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Critical Role
Oaths & Ash | Critical Role Indianapolis Live Show 2025 Part 1
02:19:35
Part 1 Dangerous forces gather as members of Bells Hells deal with their dark bargains and deadly debts mounting to be collected. Featuring the founding cast of Critical Role, Robbie Daymond, and Game Master Matthew Mercer; this show is our very first one-shot set in the world of Exandria and powered by Darrington Press’s roleplaying game: Daggerheart. DAGGERHEART Daggerheart is OUT NOW! Visit https://daggerheart.com to learn more. Purchase your copy at friendly local game stores, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other bookstores, or Critical Role shops: US: https://shop.critrole.com UK: https://shop.critrole.co.uk EU: https://shop.critrole.eu AU: https://shop.critrole.com.au CA: https://canada.critrole.com BEACON We’re excited to bring you even MORE with a Beacon membership! Start your 7-day free trial today at https://beacon.tv/join and get unparalleled access to the shows you love completely ad-free! You’ll receive NEW Beacon exclusive series, instant access to VODs & podcasts, l...
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Fidelity Active ETFs have the flexibility to shift and transform as markets do the same. So instead of just riding an index, they can seek to outperform it by adapting to market conditions and pursuing new opportunities as they emerge. And while you get the potential outperformance of an actively managed fund, you can still buy and sell it on your terms. Just like any other etf. Markets can change in real time. Make sure your ETF can too. Learn more@fidelity.com ActiveETFs before investing in any exchange traded fund, you should consider its investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. Contact Fidelity for a prospectus, an offering circular, or if available, a summary prospectus containing this information. Read it carefully. While active ETFs offer the potential to outperform an index, these products may more significantly trail an index as compared with passive ETFs. ETFs are subject to market fluctuation and the risks of their underlying investments. ETFs are subject to management fees and other expenses Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC Member NYSE SIPC Going Up Prices Keep Going up these days it feels like being on an elevator that only goes up going up. But not at Metro. We're pushing the down button. Going down we've lowered prices. Get one line of 5G data for $40 period. That's 20% lower and you get a free Samsung 5G phone when you bring your number only at Metro. Five year guarantee on eligible plans Exclusion supplies. See website for details. Not available FAB Metro with T Mobile in the past six months Tax Supplies at Designer Shoe Warehouse we believe that shoes are an important part of, well everything from first steps to first dates, from all nighters to all time personal bests from building pillow forts to building a life for all the big and small moments that make up your whole world. DSW is there and we've got just the shoes. Find a shoe for every you from brands you love at brag worthy prices at your DSW store or dsw.com hey there critter Podcast listeners. We have a special new membership service at Beacon TV where you get early access to all new podcast episodes including Critical Role. For the first time ever. Beacon members also get things like live event pre sales merch discounts, access to a private community discord and new exclusive series like Critical Role Cooldown. Think of it as our digital creative Critical Role land. Head on over to Beacon TV to check it out for yourself and start a seven day free trial. Thank you so much for your support for being a podcast listener and for being part of our community hey there, critters. This is Ashley Johnson and Telus and Jeffe. And we're popping in here to talk about our new podcast on Beacon, Weird Kids. In this series, we're diving into our lives as former child actors. From unraveling our eccentric upbringings to embracing all the delightfully odd interests we still have. Today, we're covering so many topics like antique toys, taxidermy, Japanese pop culture, and honestly, anything else we come up with. Weird Kids is available exclusively on Beacon. But good news, we're offering a one month free trial on Beacon TV so you can take a look before you become a member. Just use the code weirdosacon TV to start the trial. You can also find fellow weirdos by following the series on our heirdkids pod Instagram and using the hashtag weirdkids. So, to all the misfits, outcasts and weirdos out there, come take a seat at our table and celebrate all things unconventional, nostalgic and wonderfully weird. Welcome to Weird Kids. New episodes release every Tuesday. Hey there, it's Liam o'. Brien. And welcome to the Critical Role Podcast Network. We're stoked you're here and thanks for making our stories part of your day. You're listening to part one of this episode right now, and part two will arrive this upcoming Tuesday. If you'd rather listen to the full episode right now and without any ads, consider becoming a Beacon member. You'll receive access to exclusive content discounts at all our online Critical Role shops, exclusive pre sales for live events, and much more. Start your seven day free trial today at Beacon tv. Well, that should cover it. Now let's dive into the adventure. Ten years ago, eight people sat around a table to tell a story. A story that grew into a remarkable, life changing thing. And that thing grew into another thing, but bigger and faster. And that thing evolved into several other groundbreaking things. Things that those eight people never could have imagined in their wildest, most synergistic dreams. I am one of those people. Hi, my name is Matthew Mercer and I want to speak to you about our new Tabletop rpg, Daggerheart. We are so deeply pleased with its reception and success and we can't wait to share all the magical things we have in store for you from our Romantasy campaign Frame, the Homebrew Kit, our Class pack, Kickstarter, our upcoming partnerships with people like heroforge, Legends of Avantress, Dungeons and Daddies. And that's not all. Oh, oh, oh, you're too kind. You're too kind. Interstate. Hello, I am Travis Willingham. CEO of Critical Role. And one of these things that I want to speak to you about is Beacon, our glorious membership service. None of this could have been possible without the love of our glorious Beacon Bits. Our seamless weird kids, our cool midsties, all our stellar friends at Stinky Dragon. All of you. Travis. Travis, Travis. We talked about this. This is supposed to be my thing. What the hell are you dressed as, Matthew? I'm the CEO. That means I get to wear the white kicks in the turtleneck at the keynote. Well, I'm the Chief Creative Officer, so I get to. Listen, Matthew. Or should I call you Mark? Let's not turn this into a turtleneck measurement comparison thing, okay? We are just getting started. Yes. You see, in just a few brain meltingly amazing months, we will be at Radio City Music hall in New York City for Ford and Jester's wedding. And in 2026, we have a totally bricked up slate of live shows coming to you all. Starting with Atlanta in May, Berlin and Edinburgh in July, London in October, and finishing it out with Fort Worth in December. So please join us for a totally poor cleansing paradigm, pulverizing powerhouse of performances. Travis, her superlatives are better than ours. I know, but she has like three turtlenecks. Yeah, that's correct. That is because according to business science, I, Marisha Ray, the Creative Director of Critical Role, am the true alpha of this keynote address. Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt. But as the Creative Director and Game Director for Darrington Press, we are thrilled. Thrilled. I tell you about all of the announcements made this week and we can't wait to share with you all what we have cooking up. But we were wondering if, I'm sure you're all wondering too, if we could ask Matthew about Campaign four. So, hey, Matthew, can you tell us about Campaign four? You know, I'd love to career me, but how about instead I show you now? Now, I don't want you all to worry. While I'm not GMing the next campaign, I will be a player in it forever. DM no more. I will be playing alongside my favorite familiar faces and a number of newer ones that I cannot wait to reveal to you in the very near future. It's exciting soon enough. Trust me. It's sooner than you think. Okay, okay, okay. Wait, wait, wait though. So just to be clear, you're not GMing? No. Okay, wait. Chris and Jeremy, are you DMing? No. My stars, no. So if you're not DMing and you're not DMing, who's GMing? Well, they actually happen to be in the building. You want me to bring them out? Well, critters, let's bring to the stage the GM for campaign four, Brennan Lee. Mull it. Ten years ago, I was a struggling improviser riddled with medical debt from my fucked up teeth. But I was aware of this thing called critical Role. I watched it, I loved it. The game stories shared by these amazing friends. And I was lucky enough to meet working backstage on a little show called, um, actually Meet Matt Mercer. And I will never forget, as long as I live, the kindness and the friendship that happened to form in that moment and has continued ever since. It is a privilege, an honor and a gift. And if you guys are ready for your next epic adventure, make some noise. So that's exciting. Genuinely, we're so happy to have you all here tonight. We're so happy for all the things we have in store for you for the next ten years to come. But please enjoy the rest of your evening here amongst friends and family. And let's go ahead and jump into tonight's episode of Critical Role. It's Thursday night. One by one we climb until we reach the top. Two by two we fall. Will we beat our rental beat? Meet our destiny? Hold your breath and roar. How do you want to do this? It's Thursday night. All ye critters, come join us. It's time to continue our flight. There is magic and mystery. Who knows what will happen? He might. But one thing's for sure, we never give up on the fight. From the healer to the renegade, we all share the same goal. Adding more allies, taking more chances. Hold your breath and roll. You can certainly try. It's Thursday night. All ye critters, come join us. It's time to continue our last. There is magic and mystery. From darkness our friendship will rise. But one thing's for sure, we never give up on the fight. Oh, get ready. It's Thursday night. Thank you. We love you, too. Yes, the feeling is mutual, Especially you folks in the first row. You'll all get wet. We're out here just to give a couple announcements before we roll out the cast and get this show started. How does that sound? All right. Hell, yeah. So first of all, please, please, please, please silence your cell phones. Second, no flash photography. Third, please do not post spoilers on the Internet. And finally, no call outs, because none of you know Daggerheart as well as Matthew Mercer. All right, shall we bring them out? Are we good? Thumbs up. Thumbs up. Yes. All right, all right. Welcome to the stage, Ashley Johnson, Laura Bailey, Liam o' Brien Taliesin, Jaffe, Sam Riegel, Robbie Damon, Travis Willing, Marisha Ray, and Matthew Mercer. Break. Also. Thank you both. Oh. All right. Well, first things first. Get a little housekeeping here done. Since this is Daggerheart, I have eight players. That means I start the game with eight Fear. Hey, I didn't make up the rules. Oh, wait. I kind of helped do that. So I have a little housekeeping too. In Daggerheart as a halfling, every session, everyone in the party gains a hope. Cause Orym Best boy. La dee da. All right, then, where we last left off? Having traveled to the island of Evatarina within the Shattered Teeth, in pursuit of the still at large mastermind and villain, Ludinus Dileth Bells Hels and the Mighty Nein found themselves themselves split between the physical world and a spiritual layer. Between realms, their crews scattered, seeking answers. Divided as they may be, they found an ally in the mysterious Ethel Rivergold, a being who straddled both layers of reality. With one crew climbing to the peak of the Time Locked and Sundered mountain and the other delving within its spiritual depths, Bells, Hells and the Mighty Ninth discovered a nightmarish entity that was corrupting and spreading chaos from both realms. Upon the entity's destruction, the two separated. Ethel River Goats became one and returned to their true form as the very spirit of the island. Both teams now restored and walking the physical realm once more. They now stand at the mountain peak, staring up into the dense clouds of the Shattered Teeth above, hoping to follow their lead towards Ludinus hideaway floating somewhere in the sky just out of reach. So, Bell's Hell's a Mighty Nein. What would you like to do? What? Do we need to take a long rest or something? I don't know. Are we at that point? I figure you've taken a rest at this point. We should get back to our ship. I mean, do you think the ships are still combined or you think there's two ships? I think there's probably one ship. But I mean, we could. There's still. There's still a castle up there, right? Or, wait, there's clouds up above. You know, at least from the scrying that was done earlier, that exists somewhere above the mountain. But I can fly alone. Well, at least get a. Get a glance. I could also fly. That's fine. I'm okay with that. All right. I could. That's totally cool. Fly. I mean, we could all just start flying. I mean, it's. Maybe you should do it. Oh, boy. So do any. Do you. Any of you have the means of flying a group, right? I do. I do have the means to fly. I'm going to. Oh, shit, wait. I am gonna make a spell cast roll to see if I can fly. All righty. Oh, my gosh. First roll of the night. Let's go. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Okay. Oh, wait. That was a 20. I rolled a 20. My bad. Old habits. Old habits. Okay, so the total. Woo. That's so good. What you got? 26 total with hope. Take that, hope. That is a fine success. As everyone sits still, kind of recovering from the recent forays with these massive boss like entities, the two sides of it, you watch as Imogen, crackling with energy, rockets off into the clouds above, kind of vanishing into the gray. Imogen, as you cruise upward, the winds trying to batter you, but the very field of your psychic energy buttresses them from your body and you continue to push upward, upward, upward. You hear the breaking of a sound barrier as she emerges from the darkened clouds up into a full, just freshly sunset sky. The blues and purples just beginning to vanish and cascade beyond the horizon. You can see the rest of the cloud bank that seems to surround you at all angles to the infinite horizon and the shadow of two distant sky whales just barely cresting and breaching before vanishing below and maybe 200ft above you, you see a rocky landmass just hovering there, locked in place through some unseen magic and the outline of what looks like a small structure. Well, I really don't want to face him alone. I'm gonna fly back down because I think that's confirmation fair. All right. I'm gonna go back down to the group boss. I don't want to die immediately. All right. His Imogen returns. And I'm not gonna land, though, because. Because I want to keep my flight respect. What? You see a way up a rock with what looked like a small structure, a house maybe sitting on it. It's so far in the sky. I heard sky whales. Did you see sky whales? I did see. I saw a couple sky whales. Those things are terrifying. Yeah, they do. They're great. Okay, what kind of house was it? Was it white picket fence, sort of ranch style? Well, here's the thing. Starter, home, fixer, upper. What are we talking? How come you didn't see what exactly it was? Look, I just. I cast Zillow. Thank you. I didn't. I didn't want to risk it, you know, it's still Ludinus. Well, it seems like a, like place to start the next part of our journey here. But how is everyone feeling? We just went through the wringer a bit the last few hours. I feel great. Just so invigorated. Yeah, I feel great. Awesome. Adrenaline is running through my veins. To be honest, I feel also great. But everything about me seems slightly different today. I don't know why, but like all of my. I don't know. Stats are just slightly. Yeah, like a little change. Yeah, but in a good way. Yeah, in a good way. I think it's this place. I mean, the Shattered Teeth is so weird. Yeah. Okay. I feel a little funny too. Why not? Well, bells, hells as you are sort of the Junior League at this point, maybe you should wait here and Mighty Nein will forge ahead. I think that's a good idea. I mean, if you want to. To play it safe, you know. I don't want all of you to pass away. Who are you calling Junior? Yeah, I. What? I mean, you all literally just said you feel funny. Like a tumble. I wasn't talking about you, Mr. Pockabee. Never you, Mr. Pockabee. That's right, baby. I actually don't think he's wrong. I think we are the Junior League. Sorry. I mean, they're just amazing. Especially that Yasha. My God. Do you think you were spotted? Did you see any activity when you were up there? I mean, listen, I can go back up. I still have my flat active. It hasn't worn off or anything. No, let's just go. We know we're going up there anyway. We can use the clouds as an elephant. Surprise. There. There were sky whales. Oh. Just something to be aware of. But how. How are we all going to get up there? I was wondering that myself. Are skywhales aggressive? You know, they what you've heard at least in a little bit of research you've done about the Shattered Teeth. People don't take skyships there because sky whale tend to destroy them. But you haven't heard any dangers of individuals or, you know, the smaller figures of the sky? We can ride a sky whale. We should not ride a sky whale. I feel like I could tame a sky whale. I don't think you can tame a sky whale now. I kind of want to ride a sky whale. We're not riding skywhale. I was against it so just now. Wait, is Ethel still here? Ethel's returned as the spirit of the island. And is now a spectral elemental guardian. The very, very heart of the nature of the world. I'm going to kneel down and talk to the ground. Athel. Can you and all of your majesty bring a sky whale down and make friends with it? Because we need to get up to the sky, Athol. We helped you become whole. A spectral voice finds your spirit, your mind, and your ears. Hello there. I appreciate what you've done for me, but, you know, just getting all the rest of these other Goliaths back out of their stone forms, and it's taken a bit of concentration. So if you don't mind, if you want to go ahead and get yourself one of them whales, leave that to you. Well, look, we've got a lot of people who can fly. Maybe we just do a few runs. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Any of you have any, like, means of mass transportation or. Oh, wait a minute. Wait just a minute. Okay, wait. How far is this home? It's up to the clouds. Probably close to just beyond a thousand feet or so. Like, would that be considered far range? That'd be considered quite very far, and only if you can even see it. Okay. I could get us about 500ft of the way there. I have the ability to make a gate that we could all walk through and get up to the side of the mountain and then go no fucking further. Oh, yeah, that feels good. All right. I could fly us up there. I could fly some people up there, too. I'll take a ride. I also could probably teleport half of us there, but I've never been. I've never seen it. So there's a chance we could go flying into the ocean as well. Oh, oh, I got an idea. Yes. I'll fly up, grab something from there. Right. Will that help you with the teleporting? Yeah, that would help immeasurably. I'm still limited on how many people I can take at a time. I. I also do not have that character sheet in front of me at the moment. No, no, no. I lost that page of my spell book. I've misplaced it. We can say for the sake of brevity, between the various abilities you all have at your disposal, that over the next. I don't know what you're talking about. Three to four hours. Totally work this out. I can definitely do it. Great. Let's go. All right. One by one. I don't want to land on the dark side of the rock so that, you know, one by one we fly until we reach the top. That's how the song goes. I'm really, really, really strong. That's great. I'm really strong, so this should be no problem at all. I'll say the those that are most dense of you. That might be a little challenging. Yes. To get to the top of the floating island would likely be. Not you, Ford. You're pretty light. He beat me to it. I'd say probably Brayus and Ashton and Yasha. And maybe Yasha. All right, so I'm gonna need three agility rolls from you, Laura. All right, all right, all right. Here's the thing. I feel like in my vast experience of girl fail, I know the things that I'm gonna suck at. So I think this is gonna be something I'm gonna suck at. Can I use my experience on that? I'll allow it. Yeah. You legitimately, you opened this with the fact that you're not strong. So definitely. Cool, cool, cool, cool. So you can spend a hope. All right. I would start with me. All right. I'm starting with Ashton. Yeah. All right. Everybody else is already up there. Don't worry about it. All right, now I'm rolling. Okay. And I'm adding plus two, plus four. So it's a challenging flight for most folk. Oh, nothing. That's 12, 14, 18. Okay. Needed a 15. Oh, great. With fear though. I'll take so the clouds themselves. While you can travel yourself. And with a smaller individual. The heavy winds of kind of the storm like movement of it still buffets you around. You have less of an issue breaking through the clouds with others. But with the heavier, more dense figures, it is a challenge. It's being tossed through elements of like a small tornado as you push through. And you barely make it through the top with Ashton. And you begin to gather your troop on the outer edge just below the actual lip of this island. If you could roll again for me. You're made of rock. You're made of just straight up rock. I'm going to give you my hammer. And if anyone starts to fall, they just have to press the button and spend a hope. And they'll be fine as long as they hold on to it. All right. Very. Take the this back down. It's pretty heavy and lopsided. You kind of like I'm faster. Yep. Can you roll for Yasha, please, Yasha? No problem. Okay. Okay. Okay. That's really good. That's like at least 19 with hope. Carry me like a baby. All right. I can do that. Yeah. Yeah. I could fly, but I don't want to. Sometimes it's just nice to be held. Yeah. Can you read my mind? And as the final portion of this. Let's go ahead and get Breus in all of his majesty. Yeah. Big boy, grab me. Hold me tight. I'm just gonna hold his horns and lift. Oh God, those are barely attached. This is great. I rolled. That's 16, 17, 18 plus 422 with hope. Beautiful, beautiful farming that hope out front. You'll need it. I have a question. Would those have counted as actions? Those would have. Those last three heavy duty ones. Okay. All right. So you use three of your flight tokens. Yes. Fidelity active ETFs have the flexibility to shift and transform as markets do the same. So instead of just an index, they can seek to outperform it by adapting to market conditions and pursuing new opportunities as they emerge. And while you get the potential outperformance of an actively managed fund, you can still buy and sell it on your terms just like any other ETF. Markets can change in real time. Make sure your ETF can too. Learn more at fidelity.com ActiveETFs before investing in any exchange traded fund, you should consider its investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. Contact Fidelity for a prospectus, an offering circular, or if available, a summary prospectus containing this information. Read it carefully. While active ETFs offer the potential to outperform an index, these products may more significantly trail an index as compared with passive ETFs. ETFs are subject to market fluctuation and the risks of their underlying investments. ETFs are subject to management fees and other expenses. Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC Member NYSE SIPC Going Up Prices keep going up these days it feels like being on an elevator that only goes up going up. But not at Metro. We're pushing the down button. Going down, we've lowered prices. Get one line of 5G data for $40 period. That's 20% lower and you get a free Samsung 5G phone when you bring your number only at Metro 5 year guarantee on eligible plans Exclusion supply. See website for details. Not available FAB Metro with T Mobile in the past six months Tax Supplies Want to look and feel your best this summer? Don't just think skin deep, think cell deep with Prolon. Prolon is a plant based nutrition program fe soups, snacks and beverages that nourish the body while keeping it in a fasting state, triggering cellular rejuvenation and renewal. 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All right, so with that, your entire two troops have now come to land on this floating island here. As the evening begins to take the sky, you see a quaint cottage. It definitely sits out of place up here, high up in the sky, but it's of beautiful elven make. The architecture seems seamless, like it was crafted out of will than actual carving and construction. Much to your chagrin, Chetney? No, but the door is open and there's a little bit of a flickering light source from within. How far back are we? Oh, you're probably about to 70, 80ft. Coming up over the lip to where the front of it is. There's a little garden that kind of sits around the outside. It's a beautiful little cottage in the middle of nowhere. Orym's gonna. It's perfect. Look and listen for signs of life. Am I getting any signs of life in this place? Hearing, seeing? Anything? Go ahead and roll an instinct roll for me, please. Instinct, right. And I'm going to use my sentinel shield's ability to add a D8 to that. And I'm going to spend a hope to use my experience, eyes and ears to make sure that my perception stays swole. You got it. Let's go. Okay, so there's the roll. So it's with fear. 11:15 plus. I'm at a total of 19 with fear. Because I am Khalid the brave warrior. I gain hope anyway, while you gain a fear. That's true. What awesome. So glancing through, taking a moment to clarify. Even in the low light, the flickering of fire and candle from within, a shape steps into the doorway. And indeed you see what looks to be a slender figure shadow just barely backlit by the fire within. And it just stands there. And like a cat that catches the light, its eyes just kind of flash in your direction and you know that it tracks you as well. I need you to take A stress, please. Hey, Widowgas, you got all of your Xemnian shit ready? What do you see? Death. Hello. What do you see? Should we like just go in? Should we just go in like guns blazing? Just like going in guns blazing. Do we have any guns? That's me flexing my pecs, but I don't know how to do it. So I just went like this. Two of us will go in, no problem. Probably. Yeah, we better assume. Okay, then we should all go. We shouldn't separate. We should all of us go in together, same time. I'm gonna go ahead and charge, do my patron's mantle and mark a stress to transform into my. My terrifying visage. Could you please describe what that transformation looks like? Yes. So you see, once again, this. Like from the top of her head, you see it slowly fade, almost like mist draping down over top of a mountain. But in this instance, it is black like a morning veil. And as it wipes past her face, her eyes go hollow, her lips pull back against her mouth, and she becomes this undead sorceress supreme. Sorceress supreme. Yes, that's me. By the might of Sidorak. Very well. Who is to enter this chamber? I'm gonna run in and I'm gonna scream, fearne Calloway. I'm kidding. We watch this terrifying scene as Fern charges into the room. Boom. Into immediate bloodshed. Before I come back to her, looking at her, imagining this in her head and smiling. Holy rich. I can skip. I mean, I can go. I'm going too. Let's go. Who likes me? Let's do this. Ready? Are you really nice to people? Fuck no. I'll be bad cop. You'll be good cop. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah, we've got the numbers. We should just rush him. All right, do it. 1. 1, 2. Any second thoughts. 3. You all go charging towards this cottage. This open door about wide enough to fit two people at a time. As you all come charging, double file through the front door. If you just move to the side, I can get this party's way too big screaming into the fray. You all see standing in the middle, Ludinus Daleth, holding a cup of tea. His blue and gold robes draped around him. His long platinum hair pressed back into the lower area of where his hip hits his spine. And he just smiles as you enter. What do you do? Yeah, bitch. Wait till we all get in here. You're dead. Hello. Hi. Hi, Ludinus. We found your house. Super cute up here. Ludinus smiles back. Welcome, friends. It's very Good to see you. I am extremely grateful that you've helped usher in this new age. Bells Hills in particular. Well, not as complete or permanent as I may have wanted. A step towards irrevocable change. And fate has been placed in the hand of mortals as a promise of a better tomorrow. You see, Ludinus, while standing here, looks visibly different. A bit older even. His stature's a bit hunched, his skin elven but showing wear and age. There is a tiredness to his physicality that doesn't match the bravado and unearned vigor that you've encountered in the past. Can I tell if he is illusory? Go ahead and make a. I'll say either a knowledge or an instinct roll for me. I'll do instinct. And can I add maybe. Let's see what experiments are going on to this devilish instincts? Yeah, sure. Spend that hope. You are a being that is attuned to all sorts of deceptive magic. And that bit of a mark on your spirit by Asmodeus means that you have a pretty keen eye for that sort of magical deception. I benign with fear. Oh cool. You throw up a little. Just a little. Like you kind of choke it back a little bit. Tastes like orange juice. You're like, I can't really see because I'm still stuck at the door. Yeah. But it chill washes over you because having seen this individual before, if you're not ready, they could likely crush any number of you. Probably fall in the process. But what do you wish to do? Orym steps out from underneath Breus legs and says, I don't buy it. And Seedling extends out and I'm gonna spend a stress to shoot a vine out at Ludinus ankle to attempt to yank him towards us. Alrighty. Go and spin. That stress pulling Seedling out the vine's wrap almost like emerging from your wrists in the outer part of your hand, like it's conjured to the blade. And as it spirals around the blade, it shoots out to grapple and passes through his ankle. Yeah, uh huh. Ludinus continues. I thought to accept the end of this turmoil struggle, this victory, half measured as it may be thanks to you, could very well be enough. I accepted my end as I sat here watching you come to me, take whatever misguided vengeance you sought. But as I lay here with my tea, staring out into the very ether of exandria, that very ether I have studied and conquered for so long, I could see the lines of magic stir change something altogether ancient, yet absolutely newly born. What was begun with the lay binding of Ruidus has now awoken with the katathiosis and with the unraveling of old magic, new possibilities are born. I could see the studied weave of arcana and the divine magics on unfurl and be left raw, primordial seeking shape. We not only freed our people from the tyranny of the gods, we opened the door to endless potential. I now wish to endure, to understand and master these new magics and shepherd my new faithful in the wake of this new chapter to manifest what is deserved. Perhaps we will meet again. My hope is you will eventually accept the great deeds we have accomplished together and inherit the joy of your ambition. I hold you no ill will. In fact, I'm looking out for you. This is why no one wanted you in charge. Absolute prick. Yeah, don't. Don't say all these things and be like, ooh, thank you so much, and you did me a huge favor. Like, we're a part of your, like, machinations. Ford. Jester. Hi. Best wishes on your upcoming nuptials. Thank you. No, that was coded in a threat. Very coded. If you wanted to come or. Oh, my. Jester. I'm just saying. I still haven't even gotten an invitation. Oh, that's awkward. Do you want to come? Just another time. Yes. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Bells. Hels. I sense your fate. Stitcher has concerns to discuss with you. Best hurry to her. I have smelled souring oaths upon the wind as you you approached. Best reach out to your wind prince and see what she needs. Soon. Ludinus smiles. What a prick. Your house is stupid. Did he actually look older? He looked a bit older, yeah. Oh, how did he age the so fast? Oh, my God. They wild. You think he was there? I mean, that's what makes sense. He said Nana Mori, right? Yeah, he said there was like, a sour smell or something, but maybe she just. She kind of stinks. There's something about oaths. Something about oaths. Sour. Yeah. Okay. Do. Do any of you have oaths? A chill runs down the back of your spine, Chetney Pock. Oh, sweet life. I don't think any of you all made oaths with my nana, Right? I made something with her. Oh. What? But, Fern, you made some oaths? I thought better of her. Fern, I feel like you've made, like, at least half a dozen oaths. Yeah, it's kind of your thing, practically, I think. Oh, that. That kind of is true, actually. But, I mean, whatever. Wait. He also said to check on Dorian. Do you think something's wrong with Dorian, too? Are we in trouble? I don't know. It feels. I felt like getting scolded. We should go there. Go where? Anamori or Dorian? Just Jester. Do you think you could reach out blue to blue? I can certainly try. Wow. Oh, boy. Hmm. I wonder if I have that ability. I didn't pick any cards for Jester. We can assume Jester can cast endings, too, because it is the very core of her personality. Right. You are a texter. Yeah, I. Yeah, sorry. Okay. Yeah. I'm gonna send a message to Dorian. Hey, it's Jester. We were talking to Ludinus and he said you might be in trouble. I know, totally weird, but is anybody. Are you okay or in danger? Nice. Hey, you did. You did that real good. Don't. Don't come for my counting. She talked really fast. Dorian Storm. Where do you find yourself at this moment? Oh, oh. All right. Right here. Close. Close. You hear this. You hear this scream. You hear this sound and you hear. No, no, no. It's B flat. B flat. Into the arpeggio and then you're going to. That was the message back you. I was focused on my art. He sounded like he was not in trouble, just preoccupied. You want me to try again? Yeah. Dorian, listen, I'm not a student. I'm Jester. We were with Ludinus and he said you were in trouble or something. Something. I don't know. He might have said Nana Mori was in trouble. That's it. I don't know. It's Daggerheart. She gets an extra right back, you hear? Oh, God. No, I'm all right. I'm just in rehearsal. We're doing a show soon. Swing by the Laughing Lamia. Oh, they're doing a show at the Laughing Lamia? We should all go. That sounds fun. I have things to do. Not to say. That sounds terrible. My show, it's a two drink minimum. You can get in for free. What could you possibly be busy with, Caduceus? I have gardening to do. Wash my hair. There's so much to you. What was that to you? Someone should find out. But he was drinking. That could be important. Please don't make me go. Regardless, I think. I mean, either Ludinus was setting a trap or he was. I mean, of course he was setting a trap, but that still means that Dorian is in trouble, even if he doesn't know it yet. What do you think? Are you okay if we stop and get Dorian before we go to the Fabe. You just see Fern, Jack, just like Looking at things around the house and trying to take shit. Are ships in working order down below? I can't. It's been a minute. Yeah. Your ship was in working order? Yeah. Does Caleb have teleportation, though? He would. Jester has sending. Yeah, but it's not the whole group. I could take some of us to check in on him. Maybe I could send him to you. Ah, well. Well, he's gonna miss curtain call though, right? If we do that, Maybe we go get Dorian and. And then you can get us to Nanamori's. Yeah. Caleb, can you get us to the Laughing Lom here? Yeah. That is located where again in. I'm not very familiar with him. That's true. Caleb would not be here. Yeah. Oh, shit. How will I get us there? I believe I have at this point visited Ellora a number of times. Yeah, I think of the time being probably passed by Iman, at the very least. If not falafelam, I have a collection of pebbles from all across exandria. It's true. You do. Well, who's going then? I'm going personally. Bells Hills, I think should go get Dorian. I do too. Think so too. Well, then, I don't know. What do you think, Ford? Should we. Maybe the rest of Mighty Ne can keep investigating. Ludinus. Someone's got to take the ship back. Of course. Yes. We're not leaving our ship below. Why don't you just to throw it out there as an option rather than us? I love traveling across continents with you guys. We do it like every day. Like, twice. But what if we just go to the Fey Realm? You said to visit Nanamorian. Can't she just bring Dorian to you? That's a possibility as well. All right, we'll pick something. Let's do that. That sounds far more efficient. That becomes someone else's problem. Let's get the Fate Stitcher magic. That shit is on. Whoa, wait. Okay. All right, you guys, good luck. We'll be in contact. You're going. Wait. Someone's got to take the. No, no, no. How are we gonna get to Nan Mori, though? Can you do it? I mean, just call her or something. Nana. I got it. I can't. I can't. Well, you do have a magical staff that once belonged to the illusion that just vanished. That does have the means of transportation. You know what's so crazy? I have this magical staff you're holding. The staff of Dark Odyssey. No, that's you. Sorry. I'm not holding it. Chetney's holding it. Oh, yeah. I have it. Which makes no fucking sense. I literally asked Laura who had it last night. She said it was you. Yeah, I have it. No, but didn't you. No, I did. You took it. I do. I didn't put that in my build though. I have it. And I can take number of people with me. Probably eight. That's all of us. That sounds right. Cool. I take out the staff. Fire it up. All right. Do you have the item card? I don't fucking know. Oh, shit. It's right here. Do you have the item card? Oh, look at all these that he put in here for us. 10 years. He's still a well oiled machine. Yeah, you know. Amazing. It carries eight charges. Teleport toss. Six of them. I'll have two left over. That's great. Oh, what if I know it? Well, I gain a plus three to my spell cast roll. Yep. Let's do it. Let's it make a spellcast roll. Let's go to Nana Morris. All right. Does anyone want to help with this role? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yes. May I help by using my favor? My. Well, it's. It's a hope to help an ally. Yeah, I'll spend a hope. Yeah, go for it. So you get to roll a D6 to add that with advance. I'm sure I won't need it. I need it. I should. Okay. I'm going to give advantage because I have a lot of hope. Okay, fair. So as you hold the staff aloft, Imogen comes over and helps channel her psychic energy into your incantation. The staff's runes begin to glow along the side. The tip of it begins to sparkle with energy like a faint purple blue. And what did you roll? I rolled a 24/3 because I know it well. So 27 with Hug. Take that hope. Nice. As it finishes crackling bells. Hell. You feel yourself sucked into the center of that crackling bolt of energy. Almost like gravity begins to tug your head towards the ground. You feel yourself plummeting forward like you suddenly lost all sense of balance. A vertigo sensation swallows you as you all fall through some spectral tunnel for just a half a second before you all step down, trying to catch yourself. Like you your leg caught you before you actually stumbled. But now you're no longer on the island. They didn't even say goodbye. This is why they're not invited to the wedding. I thought we were going to get a night at the cabaret. Don't just ride the index. Seek to outperform it with FELC. The fidelity enhanced large cap core ETF. 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Get 15% off plus a $40 bonus gift when you subscribe@prolonlife.com PandoraPromo these statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. See site for details. Come to DSW for the shoes. Stay for the fun. Because let's be honest, if shoe shopping isn't fun, are you even doing it right? So go ahead, try something new. Try something different. Good different. Try something that feels like you. You know, the real you. And then definitely brag about it later. Because at DSW you've got unlimited freedom to play. Find the shoes that get you at prices that get your budget at DSW stores or@dsw.com let us surprise you as we come to the dark forests of the Fae realm. Here in the familiar swamp like expanse that surrounds the tree known as Ligament Manor. Bells. Hells. You step into the sloshy marsh and immediately recognize a strange change. There are tents set up through this marsh like small mobile military encampments. At a quick glance as you step down, you can see a handful of armor walking through. There's a small fire settled off to the side. It looks like a small mobile military unit of some kind. Fearne, have you ever seen this? Ever? Never. Would we recognize any of the insignia or any or the armor? Armor? You recognize the shape of the design of the armor itself. This is an un. Unseelie military troop. Oh, like those folks with the faceless doggies. I don't like those things. No, this is bad shit. We should have gotten Dorian. We should have gotten Dorian first. I knew it. I took. I took. It wasn't my idea. It was yours. I don't. I'm not here. I'm. I hide. I'd like for you to roll for now. For me to attempt to hide. Okay. That's really good. Oh no it's not. 17 with hope. 17 with hope. All right. Take that Hope. As you duck into the underbrush nearby, a bit of the muck sloshing over you, which briefly covers the bright spots of white that would immediately make you visible to the surrounding muck. You feel fairly hidden regardless of the stature that you normally hold. What would the rest of you like to do? Okay, do I have any sense? Could I use like my arcane sense where I can sense the presence of magical people and objects to see if I can sense Nanamori? You can. Yeah, you can go ahead and try and like release your consciousness outward. Ligament Manner is about bit further into the brush. It's maybe about 300 or so feet into the middle of the swamp ahead. You landed in the outskirts of it to where this encampment is. As you feel that stretch out further and further, you can sense other magical fey beings. There are dozens if not hunched at the trees. Small little nodes of magical creatures that call this place home. You can sense what looks like slightly ghostly orbs that float through the air like little sentinels. Little magical objects that search and perhaps reveal those that they don't want sneaking upon their grounds. But you do get a sense of Ligament Manor. And there are a number of entities within. One of them could very well be Nanamori, a strong source of fey magic. I. I think Nana Mori is in Ligament Manor. But she's not alone. Can we be sneaky and get over there? Can we get past these people and these orbs? Wow. Okay, it's this tough guy's apparently got the. We could try to sneak around them. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Let's do it. Smart. Very well. Yeah. So this will be a group stealth roll. That seems stupid. We should send one person. That seems real dumb. Oh. Have you been asleep? Are you awake now? Yeah. Listen, I'm old, okay? Really? I couldn't tell. You look great. I need a nap. Every once in a while, I'm gonna spend a fear. You begin to hear the strange reverberating bark in the distance. And you begin to hear this strange baying sound. A familiar sense. The odd faceless sentinel dogs that were once guarding the secondary Malleus Key. They're somewhere in the wood behind where you are. And getting closer. What are you all doing? We can't stay here. No, we are moving. We gotta go. Group stealth check. Backing up into the bush, Orym pulls out his sending stone and says, babe, I don't know if your show's done soon. We're with Nanamori. Gonna try to grab you soon. Be ready. Okay. And sink into the shrubs. I'm Babe. Right. Just making sure. This is still my 818 number. Right. Deep cut. So who is helming this group action role? Feels like it should be someone standing. I could do it. I could helm it. Yes. Let's go. All right, so before you roll, Fern, I need everyone else to make a finesse roll. Can I spend an experience to help with this or. No. Is this not the no. You're all making reaction. So these do not give you fear or hope. These are just your reaction rolls. Crit. All right, that's a plus one. What you got? Lord Lana? 18. 18. That's a plus two. 14 with hope. That's a minus one. Ashley. 13. Minus one. 18 with hope. That's a plus one. 21. That's a plus two. All right, Fearne, I need you to make a finesse roll. And you get plus two from the group. Okay. And any experiences you want to add to it, you can spend a hope if you'd like to. Yeah, I'll spin a hope. What are you applying to it? I'm going to apply favor. Okay. So being connected with the fey realm itself, you almost kind of will the surrounding foliage to bend and shift around you and your troop. Okay. Oh, that's not good. Wait, wait. What was it? Well, it's okay. It's not terrible. Okay. It's not terrible. Sixteen with fear. That's with the plus two. That is with the. With the plus two. Oh, wait. And. And my favorite. Okay, what'd you roll? I rolled an 11 with fear and a one with hope. Okay. But that's 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. Oh, sorry, sorry. 17, 18, 19. I forgot my finesse. 19. Okay, that is a success. Great. Great. Thank you. Yeah. So that was with fear, you said? Yes. Delicious. Om, nom, nom, nom, nom. Eat it up. Carefully, you all begin to trek down into the underbrush, and you watch it spin and curl around you. You feel nettles and vines almost pull and tug at you at first, setting you off and on edge until you realize they're thickening and covering your passage. The actual swamp itself is seeming to rise above your headline and is keeping you hidden. Ah, I'm so short. Pressing onward, you begin to push through the densest part of the treeline here in the middle of the marsh, until eventually you break through and can see the massive tree that is Ligament Manor, this incredible thick canopy that rises up 100, 200ft. You see. You see dozens upon dozens of flickering lantern lights from just beyond the leaves that dangle like this incredible dreamlike weeping willow. And then, stationed just outside of the main door, you see four Unseelie guards that are set right there. You've made your way to the outside of Ligament Manor, but you're not sure you can stealth past them without getting back in the middle of the open. How far away are they? I'd say they're about 30ft from you right now. Is that close range? That would be close range, yeah. Okay. Okay. Did you say they were on our level or above? You're down below in the underbrush. I think they're a little bit above, just standing on the sides of the doorway. The steps that lead up into the Ligament Manor proper. I am going to try hypnotic shimmer on the four guards. Okay. So I'm going to enter their minds and create, like, a hypnotic state amongst all of them. Try to stun them while we run past. Let's go. All right, so go ahead and make a spell cast. Roll against them. If I believe that's for all the targets in that range. Yes. All right. Oh, God. That's a critic. Nice. Hell, yeah. So take that hope. Clear a stress if you need to. Now, if you wouldn't mind describing what they see through their eyes. There's a brief flash where they feel a tug on their minds. And all the soldiers kind of shift their attention in your direction. Your whole group suddenly feels like that, that shock of sweat across your shoulders and down your back as you feel like you've been spotted. But what do they see? They think they see 10, 20 Fey Realm Bunnies, like weird little creatures, but like move as a herd, stop in front of them, look up, laugh at them, and then keep moving along. The rest of you watch as these four Unseelie guards, well armored, well armed, and looking like they would be the escort to someone of importance, just look down and start chuckling to each other and pointing at nothing that's there and acting like little drunk. Oddly as their heads kind of cock to the side and they are unaware of your presence, the bunnies are just slightly off and all of them mark a stress because they all get a stress point as their laughter turns into a shudder. And you watch as they kind of gather up a little bit, almost reaching for their weapons, feeling a little offset by what this strange omen might be. The rest of you walk past them completely unnoticed and within the manor itself. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Now continuing upward, you come to a familiar space here in the manor. There is the central region where the tiki bar is set. All the number of glowing lanterns that dangle, the bit of music that plays from the crystal, and the off putting appearance of a stretched face on a frame that's set against a far wall. But there, in this kind of lounge area that she keeps and hosts, you see Nana Mori sitting with a rather large looking fruity tiki cocktail. Her monstrous hag like form itself hunched down in a cozy comfy chair. Her elongated neck with her horse like white hair draped over its extended space. Her black sunken eyes with the beady little lights that she keeps for pupils seems to sip loudly on the straw as her secondary head that lies buried in her torso itself goes. I want some. She kind of pulls and gives up the straw too. Sitting across from her you see a robed figure of beautiful gray skin, A lithe appearance, a gentle helmed piece like a circlet that's set on top of it. And what looks to be vestments of some station. They have a shoulder mantle that curls up on the sides. This is a figure of relative importance, it seems, within the Seelies hierarchy. I would like Fearne, if you don't mind, make a knowledge roll for me. Oh, okay. It's Fern's specialty. It's my specialty. That's cucked. Okay, so we've got 15 with hope. 15 with hope. Okay. You do not know this figure personally. You can see a bit of like the purple hair that extends from underneath the helmet. But you do gather they are a delegate of the Sun's shadow. Which means they represent the voice of the Potentate Seminar, which is the head of the Unseelie. They who walk unseen. This is business of the highest of the Unseelie Court. And you all can hear them conversing. The Potentate opens up. We hold claim by blood in the wake of the Sorrow Lord Zathuda's presumed demise. To his progeny bound by birth by Moonquill's script to play their part in events unrealized. Now freed from such obligations in a false wake of the red moon, Fearne Zathuda remains bound by light, power and potential to the Unseelie Court. The Potentate Seminar is aware you lay claim to the Ungzathudda Fatestitcher. Conflicting covenant granted by the late Sorrow Lord's concubine. The Potentate wishes to assure you that such promises do not supersede the Unseelie's claim to the rude is born child. Nanamori pipes in with another long sip. Honor Tiki drink. The court misunderstands. Fearne is an asset of particular interest. One I have placed significant investment into by merit of time given guidance. Granted. An essence marked upon her. The agreement I have with her other progenitor holds binding weight by virtue of unfinished business. The court may hold a claim, but a claim that cannot be called until this interim agreement has come to a close. The delegate speaks up. And how long do you propose this agreement to last, Morrigan? That is privileged information between myself and Fearne's mother. At which point they both stop and turn and notice the arrival of your troop. I just sort of start touching the wall, just like thinking it's not. Ah. It seems the being of which we speak has arisen and arrived. Yes. Hello, Nanamori stands up, my sweet Fearne. What's going on? We're having a conversation. You are a woman of your own mind and your own choices. And there's a bit of a tangle we have to untangle, if you will. Okay. Isn't that right, Delegate Deli? Indeed. And who's the rest of you present, if I might ask? Orym's full three foot, three steps out in front of Fearne. Hand on hilt. Fearne Squad. Ah, but where's your cute little blue boy? Sh. Actually, could you help us get him here? Yeah, we actually wanted to see. We were coming to you to see if you could bring him here? Yes. That would be great. She snaps her fingers and suddenly. Dory. Honestly, that is what it feels like in real life. Dorian Storm. What do they see as you arrive instantly and unexpectedly? Yeah. What was he saying in that second on the other side? You were late on the downbeat, Jimothy. Huh? You're having a whiplash moment. Yes. What do I see? You are suddenly standing in the middle of a darkly lit tree house of dark nightmare proportions. Sure. Meet like dank dive tiki bar. You've dabbled here at the Lignite Manor before and you've kind of taken in. Takes a moment for you to realize where you are, but you are next to Bell's Hells, next to Nana Mori and a bunch of intense looking unseelie armored figures. Unseelie? Yeah. Right in front of him. Me. Yeah. Power push. Go ahead and make a roll for me. Make it. Dumb cast. Roll, baby. Oh, that one is 17 on the dice. That's good. With a 320. A 20. With hope or fear? With hoper. Fear. Fear. That's the bad one. But it's true. It's true. It's okay. You succeed at this. So is there damage? There is, unfortunately. Go ahead and roll, baby. Okay, good four. And they all get. They get pushed to. They get pushed to very far range. All right, so no, sorry, far range far. The two guards that are sitting aside from the delegate are blown backward up into the dangling tree and vine of the manor and get wrapped in it. And you watch as they kind of like they look dazed and near unconscious from the blast. The delegate gets also knocked back, but then catches their hand on the ground and skids across the dirt kind of three point landing and anime style like before. Standing up on the far, far back of the tree line and pulls their double ended bladed staff out and says, what is this business? Wait, wait, wait, wait. He don't hurt him. You see, the other hand is reaching for a horn. Oh no. What are we doing? Are we fighting? I don't know what's happening. This is not a rehearsal. Vine shoots out. Thank you, Seedling. All right, so that's a. Grabbing the horn. All right, so go ahead and mark it to distress to use though, if they don't want to lose it. All right, let's see if we can make the roll on this. That's a natural 17. Unfortunately, the vine attempts to wrap around the horn, but pulls it free and it snaps in the middle of the air, pulling the horn up to its lips. No, listen, listen, listen. Can I just. Wait A second. Obviously, he was surprised. He doesn't know what's going on. We're not here to make trouble. I need you to make a present, Swan. Okay. Can I add my silver tongue experience? You may. I've got that hope, girl. All right. Come on. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. Oh, wait. No, wait, wait. Hold on. I added that wrong number. Can I burn a hope to hell? Unfortunately, I did that before the roll. Okay. Oh, God. Okay. Seven plus five is 12. 13, 14, 15. The figure looks at you as the horn rings out. You begin to hear the sound of rustling armor in the distance and the rushing of many, many Unseelie soldiers towards the manor. Shit. I'm gonna use premonition. Oh, so soon. I know. In this moment, the armored soldiers rushing in, weapons drawn, the bloodshed that ensues the chaos into destruction sinks away into the middle of Imogen's eye as a vision she had just a moment ago. There we see the delegate reaching back for the horn, and we're brought back to that moment in time. And you have the opportunity now to make a different choice. Just her or everybody. But that is fenced. Oh, my God. Okay, wait. Is it just her or everybody has the chance to. It's just you. Just you. Okay, that's cool. That's so badass. Okay. Okay. In that case, I'm going to try telekinesis. Okay, go ahead and make a spell cast. Roll against the target. Come on. Can I. Can I help? Help? You can. How do you help her with this? I would like to use one of my experiences. She's very capable. All right, well, to add to this injury, just be like, do something. I love you. Please do something. Please. Please stop it. Please. That's all good. So, as in says you use experiences to help your roles, but you. But you can. You spend a hope to help somebody else, and they just get to add a D. Help me then. I will do that, but we'll. We'll flavor it as that. You're very capable. I love it. All right, so get to add a D6 to that role. That was a crit. Yes. All right, so what are you. So you're casting on him or the horn? The horn. The horn is ripped out of the delegate's hand, and it drifts over immediately and floats in the space around. Awesome. Yeah. I'll loosen his grip. The delegate stands there with its blade in its hand and kind of look, do what you might. I am but one of many. I'm here representing my lord. I mean, that's practically permission can we do what we like, can I look at Nanamori? Like, I just kind of want to look at her, actually. Can I look at her and then use my voice of dread to speak in her head? Yes, you do. And just be like, do you want us to kill these men, or would that be really bad? She goes, my dear, that would actually be quite bad. All right. I have an arrangement with the Unseelie that's been unbroken for, well, years. Don't really mean much here in the Faer realm. So let's just. Let's try and keep it civil and conversational. There are laws and contracts to discuss that go a bit stronger than just our words and conflicts. Okay? All right. All right. So he just kind of turned to everybody. We should keep it chill, keep it calm. Videla goes, could you please drop my soldiers? Nanamori goes, but of course. She puts her hand up, and you watch as the tree vines lower. The whole canopy shifts until the soldiers get dropped to the ground. And they're just unconscious for the moment. The vines recoil back up into the tree. Nanamori sits and sips. Now, my third. They have a claim on you from Birthright. Well, I didn't have any say in this. That's the thing about birthright, Clay. You were a bit young at the time. Cool. But everybody here is about making deals, right? Yes. We don't want any conflict. We just want our friend. Surely we can work something out. May I ask what. What is what? What do you want? The delicate goes, you are Birthright and blood property of the Unseelie Court. You are an entity in which much magical investment and power and potential has been granted. And there is a number of visions, omens, oracles of our court, of scene, of your greatness under our banner. And we wish to claim that potential together. There is so much we could do. Do. That's stupid. She's an adult. What are you going to do? Agreed. How are you the second most punchable face I've seen today? This has been going so Nana goes, I know it's difficult, Fern, but it's complicated. Yes, but Nana Mori, you're like. You're like the queen of deals in doing a little bloop, bloop, bloop on little strings. Like, can't you do something? She kind of leans to you and says, xaminar's a little more powerful than I am. I'm just trying to keep things civil or I'm in trouble. So they're just going to take Fearne? No, they can't. Until we Resolve. Well, let's see. Fern, come here. All right. She takes your hand and leads you over. She reaches into a pouch and takes a bit of gravelly silver dust and scatters it around you, almost like in a haphazard triangle. As it hits the ground, color begins to shift upward. And you all watch as Fearne's form seems to almost become colorful, like her aura begins to be given a prismatic look. You can see within her the dark greens and shadows of the dark fey influence from Morrigan. And you can see the tethers of her spirit. Her actual soul seems to have vines that grow and curl that match that of the ligament manner. But you can also see a portion of her soul and her spiritual aura that has a dark purple and black and seems to bear the unique insignia magic of the Unseelie Court. You can see the dullest of moonlight behind it and coloration that seems to almost reach and drift towards the Delegate and its soldiers. You also see a small fleck of icy blood that marks a shoulder where cold mist seems to filter off of it. I try to blow it off. It curls away slightly. But a good portion of the torso also burns a bright fiery red where flame and black coal seem to mix with a strange infernal insignia burned into it. An animal, regardless. Goes, my goodness, Fern, you've let a few people take claim on your soul, haven't you? I mean, I'm just. I'm. I'm really good at making friends, so. Oops. Sponsor's not a race car driver. Goes like a good goes. We lay claim to her incompleteness. There is a section of her soul missing. And you look over to where that icy bit is, and indeed, there is a part of her soul that is gone. It just has a frozen exterior. And Nana Mori goes, fearne, my dear, where did that piece of your soul go? Oh, I think. I'm pretty sure that part was like a Dread Pirate situation. And I think. I think you took a little bit of my soul. She reaches up and caresses your cheek for a minute and touches the center of your forehead. And both your eyes and hers glow white for a moment as she pulls her finger away. She goes, oh, interesting. You're a naughty girl. She draws a finger in the air, and it almost seems like turning an invisible doorknob. And then plucks. And as she does, you watch as cold mist seems to billow out from her fingertips. And you watch as a hand seems to reach out, grasp hers, skeletal and dark. And she pulls from the very ether itself what looks to be a dwarven skeleton in captain's garb and hat. Squat think. With glowing yellow flames for eyes, platinum teeth and a tattered captain's coat. You all see before you the dread Captain Urlu Novos of the Crimson Abyss, who steps out and goes, ah, to what do I owe this great joy of this beautiful sight before me? And Nanamori goes, already a flirt. I can see why you made a deal. The Captain swishes around. Oh, familiar faces. Hello. Were you just. Were you like, on her the whole time? I'm confused. Were you just like, in my shoulder the whole time? I'm just. I was reading a book in the captain's quarters of my ghost sheep, and a strange hand came out. And, I mean, if a strange hand appears, you take it? Sure. And are you. That I agree. Earn. Your DMS are so stacked. We have every hookup in a room. Soon. This is a nightmare. I love it. The Captain, stupid, steps forward to you. The leathers creaking, the sound of bones clattering as it steps and takes your hand. Fern, you sweet, wonderful mistress, kisses your hand, it freezes, leaving frost across your knuckles, and says. Steps forward and says, your spark of heat has kept me warm many a night. And you see, he pulls the coat open, there's a tiny little flame that flickers in the rib cage. Oh, it's your shoulder. Did you know that I. Have you just been pulling double duty this whole time? Fern, is this the kind of dude you're into? I mean, I'm. I'm. I'm into all of it, to be honest. Okay. I just never know when it's going to hit me. Oh. What. What is going on? Why is he here? That is good question. Why am I here? The delegates come. Goes. So it appears that Ms. Fern Zathuda has Kalay just. I'm just correcting you because that's actually not my last name. Fearne has promised elements of her soul, her immortal being, two figures that are in breach of pre existing contracts. So you've been brought here to surrender your agreement so we might bring this to a close. What if I don't want to surrender the agreement? You gonna let that happen, Pirate Captain? Seriously? The Captain goes. Respectfully, whoever this individual is, I decline. Our agreement was fair and square. And I rather enjoy this fragment of worth on cold, haunted nights. Besides, my spirit endures under the binds of the Strife Emperor. Will and word. So your fragment technically lies under the claim of the Strife Emperor and as such, under its protection. The delegate goes, really? Who are you? Oh, man, just a warm body. I mean, you better bring him here too. Oh, this is just contract law. The one shot. I'm so excited. I did it bad. We were there. Totally into your fragment. It's pretty cool. The colors that still flow through they're goes. Well, all right. Contracts written there is superseded by initial birthright claim. I think there are magics in specialists that could untangle this in our favor. Fearne, you'll have to come at us. Don't trust him. No. Marie watches. Morrigan goes, actually delegate, there's still still one other matter here to untangle. And you watch. She kind of like flicks her finger in the direction of your flaming shoulder and it like kind of sparks. What is. What is this one, dear? Hot boy. That's right. Oh boy. That. That's our pal Tavon. Is he have something to say about this? Probably you should bring. Would you like me to call him mystery date number three? He'll come whenever I call him. Well, I figured now would be the time, dear. Oh, I can't wait for this. I'm going to. I'm going to kiss my. The tattoo that is on my finger that he left. As the kiss hits your hand, the room suddenly jumps about 20 degrees. The light becomes more burnished red. And behind you a fiery doorway suddenly burns itself in the center of the chamber. You watch as one red hoofed leg is followed by a second one. And now the kind of black robe adorned rippling red muscled form of Tevan Clask emerges. Wings gently folded across his massive shoulders. His blade strapped across his back. His mane of black and gray hair and beard settled there with his yellow eyes burst in as he steps forward. Fearne, my dear, tell. What is it you called me for? I want you to kill all of these people. Get my friends. Thank you. Maybe. Maybe that's not a good idea. Jk. Jk. He reaches back for his blade. And you watch as the delegate puts a hand up and you see the faintest bit of a symbol beginning to appear that some of you may have recognized in previous encounters to be the beginnings of a banishment. At which point Nanamori puts her hand up and goes like not in my house. I just rearranged the furniture for proper Feng shui and it would take me hours to get it back to where it was. Your guests of my home act like it. The delegate puts its hand down. Tevin puts his hand off a blade. This is a unexpected gathering of friends. What's the conversation here, my love? Well, okay. Just to give you like the quick rundown. Apparently there's like a birthright situation with the unseen Sealy court that with me and. But I also have a kind of a little bit of a deal with you, a little bit of a deal with this guy over here. And I guess it's just muddling the contract quite a bit. The captain goes, you made a deal with this devil? Devil goes, no, she made a deal with the devil. You watch his horns flare. And between the horns, the symbol of the Lord of Hell's Osmodius flashes into black flame. Super Soup's conflicted right now. I mean, he's super cool, but that's not. I can't be here right now. I. I immediately sort of hide behind Dorian. Captain Cold. Me and hot boy, you guys have so much in common. I'm so excited. Yeah. I'm hiding behind Dorian's shirt and I'm looking back and going, what the fuck is happening? I don't know. I'm pretty sure this isn't even all of them. Fearne might have some more dudes in there. Meanwhile, Laudna is just making a couple of cocktails at the bar and she hands one off to Chetney. Do you have any popcorn back there? I think I do. I'll be right back. Shit is getting lit. Orym whispers to Ash and to Imogen. Boulder, parchment shears. Is there like a five symbol version of that? Cause it's gonna get complicated. If anyone can make it work, it's Fern. Do you think it's important to mention that I got in there? That might be a valid claim? I genuinely think it is. Yes. I kind of think you should. Yeah. Oh, my God. You never forget. I think. Think you should do too. Chedney, are you stepping up to make a claim? Yes. How do you do this? Chutney, how would you like to claim this? Yes. I step up and I take out my wood chisel and I slice myself in the thigh and you start to see these wolf legs just so I can get a little bit taller. But normal Chet is up top and I say, hello, fine gentlemen. I don't know how old you are, but I've been around since the beginning of time. Not really. And she never forgets her first. Wasn't the first. Oh, not by a long shot. But it was great. Yeah. Really love the. I mean, you just kind of see the legs. I'll take that drink back. I'm going to spend the fear. You hear the sound of soldiers beginning to gather on the outside of the Lingmut Manor. They're not Entering. But the place is now being heavily fortified from the outside, as it seems like the Unseelie's claim is being pressed unspoken. You also watch as Nanamori goes, my dear, you also have back here. And she taps the back of your neck as a bit of the flame. Thank you. Of the elemental titan that sits within. Your spirit flickers up as well. I was about to say. And the delicate goes, my goodness. What? The Primordials also have a clan? Oh, it's like that? Well, Fearne, you do have some say in this. Of all of these paths which would you yourself speak to? Lean, my dear. My own. Am I not able to do that? Vidalica goes, your will is your own. But these contracts are bound by ancient magic and will. These are the binds that hold the world together. And you belong to the Unseelie. You watch as the Captain goes, well, I mean, only if I can keep my spark. Please let him keep his spark. Nanamori's like, ah, you see. But birthright or not, she belongs with us. With her true family. With her true family, but mainly me. Tevin goes, well, my will. And as such as Asmodeus, our claim is marked with more than simple contract, but infernal right. The Lord of the Hill's dominion offer an offered soul. It's unbreakable and all consuming. None can speak to cosmic law better than the devils of contractual agency. Let them sort it out. As Tevin grabs Fearne from behind and pulls her into the portal and they boat. Wait, what? What do I do? Where were you supposed to. Do you want to try and resist his grasp? Yes. All right. Yes, I will try. I need you to make a strength action roll for me. Lol. Can I help? I was going to say I. Yeah, whatever. You can help if you'd like to. I'm going to go to grab and pull. Like I'm going to make that jump to grab. So go ahead and mark a hope. Yeah. Add a D6 to her strength roll. I'm going to spend a fear to use his infernal might experience. I'm adding a plus six. Adding a plus six to it. Or plus D6. Ashton's going to roll it. I rolled it. It's okay. You roll it. Yeah. Five. Okay. Okay. No, Awful. So I did roll with hope. That's good. Take a hope. So we've got five minus one for strength, which takes me to four plus five, which is nine. Nine. Nine. Yes. Oh, never mind. We're the Bells Hills. Nevermind. Shut up. Try as you might with hellish speed, And a flash. No, no. Fearne Calloway is gone and the gate gateway shuts. You stand in Ligament Manor with your friend in the center of this conversation. Gone. I scream out for Orym while it's happening. That's the last thing you hear before it shuts. Suddenly the delegate goes, what is this outrage? All the other guards start rushing in. The Captain's like, well, that's not fair. You're supposed to take. That was a conversation to have. Oh, quick, let's make a porno. It worked before. It can't hurt. I mean, it can. The argument begins to brim around here as Ana Mori puts her hand out and says, fern is a big girl and she can make her own choices. Indeed, with her business. This argument will be settled when she's plucked from her predicament. I can try and search where she is and open a gateway near there. Can you all find her? Stop them. Bring her back. Yeah, yeah. Stop them in time, before bending their infernal law to supersede all existing laws. Unfortunately, the fortune of the Devils and Chetney. The room grows dark, and you find yourself down a long, stretched hallway at the other side. The darkened shape of Nana Mori slowly lumbers towards you, and the voice echoing in your mind from all sides, threatening to shatter your skull from the inside, says, you are mine, Chetni. I've given you what you wished, and now you will save my charge. If you fail, you will adorn my garden till the end of time. You wanted this. Fuck around. Find out, Nanamori. Yeah, you chose wisely. The vision collapses and she goes, not a boy. We might just need a little help getting there. I can handle that. The Delegate's like, well, we'll wait outside. We'll reach out to the potential, and we'll bring the rest of our army to bear. And if Fearne is not returned within the next two Exandrian days, we'll go after her ourself. And Rory goes, well, good. I'll just keep making drinks, then. The rest of you, let's get to it. She claps twice, like a clapper's built into her manner. And you watch as that drifting sense of aura that was still kind of remaining behind where Fearne was. A bit of that flame spark seems to shift in space, almost like it's trying to find her. And it's almost like watching a strange ethereal map of the planes forming in space like a strange electric sphere. And as the flame finally flashes, like it found a point, it unravels, and a smaller kind of crackling Somewhat unstable. Doorway opens and she goes. Hurry, Hurry. Wait. I, I, I don't know if I should go with you. I, I, I, I sort of. I made a deal with Asmodeus as well. I don't want him that I broke. And so I think that everyone down there will want me dead or. You got a protection of another God with you now, right? The, the Traveler. Right. But I've never seen him actually protect anyone or do anything useful at all. I mean, there's lots of dicks and and graffiti, but I haven't actually seen. Are you believing enough? I believe in the dicks. I mean, I guess maybe this is a test of my faith. A test of my new faith in the Traveler. If I really believe, I should let chaos reign. I just don't. I just don't want to hold you guys back. And you only help us, Bryas. Plus, we have your back. Really? I mean, mean, yeah. As long as you don't slow us down. All right. Betray us again. All right then. Follow me in and we will go get our fern back. God damn. Well, not God Betrayer. Damn it. Something doesn't have a nice ring anyway. Do this and we'll go. As Nanamori says, good luck in the way. Wastes of Diabolos. Before they go, Orym arcs his sword out of the whole room and says, this isn't over by a long shot. We'll settle this later. You heard the woman. She said no pickles. Before I go through, I say, ah. I'm a demon hunter. A devil hunter. Voices. Beyond the Wastes of Diabolos lies the enclave of Infernal Edict. That is likely where they're going to tangle her in this contract. Go quickly. I can't keep it open much longer. Wait. Did anybody write down what Nanamore just said? Inferno of Eternal Edict Diablo. Sure. Dick's got it. You all leap through this portal and you thought was warm in the presence of Tevin Klass is now an unbearable heat that surrounds you at all sides. You see around you a torn and broken landscape of redstone crags, sharp shale and obsidian glass blades jutting from beneath. Snaking flows of glowing orange rivers slip slowly through the landscape, their molten rock currently ominously pushing through this very hell. The sky is a black clouded swirl that feels like a roiling thunderstorm without rain. Bolts of bright red lightning arc through at an uncomfortable consistency, occasionally striking the blasted landscape. And you begin to realize where these pyres of obsidian glass come from as one strikes not but 400ft away from you with A welcome to the wastes of Diabolos. I like the vibe. Yeah, it's really cool. I spent most of my adult life trying to get down here and now I'm here and it's. It's really cool, right? Yeah. But no, no, with a good. Guys, we're here on a job. Can anyone locate Fearne or sense where she is or which direction to go? Not me. I can sense magical creatures around us. But Orm will bound up and leap onto the top of your head. Breus. And try to scan the horizon for anything that looks like what Nana Mori said. Yeah, yeah. Anything that stands out from the hellscape before us. May I? I don't know where I am in this yet, but if they're following my path, can I leave little pellet poos for them to hide? Fearne, I would love for you to. So. So Fearne, as. As Tevin has pulled you through. As you attempt to resist, the minute you touch down, you find extremely heavy infernal chains wrap around and bind you tightly. You're unable to even move enough of your arms to cast any magic. And the attempts to transform into any sort of beast form to shuck them seems to be held at bay. As Tevan carries you under one arm and begins to charge in a direction and says, do not worry, my dear. In due time you will be ours through and through. It is so hot. Could I just get like an ice water or something? Whichever you want. When this is Dunwolf, I just start putting out little poo pills. You do. Coming back to the rest of Bell's Hell's Orym, I would like for you to make an instinct roll to seek out any sign of Fearne in the path. She might have taken all of us. Or just Orym. Just Orym. But I'm gonna help him by boosting him a little higher and higher on my horns. Yeah, go ahead and mark that hope. So I'm gonna spend a hope myself to use my experience eyes and ears. And of course, the sentinel ship shield aids in this as well. Okay. Oh, very low roll on the initial dice. Very low roll on the sentinel shield. What about your advantage six? Yeah, I'm getting there. I'm getting there. Then it's plus eight. Gets me to 14. And here comes the advantage. 20 with the advantage. So I'm like on one foot balancing on the top of your horn while you extend up on your doing calf raises for me, of course. Are those little shits? 20 is what you needed. You literally. There was going to be a Lot of wandering. And some other things if you hadn't. You see what looks like the tiniest little cocoa pebble? Like a. Like a cocoa puff, more likely. Yeah, a little cocoa puff. You rush up and you kind of grab it and then. Oh, yeah. You know what that is? No, no, no. You're a track. You're an expert tracker. You have to smell it, taste it, to figure out what it is. Could be anything. It's real bad, too. It's growing on me now, just so you know. It's like Lucky Charms. It's hallucination. Yeah, it is. Now, wait, was that with hope or with fear? That was with. Shit. I think it was. I'm gonna. Let's just say fear. I think it was fear. So you get a fear, but I still get a hope because of my build. Okay, well, that does. Tick down. The trekking to the enclave progress counter by one. So it goes from a six to a five as you work towards getting to the enclave. So I will spend a fear that I just would have gotten from you. As you begin to follow this trail, your mind begins to wander. Orym. And the very presence of this landscape begins to cause you to remember things. Everything's fine. It's loud in hell. What's going on down there? Orym, I need you to make an instinct reaction roll for me, please. Reaction. Okay, that is 14 with hope. Okay, so no hope. You don't gain hope. It's a reaction roll. Dang it. Yeah, that is a failure. Which is good to know. But I have a question about the game. Yeah. In my two wheels, one mind feature. Yeah. Is that only for actions, or can I take that for a reaction role as well? What does it say? Let's not go. Is this action? I was just hoping I could maybe more bail your way through this, you know? Yeah, okay. Sorry. The. Yeah. The. The Exaltant class hope feature will not help them in this scenario. All right, all right, all right. But. So, Oram, don't you have any K pop you can use? I know. Or I'm just. We're going to be golden, baby. Describe to me a past guilt that begins to creep into your mind. A memory that you hope not rear itself at this time. I think of how much it hurt to watch Bordor die. And even though I knew sacrifices had to be made to reach the road we walked, I'll never forget the look on his face in those final moments. The cost as you consider this guilt and this memory not wandering off track, but kind of slowing your steps. For a moment, I need you to mark a stress as it consumes your thoughts. I'm going to spend another fear because he failed to roll for Lightning of the Damned. At this moment, the rest of you look over towards Orym and see his pace slow. And as his focus comes back, you watch as his hair begins to stand up. A bolt of red lightning strikes down and slams into the ground near you. Repudiate. Okay. I am lightning. I'm gonna try to stop this spell and its effects. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Man Dory, are you doing something? You listen to me. You pulled me from a wonderfully smoky, beautifully fun tavern into hell. And you tried to electrocute my boyfriend. Not a chance. I'm going to try. Let's give it a shot. Go ahead and roll so I can interrupt any magical effect actively taking place. Great. You have to roll to see higher than the deeds and the difficulty of it. Anything you want to add to that or anybody want to help before that happens? I'll help with my experience. I remember your mom. All right. So you. You. You mark a home. Hope to. To help your friend, flavoring it with the memory of whose mom in particular. Orems. Incredible. So add a D6 to that roll. Going to need it. 1316 plus the 6. Yes. Do you add your spell cast modifier to it? Yes. Unfortunately, as you try to capture this lightning in time, the hellish bolt is too quick and your reputation just glances off of its flash. Orym, I need you to make an agility reaction please. Which because of my Zephyr armor, I do at advantage. You. Aren't you on top of Brus right now? I sure am. How's it. How's it going up there? You do have on the back on bottom of your hooves, right? Make an agility reaction roll 23 with hope. You don't get a hope from that though. Reaction action. Mine's a 19. Okay. Both of you succeed. So you both only take six points of magic damage. And you don't have to mark an armor slot. So that just fizzles for me. This fizzles out on the armor. Does not even make it through if you take it. So it's the. It's one armor. Armor. Well, okay, so. Meaning because you succeeded, it would have otherwise just marked an armor slot automatically. Now you just take six points magic damage, which means you take one hit point. Unless you spend an armor slot. You got it. The rest of you watch as this bolt of lightning strikes down, slamming next to both Orm and Brayus. You both dodge out of the way just sometimes just catch some of the electrical field and you can smell kind of that sulfurous ozone combination in the air. As lightning still arcs the sky above. This is a dangerous space to traverse. Orym pulls himself up on top of brace his head and looks like the little kid from Jurassic Park. Watch your step, everybody. Seeing how glassy eyed and bummed he looks, I'll just sort of reach up and pat him on the side there and say, hey, hey. I know, I know it's already tough, but we're going to find her, she's going to be okay. And I will use lean on me. You're literally leaning on me. When you fail an action, I can console you and you'll clear. 2. Stress travel on traveler. All right, so following this path of Cocoa Puffs through the Hellscape, you come upon what looks to be a river of slow moving lava. It is burning through and is about 20, 30ft across in places. How do you traverse it? A lava river? Yeah, I can fly, y'. All. Yeah, we already did that. Yeah, well, can't just do it again unless somebody's got a bamf in power. You said how far across? About 20, 30 in foot. In places like you can try and find. I'll say the shortest distance you can find is 20ft. I flee jump across, spending stress. All right, you watch the orange just to the other side. Good for you. It's super easy. I'll take that ride. All right, I'm gonna fly. I'm gonna try to fly. Okay, go ahead and roll for fly. Okay, that is. Oh, that's good. 20. With Hope. With hope. Take that hope. That is going to mark the progress meter down. 2. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? That's a good thing. Okay, this is your travel towards Fearne. All right, I'm gonna go go one by one and fly them across a lava river. Except for Brayus. I have to make an agility no because there's no immediate wind thrashing you at all sides. So with that cast, you're able to shepherd and ferry the rest of your troop across this field. Pushing on further through the wastes of diabolos, you can see this mountainscape that gets closer and closer. And you see large dark spires that rise up throughout. There is a small stronghold or city on the horizon that marks close to the direction of where this path of little nuggets continues to lead you. But you also see the shape of winged entities cycling above dozens. You're uncertain the size at this distance, but there are Many sentinels that are watching from above. And you figure any further travel has the opportunity to be spotted. Is there anything about the geography that would help us sneak by? There are a number of rock outcroppings and large off obelisks that are pushed up naturally from the ground, as well as occasional carved stone obelisks that rise 12, 15ft in the air with all manner of infernal sigils in them. I mean, I guess we could try and shadow. To shadow. Hop along. I'm all right with that. If we stick to the shadows, I might able to do something to help us a little bit. Okay. Do you want to lead a stealth group role? Yes. I will use. Can I add my shadow manipulator ability to make everything a little bit darker, a little bit grimy, Kind of take a shadow as we jump and add that role. Yeah. So you could spend a hope and add that to the. The roll. But before we get to your role, I'd like everyone else to make a finesse roll for me, please. A finesse reaction roll. So no hope or fear gained on this one. Come on. Hey. All right. Im 14. 14. Okay, that's minus one nine. Minus two. 20. 24. Minus one. 24. 24. I'm so sorry. Actually, 24 meaning sorry. I'm counting them. Got that? No, 24. I'm wrong. Never mind. A critical for 24. Phenomenal. We're at a zero on that. Dorian. 13. It's a minus one. 11. All right, so, okay, Laudna, it's a minus two on your final roll. Minus two on my. As the group is darting and rushing from shadowed corner to rock outcropping to small dip and kind of passable crevasse. Okay, I would like to. So I'm gonna do my shadow manipulator, but can I also spend a point of favor to add a little bit of Delilah's essence and use my shadow sphere of influence? Yes, you may. All right, so that's gonna add plus six to this roll with a minus two hope to give her advantage. You're part of the group role in this one, so you're already kind of like that. So as you pull that essence from within, you all watch as the center of Laudna's ribcage seems to glow from within this purple pulse. And you hear this faintest cry. This. Shut up. Shut. Shut up. As you pluck power from your currently caged patron. Did you eat a burrito before? It's that tiki drink I had at. Oh, that's right. All Right? Yeah. All right, it's going to be this plus four. Come on. Come on, mother. All right, that's going to be 13. That's going to be 13 with fear. See now this could be a time that you could use your premonition. Your two will, two wheels, one mind. Just reminding you is your new wills. One mind. What does it do? I was like, I already used premonition, Matt. Okay, two wheels, one mind. I'm gonna spend three hope, and I'm gonna make a roll in addition to you. And if I roll better, then we can use that one instead. Okay, no pressure. Wait, what did you roll? 13? Yes. Does she get to add all the bonuses that I have with the shadow stuff? No. Can I add a prayer dice to her roll? Can we throw everything we have? We're throwing everything at it. I have a small washer. Can't add anything to that. Like a kitchen. I rolled a 13, but that's kind of romantic. That's kind of cute. It's got to cut. You know what, though? Two 13s together. Me and you, we made a crit. That's right. You. You girl failed together. Oh, that's true. Can I use my girl fail experience? Oh, no. But I could use my tether. My tether experience. Gotta use it before the rule. Hell yeah. We are in hell yeah. It was a good try, but it's a dangerous landscape. As you dart between these spaces, you see one heavy shadow behind one of these large sculpted black obelisks with these devilish runes along the side. And as you rush out in the open behind it, the sigils begin to light up and a column of fire begins to surround it. Everyone. Everyone in the group takes 12 points of magic damage as magical hellfire engulfs your troop. Okay, burn in armor for that. Me too, I take it. I'm going to use a. I'm going to use a. Shrug it off and I'm going to mark a stress and then make it go away. You take no damage, Ashton, because you know, hellfire be damned. You're a being of rock and fire at this point. Rock. Fuck. Now, as you all begin to shake off this column of hellfire, you hear the shrieking sounds of airborne devils that have caught glance of this triggered glyph and begin to head your direction. What do you do? Uh oh. Run. Is there somewhere high or are we running? Yes. Can we run? You can. This will be a group agility role. Who wants to helm the run here? Oh boy. I use the experience. I remember your dad well. First Off. Who's helming this? Who? The run. The run. I'm flying. So I could, you know, kind of lead. Sure. All right, do you want to start? You want to helm this? All right, so you're. You're the leader of this group role. I need everybody to make agility reaction rolls. Oh, man. Oh, this is the fun stuff. What the heck? I rolled the same damn thing. All right, Bryus, 13 minus 1, 11 minus 2, 8. Minus 3, 22. Okay, okay. Minus 2, 18. Minus 1, 18, 0. All right, so Imogen, just. It's a straight roll for you with agility. All right, all right, can. I'm really trying to work my way to work this experience in. Can I use my. My God eater experience? Listen, here's my. Get it, get it. Because. Because I've seen worse. I've seen worse than this. I'm not intimidated by it. I'm keeping my cool. I love that. Yeah, you've. You've become bound and host to the devourer of the pantheon. What's a little hellscape sprint? Yeah, go for it. Spend that hope and add that bonus. All right, all right, all right, all right, all right, my little soda pop. 11 +4 is 15, +3 is 18. 18 with hope. 18 is the difficulty of this environment. So gain that hope, and that is. That is success with hope. Which brings the. The counter to 1. You are on the cusp of arriving. The devils are giving chase, but you are faster than they can be. And as you begin to still use landscape to your advantage, you're not fully hidden, but they get scattered a bit before you go on to your next sprint. And using Imogen's guidance, you also have this field between Laudna's shadow and her psychic imagery, almost like casting nearby illusions. Instinctually, by your presence, it seems that sight almost seems to glance off your movement places and you begin to see some of these large winding towers and chained wrapped structures that mark the enclave's approach. But you do not see fern yet in sight, and it is a large number of structures. At this point, the pellet trail has gone cold. Literally. I. I might try something insane. I like trying things that are insane. I am going I to try a. Like a meditative prayer to Kamort, since there is a. The Primordials do have a claim to show us the way to save one of their own. And I would like to spend a hope to use one of my experiences. You in particular, Fearne. Oh, all right. Here, I'll let you pick for this which of the traits do you feel best represents how you're connecting with your shard of a primal type. Honestly, Instinct. I'll allow that. All right. So burning a hope. It's cool that all of you are jumping to help here. I'll give you. We did a lot. Taliesin. I'll give you a prayer to dice for this. You get a plus two. Ooh. Thank you very much. See? See, the new guy's helping. Wait. Way to show up. Roll the damn dice. I'm rolling the damn dice. Can he also get help before he. Too late. It's too late. Too late. I just rolled the dice. Rolled. I just rolled the dice. Everyone had tons of time. 7, 8, 9, 10, 15. With hope. Unfortunately, that does not mean the difficulty. You gain a hope. Yeah. Is that adding the paradise are we looking at. You said we're looking at several structures and we're not sure. Correct. There is. It looks like a bunch of towers and stronghold buildings made of dark stone and black obsidian. Polished and carved. Are all built into an eruption. This mountainscape, you know, this was the direction that was being traveled. Just the trail ran cold. As you sit there and focus and try and gain connection with this spark within you, this spark within Fearne and hope that that could be a beacon of direction and path. The rest of you watch as the sky above begins to glow. I'm going to spend a fear and a bolt slams into the ground where you are ash. And I need you to make an agility reaction roll for me, please. Okay. All right. That's a. That's 15. Unfortunately, that is a failure. Really? Okay. You take 18 points of magic damage, and I need you to mark an armor slot for me. I'll take that armor slot and take. I take one hit point, but I'm gonna use that to clear a stress so, you know, all's cool. All right. All right. That marks 1hp. This is going great. No, no. If we're gonna. If I'm really gonna have faith in the traveler, he's gotta have faith in me too. I'm gonna. I'm gonna spend three Hope and cast Divination to seek out. Out to seek out the guidance of the traveler. I'm going to quickly scrawl on the ground a dick onto, like a rock or something. Now, mind you, you're a very talented artist. This isn't just a simple scrawling. There's cross hatching. Yeah. There's a visible vein. It's stippling. Yeah. Stifling. Where you sort of do this and give it Some extra shave. Tap the brush. Tap the brush. And a little green for the traveler too. I love that. All right. And it's on a rock. Yeah, it's a green dick. Don't be a child, Travis. You've never seen a green dick before you were four. I have. There's a surprising number of green dicks in this group, actually. Okay, I'm gonna cast Divination and reach out to the traveler and ask him for guidance to point us in the right direction using the means that he knows best. So this wang, as you. As you finish this amazing rock phallus, what is the phrase you use to call out to the traveler for aid? What do you say, Traveler? I've known only evil my whole life. But now I'm ready for a new path. One of trickery and chaos. Traveler, I beseech you to guide my rod in the truest direction to find what it wants most. Fearne, you look ridiculous. As you point in a direction like that, two green robed arms appear on the outside of yours. Almost like. Like the clay scene in Ghost. Yes. And just helps guide your hands down to this rock. And a voice whispered into your ear says. Oh, sweet boy. All you had to do was ask. I believe she's somewhere around that way. And you see, like you move the rock. Poof. To point a certain direction. You look up and you see like a little fiery flare and a little purple flecking light in the distance. Just a short jaunt away, just over a hill. I'll. I'll pick it up like a. A divining rod and I. I'll let it guide. Guide me there. Follow me, everyone. He's on to something. Good luck, horn boy. You turn around to see what figure that was and there's nothing present. He. Follow me, everyone. I've got. I've got. I consider that an automatic success. Oh man. Rock out with your cock out. It's not that hard. As you all begin to rush, the sound of those shrieking devils getting closer and closer. You head over that hill and down into almost like a courtyard. On the outside of this winding tower, you see around it rising bits of rock and bits of black stone that spill out. Bursts of molten rock seem to emerge and break through the ground and spaces as the rock rises upward, almost like carved steps and large red spikes. You can see at the very top this purple glow that seems to fill the face of a black crowned devil that is holding a long straight scroll and reading aloud. You see the purple glow from the scroll itself and you see Next to it on the tower, arms crossed, is Tevin, kind of looking down on the ground at the base of this area, a massive devilish gate with other obsidian pillars chained to it in the sides. And down in the front of this courtyard, kind of keeping guard, are two gargantuan devils, you see. One is feral and beast like you see. It carries a massive terrifying hooked axe and itself a long gnarled snout with sharp teeth and a massive mane. The other you see, clad in devilish spiked armor, thinner but with large wide wings, curled horns, multiple eyes across its face and snarling teeth that drip a black saliva. It carries with it a large red burning lash, a whip that looks like it could be easily 40, 50, 60ft long as it curls in the ground. And they both look on the horizon and see you approach. For there in the center of this courtyard, you see standards Fearne Calloway, devilish chains wrapped around her, pinning her to the ground. Fearne, you were brought here and these devil guards were set up to keep watch over your judgment as they begin to comb through your choices, through your agreements, your infractions, and what could be a balance of them, weaving through infernal law to take claim on your soul, combined with how much sin from the hells you might carry. And that's what we'll return after our break. I don't want to hit a thing. Hang tight for a few minutes. We'll see you guys. Short Live that's a wrap for part one of this podcast episode. Part two will end here this upcoming Tuesday at 5am Pacific and we'll pick up this story right where we left off. We'll see you soon and thank you for listening. Don't just ride the index, seek to outperform it with FELC. The Fidelity Enhanced Large Cap Core ETF Unlike passive ETFs, FELC is run by a team of experts to adapt to market conditions and pursue upside potential wherever it's hiding. And while you get the potential outperformance of an actively managed fund, you can still buy and sell it on your terms just like any other etf. Discover FELC the Fidelity Enhanced Large Cap Core ETF Part of Fidelity's suite of active ETFs. Learn more at fidelity.com felc before investing in any exchange traded fund, you should consider exchange its investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. 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