Scattered Pilgrims | Age of Umbra: Sallowlands | Episode 1 Part 1

Summary

Critical Role: Scattered Pilgrims | Age of Umbra: Sallowlands — Episode 1, Part 1

Podcast Date: July 16, 2026
Episode Summary by [Critical Role]

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Episode Overview

This first part of a brand new Critical Role campaign, Age of Umbra: Sallowlands, introduces the players and listeners to a haunting, post-divine Exandria, where darkness and entropy are winning — and hope is a precious commodity. The story opens with scattered survivors, mysterious disappearances, and the rumors of a city of hope, drawing unlikely companions together as they fight for survival and meaning on the outskirts of the dying Sallowlands.

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Key Discussion Points & Story Progression

Setting the Scene – The Fall of Halcyon ([08:20])

• The campaign is set in the Halcyon domain—once golden and protected by the God King Othedius, now decaying after being abandoned by the gods a century ago.
• Communities known as "the enduring" cling to survival, fighting off growing darkness and predatory horrors lurking in corrupted forests and dry lake beds.
• Quote, Game Master, [08:34]:
  “Those that survive refer to themselves as ‘the enduring.’ … They are the ones that hold back the beacon of light.”

Protagonist Introductions & Motivations

Sister – The Pilgrim Seeker ([10:45])

• A veiled, six-foot tall fungirl, covered in lace, flakes of white skin showing through, searching for a cure to reverse the world's drain of magic.
• Quote, Sister, [12:22]:
  “I feel hopeful that I’ll be able to find a cure, something to stop the drain of magic that we’ve felt for so long.”
• Haunted by memories of her sisters and driven by hope.

Mercy – The Monstrous Innocent ([15:49])

• A giant, corpse-like fungal being, pieced together with bone and metal, bearing three eyes (one ruined and fungal-crowned), who appears monstrous but is gentle and self-aware.
• Quote, Mercy, [17:25]: “There is a sense of innocence and quiet to him, how he holds himself. He is very aware of the fact that there is a presence and power and a monstrosity there. But he chooses not to wear it.”
• Reunited with Sister after a violent but accidental encounter.

Dilwyn – The Will-o'-Wisp Guide ([20:20])

• A two-foot, small, unnerving, and fast-moving creature, wears layered bat wings and trophies from small animals, accompanied by an oversized bat named Badger.
• Role: Scout, environment guide, and comic relief.

Forming the Party & the Quest ([22:00-23:38])

• The trio unite over shared rumors of a mythical city of hope that accepts all kinds. All want to see if the place is real.
• Quote, Sister, [23:01]: “I have no confirmation that this city is real. Only rumors. But I go and see. Search.”
• They resolve to travel together toward the treacherous Sallowlands.

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Journey Through the Rusawood and the First Threat ([24:58–34:40])

• The forest is perilous: predatory beasts stalk their trail. Dilwyn uses Badger for aerial scouting and clever guidance.
  • Notable mechanic/roll: Instinct rolls (multiple with “fear” and “hope” mechanics pivotal in this system).
• Sister identifies signs of multi-limbed, bear-like predators—them recalling traumatic loss from a prior expedition ([29:59]).
• Mercy boldly carries Sister while Dilwyn causes distractions (tree-shaking, mimic animal calls) to lure predators away, buying an escape into the open.

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Atmosphere & Setting Beyond the Woods ([40:04–45:01])

• The party escapes to the “crust of the lake tomb,” a bleak, shale-covered expanse marking the Sallowlands’ edge, plagued by wind, scavenger birds, and sudden hazards.
• Creative use of nature: Dilwyn’s bat Badger tries (and fails) to tie ropes to navigate a cliff, but Mercy’s brute strength solves it. Comic moment as Badger is affirmed as “very intelligent” despite a lack of knot-tying skills ([45:03–47:16]).
• Notable quote, Mercy, [49:32]: “It’s dangerous… Be careful.”

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Encounter: Carrion Birds & Environmental Hazards ([51:10–52:09])

• Dilwyn speaks with circling scavenger birds, wards them off with a well-aimed thrown rock.
• Quote, Dilwyn, [52:09]:
  “Fuck off.”
• The group continues, avoiding further danger, but an ominous blast echoes, drawing attention (“walkers” are near—a vague, fungal term for things with legs, possibly human hostiles) ([54:01]).

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First Human Contact & Combat Escalates ([54:52–94:02])

The Ambush ([54:52–65:00])

• The party stumbles upon a gang of ruthless bounty hunters, led by the infamous Endroth the Inevitable, holding a hulking, skull-masked prisoner (Alphonse) at gunpoint.
  • Endroth: Renowned bounty hunter, carries a massive crux (cross) with manacles, wields a formidable pistol and commands several dangerous underlings.
• Sister uses a "voice of dread," paralyzing the gang leader with an eruption of psychic screams and clicks ([65:12–65:54]).
  • Quote, Sister, [65:20]: “Lifts up and into the leader’s head is just an eruption of screams and clicks. … As it just hopefully paralyzes him and fear.”
• Alphonse (Order of the Specter Blood Hunter) teleports out of restraint using sand and shadow, turns the tables with a tube-choke throw and a gunshot ([67:59–69:40]).

Escalation & Notable Battle Moments

• Mercy, despite horrific wounds, shrugs off major hits—fungal resilience visualized.
  • “The fungus sort of begin to almost crawl onto the axe as it does nothing to me.” — Mercy ([73:48])
• Dilwyn (with her bat Badger's help), Sister, and Mercy coordinate attacks to devastating effect.
• Tag team moment: Mercy launches Endroth towards Dilwyn, who fires a precision arrow at him midair ([96:16–98:07]).
  • Quote, Game Master, [98:06]: “You push him back from his exit… He’s starting to look a little hurt.”

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Stakes and Consequences

• Endroth and one underling use smoke bombs to obscure their escape; Sister’s magic illuminated.
• Alphonse returns fire, but Endroth escapes with a mocking grin and a bullet hole in his hat ([109:10]):
  • “He glances back over the shoulder towards you with this big, white, toothy grin as you fire, and it catches the edge of the hat, leaving a hole there. He doesn’t even flinch and just turns back and keeps running.”
• Mercy finishes off the last enemy in gory, visceral fashion ([112:14]).

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Memorable Moments & Quotes

• Sister’s sense of hope:
  • [12:22]: “I feel hopeful that I’ll be able to find a cure, something to stop the drain of magic that we’ve felt for so long.”
• Mercy’s resilience:
  • [73:51]: “The fungus sort of begin to almost crawl onto the axe as it does nothing to me. And I kind of look at them.”
• Dilwyn’s defiance:
  • [52:09]: (To the birds) “Fuck off.”
• Tag-team attack sequence:
  Game Master, [98:06]: “You push him back from his exit… He’s starting to look a little hurt.”
• Endroth’s escape:
  Game Master, [109:10]: “He glances back…with this big, white, toothy grin as you fire…He doesn’t even flinch and just turns back and keeps running.”

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Notable New Mechanics & Worldbuilding

• Introduction of new class features (Blood Hunter, Order of the Specter), “hope and fear” mechanics, and “stress” resource management.
• The environment’s magic is drained, towns and communities are isolated, and monsters are more frequent and terrifying.
• Transformation Cards (alluded to in the opening): werewolves, undead, ghosts—hints at possible player evolutions.
• Party dynamics: Trust is built quickly under duress, with teamwork (and comedy) underlining danger.

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Important Timestamps

| Time | Event | |-------------|------------------------------------------------------------------| | 08:34 | Setting introduction: Halcyon’s fall, “the enduring” | | 10:45-12:22 | Sister’s introduction & personal quest | | 15:49-17:25 | Mercy’s introduction & physical description | | 20:20 | Dilwyn & Badger introduced | | 24:58-34:40 | Forest escape, teamwork vs. predators | | 40:04 | Exiting the forest; cliff navigation, bat rope comedy | | 52:09 | Carrion birds encounter; Dilwyn’s aggression | | 54:01 | Echoing blasts—a sign of hostiles | | 65:12 | Sister’s “Voice of Dread” paralyzes gang leader | | 67:59-69:40 | Alphonse escapes, surprise choke attack | | 73:48 | Mercy ignores axe wound via fungus | | 96:16-98:07 | Tag team attack: Mercy and Dilwyn vs. Endroth | | 109:10 | Endroth flees, bullet hole in hat, mocking exit | | 112:14 | Mercy’s gruesome finish to the last enemy |

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Closing

• The first session ends after the harrowing fight. The party has survived their ambush, made first contact with a mysterious Age of Umbra Blood Hunter, and seen that even in this dying world, hope might just be found in each other.

Ending quote, Game Master, [113:21]:
“Keep your hope close and your fear closer and see you next time for part two.”

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Next:
Part 2 continues the party’s journey, picking up after their first bloody victory in the Sallowlands (Tuesday, 5am Pacific).

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For more, keep an eye on [Critical Role]’s official YouTube, Beacon TV, and upcoming “Age of Umbra” campaign expansions!

Transcript

[Sister]

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[Game Master]

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[Mercy]

Stop.

[Game Master]

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[Sister]

Our friends over at Foam Brain are making a custom limited edition metal die set for Age of Umbra. Each set contains your standard six piece polyhedral spread, plus rhombic Hope and Fear D12s, all designed to perfectly match as your companion into the Sallow lands. These dice will be in your hands in late summer, but you can pre order the die set and check out Foam Brain's other upcoming Daggerheart products at foambrain.com daggerheart Matthew all right, and with

[Game Master]

that, let's go ahead and begin. Sam.

[Dilwyn]

Sa.

[Game Master]

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[Sister]

Yeah, no, I don't need to.

[Game Master]

I don't understand you're trusting your signal out here.

[Sister]

I'm trusting T Mobile. They have the best network and if we end up in bumtots nowhere. Well, we've got T Satellite for backup.

[Game Master]

Whoa. I don't trust my carrier that much.

[Sister]

We'll just use your phone as a flashlight.

[Game Master]

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[Zachary Ronaldo]

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[Game Master]

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[Mercy]

Stop.

[Game Master]

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[Zachary Ronaldo]

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[Game Master]

at $49.99 a month. Visit simplisafe.com licenses for alarm license information. Tennessee 2012 Monday AI agents took over my work and I absolutely love it. Chasing deadlines, writing status reports, updating stakeholders. Agents handle the daily GR. They live inside Monday.com, so they see the full picture. My work, my team, the whole company and I don't have to worry about the data. It's safe. Which means I'm free to focus on the big stuff. Knowing everything runs smoothly in the background. It's completely shifted the way we work. Create your own AI agent in minutes on Monday.com hello friends, and welcome to the Age of Umbra. It is here, the Halcyon domain. Once a glorious landscape in the old world. Under the rule of the God King Othedius and his many grand ordinance, this golden realm fell and the gods abandoned this world. A century since, all that was once vibrant, beautiful and safe has slowly crumbled into decay.

[Dilwyn]

Darkness,

[Game Master]

ancient evils long sealed and forgotten, have found purchase on the surface once more and spread their influence. Those that survive referred to themselves as the enduring. The disparate communities that cling to life in hopes that they can reverse this terrible fate that threatens to consume all they know and love with ever growing entropy. They are the ones that hold back the beacon of light. Whereas once we saw a story emerge deep on the outskirts of Amber Reach, this journey lies further west. For it is here on the outskirts of the Sallow Lands, a once vibrant and long stretching lake bed that now lies sunken and dry. Here on its northern perch, the broken lands that ring this now empty lake is the Russa Wood. An expanse of dark brown and red tangled bramble forest where all manner of creatures screech and click, hunting for what can maintain their life, great predators and those that evade them. Here in the shadows and the many tangled branches where thorn and vine reaches for heat in hope of finding whatever might sustain it for times to come. But many promises spread these lands and many lands beyond. In recent months, whispers that have come to the ears of one now traveling entity. The small sound of cracking underbrush and snapping twig. We look down to find the footfall of a solo traveler pushing her way through this darkened, shadowed space. Orra, if you'd please introduce us to Sister.

[Sister]

Before every step you hear a thump of her long great staff hitting the ground. Before she walks slowly behind it you see a very tall woman, about 6 foot, a veiled face, a long lace veil over top of that covering her entire body. The only thing pushing through the veil is her arm with a staff in tow. And atop her head is a huge hat which you realize is attached because she is a fungirl. She looks almost ragged, very dry. Flakes fall off of her hands that you see piercing through the veil. All white, colorless

[Game Master]

as you push through. An arm reaching and almost instinctually reaching out to connect with the consciousness of this thick, gnarled tree that blocks your path to find no retort, no response. You duck beneath and your mind wanders back to where you've just left. Sister. What memories hold half of your consciousness as you step towards the brightness beyond the shadow of which you've walked so far?

[Sister]

I'm thinking of my sisters left behind me and still in my mind. But with every step, their voices get quieter and quieter. I think of a circle of them standing like statues as I walked away, their movements almost gone completely. I feel hopeful that I'll be able to find a cure, something to stop the drain of magic that we've felt for so long.

[Game Master]

A branch shakes, and you watch as two or three birds take off into the branches above. A sign of life, hopefully a good omen, especially in these parts of the natural world where you find the most dominion. And you hear another sound behind you. A heavy thud and a heavier snap of branch and dried leaf.

[Sister]

I bring my back against one of the trees and hold as still as possible.

[Game Master]

You listen. You hear the creaking sound of a distant branch up in the boughs beyond your sight. And then another, slightly closer. Two more heavy footfalls, slightly louder. Something knows you're here. What do you do?

[Sister]

I hold my staff in front of me. Show yourself.

[Game Master]

They get louder and quicker. The brows shift again.

[Sister]

Shh.

[Game Master]

Some dried leaves of brown and red color drift below before suddenly a heavy shadow emerges with unexpected speed in your direction. What do you do?

[Sister]

I hold my staff out and get ready to hit it. All right.

[Game Master]

Go ahead and make an instinct roll for me. I'll make this an instinct reaction roll.

[Sister]

12.

[Game Master]

12. You pull the staff out and the shape is massive, looming, and with expediency, it rushes in your direction. Go ahead and make an attack roll. As you do not have time to suss out what it is before you.

[Sister]

What's a crit?

[Game Master]

Go ahead and roll. Damage for me, please.

[Sister]

Oh, okay. That was tiny. Okay, wait, wait, wait.

[Game Master]

So it's max damage plus your defense.

[Sister]

Yes, yes, yes.

[Dilwyn]

Okay.

[Sister]

22.

[Game Master]

22. All righty. Mercy, if I could have you join the table, please. I was so afraid.

[Mercy]

This thing swipes clean and hits my jaw and almost looks like it dislocates it, but it doesn't actually dislocate it. It just has it hanging and my tongue falling out as I look at you, I expected. I pull it back up, and you see the fungal tendons begin to sort of sew itself slowly, but it's still pretty painful. By mistake. I should have warned you of my presence, sister.

[Sister]

Little threads of my cilia reach up from the ground, and you hear in your head, I told you to show yourself. It is good to see you again, brother.

[Mercy]

Yes, Yes. I sort of lumber still feeling the pain of this very critical. On my face.

[Game Master]

Yeah. Rays of light that have been carving through the thick canopies of this bramblewood catch your body as you step into the light. What does Mercy present as?

[Mercy]

So what you see essentially, is very much unmistakably a corpse. A giant fungrill corpse. His face, as the light sort of gleams and catches it. You can see he has three eyes, but One of the sockets is sunken and ruined and a fungus is growing out and sort of wraps itself around his head almost like a crown. His body is laced with spores and has remnants of almost like scars. But you can see that within those scars, small, sort of mushroomy, sort of like silver spores and stuff are kind of helping woot like, you know, keep it together. His hands are very much kind of a mixture of bone and metal that he's sort of both kind of stuck in to keep himself together, but also more so as survival rather than malice. And he's. But there is a sense of kind of innocence and quiet to him, how he holds himself. He is very aware of the fact that there is a presence and power and a monstrosity there. But he chooses not to wear it. Now as he looks upon you and again understands why he was struck. He's very used to the idea of being struck. I have been searching for you. I need your help.

[Sister]

Okay.

[Mercy]

I apologize for asking for too much much. But you see me and my friend and I'm looking towards the.

[Game Master]

A few more leaves fall from a nearby branch before suddenly the branch goes, goes top for a second. More leaves fall and then a much smaller darkened shape descends from the canopy above. Dylan, if we could have you please join the table. And what do we see? As you descend from the boughs above,

[Dilwyn]

you see a very small, about two foot tall creature. She's got these huge eyes that seem to rove. They're kind of bog like but with a light underneath them like a will o' the wisp, but in a very unnerving way. They kind of light through the canopy. She's kind of got these gnarly limbs that seem a bit too long for her and these hands that are knuckled and long black fingernails and feet that are very similar. She's wearing this strange outfit of what appears to be old bat wings layered atop each other. And she's decorated herself with little bat skulls and bird beaks and hair ears. And she comes down onto the canopy and lands upon Mercy's shoulder. On her shoulder there's a bat who just flies with her. You see this and that's Dilwyn.

[Game Master]

This unexpected small simia companion nestle onto Mercy's shoulder and you both make a prolonged eye contact.

[Sister]

Well, you found me. What do you need?

[Mercy]

I looked to Dilly and sort of nod as a way of assuring you that they're safe to trust. And I look back to you and I'm like, I have heard in my journeys of a city A city of hope and beauty. One that is inviting and welcoming to all kinds. One to give dreams of. Light.

[Sister]

We have heard the same.

[Mercy]

Yes.

[Sister]

That's why I've left my sisters.

[Mercy]

You see, Dilly, I told you. I told you they are to be trusted.

[Sister]

I have no confirmation that this city is real. Only rumors. But I go and see. Search.

[Dilwyn]

Would you join?

[Mercy]

Yes. Yes.

[Dilwyn]

You smell like my best friend. I like her. She's sad though. I think we can trust her.

[Mercy]

Yes. Yes. Yes. We will join. Yes.

[Sister]

Mercy.

[Mercy]

Bow my head and look around. Have I noticed anything suspicious or dangerous on my travel here? On the way?

[Game Master]

There are all manner of dangerous predators that call the Rhassa Wood home. Though few that would stay around for the freight train of a presence that you are when driven with purpose through a thicket. The trail of broken branches that you've left behind are intimidating until you encounter other such paths carved by other entities. So while you have not directly come face to face with anything of notable danger, yet you have seen sighs or signs of other things of size carving through here fairly recently. So expedience is definitely the key. You do know as you now together travel towards the outskirts, the southern side of the wood, you hope that if you've chosen the right direction, you will expediently find an ever thinning treeline. But we shall see for who is responsible for helming the search out of the resaw.

[Sister]

This is as far as I've ever gone.

[Dilwyn]

I know where to go, or I think I do. And my dear bat, Badger,

[Sister]

he can

[Dilwyn]

fly up, he can see what's about.

[Game Master]

What does Badger look like as the wings unfurl and better reveals themselves.

[Sister]

Just the cutest, just the best badger.

[Dilwyn]

The best Badger. You see a pretty ugly looking pig like bat with fangs kind of over protruding. And he's quite big. He's almost as big as Dilwyn. But as his wings go out, they're pretty huge. But he's so fast and just flits about so quickly that it's a blink and you'll miss him affair.

[Game Master]

So as you send Badger off up beyond the tree line, keeping an eye on that direction as well. As you've been around these woods before, you've been around all manner of thick natural spaces here that you can still consider natural here in the age of Umbra, why don't you go ahead and make an instinct roll with me? I'll say because of Badger's aid, you will have an advantage on this roll. So I think this constitutes the first non reaction roll of the campaign. Well, no, you did attack. So you started. You open with a crit.

[Mercy]

Yeah. Thanks, guys.

[Game Master]

By the way, you did take 22 points of damage.

[Mercy]

I marked it, man.

[Game Master]

Don't worry about it. Don't worry. Just making sure. Don't worry about it.

[Dilwyn]

I got it. You got it.

[Sister]

You should have shouted.

[Game Master]

Hey, it's me.

[Dilwyn]

Let's see.

[Game Master]

Yeah, you got it.

[Dilwyn]

And do I get a.

[Game Master]

You get to add your instinct modifier, an advantage. So you get to add a D6

[Zachary Ronaldo]

to this as well.

[Dilwyn]

Oh, and a D6. That's greedy. I love it. Right, okay.

[Sister]

Oh, oh.

[Dilwyn]

I've got a. Eighteen with fear.

[Game Master]

Eighteen with fear. All right. Love it. I'm just gonna add another little feared.

[Sister]

Oh, I get a hope when I rolled a crit.

[Game Master]

Yeah, you do. All good. Even though you'd only just now met this furry, gangly entity that seems almost like a growth extension when it clings to the shoulders of Mercy's massive frame. Explain to us how you best inspect the environment to guide them through.

[Dilwyn]

So Dilwyn will just jump from any tree to tree in kind of a ridiculously fast way, using her feet, her tail, and she just kind of circles above. And again, you can't really see where she's gone, she's so fast. But, yeah, she'll just. Almost like a. A collie, a border collie will just herd you and going this way. No, don't go there. Yeah, just guiding us all along.

[Game Master]

Within only a short time, you can see what passes as middaylight here on the north shore of the Sallowlands gets brighter as you progress, which is the promise of escape from the wood. But not without an unfamiliar sound burbling from the nearby brush behind you. This deep, resonant stalking growl is heard 100ft back, maybe closer. And the heavy sound of something probably larger than you seems to have possibly caught your scent.

[Sister]

How close are we to the edge of the forest?

[Game Master]

You have not traveled this far, so you have no idea. But you do know the direction you're traveling will get you there sooner.

[Dilwyn]

Sister, quickly, shall we get. Can I get Badger to fly and try and find this creature?

[Game Master]

Sure. So Badger takes up. You all continue to, as quietly as you can, push forward. And you hear again. Some sort of a weird guttural cry. And a moment later, further back, elsewhere in the wood, there's more than one.

[Sister]

Does it sound familiar at all, to know this sort of creature?

[Game Master]

Make a knowledge roll for me, if you don't mind.

[Sister]

That is 20 with hope.

[Game Master]

20 with hope. Take that hope you know in your Faint dalliances beyond the exterior of your community. You have seen all manner of tracks throughout these woods, but there's always been one set that's very bear like. But the gate insinuates more than four limbs. You recall hearing this cry once when three members of your community, three sisters, had done a northward trek to deliver somebody who had come in seeking aid, and they never return. You have flashes of memory in the attempts to connect with them, to seek what help they could have as the rest of you and your sisters wished to send aid before they were taken and plucked from the network. In those moments, you saw multiple sets of gleaming, angry, glowing yellow eyes in tusks that curled back beyond what broad, endless shadowed shoulders were the final moments they saw. You have no name but you. You do no fear.

[Dilwyn]

How close are we at the moment

[Game Master]

from you're not entirely sure, but it's getting closer.

[Mercy]

Yeah, go on.

[Dilwyn]

I was going to say. Can Dilly smell them?

[Game Master]

Dilly?

[Dilwyn]

She's got a very good sense.

[Game Master]

I'll say you have a pretty good sense. So you don't have to roll for this. You pick up on what bit of wind is starting to push through, especially as you get closer to the edge. The ever shifting winds that do flow through are getting more and more noticeable. You can pick it up on your fur as you go and the scent that catches from the direction it's coming from, which is my northeastern direction from where you stand. These beasts are foul and it is getting stronger.

[Mercy]

I'm going to say what you see is I go, forgive me, sister, as I go to sweep up your body and go to sprint and leap in the direction that I see Dilly moving in.

[Game Master]

As soon as you sweep them up and push forward, that momentum snaps a nearby twig just by the nature of your physicality. And as it does, you hear. And you can now hear them approaching faster and faster and faster. You're helping navigate through the best you can while trying to keep an eye out for what's the safest path to go. Who wants to try and aid your traversal towards the edge of this wood?

[Mercy]

I would love to aid you. Yeah, definitely.

[Game Master]

All right. I will say for you, continuing to look through here. Now we're in a moment of panic and pressure. Go ahead and make an instinct roll. And your agility. Are you helping or yes, I'm helping.

[Mercy]

Yes.

[Game Master]

To be spending a hope to help. Is that what you're doing to help an ally? Is that what you do?

[Mercy]

You don't have any hope.

[Game Master]

Did you start with two I have hope.

[Mercy]

I'm gonna use Hope. Yep. I'm gonna use a hope to help Nade.

[Game Master]

All right, so roll a D6 and we'll add that to your ally.

[Mercy]

Okay, cool. Great.

[Dilwyn]

I've got four with hope. No, wait, a six with hope, plus four plus four. 10.

[Sister]

10.

[Game Master]

10 with hope, 10 with hope. 10 would be the baseline. It's literally what you need in a different Pokemon. So describe how you help this navigation as you're keeping an eye out.

[Mercy]

So as I've got the sister in my arms and I'm bushing past this, breaking through and moving and looking, I can hear them coming closer, but at the same time, I'm sort of. I can keep an eye on Dilly. And as you're navigating and moving and pushing through and any sort of loose chunk of tree, I'm almost pushing to cover tracks, but also to delay movement as we go along.

[Game Master]

Great. All right. Yeah. So with that, you push. This looks like a somewhat long, rotted, empty tree that you push over. It snaps loudly and tumbles. As it does, it hits another tree, causing a large, heavy impact. The branches shake and all manner of dead leaves fall. As you continue to push forward, you hear another call. And the heavy impact of this creature's approach shifts off. Slightly distracted by the sound of this.

[Sister]

I'm going to keep my staff trained behind. I'm looking over your shoulder as you're running, and I'm going to try to cast. If I see anything come out of

[Dilwyn]

the trees and candily shake trees. She kind of. Can I go off and shake trees in a different path to try and get them to go in another direction? Absolutely. So I'm there just making as much chaos as possible and pulling vines across to try and trip them up.

[Game Master]

Absolutely. I'll say for this roll a presence or finesse roll for me.

[Dilwyn]

I'll do it. Finesse.

[Game Master]

Let's go.

[Dilwyn]

Seventeen with fear.

[Game Master]

Seventeen with fear. No worries. All righty. But that is a success. So as you all the two of you now just lumbering through, pushing a tree down, you dart off. Badger definitely has been flying above and following the track. And you can see them getting closer. You can see some of the treetops from Badger's perspective are pushing past and shaking from the top point. And you can just barely make through the canopy what you assume is a visual inclination of their presence getting closer and closer. You reach off and grab one of the nearby trees where you can see there's a number of hanging dried fruit or nut type extensions, and you run and kick on it extremely hard. It shakes and they all just begin falling and causing this dull drum like rhythm as dozens of these hanging nuts begin to impact on other branches down to the ground. You dart off and find another one along the way. Take that one too. And as you do, trying to catch up with them because you had to fall behind a little bit, you can see the shifting movement of the nearby canopy and trees starting to peel off and follow the sound of that cacophony you've left behind. With that, slowly the treeline begins to thin. The midday gray sky light begins to grow brighter. A short trek beyond that, the treeline breaks and the three of you step beyond the Rus saw wood for one of you for the very, very first time. Awkward time to ask this, but hey, did you download the trail map?

[Sister]

Yeah, no, I don't need to.

[Game Master]

I I don't understand. You're trusting your signal out here.

[Sister]

I'm trusting T Mobile. They have the best network and if we end up in bumtots nowhere, well, we've got T Satellite for backup.

[Game Master]

Whoa. I don't trust my carrier that much.

[Sister]

We'll just use your phone as a flashlight.

[Game Master]

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[Zachary Ronaldo]

25 bucks a month per line for four lines. Find out more@t mobile.com or visit your local store.

[Game Master]

Best Mobile Network Based on analysis by Ooklab Speed Test Intelligence data 2H 2025 with 24 monthly bill credits and 4 eligible port ins on essentials for well qualified customers with auto pay taxes, fees and 35 connection charge per line Credits and imbalance too. If you pay off earlier, cancel contact US Finance Agreement example 299.99 Moto Edge 5G Request required. T Satellite available with compatible device in most outdoor areas in the US where you can see the sky included with experience beyond your $10 a month. However news monthly cancel anytime visit t mobile.com traditional home security only alerts you after a break in, and that's too late. Simplisafe is changing that.

[Mercy]

Stop.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

This is simply safe.

[Game Master]

Police are on the way. We don't just alert, we stop crime before it starts. Simply safe plans starting around a dollar a day, save 50 on your new system with Bridge Professional Monitoring at SimpliSafe.com sxm or with promo code sxm Outdoor deterrence requires a Simplisafe Active Guard Outdoor Protection plan starting at 49.99amonth. Visit simplisafe.com licenses for alarm license information. Tennessee 2012 Monday AI agents took over my work and I absolutely love it. Chasing deadlines, writing status reports, updating stakeholders. Agents handle the daily grind. Now they live inside Monday.com so they see the full picture. My work, my team, the whole company. And I don't have to worry about the data. It's safe. Which means I'm free to focus on the big stuff. Knowing everything runs smoothly in the background. It's completely shifted the way we work. Create your own AI agent in minutes on Monday.com here the heavy gray clouded sky and distant mists of a rainfall that's been pushing through the shallowlands to the south obscuring the view of the much the crest of this whole rocky region there is quite a journey before you even reach the sallowlands themselves. This was referred to as the crust of the lake tomb. This rising shale covered broken mountainous region that rises like an ever slow climbing hillock you know will reach the beginning of this sunken lake. But you must walk and climb. As you take a minute to catch your breath. Those of you that still breathe. You hear the dull thuds and growling disappointment of some massive wood prowling predators losing the scent before vanishing into distant silence.

[Sister]

Thank you.

[Dilwyn]

You're welcome. We knew they wouldn't come out here.

[Sister]

Mercy. I'm gonna reach behind my neck and pull off a necklace. It's a small bit of vines that have dried into a spiral shape and I'm gonna reach up and put it around your neck.

[Dilwyn]

Forgive me.

[Mercy]

I forgive you. And you can see there is this almost mark of confusion in his mind. Why do I need to forgive you? But I take is

[Sister]

an enchanted talent.

[Dilwyn]

Ooh yes.

[Sister]

And you have two tokens you can put on it and you can use it to reduce the number of hit points when you're attacked.

[Mercy]

Oh wonderful. Thank you.

[Sister]

By how many tokens you have?

[Mercy]

Thank you. Kind of look to dilly and sort of look outside and see I guess where we start to go.

[Game Master]

This cold wind begins to occasionally blow through catching the edge of your fur the surface of your skin looking forward into what you know well to be the southern direction. Southeastern is the best path from where you stand a lot of the the edge of the silo lands. This crust is a sheer drop. The erosion of the edge of the lake itself hasn't sunk down below over the past century has left extremely perilous dives to try and enter the valley of dust and salt. But there are some Areas where the erosion spills gently, where there are switchback paths or long gradients of soft sand, dust and slowly eroding land. And the closest one there is a number of hours off from where you currently stand. You know where this is and you know where to lead them. Along that way you can already see ahead of you clusters of dried brush. You can see some trees with bits of leave, others without. At least hard to tell what or when the seasons affect this wood, if at all. For the further from the wood you get, the harder things living find water and means of survival. But mountainous outcroppings and rising bits of rocky cliff greet you ahead in the journey you are heading. I'm going to go ahead and place on here a crust of the lake tomb countdown. So I'm setting it to a 4. So in order for you to traverse this portion of the landscape, you have to work together and offer some way to help this journey to the actual Sallowlands themselves. For each action roll that succeeds, this will take down by one. So who would like to take the first leg of this journey towards the long dead lake?

[Dilwyn]

Could we. How steep are we talking right now?

[Game Master]

It's very gradual, but you can already see at a distance like it becomes more mountainous and more almost ruptured in places like some seismic event took place that have made parts of it not the safest climb, but not a sheer mountain climb.

[Dilwyn]

Is there an option? Is there a really clear bit that would get us there quite quickly? I'm thinking, do we surf?

[Game Master]

I mean you can once you crest the rising portion, but you have to

[Dilwyn]

get to the top. You can always to get down there.

[Game Master]

That's okay. But good to keep that in mind when you get there.

[Sister]

Your bat is quite large. I have some rope. We could give it to the bat and have him.

[Dilwyn]

We do that.

[Sister]

Yeah. Do bats know how to tie?

[Dilwyn]

This one definitely knows how to toy shit.

[Sister]

He's very intelligent.

[Dilwyn]

Badger's great.

[Game Master]

You look over a badger, he's like

[Dilwyn]

boss eyes. Badger could do it. I believe in him. I have faith.

[Game Master]

Badger.

[Dilwyn]

Badger. And I've got nature's tongue, so I can really speak to him, right?

[Game Master]

That's true.

[Sister]

Yeah.

[Dilwyn]

Yeah.

[Game Master]

All right. What do you tell Badger?

[Dilwyn]

I'm gonna go, badger, that's love. Exactly how I imagined you. Right? You see that? You see that little tree right, right

[Sister]

there, that little stub?

[Dilwyn]

I need you to tie up the rope.

[Game Master]

I don't know what that is.

[Dilwyn]

The rope.

[Game Master]

I know rope. I don't know how to tie.

[Dilwyn]

Yeah, you do. You did it before, I swear.

[Game Master]

Did I? And, like, searches through the memory of a small bat brain and goes, I think I accidentally rin around a bunch. And then it made her something that looked kind of like a toy, if that's what you call it. I could certainly try again.

[Dilwyn]

Just give it a go, Badger.

[Game Master]

I'll give it a go.

[Dilwyn]

I believe in you, Badger.

[Game Master]

I believe in me, too. Takes off, clutching the rope in his feet.

[Sister]

It's gonna go well.

[Game Master]

I think it's gonna go safe. You all walk along until you reach an area in which it's a bit of a treacherous climb. And Badger scoots around above. I would like. I'm gonna have you roll a finesse roll for Badger, because this is just gonna be a straight roll. I will tell you right now, the difficulty on this is going to be a 12.

[Dilwyn]

All right.

[Sister]

No, that's a 12.

[Game Master]

Yeah. It's about tying a rope.

[Dilwyn]

A10.

[Sister]

Did you add anything to it?

[Game Master]

No, I'm a badger.

[Dilwyn]

Can I go again?

[Game Master]

Well, possibly so. So Badger goes and swings around and affixes the rope and comes back down.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Right, Right.

[Dilwyn]

I did it.

[Game Master]

I did it for you.

[Mercy]

I kind of look. I can see the rope just dangling there. And I look to Deli. I'm like, I don't think it worked.

[Game Master]

No, it's. No. He's in a farm.

[Mercy]

All I'm hearing is his back kind of goes. I have no idea what.

[Sister]

Really? This is my fault. What? No.

[Mercy]

And I'm gonna just start almost leaping and bounding on fours towards this, towards where the tree is to go to tie. Cause it's now clocked to me what we are trying to do here. And it's like, that's what I'm now gonna do. So I'm just gonna leap up there.

[Game Master]

So you shot more or less gorilla leaping up on each of these full on like King Kong, crabbing onto the edge of the rock and leaping again. Go ahead and make a strength roll for me, if you don't mind.

[Mercy]

Of course.

[Sister]

What if we all die just trying to climb and I've done my job

[Dilwyn]

on the rock in the first 10 minutes.

[Mercy]

12.

[Game Master]

12. Okay.

[Mercy]

With fear.

[Game Master]

Oh, good to know. So you clamber up to the edge, and indeed, you see, the rope is kind of just looped around a couple times and then left loosely there. You go over and affix it properly to the tree and give it a nice tug. You feel confident that this is going to work?

[Mercy]

Well, can I actually. Instead of. If I go to tie it to the tree, Can I first try and move the tree and see how much give the tree has?

[Game Master]

Yeah, Giving a gentle pull. It holds pretty well.

[Mercy]

Okay.

[Game Master]

You give a stronger pull and it has a slight give. You're uncertain if that's just because you are a strong motherfucker. And so you stop yourself there from pulling too intensely for the size and weight of your compatriots. It should hold.

[Mercy]

Okay. All right. So I then look down to you all and I wave this huge sort of hand waving at you.

[Game Master]

At which point he vanishes from view. As you roll with fear.

[Dilwyn]

Oh, no.

[Game Master]

You step back into crumbling ground. So as you wave and step back, the rock beneath you just gives way. Like a localized sinkhole falls underneath your foot. I need you to make an agility reaction roll for me, please.

[Dilwyn]

Grab the rope.

[Game Master]

Yeah.

[Mercy]

No, 17.

[Game Master]

17. All its success version vanishes from view and then reappears from view. You just barely caught yourself. You look down and there's about a 4 and a half foot wide crevasse that opened up beneath where you were that just vanishes into lightless black below and you narrowly avoid tumbling in.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Great.

[Dilwyn]

You are embarcing.

[Mercy]

Yeah, I kind of pull up and I'm like, it's dangerous. Kind of like, shout that out. Question on reaction rolls do you get. Does hope and fear still count for reactions?

[Game Master]

It does not. But for all the rolls, it does.

[Mercy]

Thank you. Okay, cool. Yeah. So I kind of. Yeah, shout and say, be careful.

[Dilwyn]

You be careful. So I now. I now tie and I go, Badger, this is how you do it. And then tie. Tie the rope around.

[Game Master]

Right. No, no, I see. That's instruction.

[Dilwyn]

You got it?

[Game Master]

What are you doing it? Thank you.

[Dilwyn]

Bloody badger. So I've tied. I've tied the rope.

[Mercy]

So I'm. I'm then going to begin pulling as you walk up.

[Sister]

Very slowly as well, without any work at all.

[Game Master]

Sort of fear while you're doing that.

[Sister]

No, no.

[Game Master]

You pull up, but you start hearing these caws. And at this point, you notice that there is a circle of birds that has begun to appear above you. Carrion birds in particular seem to have noticed your presence here, exposed to the open elements in the sky. And they're not attacking. They're scavengers. But they're definitely letting anything else here know that the birds are circling. Something

[Dilwyn]

Dilly can speak to him.

[Game Master]

They can hear you. Yeah.

[Dilwyn]

May I?

[Game Master]

Yeah.

[Dilwyn]

Oi. What are you circling? Can you pack it in?

[Game Master]

One of them shuts down. Just waiting for breakfast. Any minute,

[Dilwyn]

Diddy gets a rock, lobs

[Game Master]

it, make A strength check for me, please.

[Sister]

Oh, no, that ain't my.

[Game Master]

I'll say strength or finesse because this could go either way. This is the cause. Both ones. One's reach, but one's also very specific control.

[Dilwyn]

Ooh. 17 with hope.

[Game Master]

Take that, hope.

[Dilwyn]

Actually. 18 with hope.

[Game Master]

18 with hope. That's a success. So you Chuck hits one of them in the head. It falls and tumbles about 30, 40ft before it catches itself again. The other birds scatter at that point. So the carrion birds have been dispersed and whatever effect they would have given to this environment for the. For the time being has been nullified.

[Dilwyn]

Fuck off.

[Mercy]

I'm just constantly pulling her sister towards me.

[Sister]

I barely move my legs.

[Dilwyn]

I just get trapped.

[Game Master]

That's great. So with that, the first major hurdle of this climb has been overseen and taken care of. The next track for the next hour or so is fairly uneventful. It's a little windy in some hills in there, but nothing of the same level of broken cliff face to head apart. Keeping an eye out before you hear this. It's like a blast or a detonation that echoes through the stone in the surrounding space. What do you do?

[Dilwyn]

Don't like that.

[Sister]

I am going to. I'm going to reach out into the Fungral network and see if there's anyone that knows what that was. Anything close by.

[Game Master]

Okay. Mycelium is thin here and the shale cliffs. But what you can gather from nearby fungus that clings desperately to the dry arid landscape here. The rain having just recently passed too far south to offer them any sort of moisture and solace. Looks like there's a cluster of walkers one surrounded. That's all walkers.

[Dilwyn]

And does Dilly know about walkers?

[Game Master]

You never really heard the term walkers.

[Sister]

That's what we mushrooms call things with legs.

[Dilwyn]

Right. That covers quite a lot though.

[Sister]

Big, big ones.

[Game Master]

Just barely make out the sound of a shout echoing just from. Not directly the direction you're coming from, but a little ways to the left and beyond. Like it's coming over some sort of a cliff edge or one of the rocky outcroppings. You can just barely make out clusters of shouted words that are just the echoes reaching you. One word that catches you is can't run. We're coming.

[Sister]

Can we peek out and see?

[Mercy]

Yeah. Do we know if that's directed to

[Dilwyn]

us or can I send Badger?

[Game Master]

Badger goes kind of takes up for a minute. You hear another.

[Dilwyn]

God. Fuck you.

[Sister]

Is it full daytime right now?

[Game Master]

It's like midday to afternoonish. Early afternoon from what you can tell. And the second crack, it sounds like a thunderclap. Smaller, but it's echoing through the stone. Badger comes back and goes like, all right, there's some other folk. Looks like they're chasing someone. A person's running away, and then they're running after them. And then they're hiding, and they found them, and they're making big, big noises.

[Sister]

We should help them.

[Dilwyn]

Thanks, Badger. We should help them, Right?

[Mercy]

Help. Help. And I begin. I think what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna make a big. I'm just gonna yell, almost like a. A deathly battle yell, just guttural scream to kind of just distract and attack. Attract attention of sorts.

[Game Master]

All right, go make a presents roll for me, if you don't mind.

[Mercy]

I'm gonna spend a hope, and I'm gonna use one of my experiences. Experiences, which is savage.

[Dilwyn]

Yes.

[Mercy]

Yeah. Because I feel like there is. There is. Yeah. I feel like this is a good, great moment to use that. So as soon as I. As I hear help, like, you know, the help, and I guess the information of chasing it brings memories of my past and being chased and needing aid and not getting it. And almost like an anger comes through me as I scream with a critical yes.

[Game Master]

You bellow to such a resonance that the rest of you watch bits of loose stone shake and tumble off of nearby cliff edges. You are flying fairly certain that whatever is making this noise is very well aware of your presence. And you hear after a pause as it echoes the fuck.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Stay put.

[Game Master]

Someone go see what that was. Don't make any funny movements. Boy, we got a lot to talk about.

[Mercy]

I kind of look to you both, and I'm like, they would be coming. We have the advantage. Find a place, hide, strike when least expected. And I kind of move to a location to almost kind of get them to see me.

[Sister]

All right, I'm going to step back and try to blend in with the rocky, pale surroundings and just hold still and crouch low.

[Game Master]

Okay.

[Dilwyn]

She's great at hiding. She's off. Don't worry about it. But I wonder if she might send Badger to distract him by pecking at their eyes. I mean, bats don't bat stoke.

[Sister]

I don't know how many people there are that are coming.

[Game Master]

You've heard two voices?

[Sister]

Two voices?

[Dilwyn]

Two voices, yeah.

[Sister]

All right.

[Dilwyn]

So she sends the bat and goes. Go distract them. Make their lives hell.

[Game Master]

Okay, I got you. Don't worry. And dives just over the upper cliff area. Oh, no. Mark a stress on Badger as Badger suddenly flies back over with what looks like an arrow lodged in his side. He's like there's a few, there's a few of them. And then comes lands next to you as you're hiding off to the side. You're hiding on the side, you're just out in the open. And you have the low ground right now because the cliff goes up from there. There's two drop offs from this point before you lose sight over it. And there's a slight opening, a gap between one of the upper cliff edges and you see five figures push through.

[Mercy]

So we have the low ground you say?

[Game Master]

Correct.

[Mercy]

Okay, cool. All right.

[Game Master]

You see among them there is one figure that is drawn in long ragged leathers and what looks to be this extended skull on top of their head. They have their hands in front as they're pushed forward by another figure. You see a long hat that shades their face. You can barely see what looks to be a, a cracked dried lipped grin from underneath as they clutch over one shoulder this massive wooden structure. It's a man sized crux that has chains affixed to it and they must be a very formidable figure to be carrying with one arm over their shoulder. While on the other hand they carry a strange contraption. It looks almost like a wand or it's made of metal with a long crooked looking hammered extension to it. You see there's a drifting bit of smoke off of it. They kick the skull headed figure ahead, who steps a couple. Alphonse, if you want to come to the the table. To give a more specific description as you get kicked ahead from your very recent captors, what do we see?

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Yeah, you said more detailed. I don't know if I can get more detail than that, but it's a large stocky man wearing this large skull on top of his head. A mix of a wolf, a buffalo, some cow, some non euclidean weird creature. It's cracked as barbed wire and dry twine wrap itself around the skull itself. You see around the horns that split off in different directions. You see small skulls dangle across them as they hit each other making a small noise you see as descending down. The body is a large, almost duster leather large jacket covered in pieces of the desert itself, burrs, different dust and you see weaving itself through all of the fabric and maybe even the skin itself. This dark tubing that makes its way around its body and up to its mouth. That you see connects down to a large mixture of maybe a crossbow, collected metal, barbed wire and hooks around like an axe. But eventually you can make it out to be Some kind of rifle. As the tube kind of connects into this rifle itself.

[Game Master]

The rifle which at this point is not held by you.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Right.

[Game Master]

But held by another figure. You see this woman with long purple hair that covers one half of her face. A dagger protruding from one hand and holding the rifle in the other. As you're very visibly at the moment seemingly at the mercy of these other figures.

[Sister]

And the tubes connect from you to the rifle that she's holding.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

It's cut at the moment so it's separated.

[Game Master]

So it's kind of drifting off an arc between where you're standing and where she is. You see two other figures behind the one hearing the crux. And what now you can figure out looks almost like an odd looking pistol. And then another hooded feminine figure. A thick cloak and a long black hooked bow that she has a half notched arrow in fanning out over the edge of this cliff face. And then one last figure that is this kind of. What if Willie Nelson went crazy and became an axe murderer?

[Dilwyn]

Great.

[Game Master]

This older black and gray haired man with a big beard and braids that curl down off the shoulders. He's wearing tattered leather armor and just has this massive bone carved axe. He's just looking out over the edge as they all come up to that point and just see you out and about. And the one figure with the hat in the center that's right behind you says, hey. So you making that racket kind of walk up?

[Mercy]

Yes.

[Game Master]

Kind of gives you a look around.

[Mercy]

I look around as well. I almost imitate his movement.

[Game Master]

Looking a little rough there, friend. Got a bit of the sickness.

[Mercy]

I go to reach towards the one with the skull.

[Game Master]

So you start stepping up the cliff towards them. As soon as you take a step, pistol goes up towards you. The arrow wielder goes pointing towards you. And the other two get more ready and says I would stay that friend.

[Mercy]

I would not pull any act for you are. And I kind of look around. I'm gonna surround it.

[Sister]

Send a voice of dread. I took that as a cue.

[Dilwyn]

Perfect.

[Game Master]

Let's go. All right.

[Mercy]

To who? That's perfect.

[Sister]

Yeah. Like just the hood of my mushroom top.

[Game Master]

Yeah.

[Sister]

Lifts up and into the leader's head is just an eruption of screams and clicks. And. And as it just hopefully paralyzes him and fear.

[Game Master]

Go ahead and make a roll. Okay.

[Sister]

Okay. 20. What is it? 23.

[Dilwyn]

With fear.

[Game Master]

With fear. Well, that's a success.

[Dilwyn]

Yay.

[Game Master]

So let's go.

[Dilwyn]

All right.

[Sister]

They mark a stress.

[Game Master]

They do indeed.

[Sister]

And they're frozen with terror. They're Temporarily restrained.

[Game Master]

Temporarily restrained. This is good to know as I go get a battle map. I'll be right back.

[Sister]

Yeah,

[Dilwyn]

Okay.

[Game Master]

I love that. Probably hiding somewhere without a weapon.

[Sister]

I know, right? We'll get it.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

We'll get it, we'll get it, we'll get it. Don't you worry about me.

[Game Master]

Oh, yeah. Okay, Charlie. All right. So from this point here, to give you a bit of a heads up, so you have been out in the open to this space. Right about there. Whereabouts would you put yourselves, Sister and Dilwyn hiding amongst this region?

[Sister]

I probably would have been. And over here?

[Game Master]

Over here?

[Sister]

Yeah. Like, up against? Yeah, it works.

[Game Master]

You got it.

[Dilwyn]

Could Dylwyn have climbed that tree there?

[Game Master]

Sure.

[Dilwyn]

Thanks.

[Game Master]

Definitely.

[Mercy]

Nice.

[Sister]

Cheers, Base.

[Mercy]

And would Badger be near me?

[Dilwyn]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Game Master]

Yes. Badger kind of right over hereish, you want to say?

[Mercy]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sister]

Is there still an arrow lodged in Badger?

[Game Master]

There is.

[Dilwyn]

Badger's fine, sturdy Fonz.

[Game Master]

You were kind of kicked up to the front there. Yes, by this gentleman. He's very tall.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Oh, yeah.

[Game Master]

He's giving Barbiz the gallows.

[Mercy]

That's sick.

[Game Master]

That's his crux that he carries. Isn't that sweet? And then here, some of his compatriots. And the one with the black hooked arrow up top, as the gentleman here goes. You weren't alone, were you? Taking them out and puts a finger ahead like that point. The others begin to spread the circle. But it is your spotlight. Who wants to go?

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Who has the gun?

[Game Master]

This one here. Oh, sorry. Your gun?

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Yeah, my gun. Sorry.

[Game Master]

Right here.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Okay. Yeah. I think right when I see something happens, you all of a sudden see the skull fall to the ground. As I turn into sand and shadow, as I will mark a stress, use my Order of the Specter ability to essentially teleport behind the one next to me. And I will grab the tubing of my gun, wrap it around their neck, and I. It's far. Can I just try to run, like, push them forward and bring them down the cliffside?

[Game Master]

I love it.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Let's try. I'll wrap the tubing around the neck and then just push all in one motion. And trying to literally use this person as some kind of platform to ride down the cliff.

[Game Master]

Incredible.

[Mercy]

Sweet.

[Game Master]

You kind of appear. They kind of glance over the side. What the heck? And look back just before the tubing catches into their throat. I need you to make a strength check for me, please. A strength roll to see if you can drag them over to that side.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Okay. That is. Holy shmoly. That is a 21 with hope.

[Game Master]

21 with hope. That is definitely a success. So you drag them up to the edge here. I will give them a strength reaction roll to try and beat your strength roll. I don't know if they can. They need to roll. No, they need to get 20. Nope. So as you drag them forward and they kind of tumble forward, down in the bottom area, catching themselves as they slide down, land. See, you pull the two daggers out, or one dagger was already out. The other one they pull out to join, like, all right, let's see how much I can make you bleed, piggy.

[Sister]

Ooh. Are you on their body, or were you?

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Yeah, so I like. Yeah, I think I would have. Yeah, I would have slid down with them.

[Mercy]

It's cooler that way.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

As this person gets up, if I could, I think that they notice at this point that they don't have my rifle anymore as I. They hear, like, the click of the tube as it, like, goes back into my arm, and I would like to take a shot at the back of this guy.

[Game Master]

Absolutely. Let's go.

[Mercy]

And as you go to do that, I want to aid and help.

[Game Master]

Yeah. Spend a. Hope to do so.

[Mercy]

Yeah, absolutely. As, like, I can see. Like, I can see them not necessarily realizing that they are, like, you know, they're kind of fixated on me, and I'm gonna use my hope to essentially go to grab them and kind of use them as a shield to kind of get them ready for you to shield.

[Game Master]

Let's go.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Nice. All right, so, okay, that is. That is 17 with fear.

[Game Master]

17 with fear. That is a success.

[Mercy]

What do I roll?

[Sister]

Still a success.

[Game Master]

Oh, roll D6 down.

[Mercy]

Two. Okay. Yeah. Two.

[Game Master]

Two. So 19 with fear. No worries. All right, so go ahead and roll damage on that.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Got to go. I got to, like, remember, without any buffs or anything like that, that is A. There's four. When he carries the two, that's 22 damage.

[Game Master]

22 damage.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Roll really high.

[Sister]

Holy cow.

[Game Master]

That is.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Yeah. All of a sudden, you'll see this red arcane lightning stem from the butt of the rifle as it carries throughout my arm and shoots out right into the sky in front of me, leaving a smoking barrel as I try to pierce through without hurting.

[Game Master]

So she tries to duck out of the way. Definitely gets her head from your very, very square shot. That would have easily been a headshot if she hadn't reacted so quickly. Instead, you blast the back of her left shoulder. Blood splatters out onto you as you're trying to hold from the other side. She manages to Squeeze out of your grip. And it's like ah. One dagger drops to the ground and the arm has fallen limp a little bit. She takes a severe wound. That's three, three hit points marked on her. But that was with fear. So she's like Boss Henderoth and looks back and so you know this figure. Since you're now at the table we can discuss this. Endroth the inevitable. A renowned bounty hunter across the shallow lands and adjacent landscapes. A figure that runs different size gangs depending on the contract or money at stake. But a very dangerous figure to anyone that they're hunting. They only brought a few people expecting it to be one person that they were targeting. This has changed the math and they're currently adapting in their minds as necessary. But they are renowned and they are dangerous to that point. Endoroth is going to go. All right, I ain't got time to spend much of my afternoon dealing. Gives a big whistle and is going to go ahead and first use their tactician action to mark a stress to also spotlight two allies within close range. And so both of these allies are going to immediately activate. So this one here is going to rush forward, leap off down and with an upper strike towards you. Mercy. That's gonna be a 15 to hit you.

[Mercy]

Oh, okay. That hits.

[Game Master]

Alrighty. Now you are within melee of one of their allies. So they deal higher damage from their ambush tactics ability. So you, you take 12 points of physical damage.

[Mercy]

I'm gonna spend an armor to negate one and make that nothing.

[Game Master]

So describe to me how you negate this entirely.

[Mercy]

So I see this axe come in and as it kind of clunks in it lodges into an old scar with. And you can the fungus sort of begin to almost crawl onto the axe as it does nothing to me. And I kind of look at them.

[Game Master]

You see the eyes bloodshot one's a little cloudy. And they look at the axe, look up at you. And just as I gain a fear from the ambush tactics, this, this person is a little broken. So that's the one up here. This figure is going to go ahead and shift onto this side and glances around, sees you in the tree and is going to go ahead and take a shot in your direction. So that's going to be only a nine.

[Dilwyn]

Yeah, nine. Doesn't even slightly hit and is going

[Game Master]

to try and duck behind behind this tree. At the end of their turn. They're now getting into a sniper fight. Between the two of you, I'm going to spend another fear to activate the one that's on the ground next to you all and is going to go ahead and glancing towards you, takes out both your daggers and goes for an attack against. That's going to be a 14, 14 hits. 14 hits. Now because you are not in melee with their ally, they only deal with. Sorry, I hit the mic there. Eight points of physical damage against you. And they're going to rush and clamber up the top of the cliff, duck underneath your swipes and grabs and clamber to the edge back with the allies to try and be like, all right boss, we're killing them, right? And Roth goes, now we need to skull one alive. Maybe that one if we can, can fetch a pretty penny for any of them really. I guess kill if you gotta, but that one we keep. That's gonna end my spotlight. I'm gonna say. There's a rustle of nearby bushes as yet another figure seems to have been watching this transpire. Kaguama, could I have you join the table please?

[Sister]

Oh goodness.

[Dilwyn]

Welcome.

[Sister]

Hello.

[Game Master]

So you who have been quietly following for some time, this violence begins to break out and in this moment there's bloodshed, there's shouts, there's all manner of strangers now colliding. You have to do something.

[Sister]

You see, you see this four foot galaba, very old, brownish, dark green skin, very dry, wrinkly, very nervous. Their shell has some spikes in, they have a bit of a curve on their shoulder. They're mostly holding onto a quarter staff

[Dilwyn]

and

[Sister]

they in the panic of it all start doing strange sounds like. Trying to do some sort of a creature like noise to distract from what's happening. But they really are so scary.

[Dilwyn]

They really are so scared.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Just like

[Game Master]

weirdly no one's noticed. Oh, blessed. But the spotlight is to your side. Who would like to go,

[Dilwyn]

where is, where did you come from?

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Where do I am?

[Game Master]

Where am I? Did anybody from this bush here, I

[Sister]

can see it happen.

[Game Master]

Who has a, I'll say, an instinct of two or higher?

[Sister]

Nope.

[Dilwyn]

Yeah, me.

[Game Master]

You are the only one. And it makes sense with your tree and vantage point. You glance over and see this older hunched turtle figure, this is Galapa, come out of the bush, wide eyed, kind of panicky, but present.

[Sister]

Okay,

[Dilwyn]

I'm worried. I'm worried about, I'm worried about Mercy. I'm really worried. So I think she's gonna, the crazy guy next to Mercy, she's, she's gonna take a good shot.

[Game Master]

Let's go.

[Dilwyn]

Yeah, let's do it. Don't kill my best friend. So I'm taking roll.

[Game Master]

16, 16, 16 with hope or fear?

[Dilwyn]

With. Oh, it's a nine.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

That's a nine.

[Dilwyn]

19 was fit.

[Game Master]

That's a success. But great. No, that definitely works. So go ahead and roll damage.

[Dilwyn]

Okay.

[Sister]

Where's my.

[Dilwyn]

Okay. Oh, that's rubbish. Four plus five. Nine.

[Game Master]

Nine. Nine. Just hits their major thresholds. They mark two hit points, pull so as you like up there in the tree. Release the arrow as the guy's like, pulls the ax back. And then. You watch as the left eye kind of turns to look in your direction. Grins through yellow, black, yellow teeth and black gums. Just the scent of decay that would affect anybody if they weren't already decaying. But they took a major hit on that one. But that was with fear. So it's back to me at this point, Endoroth is going to go ahead and step forward to the edge and be like, don't worry, dear. I do like to leave a splatter in the afternoon. It's going to go ahead. And first, you are his quarry.

[Sister]

Just as in, oh, ruh Ron.

[Game Master]

Which means he has advantage on all rolls against you.

[Mercy]

Oh, nice.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

All right.

[Game Master]

Is going to then spend a fear to use his execution pistol. So going to make an attack against a target in far range.

[Sister]

Did he mark a fear to become unrestrained?

[Game Master]

Oh, I did. That's right. Because he was restrained. I will do that. He kind of shakes it off. Yeah, that's a good reminder, actually. I have markers here for that that I need to remember. There we go. Shakes it off, Resets the pistol and aims it down at you and goes. This has already been far too interesting. Takes a shot. That is a natural 19.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

I think that hits.

[Game Master]

All right. So for that, you take. 16 points of direct damage. That means you cannot use armor to reduce it.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Okay.

[Game Master]

Yeah.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

I will mark 2 HP. I will meet his gaze, and I'll say, we were just getting. And then you see a whole blast. And I go on my knees and I go, cool. Yeah, I will.

[Game Master]

He takes the crown off his shoulder and sets it on the side and shakes it so that some of the chains and manacles dangle from it. You know, this is how he brings back his quarry.

[Sister]

Oh, zoinks. He is inevitable.

[Game Master]

So that's his activation. I'm going to spend a fear to activate the sniper again, who's going to go ahead and fire back at you around the edge. This is going to be a. Another natural 19. Look at that opening. I think that hits. So with this point, the sniper. Okay, yeah. This is not going to do as much. I don't think. All right, so 2D8, 10 points of physical damage against you.

[Dilwyn]

Cool.

[Game Master]

You can mark an armor to reduce it if you need to.

[Dilwyn]

That would only take it to nine, which is my threshold. So, yeah, I guess I just mark two.

[Game Master]

Well, so you mark two and use an armor to reduce it to one.

[Dilwyn]

Oh, yeah. Well, no, wait. So if that's 10 and my minor damage threshold is nine.

[Game Master]

Yeah. So then it's a major wound which does two hit points. You can mark an armor slot to reduce it by one severity.

[Dilwyn]

So if I did two armor, you

[Sister]

can only do one at a time

[Game Master]

each time you take damage, but it reduces it by one threshold.

[Dilwyn]

But if it's a nine, is that still.

[Game Master]

The nine is still.

[Dilwyn]

Okay, so there's no point in me blocking it.

[Mercy]

Well, no, it wouldn't affect your. It wouldn't affect the number. So if you're taking two damage and you use one armor, it goes down to just one hit point that you take out.

[Dilwyn]

Yeah, got you. Yeah, no worries.

[Game Master]

There you go. Alrighty. And I'm going to save this fear. That's my activation. As the rest of them are looking a little confident, spotlight goes back to your side. Who hasn't taken an action in a minute? Who would like to?

[Sister]

I'm going to stay where I am.

[Game Master]

Okay.

[Sister]

But just aim my staff at the crazy one at mercy's side.

[Game Master]

Yeah.

[Sister]

And try to take a hit at it.

[Game Master]

What's the range on it?

[Sister]

It's very far.

[Game Master]

Yeah, definitely.

[Dilwyn]

And can I spend a hope to help?

[Game Master]

Yes, you may. How do you have help, sister? Fire towards the wildman.

[Dilwyn]

So the wildman is moving around and I go, oy, look at me here. And he kind of stops and.

[Game Master]

Yeah, the eye was already trailing you. The rest of his face catches up to it and goes, oh my tear.

[Sister]

Surprise attack.

[Game Master]

Yeah, there you go.

[Sister]

Oh, that's.

[Dilwyn]

That's great.

[Sister]

Ooh, that's really great. That is 21 plus 3. So 24 to hit with hope or fear?

[Dilwyn]

With hope.

[Game Master]

Take that, hope. That's a success.

[Dilwyn]

And it's a five from me as well.

[Game Master]

Fantastic. Oh, you definitely hit strong enough. Distraction. And go ahead and roll your damage for that.

[Sister]

Okay.

[Game Master]

Hope spotlight remains on you.

[Dilwyn]

Great.

[Sister]

So that is 10 plus 3 is 13 points of damage.

[Game Master]

13 points of damage. Nice. That is another two hit points marked. So this is blasting with your great staff. Great staff. So describe what this looks like as you conjure the magic to strike him.

[Sister]

A purple energy will start to form around the tip of her staff and shoot out. And as it does it envelops him in a shadow for a moment before it evaporates around his face and his eyes go dark for a moment.

[Game Master]

Oh, not again. Not the dreams.

[Dilwyn]

No.

[Game Master]

Grabs his face for a second and is for a moment lolling and his knees buckle slightly. He's looking pretty hurt.

[Sister]

I see this purple magical energy from where I'm at and I decide to leave the bushes and get slightly closer to right behind right over here to

[Dilwyn]

kind of take a little peek of

[Game Master]

what's going on over yonder. You got it.

[Sister]

But I still don't do anything. I'm still hyperventilating right now. Fair, fair.

[Dilwyn]

Yeah.

[Sister]

But I'm like, ooh, magic.

[Mercy]

I'm then going to take that moment of him being on his knees and just clench a fist and go to pound his head.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Go for it.

[Game Master]

Let's go.

[Mercy]

As we go along, which is a crit.

[Game Master]

Oh, nice. Over that stress if you got to.

[Mercy]

Yep, that's it, baby.

[Game Master]

Let's go. So max damage plus the dice roll.

[Mercy]

Right? So max damage. So that's two D10s plus four plus three. So where's my D10 here? There you are, baby. Right, okay. One. That's fine. Nine. 10. So 10 plus four. So yeah. 30. 37.

[Game Master]

How do you want to do this

[Zachary Ronaldo]

again?

[Mercy]

Like I've just seen. I've just seen. So the axe kind of hit me. He pulls it out, he laughs, the arrow shoots in. He gets blasted by some energy and he's still laughing. And it kind of, you know, sort of jolts something in my mind of when people would beat on me and laugh. And suddenly as I see him buckle to his knees, I look at my fist with these metal sort of protruding kind of jagged pieces and I just give him a jagged kiss as I sort of just crush his, like crush his head down and full on silence

[Game Master]

and just a of crimson against the nearby rock.

[Mercy]

And then I kind of pull my arm out and look. And then I look up to the guy with the person with the dagger

[Game Master]

as this figure crumples to the ground. You see, Endroth has this grin, tilts the head to the side a bit and goes, you are useful, aren't you? Looks around and starts assessing. Seer. I'm going to go ahead and mark a fear to activate Endroth, who is going to spend distress to use the tactician ability again. This is going to mark both. It's going to stack back a little bit and activate both of them. The dagger wielder over there is going to step back as well. And use smoke bomb. They're going to mark a stress. They exchange a glance, gives a nod and the dagger wielding woman looks, grabs something from the side of her pouch and slams it on the ground. This heavy cloud of smoke suddenly appears and you do not have sight on any of those figures at the moment.

[Dilwyn]

Whoa.

[Game Master]

This one over here is going to go ahead and take a shot from its vantage point towards you from behind.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Raise.

[Game Master]

That's a natural too. We've gone the other direction now.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Yeah.

[Game Master]

Goes to try and take a shot, but the smoke cloud has gotten too thick and can't quite get a bead. Right. Before the smoke fills their view, they release the air to hope and it just shears off one of the nearby rocks before she leaps into the smoke and vanishes from sight as well. It's your spotlight.

[Dilwyn]

So I haven't given you my third experience yet.

[Sister]

You have not.

[Dilwyn]

And I think my third experience is that she can see through anything dark or smoke. It's will of the whisper in our eyes.

[Game Master]

Right. So you want to call it something like

[Dilwyn]

Bright Eyes.

[Game Master]

Bright Eyes. Let's go. Bright Eyes.

[Mercy]

I like that.

[Game Master]

So here's what I'll say if you're trying. I'll say if you want to spend a hope, you can apply that to an instinct roll to see if you can see them within.

[Dilwyn]

Yeah.

[Game Master]

So let's go ahead and try that.

[Dilwyn]

Spend a hope.

[Game Master]

Spend a hope. And then add that plus two to the roll.

[Dilwyn]

Go on diddly. Ooh.

[Sister]

Nice.

[Dilwyn]

16 plus 18 with hope.

[Game Master]

18 with hope. Take that hope. You know exactly sweet. Where they are.

[Dilwyn]

Mm.

[Game Master]

And it looks like from what you can tell, they're not turning to flee. They're just getting ready for something. What do you want to do?

[Dilwyn]

First of all, I want to use my ranger's focus, which I did forget about.

[Game Master]

Oh, yes.

[Dilwyn]

Let's go spend my hope on that. Yeah. So when I deal damage to them, they must mark a stress. And so I'm going to be making

[Game Master]

your target of your angels the biggest

[Dilwyn]

wanker in the middle.

[Game Master]

Yeah, you got it. Let's go.

[Dilwyn]

Cool. So am I doing. Wait, am I doing my. This is your attack duality dice. Okay, so that's a 10. 10 with fear.

[Game Master]

10 with fear.

[Mercy]

Oh, God.

[Sister]

Did you add anything to that?

[Dilwyn]

Wait, can I add anything to that?

[Game Master]

Or you add your weapons trait to it, which is agility plus three.

[Dilwyn]

So 30.

[Sister]

What?

[Dilwyn]

I didn't even know.

[Game Master]

Yeah, that'd be 13.

[Dilwyn]

13. Has that always been a rule? I missed that.

[Game Master]

That's all good.

[Dilwyn]

When I fail oh no. Did I fail the attack? Because I can end my Ranger's focus feature to reroll my duality and I

[Sister]

can, from very far away, channel some bravery and give you some reassurance.

[Dilwyn]

Bye.

[Game Master]

I'll allow it. Let's go.

[Dilwyn]

All right, cool.

[Game Master]

So how do you up to this moment, hidden old Galapa from the bushes, reassure this tree faring ranger.

[Sister]

So I'm seeing everything from where I'm at. I can't see what's happening, but I notice that this strange monkey like figure is able to focus on what's happening. So I have a few that she just might be able to see something that no one else can. And I can see that she's struggling a little bit with her weapons and whatnot. And then I just whisper to myself, osha, this is for you. I take a tiny step forward, leaning on my hand staff, look at you and say,

[Game Master]

you got this, you got this.

[Mercy]

Where's that voice come from?

[Game Master]

Joel, shift over to this unexpected figure standing on the edge of the cliff. A shadowed form from like the backlit from the fading sunlight of the now mid afternoon.

[Mercy]

What?

[Dilwyn]

Until he's like a new friend.

[Game Master]

So you can re roll your dice if you'd like.

[Dilwyn]

Oh, is it correct?

[Game Master]

That's what it's about. Alrighty. So go ahead and roll the dice and then add the maximum to that.

[Dilwyn]

What's the maximum?

[Game Master]

So you're rolling what now? Is it 2D6.

[Dilwyn]

2D6.

[Game Master]

So it'd be 12 plus what you roll.

[Dilwyn]

Oh, so 12 plus 6 is 18, plus 5 is 23.

[Game Master]

23 is all just under end Roth's severe threshold. But he marks two hit points. That's a heavy hit on him.

[Dilwyn]

And he's got a mark of stress. Right. Because I've got ranges for.

[Game Master]

Yes, he does.

[Dilwyn]

Yeah.

[Game Master]

So you watch him getting his gun ready. Has the crux at the side and isn't even paying attention to you and is whispering something over to one of his underlegs before the arrow goes right into just under the clavicle and looks around and can't quite. It's in the franticness of the moment, the smoke there as well. Doesn't know where it came from. Pulls the arrow out as their friend grabs the crux to hold up in place. He's like, boss, you all right? Beads of sweat down their face. They're looking pretty stressed out at this point. And even just doing like, I think the fortunes have turned against us, we'll find them again.

[Mercy]

No,

[Game Master]

so I mean, I'm going to say I'M going to jump in here. I'm going to spend a fear to do it. But I think Endroth is going to go ahead and move over this way and spend a stress to use tactician. His last stress. He's now vulnerable because he's completely stressed out and is going to activate the two other minions that are also going to run this way. And so they are now pushing towards an escape. That is my spotlight. It's back to you all.

[Mercy]

I'm going to climb up and bound towards.

[Game Master]

Okay, so are you going for a close range or are you trying to go for the full far?

[Mercy]

I'm gonna go for.

[Game Master]

So the full far will require an agility roll to do so.

[Mercy]

Yeah, I'm gonna go for full far.

[Game Master]

Okay. Because this is up over the edge, it's gonna have a little bit of a higher difficulty. This region's difficulty is a 13. Okay, so let's.

[Sister]

Can I try to slowly climb up as he's doing that?

[Mercy]

Yeah, yeah.

[Game Master]

Do you wanna do so I can

[Sister]

see what's going on here.

[Mercy]

Oh, 15.

[Game Master]

15 will do it. So you describe how you bound in catch up with Endroth and his crew.

[Mercy]

Again, the animalistic nature of me and also hanging out with Dilly for so long. I've learned elements of how to move and climb and sort of optimize my move. And I sort of climb with all fours and bound towards them like a gorilla. And I'm going to go to essentially attack the big guy from behind.

[Dilwyn]

Can I attack team roll? Is it too late?

[Game Master]

Well, you just finished your ability to get there. You haven't made your attack yet. So if you want to try and move and get within. What's the range on your weapon?

[Dilwyn]

I've got definitely maneuvers. Yeah, I can def maneuvers to get without making an agility roll. I just need to mark a stress.

[Game Master]

So yeah. So in order to get cuz your weapon's range is far.

[Dilwyn]

Very far.

[Game Master]

Very far, Very far. Oh yeah, yeah. The smoke's in the way. But if you want to try and like you can just get here instantly with death maneuver.

[Dilwyn]

Yeah, she just.

[Game Master]

You just like jump from tree to tree to get right over there. Passing through the smoke. No longer you have a perfect shot view down. You're jumping across right as you're bounding up. The rest of you watch as you see now the time they've spent together. Mercy and Dylan have this kind of patterned movement that works well as distant predator and up front predator. As they both bound over you both meet eyes in the center if you have three hope to spend, you can spend it right now.

[Dilwyn]

I've spent it.

[Game Master]

Let's go. Tag team roll. All right, so you're both making an attack against Endroth.

[Dilwyn]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Game Master]

Let's go.

[Mercy]

18. Yeah. No, no, no, wait. Sorry. Yeah, 18. Sorry.

[Game Master]

18 with 18 with fear or what'd you want?

[Dilwyn]

So is it 13 plus agility? Right, which is three?

[Mercy]

Is it with fear or with hope?

[Dilwyn]

That's with fear. So let's go.

[Game Master]

Okay, 18 with fear. Let's go. Do I gain a fear?

[Mercy]

I'm going to. Yeah. I'm going to attack with my knuckle blades. All right, which is my 6.

[Sister]

4.

[Mercy]

13. 13. Dam. No. Yeah. 13 damage, but I'm going to overwhelm and I'm going to spend a hope to essentially throw them towards Dilly.

[Game Master]

Okay.

[Dilwyn]

And can I spend a hope? Cause I've still got two hope left. Can I spend a hope to help him with that?

[Game Master]

Well, you're both doing this as a tactics attack. So taking damage from you go ahead and roll your damage as he's being thrown toward oh is he rushes in, grabs like heavy bladed punch grab and then chuck him through the air. And at this point, you kind of aim and. And head up to the air, release the arrow, catching him mid flight. For how much damage?

[Dilwyn]

And it's a nine damage.

[Game Master]

Nine damage. So adding that together, that is going to be 22 points of damage. That is going to be a major wound on Endroth. He marks two more hit points and then like that's a close range toss to here. So you push him back from his exit. So as you both have that moment, you can see he's starting to look a little hurt.

[Sister]

Nice.

[Game Master]

That was with fear, though. So it comes to his go. I'm going to spend a fear to have him take his execution pistol and aim it right for your head. It's like you're in the way, big boy. Maybe you're more useful in pieces anyway. That's going to be 16 to hit.

[Mercy]

Well, I'm going to not use anything

[Sister]

because that hits fair.

[Game Master]

All right, so.

[Sister]

Ooh.

[Game Master]

18 points of direct damage, which means you cannot use armor to reduce it.

[Mercy]

But I'm gonna use your talisman. Can I use the talisman to essentially reduce a point of.

[Game Master]

Yeah, it's not armor, so you can.

[Dilwyn]

Yeah. Yay.

[Mercy]

Right, Great. So that is just one.

[Game Master]

Okay. He does have momentum. So when he does a successful attack, I gain a fear go. Okay. I think I'm going to go ahead and burn a Fear to have this one run up here to grab you from behind and attempt to grapple you.

[Mercy]

Good luck.

[Game Master]

So make an attack against you. That's going to be a 15. Okay, so you are grappled means you are currently restrained and vulnerable.

[Mercy]

Can I use a strength? Okay, so I can't do a reaction or strength. Okay, no, that's fine.

[Sister]

No, no.

[Game Master]

This just grapples you. You can take a strength action to break free. You can still attack and do things while granted grappled. But it's an action to try and break free.

[Mercy]

This one.

[Game Master]

So you are restrained and vulnerable.

[Sister]

Can we do something now? Are we allowed to do something still my gun.

[Game Master]

Yeah. I'll spend one more fear to activate the sniper who's going to go ahead and leap up here for a better perspective. And it's going to go ahead and fire at you. Using the sniper deadly shot can make an attack against a vulnerable target within far range.

[Dilwyn]

No,

[Game Master]

that's gonna be 12.

[Mercy]

Yeah, it's minor. So it's just one. I'm gonna use one of my armor for the arrow to just sort of.

[Game Master]

That's the attack. To hit you is 12.

[Mercy]

Oh, I see. To hit me is 12. So actually, no. Can I. Do I see it coming or am I.

[Game Master]

Yes, you can.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

It's arranged.

[Game Master]

Attack. This is exactly what it is.

[Mercy]

I'm gonna spend a marker stress and use it to see it coming. And I'm gonna roll me a D4, which is A. Fuck, man. It's A1, so it's 11, so it still hits.

[Game Master]

Worst case scenario. All right, well, the sniper's gonna mark a stress and so that instead does 3d6 plus 7 damage to you. So let's. 22 points of physical damage against him.

[Mercy]

22 points. That's fine. I'm gonna use I think the talisman again to. No, this is physical. I'm gonna use my armor to knock it down.

[Game Master]

So you can use one armor to knock it down. Alrighty.

[Mercy]

Cool.

[Game Master]

Then they're going to vanish off the side there.

[Mercy]

You can see my arm is close to detaching from my body.

[Game Master]

That ends my go. It's back to you all.

[Sister]

Can I. Before anything else, I just wanna. I wanna hex them. I wanna see them. And I'm gonna mark a stress to cause them difficulties.

[Game Master]

Okay. What's the range on that?

[Sister]

It's. Oh, shit. I gotta move forward. I'm gonna walk forward. So I gotta be within far range.

[Game Master]

All right, so this is far range. You could get up to get to the rock, right? You can get up to here without having to roll agility. If you want to roll agility, you can go further and get them both. Otherwise, you could only get that one.

[Sister]

I want to be able to get them both.

[Game Master]

Do you want to make the agility roll?

[Sister]

Do it, do it, do it, do it. Okay.

[Dilwyn]

Do it, do it.

[Sister]

I'm so agile. Oh, a crit.

[Game Master]

Magnificent. So clear. Stress, gain a hope. You rush over. It's interesting. As you come up over the edge, you see the length and your drive is there, and the shale rock looks broken and dangerous and slippery. But elements of the fungal network that you had spoken to earlier that saw this are present. And you hear them go like, hey, we're here. And they begin to rise up out of the cracks and give soft footpad steps as you traverse, and you ninja run across them, getting to that point where now you are definitely within range of both of them.

[Sister]

If you want to hex them, they're hexed.

[Game Master]

All righty.

[Sister]

So they now have a penalty to their damage rolls and difficulty equal to my tier. So they get two.

[Game Master]

Two. So all the rolls are minus two?

[Sister]

Yes.

[Game Master]

You got it. Okay.

[Sister]

That's what I should have done earlier in the battle.

[Game Master]

Well, that's taking these characters for a spin for the first time. That's awesome. All right. So since that's still on your guys.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Yeah. As I'm on my knees, still bleeding out from the page pistol shot I took to my chest, I look down at the scarlet that's leaking from my chest, and I look down to see it start to crack and spark. As you see runes begin to illuminate on my gun, I get up and I shamble. Am I able to just get up behind that tree just to get an eye line on Endrov?

[Game Master]

Yeah, just outside side of the smoke.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

I will.

[Game Master]

Oh, man. It's kind of tough. I'll say. It's the kind of thing where the smoke is kind of obscuring that for a reason. Once again, you can make an agility roll to see if he can make the far range to get past it, because the way he got thrown back puts the smoke between where you would

[Zachary Ronaldo]

be and where he is. What's the penalty? I'm not even able to aim for him if he's through the smoke.

[Game Master]

I'll say in this instance, no.

[Mercy]

Okay.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Yeah.

[Game Master]

I allowed it because of the bright eyes experience to make a roll to try it, but he's technically hidden right now from you.

[Sister]

While that is happening, I want to get slightly closer to this veiled creature. Very Drawn to her. Just very mesmerized by this. Yeah, it has that impact. I was like,

[Zachary Ronaldo]

yeah, as I. As I like, I'm just gonna try for the agility. I'm gonna try to get a shot on this guy. Let's go. Yeah. I will try to force myself to move around this tree to get line of sight on him. Okay.

[Sister]

Dang.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

That's gonna be. Do I add anything to that as my agility?

[Game Master]

Yeah, you're agility.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Sixteen with fear.

[Game Master]

Sixteen with fear. Okay. So you do manage to sneak around, get up and get your weapon at the ready, but you realize you hadn't quite gotten it set up and charged ready for this shot. So it takes a minute for her to do so. That brings it back to me. At this point, Endroth, seeing the fortune shifting here, is going to run this way and go. Hold them back for me, babe. See you all again. Now I know about that we're seeking. And Endroth goes charging off this way. I'll say. Because the map ends there at the moment is still in sight, but is rapidly seeking to flee. And with that, I'm going to go ahead and. Yeah, he doesn't have any more stress to spend. I'm going to spend a fee or two. Let the other stalker there to go ahead and make an ambush tactic strike against you.

[Mercy]

Can I try and talk to them?

[Game Master]

You can when it's your.

[Mercy]

Okay, sure.

[Game Master]

After this token. Hear me out. Your arm is dangling. Hear me out.

[Mercy]

Wait a second.

[Game Master]

It's going to be a 14 minus two. Minus two, minus two plus D6. Because you are vulnerable currently. That's a plus one. So that'd be 13.

[Mercy]

So 13. Yeah, that's. I'm gonna mark an armor to.

[Game Master]

Well, that's 13 to hit you. I still have to roll down.

[Mercy]

Oh, all right. Sorry. Yes.

[Game Master]

No, it's all good.

[Mercy]

But wait, no. Yes. Yes. It's close. It's not. It's not. It's not ranged.

[Game Master]

That's all good. So that's gonna be. That's a really bad damage. Roll six points of physical damage.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

That's like.

[Mercy]

Okay, I'm not. I'm gonna. I'm still gonna expend an armor to negate that from me.

[Game Master]

So, yeah, at this point, she's going to just hold onto you but shift around this way. So now you've been made more or less a body shield for her as she's trying to give her boss the getaway. I'm going to end that as my spotlight. It's back to you.

[Sister]

All in a voice of dread.

[Game Master]

Okay, watch what I'm going to say right now, because you were waiting at the end of the last round of the.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

I would have to make another agility roll, wouldn't I, to go and see him?

[Game Master]

No, I'd say he's about here. Your range is far.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

It's very far.

[Game Master]

Very far. Oh, yeah, you can.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Oh, I can still see. I thought he jumped over, like, lines,

[Game Master]

like, he ran this direction.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Gotcha. But it just ends the map.

[Game Master]

Yeah. As long as you can see through that pincer right there, he's still in your sight. He's just off the map.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Yeah. I will sling up my rifle and pull back its hammer. Yeah. I'm going to take a shot at him.

[Game Master]

Let's go.

[Mercy]

All right, I'm gonna. Can I help you?

[Zachary Ronaldo]

That'd be great.

[Mercy]

Yeah, I'm gonna help you. I'm gonna essentially spend a hope to. Or stress or.

[Game Master]

What do I spend a hope to help?

[Mercy]

So I'm gonna spend a hope to essentially move like. Cause I'm aware that she's using me as a shield. I'm gonna use my weight to almost clear the line of sight.

[Dilwyn]

Okay, great.

[Mercy]

Yeah.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

So the set.

[Mercy]

A real clean shot right there.

[Game Master]

Now, she's not massive, and you're a big. She has you more from a positioning of how wounded you are and her holding your wounded arm and a knee pressed against the back of your knee, so you're almost unable to resist her, even though you're much stronger than her. But you just do that shove out of the way, and she gives into it, which opens up that space at one moment. As soon as he clears your vision, you have one down. The sight shot of Endroth, who's just charging away.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

He's just running away.

[Mercy]

Oh, plus four.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Okay,

[Game Master]

13 to hit.

[Mercy]

Plus four.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

That's with plus four. That's plus four. And the agility. Oh, my God.

[Game Master]

With hope or fear?

[Mercy]

With fear.

[Dilwyn]

Yeah.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

I have no way of buffing my two heads. Yeah. Shoot.

[Game Master]

As you aim strongly down the sight, the hunter who had been seeking you glances back over the shoulder towards you with this big, white, toothy grin as you fire, and it catches the edge of the hat, leaving a hole there. He doesn't even flinch and just turns back and keeps running. With the spotlight coming back to me, Endroth begins to scramble and vanish amongst the shale and is out of your sight. The figure here is going to attempt to let you go and flee, to give chase as well. Boss. Boss. And it's going to go Ahead and go into a full run. That way, whoever takes the next action is the last action to try and stop the last fleeing member of the Voice of Dread. All right. Because you are within shot there.

[Sister]

Yeah.

[Game Master]

All righty.

[Sister]

I'm going to try to restrain them so that they can't move forward.

[Game Master]

All right, Go make a roll.

[Dilwyn]

And I'm gonna help an ally. I'm gonna spend a hope.

[Game Master]

Spend a hope. Go for it. Spend that hope. How do you help with this, Voice of Dread?

[Dilwyn]

I help, but I. Could I. Could I send the bat. Could I send Badger to fly in front of front of the fleeing.

[Game Master]

Absolutely.

[Dilwyn]

Wanker. And then, like, kind of try and push him back by, like, kind of like darting into his face.

[Game Master]

So as they're running, all of a sudden, Badger's just getting in the way, trying to knock it out of the way. So you add that D6.

[Dilwyn]

That's five.

[Sister]

Definitely succeeded. It was 17 plus five.

[Game Master]

So 17 plus five is a success. Roll with fear.

[Dilwyn]

You did roll with fear.

[Game Master]

That's okay. But, yeah. So Voice of Dread. So they take a stress as the last stress. They are vulnerable and they are restrained as they grab the sides of their head and fall to their knees. And they are not going anywhere in the moment, as with fear, it comes back to me. I will use their activation to shake off the restrain, but that's all they can do there.

[Mercy]

I am going to run towards them then and just absolutely go at them.

[Game Master]

Go for it.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

I'm going to. I'm gonna spend my hope to help you out. I'm, like, just defeated. Throwing him. I gotta go. Go get him.

[Mercy]

Okay. That's a 19, 20, 20x.

[Game Master]

I'm so glad I spent that.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Plus four.

[Mercy]

Okay, great.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

Brilliant.

[Mercy]

Yeah. 24 to hit.

[Game Master]

That hits with hope or fear.

[Mercy]

That's. Oh, with hope.

[Game Master]

Oh, great. Take that.

[Sister]

Nice.

[Mercy]

And then I'm gonna add my D. Okay. 2, 7, 9, 9. 3. 12 to hit. 12. 12 damage.

[Game Master]

Sorry, 12 damage. That is beyond their major threshold. How do you want to do this?

[Dilwyn]

Nice.

[Mercy]

So as they're screaming. You shot them earlier, right? I think there was a shot in their shoulder or something. So I kind of go towards them and I grab their head.

[Sister]

Yeah.

[Game Master]

They hear you coming and they get up and start going to a sprint. But you're already there.

[Mercy]

Yeah. I grab the head and with my fingers or my blade, I go for the shoulder and just kind of go and tear their fucking arm off and kind of throw their body like a ragdoll. Looking at their arm like, I'm gonna use this later and sort of just kind of move back.

[Game Master]

And that's me scattered across the just a spray of crimson as you hear immediate silence. And you just watch as Mercy has more or less bisected the scrambling remnant of this troop. Two of them got away, one of them the leader. But at least for the time being, you're all safe. With some strange new stories to share and some questions I'm sure to ask each other, let's go ahead and go to break.

[Sister]

Oh my goodness.

[Game Master]

We'll return here in that moment. We'll see you here shortly.

[Sister]

That's a wrap for part one of this podcast episode of Age of umbra. Sallowlands Part 2 will land here the Tuesday after this episode at 5am Pacific and we'll pick up this story right right where we left off. Until then, keep your hope close and your fear closer and see you next time for part two.

[Game Master]

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[Mercy]

Stop.

[Zachary Ronaldo]

This is Simplisafe.

[Game Master]

Police are on the way. Using AI alerts, US based live agents help deter break inside Simplisafe. No long term contracts. Save 50% on your new system with professional monitoring at simplisafe.com sxm or with promo code sxm. Outdoor deterrence requires a Simplisafe Active Guard Outdoor Protection plan starting at 49. 99amonth. Visit simplisafe. Com Licenses for ALARM license information. Tennessee2012.