always looking for new critters to share our adventures with, and your review may help a new batch of wayward souls find their way to Ahriman, Exandria and beyond. Or if you want to hear what the cast discussed after the episode, head to Beacon TV and check out our exclusive show Critical Role Cooldown. 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