The Lost Monastery | Age of Umbra Episode 2 Part 1

Summary

Critical Role: The Lost Monastery | Age of Umbra Episode 2 Part 1 Summary

Release Date: June 12, 2025

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Overview

In episode two of "Age of Umbra," Part 1 of "The Lost Monastery" saga, the adventurers continue their perilous journey into the depths of the Blue Xal Vaults. Tasked with rescuing Velk Dravenmore, a missing member of their team, the group faces formidable foes, internal conflicts, and the looming threat of dark forces within the sealed Luzal Monastery. This episode delves deep into the characters' resilience, strategic combat maneuvers, and the intricate narrative woven by Matthew Mercer, the Dungeon Master.

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Setting the Scene

[02:56] Matthew Mercer begins by recapping the group's predicament: Fresh Delvers from Desperlock have returned from the Blue Xal Vaults with half of their team slain or missing. The adventurers have been entrusted to find Velk Dravenmore, who may have ventured beyond the newly discovered gates leading to the Luzal Monastery.

Key Developments:

1. Entrance to the Vaults

   • The party navigates through dangerous terrains, battling shambling skeletons and burning oozes.
   • Upon reaching the gates to Luzal Monastery, they fend off a recovering gate guardian using an empowered boomerang, preventing immediate pursuit ([08:24]).

2. Discovery of Clues

   • Inside, they find a bloodstained hand smear and a bone trinket, suggesting Velk's passage towards the monastery ([10:18]).
   • The group debates whether to abandon the mission, recalling their agreement to retrieve Velk under specific conditions ([11:05]).

3. Unexpected Encounter

   • The environment becomes hostile as the doors slam shut with heavy impacts, indicating the guardian's persistence ([12:00]).
   • Velk appears, fatigued and injured, sparking tension within the group about the decision to leave him behind ([13:15]).

Notable Quotes:

• Ashley Johnson ([04:00]): "It is Pride Month, you should know this."
• Sam Riegel ([07:00]): "I can get you anything."

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Intensifying Conflict: The Guardian's Wrath

As the adventurers proceed into the monastery, Velk undergoes a dramatic transformation:

1. Transformation of Velk

   • Velk's appearance shifts into a feral, monstrous form after being infused with dark shadow and blood ([50:00]).
   • He declares his destiny for greatness, rejecting the group's attempts to save him ([52:20]).

2. Combat Escalation

   • A fierce battle ensues between the party and Velk, featuring strategic maneuvers and spellcasting.
   • Key moments include:
     • Sam Riegel uses his ranger abilities to restrain Velk, rolling a critical success to inflict severe damage ([70:19]).
     • Ashley Johnson employs magical maneuvers to fend off Velk's relentless attacks, utilizing spells like "Wild Flame" and "Power Push" to create vulnerabilities ([85:20], [104:43]).

Notable Quotes:

• Velk ([31:15]): "The gods who have always spoken to me since I was a child... I am one of their instruments."
• Travis Willingham ([75:00]): "This is episode two."

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Strategic Retreat and Final Stand

The group's resources dwindle as Velk's onslaught continues:

1. Resource Management

   • Players grapple with limited hit points and armor, making strategic decisions vital for survival.
   • Healing potions and magical abilities are used judiciously to sustain the party ([25:44], [61:30]).

2. Climactic Battle Moves

   • Sam Riegel and Laura Bailey execute a tag-team spell to ensnare Velk with "Vicious Entangle" and "Sleep," temporarily restraining him ([89:30], [90:32]).
   • Travis Willingham attempts to use his skills to push the flaming brazier, reducing Velk's defenses and gaining an advantage ([101:10]).

3. Velk's Defeat

   • Through coordinated efforts and the use of "Vicious Entangle," the adventurers successfully overpower Velk.
   • Velk is ultimately forced to retreat, disappearing over the cliffside, bringing a tense end to the immediate threat ([106:44], [107:14]).

Notable Quotes:

• Sam Riegel ([69:24]): "This could be bad."
• Liam O'Brien ([82:03]): "Felk was my father."

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Character Highlights and Development

Throughout the episode, players demonstrate significant character growth and teamwork:

• Liam O'Brien showcases his tactical prowess with the halberd, balancing offense and defense under pressure ([19:28]).
• Ashley Johnson exhibits adaptability, using spells to manipulate the battlefield and protect allies ([104:04]).
• Sam Riegel leverages his ranger skills to control the flow of combat, crucially restraining Velk and aiding in his eventual defeat ([90:32]).
• Travis Willingham embodies resilience, consistently taking hits to shield peers and maintain the group's integrity ([75:00], [87:05]).

Notable Quotes:

• Ashley Johnson ([50:20]): "What is this you hold? That was from the beast."
• Liam O'Brien ([33:21]): "Are you doing that thing where you're talking in people's heads, but I'm also doing it out loud."

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Conclusion and Cliffhanger

As the dust settles, the adventurers stand victorious yet weary, reflecting on the intense battle and the mysteries that still surround the Luzal Monastery. The episode concludes with the group preparing for the next phase of their quest, leaving listeners eagerly anticipating Part 2.

Final Moments:

• The party discusses the implications of Velk's transformation and disappearance, pondering the deeper forces at play within the monastery ([108:08]).
• Mercer hints at the continuation of the story, promising more challenges and revelations in the upcoming episode ([108:15]).

Notable Quotes:

• Matthew Mercer ([108:08]): "That's where we're going to break."

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Insights and Themes

"The Lost Monastery" encapsulates themes of loyalty, sacrifice, and the struggle between light and darkness. The adventurers' unwavering commitment to their mission, despite personal risks, underscores the depth of their characters and the intricate storytelling that defines Critical Role. The intense combat sequences, combined with rich character interactions, provide a compelling narrative that resonates with both seasoned players and newcomers to tabletop roleplaying games.

Memorable Quotes:

• Sam Riegel ([77:00]): "I'm going to risk it all."
• Travis Willingham ([79:14]): "This is everything."

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Looking Ahead

As Part 1 concludes, the stage is set for further exploration of the Luzal Monastery's secrets and the adventurers' ongoing battle against the encroaching umbra. Listeners can anticipate additional layers of mystery, character development, and epic confrontations in the next installment of "Age of Umbra."

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“Keep the umbra at bay. And we'll be back for more of this adventure before you know it.” – Matthew Mercer ([108:15])

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End of Summary

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This comprehensive summary captures the essence of "Age of Umbra Episode 2 Part 1," highlighting critical plot points, character dynamics, and memorable moments. It serves as an engaging overview for both avid listeners and those new to the Critical Role universe.

Transcript

[Matthew Mercer]

Hey there Critter Podcast listeners. We have a special new membership service at Beacon TV where you get early access to all new podcast episodes, including Critical Role. For the first time ever, Beacon members also get things like live event presales, merch discounts, access to a private community discord, and new exclusive series like Critical Role Cooldown. Think of it as our digital Critical Role land. Head on over to Beacon TV to check it out for yourself and start a seven day free trial. Thank you so much for your support for being a podcast listener and for being a part of our community.

[Ashley Johnson]

Hey there critters. This is Ashley Johnson and Telus and Jeffe and we're popping in here to talk about our new podcast on Beacon, Weird Kids.

[Laura Bailey]

In this series, we're diving into our lives as former child actors, from unraveling our eccentric upbringings to embracing all the delightfully odd interests we still have today.

[Ashley Johnson]

We're covering so many topics like antique toys, taxidermy, Japanese pop culture, and honestly, anything else we come up with.

[Laura Bailey]

Weird Kids is available exclusively on Beacon, but good news, we're offering a one month free trial on Beacon TV so you can take a look before you become a member. Just use the code Weirdos at Beacon TV to start the trial.

[Ashley Johnson]

You can also find fellow weirdos by following the series on our heweirdkidspod Instagram and using the hashtag weirdkids.

[Laura Bailey]

So to all the misfits, outcasts and weirdos out there, come take a seat at our table and celebrate all things unconventional, nostalgic and wonderfully weird. Welcome to Weird Kids.

[Ashley Johnson]

New episodes release every Tuesday.

[Matthew Mercer]

Hey there, Matthew Mercer here and you're listening to the podcast version of Age of Umbra, a dark tale and campaign setting from our recently released tabletop RPG Daggerheart from Daring. You don't need to know anything about the rules or system to enjoy the story, but if you're inspired to want to play along, we have several short how to Play resources we lovingly call get yout Sheet Together, available to watch right now on Beacon TV and YouTube.com criticalrole this is part one of the episode right now, and part two arrives the following Tuesday. If you'd rather get instant and ad free access to the full episode, consider becoming a Beacon member where you can watch bonus content like the cast discussing each episode and Critical Role Cooldown. Receive Critical Role shop discounts, including on Daggerheart and much more. Sign up now at Beacon TV and that should cover it. Now let's dive into the adventure. Hello everyone and welcome to tonight's episode of the Age of Umbra. Before we get into this episode, we have some quick announcements to get through. Laura, you got an announcement. Extra month.

[Ashley Johnson]

Extra month. There's new Daggerheart Dice.

[Travis Willingham]

Already? You guys already just came out.

[Ashley Johnson]

Serious Dice has released their Daggerheart Duality dice. Get this name. Fate of the Mortal Realms dice set. How cool is that? So it's got all the polyhedrals in this really cool tealy bluey combo. And then you also get your hope and fear in like these beautiful things.

[Matthew Mercer]

Go juicy.

[Travis Willingham]

Wait, I want to tell you where to find it.

[Ashley Johnson]

You can find it now at friendly local game stores, seriousdice.com or the US Critical Role Shop.

[Matthew Mercer]

It's got the logo.

[Travis Willingham]

I know it's got the logo.

[Ashley Johnson]

They're so pretty.

[Matthew Mercer]

Brand new. Die.

[Ashley Johnson]

Oh.

[Matthew Mercer]

Thank you, Laura. Thank you, Ashley. You're in.

[Ashley Johnson]

It comes in a tube, so you can use it and save the tube.

[Matthew Mercer]

Thank you.

[Ashley Johnson]

Propagate a plant with it. I'm Stop.

[Matthew Mercer]

Baby. I'm sorry. Thank you, Laura.

[Travis Willingham]

Ashley, did you just take a shot with it? Is that what it was?

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah, you can take a shot with it. Hi, it's me and I am here to tell you, I don't know if you know this yet. It is Pride Month, you should know this. And we just released a new tea supporting Outright International, which is one of our long standing partners at Critical Role foundation, which works to protect the rights of lgbt LGBTQIA people worldwide. This shirt is really cool, y' all. It is so cool. It says, how do you wanna slay this?

[Travis Willingham]

That's my wife.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah, it is.

[Ashley Johnson]

And it features Yasha. And the colors are inspired by the Trans Pride flag.

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh my gosh.

[Ashley Johnson]

By the amazing artist Valentine M. Smith. Check it out now in the us, Canada, UK and EU shops. I know. How do you want to slay? How hot is she with this? So hot. And it's the up this, the updated outfit, which I love.

[Travis Willingham]

It needs to be a cut up 100%. That would go great. Like how people stitch that on the back of like denim jackets and stuff.

[Ashley Johnson]

Oh, totally. You could put that on the back of the Ashton jacket.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yes, actually. Yes.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah, you could.

[Sam Riegel]

Or you could just keep it intact. Guys, it's our precious.

[Travis Willingham]

Fans of Found Family. Not us, but fans of found Family. Surreal space exploration and mind bending supernatural discoveries. Rejoice because the mids Cosmos series unend is returning for a second season. You can check out the Audie Adventure right now everywhere where you enjoy your podcasts or make sure you're a subscriber to either Beacon TV or to Mitts Co. And you can get episodes one through three right now there. So.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah, so good.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah.

[Ashley Johnson]

Love our M. Trio.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yes, love the Mitts, folks. And I think that concludes our announcements. So let's go ahead and jump into tonight's episode of the Age of Umbra. Hello, friends. Last we left off, our troop of fresh Delvers from the small village of Desperlock here in the Halcyon domain, had discovered that a rather practiced troop had just returned from the depths of blue Xal vaults. Half of their team slain or missing, and those that remained too wounded to pursue. You managed to convince the head of the Delvers Raskello to go in in their stead to seek the missing member of their team, one of which you have some past relationship with. Velk. Velk Dravenmore. You then went into the depths of these vaults, utilizing a map that was provided for you. A little lost at some point. But after tearing through some rising shambling skeletons and some burning oozes that called that domain their own, you eventually came to the great gates that were recently discovered that supposedly lead to the long sealed Luzal Monastery, the target of much of Desperlock's research and hope. Upon arriving, you discovered that the gate guardian they had fought before, which had been laid low, had begun to recover, and while still damaged, rose up and assailed your troop, tearing through you quite horribly in but a matter of moments. But nevertheless, through the majesty of an empowered boomerang, you cut it down. As well as the skeletons that had risen out of the slain Desperlock Delvers that remained. You notice that the gates were partially ajar, and where a bloodstained hand smear, a series of blood pools and a small trinket were left. And you believe this insinuates that your target, Velk, may have traversed beyond these gates towards the monastery himself, and as such, hurt and winded you close the gate behind you just in case the guardian was still giving chase. You catch your breath here in the darkness, barely noticing the stone steps that ascend into shadow, up up into the depths of the mountain to where no one yet knows it is here inside this dark cave. As you catch your breath in silence, what would you like to do?

[Liam O'Brien]

The little bone trinket that was on the door that we took right before we shut it closed. Can we get a good look at what it is?

[Matthew Mercer]

Sure. You look at it. It looks like it's. It's not a human bone. It looks like it's from some sort of an animal. Either an Arm or a femur. It's about that long or so. And it looks like it has small chiseled designs like runes in it. Not done with a lot of craft to it. A little rough, but enough to where it looks like there was intentionality. It looks almost like it was set as a charm of protection and possibly a way of leading one back to another where they started.

[Liam O'Brien]

We're inside this room.

[Matthew Mercer]

You're just inside the door and closed it behind you. You're bleeding, you're breathing. You're alone.

[Travis Willingham]

The blood trail goes up the stairs.

[Matthew Mercer]

If you want to light a torch and get a better look around the space, you can try and inspect if you'd like.

[Travis Willingham]

Sure.

[Liam O'Brien]

I think we did. I think we did light the torch.

[Matthew Mercer]

At the end of the scene.

[Laura Bailey]

I also think we should probably take a minute to catch our breath maybe.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yes.

[Sam Riegel]

And just hear me out. We don't know that this is Velk's blood. We could just turn back. We could just go home. We got this far. That's saying something.

[Liam O'Brien]

You know what? Snix is right. We could. We'd be forfeiting all monetary gain and anything of value, but we really could.

[Sam Riegel]

Why would that. Why would that necessarily be.

[Liam O'Brien]

Oh, I think it was something in the. In the fine print.

[Sam Riegel]

I didn't sign anything.

[Liam O'Brien]

Oh, that's interesting.

[Laura Bailey]

It was a success or nothing, if I recall.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah.

[Travis Willingham]

Glory and stuff.

[Sam Riegel]

Yeah.

[Marisha Ray]

Respectability.

[Sam Riegel]

Stuff is good.

[Travis Willingham]

Yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

Forever and ever in all parts of the universe now throughout time.

[Sam Riegel]

We almost died. You guys almost died back there. And I just don't want that to happen.

[Laura Bailey]

I don't think they would give us stuff if we don't come back with something. Because, you know, we could have just, like, left and then waited half a day and then come back in. This is. We could be just full of bullshit.

[Ashley Johnson]

No one's been up here for a long time. Up these stairs, seeing what's up here. We're the first ones. Besides maybe Velk.

[Travis Willingham]

Well, I think Rosella's.

[Matthew Mercer]

God.

[Travis Willingham]

Show me time.

[Matthew Mercer]

The doors behind you, they just closed suddenly.

[Laura Bailey]

Lurch.

[Matthew Mercer]

With a heavy impact from the other side. Oh.

[Liam O'Brien]

Because the thing's still active.

[Laura Bailey]

We're not going to hear.

[Matthew Mercer]

You hear another impact.

[Liam O'Brien]

Oh, is it Aaron? Does it sound like Aaron?

[Matthew Mercer]

Sounds like a voice.

[Ashley Johnson]

Hello?

[Travis Willingham]

She did not follow us. Please tell me she open the door.

[Matthew Mercer]

Y' all just let me back there, you sons of. I knew it.

[Ashley Johnson]

I knew it. I knew she.

[Matthew Mercer]

Be quiet.

[Sam Riegel]

She'll go away. We'll just hide and she'll just leave her out There.

[Matthew Mercer]

Now I got open door.

[Liam O'Brien]

That's a big hit for a little girl. Why is it so big? Aaron, if it's really you, where did we first meet?

[Matthew Mercer]

Met in Desperlock. Hadn't been that far out there. I was being chased down. I would have had that creature if you hadn't come out there and tried to steal the glory.

[Travis Willingham]

Shit.

[Liam O'Brien]

It's her. We gotta get her. We gotta get her. Open the door.

[Laura Bailey]

It's rather to be in here than out there.

[Sam Riegel]

I draw my boomerangs just in case.

[Matthew Mercer]

There.

[Ashley Johnson]

I'll open the door.

[Matthew Mercer]

It opens up and you see her there. Her big gray cloak wrapped around her. And she's holding the massive curved blade of the Guardian that she's been lifting and letting it hit the door for the impact. And she's partially in her arc. She's like drops it. And you can see she's exhausted from like. All right, now which one of y' all put me to sleep?

[Liam O'Brien]

Eren, we did. We were trying to keep you safe. That was the whole point, for you to stay home.

[Ashley Johnson]

It was him.

[Sam Riegel]

It was not me.

[Ashley Johnson]

But I may have told him that you couldn't come. Cause you're too young.

[Matthew Mercer]

Do you have any idea how many times I've been in these vaults before you did? This is your first day here. I have seniority over you. She says, staring up at your massive stone form. She's like, I know I might be young, but I am capable more than. Well, most of you at least.

[Liam O'Brien]

What is Aaron armed with?

[Marisha Ray]

With?

[Liam O'Brien]

What does she bring?

[Matthew Mercer]

At a quick glance, the heavy gray cloak that's wrapped around her. She has a small side pouch. That's a leather strap over her shoulder. You see, she has a small blade. Just a dagger on one side. But she's not a fighter. She's a scout for the Delver. So she's not a combatant. She's just a get in and out quick type of figure.

[Liam O'Brien]

Your father is going to kill us. There's no point in you going back now. You have to stay with us. But we're not going to forget this.

[Matthew Mercer]

Well, if you don't take me with you, then you're not going to forget the hell that you're going to hear for the rest of your life.

[Ashley Johnson]

She vouch for her?

[Matthew Mercer]

Look, she can.

[Liam O'Brien]

She can handle herself.

[Matthew Mercer]

I'm not gonna get in any of your old shit. I just also don't want to be left behind. We were in this together. We can. I'm not gonna get in the way, okay? I promise.

[Laura Bailey]

I'm not worried about you.

[Matthew Mercer]

It's your.

[Laura Bailey]

It's your father murdering us that I'm worried about you. You're fine. It's him.

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh, he could just.

[Liam O'Brien]

And this was your. This was your idea? It was all you. We didn't coerce you or ask you to come.

[Matthew Mercer]

Exactly. I. I'm letting you take any of my credit.

[Ashley Johnson]

Well, stay in the middle.

[Matthew Mercer]

Y' all look like shit by the way.

[Sam Riegel]

No, she's here. You might as well use her. We'll go on the front.

[Laura Bailey]

Technically speaks, she's a scout. I mean technically, we were just getting.

[Liam O'Brien]

Ready to rest for a second. Cuz as you can tell, we were set upon by some things that were not living right.

[Matthew Mercer]

And it drags the blade in my nerves.

[Ashley Johnson]

What is this you hold? That was from the beast.

[Matthew Mercer]

It was just jammed in the wall out there. You tell me. Looks at the rest of you, looks like you know far better than I do. Kind of like picks up part of your cloak. Can see the blood scratch from where it gashed you.

[Travis Willingham]

Did you bring any supplies? Any healing potions, anything that might help?

[Matthew Mercer]

Got some water.

[Travis Willingham]

Water is good.

[Matthew Mercer]

Got a couple. A couple dried biscuits.

[Travis Willingham]

Biscuits good.

[Matthew Mercer]

And got some ink and I don't.

[Travis Willingham]

Know what ink is for.

[Matthew Mercer]

It's good. Got an escape pellet or two.

[Sam Riegel]

What's an escape pellet?

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh, I thought you said you were a scout. I thought you know what the those are. And you realize at this point that's her term for essentially as much a.

[Ashley Johnson]

Smoke bomb escape pallet.

[Sam Riegel]

Just sit tight for a second. We have to do some armor repairs and stuff. The door is closed, right?

[Matthew Mercer]

Close the door. Now at this point you took the crown with you, right? No, no. Okay.

[Ashley Johnson]

We didn't take anything.

[Liam O'Brien]

Well, we grabbed the crown the first time and it woke back up. So we left the crown alone.

[Ashley Johnson]

Would you like me to just go.

[Liam O'Brien]

Get it real quick?

[Ashley Johnson]

I do have a little magic hand. Oh, if we just peep through and I could try to.

[Liam O'Brien]

Sure, yeah. Let's just open the door again before we rest.

[Matthew Mercer]

Before we rest.

[Ashley Johnson]

All right. I am going to.

[Marisha Ray]

Don't you fuck this up.

[Ashley Johnson]

I will try my hardest not to fuck this up. Okay. I will conjure a magic hand which is the same size and strength as my own. And I can throw it to far range and I'm just going to have it crawl across and get to the crown and try to pick it up.

[Matthew Mercer]

The creature that is part of its exposed skull. It's hood torn now from where the boomerang had slashed past. And then the rock that had partially crushed it at the end of the previous battle sits there. The crown plucks off of its head, catches on the hood for a minute before it tears free and the hand begins to draw it back to you.

[Ashley Johnson]

Crawling back.

[Liam O'Brien]

Shut the door.

[Matthew Mercer]

Shut the door.

[Sam Riegel]

What is it? What does it do? Is it magic? Does it have gems in it? Jewels?

[Matthew Mercer]

It looks like it's beautiful. Gold vines and leaf filigree that folds into itself. A grown beautiful garden that comes in a circlet position. It's thick, but it is. You guys are taking a short rest here.

[Ashley Johnson]

Guardian's crown. While wearing this crown you gain wield a two handed weapon with one hand but your thresholds decrease by two. A holy crown of golden vine that was granted to the Gate Guardian of the the lose all monastery so you.

[Sam Riegel]

Can hold a bigger weapon, do more damage, but you take more damage.

[Liam O'Brien]

Like my halberd which is a two handed weapon. I could hold with one and hold up a circular shield but my Threshold's decreased by 2.

[Travis Willingham]

What does the shield do for thresholds?

[Matthew Mercer]

Threshold anything?

[Sam Riegel]

No, it doesn't do anything to thresholds but it does give you one extra armor slot.

[Matthew Mercer]

There also is the war scythe that was dragged in by Aaron.

[Liam O'Brien]

Finesse weapon, very close range. D8 plus 5, two handed reliable plus one to attack rolls. This massive curved blade was once wielded by the gate guardian of the Loosel vaults.

[Ashley Johnson]

That's such a cool war scythe.

[Liam O'Brien]

That's pretty bad.

[Sam Riegel]

Do you use weapons?

[Travis Willingham]

I have a giant two handed sword that I have been smashing.

[Matthew Mercer]

Okay.

[Travis Willingham]

Yes, she's using, I did use both sides of this.

[Ashley Johnson]

She's used the pointy end and then.

[Travis Willingham]

The helm is as tall as you.

[Liam O'Brien]

Can we check these magical items for any sort of, I don't know, magic essence or dark presence.

[Matthew Mercer]

I mean most things carry some dark presence. It's hard to discern individually when it comes to particular enchantments. Many things that are enchanted were done so in the old world. The ability to craft and forge new magical armaments is art that is nearly lost. And the few that can are often locked away in distant strongholds either in Amber Reach or beyond. So the fact that these carry some form of enchantment given the context of who they were plucked from, means that these probably were relics of the past.

[Liam O'Brien]

I'm going to stick with my halberd. Yeah.

[Sam Riegel]

What about you? You want to take that two handed sword that I can't see and make it a one handed sword.

[Laura Bailey]

That big scythe is pretty impressive. It's got range.

[Travis Willingham]

Well, what? Is anyone using the shield?

[Liam O'Brien]

Nope. I don't think so.

[Sam Riegel]

Remains to be seen. If anyone can carry it, I could carry it.

[Liam O'Brien]

Wield it. If anyone can wield it, you wield shield.

[Sam Riegel]

I don't know. That rhymes.

[Matthew Mercer]

Wield a shield.

[Laura Bailey]

Technically, you can use it as a weapon. Because you can.

[Liam O'Brien]

During the short rest, can you rattle off what our options are?

[Ashley Johnson]

Oh, right here.

[Matthew Mercer]

So each of you, during the short rest, you are level one. So you're not necessarily swapping any domain cards, but you could normally swap out your loadout. You also get to choose two options. Two downtime options to take. That includes tending to wounds, which means you recover 1d4 plus your tier hit points, which would be 1d4 plus 1. You can also do this on an ally as opposed to you. You could clear stress, which recovers 1D4 plus your tier and stress, which is plus one. There's repair armor, which is 1D4 plus your tier armor slots. You recover or prepare, which means you can gain a hope. Just generate one hope. And if you also.

[Laura Bailey]

Yeah, go ahead.

[Matthew Mercer]

I gain one D4. Fear.

[Liam O'Brien]

Damn it.

[Travis Willingham]

All right.

[Matthew Mercer]

Put there for answers. If you have a friend who I gained.

[Travis Willingham]

And we pick one of those. Correct.

[Matthew Mercer]

You pick two. You have two of those you could pick.

[Laura Bailey]

Also if you have a friend who's.

[Matthew Mercer]

Who's. You can repeat the same action twice if you'd like.

[Laura Bailey]

Preparing hope. You can actually help them prepare hope.

[Matthew Mercer]

And then you get two. Oh, I get to roll?

[Liam O'Brien]

Oh, yeah.

[Matthew Mercer]

For lurking darkness. Since you are not resting near a sacred pyre.

[Liam O'Brien]

The tld.

[Travis Willingham]

Unless someone wanted to stand.

[Matthew Mercer]

If anybody wanted to use one of your actions to keep watch, you could roll a D12 as well. And you can choose. You forfeit one of your actions.

[Ashley Johnson]

Well, I could do it because I have. So I'm playing as a clank. Just reskinned for this. I skinned it. You know, it's moody.

[Matthew Mercer]

This is horror.

[Ashley Johnson]

So I have. When you take a short rest, you can choose a long rest move instead of a short rest move.

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh, yeah. So for a long rest.

[Ashley Johnson]

For a long rest, it's the same.

[Matthew Mercer]

Actions for the most part, except it's all hit points, all armor, all stress.

[Ashley Johnson]

And it says I can choose two of the following. So could I just do one, maybe ten to all wounds. And then my other action, just a big sentry.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah, you can totally do that.

[Ashley Johnson]

Okay, I'm gonna watch.

[Liam O'Brien]

You got.

[Ashley Johnson]

Fuck, yeah. I gotta take care of this. And then my other action, I will keep watch.

[Matthew Mercer]

Go ahead and roll a D12.

[Ashley Johnson]

Keep it vigil roll. A D12. Yeah, just any D12.

[Liam O'Brien]

The one that's gonna roll high, you can just grab the one closest to you.

[Matthew Mercer]

Okay. Okay.

[Ashley Johnson]

I feel like this is not gonna.

[Matthew Mercer]

Roll well.

[Liam O'Brien]

Why'D you say that?

[Ashley Johnson]

I get a new. I knew, but I don't know.

[Liam O'Brien]

Loaded up like that.

[Ashley Johnson]

I know.

[Matthew Mercer]

I know.

[Ashley Johnson]

You're right. I did load it up. I did load it up to fail.

[Matthew Mercer]

Do you want to replace your. My role with yours, or do you want to go with what I roll? Is lower?

[Laura Bailey]

Is low or high better for me?

[Matthew Mercer]

High is better for you. Okay. But you don't.

[Ashley Johnson]

So do you think he rolled higher or lower? Oh, I love this part of this game.

[Liam O'Brien]

Here we go. Here we go. But you got a clock. You got a clock. You got 10 seconds.

[Travis Willingham]

You're at the bottom.

[Matthew Mercer]

One third.

[Sam Riegel]

This is the let's make a deal problem. It's like. It's a logic.

[Ashley Johnson]

I'm going with your roll.

[Travis Willingham]

It is.

[Matthew Mercer]

You're gonna go with my roll.

[Liam O'Brien]

Two. Yes.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Matthew Mercer]

Okay. Poker rolls says I rolled 12. So. So all of you gain a hope.

[Travis Willingham]

You all get a hope.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yes. So as you're resting at this time in the quiet, as you're catching your breaths, drinking your water, having a little bit of conversation, Aaron at one point is whistling to herself and goes, hey, what's that? And points up, and you all turn, still intent, and you just see the faint little glow of a little firefly that sets on the edge, glows faintly, and as it does, its wings take off. And the hum of its wings is almost like music. For a brief moment in the middle of this shadow and stillness, you can't help but feel maybe a hint of warmth, that amongst the darkness, maybe some spirits watching over you. That little bit of hope flows through you all. And you take your hope.

[Sam Riegel]

Amazing. I'm going to repair some armor.

[Matthew Mercer]

Let's go.

[Sam Riegel]

Taking out some tools. And.

[Matthew Mercer]

So one D4 plus one.

[Sam Riegel]

That's a one plus one.

[Matthew Mercer]

So you get two armor slots.

[Sam Riegel]

That's all I needed. And then I'm also going to do some hit point healing.

[Matthew Mercer]

Go for it.

[Sam Riegel]

Wrap my wounds. One d four plus one.

[Liam O'Brien]

Ooh.

[Sam Riegel]

Three plus one.

[Liam O'Brien]

Is it plus one on the healing too?

[Matthew Mercer]

Correct. All of them. It's plus one plus your tier, and you're all tier one.

[Laura Bailey]

How are you doing on heal?

[Matthew Mercer]

Did you clear?

[Ashley Johnson]

Uncleared.

[Travis Willingham]

I cleared my stress and my hit points.

[Ashley Johnson]

Damn.

[Laura Bailey]

All right.

[Matthew Mercer]

All the way.

[Liam O'Brien]

1D4 +1 for repairing my armor and doing the hit Point. And the hit points was two go.

[Travis Willingham]

I think I'm gonna go ahead and spend all of my hope as well to once again use my frontline tank ability and get back my two armor slots as well.

[Matthew Mercer]

You got it.

[Travis Willingham]

So, Snex, are you taking that?

[Liam O'Brien]

Oh, two plus one buckler.

[Travis Willingham]

The armor, the shield.

[Sam Riegel]

Oh yeah, the shield. I mean, I need to move fast. And I know it doesn't slow me down, but doesn't feel like it's for me. Do you need it?

[Travis Willingham]

Well, because if I wear the crown.

[Sam Riegel]

Then you can hold the crown.

[Travis Willingham]

Then I can hold the shield and get an extra shield slot, which is my entire economy. But then I drop down to two. Two thresholds.

[Liam O'Brien]

It's Trixie heavy head that wears the crown.

[Matthew Mercer]

Choice is yours.

[Travis Willingham]

I'll try it out. Unless you want it.

[Sam Riegel]

No, no. It'd be my honor to give it to you.

[Matthew Mercer]

Okay.

[Travis Willingham]

Thank you.

[Liam O'Brien]

What else you got in that satchel?

[Sam Riegel]

Oh, I mean, I hadn't finished my deliveries, so I have some wine for Halloran. I have some supplies, some letters to deliver. I got some rope torch, some pieces of flotsam and jetsam that I found along the way and just junk. I mean, junk to me, but to other people.

[Liam O'Brien]

Why?

[Sam Riegel]

Do you need anything? I can get you stuff. Whatever you need. I can get you.

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh my God.

[Sam Riegel]

I can get you drugs.

[Matthew Mercer]

Drugs.

[Sam Riegel]

I can get you anything.

[Ashley Johnson]

This escalated. So.

[Sam Riegel]

Yeah, I'm just saying that I can get you anything.

[Liam O'Brien]

We could die in here. So. Do you have any on you?

[Sam Riegel]

No.

[Laura Bailey]

Everybody knows. It's hilarious if you give spider drugs. So if you feel.

[Liam O'Brien]

Is that something?

[Matthew Mercer]

Everybody knows?

[Laura Bailey]

Everybody knows it's hilarious when you give spiders drugs because.

[Liam O'Brien]

It's a new session. I re rolled my prayer dice.

[Matthew Mercer]

Everyone knows. Oh yeah.

[Laura Bailey]

I don't know where you've been.

[Matthew Mercer]

Dang.

[Liam O'Brien]

That's not right. That's right.

[Matthew Mercer]

Okay. There.

[Travis Willingham]

Yeah.

[Sam Riegel]

I can go to the floating orchards. I can get to Okros. I can get anywhere. I'm good.

[Ashley Johnson]

How is Okros?

[Sam Riegel]

Okros is nice. I mean, nothing's nice, but it's nice. It's not un nice, I guess.

[Ashley Johnson]

I hear they garden there.

[Sam Riegel]

Where'd you hear that?

[Ashley Johnson]

I actually don't know. I was not there.

[Travis Willingham]

In my head.

[Ashley Johnson]

Never mind. I just had a vague streamed it.

[Sam Riegel]

Was it from your previous life?

[Ashley Johnson]

It could have been.

[Sam Riegel]

Were you a gardener?

[Ashley Johnson]

Maybe I was. Because I do love the arts.

[Sam Riegel]

Or a farmer.

[Ashley Johnson]

Maybe I do. Maybe that's why I was drawn to Garak. Because he's a farmer and I love the dirt. I love Flowers.

[Laura Bailey]

And he had a place where we could sleep.

[Ashley Johnson]

And he had a place where we could sleep.

[Liam O'Brien]

Can I tell if she's being honest about what she said?

[Sam Riegel]

Not knowing who she is?

[Liam O'Brien]

I have advantage on your ability to detect lies.

[Laura Bailey]

You do?

[Liam O'Brien]

As a slime, sure.

[Matthew Mercer]

Go ahead and roll your instinct with advantage. You go ahead and roll your presence as a reaction roll. So you don't generate hope or fear on this one.

[Liam O'Brien]

Those people that over talk.

[Ashley Johnson]

I don't generate.

[Matthew Mercer]

I just roll people that over talk.

[Ashley Johnson]

Wait, did you roll sixes?

[Liam O'Brien]

No. Oh, I'll do with the advantage. Not yet. Just wait for it.

[Matthew Mercer]

Okay.

[Liam O'Brien]

Would you give 15 plus with instinct, 16 with hope.

[Matthew Mercer]

With hope.

[Liam O'Brien]

All right.

[Matthew Mercer]

Take a hope.

[Liam O'Brien]

Can't think anymore.

[Ashley Johnson]

Fifteen with fear.

[Matthew Mercer]

All right.

[Ashley Johnson]

Even though I know.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah.

[Ashley Johnson]

It doesn't really. She's telling the truth. As far as you can tell. She's. She. She doesn't. She doesn't remember a lot.

[Liam O'Brien]

Okay.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah, she doesn't remember a lot.

[Sam Riegel]

She genuinely thinks she might have been a farmer.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yes.

[Liam O'Brien]

I hear they garden in okros.

[Ashley Johnson]

Where did you hear that?

[Matthew Mercer]

Aaron sits a bit and goes like, okay, so. He said, you're the one who put me to sleep.

[Travis Willingham]

No.

[Matthew Mercer]

What?

[Sam Riegel]

No. I don't have that power.

[Matthew Mercer]

You pointed at him.

[Ashley Johnson]

Oh, I'll take the tea.

[Laura Bailey]

I meant to put you to sleep. Now you've got someone to blame.

[Sam Riegel]

I would have liked to put you to sleep, though. You're very annoying.

[Matthew Mercer]

I'll remember that. And you. She walks up and looks you in the face, flicks you in the nose. I cast telepath.

[Marisha Ray]

What does that do?

[Laura Bailey]

Well, with that. Now, you have to listen to me. If you go on ahead, you'll hear in your head, her brow furrows.

[Matthew Mercer]

Y' all are a strange bunch. She plops back down and kind of looks over at you idol and goes, just kind of hurt my feelings is all, you know?

[Liam O'Brien]

Well, yeah. You gotta understand, your dad has been great to a lot of us. And we owe him. And if we took the thing that he valued the most in the world and were careless with it. Got it hurt. I don't know why I keep calling you it, but it's the choice I made. I don't think he would thank us very much.

[Matthew Mercer]

I mean, life is fleeting enough in this space as it is. What's the point of not trying to do something meaningful, right? What am I supposed to do? Stay at home?

[Liam O'Brien]

Maybe just for a little while longer. There's so much time. You're so young. I get it. I get it. You have so much energy. And you're incredibly smart and very capable. You made it all the way in here by yourself when there were five of us. And before us, there were 10 of them. So, really, you're doing better than a whole team of Vigils did.

[Matthew Mercer]

That's what I'm saying.

[Ashley Johnson]

That actually is very true. Did you encounter any. Any undead on your way in that you had to battle?

[Matthew Mercer]

No, I don't battle.

[Ashley Johnson]

I run.

[Sam Riegel]

Running's good, right?

[Matthew Mercer]

You see, there's something we see out of. She's also a runner.

[Ashley Johnson]

Keep running.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah. You have to make us a promise. If it gets really hairy, if we're in real, true danger, you've gotta go.

[Sam Riegel]

I promise.

[Ashley Johnson]

Don't stop.

[Laura Bailey]

Yes.

[Liam O'Brien]

Snakes. You as well.

[Matthew Mercer]

She looks at you. Come and give some, dogs. I promise. Okay.

[Liam O'Brien]

Okay.

[Matthew Mercer]

I don't want to. I don't want to fight things. I'm not a warrior like the rest of you folk, you know. I'm not as brave and capable, but I'm quick and I'm observant and curious to a fault. I'll run. I promise.

[Laura Bailey]

And if you see anything, you can think it. So you don't have to say it, so you don't get discovered doing anything.

[Liam O'Brien]

Are you doing that thing where you're.

[Laura Bailey]

Talking in people's heads, but I'm also doing it out loud. I'm doing both of them.

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh. I'll start with.

[Laura Bailey]

I think.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah. Very well. Thanks for letting me kick along.

[Ashley Johnson]

What are you gonna do with it? Are you gonna wear.

[Travis Willingham]

The Veiled Gods have bestowed upon me a great boon. On this day, I am touched by the aetherwave. This is a sign. This means something.

[Matthew Mercer]

I am touched. She is touched.

[Sam Riegel]

She's intense, but she's.

[Matthew Mercer]

She's right.

[Ashley Johnson]

Hurry.

[Matthew Mercer]

To the Veiled Gods. I will not disappoint you.

[Liam O'Brien]

This journey, you and Velk are gonna get along really well.

[Matthew Mercer]

You suddenly hear. Wait. Nothing. I thought that was it.

[Liam O'Brien]

I thought that was it.

[Matthew Mercer]

Me, too.

[Laura Bailey]

Kill them all.

[Liam O'Brien]

All right, Ms. Seniority, where do we go?

[Matthew Mercer]

Well, she stands up and kind of pushes the cloak over her shoulder and taps her dagger. Picks up the torch and kind of leans it up the staircase. We go up.

[Liam O'Brien]

I feel like that was an easy one.

[Laura Bailey]

That was a really easy one.

[Sam Riegel]

Does this map lead any further, or is this it we've reached?

[Matthew Mercer]

No. That map led to the gate. Nobody's been beyond the gate.

[Ashley Johnson]

We haven't been this far.

[Matthew Mercer]

Your burn map. That's about as far as useful as it gets.

[Ashley Johnson]

Nobody's been this far. Yet, Right.

[Matthew Mercer]

Well, except for whoever this is. And she points the torch out. You can see like a couple of drops of blood every few steps. Just a little.

[Ashley Johnson]

Okay, onward.

[Matthew Mercer]

Let's go.

[Laura Bailey]

Onward.

[Matthew Mercer]

You trek up this slowly curving stairs, they're rather wide in this walkway, about 15ft side to side, about 20ft tall here. As it progresses forward beyond the gate, you can see as opposed to the rough hewn and excavated elements of stone, with just bits of the vault ruins themselves poking out from where the earth had been moved and dragged away. Here it is, beautifully crafted arch above the stairway. This is an intact ascendance. Only a couple times are parts of it crumbled and fallen in, but not enough to close off the entire walkway. But it winds and then curves upward until the faintest glimmer of sky becomes visible. You push a little further on and it becomes wider and wider until eventually you realize you're exiting the mountain onto a precipice, a rock outcropping known as likely to be the firmament's harrow. There you can see the still mostly intact rock outcropping itself jutting forward away from your current position. You can see here, as you glance out into the starless night that now surrounds you, the mountain itself, just barely above where the cavern ends. The faintest bit of moonlight creeping through the gray clouds that slowly roil and shift like a slow motion ocean. You see where the light comes through. You know where the light comes through. There before you on this precipice is the Luzal monastery, a grand structure of multiple levels and layers. You can see pillars that ascend a belfry at the the top, large steepled roof that crumbles on one side. You can see where the edge of this outcropping had partially crumbled off and part of the building went with it. It's almost like the building stands tall and then about a third of it is just carved away and missing on its outline. Where that collapse is, you can see what would have been some sort of an exterior temple that's built onto the monastery itself, facing towards the mountain that's closest to you. A majority of that roof has either fallen in or just barely holds on over top. Where glass may have once sat, now shattered and jagged at the edges. You can see heavy vines and nature have overgrown where elements of that ruins still stands like a gnarled cage over this temple and what looks like the flickering of firelight within that ruin.

[Liam O'Brien]

Firelight?

[Travis Willingham]

What color is the fire?

[Liam O'Brien]

Fire color, okay, maybe it's just another pyre.

[Ashley Johnson]

Does it look large or does it look small?

[Matthew Mercer]

I mean, you can just see there's the overgrown ruin around this part of the temple and the monastery beyond it. From what you can see right now, you do not see the particular fire from where you're standing. You can just see the glow and the flicker of flame on the surrounding ruin. And occasionally, if you move, you can see a little bit of fire burning beyond through the thick vine cover.

[Ashley Johnson]

Does elk build up fire?

[Sam Riegel]

Oh, maybe to keep warm. Sure. You can't. I don't want to call out or anything, give away our position, but can you do that thing with your mind where you sort of call out to him, but silently? Is that a thing?

[Laura Bailey]

I need to at least be able to see someone. I just can't just throw it out there.

[Travis Willingham]

We could have Rin scout ahead for us right away.

[Liam O'Brien]

Any blood spatter on the ground, by the way, that we can see up here?

[Matthew Mercer]

Go ahead and make an instinct roll for me to kind of glance around.

[Marisha Ray]

Space and see if you pick up any.

[Liam O'Brien]

Oh, you fucking guys.

[Matthew Mercer]

Shut up.

[Ashley Johnson]

The dog again.

[Travis Willingham]

No rage.

[Matthew Mercer]

Damn.

[Liam O'Brien]

23.

[Matthew Mercer]

So, yeah, take that critical success, Clear stress and gain a hope. You indeed see the occasional little stains of red across the thick, overgrown grass and the local greenery that has since overtaken this outcropping and surrounds the exterior of this mountain. With that, you also can hear a voice from inside the ruin. Something low or something, Please.

[Marisha Ray]

Whether he or beseech you, help. Whenever it takes a moment to be.

[Matthew Mercer]

And can't quite make out the details specifically, but it's Velk's voice with a critical success. And Velk is. It's almost like he's quietly muttering prayer.

[Marisha Ray]

Sure.

[Matthew Mercer]

One chained to the. The next. A little too far to make out the specifics.

[Liam O'Brien]

How far away are we from the area?

[Matthew Mercer]

You're probably about, I'd say, 100 or so feet right now. Keeping low.

[Liam O'Brien]

I think once we get within 40ft, we can quietly call out to let him know we're not something that needs to be smote.

[Ashley Johnson]

A friend, not a foe.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah. Aaron, you're up.

[Matthew Mercer]

Okay, follow suit. Stay quiet, stay low. Use the brush to your advantage. The bigger ones. Hope your knees hold out and shake it slow. Are you all making a group stealth roll, then?

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah, please.

[Matthew Mercer]

Sure.

[Sam Riegel]

Is this just a flat plateau?

[Matthew Mercer]

It's mostly flat. There are some variations in height throughout, but it is fairly straight. Most of it's been cleared off before the monastery was. Was built. All right, so for a group stealth roll, one of you is going to Be the leader and who is going to be leading this group? Check. I'll say.

[Sam Riegel]

What are you finesse for this or agility?

[Matthew Mercer]

This would be finesse. This would be to hide and not be noticed.

[Liam O'Brien]

My finesse sucks. Somebody else do it.

[Ashley Johnson]

Not.

[Sam Riegel]

I could do a G. It's not that great.

[Marisha Ray]

But.

[Laura Bailey]

Since I have dark vision.

[Matthew Mercer]

So let's just assume we're good for it.

[Travis Willingham]

Follow the spider.

[Matthew Mercer]

So before you roll, so here's how the group rolls. Work in this. So you're the leader. Everyone else now rolls your finesse. And with each success, it adds a plus one to your final roll. With each failure, it's a minus one.

[Sam Riegel]

And a success is.

[Matthew Mercer]

I'm gonna give you a number right now. Difficulty. So for this I'll set the difficulty at a 13. Okay, don't roll yet, Taliesin. Or hold, whatever that is now.

[Laura Bailey]

Okay, I'll hold.

[Matthew Mercer]

That.

[Sam Riegel]

Does a critical matter or is it just the numbers?

[Matthew Mercer]

Did you roll a critical?

[Sam Riegel]

I did.

[Matthew Mercer]

Then, yeah. That's a success.

[Travis Willingham]

It's plus 1, 21.

[Liam O'Brien]

Plus 2, 21.

[Matthew Mercer]

Plus 3, 11. Okay, plus 2. So what was your roll?

[Laura Bailey]

Critical fives for 10.

[Matthew Mercer]

You guys like we played this a lot. All right, the numbers are sound. You guys are rolling crazy. Let's see how long it lasts.

[Travis Willingham]

Do we all get a hope? And clear stress because of his crit.

[Liam O'Brien]

You too crush your rules.

[Matthew Mercer]

No, just you do I just.

[Laura Bailey]

I get a hope?

[Travis Willingham]

I tried.

[Laura Bailey]

I need that hope.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah, I do. All righty. So as you all quietly following kind of Bryn's path and you guiding the rest of the troop, you all began to stay together through the brush, coming upon the exterior of this monastery temple section. There you can hear the prayer a little louder.

[Marisha Ray]

Too. I beseech you. I've been seeing the signs. I've followed your markers. I know you've been calling. You've all calling to me and why you've left me behind. I know there's great purpose to me.

[Travis Willingham]

Can I recognize anything he's saying?

[Matthew Mercer]

I heard gleaning context. Aratu is one of the veiled gods referred to as the Dawning Sorrow. As you get close, you can see there is a central statue, a 10 foot statue that still stands in the middle of this raised dais where steps ascend to it. There are three pillars and one crumpled one surrounding it and two braziers that appear to have been filled with kindling and are currently burning, likely by Velk. And you can see Velk is kneeling before this statue down standing hand on the knee, and is Just looking up into the face of the veiled God on the opposite side, away from where you're standing, I think we can call.

[Liam O'Brien]

Out, okay, Velk, it's Idol and Aaron and Snix and August and Brixton and Misty. We've come as help.

[Marisha Ray]

Help for what? Are you part of this great Ascension as well? Have you come for my greatness?

[Liam O'Brien]

Not for your greatness, but we are here for the Ascension.

[Sam Riegel]

Kind of sounds like you, Brixton, but a little bit different.

[Matthew Mercer]

He stands up and stumbles a bit and you can see he's clutching his side. You can see his leg is red with gore and there's a dark puddle of red where he was kneeling.

[Travis Willingham]

Does that trigger anything to me? His Great Ascension? Is he talking about Eratu?

[Matthew Mercer]

No, it's a little rambly. I mean, they're all elements of patchwork faith, but also nothing is reminding you of any scraps of old world scripture that you've come upon or any of the various tenets that the pyre keepers maintain. But you do see as he stands, a well armored, regal looking Katari head wreathed in a wild gray mane. His lion like face itself, a bit of red trickling out the side of the jaw. His eyes wide and wild. You don't know if it's from blood loss or adrenaline, but he definitely appears to be present and very awake as he still clutches his side with one arm.

[Marisha Ray]

You've been touched too. I've seen it. I've seen you beyond the ether weave. The divine speaks as you as an instrument. And you are. You are one. One of their instruments, directly built and crafted. They speak through you. You come unto this day. What do you speak? What messages do you? Or are we all here? Are we all here to receive?

[Matthew Mercer]

Yes.

[Ashley Johnson]

What are we here to receive?

[Liam O'Brien]

We are here.

[Sam Riegel]

We are here to receive you and bring you home. Because there's a lot of people worried about you. You probably just lost a lot of blood.

[Liam O'Brien]

Rascalo and the others, they sent us.

[Marisha Ray]

Rescalo's a selfish bastard who has no faith at all. He just wants to glory for this. He has no greater purpose. But we do. I do.

[Matthew Mercer]

I feel like we gave it a good shot.

[Sam Riegel]

We should probably just spin there.

[Matthew Mercer]

And here he lifts his other hand, which you can see is just red with blood.

[Marisha Ray]

And he's like this. This is what it's hoping about. Here in horatusques. They never left. They've just been waiting. Waiting for us to prove ourselves. And now we receive our divine gift. He lifts his hands up and holds them to the sky, to the clouds. And it's just quiet. We're here.

[Sam Riegel]

I.

[Marisha Ray]

We're here.

[Laura Bailey]

I'm very, very gently going to fire a little bit of thread, a little bit of silk right into his ear. And I'm going to cast sleep.

[Marisha Ray]

Go ahead and make a spell cast, roll for me.

[Matthew Mercer]

I'm going to spend a fear.

[Sam Riegel]

To do something.

[Travis Willingham]

It was almost. I see what you were going for.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah. Oh, that's terrible. Shit.

[Laura Bailey]

That's. That's.

[Liam O'Brien]

Now, if you want to switch dice with Taliesin, I think we'd be open to that.

[Laura Bailey]

See, I got a thing.

[Matthew Mercer]

What's your spell count?

[Laura Bailey]

I don't have enough. So that's seven with fear. I was gonna try and reroll it, but never mind.

[Matthew Mercer]

I'll take that fear back. It's also minus six from what I rolled on this end because I managed to that disadvantage my perspective there. So that's a one with fear. As you begin to cast the spell and the thread leaves your mouth, the silk winding through his hands to the.

[Marisha Ray]

Sky.

[Matthew Mercer]

With a flash of clarity and fierceness. Looks right towards you. And his bloody hand grabs the thread and pulls it. And it tears from your jaw. He looks at it.

[Marisha Ray]

You speak golden lies in a place of holy grandeur. Why. Why would she dare desecrate this?

[Matthew Mercer]

And turns back.

[Marisha Ray]

The statue looks up towards it. Why have you. Why have you not. Grant. Grant. No. Is my own. Did you send them? Did you send them?

[Matthew Mercer]

And he spins and claws the face of the statue.

[Ashley Johnson]

I'm gonna try to stop him.

[Matthew Mercer]

Scrapes and falls off.

[Ashley Johnson]

I'm gonna try to stop him when he tries to take the swipe. I'm gonna try to stop his hand before he swipes.

[Matthew Mercer]

With your physical hand?

[Ashley Johnson]

Yes.

[Matthew Mercer]

Okay, I need you to go ahead and roll a strength check for me, please.

[Ashley Johnson]

Oh, that's just not very good. Oh, damn. And I have a minus 16 with hope.

[Matthew Mercer]

So you gain a hope. But as you reach for it, your hand is just slapped aside by the unnatural strength of a fanatical not just a person now. A beast who has given into their feline hunter's urge. As the claw streaks across the statue of Artu, the veiled God and carves stone shatters off it holds itself. It's a large statue. But where the veil is, there's four massive gashes across the face. As Velq pulls away and stumbles a bit and looks at the rest of you.

[Marisha Ray]

You will not take from me what is my rightful destiny. I'm. I'm Made for more. I'm not meant to die here like the rest of you. I am meant for greatness.

[Liam O'Brien]

We're not meant to die. And neither are you. You need rest. You need aid. That's what we're here to provide.

[Travis Willingham]

I have seen this Death City. Please, share what you know. Have the Veil God spoken to you?

[Matthew Mercer]

Please. As you speak towards him, his eyes lock yours and he begins to mutter.

[Marisha Ray]

The gods who have always spoken to me since I was a child. Through dreams, through visions, throaths, I followed the golden path before me.

[Matthew Mercer]

As he's talking, you're focused on his face and your vision. Focus. Your vision focuses. Behind the gashes in the statue drip black shadow that flicker onto the ground, resting onto the pool of blood where he was kneeling, immediately striking past and up into his wounds. Lifted into the air, Velk is now lifted. He gives this gasp of breath as you all instinctually step back. Him lifted in the darkness, now pulling the blood up, gravityless, as it begins to drip and curl around him. You watch him as his voice.

[Marisha Ray]

It is time.

[Matthew Mercer]

And as he begins to rise up, you watch as his arms bulk out. His arms extend his claws.

[Liam O'Brien]

That's not good.

[Matthew Mercer]

You watch as his back begins to pulse and fill with muscle. The fur itself expands. The jaws crack and widen. His tail flickers out. And as he rises above, he comes down to land. Now a feral, swollen form thrice his size once shrouds off into the sky and leaps up into the ruin. You look around and can see where all the various relics and pieces of adornments that decorate this temple to the monastery sits. Shields and massive weapons. A large stone sword, itself ornamental, placed onto the walls. Velk leaps up and dislodges it and lands in the center of the field, his eyes now burning deep red and black as the blood that once dripped from his jaw, now matches the color of the shadow that has swollen in. I'm gonna go and pull up the battlefield.

[Liam O'Brien]

Black ooze. Lying.

[Matthew Mercer]

Dude. Oh, no.

[Ashley Johnson]

Oh, man.

[Travis Willingham]

Oh, my God.

[Liam O'Brien]

Why didn't you stop him, Misty?

[Ashley Johnson]

I was just ready to do something and it. I didn't. I waited.

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh. Oh, no.

[Travis Willingham]

Okay, cool.

[Laura Bailey]

All of this is.

[Travis Willingham]

Look at all the vines.

[Sam Riegel]

So big.

[Matthew Mercer]

Map where you all have come in.

[Liam O'Brien]

Look pretty.

[Ashley Johnson]

We came in this way.

[Matthew Mercer]

You all had kind of turned around and you tried to stop him. So you're going to be close, but you would have stepped back lightly at this point. The rest of you, where do you see yourself?

[Liam O'Brien]

I think Aaron and I were probably like, down here at the edge of the dais.

[Sam Riegel]

Sorry, we came in from which direction?

[Matthew Mercer]

From this side. Probably around and through.

[Liam O'Brien]

Oh, oh, around and through this way.

[Matthew Mercer]

This is the cliff edge. You all kind of entered from this direction. This is where it just. It goes off the mountain here.

[Liam O'Brien]

We'd probably be over here, then. Oh, that's not me.

[Matthew Mercer]

Sorry. Where? Over here?

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Laura Bailey]

Aaron, he was in front of the.

[Matthew Mercer]

Of the. Aaron is probably staying back. Yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yes, please. Good, good. Little dwarf girl. Good, good, good, good.

[Matthew Mercer]

I'd have.

[Laura Bailey]

I would have been about 15ft behind Misty.

[Matthew Mercer]

All right. So that I could get the. Get the wire. Truth.

[Liam O'Brien]

Who's this?

[Matthew Mercer]

Is that Brixton?

[Sam Riegel]

I'll stick near Brixton.

[Travis Willingham]

Brixton was looking in his face, and I think Brixton would have dropped to her knees in benevolence.

[Liam O'Brien]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Travis Willingham]

Fully. So Brixton just immediately, like.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yes.

[Travis Willingham]

Drops and is frustrating.

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh, shit. What? Is that not okay?

[Travis Willingham]

What? Oh, my God. Look at that sword.

[Matthew Mercer]

Holy crap.

[Liam O'Brien]

Oh, there's the collection.

[Matthew Mercer]

Don't look at me, boy. I'm a big boy.

[Travis Willingham]

So the statue, though, reached through Velk. So the statue moves.

[Matthew Mercer]

Shadow pulled out of the face and then went through his blood pool up into him.

[Ashley Johnson]

Oh, Shadow.

[Matthew Mercer]

But the statue still remains unknown.

[Travis Willingham]

The statue remains.

[Laura Bailey]

Is the statue still gooping?

[Ashley Johnson]

No, no, no.

[Matthew Mercer]

We will not do it. From what you can see right now, most of the shadow has left it and has gone into Velk. Okay, so.

[Liam O'Brien]

Oh, man.

[Matthew Mercer]

Who wants to initiate this tense moment? As Velk the Forsaken stands hulking, dribbling black ichor blade across his back?

[Liam O'Brien]

I will just reactionary because I know that it helps the rest of the team. I'll pull back, channel a bunch of energy, and then fire a bolt beacon towards whatever that thing just turned into.

[Matthew Mercer]

Let's go. Go ahead and roll spellcast.

[Liam O'Brien]

I'm gonna burn a hope for some advantage if I can. Plus 2, 8, 9, 10, 13 with hope.

[Matthew Mercer]

13 with hope. Mrs. O. Shit. You gain a hope, but you throw that bolt and you see I'm trying.

[Ashley Johnson]

To hope to 13 bump it up.

[Matthew Mercer]

You have to do that before the roll.

[Ashley Johnson]

Okay, okay, okay, okay.

[Matthew Mercer]

And I already had advantage as Velk is glaring currently directly into Brixton's eyes. Around the corner, it sees the flash of light as you cast the spell and kind of ducks out of the way. And the bolt just goes wide. Missing entirely. At this point, the blade is gonna swing wide. I move on.

[Liam O'Brien]

My turn as well. I just wanna kind of arc this way.

[Matthew Mercer]

Sure, yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

Get his ire away from Where Aaron is.

[Matthew Mercer]

All right, so first what's gonna happen? Because now Velk goes. The spotlight comes to me because you failed your roll. Velk is going to lumber forward on the front claw and the back feet like a three point gallop and is gonna rush forward to this point and is gonna go ahead and spend a stress to use a throw action against you. Okay, that's going to be a throw action. Yes.

[Sam Riegel]

Throwing her towards the precipice.

[Matthew Mercer]

A 14 hit you. I need you to make a strength reaction roll for me, please. You need to beat a 13.

[Ashley Johnson]

Okay.

[Liam O'Brien]

Can I burn a hope to assist?

[Matthew Mercer]

You're so far away. You're so far away. How would you assist?

[Liam O'Brien]

I can.

[Matthew Mercer]

I don't want to roll.

[Laura Bailey]

Can I burn a hope to assist?

[Matthew Mercer]

How would you assist?

[Laura Bailey]

I would use my grappler, which is.

[Matthew Mercer]

Basically like a what I'm using as.

[Laura Bailey]

A web to try and pull. Pull her.

[Matthew Mercer]

So go ahead and spend a hope and you add a D6 to her roll. All right. Okay, go ahead and roll.

[Ashley Johnson]

What am I adding? Sorry.

[Matthew Mercer]

Okay, that's a.

[Ashley Johnson]

That's a. That's a.

[Travis Willingham]

Roll plus five. Oh, thank God.

[Ashley Johnson]

That'll work because I. I rolled a 10 plus.

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh, you lucky.

[Ashley Johnson]

Oh, this is with fear.

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh, well, this is a reaction roll, so it doesn't matter. Okay. So you do take nine points of physical damage as his claw sinks into you and goes to chuck you off of the edge of the cliff face. You get about 10ft in air before August's grappler snags on you and pulls you back to your feet onto the edge. So you end up being thrown in the air and then pulled back to where you are. So that does not throw you towards the edge of the mountain cliff. However, he has momentum as a reaction. Whenever he makes successful attack against a PC, I gain a fear and he has relentless as a passive, which means he can be spotlighted two times per GM turn. So I will spend another fear to activate him again angrily with you doing this. He's gonna go ahead and shift over here, kind of almost like leaping between the two of you and is gonna go ahead. Actually, I'm gonna make this a leaping. No, he's gonna make a spinning blade attack against both of you since you guys are in the radius as he lands on the ground, takes the blade and does a massive two handed strike that spins and carves through both of you. That's gonna be 15 to hit. That hits. That hits both of you within very close.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yes. I forgot I was there as well.

[Matthew Mercer]

That's okay.

[Ashley Johnson]

I'm here.

[Matthew Mercer]

I'm here.

[Ashley Johnson]

Speaking to me right now.

[Matthew Mercer]

Eight points of physical damage to both of you.

[Ashley Johnson]

How much?

[Matthew Mercer]

8 points of physical damage to both. I'll take it.

[Laura Bailey]

Take it.

[Ashley Johnson]

So then.

[Matthew Mercer]

And if he successfully hit, he gains a few armor.

[Liam O'Brien]

Oh, boy.

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh, are you.

[Travis Willingham]

Did you heal? Did you just get.

[Ashley Johnson]

I got four hit points. Okay. Can I. Yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

She doesn't have any armor.

[Ashley Johnson]

Can I do.

[Matthew Mercer]

So his spotlight is done, and it's. Now I'm not looking.

[Travis Willingham]

Very quickly moved out of my range.

[Liam O'Brien]

What were the two things you. During the.

[Ashley Johnson]

I took watch and I cleared my hit points.

[Travis Willingham]

I'm going to show you all the way back out.

[Matthew Mercer]

All right. I have.

[Sam Riegel]

I have a. I have a hand crossbow.

[Laura Bailey]

There's only one hit point, right? What's your. What's your.

[Sam Riegel]

Staying in far range. I'm going to fire the hand crossbow at him. That's. That's it.

[Matthew Mercer]

All right. Go ahead and roll an attack.

[Sam Riegel]

Okay.

[Liam O'Brien]

Not. That's it. Come on, snitch.

[Travis Willingham]

Okay, okay, okay, okay.

[Sam Riegel]

Nine with fear, man.

[Matthew Mercer]

With fear. That's a failure. In your panic, you fire the crossbow and it just goes wide. You weren't even aiming it. You were just kind of.

[Sam Riegel]

And I yell out, well, there's no use crying over spilled velk. And I'll. I'll run away this way. The other way. Away.

[Ashley Johnson]

I have an idea that can help us.

[Matthew Mercer]

All right. Close distance, you can get to about there. Great. Alrighty.

[Ashley Johnson]

Okay.

[Matthew Mercer]

Well, unfortunately, he failed with fear, so comes back shake shit. To Velk the forsaken.

[Travis Willingham]

Sorry, you guys were talking. Oh, my God.

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh, man. Okay.

[Travis Willingham]

Why did I burn my unstoppable last round?

[Matthew Mercer]

Unstoppable?

[Ashley Johnson]

That's the challenge I made.

[Matthew Mercer]

Velk is now going to flee himself off the precipice. No, weirdly, no. He's going to go ahead and make a leaping strike against. No, actually, he's not. He's going to make another spinning blade attack since he's right there between the two of you. Actually, no. He's going to shift now and move here, which kind of like lumbers over, pulls his blade back. I think very close range will get all three of you.

[Travis Willingham]

Fair enough. Range the orange, that is.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah.

[Travis Willingham]

Okay. Okay.

[Matthew Mercer]

That'S going to be 21 on Brixton, August and Misty.

[Travis Willingham]

Can I use. I am your shield on. Even though I'm getting hit, the attack.

[Matthew Mercer]

Is hitting all three of you, so you're not able to shield necessarily. It incorporates you all. I'd say in this instance, you're not Getting in the way. It's hitting everybody in the radius.

[Travis Willingham]

It's hit within very close range when they would take damage.

[Matthew Mercer]

You know what?

[Sam Riegel]

So you're gonna take double damage.

[Travis Willingham]

I would take two hits. Right. Theoretically.

[Liam O'Brien]

You gotta.

[Matthew Mercer]

In this instance. I'll allow it.

[Travis Willingham]

Okay.

[Matthew Mercer]

I'll allow it. I'll say. What you do is you kind of shift over. I'll move you over to that space. You basically get in front and you. You take. You take the. You don't just take the hit. You like take it to the face and chest and you take the full brunt of it. So you take the two hits.

[Travis Willingham]

Okay.

[Matthew Mercer]

So damage on this one will be 10 points of physical damage. So you take 20 points of physical damage.

[Travis Willingham]

20 total health potion.

[Matthew Mercer]

Correct.

[Travis Willingham]

I will spend.

[Matthew Mercer]

What is your severe?

[Travis Willingham]

My severe.17.

[Matthew Mercer]

So that is. So it doesn't. It doesn't double your severe.

[Travis Willingham]

It doesn't double my severe. I will spend two armor slots. However, to drop it down to a minor.

[Matthew Mercer]

10. 10.

[Laura Bailey]

I'm going to use an armor.

[Ashley Johnson]

I feel like I need to mark stress because I'm stressed.

[Laura Bailey]

10 brings it to minor.

[Travis Willingham]

Okay.

[Matthew Mercer]

And then he's going to spend a fear to activate a second time. And now is going to go into a leaping strike. But I ran away as a leaping strike which spends a fear to do that. He gets to leap anywhere within far range and then make an attack against a target. Gets very close. That's going to be a 13.

[Sam Riegel]

Thirteen is my evasion.

[Matthew Mercer]

It just hits you.

[Travis Willingham]

Okay.

[Matthew Mercer]

So this one's going to do an extra D12 of damage to the person he targets. So that's going to be 4 plus 8. 12. 15 points of physical damage.

[Ashley Johnson]

Wow.

[Matthew Mercer]

As it leaps into the air, grabs onto one of the roots. Ruins above which then snaps. And it uses the plummet momentum of it to strike the blade down in a heavy hit onto Snix. The ground cracks from the impact. And you watch it slashes into him and his body almost gets thrown and bounces from the blast of it. And the piece of stone that he's still handing from the ruin. He then throws and it pelts you in the back again for that extra bit of damage. Ow.

[Sam Riegel]

That's a severe damage.

[Matthew Mercer]

That's three hit points to you. Oof.

[Laura Bailey]

You gonna soak some.

[Liam O'Brien]

Is there anything we can do to.

[Matthew Mercer]

Gains a fear from the momentum? That finishes my spotlight. Who wants to go?

[Laura Bailey]

I would like to go next.

[Liam O'Brien]

Hold on. Pause. Can Aaron run for cover Just. Just to get out of the way.

[Matthew Mercer]

Aaron is going to dart back there Good girl. Good girl.

[Ashley Johnson]

Can I take a healing potion?

[Laura Bailey]

I'm going to.

[Matthew Mercer]

You want to? Yeah, go for it.

[Laura Bailey]

Take a healing potion. Yeah, go ahead and take a healing potion. I'm going to take off and I'm going to jump onto Misty and just lay all of my hands, which is six of them, on her back and just sort of scrape down. And a bit of web starts to cover your torso like a weird webbed armor. And I'm going to cast. Where did it go? Tava's armor. So that you now have a plus one bonus to your armor score. So it's basically. You have one armor point now.

[Ashley Johnson]

Cool.

[Travis Willingham]

That's great.

[Ashley Johnson]

Wait, so that's like adding an additional shield or this goes up to four.

[Liam O'Brien]

But you get to add one because that's.

[Laura Bailey]

And then I'm going to give roll for that.

[Matthew Mercer]

Is it just spending the hope?

[Laura Bailey]

It's just spend the hope.

[Matthew Mercer]

Great.

[Marisha Ray]

Awesome.

[Laura Bailey]

And then I'm going to hop up and back a bit and I'm in flight now. Just around here.

[Matthew Mercer]

I forgot to get my flight pack again. All right.

[Laura Bailey]

Just put me on a.

[Matthew Mercer]

Don't put you on a little pedestal here. No, it's fine.

[Laura Bailey]

Aw. I like you.

[Matthew Mercer]

I had too many things. I was prepping for this and forgot to go get my little flight platform from the other set.

[Sam Riegel]

Someone can go get that. I'm sure I've got an armor.

[Matthew Mercer]

You want to go. You want to fly back about there is about as far as just a.

[Laura Bailey]

Spider webs up in the air so that I feel like I have a little distance from that awful leap.

[Liam O'Brien]

And the minor healing potion is just a 1D4. There's no plus one or anything. It's just 1D4.

[Matthew Mercer]

Correct.

[Laura Bailey]

Plus your level.

[Ashley Johnson]

I rolled three, so I rolled a three.

[Matthew Mercer]

So I got rid of.

[Sam Riegel]

Plus your level.

[Matthew Mercer]

No, that's you using your. That's not level. It's your tier. That's only for the downtime action. But the healing potion is just 1d4.

[Liam O'Brien]

Great.

[Ashley Johnson]

Am I still able to go, go, go? Well, am I still able to do anything? Because since I did the potion.

[Matthew Mercer]

Am I able to do it? The potion just happens immediately.

[Ashley Johnson]

I'm doing something that I think can be helpful. Okay. So I'm going to.

[Matthew Mercer]

Action. Economy here is a little. A little more fluid. So if it sounds interesting and fun and quick, you can do it. You can take multiple times in a row, but the big things take action rolls and there's a chance that it'll throw back to me when you do.

[Ashley Johnson]

Okay. So wings Fully unfurled, sort of. It looks like she grows a little bit. Almost like, you know, when Gandalf gets mad and he just starts getting just. I know it's okay. So I am going to use Epic.

[Travis Willingham]

Song.

[Ashley Johnson]

And so I can make a target within close range. So I might have to get a little closer to him.

[Matthew Mercer]

You will have to get quite a bit closer. You can move to about there. And that'll get him in close range.

[Ashley Johnson]

So he'll be temporarily vulnerable.

[Matthew Mercer]

Okay, so are you just using your ability?

[Ashley Johnson]

I'm just using my ability to make him vulnerable. So. Okay, we have adventure juice.

[Liam O'Brien]

Amazing.

[Marisha Ray]

Yay.

[Matthew Mercer]

We did it, fam. Thanks, Dave. All right, got my floating stings now. Makes it a little easier to keep tabs up to his floating. Oh, great. There we go. All right, so tab hims automatically. He is now temporarily vulnerable. I'm going to go ahead and mark him here with a little black thread. So attacks against him have advantage until I spend a few to get rid of it on my activation.

[Travis Willingham]

Just to clarify something you said. Did you say that the shadow spilled out of the statue and went into him, but there's still some drippy shadow coming out of the statue?

[Matthew Mercer]

If you glance back at the statue, it looks like nothing happened. You just see the claw marks in its face. Whatever it was has transferred into him. Fuck. You can still take your turn. It's just immediate point if you wanted to keep rolling.

[Ashley Johnson]

Do I need to roll for this?

[Matthew Mercer]

What does it say?

[Ashley Johnson]

Describe how you perform for others. You can play each song once per long. Rest. It's just part of my foundation.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah. So you just get back?

[Ashley Johnson]

I just get to do it. Awesome.

[Sam Riegel]

Okay, it's still our turn.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah. Still your guys turn.

[Sam Riegel]

I want to get this guy away from me, but if you've got something.

[Travis Willingham]

I run up and hit things.

[Sam Riegel]

All right, I'm gonna run up and hit things. I'm just gonna rock around him just a little bit. Counterclockwise. Yeah. I'm gonna take out one of my golden boomerangs.

[Laura Bailey]

Do you want to tag team on this or no?

[Sam Riegel]

You're so far away. Yeah, yeah, nevermind. I'm going to just strike him at very close range.

[Matthew Mercer]

There you go.

[Sam Riegel]

He's vulnerable. So does that mean I get a D6?

[Matthew Mercer]

Correct. Get a D6 to your roll.

[Sam Riegel]

Come on, baby.

[Matthew Mercer]

Ooh.

[Sam Riegel]

9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. With Hope.

[Matthew Mercer]

With Hope. That's six.

[Liam O'Brien]

And if he's vulnerable, giving someone advantage wouldn't stack an advantage. Die.

[Marisha Ray]

Right.

[Matthew Mercer]

Correct. Vulnerable just gives him advantage. Gotcha.

[Sam Riegel]

Okay. So I'm going to both spend a fear and take a stress.

[Matthew Mercer]

You're gonna spend a fear.

[Sam Riegel]

Sorry. I'm going to spend a hope.

[Ashley Johnson]

We're gonna take away one of your.

[Sam Riegel]

And mark a stress.

[Liam O'Brien]

That's what we wanna be.

[Sam Riegel]

This is something I can do. If I mark a stress, I can add a 2D. So I'm going to hit him and then turn around and fearfully, I'm gonna kick him with my goat feet.

[Matthew Mercer]

Okay. Okay.

[Sam Riegel]

So that as it extra 2d6 damage.

[Matthew Mercer]

Great.

[Sam Riegel]

On top of the d10 that I'm about to do.

[Matthew Mercer]

Hell yeah. Fawn powers.

[Sam Riegel]

Yes. So that's. Oh, wait. Yes. Yes. 6, 6, 13, 14 damage.

[Matthew Mercer]

14 points of damage. That is his severe threshold. So he takes three hit points.

[Sam Riegel]

And I'm also going to spend a hope to make him my focus. I'm gonna focus on him and mark him with my ranger focus. Also, when you do the kick, he gets knocked back. Very close range.

[Matthew Mercer]

Very close range. Okay. Yes. So with that.

[Sam Riegel]

So I'm knocking him towards the precipice.

[Matthew Mercer]

There you go.

[Marisha Ray]

Nice.

[Matthew Mercer]

All right, that finishes your spotlight. Who wants to go next? It's still on your court.

[Travis Willingham]

Still vulnerable.

[Matthew Mercer]

Still vulnerable.

[Sam Riegel]

Oh, and that was with hope. So I get a hope?

[Travis Willingham]

No. Okay. Man, I have so many things running through my head. Running through my head. Running through my head. Okay. I'm gonna run up and be like. You shall fall, Velk, for your transgressions.

[Matthew Mercer]

Definitely within your close range. So you rush down from the precipice to get into melee. Go for it.

[Travis Willingham]

You are not a true believer. Oh, it was almost. I thought it was gonna be a crit there for a second, but that's okay. 17.

[Matthew Mercer]

17.

[Travis Willingham]

With fear.

[Matthew Mercer]

With fear. All right, that does hit. So go ahead and roll damage. That was with the extra D6, right?

[Travis Willingham]

Fortunately, yes. That's good. So that's gonna be. Oh, wait. 17. I add my strength to attacks.

[Matthew Mercer]

Add your strength to attack rolls. Yeah.

[Travis Willingham]

So then 18, 19. But that doesn't matter. That's gonna be 12 damage.

[Matthew Mercer]

12 damage. Great. That's two hit points for a major wound to Velk the Forsaken.

[Travis Willingham]

And then can we still see the claw marks across the face of the statue?

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah, the clawmax are still there. Heavily scarred through the stone.

[Liam O'Brien]

But just stone. No dripping ichor, no nothing.

[Matthew Mercer]

It looks like a scarred statue.

[Liam O'Brien]

Okay.

[Travis Willingham]

Okay. That's what I do.

[Matthew Mercer]

All right. That finishes your goat. That brings us to Velk's turn.

[Marisha Ray]

Yeah.

[Matthew Mercer]

Velk is going to. Velk is unhappy. He just got kicked Heavily goat kick, pushed back, takes the hit from you, but is now like and is going to go ahead and spend a fear to make a leaping strike. Leaps up and comes down with a heavy swipe on this side onto from that point.

[Sam Riegel]

I can get you drugs.

[Matthew Mercer]

That's a natural 20. Oh, shit. That. Okay.

[Travis Willingham]

Out of my range. I can't do it.

[Liam O'Brien]

I can't even use prayer dice to reduce that.

[Matthew Mercer]

So that is gonna be 12 plus.

[Ashley Johnson]

Wait, wait, wait, wait. Yeah, I can do. I can spend three hope to temporarily distract a target within close range, giving them a minus two penalty to their difficulty.

[Matthew Mercer]

That's good to know. Difficulty is the roll you have to make to hit them.

[Ashley Johnson]

Got it, got it, got it, got it.

[Matthew Mercer]

So I wouldn't help you in this instance, but that is a thing to know. That's all good. That's all good. So that's it. That's 12 plus. That's 20 plus the extra. That's 21 points of physical damage to you.

[Sam Riegel]

That's severe. That would kill me or put you.

[Matthew Mercer]

To zero at least.

[Sam Riegel]

But I will. Or yes, it would put me to zero. But I'll spend an armor to reduce.

[Matthew Mercer]

That down a little to a major. All right. I will spend a fear to remove the temporary vulnerability. So shrugs off that status and he got a fear back from the successful hit from his momentum ability and is going to spend that now as part of his relentless spotlight a second time and is going to spend another fear to jump up onto the wall, climb the edge with his claw with the blade hooked onto his back. Full on climbing the rope and then leaping off comes down with a massive strike onto you. Another time.

[Sam Riegel]

This could be bad.

[Matthew Mercer]

That's going.

[Travis Willingham]

Can I get there? Can I get there? Can I run up? Seeing how bad Snix is.

[Matthew Mercer]

It's still his activation. Unfortunately. That is going to be a 15 hit. That hits okay with that. That is gonna be plus 14 points of physical damage.

[Liam O'Brien]

I will use my prayer dice to lower that by four.

[Matthew Mercer]

Okay. 10 points of physical damage.

[Sam Riegel]

So that's major.

[Matthew Mercer]

If I use two armor, is it within far range?

[Liam O'Brien]

You said prayer dice within far range.

[Matthew Mercer]

You are too far. So hold onto that dice. That's 14 points of physical damage to you fear.

[Sam Riegel]

If I do. If I use two armor.

[Matthew Mercer]

Do you have an ability that lets you use more than one?

[Sam Riegel]

I don't know.

[Travis Willingham]

That's me. That's a me thing. I can do that.

[Matthew Mercer]

You can only spend one armor slot to reduce it by one severity.

[Sam Riegel]

So that's all my hit points. I Think I'm dead.

[Matthew Mercer]

We have to make a death move.

[Liam O'Brien]

You get to. There's three choices. There's three choices.

[Matthew Mercer]

So as the blade strikes, you all watch as Snix is panicking and Velk climbs up the wall, and you look back and Velk's gone. And in that moment, you feel like, oh, maybe I'm safe. And without even noticing, in the moment, you suddenly hear this roar. You look up as he descends once more from the ceiling with massive blades striking down towards you and carves into your body with a massive strike. You have three choices.

[Travis Willingham]

You can lay down and take a nap.

[Matthew Mercer]

I'm about to tell him it's okay. So you can blaze of glory. If you want to just immediately take an action, that's an automatic critical success. But you will die immediately. Immediately after.

[Sam Riegel]

This is episode two.

[Matthew Mercer]

You could avoid death and face the consequences, which means you just fall unconscious until you're healed or a long rest is taken. So you're more or less out of the fight until somebody manages to heal you. And I get to worsen the situation somehow. And then you roll a fear die to see if you take a scar, but you're out of the fight. Or you can risk it all and roll your duality dice. If your hope is higher, you remain conscious and heal up. Hit points or stress. You get to divide how you wish on what you rolled. But if your fear is higher, you're dead.

[Ashley Johnson]

But if you get. But if you get a scar, isn't there something cool?

[Liam O'Brien]

There's a little buff.

[Ashley Johnson]

You get a little buff.

[Matthew Mercer]

That happens if you survive well. So the avoid death and face consequences means you do survive regardless, but you have a chance of getting a scar and you're out of the fight.

[Sam Riegel]

So a scar is a bad thing?

[Travis Willingham]

Well, you're down a hope, but you get to roll two damage die.

[Matthew Mercer]

You get to get a plus one.

[Travis Willingham]

To attack or plus one to your damage.

[Matthew Mercer]

Sorry. Oh, man.

[Sam Riegel]

Or I could just go to the casino and just risk it all.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah.

[Laura Bailey]

Yeah.

[Sam Riegel]

In episode two, you don't have to.

[Matthew Mercer]

You could just take the consequences and go unconscious. It's up to you.

[Sam Riegel]

Any bonuses to the.

[Matthew Mercer]

Any?

[Sam Riegel]

I can't use any experience. I can't do anything.

[Matthew Mercer]

No, you cannot help somebody with their death move. Unfortunately.

[Sam Riegel]

No.

[Matthew Mercer]

What are you gonna do? You did this to yourself.

[Laura Bailey]

I don't know what to do, man.

[Ashley Johnson]

What are you talking. Out. Talk it out. What are you feeling?

[Sam Riegel]

I mean, the middle one seems like the safer bet.

[Matthew Mercer]

It is.

[Ashley Johnson]

Okay, which.

[Travis Willingham]

The one to just go to sleep, get A scar.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah, but you might get a scar. You have to roll to see if you do.

[Sam Riegel]

But the other one's so exciting.

[Laura Bailey]

They're.

[Matthew Mercer]

They're all.

[Laura Bailey]

You know, they all have pluses and mines.

[Matthew Mercer]

What's in your heart, Sam?

[Liam O'Brien]

What's in your veins? Adrenaline.

[Laura Bailey]

This is so fun to watch.

[Liam O'Brien]

Jet fuel.

[Sam Riegel]

Who made this game?

[Matthew Mercer]

Jerk.

[Sam Riegel]

I'm going to risk it all.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah.

[Travis Willingham]

Oh, my God.

[Ashley Johnson]

What do I do?

[Matthew Mercer]

You just pull. Your hope and fear die. And hope. Your hope die is higher.

[Travis Willingham]

Get the rest of these. Wait, wait.

[Matthew Mercer]

Hand me the box. Hand me the box. Carefully.

[Liam O'Brien]

I love how you just did it.

[Matthew Mercer]

You did a six and a two. Okay. You did it. I did it. You did it. So you're a.

[Ashley Johnson]

My hair is standing up 6.

[Matthew Mercer]

The world goes dark for a moment, and in the back of your mind, you hear a voice, somebody from your past, somebody that meant a lot to you in just a single little word says, keep going. In that moment, your eyes open wide, and your face is down on the stone. You feel the of Velk's feet around you as he roars of victory roar over you, and you feel the surge of adrenaline hit your body, and you begin to stand with a renewed second wind. You get to take that six you rolled, and you get to clear as many hit points or stress as you want to. Up to six. Yes. So you have six to do. You can either clear six hit points, or you can do three hit points to stress. Your call.

[Sam Riegel]

That's huge. I'm going to clear five hit points and one stress.

[Travis Willingham]

There you go.

[Matthew Mercer]

That's my spotlight. Who wants to go? Oh, my God. But.

[Sam Riegel]

And I don't have a scar. Oh, wait, no, that's a different thing.

[Matthew Mercer]

Different one. Oh, my God. Even then, you still have to roll to see if you get it.

[Sam Riegel]

Oh, my God. That was scary.

[Matthew Mercer]

That was ballsy.

[Ashley Johnson]

Awesome.

[Matthew Mercer]

All right, so anybody or spotlights on you guys. Who wants to go?

[Liam O'Brien]

Make me drool. It made me drool.

[Matthew Mercer]

You haven't gone in a minute.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah, I haven't. I'm gonna run up. I know. I'm also suspicious of the statue. I'm gonna run up behind the. The brazier. Is this. Does it look like it's attached at the base, like, with stone or. If I threw my shoulder into it, it's something that could be knocked over.

[Matthew Mercer]

At a quick glance, it looks. It looks very heavy, but where it meets the ground, it looks like it was set there.

[Liam O'Brien]

Can I try and just shove. See if I can shove it over because it's got Stuff burning in it.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah. If you want to go and make a strength roll for me, please, as you charge forward and slam your entire body into it.

[Liam O'Brien]

I hope, because I got so many of these. That's cocked. It's better. 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 with hope.

[Matthew Mercer]

18 with hope. Unfortunately, that's not high enough. You get a hope, but you slam into it your full body, and it kind of like I run up.

[Liam O'Brien]

I'm keeping my eyes on.

[Sam Riegel]

Run, run.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

Fuck.

[Matthew Mercer]

But it does, like, rock, so it is movable.

[Liam O'Brien]

I'm just too big of a bitch.

[Matthew Mercer]

It just was a little bit too heavy for that impact.

[Liam O'Brien]

With my AC joint now hurting. Can I. Can I sidearm a bolt beacon at.

[Matthew Mercer]

You will, but you just fail to roll. So it comes to me.

[Liam O'Brien]

I did fail, even though it was with hope.

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh, no.

[Laura Bailey]

We got a tag team.

[Matthew Mercer]

I think at this point, Velk is going to go ahead and spend a fear to do a leaping strike back this direction and land with a heavy strike down onto you. I'm going to use this dice here. That's going to be. Ooh, that's a bad roll. That's a six to hit.

[Ashley Johnson]

Doesn't hit. Doesn't hit.

[Matthew Mercer]

So it comes down, and you see the arc, and both of you make eye contact and dart out from each other for a second. The blade cracks, and the stone breaks off the side, sending splintered pieces of shale to each side. He's going to spend another fear to activate again and is going to hit a spinning blade strike to both of you as you're both within very close range of him now. That's going to be a 19 to hit.

[Travis Willingham]

Can I. I am your shield. Can I do this again?

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah, if you want to.

[Travis Willingham]

I am your shield.

[Matthew Mercer]

So take. That's a stress to do that.

[Travis Willingham]

Yes.

[Matthew Mercer]

So burn of the stress. How much stress do you have left?

[Travis Willingham]

I cleared my stress on my short rest, so I have 4 stress still to go.

[Matthew Mercer]

Good to know. All right, so this is. You're going to take both damage.

[Travis Willingham]

Take them both.

[Matthew Mercer]

Roll a 12 in the D12 sets, 24 points of physical damage on.

[Liam O'Brien]

What's your. What's your threshold? Would reducing that by 4Help at all?

[Matthew Mercer]

No.

[Liam O'Brien]

Okay.

[Travis Willingham]

Thank you, though. So you said 24 total, correct? I will.

[Sam Riegel]

You got some armor?

[Travis Willingham]

Yeah, yeah, I'm still good. SP armor will bring it down to man. I might as well just do clear two. You can only take one.

[Matthew Mercer]

Okay, okay. Just one.

[Liam O'Brien]

I like that better.

[Travis Willingham]

Damn.

[Matthew Mercer]

Once again, Brixton is just getting in the fray and protecting you with her body and taking heavy hits in the process. With each blast, you see Brixton being knocked against you. She's holding strong and basically holding you from the threshold. But that's going to finish my spotlight. Who's up? You haven't got a minute.

[Laura Bailey]

No, I'm.

[Matthew Mercer]

I'm.

[Laura Bailey]

So with this grappler weapon, if I'm flying and I pull, will that pull somebody up to where I am? If. If it, like. Well, I. Can I pull someone, like, up at an angle, or is it always just.

[Matthew Mercer]

You can. If the. If logistically you can lift them?

[Laura Bailey]

Yeah, that's the thing.

[Matthew Mercer]

Okay. This is a very massive. That's a big.

[Laura Bailey]

That's what I was double checking. Okay. And I can. How quickly can I. How far can I run? Where's my speed?

[Matthew Mercer]

Well, everyone can run within close range. You can go far, but you have to make an agility roll to get there.

[Laura Bailey]

Okay. So close range. I'm too far away to get an Emilia with that jerk at the moment. So I'm going to fly above the statue. I think I can get there or in that direction. Yeah, about there. And I'm going to. At the moment, all I can really do is I'm going to use an ice spike to just. I'm going to prick my eye, drop a. Drop a tear to the ground and just let it run down and pop right up underneath them.

[Matthew Mercer]

You got it? So as it goes down into the ground, the bit of frost gathering and moving on the ground like a magical Bugs Bunny burrowing. Go ahead and roll your spell cast. Okay.

[Laura Bailey]

Come on, don't. No, don't fuck around.

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh, wow. Wow.

[Laura Bailey]

Okay, that's amazing. That's 23 with hope.

[Matthew Mercer]

Great. Take that, Hope. And that is definitely a success.

[Sam Riegel]

Yeah. Aren't you adding your. Don't you add.

[Laura Bailey]

No, it's 25. Thank you. Yes, 25.

[Matthew Mercer]

Which, by the way, that's where the pips are. Useful to remind you when you roll.

[Laura Bailey]

To keep them up, throw them right here and didn't even use them in your disposal bag. All right, so 25 with hope. That's. Where's the ice spike damage? It's 6, plus my proficiency.

[Matthew Mercer]

Well, you don't have the proficiency.

[Laura Bailey]

That's right. It's not there yet. That's six points of damage.

[Matthew Mercer]

Okay, so he takes a hit point that is beneath his mid still. So the strike, mostly it ignored you at this point. Yeah. Now kind of looks up and sees where this would come from. All right, so who wants to go next?

[Sam Riegel]

That was with Hope. That's good. We'll keep going.

[Laura Bailey]

Yep.

[Travis Willingham]

Go for it.

[Ashley Johnson]

I would like to cast wild flame. My hands.

[Matthew Mercer]

Go for it.

[Ashley Johnson]

Shoot him out.

[Matthew Mercer]

All right, so it says in the card. What? Shoot him out. Read what the card says.

[Ashley Johnson]

For you to read what the card says. Okay. Make a spell cast. Roll against up to three adversaries.

[Matthew Mercer]

Adversaries? Yeah.

[Ashley Johnson]

With an adversary within melee range. Targets you succeed. I can read targets you succeed against. Take 2d6 magic damage. And you must mark a stress as flames erupt from your hand.

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh, okay. That's.

[Sam Riegel]

What if this is how we found.

[Travis Willingham]

Out Ashley couldn't read this whole time.

[Liam O'Brien]

Is he still vulnerable?

[Travis Willingham]

Not in any of our voiceover sessions.

[Ashley Johnson]

Thirteen with fear.

[Matthew Mercer]

Thirteen with fear. That chest miss. Unfortunately, the proximity, the growling after it carved through Brixton heavily and barely kept you at bay from sustaining the damage. You feel the warm drip of that black bloody slobber on you and it shakes your resolve. You go to try and conjure the spell, but the words dissipate from your lips. You as panic looking up at this entity. And the spell fails. Utilizing that advantage, Velka's going to go first. Velka's going to go ahead and take another spinning strike at the two of you because you're right there and he's trying to carve through you both.

[Travis Willingham]

You took a healing potion, right?

[Ashley Johnson]

I did. I did. I did. I'm better.

[Matthew Mercer]

That's going to be an 11 to hit.

[Travis Willingham]

Hits me.

[Matthew Mercer]

What's your evasion?

[Ashley Johnson]

It just hits. Yeah.

[Matthew Mercer]

So. Yeah, it hits. All right, so both of you, we're.

[Travis Willingham]

Going to have to eat this one.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah.

[Matthew Mercer]

Both of you take 11 points of physical damage.

[Travis Willingham]

Okay, that's not so bad. I will take use my shield.

[Ashley Johnson]

I'm gonna use my last shield.

[Matthew Mercer]

All right. Last armor slot.

[Ashley Johnson]

My last armor slot.

[Travis Willingham]

I will also use my last armor slot.

[Laura Bailey]

I can cast that here if I need.

[Sam Riegel]

Is this on us now?

[Matthew Mercer]

No, I'm spend a fear. Well, he gets a fear from successful attack. And then I'm going to respend that fear to actually no. We'll have gained it and then spend it again to go ahead and activate a second time. And now it's going to turn its eye towards you. After that strike, it's going to take its blade and run underneath. And then full on Climhazzard style, blade up jump from underneath the massive strike using its leaping strike. That's going to be 14 to hit.

[Laura Bailey]

So let's see. I'm going to mark a stress. It's a 14 hit.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah. All right.

[Laura Bailey]

Doesn't help me. Damn. Okay, that won't help. Yeah, that hits.

[Matthew Mercer]

Okay, no worries. So you take. Well, now it's gonna be seven.

[Laura Bailey]

Never mind.

[Matthew Mercer]

Fifteen. Sorry. Eighteen points of physical damage to you as it carves upward. As you're, like, flying, keeping out of the fray. Suddenly, with an incredible speed, the blade just carves through a heavy hit across your torso. You kind of fall about 3 or 4ft before having to catch yourself.

[Laura Bailey]

That is severe damage. I'm gonna use an armor to drop it down to major.

[Matthew Mercer]

All right, there's two hit points marked on you. Yep. That's gonna finish my spotlight. Who's up next? You just slammed in the thing last time, so you want to go again?

[Laura Bailey]

I'm also. I'm taking a potion while this is happening, so go for it.

[Sam Riegel]

Are we still trying to get him off the ledge, or should we just pin him down?

[Laura Bailey]

Why not? And let's just hurt him.

[Travis Willingham]

I don't have any hope to do any type of.

[Liam O'Brien]

At least I make him vulnerable. I'd like to try.

[Sam Riegel]

To do something.

[Ashley Johnson]

And have an extra pin him down.

[Sam Riegel]

So we can maybe heal a little bit. I'm going to. I'm gonna cast a spell. I'm gonna cast vicious entangle.

[Matthew Mercer]

Okay.

[Sam Riegel]

If that's all right.

[Laura Bailey]

Do you want to make this a tag team thing?

[Ashley Johnson]

Sure.

[Sam Riegel]

What would you like to do to add to it? I'll be pinning him down.

[Laura Bailey]

I also cast with thread so I can start casting and adding to the entangle. Running my silk through your entangle system to make it work.

[Sam Riegel]

I have three hope to spend if we want to do a tag team.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah. If you want to go ahead and initiate tag team. Let's go.

[Liam O'Brien]

Let's do it.

[Sam Riegel]

Tag team it.

[Matthew Mercer]

All right, so you are describe how you guys are combining your attacks.

[Sam Riegel]

I think the vines that appear under him are gonna mesh and weave with the spider silk.

[Matthew Mercer]

What spell are you casting or what are you doing on your end as part of the tag team?

[Laura Bailey]

Well, my technical one, I suppose, would be sleep on my end. I'm gonna cast sleep to try and technically.

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh, okay. I see. Okay.

[Sam Riegel]

All right, let's give it a shot.

[Matthew Mercer]

So both of you roll and slumber. Take the higher of the two.

[Laura Bailey]

Okay.

[Matthew Mercer]

We both roll or take whichever one you prefer, I guess.

[Laura Bailey]

Is that right?

[Sam Riegel]

Here we go.

[Laura Bailey]

I have 22 with hope.

[Sam Riegel]

I have seven. 22 with hope.

[Matthew Mercer]

So both of you succeed. 22 with hope.

[Sam Riegel]

Amazing. And I can spend. Nope. So he takes 1d8 damage from me, but I'm gonna mark a stress to make that 2D8.

[Matthew Mercer]

Go for it.

[Sam Riegel]

That's all right. 15 physical damage. And he is restrained.

[Matthew Mercer]

Great. That's gonna be. He's there.

[Sam Riegel]

Is that a severe.

[Matthew Mercer]

That is a severe.

[Sam Riegel]

He also takes a stress.

[Matthew Mercer]

Also takes a stress. He's restrained.

[Liam O'Brien]

Does that give us advantage on attack?

[Matthew Mercer]

Restrain means he can't move.

[Liam O'Brien]

Can't move. Got it.

[Sam Riegel]

So you guys get away and get.

[Laura Bailey]

That's the only thing he doesn't also take the slumber spell. That's just what I added to make the spell work.

[Matthew Mercer]

Gotcha. All right. Okay.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Matthew Mercer]

So he is so sorry. So what else does your spell do?

[Laura Bailey]

Oh, it would just make him go to sleep. But I was just helping with the spell by using.

[Matthew Mercer]

Right. So read the spell for me.

[Laura Bailey]

Okay. It's on a success. They're asleep until they take damage. Or the GM spends a fear on their turn to clean this.

[Matthew Mercer]

Correct. So as the vines curl up, the threads swirl around them. They'll. Oh, shit. Okay. Okay. And is now currently restrained and asleep.

[Laura Bailey]

So as long as we don't do anything that needs a roll. Stay there until he will be able to save him.

[Ashley Johnson]

Once we throw him off of the.

[Sam Riegel]

Ledge, he's wrapped up in vines.

[Liam O'Brien]

He's entangled. He's entangled.

[Matthew Mercer]

But I'm going to spend a fear to take the GM turn.

[Laura Bailey]

Can you do that?

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh, yeah. All right. I can. I can. If no one's doing anything.

[Liam O'Brien]

I was gonna say, can somebody help me push this brazier over? I don't know if it'll help.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yes, I'll help.

[Liam O'Brien]

I have no idea if that's strong.

[Matthew Mercer]

I'm strong.

[Travis Willingham]

Can I come over and help me?

[Liam O'Brien]

Bristen.

[Sam Riegel]

Do you guys need any armor?

[Matthew Mercer]

I'll hold my sphere expenditure for you to attempt to push over the spraysor if you'd like.

[Travis Willingham]

Okay. I come over. Yeah, I'm gonna come and I see what idol is doing. I'm gonna help.

[Matthew Mercer]

Okay. Pushing it down.

[Liam O'Brien]

I don't know how I have push it like this. We're going to try and tip it that way.

[Matthew Mercer]

Okay. So you both get to that side. All right. So who's rolling? And then one of you is spending a hope to add a help.

[Liam O'Brien]

I will.

[Matthew Mercer]

To aid them.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yes.

[Matthew Mercer]

All right. So go ahead and make a strength roll.

[Liam O'Brien]

Okay.

[Travis Willingham]

Oh, wait.

[Matthew Mercer]

Or you're making the strength roll and you're adding hope to spend.

[Travis Willingham]

I don't have any hope to spend.

[Ashley Johnson]

Can I give a hope? Can I offer a hope that I have on the table?

[Matthew Mercer]

You can't give hope to other People.

[Liam O'Brien]

Unfortunately, I thought I could use a hope to give myself advantage.

[Matthew Mercer]

No, you can only give other people advantage.

[Liam O'Brien]

Got. Nevermind. Go away. Bye bye.

[Matthew Mercer]

So if you don't have a hope to offer, then you go over and stand next to it. But it's still just your roll.

[Liam O'Brien]

That's okay. 16 with fear.

[Matthew Mercer]

16 with fear. Unfortunately, that's not enough. The difficulty on this is 20 to push over. It is a very. Is a very heavy stone brazier.

[Travis Willingham]

I'm sorry, I have no hope, you guys. I have no hope. I haven't rolled shit. Okay, so can I try to push it then?

[Matthew Mercer]

Just independently, unfortunately. So it comes back to me with the fear that I gained. I'm going to spend that to no longer be asleep now. Trying to pull away from that. Gets onto his feet, but still held in place. Can't move. But the one person who's still in range is you, Ashley. Okay, he's going to get in a roll and attack you. That's going to be a 20. 17 plus three.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Matthew Mercer]

That is gonna be seven points of physical damage. Okay.

[Sam Riegel]

How you doing, kiddo?

[Liam O'Brien]

I'm gonna use a Paradise to lower that to six.

[Ashley Johnson]

Okay, so that's one. Okay, so I only take one. So I have two hit points left.

[Matthew Mercer]

And it's gonna spend. It's gonna spend another fear to reactivate. It gained a fear back from hitting you. So we'll keep that there from the momentum ability. And it's gonna go ahead and spend that fear. No, it can't leaping strike because it's currently restrained. I'm gonna spend a fear to get rid of the vines. So now it is no longer restrained. I'm burning through my fear to do this and then spend one to reactivate or to do the leaping strike. And now it's gonna go ahead and leap in the air spinning. Keep the momentum up to slam the blade down on top of you.

[Ashley Johnson]

Got it, got it, got it.

[Matthew Mercer]

That's gonna be a 13.

[Ashley Johnson]

That hits.

[Matthew Mercer]

Okay, you take. Oh, it's only one. There we go. 11 plus three. 14 points of physical damage.

[Ashley Johnson]

14 points of physical damage. Okay, so that's. Okay, so I. So I here, I'm gonna burn.

[Liam O'Brien]

I'm give you the last prayer dice to lower it four. So that'll drop it down into just one.

[Ashley Johnson]

Into major. Wait, you.

[Liam O'Brien]

14 points of damage.

[Matthew Mercer]

11 points. No plus three. So it's 14. Yeah. Total.

[Ashley Johnson]

Okay, so that would get still too hit. But that's still out. I'm still out.

[Travis Willingham]

Oh no, I'm not. Am I within. If I. Am I within very close range of her?

[Matthew Mercer]

No, you're just out of it. You are just out of very close range by going to.

[Travis Willingham]

Can you do anything?

[Ashley Johnson]

Let me just make sure I'm not forgetting anything.

[Laura Bailey]

Okay, well, actually, I don't have enough.

[Liam O'Brien]

I wanted to use life support, but I. I can't.

[Matthew Mercer]

I'm not.

[Liam O'Brien]

I'm not from the tip of my halberd.

[Matthew Mercer]

I could touch a wing tip.

[Ashley Johnson]

I'm out.

[Matthew Mercer]

Okay. So is there as you can't spend a death? I don't know.

[Ashley Johnson]

I'm just trying to spend a hope for anything. The hope is my guidance in this game.

[Sam Riegel]

Dude, we can't do things. It's not our turn.

[Matthew Mercer]

No, not yet.

[Ashley Johnson]

Damn. Okay, so now you have to decide what to do.

[Matthew Mercer]

So marking your last hit point. The heavy strike slams down onto you. One of your wings cracks and your body crumples to the ground and darkness seems to come for you. You have three choices. Blaze of glory to die instantly, but get an automatic crit on an action, avoid death and face the consequences where you just go unconscious. Circumstances worsen a little bit until you heal.

[Ashley Johnson]

I don't know what to do or.

[Matthew Mercer]

Risk it all like Sam did.

[Liam O'Brien]

This pace is brought to you by Daggerheart, makers of death moves.

[Matthew Mercer]

There's no shame in just going unconscious. Just.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yes, there is.

[Laura Bailey]

No, no.

[Matthew Mercer]

How many times have you all gone unconscious in our other campaigns?

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah, that's true. That's true.

[Matthew Mercer]

Just saying, there's no shame in that.

[Ashley Johnson]

I'm leaning towards going to. Just doing that. Or I'm also going. Thinking of. Okay, I'm thinking of all of them.

[Matthew Mercer]

Well, you have to pick one.

[Ashley Johnson]

I want to, like, take him off the cliff.

[Liam O'Brien]

You're a long way from the cliff.

[Ashley Johnson]

Okay. Okay, so then let's nix that. Glad we talked about it.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yep.

[Sam Riegel]

I mean, blaze of glory works, right? It just happens.

[Matthew Mercer]

It's not a crit. But you can't do impossible things. Very challenging things. You can. I'm not saying you can't do what you want to do, but.

[Ashley Johnson]

So there's a part of me that kind of wants to roll.

[Liam O'Brien]

Of course you do.

[Ashley Johnson]

Okay, so then. So talk to me about the roll again.

[Matthew Mercer]

So on the risk at all, you just. You roll your duality dice.

[Ashley Johnson]

I roll my duality dice.

[Matthew Mercer]

If your hope is higher, you surviving it to heal up a bit. If your fear is higher, you die instead.

[Ashley Johnson]

Even if I rolled like a two and a one, then it's hope.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Matthew Mercer]

Leave the table. If it's a two and A one and the hope's higher, you still live. But if you roll a four and a six and the fear's higher, you instantly die.

[Ashley Johnson]

Can I get.

[Matthew Mercer]

You have a 50% chance of dying?

[Liam O'Brien]

No, this is you.

[Ashley Johnson]

This isn't a democracy.

[Travis Willingham]

It is.

[Matthew Mercer]

I need it to. Mathematically, you have a 50% chance of dying if you risk it all.

[Liam O'Brien]

Yeah, it's 50. 50.

[Laura Bailey]

It's coin flip.

[Travis Willingham]

I feel like I want to roll.

[Ashley Johnson]

I feel like I want to roll.

[Liam O'Brien]

That is dangerous.

[Travis Willingham]

This is.

[Sam Riegel]

I'm stupid.

[Travis Willingham]

This is exactly Ashley Johnson's albatross the Horn.

[Matthew Mercer]

This is also.

[Sam Riegel]

This is.

[Matthew Mercer]

This is everything.

[Liam O'Brien]

If you die, you could maybe come in later with a different character if Matt's feeling generous. Or maybe you just go home and don't.

[Matthew Mercer]

For the purposes of the short run series. When you die, you die.

[Ashley Johnson]

Matthew.

[Travis Willingham]

You know it's bad when people use their sleep.

[Liam O'Brien]

If you go to sleep, you'll just be a statue until we wake you up.

[Ashley Johnson]

Do I go unconscious or should I roll for it?

[Liam O'Brien]

No, this is you.

[Matthew Mercer]

This is you.

[Ashley Johnson]

I'm gonna roll for it.

[Matthew Mercer]

Are you doing it on the table or you doing. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it.

[Ashley Johnson]

Sure. I committed to what I'm doing.

[Matthew Mercer]

O. Oh, my God. That was.

[Laura Bailey]

Oh, my God. I'm having a heart attack.

[Liam O'Brien]

That tumbled for a while.

[Ashley Johnson]

Yes.

[Matthew Mercer]

Darkness is something you're very familiar with.

[Ashley Johnson]

I'm cold and I'm hot.

[Matthew Mercer]

You've spent much time in shadow. Between worlds, between times. Parts of you, you see flashes of fleeing. You see flashes of voices shouting, family, fearful running. You feel pain than nothing. Numbness and cold wall, an anchoring. Something holds you to this world. You find it and begin to forge a new purpose. A purpose that's not yet over. And you continue to hold on as you did before. And you become aware once again of this stone vessel that holds you to this domain. You have since you rolled an 11 on that hope die. You can clear 11. Total of hit points or stress.

[Travis Willingham]

Clear it all, baby. You can clear it all.

[Ashley Johnson]

Can I clear.

[Travis Willingham]

I can use the.

[Ashley Johnson]

Can I clear all of it?

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah.

[Ashley Johnson]

Because I have two stress and I have four AGPs.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah.

[Liam O'Brien]

Clear the board. 50. 50.

[Travis Willingham]

That was fun, man. Stressful. I don't know if it happens to me. I don't know if I'd be brave enough to. To roll for me.

[Matthew Mercer]

I know. I don't know.

[Travis Willingham]

I don't know.

[Matthew Mercer]

I'm proud of y' all. That shit's intense.

[Ashley Johnson]

Okay, who's.

[Travis Willingham]

Is it our turn?

[Matthew Mercer]

It is now.

[Ashley Johnson]

But I'm prone.

[Matthew Mercer]

Well, I mean, prone doesn't mean much in this necessarily. I'm putting you there for the flavor of you just coming to consciousness.

[Laura Bailey]

Same way I can walk away and there's no. There's no opportunity attacking.

[Matthew Mercer]

It's more fluid and moving.

[Travis Willingham]

Here's the thing.

[Matthew Mercer]

There are certain characters and creatures that have the ability to strike you when you move away. This is not of them.

[Travis Willingham]

This Brazer is pissing me off.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah.

[Travis Willingham]

Me and Travis want this bitch over.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah.

[Travis Willingham]

I'm a pyre keeper.

[Liam O'Brien]

Can I. I can give you advantage if you try and push it over. I got hope for days.

[Travis Willingham]

Yes. Okay, so I'm going to try and push it over.

[Matthew Mercer]

But, I mean, if you have enough hope, you could tag team it if you wanted.

[Liam O'Brien]

I have three to spend.

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh, it's up to you. It's a big spend.

[Travis Willingham]

I'm going to gamble a little bit.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yeah.

[Travis Willingham]

I'm a pirate keeper. I handle fire. And also, I know physics. The best way to knock this thing over is to, like, grab the flaming hot side from the top and put and tilt it. Use the physics to tilt it over with my calloused hands. So with advantage from him and my calloused hands, would that grant me, like, a lower DC experience? Yes, it is.

[Matthew Mercer]

It doesn't lower the dc. It allows you to apply your experience to the total roll, which would more or less be the same thing as level.

[Liam O'Brien]

I'll burn three hope if we can tag team it.

[Matthew Mercer]

You can. You can indeed.

[Travis Willingham]

All right, let's do it. Let's do it. No, we're trying to knock over fire.

[Matthew Mercer]

So both of you get to roll strength rolls, and you choose the higher of the two.

[Travis Willingham]

Okay. Plus my strength. Need to add strength. Okay. 18.

[Liam O'Brien]

18 feels exhilarating. But it's a 20. We need a 20 18.

[Travis Willingham]

But I should have just given calloused hands plus two.

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh, that was about your experience.

[Travis Willingham]

It's plus two, which is 20, which is 20, which is just.

[Matthew Mercer]

As you. As you both push and push towards it, you have flashes of how you've handled flame through your youth, through your training, through the glory of being a pyre keeper of desperlock. And you reach up and you feel that familiar burning sensation. And it's a pain that also gives you the strength you need. As you both push rock and then shove. As it topples, the coals go spilling out. Immediately the flame subsides. And with that, suddenly, Velk pulls back and clutches the side of his head. The difficulty to affect Velk has been Reduced by two.

[Travis Willingham]

Okay. To affect him is in.

[Matthew Mercer]

That means rolling against him. Yeah, basically, more or less. Any roll to cast a spell on him, any roll to attack him, the difficulty is reduced by 2. Okay.

[Travis Willingham]

Okay.

[Matthew Mercer]

And that was with hope or fear.

[Travis Willingham]

With hope.

[Matthew Mercer]

With hope. Great. So take that, hope. And you guys are still up spotlighted. Who wants to go next? Okay.

[Laura Bailey]

I could go into a thing really quick.

[Sam Riegel]

Do it.

[Matthew Mercer]

Go for it.

[Laura Bailey]

If anyone's got. I'm going to do a little. I'm going to drop down to where you are and kind of land on you. I'm going to cast the armor. Tava's armor again. How are you? I'm believe. Let me see. Yeah, I'm gonna cast a touch.

[Matthew Mercer]

Right.

[Laura Bailey]

That's a touch.

[Matthew Mercer]

Okay.

[Travis Willingham]

I still have four hit points left.

[Laura Bailey]

So I'm gonna hop down, like, right. I'm gonna get in melee with the big fox. I'm right there. So you have one armor again. And now I'm just gonna take my needle wand and I'm gonna start just carving a rune with the thread in the air right in front of him. And then tap it. And I am casting power push.

[Matthew Mercer]

Power push. Okay.

[Sam Riegel]

Seems like a thing.

[Laura Bailey]

Anyone want to help for a D6? Anyone got some hope?

[Travis Willingham]

Wait, are you going for the other brazier?

[Laura Bailey]

No, I'm going to. I'm going to keep.

[Liam O'Brien]

I will give you advantage, and I will chant your name and say, come on, Spider Man.

[Matthew Mercer]

Spider Man.

[Laura Bailey]

All right, here we go.

[Travis Willingham]

Spider Man. No fucking around.

[Matthew Mercer]

Yay. That's.

[Laura Bailey]

Nine. That's 14. 15. 16. That's 16.

[Matthew Mercer]

16 total.

[Liam O'Brien]

Did you add your.

[Laura Bailey]

Oh, no. With four.

[Matthew Mercer]

Oh.

[Laura Bailey]

20.

[Matthew Mercer]

20 with hope. That is a success.

[Laura Bailey]

With hope.

[Matthew Mercer]

So take your hope.

[Travis Willingham]

Yes.

[Matthew Mercer]

So does this do damage?

[Laura Bailey]

And then it does two wonderful things. It first does one D10 plus two, which is exciting. So that's five points of damage.

[Matthew Mercer]

Okay.

[Laura Bailey]

And. And they are knocked back to far range.

[Liam O'Brien]

Whoa.

[Laura Bailey]

With this spell.

[Liam O'Brien]

Ooh.

[Matthew Mercer]

Blown back. She watches Velk like, blows back and then digs his claw into the ground and stops about 5ft from the edge, staring forward.

[Laura Bailey]

Anyone next?

[Matthew Mercer]

I rolled with hope.

[Sam Riegel]

Oh, sorry.

[Liam O'Brien]

If you got something.

[Matthew Mercer]

No, no.

[Sam Riegel]

If you got something, go.

[Matthew Mercer]

Nope. Go.

[Sam Riegel]

Can you push? Are you good? You're strong.

[Marisha Ray]

Push.

[Ashley Johnson]

I'm not strong. I am negative into my strength.

[Sam Riegel]

I'm gonna use my.

[Travis Willingham]

Come on, Goat man.

[Sam Riegel]

Deft maneuver, marking his stress to go all the way to him. Lightning speed maneuver. And I'm gonna hit him and do a goat kick to try to get him over the edge.

[Matthew Mercer]

Come on. Okay. Let's go, let's go. Where's the.

[Travis Willingham]

Don't.

[Sam Riegel]

First I have to hit him, though.

[Matthew Mercer]

Correct.

[Sam Riegel]

That is a 15. 16 with fear.

[Matthew Mercer]

That is a success. But it hits.

[Sam Riegel]

It hits. And I can mark another stress to kick to do an extra D6 damage and knocking them back to very close range. Will I get him over?

[Matthew Mercer]

Let's see.

[Travis Willingham]

Come on, come on.

[Sam Riegel]

Okay, okay. First the damage is 14. 15 damage.

[Matthew Mercer]

15 damage. Alrighty.

[Sam Riegel]

Plus a stress.

[Matthew Mercer]

And a stress.

[Sam Riegel]

Because he is marked with my focus.

[Matthew Mercer]

That's true. Yeah. And then very close range.

[Sam Riegel]

Yes.

[Matthew Mercer]

Hits the edge. Scrambles. I'm going to make reaction roll for him. That's cocked. That's a six. And just scrapes and vanishes over the cliffside beyond the monastery. You just hear this. Bale.

[Liam O'Brien]

Felk was my father.

[Sam Riegel]

Oh, no.

[Matthew Mercer]

And then there is stillness. You stand quietly, gathering yourselves, some of you who had stepped the precipice of death and said, not today. Exhausted, you breathe. You swallow as well as you can with a dried mouth and look out into the misty horizon of darkness. The only sound that catches your ear is the ever present distant screech of the umbra. Somewhere in the domain, the storm of shadow and death that's always moving and hunting. But Velk is no more. That's where I'm going to break.

[Liam O'Brien]

Called a fire brigade and put out this other fire. Awesome.

[Matthew Mercer]

So we'll come back in a few minutes. See you shortly.

[Liam O'Brien]

Oh, man.

[Matthew Mercer]

That's a wrap for part one of this podcast episode. Part two will land here the Tuesday after this episode at 5am Pacific, and we'll pick up this story right where we left off. Until next time, keep the umbra at bay. And we'll be back for more of this adventure before you know know it.