Beneath Dark Wings | Ep. 3 | Trouble Brewing: Part 1
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Hello, is there anyone in there? It's safe now.

I'm upset. He told you it was dark. You would know that the Raven Queen is a goddess of death, prominent in the Shadowfell. We could maybe sit down, blabber a little bit, have a conversation. That would be the tits. Yes!

Have you come to die, devil? I didn't mean to deceive you, great mob! Staying in town would be very dangerous. He has just this thick, coarse black hair. Ah, son of a... I may or may not have armed a werewolf with a javelin and didn't think about it, so I'm sorry. Werewolves don't use javelins.

Alright, this is bad. This is bad. Okay. Before anyone does anything, just give me a moment. And I want to rush to the character. To Amos. And I'm going to reach in my pack and take out an empty violin. And I'm going to pop the cork off. I'm going to pull out my Talon Guard knife, and

and I'm going to very carefully shave some of the black fur off of his arm and scoop it in the vial without touching it. Make a dexterity check.

And right after you do that, I realize we haven't introduced our players or our characters. - Andy's just really excited. - No, no, I should have done that. So we'll do that after Felix makes his roll. - Sorry, I'm looking, oh, just a straight dex check? - Straight dex. - All right, sorry. I'm navigating D&D Beyond for the first time again. Oh, that's bad. I only got a six.

You got a six. So you manage to, uh, you kind of, a lot kind of spill onto the ground, and some of the hairs kind of fall onto your wrist, and you kind of shake it off immediately. But you do manage to get a number of hairs into the body.

Felix has just shaved off some of the black hair that had sprouted from Amos since you've been gone. I'm looking over my shoulder as I tuck the knife back into my cloak. Is Amos awake? He's not conscious. He's not conscious. He's sweating profusely, and he has this hair. He seems to be at least in some kind of cataphonic state. He appears to at least be unconscious. Oh.

I'll walk up, having not seen, I guess, what Felix has done. I'll start slapping him on the face. Hey, Amos, are you all right? Caprice, Caprice, just be careful touching him. We don't know how this spreads. Do I see this happening? Yeah, you're all there. Okay, what are you doing? What's going on? I thought I'd wake him up. I took a sample. I was able to get some of the hair. We have to study this the best that we can. I...

This is clearly not an illusion, and I just showed him the vial of black hair. Well, okay, I don't need to see your vial to realize he's got hair on his back, but this is quite... If it's an illusion, you wouldn't know just by looking at him. But what do we do about this guy? He's clearly alive, and I feel bad just smashing his head in, but I couldn't do that if you told me to do it.

You're smacking him and he, his, as soon as you hit his face, your hand gets wet with his sweat. It's just completely covering it. And he kind of groans and turns and his eyes flutter open for just a second and you see a deeply red bloodshot and they close and do this, I apologize.

And then he... So there's... The eyes flutter closed and he... He seems okay. Wow. This guy's bonkers. He's fucking great. We should go. Honestly, I have no issue with people being covered in furs, obviously. I'm as well. Yeah. He's starting to look like you, huh? Wow.

Well, not nearly as beautiful. However, the thing that concerns me is he's sweating, and I find sweat to be disgusting. I mean, he's clearly sick. If he jumps back up and he's a lot stronger than he was, I have to be honest with you guys. I'm out of steam. I got nothing left. Oh, so you think he's going to turn on us? Look at him. This is clearly his emotion.

You can definitely take his weapon away. Yeah, so I know it's my fault because I gave him the weapon and everything. So hey, Amos. Amos, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Hey, dear. So, okay, you don't feel like you're fully awake. May I just... I'm just gonna... Yeah, okay. Thanks. Can you make an athletics contest? Oh, fine. He's gripping it. Okay, proficient.

Oh, fuck. Thirteen. You easily grip it away from her. Okay. You kind of feel the resistance, and you get your... Good thinking there, Herge. I'm going to... You know, we have to bind the man, but I'm going to just... Does he have shoelaces?

He has boots. They don't seem to have shoes. They don't have laces? Well, I was thinking of just binding his feet. I have rope in my pack. You have rope? I do. Well, do you want to help? I'll start going through and fishing it out. I think I have like 50 feet, so I can cut off like...

10 feet of rope and I throw it to Pabrice. I turn to Tell and I say, "Listen, we can give him the benefit of the doubt, but if he springs at us, kill him." Alright, I think we should get his hands too, I mean, he could probably get himself out of feet bindings, right? Uh, I mean, the question is whether he's evil. If he's evil and out of his mind, like the ones that we fought earlier, then he's just gonna be fumbling around. He's not gonna be smart. Well, if you need some rope, I've got some rope.

I have the 10th hero. I have the 10th hero. It's plenty. It's a question of what we're buying. You know, I'm just going to start with the feet. I have no idea what the fuck is going on. You just told me to get the javelin from him, so I did. You did a great job. Could Dexter go ahead and see how good that knot is? What variety? Dex, the straight dex. 14. 14. It's a pretty good knot.

He seems to be frowning down around. Should I also do the hands? What do you guys think? Yeah, yeah, go on. All right. I take the same length of rope, and I pull it, and I'm going to sort of tighten him up. If you want to bind something, I would say at least bind his hands. We'll say keep the same length. The DC on the rope is 17, just so you know. Okay, 17. Strength DC of 17. Got it.

Okay. So you managed to bind him up with a roll of 14. I'm sorry to do this to you, buddy. It's just you're creeping us out. And he just says, as you're coming with me, I apologize. How far are we from camp? From

from where we were sleeping before we all came. How far are we, would you say? - I mean, you guys are not far. - Not far. - You guys, yes, like right down the road. - I don't hate the idea of getting him out of the open and taking him back to where we were at least semi-hidden. I know that we don't have anything set up,

I'd feel better if we could at least watch him in outcourt or something. And then we can keep an eye on him. If he does totally turn into one of those monsters, we can at least take care of it. Agreed. He seems rather afflicted, and he keeps saying, I apologize. Just in case. You're forgiven.

All right, nothing happened. Can you grab a big branch or something that we can put between his feet and his legs and then we can... I'm going to roast him on spit. We're going to carry him, right? Be careful with contact. Don't know what this is or how it spreads. I've already touched him. I'll be the one who contacts him moving forward, but I'd rather not carry him alone. Minimally, just minimally. I'll find a big old branch. That'd be great.

I don't mind touching him. He's a friend. I don't know what's going on. Well, let's work this branch through his findings. He's a branch. And then we can lift him up and we can carry him back. Let's be fair. But his legs and his arms are tied? Exactly right. To be fair, he was bleeding. So we came into physical contact with bodily fluid with those creatures. I healed him in his spine, but I think touching his fur is probably not a problem. I just wouldn't chance it. That's all.

I pet him. To try to console him through this dark time. Look, I'm okay. I'm okay. I know, I know, I know. It's going to be fine. Don't worry about it. Who is going to help me with this? I got one and you just take the other. Okay, I got the other. Alright, and we put him on our shoulders. I don't know how heavy it is and I'm very weak.

I'm not a strong person, so do you want to make an athletic check, please? Do I need to? Yeah, I'll say move. Do you want to make an athletic check? You might roll lower than, higher than me. Zero. Okay, well, I got a fat 20. Wow. So, Persia, you pick...

You pick up your end and you notice that it just completely lopsided. You see Caprice. Do I feel like I can carry this specimen on my own? Hold on, hold on. Let me just...

- Oh, thanks, Torrin. - I'm assuming it's still very dark. - Yeah, should I roll? - I'm gonna light a torch and lead the way back towards the camp. - Yeah, it's very dark. You kind of notice the very first, first lights of dawn. - Okay. - Kind of creeping over. - I'll still light a torch. - But the canopy's so dark, very few raids actually. - All right, 21. - 21? Okay, yeah, so you, so Hirshia and Toa effortlessly, like, you know, Toa one-hands it.

Caprice is hanging from it. He's like this. I'm seven feet tall and she's like five feet. Just let me know if he's playing with Dakota or anything like that because I might not feel it. He's very noticeable at his angle. You guys walk back to camp. You find it exactly how you left it. The fire isn't snuffed out. There's still some very faint embers beneath your campfire, but really everything is where you had wanted it.

I'm not sure about you, but I'm exhausted. So I'm going to lay down and go to sleep. Have fun with your friend, and I'll see you in the morning. Just remember to stay within 30 feet of Dakota over here. Yeah, Dakota. Yeah, boy, sorry, Caprice interrupted. Oh, no, we've been doing this for weeks. It's great.

You just stay near it and if there's any disturbances nearby or what have you, you'll just wake right up. Absolutely lovely. Please lay down so that I can lay on top of you. Aren't you like a foot taller than she is? Yeah, but I'm like fluffy. I can fit into a fetal position. Just one grand.

And I will do the thing where I like press into her and like walk around in circles. I make biscuits, I walk around in circles so that I lay on like a soft spot. Yeah, no, you feel your cheek just like getting her paw just digging in your cheek and then you all fall asleep and you're all

Well, I was just going to say I trust this incredible weapon. I've seen it, but should we still... Dakota has a name. Dakota's... Yeah, so, yeah. But should we still at least rotate guard? Yes, yes. I don't... Would that thing work if this guy was already... It's not...

Sorry, accents. It's not a thing, okay? So she's got a name. You want to, from here on out, okay, you want to clear up any confusion that her name's Dakota. It is not, it's a she, okay? Then I'll stay, I'll take the first guard for the first hour or so with Dakota. Yeah. And I'll, I'll, I want to watch and observe Dakota.

our subject here. Yeah, so Dakota, this is Felix, and he's, you know, he's a little paranoid. It's okay. So you're going to hang out with him a little bit so I can get some sleep. Is that okay? You hear nothing. Yeah? Well, okay, but I mean, you know. So, all right. You feel like she's like, yes! What a good idea! Oh my god! Okay.

canonical voice of Dakota Dakota is a sentient being okay sorry I put her in that in the middle of all of us and I put our shower kind of close to Felix and I just want to at least I assume for you know if we're doing the whole average standard rotation thing for hour or so that I'm awake

I figure I'll watch. I want to watch and examine him maybe a little bit, try to see what I can find. And then I think what I'll do is I'll wake up Togo and my shift is over. And just tell him to wake somebody else up and we'll rotate that. I walk over to her and I start making biscuits. I'm just fucking around. No, I still hear it right in the lower back. I've been really feeling it. I should have put my elbow in a little bit. Get in there. Oh.

- Oh yeah, that's great. - So in my time awake, I'd like to do investigation on him. And again, this is gonna be tough 'cause I don't wanna touch him too much. So I might like use a stick or my knife to- - So make an investigation at disadvantage, please.

All right, it's not bad. Plus seven is 15. 15, okay. So you're kind of keeping an eye out on him, and you're taking, I'll say, for the full couple hours of your watch, it's just you, Dakota, and Amos, and you kind of occasionally, he stirs occasionally, like...

And he kind of seems the same, but right when you're ready to wake up Toa, you notice that there are two small bumps on his forehead. Can I do a medicine check? Sure. Does it manage? If you're doing this whole thing. I'm being very careful. Yeah.

- Seven plus two is nine. - Nine. You kind of get the sense that that was the location where the horns were and the creatures that you killed. - Okay. - And that's what you were able to discover. - All right. Nothing else I was really able to discern. - He seems to be kind of,

I would say, I mean like a fever. Is that why he's sweating profusely? I mean like, can I discern that? I'd say if you're not touching him, it'd be very difficult for you to see. You can probably get the sense that with how much he's sweating, he may have something from your kind of medical knowledge. I do not want to touch him at all.

All right, then I'll go. I'll shake toe with Tom. Yeah. It's your turn. I'm going to get some sleep. And he looks the same as he did. He's growing horns, I think. Oh, shit. Should we kill him? Not yet. I don't want to kill him, but I think you should kill him. I'm going to leave the judgment with you. Keep an eye on him. No, I'm kidding. Stay awake. I can't do this. Tom, Tom, snap out of it.

Trust, I trust you. You know what? You've done this a bunch of times. If you need to, just stomp his head in. Okay? Wake me. If anything happens, wake me. I'm gonna break his head like a melon. But until I get rest, I've got nothing left. That's fine. And then once you wake up, then you can help me. Alright. Good night, big guy. And I go lay down. Sweet dreams.

So, I sit within Maul range of his head. Max 5 feet holding it, just in case I need to get around. Okay, so it's just you, Dakota, and EMS. You notice, kind of as he kind of occasionally is starting to stir a little bit more and more in his sleep, as you look at the visible sweat

his forehead continues to increase and you kind of start to shake a little bit more.

Does Dakota say anything about DS? Okay, well, then I'm going to be- Hey, fella, what was your name? Amos? Are you alright? I apologize. And he starts kind of grunting a little bit. Are you a goat monster? Are you just still a normal person? You just need to last like two hours, that's all. He starts kind of shaking a bit more, and then he calms down a bit.

I think you're all right. Just hang in there just a little longer. And then your watch is over. I'm going to give it up. I'll probably give it up. I'll go to Lufty and I'll... I guess your iris is on top of her. Yeah, I would definitely go to Lufty. I would gently push Iris off of Lufty. The moment she touches me, my back arches, my tail is up. Okay.

Just, just, roll over. Come on, just roll over. What? You've been sleeping on her for like three hours. I've slept on her every night for the past month. She's probably asleep. Do you want to, like, lose a finger? I don't care. Do you want to take watch? No. Well, then just let her take watch. Wake up, Caprice. Good night. Did you see his head? And I do not wake up. I am just completely out. We have a stupid weapon we found. Go to bed.

Hey, uh, hey man, hey man. Is it Capricci? Is that what she was calling you? It's, no, it's not. It's Caprice. It's Caprice. Oh, that's fine, I'm sorry. What's going on? I just wanted to get some sleep and he seems fine. He's growing some horns but nothing else. He's fine, he's fine. That's fine, but you should probably get up and stay up for a few hours. Do you mind taking a watch? Bye.

I- I get- I'm- You know, fine. I'll- I'll do it for you, alright? No problem. Thank you. Go to sleep. Alright, and then just maybe in an hour or two, wake up. Who's, uh, who- who- who else? Just- I don't know, dude. Just wake us up and come to the defense. Sure, no problem. Alright. Can I go? I'll go to sleep. Okay. Okay.

Caprice, it's you, Dakota, and Camus. I'm going to examine the knots that I've made, how well is fighting them. Do I think that he could break out of them based on my experience of fighting previous Beastmen? Should he transform? Just make an investigation check. If you're going to get up in his business, just do it straight.

Yeah, I'm just gonna get up into his business. The investigation, you say? Yeah. That's gonna be a hot 17. 17. Your knots look pretty solid, but as you kind of go over to inspect him initially, you notice that kind of where on his forehead there's tiny little black spots that have protruded from his forehead. Where they appear to be like

New freckles? No, they're clearly kind of, you touch it, and they seem to be a lot of a horn substance. I guess that can't get any worse. As soon as you say that, he goes, I apologize. You know, you can't get out. You're fine. We got Dakota. I'm going to go back to sleep. Oh, dear Jesus.

I go back to sleep. Felix is rolling in his sleep and knows something's wrong. Okay, so you all go back to sleep and you enjoy...

a long rest. Yay! You got these fucking spell slots back, motherfucker. Am I still horribly diseased? Boom! Now, you get rid of your disease. Now, Felix is ready to rumble, baby! Yeah. What did you say about the long rest, though? You get to enjoy a long rest. And that's it? That's it. Well...

You... We only gain one hit die back, if we have two that we can use. Yeah, half. Okay. So, you awaken the next morning. It's well, or that day, later that day. You probably sleep in a little bit, given how late you were up and just the harrowing experience you experienced. I will never sleep same night. Well, you wake up. I actually have a mechanical question. Yeah.

I was reading about the rules of a long rest and it says that like either sleeping or like not doing physical activity for a full eight hours, right? So can I sleep for seven?

wake up that extra hour and spend that hour like meditating, preparing spells that it still counts as a long rest? So, yeah. Instead of holding everyone back an extra hour. If you take a walk, I think the AD is just the morning routine of getting up is when you're preparing spells. Okay. So it's not like you need to make everyone wait. Just want to make sure. Everyone's kind of waking up and they're getting ready for the day. You're just able to kind of flip through your spell book and start preparing. Okay. Committing spells. So...

You all kind of wake up to the sound of... And you all look down and you see Eamon, the black hair on his arms and his face...

Art is now way coarser and thicker. It kind of has this, almost like these mutton chops that have grown overnight and now very clearly are two small black horns that have grown. This sounds really inhumane, but is there any way that we can, uh, I can try to take like a sample of the horn, like with my knife.

You can certainly try. I'd like to use my talon guard knife and try to shave some of it off into another empty vial. Okay. Hey, what you doing there? I'm taking more samples. Yeah, do we notice this? I'm not going to hide it. We need to figure out what this is, and I'm going to research it. You're not going to get very far just sort of working it with your knife. I can actually touch them because I have before. If you want me to just hold them and then take them home like that.

You're feeling like you can do that, that's fine. And I throw Caprice an empty vial and I say, just put it in there. Can I inspect him to see if it looks like this is some kind of, like, curse, disease, et cetera? I would do a medicine check, yeah.

That's a fake. Nine. It's very difficult to tell what this is. I'm gonna cast Lesser Restoration on it. Okay. And see if it seems to have any effect. You cast... And what is this? The mechanical properties of Lesser Restoration just remind me. Lesser Restoration. You touch a creature and can either end one disease or one condition of what you can. Condition can be blinded, deafened, paralyzed, or poor. So if it's a disease, it would cure it. If it's a curse, it would not. So you cast...

Lesser restoration, you kind of feel that shimmering golden light come over him and he seemed to show no change. Does Derek need to roll for the horn thing? Yes, make him dead straight, dead straight. You're just grabbing him. The more you can get, the better.

14. So he's, as you grab his forehead, he starts to kind of start to apologize. And you kind of have to hold him down and the knife is shaking. Pull the hair and work in it. Okay. And you manage to stick your blade into the horn and it's very difficult, but you manage to just kind of like your woodwork moves very slowly, get a nice healthy shave of this black horn into the vial.

Just like making a violin, no problem. Thank you. I appreciate this and I tuck it with the other vial back in my backpack. Cool. Do I observe that he's sweating more than usual? Yeah, I'd say it's pretty obvious. So I'll probably kneel over to him and I'll probably touch him and not think much of it and be like, "Hey, are you feeling okay? Talk to me here. What's wrong? You look really different. Like, what should we be doing? Like, what do you need?"

You just hear him muttering and mumbling as he's shaking back and forth, and he's like, "I apologize!" And he's starting to shake more and more, as he starts to sweat profusely, and that's when he says to you-- Out of curiosity, I'm sorry to interrupt, excuse me, how are you? Excuse me, how are you? I'm gonna try that in Infernal and Abyssal.

Oh. Um... You can see the Bissell? Yeah. Is that new? No. That was always true. Oh, okay. That's how you talk to that guy, right? Oh, yeah, so you spoke to him in a Bissell then. Uh, that makes sense. And, uh, so you speak to him in Infernal, and then wait and see if he responds. And he's just kind of, he's not really responding in any particular difference. He just kind of hears the noise. He just kind of, uh, apologizes. And then he starts...

Shake it so he doesn't respond either infernal or abyssal. I mean just not anything different than he has with the others. I didn't mean to interrupt. I just, you know, suddenly occurred to me that his voice seems to be changing and I thought maybe, you know, if he's going to be coming like some sort of like crazy demon or what have you, that might be me. No, I feel like all of us here can recognize that he's transforming into something that we're not okay with. And I don't, I don't want to be the first person to go ahead and say, okay, let's kill the guy.

Unless he looks like he's going to get much more powerful, I 100% disagree.

And the reason I disagree is because this is how we prove to anyone in Kirstog what's been going on with this person. Well, I'm not going to Kirstog, I'm going to Kirstine. And I don't think the people there are gonna give a shit what we do. No, it was a mispronunciation. I think there was a little bit of a dialect issue. Capricci, I think that we were trying to go to Kirstine, right? Yeah, Kirstine. So I think it's important to at least, you know, I'm trying to keep him alive as long as possible.

And Dakota hasn't told me otherwise that he's bad. And I don't want to get to that point where we kill him before Dakota tells me, hey, by the way, this guy's going to kill him. That's just weaponized. Yeah, but she's kind of sentient and she's like my best friend. Do we know how far to understand? Um,

I think probably another day or two. Actually, no, I think it's another day's journey. I do not think that we can walk a day with this thing in full blown whatever. He's going to slow us down. Listen, I don't want to just kill someone who's innocent, but he's going to slow us down. I obviously didn't want to either. The reason he's still alive is the fact that I saved his life.

I mean, yeah. That's fair. But at the end of the day, it's not like we can sit here and do much for him. But if he turns into one of the things that we've already killed, then killing him is no big deal. I mean, I've never taken, like, a life life. You kill beasties and what have you, it's a totally different bag. If he turns and he truly, genuinely wants to attack us, it's, you know, one of those defense operations. I feel really strange about...

killing somebody that's been apologizing me up to this point. So, not to say that I'm not appreciative of everything you've done up until this point. Like, I'm so glad that he's still maybe heinous, amos. I don't know.

Whatever his name is. She backed me up here. I don't feel right killing him right now. Can we spare? I'm sorry. Can we spare 10 or 15 minutes while we talk about this? Can I get a moment alone with him? Oh.

Sure. Do whatever you want to do. Do what you want to do. I trust you. I just met you. Hopefully you don't kill him. If you kill him, we're going to have to have a conversation. I'm not going to kill him. Not a very confrontational conversation because you know from where I'm from. There's also a quarantine conversation that we need to have. I mean, if we make him get your sign, then does that mean that we're going to just you know, the spreading of the

This is my thinking as well. Maybe we should just try to get him to Kirsh time. Well, to air is to not see. To air is...

That was good. That was very good. So you take ten minutes. You're reading. You see Felis kind of, his knees are up. He's flipping through his book to find a page. He's reading off this page, chanting in some arcane language. And over and over and over again as he's with Amos. And

Felix, you finally cast a spell and you detect magic. You find a very strong source of transmutation throughout Amos.

Do I feel like he's alive still after Felix has investigated him enough? He's still just like, I apologize. So, okay, first off, I just want to say thank you for not killing him, first off, because I think we would be against it. But what did you find? I wasn't going to kill him. I apologize between everything that happened last night. Oh, no, he's turning two. I was just, I was so tired. No, I know.

I didn't think about this, but... It's a good point, I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine. You did say that you apologize. I was able to... Can I roll an insight check on Kayla? Sure. Ever since she said that, I feel like I'm paranoid. After getting some rest, I was able to think with a clear head and I was able to see if he was affected by any magic. And it's very clear after setting up this ritual that he's under some sort of transmutation magic, but

it may be fixable. I mean, we may be too late to save Amos, but this could be compatible. What kind of magic are you most familiar with? Evocation. Do I know what that is? I know some conjuration, and I know a little bit of transmutation and divination, things like that, but I've always specialized in evocation. That helps, but does this feel like the same kind of magic stuff that you were running into when you were with

That was strictly illusion magic. Again, I can't reiterate enough. The first time I witnessed this, it wasn't real. It was truly an illusion. And now this appears to be real, full-blown transmutation magic. From what you've described, it sounds like that illusion may have transmuted into some real magic. It's a different school, but yes. As much as I love talking about the types of magic

I was going to say something like this. I could get behind it, but see I'm just trying to do this. As I was trying to say, is that we run into the problem, we can't take him with us, obviously.

And there are two reasons why. If he turns, then we have to waste resources and abilities on something that is far more dangerous than where he's at now. If we get him to Kirstein, and we do not fully understand how this spreads, we risk spreading it to an entire town of people. I agree. We need to quarantine ourselves, every single one of us, for the next 24 hours at the very least to make sure that we are not a danger to these people. It's very thoughtful, and I think...

So here's the thing, if it's magic, can you do something about it? Can you come and can you dispel it? No, I cannot. I'm sorry, that's outside of my training. Now I understand that this is a touchy subject for those of you that do not seem to be as familiar with death as some of us. The Lord under the mountain takes and he gives, and sometimes people must go when they're not ready. Amos was not ready, but it may be his time and when the Lord calls...

We give him what he asks for. I don't want to offend you or anyone else here. I'm not going to apologize for that, but I don't even want to bring this up, but if we're going to finish him off, we should probably burn the body. I completely agree. I'm no stranger to it. And that's not to say that I want to kill him. I don't want to kill him. But we have to look at the bigger picture here. It's not like this isn't an easy thing.

Hold on, do we know the kind of... Perhaps if we can keep him very, very secure, we can gag him, we can cover his face... You're into some weird shit. I just want to be safe. All I'm saying is that perhaps there's someone in Kirstein...

But the problem is if we do not know how it transmits, we risk the people in Kirshan by taking them. Listen, I have the samples. We could now... That's why I took them. We could at least wait 24 hours before we continue our journey to know that the...

That seems like the thing. Yeah, I'm okay with that. I touched him quite a bit. I'm happy to clear everyone before we go on, but I'm not waiting a full day. Oh, yeah, no, no. Yeah, Venus...

We take him with us, we don't bring him in the key store. A few of us, one of us however many, goes inside and talks around. I'm happy to stay behind and wait with them. If we can find some kind of cleric or wizard or something that can help them, perhaps we can try.

And otherwise, maybe then we take care of it. But it feels like without trying... The speed with which this is progressing, I agree that we probably don't have to. I don't know if he's going to last the day. But I'm saying, if we can secure him, what's he going to do if he's entirely banned? I just want you to be aware.

But we met him less than 24 hours ago, and he was a normal person. He now has hormones. If you think he's going to make it another 24 hours, then you are mistaken. I hate to agree with her, Big T, but she's right. I think that your main thing would be to put him down. Well, so he's the king. I agree with you. I don't think he's going to last. I think he will turn into a huge monster, but what I could do is I could just knock him out as soon as he transforms. I could knock him out right now.

He'll be unconscious even as a terrible monster. Yeah, I don't feel good about killing him, but maybe we just keep this cycle of, hey, as soon as he wakes up, we knock him out. We could kill him and I could extend his life by ten days and we could try and find someone to resurrect him. That's the point. Is that how I work? I don't know. It takes me about ten minutes and I have to meet with a new person only if he gives me the ability. Am I allowed to do it? I just think he's my...

No, no, go ahead. Who's believing it in a goat's hand? Here's my thought. I just think that giving him the chance and taking him to Kirchstown might help more people if they can actually investigate a live person that's affected by it versus killing him. And then do we just leave him, burn his body, and then we just say, hey, here's some fur, here's some horns. I swear it's not from a goat or a bull.

Yeah, it might be information. Also, it's a plague in your kitchen. We keep it when we're being quarantined and we kind of explain to people that this is just more for information purposes. I understand what you're saying, but you're missing out on the human element here. We can be as safe as we want to be, but one reckless person comes up and gets scratched by him and then runs into town killing everybody. And that is still our fault. I agree.

I agree. I understand. Why don't we put it to a vote? I'm on the side where we take him to Kirstein and we show him what's going on. We make sure that no one touches him. In 24 hours, if I turn, we'll know that it's just touch. And then you can kill me and him. Before we go to...

I value what you're saying. Before we go to Kirsten, I'm checking all of us anyway, but we should put it to a vote. Let's sort of put it to a vote. Do we, real quick, do we, we would all have like a general sense of how disease works and that it can spread and is contagious and that kind of thing. I feel like that everyone would know. But now that we're in this transportation...

But right now that's magic. I feel like that makes it different. Yeah, but I think that we could guess, given the fact that he said that they were all turning, the people in that town, and we saw him as a normal person, he's now becoming this, we can imagine that there's some way it's being spread. And we don't know. And we don't know. And that's the point. I don't want to spread it. So if it's going to spread, let's end his misery. But at the same time, I feel like there's a chance here for us to learn more about

what is going on. I mean, proven what is happening and we can show this to the people of Kirstein to tell them like, this is not our doing. This is, this is something we can't control, but all, but by the way, this exists. And this man was not the man he was before we met him. I wrote as long as he doesn't break free of his bounds. Before we do this, I would like to attempt to commune with Amoebas.

I'd say if you can give us any bonus. Capricci, we should respect this. Respect this, Capricci, come here. I'm going to attempt to cast Augury as a ritual. It is instantaneous.

It takes 11 minutes. So I, Iris, you see her as she starts to draw in the dirt, all these symbols and things. And I'll take the scarab off of my necklace and place it in the middle and begin chanting. And like this magic swirl of sand is just kind of spinning all around it. And,

I'm going to cast augury for the next 11 minutes and essentially the GM chooses from the following possible. So I'm I'm asking Lord Anubis, Lord Under the Mountain, God of Judgment

Please provide me your guidance as to whether it is time to send the soul into the afterlife or to help to ferry him back to life itself. And you get to choose weal for good results, woe for bad results, weal and woe for both good and bad results, or nothing for results that aren't especially good or bad. So I'm basically asking if we should keep him with us or if that's a bad idea or a good idea.

And you can either tell me yes, no, or both. How does it manifest? You choose. So, I will say, um, you have the lamp, right? The lamp? From the fire gazing. Oh, yeah, the censor.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you see Iris kind of putting, doing all these marks in the dirt and the sand. She pulls out a lamp, like in the Aladdin sense, almost, like a sensor, and lights a small flame.

you then see her sitting down, staring very intently into the flames as it dances. And as you commune with Anubis, you see kind of shapes start to swirl. And you kind of get the sense as you're starting to— you understand what the fire looks like. You've cast this before, what "weal" and "woe" mean. And as you finish your ritual after 11 minutes,

you feel in your heart real and well? Well darlings, we're basically back at square one. There are both good and bad outcomes for this. And my problem with keep- and that is just for keeping him alive. I did not ask what the outcomes would be if he were to die. So in this case, if we keep him alive, we will be bringing something potentially negative into this world. I think for me,

That's always a risk. And I think that this whole place is pretty bad. No offense to anyone that's native, but this kingdom is terrible. There's a lot of bad things that happen here. It's for a golfing girl, I'll tell you why. Yeah, no, golfing has grace. But I'm just, I think that the fact that your God told you that something good could come of this is enough for me. And I raise my hand.

Yeah, I suppose I will also say if he can bring good, I am in support of keeping him alive. I've been holding my hand up for 15 minutes. So, Avery, you got it? The only thing that I'm going to say is that I understand what you're saying. There's nothing in that that guarantees that the good outweighs the potential for the bad. And if I can prevent the bringing of hardship on someone, I could not prevent what happened to him, though I did try.

I'm not going to risk doing this to other people. So I'm going to go to him. But if we bring him with us, most of the way, but we kind of like hide him, maybe put some leaves on him and leave him outside of Kirchstein and go get a drink and then we come back and see what happens. So not letting this end in his tie. I vote yes, we keep him alive and bring him with us. Thank you.

I don't like this. I trust you and I'm trying to make amends. I don't want to kill anyone. I just want everyone to know that should I be right about this, I am going to rub it in all of your faces for as long as I know you. We wouldn't expect anything less. Perfect. All right, let's go. She's very, very good at this. So I'll carry him the whole way if I want to use you if you want to help. No, this is my idea. Yeah, okay. Sorry, go ahead. Because I think that this is a terrible idea. Okay. So, okay.

Liv, can you and Herrscher carry him? Mmm, nein. I'll buy you alcohol, if you get a chance. I'm pretty hungry, too. And then a burger or something. Yeah, okay. You can carry me. And they'll carry him. And then I will be amicable to the entire thing.

I would say you know, given that that's where you're from.

You know that Kirstein is a town built into the highlands. And so there's all sorts of cliffs. There's a winding road to get there. There's all sorts of cliffs and outcroppings. And the river runs right through and embankments where you can probably stash. I would say that you would do that.

So before we get started, is it going to be me and Lufty that ends up handling him? Or is it clear that everybody else is going to Gearshine? Is it clear? We can decide that once we find a place to stash him. Okay, I know so many places. This also is to be said, and I still am telling Toa this because I know her listen.

At a moment's notice, you still kill him. We keep him alive for now. I'm trying to knock him out. If it doesn't work, then I'll kill him. Once we get to Kirstein, both Toa and I will stay with him. Because I'm the only person with any kind of healing or medicinal magic, as far as I'm aware, at least. And Toa is incredibly strong.

I'll send you with my coin purse, you can buy yourself some alcohol and I will be counting every single good piece of money. So I swear to God if you try to buy anything else I'll do something like that. You have done it in the past and will do it again in the future. I know it. I will send her in. You can go in, figure out who you need to talk to and at least...

Felix, you got any more of that world...

About 40 feet, yeah. So I'm gonna go up to Lufty and I say, "So, am I really gonna carry her? Is this something that happens?" You're gonna get used to it. She's a little picky, but, you know, look at her. She's gorgeous. Don't you want to carry her? Not really, to be honest. So I say, "No, what am I dealing with?"

"All right, all right, it's fine. If you're fine carrying on..." "Yes, yes, yes, it's okay. So how do we do this? Is it like a piggyback ride or..." "Not, no." "We'll just..." "Lift me." And I just like do like this elegant pose.

and cross my legs. Yeah, I guess I'll just like scoop her up. What's your strength? 20. Okay. You effortlessly pick her up. She can never touch the ground. She cannot be on the ground. I have 19. Oh, 19. Oh, 19. Excuse me. Sorry. Thank you for reminding me. I have 19. Yeah, that's fine. You still effortlessly pick her up. Uh,

Caprice, you asked about the role? Yeah, well, right now he's sort of a bounce forward, you know, legs up against his chest and then that sort of thing. What we can do if we're really, really concerned that he's going to turn into a beast and try to attack us is bind him backwards, which is sort of a choking, like a suffocation type operation.

I cut off another 10 feet and I throw it to Caprice.

Okay, can someone make sure that he doesn't attack me while I do this? Can I observe this? Yeah, everybody line up one by one. We're going to take ten minutes apiece and we'll knock this out. Can we line up like two? Or it should be once you do it, you have it for ten minutes. Whatever makes you happy. Oh! Oh!

I didn't realize that. I thought it was 10 minutes per cast. No, I think you... 10 minutes per cast, then how long does it last, right? It doesn't actually say. Is it for detect magic? It's for area. Oh, yeah, 10 minutes. Yeah. So then I just wave my hands. So you wave your hands. I'm probably just doing something. The trans-patient magic that you sense is on Amos. At least for now, it seems like we're all clear.

Would somebody like to lick him and see if it changes? I'm kidding, I'm kidding, please don't do it. I mean, no, I'm pretty sure that this is sexual, so no worries. I'm gonna... If you ever... Wait, I'm sorry. Capricci, I've never experienced this before when you're talking about...

Well, there are certain things that can only be transmitted in a certain way. Okay. So what are you talking about? You know, it's not important. Just make sure that this guy doesn't wake up while I bind him. Okay, I can help you with that. Yeah, yeah, that's fine. You should. It's only been a few days. What are you talking about? What are you talking about? With advantage, because Herd is helping. Ah, I lost a die.

Live and let die, I would say. Whoa, that's crazy. Dex, 12. Dex at D&D style. So as soon as you bind him, you kind of notice that he thrashes. He's kind of thrashing about. And his arms just kind of start flying out. As he's flying out, you notice that his nails have kind of turned this dark color.

black and brown color and have started extending into like claws. I'm sorry too. And you manage to actually, yeah, you still manage that role are able to get him back under control with hers is help. And she's able to kind of grab on his limbs and just force him into place.

If I may. So I don't know what impact this has on the, on this, on Amos in particular, but I would like to cast Perfection from Good and Evil on him as I'm holding him down and realizing that his nails are coming through.

And that this probably gives me a sense of discomfort, but I'm still trying, in my lawful good state, trying to keep him alive as much as possible, so I would like to expend the spell slot in trying to cast protection from good and evil on him. You channel the power of

and that same kind of molten orangey light descends over him and he is protected from good and evil as you're forcing his hand and Caprice is all flying out. I try and Caprice you with every mic that I have. I don't know what's going on. I don't know what's going on. I'm giving him lots of slack but as soon as he tries to extend his legs it's going to suffocate him to death. Okay. Well, you know,

I don't want to kill him. I want to knock him out if that's the worst. He'll learn real quick. I mean, you won't keep trying. Yeah. Let's just not leave him anywhere for an extended period of time. We should also keep getting to move on. We're going to be together. Yeah, you and me? You and me. Okay. We're all I feel good about. Okay. So he is bound. You're able to... Who's carrying him? Okay. I need both of you to make athletic checks. Me? Yes. Okay. I can beat me.

That ain't good. That's a flag. That's a flag. That's a flag. 20. So once again, Herja, you pick up one side and Lufty's like I can do it as well. Lufty, come on.

Come on. Watching this, I gracefully jump out of Toa's arms. All right, good boy. Just go do it. All right. Again, it's all right. No worries at all. Have a good day. Lucy, piggyback. I almost said run. Jump on your back.

- 14. - 14, I would say still for Toa that is plenty to lift up the other side. So once again, the two strength characters are the ones here. - I honestly don't know why we don't ask them to do this every time. We do this song and dance and they end up carrying them anyway. - I did, I did. - So it's about midday, past midday at this point, as you are all

You packed up camp, and you all make your way through, as I go, my music is continuing, it is. You've packed up camp. You travel through the Clockwood. You occasionally, you occasionally hear the roar of, the occasional far-off roar of the forest creature, the song of bird calls,

as you're going through, you kind of hear the loud croak of the raven that you've gotten very accustomed to. Occasionally just echoing through the forest. The block of the raven. As you walk through. Can you do a raven croak? Yeah, yeah. Cork. Cork. No! That's a crow. Come on, get your cork away. I can do the bird flying away, though.

Do the spaceship one. It's fun playing with him as a DM because he does all these weird noises. I can't do that. So, as you're walking through the light of sunset...

start to become more and more visible through the canopies. As the forest, which was previously incredibly dense, the clockwood starts to get less and less dense and thick. You're making your way out. As the forest starts to...

As the forest starts to kind of disperse, as you're making your way, as it starts to kind of go out towards the highlands where you know you're headed, I need everyone to make a group perception check for me. Yes! I'm good at perception! One character is not well, yep.

- Yep. - I might be putting your dice in jail. - I mean, sometimes that happens. - Actually, I suck at perception, it turns out. - 13. - I find that the ones that are blue don't do the work. - 13. - Your dice are in jail, Fernando. Put 'em in there. - 11. - Vanished.

Perception? Is the first one Dice Jail? Yeah. I'm just bopping along and I got a pull. 19. 19. Iris, Caprice, as you're making your way, you start to see that the light is coming through and you're starting to see kind of the peaks of mountains.

up ahead through where the forest ends. You, as you make your way exiting the forest soon, you hear the loud, familiar roar of the bull.

All from a distance. Did you hear that? Seemingly coming north, as if it's been heading in a similar direction. Only the two of them heard it? Only the two of them. Did anybody else hear that? What? What? No. Did I? I heard it, yeah. No, just the two of them. You both got 13s. No, I have no idea what you're talking about. It's that same bone thing. And it seems to be heading in the same direction. I thought we met it last night. I was way off.

Yeah, because we killed that thing. What's happening here? I'm sleeping on you. In the middle of the day... I mean, here she... Pick it back up! I can't keep it away!

I'm sorry, why can't you-- You can't name any Amos if you've fallen asleep on the teeth list. Are you passing out? What's going on? It's like the-- No, I was sleeping. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Was there an Amos in there? No, that was the name of the-- you know, it's not important. The point is, there's a bull sound. There's that same horn that I heard before. OK, so this is where we're at, right? We killed the first one. So either there are two, or it was not the same one. Did we hear a door? Which door? When we saw it.

We didn't know, we hid it wrong in the distance and we assumed it was the one we killed. Your assumptions are not facts. It's true. And so it probably was not the same creature. Our definition. So my thought is that we kill Amos and then we go for Amos. We're not killing him yet.

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You hear the noise. It sounds like it's coming on the direction of the forest of where Miss Crow's Crossing was, but kind of as if it's still like the same, despite you traveling for many hours, kind of it seems to be traveling the same direction almost parallel behind. Yeah.

So if you think where we are, so let's say Miss Crowe's crossing was here. We were here with our camp. As we've been moving, it's been happening. So it came from the north. Yes. Which direction is Kirstein from us?

It's literally heading towards Kirshen. No, you're heading, uh, you are heading east. So it's basically came from the south, came from the south, still kind of heading east. So what you're saying is that it doesn't sound like it's coming for us, it's just heading in the same direction.

So she re-interrupts it? Make sure it doesn't get to Kierstein? I don't sense this being. I mean, it sounds like it's very far away. I don't want to take a detour at all. Do we wait until it comes up on us? I mean, there's kind of like pipes. Does Dakota work when we're not sleeping? Yeah, she lets us know anytime there's danger within...

We're not taking detours, and we're not going to hunt every little thing that we hear. We need to keep moving. We don't even know if that was the same bull. It would have been completely unrelated. It's good to be aware, and we appreciate you letting us know, but we need to keep moving. Perhaps it's a friendly creature. Do I feel like this is a different bull noise than what I've heard of until now? It sounds similar to the bull noises, but, you know, a scary bull noise is a bull noise. Okay.

Okay. Do I get a sense that there's any pattern about this? Has it been a specific time of day? Has it been a frequency? Do I get any pattern out of this whatsoever? I would say, without a roll, that doesn't seem to be any kind of pattern. Okay. Hold on. So, Lifty, are there any villages or towns in that direction to the north? Would you know me? Outside of Tinsday? Yeah. Okay.

You know that there are villages kind of dotted throughout the cloth wood. Small villages, very similar to Disgrace Blossom. But exactly the layout, you didn't really focus too much on that, I would say. Yeah, there's, you know, there's places here and there, but I don't have a map or anything. So I'm just worried about the dead creature. Maybe he's just some friendly creature of the wood, or perhaps... Are you turning into...

No, I'm just... Teethling. Yeah... And the what? The teethling. Yeah, I hope not. I can't remember what his name is. I don't think so. Capaccio Canoli something. All Canoli. My point is that perhaps they're doing the same thing to another village.

That is a concern, but... But it's not something we can really stop and deal with. But the thing is, we've made the choice that this life, Amos, is far more important than every other life in the area. So we might as well stick with that decision and head on to Kirstein to give him some kind of disgusting disease and kill everyone there as well. We're not bringing him into Kirstein. It's fine.

Let's keep moving. Let's keep walking. Who is keeping it now, so Kirstein? We're going to decide that when we get there. But for now, we'll just take it from here. We're going to find somehow to move the station. Okay, okay. So you and I, Toa, carry him to Kirstein until we send no carrying to Kirstein. Okay, I will be in the lead then, unless you object. And then if anything happens, then you and I will stop.

It's fine. It's fine. Okay. So you continue marching. And as the forest becomes less and less dense, you kind of finally get the full blast of sunset. As the kind of beautiful oranges and golds of the end of the day paint the sky, which, you know, it's normally fairly gloomy. It's kind of peeking through the dense gray cloud cover.

as you are then standing before that forest behind you of the South Main Highlands. And you're all level four. Oh! Boom! Well, give me a moment to change this. Unlimited cosmic power! The leap inside of my back gives the fire a health. You now find yourself stuck on two. Ah!

So level 4 health is fine? Yeah. Even though we haven't taken, okay. I would sell my soul for more spell slots. So it's like a Feywild level where it just happens. So I would say that none of you have taken damage to Jelana. Correct. We should be fresh. Say that again. So we're walking towards Kirstein and where are the, what are they called and where are

- So you see, you're looking ahead at the Stoutmane Highlands and you kind of see this dense, kind of loamy soil that spreads all around. As you're kind of, and you're seeing the Krola Mountains

where the Stoutman Highlands are basically in the foothills of Peking. I had very, very, very faint snow caps, tips. As the Krola, K-R-O-L-V-A. The Krola Mountains. Yeah, the Krola Mountains. As K-R-O-L-V-A.

And as you are making your way down the road, you start to see that the elevation was fairly kind of hilly, but not too bad in the clockwork where you've been. But it starts to kind of veer up and down around bends and bluffs and crags as you start making your way towards Kirchdorf. And you see the occasional herd of wild horses.

running through the highlands and you see farms far off, dotting. Not too many, but several. It seems to be pretty sparsely populated civilization. Can I get a sense of what they are farming? I would make an intelligence check.

- 20. - 20. I would say, given your experience, you're probably getting the sense that they are farming wheat and barley. - That makes sense. - I give them a little nod and out of my flask, I start to take a sip of the delicious beer that a gentleman poured into my, Godric poured into my flask the previous day. - Thanks guys, I really appreciate that, that's nice.

And so, you... Night falls over the highlands as kind of the clouds roll in. You kind of start to feel the pitter patter of raindrops, cool water hitting your skin as you're making your way. The just faint glimpses of the moon behind the clouds you're able to see. You would need to be lighting torches.

in order to light your path. As your first night, you feel like you could probably get to Kirstein by midday the following day. As you're walking through, you hear an echoing voice.

kind of reverberating around the rocks and the bluffs around you. So there aren't really trees in New York? No, there are the occasional tree here and there, but for the most part, it's just shrubs and bushes and large rock formations, and you're just kind of basically weaving in and out of these things as you're making your way through the highlands. Did anybody hear that voice? And it calls out, it says...

"Let me help me!" And then you hear followed immediately, very low, grumbling, deep voice. "I know that I'm gonna help you, Santa! I've told you 17 times!" Kind of echoing. Seems to be coming from the north side of the road, and seems to be decently far off, but just the sheer echo. We all under that, yeah.

Yes. That sounds close. What now? Like everybody here has a problem. Do you recognize those voices? I don't. Do I?

It sounds close enough. Let's go check it out. Fine. Let's go. Let's go. Come on. Are we going to leave the guy here? Let's take the guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. All right. I'll run forward. I'll take the lead. So, yeah. So, Caprice, you're running ahead. And as you're running through, he says, I don't fucking care what you tell me. 1727 fucking die.

Someone's gonna fucking find me and you're gonna fucking die. And as... This guy's spicy. As you're sprinting and sprinting through, the clouds start to cover the moon.

as it gets very, very dark. As you're weaving through up and down hills, as you're kind of hearing just the taunting of the same voice, the occasional running, "I'm gonna, you're gonna put me to sleep?" And you start to see the glow of what seems to be a bonfire of some kind or a large, large fire.

Coming from behind the turn of some... You see kind of these cliffs ahead of you, and there seems to be glowing of fire kind of illuminating the walls and the bluffs above it, as there seems to be a very haphazard structure built into kind of the side of this kind of crag inside of this cliff. You see these large, heavy logs coming

that have been kind of propped up into kind of just this haphazard barricade as you kind of hear the voices echoing from that little alcove. Does it feel remotely like bull-like at all, any of the architecture that we saw, the goats or the bulls erected?

I would say make an Intelligence check, Jal. Also, how does our level up, does it affect spell slots at all, or are those just gone? So whatever spell slots you would have gained, you gained. When I did it in D&D Beyond and mine was maxed out, it gave me two fresh ones. They weren't, like, consumed, so I had... If you get any of your spell slots... They are, so... The one you used this morning was so... I've used two. Right, so then those are taken, and then any new ones you get are empty. One. Yeah.

I got a four. Okay. You have no idea. What was that roll for? Just if the structures looked like they were made by bull creatures. Okay. Okay. Okay.

Anyhow, I think they're there. I mean, it looks like a very crude structure in Bonfires. It feels familiar to us now, but it's probably unrelated. Let's go. Is there any shadows moving from the fire? I would say make a 7-shot.

That's terrible. All my dice suck. Jail. Jail. Can't jail them all. Can't jail them all. Yep, there are three dice in the game. Five. Five. You look and you see kind of... Shins are kind of...

Shapes of shadow are kind of being painted on the side of this cave wall or not cave but the side of this a cliff wall But nothing seems to be moving or nothing discernible that you can tell we're hustling right through and I was gonna look at Caprice and be like, let's just go we're not stopping we're going in. Let's do it. Okay, so So you're just running and you're not even stealthing. No. So

As you are approaching, you hear the kind of one voice, you're gonna be sorry tomorrow morning. And you hear one loud voice, the same one. And then a very loud, deep, guttural snoring. Oh boy. At the same time, as you're just sprinting in, you hear that same familiar voice at a callback.

Hey, I think I hear something. And immediately you hear a secondary voice say, Hey, who are you working with? What the fuck is going on?

And then he's like, oh good, someone's coming! And you then suddenly see an enormous shape stand up. The structure had been kind of covering the scene as you're sprinting around. And a huge, it seems to be like 15 foot tall, two

Two-headed, gigantic creature. Blooms up as you just run into this camp. As soon as you kind of run around this wall into the one with narrow entrance, the stench

hits your nostrils as you look at this creature which is covered in the smattering of his hair all down it and it seems to be covered in the rotting remains of the past meals for who knows how many weeks as you see

Um, uh, there seems to be a large fire built in the center of this camp, which you realize, on the far end, as you're running in, you see this disgusting pile of bedding, remnants of food, bone, uh, you can't tell what kind of creature, as well as, like, bits of wood and cloth, just kind of like a mattering, like the smattering of, of,

of things, and to your left, you then finally, kind of as you're getting in the roaring of the fire, you start to hear the loud squealing, snorting of what seemed to be like, like, like hogs, and you look to the side, and there's a very sloppily constructed pen.

of all of these just, just doors that all kind of had this wild look in their eye. And, uh, the creature, uh, looks at you and says like, what the fuck is going on? I don't know. I'm going to smash him. And then they pull, it pulls up this massive club, um,

massive club that seems to be like just carved out of this log and it just gets ready to swing and I get everyone to roll for me. Woo! I have advantage because of my weapon. Woo, baby! Still pulling off Vangress initially, let me tell you. Okay, so...

- So coming up, just coming up before we start that, I'm gonna smell that and then immediately start holding the breath. - What are we doing with the-- - Oh yeah, let me know what you guys are doing with it. - Well, I'll just shout to the group. - We're still holding him. - Drop him in the back, I'll stay with him. As you guys rush forward, I can provide support from the back.

Okay, Toa, do you feel good about that? So, um, yeah, I think that's fine. We just gotta, we gotta help. I'll keep an eye on it. We need to set up here. Should I squeeze this way or this way? What would be best?

Kelsey and I, because I need to run down real quick before we do this and jump on the puppy. Oh, we're puppy checking. Okay. We have five seconds. So, two and a great of a sense that it is kind of stepped right here, we'll say, as the boars are all in this pen and they look to be... Oh boy. Oh boy. Angry.

- And is that like gated? - It's open, and so it's a very weak, like rickety wooden thing, and it seems like they need to be able to go back through it. - Rock 'em up! - And then you guys can place your mains where we like, where we come in from.

Over here? Yeah, you're coming in from over there. I'll probably be within five, ten feet of Toa. Well, I guess like which way did we come in? Just right here? So, yeah, so he was in the front, right? We were probably closer to the back, and we were carrying the guy. I was up with him. Caprice was in the front. You were probably up here. I was next to Caprice.

So we're like back here. And I was gonna, and basically I assume what'll happen is you'll toss the guy down and I'll stay with him. So let's just say like there-ish. Let's go. Okay, cool. Okay, so I'm gonna initiate a roll, everybody. I might be first. I got a roll, sorry. Uh, 12. 12? Oh, you're not doing your 25? Well, I'm 20, 25. 22. Okay. 21. 21.

21 for Toa? No, 22 actually. You wanna go first? You go first. You go first. Sure. I need you in front. Okay. Toa, you're up. I need my front line, baby. Yeah, yeah. Luffy, what you got? 17. 17.

- 20. - 20 for Caprice. - Holy smokes. - Persia got what? - 12. - 12, okay, does anyone know what Iris got? - My initiative is 12. - What's on her dice? - I don't know that she rolled. - Oh, I don't think she rolled. It's a 15 technically and her initiative would be technically plus four so she could be at the top of that team. - 18 dex? - I don't think she rolled it. She has a 18 dex, yeah. However, yeah, plus six initiative, my friend.

That's insane. I rolled a 19 with my +3 initiative, then I got a 20. So let's say, yeah, she is +4, so let's say she's a 19. It's not Mathias' initiative. I'd say it's not, yeah, it's no Bandress, right? In the last campaign I leveled up and I got a feat, I took Elven Accuracy and increased my charisma by a gram, which bumped me up.

So I have plus 9. Yeah. With the Brackenshaw Basset or whatever it is. When I get to level 21, I'm going to have like plus 18. Oh, you got a 19, by the way? I got a 19. Oh, yes, right then. We'll go to 19. We looked at your die and we assumed. No, we had a 20. Lusty had a 19? Lusty had an 18, I thought. Okay. Did you roll? Yeah. Lusty, what'd you have?

Yeah, I did 19. Dog is doing fine. She's doing really good.

There is a popper. Okey dokey, ladies and gentlemen. Okay, so as you see this two-headed giant creature wielding its massive claw, and you see that the bores that seem to be penned up are just immediately, the voice of this creature has set them into a frenzy, and they effortlessly bash through the little penned wooden structure that they've been keeping them in. And they seem very irritated. Okay, Toad, you're up. Uh,

And you can move him in a little bit more if you can't make it without my spurt. Yeah, I'm just gonna... That's fine. So I'm just going to say, I'm gonna drop him. My free object interaction will drop that into the stick. Yeah. And I'm gonna go one, two, three and a half, five, uh, six? Or six? I'm just gonna go here, and I'm going to, um...

Bonus action to rage. Okay. You get into your tribal warrior stance, and that kind of like, that shimmering spiritual shade kind of comes over your eyes, and you're ready to fuck him up.

and I guess I'm going to use my action to ready an attack for the first thing that comes into range. - Got it, okay, cool. With that, it's really secure. - All right, I'm gonna move up. I don't know, my movement is one, two, three, four, five, that's good enough. And then a range of 60 feet, five, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, perfect. I am going to, for Flinkster? - No, no, for the body guy. - Oh, for the body guy. All right, we'll just put him right there for now. We can move it.

And then I'm gonna cast flames here, right here. - Okay. - On this guy right there. - What's he gonna do?

- It doesn't do anything right now. - Okay. - You use a level two spell slot and then any creature that ends its turn within five feet radius of it must make a dexterity saving throw and if you fail, you take 2d6 or half 2d6. - Okay. - And then basically every round I get to move it as a bonus action, it's concentration, so I can continue to throw fire bolts while I move it. - Okay, so Felix, you run up, kind of staying along the wall,

look at this massive two-headed creature, and you stick your hand, you grab the dagger, you stick out your hand, and a flaming spirit erupts next to him. It's almost hard to discern next to the roaring bonfire that seems to be in front of him, but it starts to swirl around. Okay, Chris' turn. - Do I get a sense that this person, this massive 15-person beast is just out for blood, that he's really gonna kill everybody?

He seems to have flesh bits dangling from him. Oh, the one thing I forgot to note is that it's kind of hard to see with his massive form in the fire, but just past him, you see cages that seem to have humanoid figures in them in various states of health. And you kind of see a shape. You hear that familiar voice say, Hey, I reckon Tonya, you're screwed! So that's the general sense he gives.

Holy hell, let's light this guy up. I'm going to run straight towards you, Lizzy. Not actually Lizzy, Kelsey. Yeah, keep me away. One more in the diagonal sense. Yeah, yeah, perfect. Keep me there. I just need to get into...

I just need to get within 50 feet. I'm already there. So I'm going to cast Fairy Fire on the bro. Each object in a 20-foot cube within range is outlined in blue, green, or violet. I'm going to go with the violet. Any creature in the area where the spell is cast is outlined as if it fails a dexterity saving throw for the duration of the...

He gets a zero. That's what I wanted to hear. Alright, as long as I maintain concentration for the next minute, any attack roll against an affected creature or object has advantage if the attacker can see it, and the affected creature or object can't benefit from being invisible. So, Caprice runs up, sitting alongside the walls of this camp, and he pulls out his viol and plays a quick, very jaunty, light, furious tune, and immediately a poof of violet appears.

emerges on top of this creature, and he's completely outlined in the darkness, in this violet light, and so the two heads are bickering, trying to get the light off of it, to know if that's... And with that, it's Iris' turn. I am going to... I'm going to move up towards where Toa is,

Just on the other side, closest to Caprice. One, uh... Or sorry, closest to Derek. So look at your Dwarf. The square closest to... I can move up to 60 feet. So I'm fine. Okay, one, two and a half. Now where? You're not Rodak?

This is me. Yes. I want to be next to you, closest to there, the physical person. Thank you, Cassie. There. Here. Oh, there. I see. I see. One, two. Yep. Easily done. Easily done. Oh, my God.

And then I'm going to look at the big guy and I'm going to cast my spiritual weapon, channeling my crook and flail from Anubis. It's my bonus action. The crook and flail emerge having the shimmery golden and teal light and they are crossed and ready to swing in at him. When they're summoned, they make an attack, don't they? I believe so. I believe they do. Let's just say make an attack roll. Yeah. Spell it. 1d8. And they swing in at his shins.

It doesn't tell me what my modifier would be for this. Spell attack would be wisdom plus proficiency, right? Plus seven, so 22. 22 hits effortlessly. And then what do you get? He's a big'un. Sorry. Still learning how to do this.

Nine points of damage. That's not bad. Okay, nine points of damage. It smashes into his shin. And then I'm also going to cast Pull the Dead on him as well. He needs to make a wisdom save. Okay, you hit that gong. Go. Hold on, here we roll. That was probably cut. And he fails spectacularly. And he's damaged. Yes. So he will take a d12.

That's an owner. Five necrotic damage. His one hand is like clutching over his ear. His one free hand is like... And how much damage do you have? Five. Five.

Okay, cool. With that, it is the Ettin's turn. You need to know what that is. As soon as it looks at you, it goes, okay, let's just do this! And it reaches down and you see another club. This one has metal jags just kind of hammered into it. And it picks that one up, dual wielding, and it is running. It is going to just walk over to both of you. You can just move up to Toa and its speed is...

So it can easily get to you guys. Oh, wow. So triggering you, Koa. Yeah, I would like to use my reaction to attack. And it's advantage, because of the fairy fire, right? Yes. Oh, yeah, so am I. Natty 20 B. Woohoo!

Oh boy. Yeah, that's why you do that. Fucking big tear. 12, oops, and that was a 3. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 damage. 22k, why not? Why not? As soon as you walk over, you pick up your totem and smash into its knee. You're a little bit taller, so you're easily able to get to its knee. He lets out a, ah!

both heads are in pain and he said, "Oh, that!" You hear the voice go, "That looks like it freaking hurt, didn't it?" - I like this guy. - And it smashes into its knee and it is going to look at both Iris and Toa and swing at each of you. Toa, this is going to be a very,

Oh my god, the cotton of this. 18 will... 18 hits. So that deals... 16 points of slashing damage as you're hit by the improvised weapon. The club is going to swing down for... She's disadvantaged. Or he's disadvantaged against irons because I marked him. So now anyone that's not me...

- 13 will not hit. You effortlessly dodge out of the way, Iris, as he slams in kind of dust and dirt are kind of covering both of you as you feel the weight of this. And with that, it is Lufti's turn. - Lufti? - Yeah. - So I'm gonna run up.

and see what's going on. Who's in the stock? Oh my god, everything is so gross, Mia. So I'm gonna keep running around here. Okay. And I will make an unarmed attack. Unarmed strike. Which is a 15. 15. Sorry.

Remember you're advantage on him. Yes. I am. Every time. So you want to make sure you do... He's AC as well, so... I would not crit, but I would. So it hits. Big ol' hit. Okay, so that would be... 3 plus 5 is 8 damage. And then I'm going to spend a key point. Oh shit, hold on. I did bonus action, you get to attack again.

I do? Yeah. But if you use Fuhrer, Flurry of Blows, you get to attack twice. So you basically, no matter what, as long as you use an attack action, you can bonus action to attack again. Or you can hit with your spoon, too. And then also use it to attack your head. Sorry, I forgot about the bonus. Why do I have that?

So, just being a monk. Yeah, so being a monk, you can hit with your spoon and then follow up with your bonus action to punch. So you can still do that. Or I can do, okay, then in that case I'm just going to use the bonus action. And then hit him for your spoon. And be a bonus action. Am I still advantage with the bonus action? Yes. Every single one. So another 15 to hit. Yes.

That is going to be 9 damage. 9 damage, okay. Sorry. I'll get back at you. As you run up beside your ally, you just do "pah-pah" and two puffs both hit, and it's kind of "ahhh" and this thing's bruising from where you're just both attacking, just getting hurt is... Slowing his legs. I forgot, I heard you go...

Herd of Senecast, Thunderous Smite. First level, bonus action. Okay. First time you hit with a melee weapon during this spell's duration, the weapon rings with Thunderous...

Thunder that is audible within 300 feet and your attack deals an extra 2d6. So hopefully I hit. It has a manage because of fair player. Okay. Five? I have 30 feet because of my- You drew one more than six. I took a shield master, so I should be 30 feet. Speed? Speed, yeah. That would be 30. It increased your speed? It increased my speed by five. Oh wow, okay. So that would be there.

That's five, that's six. Okay. Am I running? Oh yeah, no, you're on him. I just didn't know if you wanted to move up or stay closer to Toa. You're good. You're in range. You're in range. Okay, okay. So advantage? Yep. Eight and fourteen for my fail. Okay, so eighteen total with Thunder Smite. Additional 2d6 Thunder damage. 1d8 and 2d6.

All right, so seven thunder damage and one plus three regular flail damage, which I guess is smashing. Three plus seven is ten? Ten.

Seven plus three is ten, right? Yeah, it's ten, yep. Ten damage. Okay, so you run up and you swing your flail. The coda smashes it with this, you start to see clouds almost starting to form around it. And you hear like, as it echoes through this outcropping. And it smashes into his gut as he swings off. And he's like, roar!

He's looking pretty darn weak. And with that, pigs all just burst forth. Strength saving throw. Strength saving throw for kids. DC 12. DC 18.

Okay, so he stands firm. He stands firm. Does not get pushed ten feet away. I'm saying just move it. No, I mean, you were talking about me taking, like, a scorching... Like, a beam. It's like a fire. I didn't take it. I'm scorching right instead. This is more personal. Oh, shit. There's some fucking garbage in the way here. Okay, I'm gonna just go... One, two, three, four. One, two, three...

4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Oh, this is going to be tasty. 6.

One, two, let's say three. I'm gonna get my ass kicked. I apologize for any collateral damage that's coming in, everyone. Who's within five feet of me? Is it just Toa? No, just Caprice. Oh, just Caprice. Is within five feet of you and the monster. Okay. Caprice! Oh, this is gonna be so juicy. So they're just all sprinting and swarming. And so they weren't able to, unfortunately, number five is, however, able to do a charge attack against Lufty.

Dead by rats, dead by boars, it's all just handling all over again. He's going to roll to air a toffee. It's going to be 13 to hit, it just misses horribly as he's sprinting, and so we have two attacks, we're going to do both of Iris's.

One is gonna manage to hit as one is gonna be able to kind of gore you with its tusk. Yay! You have my AC of 17, right? Yes. And that's gonna be two points of slashing damage as the tusks go in. And then three more attacks are gonna be-- Fuck me! That is a lot of attack. Two are going to hit.

"Mein Schliebern!" "Mein Schliebern!" "Mein!" "Sie fricken zu haben!" I forget what health he's in. 11 points of slashing damage as the tusks are slashed. Oh, that's good. "Mein Gesunde!" "Mein Gesunde!" And with that, the boars are just loaded for bear here. And with that, he just goes, "Come on, baby!"

Uh, oh god, there's a whole lot of pigs! Crush his skull! I don't think I should be-- Just fine. I'm looking at the pigs and I'm looking at the guy and I just-- First I'm gonna swing in on the old big feller. Okay. Damn, that's good.

- It's got like a loop. - 20 something, so that hits. - Have you tried it before? - Yeah, I just forgot how much I liked it. - Nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 damages. - 16 damage to the number of what, Cacola? - One to the big guy. - To the big guy. - 16, how do you wanna do this? - Oh! - 20, 102. - What can I reach on him with my maul?

You can probably reach at least like up here if you wanted to like just do a jump and like

Yeah, I just want to basically just wheel up and just fling it up and just crush his sternum. Oh, yeah! So as he's being beaten down, he kind of is slumping forward a little bit. You're just wailing on his legs, and you just wind up a massive swing and just aim straight for his sternum, and all of you hear this sickening crack as both of you make a noise, and immediately their eyes roll back.

back, and it stumbles back onto the fire, and it kind of ignites, and kind of this putrid smell of burning flesh of this creature. Nice, Toa! Right in the xiphoid chamber! Okay. So hold on, then what I want to do is just to try to one, or it's three, four and a half, six.

So I'm going to, if you want to, take four, or four and six can take opportunity. Okay, they will. They can and will. And both are going to miss horrifically. Oh no! And I'm going to yell to Iris, you're free to run! No, they already did. No, they did. They used a reaction. Oh, cool. Well, it's not my turn yet. I'm just saying. I'm just trying to, I'm being tough. Thanks. Me and Turner. Bye.

So the first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to use my bonus action to move the sphere up to 30 feet. 5, 10, 15. I'm going to ram it into number one. Okay. Who is going to... You have to make a saving throw against the sphere's damage, which is a dex 15 check. It's going to be a...

19. So it succeeds, so it'll take half of 2d6. So what damage to dodge? Dang, seven damage, which would be three is half, because it's rounded down. Number one. Three to number one. As the flames to your run, smashes into it, it means to dodge out of the way, but it does do a bit of damage there. Then I'm going to use my actual action to cast...

a non-concentration spell, which will be a firebolt. Number four right here. You grab your blade and you just cast the fire from your hand. So it's a plus seven attack. 18 plus seven is 25. So it's gonna be 1d10 fire damage. I have to make sure I actually grab a 10. This looks like a 10.

- Seven. - Seven points, it blasts in the side of this thing. You can smell it roast pork. To number four. - And I'm just gonna back up 10 feet to stand next to the guy who's bound and kind of-- - And he's kind of like thrashing him down. - And that's what's up. - Okay, with that, it is Caprice's turn. - I'm going to move three spaces towards Kelsey.

And then I'm going to take a shot at what's the closest one? Two. It's that one right there. I'll take a shot at number two with my hand crossed. Okay. Not bad.

facing the right porch. That's going to be a 14. It hits. And that's going to be a six points of piercing damage. Six points. You run over as this creature is burning and you pull up your hand crosswise while holding your viol and you point the bolt that hits the side and

doing how much number two? That was seven? - Six points. - Six points appears in your number two. You have to have a loud squeal, if that's the case. Okay, Iris, your turn. - I am going to move around into the little cleft between four, six, and three.

Correct. And, well, for one thing, I'm going to move my spiritual weapon up to where his thing is. This? Yeah. They were in the same spot, so I'm going to move it. Technically, my spiritual weapon is right there. That's Amy's thing. But they were in the same spot. Oh, I was moving it to that place. Do you have a thing for me? No. And my spiritual weapon is going to make its attack on number one.

Number one? Okay. Toa, would you grab me a beer? I got you, Fent. What do you want? And that would be an 11. 11 hits? Oh my god, okay. I have my own stuff, but... And then... Oizu? Oizu? Yeah. Six points of damage, number one. Number one? The croaking flail flying smack at this boar. It looks at the arm on its lap or legs. It's very wounded, but it's still hanging on. And then I am going to...

Sorry, I'm just trying to figure out where my stuff is. Oh, and then I'm going to cast Word of Radiance. Okay.

And I'm going to call in the Sands of the Desert to swirl around me. Okay, got it. And I am going to, those three need to make a 4, 6, and 3 need to make a con saving throw. Con saving throw is okay, con is okay. It's against a 15. Shoot, uh...

All of them fail. Okay, so they're gonna take 1d6 damage. Which is a 6, so they each take 6 damage. So you see Iris start to kind of chant, and all of a sudden this mystical sand, this sand made of magics swirls around her and buffets these boards and they're all just choking and coughing and starting to kind of melt their skin a little bit and they all take 6 points of damage. What numbers are those?

That is four, six, and three. Four, six, and three. Number four, it takes too much. You can't see it fall to the ground dead. Checkmate, darling. Okay. With that, it is Etna's turn. She's dead. Look to your eyes. Me? Okay. I'm going to pull out my brewer's spoon and just whack over onto number six. Okay.

And it's a critical fail. Okay. You kind of stumble as you're going to kill this Texas pig, and you get tripped forward and your spoon almost flies out of your hand. Your spoon almost flies out of your hand and you have to grab it. Oh, shite! Okay, can I still use my bonus even if I fail on the attack? Yeah, as long as you use the attack action. Okay, so I'll... Throw a punch.

Okay, that's a 24. Oh, you're decent. That's a terrible score. Six damage. Six damage to number what? Say again? To number six. Number six. Despite that, after you managed to grab onto your spoon, just go poof, and you hear a little crack as the pig falls and dies. Which one? Six. Nice. With that, Entruda's turn. We're just gonna go to Andy's right.

to Andy's left. Sorry. Sorry, my actual, I apologize. To the closest enemy right there. Two. What number? Two? Yep. Okay. Flail attack against them. Nine. Nine? Misses. Dakota swings in the air as the pig manages to dodge it. No! I was going

That's my turn. Now the pigs are fanning out here. Bonus action? Yeah. Thank you. She'll master. If you want to. Or knock him down. So I want a bonus action. Dig that. Shove a creature within five feet as a bonus action. Can I take the shove that creature number two? Yeah, sure. What do I gotta do? Athletics contest.

Athletics of the 14th, I think. Ooh, I got a 14. Meet it. What is that? Oh, no, no. Oh, so contest with the beat-in. Oh, you have to beat it to change the state. Okay. Oh, it's not meet it or beat it? No, because the contest, the existing state stands if you question what would that have done mechanically. Knock on ground. Oh.

- Oh, so it doesn't move the blade. - So after Kurokawa and Kurokawa, Dakota misses and then you take your shield and bash it big and the pig just sticks its snout into you and stands strong. Okay, off of pig turn, I'm gonna go out of frame. - Yikes! - And so-- - Dammit! - Tell me what you want me to move. You got seven, one, two, five, three. - We're going to send number one to right at Toa? Or no, number seven at Toa, I apologize. - Sorry, that's okay.

Okay, so we're going to get one attack on Lufty, one on Herrscher, two on Toa, one on... Is that all the movement for the turn? Yeah, that's it for the turn. So if he's running up to me... If he's running up to you... He is going to miss horribly. We got another one on you. Miss horribly. My issue, ball and more PTSD. I mean... We got one on Lufty. Missing horribly. We got one on Herrscher.

Get it! Really? What? What is she, like 18? She's a damage magnet. I rolled a 16 plus whatever. At least two. Plus three, isn't that what I mean? Goddamn. Three points of slash damage. Let me know when the pigs are done. Boom! One and two are both gonna take damage from staying within the flame orb's thing, so they have to do a dex check 15.

Or take 2d6? Which one's who? Number 1 and number 2 are within 5 feet of the flaming sphere. Number 1 gets a 16. Okay, that's a dodge. The other one gets a 13. Okay, so that's a miss. So number 1 will only take 2 points, number 2 will take 4 points. Number 1, that's enough. He gets charred like fucking bacon. He's kind of the bubbling of the fat. Or rams into the other one. Number 2 took 4 points.

He's barely hanging on. His skin is sinning. He's looking up. With that, it's a turd. So, uh... Well, given that I'm in my tribal trance and you attack, I'm going to... Or Rage falls off. Damn. That's amazing. It's like if no one had walked up to me, Rage would have fallen off.

Because you can't move? Because I'm ready to attack. I could have used my boomerang. I didn't think about that at the time. But, yeah, if I don't attack... Before my next turn, if I don't take attack, I didn't take an attack, I'm going to attack number seven. Yeah, sorry, I was distracting, Tau. Oh, that's a d12. I apologize. Another d12.

Holy shit. I should have called it this time. What's the opposite of dice jail? 11, 12, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63, 64, 64, 64, 64, 64, 64, 64, 64, 64, 64, 64, 64, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65, 65

- Gorr mist, bloody mist and gore coats all of you. - Literal viscera. - As viscera as gore deletes. He deletes the boar. - From the back of your-- - That's my boar! - And Smash splatters the boar on the body. - I see all of this. - All right, I'm going to run the sphere into number five. So again, dex check 15.

- Nine. - No good, he will take six points of damage. - Okay. - To number five. - Number five, this is one of the ones that have not been damaged and it's feeling the heat and lets out this loud, painful scream. - And then I'm gonna follow up and firebolt it. - Same one? - Yeah, the same one, trying to finish it off. That'll be an attack roll with plus seven. So 19. - 19 hits. - One D10, points of damage.

- Two. - Two. So you follow immediately and the firebolt hits it in the side and it is cooking, but it is hanging on. - And I'm just keeping an eye on our captives. - Okay. He's still . - That's the end of my turn. - And then following up with that is Caprice's turn. - I found my hot sauce, so I think we can hear it. - We got up to very Caprice thing to say.

He's looking through his notes on that. I think I can take the loading bonus action to load my crossbow and fire it. You crossbow for massive. It's a hand crossbow. See if there are three hands to do it. I mean, all I'm doing is holding my crossbow. Okay, yeah. I just have to crossbow. And so I should just be able to load it and fire it? Yes. That seems like a thing. If you do that...

He says unsure of himself. Well, I don't know about the ring. I've never played the ring character. All I play is OP shit. So, I roll fire against the guy who, yeah. They teleported a mile. Number two. Yeah, let's do it. Number two. He's close to death. Finish him off.

- This is not good. - What? - Two critical fails with that. - You accidentally shot Hersha's back in the head. - Yeah, actually, yeah. - You, as Hersha is like kind of holding up her shield, you hear like, and you look and Caprice's crossbow bolt has been smashed by your shield. - I wasn't aiming for you, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I don't apologize, 'cause I don't wanna raise suspicion. - I love the duo dynamics of this whole group. - It's okay, I forgive, I forgive.

And I guess I have a blend section. I will... Do you want to move it all too? Yeah, I will actually move one diagonally this way and then one down. And then I'll just... I'll just be there. I've been circling. I've been circling. Yeah.

That's wise. Okay, with that, it's our turn. I'm gonna move next to Lufdy here, on those people. Like over top of them? Yeah. Okay, difficult terrain. And I am also, a spiritual weapon can move through things, right? Yes. So I'm gonna put spiritual weapon in the middle of those two guys. We have Lumine's thing. Do you want to put it between, like where my guy is? You can just put it on the other side of three.

So in that open space. And so that's going to attack number three. Got it. Nine plus seven. So 16 for spiritual weapon. Number three? Mm-hmm. That's one to eight. We'll remember what eight looks like. 14 points of damage. 14 points of damage. You hear the crack as the metal quail smash and the net snaps. Holy shit. As number three falls to the ground down. Woo!

I'm not going to do any damage until I get Fireball. And then I am going to, at disadvantage, because I'm right there. I'm getting all right. It depends on the monster. Yeah, I'm going to fail my next one, so that's it. Okay. With that, it is Luffy's turn. Okay. I'm going to take my Burr Spoon and just kind of jab it at number five in front of me. Got it.

Ooh, that's a 10. 10. Barely misses. And the big scotch that's loose. Oh my god. I think my spoon is broken! I'd like to make an inside check. Does it look like it dodged accidentally or on purpose? Mookie's having a rough night, okay. Always. So I'm gonna follow up with like a little hi-yah kick. Hi-yah kick. A little hi-yah kick.

And that is gonna be 16. 16 does hit. Yay. To number two, correct? Or no? Number two. To number five. Five, you're right, you're right. He's close. And that's gonna be nine damage. Nine damage. You see kind of tusk chilling shadows. Nine! Nine! Kick it to death, I like that. This is the picket goes to market! Are you ending your turn there, Kelsey? Yeah. Roll a dex check, 15 plus.

There's a Flamesphere literally right next to you. Oh my god! It's conjuring. I'm playing the game correctly. Yay, you passed! And you only take four points of damage. Yay! I'm with the Flamesphere. I yell from the back, I told you to move! I forgot to mention, after Toa killed the, and you hear the voice from the cave say, I don't

you stupid sons of bitches! And then, uh... Oh, Jesus. Does anyone think that that must be Persia's father? I think you found him. Yeah, I hope so. And then, uh, following up with, uh, it's her turn.

Does her feel like she's on the plant sphere? I know. No, no, no, you're good. Five feet. So you are more than ten. You're fifteen feet away. If I moved one... If you move once closer to it and you end your turn within five feet of it, you will have to make a next turn. End turn, okay. End your turn there. Can I move within five feet and hit... You can already hit them. Yeah. Number two, right there. You're fine. You're engaged with number two. So you can fight and you don't have to get anything closer. Flail attack, if I may. The code swings. Ah!

22. 22 hits. 22's gonna be a Divine Smite at level 1. It's gonna add 2d8 damage. Okay. So it's 3d8. Number 2? Yep. Oh. So these will be radiant damage of 2? That's unfortunate. Double 1s. 4 plus...

- Two is six, plus two is eight. - Eight, it's still, it was very weak. You get this and finish the job. You feel kind of the molten smite of Moradin. - Yeah! - You got him? - As the, as the kind of like, almost you feel like a loud anvil crack as this sort of smite this pig and kills him. - I kill him? - Yeah, you do. - Yeah? - Yeah. - Can I? - All right everybody, who's hungry? - So wait, here's a serious mechanical question because Felix is actually nuts.

I'd like to, like, after the battle's done, can I move the Flameshore away and, like, continue to concentrate for a minute, just in case? Yeah, yeah, totally. So I'm gonna chill by this guy, and I'm gonna move the Flameshore away, away from anything flammable. Move it up.

On the Z plane? Yeah. Why not? You could. I don't know because I only think in two dimensions because we play on a grid. No. All right. I just move it out of the way. It's up. Fine. We're on the Z plane. Yeah. Are we?

- It's the ghost tree. - So I play the ghost tree. I'm just gonna concentrate on it, 'cause the minion will pass by very quickly. - So I'm just gonna wait, just to see if there's any more danger. I'm gonna keep my concentration on it while the rest of the game does their thing. - Okay. - He's dead.

Where's the voice coming from? I'm going to immediately run to it. Okay, you immediately run over to it and say, Hey, you can give me a little hand here. What's your name, friend? I'm going to be friend's hand friend. Okay. That means I have advantage on charisma checks. He'll know I did that. It was hard for you to get a sense of what creature was in this cage.

and you see that this creature was kind of sitting down and it was kind of hunched over. You now see a mass of brownish fur, kind of patches of skin. As you see the fur is done, and

as you see a hunch figure that looks like it's probably about as tall as Toa is when fully standing up. You see that its body is really hard to tell, and the voice is kind of hard to tell, but you're actually getting the sense that this is female. And

as you see kind of long pointed ears, shaggy brown hair and sharp teeth with these kind of like these beady eyes kind of glowing almost as golden. And it's looking at you and as soon as you run over it said, "Hey, can you give me a hand out of here?" - Oh, hey, Tantra. - With the fur.

I will say-- Bottom jeans, friends with the frown. Is there a key? Is there a key? The large hairy creature is the one that's been talking the whole time? Yes. Okay. It's a female. Got it. Miss-- what's your name? Hi, I'm Capriccio, people call me Caprice, although one particular person calls me Capricci.

Capricci, that's a stupid fucking name. Thank you. Capricci's a bad name, right? I'm Jammity. I think there's a key somewhere. If you could also spare a drink. I haven't had one in a while. How's that spelled? J-A-M-I-T-Y. Like janitor? Jammity. Jammity Smoke Barrel, and I would like to get out of this cage presently as soon as presently fucking possible. Well, no problem, friend. You're my best friend now.

here, have a sip of this delicious beer. I yell to Caprice and I just say, don't look for a key, smash the lock. Get Tola to do it. Hold on, so do these boars look just natural? Like were they attacking us out of because they were raised a certain way or make a nature color?

Do we need nature-y folk in the party? I'm not a single woman. I was going to ask the same thing, so can I assist? Yeah, let's ask Sam. What was the next level of the new level of fire? Yeah.

- 13 plus. - I got a nine. - Plus zero, I got a 13. - 13. - 13. You get the sense that these are just normal boars, they weren't like magical, but you get the sense that like they were trained to some capacity by this creature in order to attack. - So kind of without saying anything, I'm gonna kind of kneel down and I'm gonna take out like a little red carving of a red boar.

and just place it down to myself. Sort of like pray. Did Toa do this at any point in our month's journey? Probably...

Probably not. Unless we saw sort of... So you would know that there are kind of spirits that are... There are four kind of key spirits in the Makani Islands where I'm from. And you would know that a boar is one of them. Okay, so I'm aware of what you do. There's sacredness to boars. Okay.

And so I think that seeing them sort of defiled in this way, you know. Oh boy. I was gonna say, being unaware of that, I was gonna lean down and start carving off of these and put it in the fire for a snack. So you see Choa pull out a very well-crafted figurine, a statue of a boar, completely red, and kind of with the same designs as the tattoos that cover his entire body.

and he places it down on the ground and seem to be doing some kind of observance ritual. - Do I see you begin to actually go further? - I'm gonna say that my back's to him while he's doing that. I'm like facing the other direction. - So I can or cannot see what you're doing? - Up to you. - I would say you'd be able to see. Lufty would just go down and slice it. - I just can't see what he's doing. - I'm just gonna not shout, but say to Lufty, "Be aware of this plague, this disease. I would be very careful about what you eat."

Well, you kill the pork, you know, you got to eat it. You don't want to risk catching whatever these things are. They seem pretty normal. Smells like bacon. And so, uh, Jami, uh, stands to reason. She's downed the entire thing. All the beer that's left is gone. Enjoy, Fred, no problem. Just know that in, like, 30 seconds, you're gonna know that I sort of used a little bit of my magic in order to influence you to be, like, positive.

towards me, I don't want that to affect our friendship. I just want you to understand that you're in a cage and I don't understand what's going on here. We're gonna let you out here in another minute as soon as we find a key or it can break the block, all right?

Well, you gave me a drink and you killed that lovely son of a bitch, so I don't see why we don't have to be friends. What was that guy's deal? He really was a son of a bitch. He was, and I mean, if you would help me get out of here, I would be happy to tell you, but he was routing up food and offerings to people. I can tell you that. Do I get a sense that the accent is because they're very drunk or because...

of just the way that they talk, or like, that they're affected in some way, and do I trust this person? - Make an assumption. - Yeah, I will. 20. - 20. You get to the sense that you can trust this person, this person, like, in kind of all your, all they wanted to do, all she wanted to do was get out and get a drink, from what you can tell. And the sense of your, you get the sense that definitely she's drunk,

Or at least of some kind. And could you get the sense of her different species might have something to do with her, the way that she talks in a dialect or whatever. But she's obviously not human or any of the standard races that you have encountered. Then my next question would be, this is a little, maybe going to be on the line, but what are you exactly? You're very strange. We're working on finding a key. Can we get a key over here? Does anyone see a key? I don't want to leave the guy's side.

I'm gonna inspect the over, or the end, or whatever it is. Okay, make an investigation check. Eleven. Eleven. You find, if I can find the fucking loop that I have here, fourteen gold pieces worth of coin. I'm gonna pocket all of it. And you find a brass key that seems to be, look like the lock. Hey, Herrscher, do you think you can come over here and break this lock?

Yeah, I can certainly try. So I come over and try to break the lock, I guess. You can attack. Attack? Yeah. With what modifier? Just attack? Just attack. With your weapon. 16. Okay. Maybe a little damage. Okay. D8 plus 2 is 5. 5. You smash the lock right off. It seems as if it kind of precariously...

put together, and then as soon as that happens, the door swings open, and she stands up, and is like, I have a word-fucking pain in my neck, thank you very much, kindly. And she stands up, and she's towering over all of you, except for Toa. She's probably about the same height as you. Holy... And she looks around and says, well...

Never sneak up on an ettin to steal a drink. Apparently there's always one hand awake. I didn't know that. Wait, so you're telling me that the only reason you're in that cage is because you were trying to steal... ...boons?

I've gotten caught for stupid reasons, so I'm gonna go find that fucking drink that he has. And then she just immediately walks over to the big pile of the shit where he seemed to have made his bed, and she starts moving around. Probably about now is when I used friends on her.

hey, you're kind of a dick. Okay, it's fine. And so she's rooting around in there and she's like, okay, well, there we are. And she pulls out this very large barrel and places it down and he said, well,

I almost died for this thing, so I think I might enjoy my silver drink right now. I'm right there with her. Do you mind if we all enjoy a drink with you? Sure, I mean, you killed him. Good job, big fella. He really cracked him in the chest. Would I be there now? I would say all of you would kind of be... Is this Jammity? Jammity. Jammity Smoke Barrel. Oh, she turned around and says, you ain't never seen a fucking bugbear before?

Oh, my apologies. I didn't realize you were tall. You're very tall, even for a bugbear. Have any of us ever seen bugbears before? I mean, is that like a striga native? I would say that many of you would know about bugbears.

If you haven't seen it or known what they are, at least kind of the story, a lot of times they're the boogeymen of children's stories. They're goblins. I've seen some. You've seen some. So describe them just so we have a better... So a bugbear is a kind of very large, tall, lanky, really long arms, kind of...

Kind of feline, kind of bear-like, just kind of vaguely animalian. Very hairy. Very hairy. And they're very large and strong, but they're also incredibly sneaky. So they're kind of like boogeymen of children's animals. Like, oh, you know, you better be good or else a bum bear's going to get you. And...

And I would say many of you would know that, um, that that would be Trace, and so she... It's there for our role, it's gonna be a bugbear for sure. And so she sits down, uh, and she sits down and just with one hand just rips off the top of the barrel. It's like a cask? Yeah, it's like a cask, and she just rips off the top of it and says, Damn.

Well, how about you drink worse? And so she pulled, she kind of moved around, where the fuck did you put my cup? And she's just moving around, she pulled, yeah, well, fine. And she just dips right into it and takes a drink. And you can sense kind of from the froth on it that it's some kind of beer in there. And so she takes a sip, like, what?

Well, it isn't horse piss, so... I'm fine. He did say it's not horse piss. It's a good time. Yeah, no, that's my motto. I tell you what. Well done, everybody, with the taking out of the Etton you said it was. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I've seen Etton's, and I've scouted from spot on, but ever since I got out of that line of work, I guess I...

I guess I got a little too hankering for a drink. I'm trying to make a toast here. We're all going to cheers our glass and everyone can take a sip of this beer. Yeah, sure. So I'll get up and I'll head over. Okay. I guess we have cups, right? Does it look like disgusting? Yeah, it looks like you get the sense that this was a...

you see what seems to be a sprig of what seems to be like barley or something, as well as like a vine with grapes, which Lüfty-- - On the barrel? - On the barrel, which you recognize to be a common symbol of Kirstein, and particularly the worshippers of Lachor, the god of drink.

And so you get the sense that this Ettin stole the barrel, and it's just basically pretty good beer. As we're talking, I'm going to take a sip, and as everyone starts to engage each other socially, I'm going to try to go and return secretly, just to look at the body of...

Okay. He's with us. I'm still chilling. No, but he's 34 years old. I've been literally standing next to him the entire battle. Then I would see that you've done that and I would not double check. Okay. Okay.

So, I'll just say for that case, you look over. Yeah, I look over. I give you kind of... I'm also not drinking, so I give you a nod. And so you look down, Felix, and you see that he's just kind of starting to struggle a little bit more. I apologize. I apologize. And he's kind of starting to struggle a little bit more as the horns have kind of protruded into the little nubs that you had seen. One's shorter than the other.

Yes, well yeah, it's one of the kind of lopsided from what I've been shaved. Well now before anyone goes and starts getting themselves drunk, what was the tally on that? I got two killers. To be fair, I got the big guy, he's worth at least fifteen. He's worth one kill. Or twenty. He had two heads, he's at the very least worth two. And one set of testicles. Now, one killer for you, did you kill anything else? I killed probably a few boars, I think I killed at least one or two.

I'm trying to figure out how to delete the gold. The only fair way is to kill us. Let's just leave it. It's an odd number. I'll take, let's go. Perfect. It's my bait. I got it. So everyone is going to get two gold.

And Lucy and I will take three gold. I mean, I did the fairy fire, I think we should divide it evenly. I'm the one that looted the yetin, so I'm choosing where it goes. That's fair. Hey, everybody. Yeah, because I can't, there's no way for me to divide it evenly because it's 14 split into six people, so. So...

I'm gonna sit in with the bugbear. I'm not going to solve any pieces of shit. No, you have to die. Wait, I'm fucking... So wait, how much do you all get? Just give me a rough estimate. Two gold. Two? Yeah. I'm so like, prepared. Why in all of Kirsten did you come out here to steal beer? There's beer everywhere. I ain't

I may be stupid, but I am stupid enough to try to sneak into Kirstein. I thought this dumb son of a bitch would be easier to sneak up on, but... Are bugbears not welcome in Kirstein, or is it everybody's not welcome in Kirstein? Well, I mean, you know, my former associates kind of ain't taken too kindly to, and...

amongst the people of Keir Starren, I don't blame them for wanting to skewer and string up any fucking goblin, hobgoblin or bugbear that crosses their path, so I stay real mighty clear. And you stay job for more? Oh yeah, no, I left those... those folk a while ago. You know, they always tell you what you can and can't do and all of that, and I think that's...

That's stupid. I'm a free bug man. I don't got to listen to what no stupid fucking hobgoblin says and she takes another drink. You seem absolutely badass, Jammity. I got to say, I apologize for using magic on you. You were in a cage and I didn't know the situation and I just wanted to apologize for that. That being said, what would it look like if you were to tell us a little bit about the surrounding area?

I mean, I just, I understand, Kirsten, I'm totally new to this country, and are there neighboring towns? Are there other paths? What's going on in this mountain range? And more specifically, have you heard a weird bull scrooge happening? Oh, yeah. No, we've been hearing this crazy bull action.

Oh,

I don't know what to... Darling, can you tell us more about this horned legion? The horned legion was why I was fucking locked up here in the first place and didn't just get immediately smashed into smithereens. Father, I want to get my fucking sword back. And she stands up, she stumbles a little bit, and she roots around in the jump. And she finds... She pulls out two short swords, and

Did she say where she's from? Did anyone ask? I just said I may have missed it while I was in the bathroom. No, no. I'd ask if she'd known anything about the neighboring area. I asked if she knew anything about Bullhorn. Right. And then we got the Horned Legion. Through Iris. However, we did not get an origin for it. How far away? I mean, like, I don't want to leave this guy, but I also want to talk to her. So, like, how far? I mean, it's far.

You can probably shout across it. I'm just gonna say, hey, let's all, let's convene over here. We need to talk. Oh, you're right. I should have to. And then I'll rush over to you. Ultimately, if we all convene, I just want to say to her, uh... I'll pick him up. I'll come. I'll help you. I'll pick him up. And then we'll all, like, convene. Or I want to say, uh...

- Ajamity, is it correct? - Yeah, that's my fucking name. I gotta speak myself with all you people. - I don't know where you're from and quite frankly, I don't need to know, but are you aware of the Kwivaki military or what they look like? - No, yeah, you look like you'd fit right in there, little skinny boy. - What did you just say? - I'm saying you look like the type.

Don't mind why everyone your age aren't big forces toward the military, that's all I know. First off, let's move on from that second- What does that- does that distress you when I say you look like you're from the military? I think it was the skinny boy part. I mean, excuse me, that's what happened. Did the military have anything to do with this horned legion? Military? No, I mean, I know they're trying to fuck up the military. I don't know what they're- So this horned legion is directly against the military?

All I know is that they was... My host was approached by somebody with unlimited fucking power, or whatever it was, to join their ranch and all that business, and this proud son of a bitch, the Cobgoblin motherfucker,

The one that runs the show said... said no? Wait, said no to whom? To the Hobgoblin? Yeah, some of the b*tch that runs my former house. Are they still active? Are they still around? Oh yeah, they're still around as far as I'm concerned. I got the hell out of there and if they saw me again they're gonna f*cking cut my throat. I'm just trying to understand who you were talking to, the Horned Legion or the Kravakian military? The Horned Legion.

And they were looking for this Unlimited Power. No, they were offering it. Offering? They said that they had all sorts of fucking... They were building an army and they said, you know, listen, I guess they weren't a fan of getting all hairy or getting hair here and getting horns. It's not a good look.

So, so you- Where's my fucking hair? And she, she runs, walks over to Lily and she starts rummaging around as you're talking to her. I, I just, I, I'm trying to gather information here. You're giving us a lot and this is great, but you made it sound as if the Horned Legion is causing people to become hairier.

That's what I fucking said, isn't it? So they're spreading this beast plague? I don't know plague or nothing. I know it's everything went to the fucking...

Yeah, absolutely. She is no...

No comment. Then I would speak up at this time and be like, can you come over and take a look at this gentleman here? Because he seems really...

you're stepping into what he's sitting in. You know what I'm talking about? I appreciate the fancy fucking way you talk, but I am, I am busy with far more pressing fucking matters. I know you're looking for your hat, but I gotta find my fucking hat first. That's pressing. Two, there's still beer in that fucking can. Unless you

You people want to help you finish this! This is low priority. This is like one of those upside down blue exclamation point emails you get in Outlook. You know what I'm talking about? Darling, you need to find your hat. Yes. But if you do not talk to us...

I'm going to cast Lesser Restoration on you and kill you for being drunk. Dream bugbear. Look, I will look for your hat. Thank you. Please just talk to them. You look very befitting of a proper lady. I'm going to walk over this way now. I'm going to start rummaging through all this shit looking for a hat. Okay, I'm going to mess with that.

Investigate that shit. - Ten! - You don't find the hat. - I'm gonna spend the next like 30 minutes looking for it. - Okay, okay. - I'm leading her towards the body.

Okay, Rand, let's see what we're doing. When I say "the body," it's not dead, it's the body. What is that thing? What is the action that I can take? Look for objects or something? Oh yeah, what is it? I'm going to take that action. No. We were just joking that it's something no one's ever used in D&D ever. Yeah, that makes sense. I've never heard of it. The search action. That's a spell. I'm gonna take the search action. Locate object as a spell. You'll take the search action and just...

I mean, why are you asking about the horns? Because this guy's got fucking horns? Okay, what is it? Oh, and this guy's got fucking horns too. I mean, look at that. Yeah, I mean, that looks like the big and small of it. You've seen this before.

Well, I mean, on this title, I mean, yeah, they got all those fucking people that look like that. They're like fucking, you know, they're drones. I asked you, man. Well, we encountered this for the first time at Miss Cross Crossing. You know that spot? Yeah, no, I've snuck around there a little bit before, yeah. Yeah, no, no, it was really serious business. I stole the sheet from there. It was a pretty tasty evening. You stole the sheet? There's nothing there anymore. It's all gone.

Well, that's unfortunate, I guess, for them. So, do you have any questions about it? I'm just saying, do you think that this guy, who you can see is clearly growing corns, have you ever seen anything like him before? Yeah, I've seen a lot of them. Like, lots and lots and lots and lots. But where are you seeing them? In the woods, in the forest. Don't they mess with you?

Well, I mean, they was... I think that there was gonna be... They was promising all sorts of fucking fire and brimstone on my entire fucking hoax if we didn't say yes to the gift of the Horned King. And, you know...

Don't fucking know. That's very familiar. Sideburns said no. No, that's very familiar to me. We actually, just last night, ran into a giant horned beast covered in crazy patches that demanded that I would subscribe to the horned...

King? Beast? Yeah, the horned king's new love. And I was not on board with that at the time. And he also mentioned something about an ashen something around there. I can't recall all the details. However, it was a pretty dramatic operation. We had to fight the guy. Mm-hmm.

And I really wish you'd been there, because you would have been able to take care of business, no problem. No, yeah, I could like you. You see plenty badass. Well, I mean, I can sneak pretty good, well, except for I was a little too drunk looking for more booze and a little too cavalier. You're a fancy boy. Is that a good fancy word to say? Cavalier? See, I ain't that stupid. I'm a very troubadour, but that's fine. Well, I don't know what that even means.

But I'm telling you now, I can cut some throats and I can sneak around. I would love to have you join us for the purposes of us making our way to Kirstein. We all have business there, but it sounds like you're not a Kirstein fan. Well, I ain't a Kirstein fan, and I don't pay kind of town, but I'm more...

I'm a scout by profession and trade, and I'm more comfortable just out beneath the stars. It's more romantic that way, you know? Ah, yeah. Look, I hate to be a party people. Actually, I don't. I couldn't find your hat. Sorry. Um...

I agreed to follow with you if we went to Kirshine to deal with this situation. Now we've freed this strange person with the missing hat. I see no reason to stay. We carry on, I agree. At this point, we have a literal man turning into a furry beast. And I would like to get somewhere that when he fully changes, we can either have someone investigate him and make him a human again, or kill him. Seconded.

I mean, it's late. You can enjoy having a drink and sleep right here. No, I don't think that we should. We carry on. What time is it? Late. Oh, it's late. It's real late. It's probably late. You get the sense that it would take you to walk through the night, and in order to get there before camping, you have to make it through the night and get there probably by night. I think it's fevered.

It seems clearly very dangerous and I think that... Do you think that we're gonna make it through the pipes if you still... No, I think that we've... ...tied and ripped? I agree with what you're saying, but I think we need to at least press on from here. We don't want to be anywhere we just had

We had a fight. We need to move on, find somewhere safe, and then at least-- I don't think anyone's fucking coming. Yeah, so be fair, we ran into this fight. It didn't come to us. Well, you know, okay, Skinnyboy, that's fine. You can be scared. I'm gonna have another drink, and I'm gonna look inside my head. I will join you, and I dip into-- We're either leaving or we're not, and if we're not, we have to sleep now.

Okay. What's that? You can go in with the hat. Find her hat. So I'm going to unroll my bedroll and make like a pretty little tent for you. Okay. You make a little tent. And it's as best as you can do. Can you make an investigation check? So we're staying here is what you're saying? Yeah. I'm going to sleep. Wait, we have to put something else. I'm distracted by her eye. I have a seven. Seven. Okay.

And she goes, "Hey, I found my fucking hat!" Oh, there you go. This crate of something red liquid. She keys up a crate and it's kind of rattling. You see these vials with red liquid in it.

Hold on. And I'd like to go get a better look. Even if everybody's resting, I'm going to take the first watch. And you recognize these to be a crate of six helpers. Oh, fantastic. So I'll scoop up all six and I will walk to person to person. Is that booze? It's not booze. It's medicinal. So I hand one to each party member and if they're asleep, I just place it next to their belongings. My, uh...

Tail, imagine this for black, curls up around him and holds onto it tightly. And then she realized it's gone. So we each have a health potion? Yes. Do we need to identify them? No, with health potion you don't need to identify them. Okay. What kind of health potion is it? I was wondering if it was a standard. So not greater or lesser potion of the art. Only because I ripped it off of his.

So what are your plans? Do you have any plans going forward? Well, I mean, I was going to finish reading this. I was going to...

some fucking board and take whatever I can. That sounds good to me, huh? And I was going to go find out what else I could, you know, other than mutton or goat or cow or any food I could find and one drink I could find. You know, I'd just be narrowly avoided being taken to fucking Butcher's Bluff.

For this fucking offer and I feel like I was faced with my own fucking mortality. So what do you say is that you and I make a deal? What are you offering there, Blue? Well, you know, we keep hearing this roaring and you seem to know what that's about. You know what we're looking for.

"These guys want to figure it out and I just don't care so much. I want to go home. I want to go to Kirstein, I want to see the people, I want to party. So I'm thinking maybe since you're so sneaky, you figure that out for us and I'll bring you maybe a few casks."

Something to satiate your thirst? Her big furry pointed ears kind of perk up as soon as you say that. And she looks her eyes kind of narrow a little bit and she nods. How many cash you have right here? I don't know. Any some specials that you want? Can you get me something from the...

You know, it's as funny as you ask that, but I think that I can. I never had a bad day. I hear that people come all over the fucking world for that one day a year. If you can give me something, I will. What are you looking for? Are you looking for a scout? I mean, I am presently retired, but in order to serve my own sons of bitch employers.

What I want is to find the source of this warring, this bull war that we hear. You know, it sounds horrible. I don't really want to go anywhere near it. But, you know, I kind of enjoy these people. It's a good company. I think, you know, if I can get some out of the woods and into the city, we could have some good times. And that's what I'm all about. So, you know, maybe you just kind of help me along my way, and then I help you along your way to getting done. Yeah.

So, if I, if you can get me a casket of real good shit, give me at least six of the non-good shit. And at least one of the good shit. If I know something, if I know where some of them horned, ugly, cow-looking motherfuckers might be headed, I may be able to guide you there. I just have to ask you.

You mentioned Butcher's Bluff. I did. Is that a formal name? It's not something I'm familiar with. No, I mean, that's more of the informal name, but I don't think it's on any fucking maps, but I know that's where the rock guts and the other thing, if I can just fucking remember it in my goddamn notes, the boulder malls.

Same for me. Could you...

Both of you make history checks. Oh, yeah, baby. I love history checks. You and a man who loved it. Me with a... Oops. Is that a 16? Also a 16. 16. So I would say...

Lifty, you would recognize the name of both of those, both of you would. Okay. You would recognize from reports of your time in the military hearing of basically there was, and you would know this from looking in the air and dealing with it. So this was a, you know that Kirstein, despite being kind of a sleepy town, was going to be heavily defended. Yeah.

And part of that is because there is an ogre clan, the boulder malls, and a tribe of hill giants, which are the rock guts. Okay. So ogres are boulder malls, and you said rock guts are hill giants. You also know that there is a...

You also know that there's a goblinoid host called the, um, Thunderskin. Say that again? The Thunderskin. Thunderskin. He's a host. That is a goblinoid host. One goblin in, one goblin out. And that also kind of terrorize the area, and these are kind of like the three, like, primary forces that kind of terrorize the highlands and the mountains and go on raids and the like. Cool.

But the Thunderskins were her host, you think? Well, not explicitly said. Got it. All right, well, if we're...

If we're spending the night here, then fine, but I'm taking first watch. And I would say, Lifting, you would probably know the term Butcher's Bluff. Not exactly where it is, but as a place of ill repute, kind of in children's stories, where one of these groups would take you, would snatch you up and take you to Butcher's Bluff to do all sorts of horrible things to you. Okay.

Sir, I think we need to keep watch of this guy. I'm on it. I'll take first watch. As always. You mean, uh, Eamon? Yeah. What's his deal, Dan? Well, he's... He's got some sort of transmutation magic on him. He's contracted, and I use that term loosely. Whatever's going around, and it's only a matter of time before he fully turns. Well, that sounds like a pretty shitty situation. It's not good. Well...

I'm not leaving the spot until it's finished, so you're all welcome to help me, but... What race is Amos Flash Amon? Human. Human. Got it. Was. Are you taking a time-watch, or do you want me to take a time-watch? Either or, lady's choice. I'll take it if you don't want to. I'll wake you up in several hours. Okay. I'll be asleep until then. Okay. And wake me up whenever. I'm headed to the watch. Fine.

So, as you're sitting up, the fire roaring, the-- Jammity and whoever else had-- Jammity, at the very least, and Bufty have been roasting pork, and so she has this huge leg of a boar, and she's just tearing meat off of it, and continuing to hit the cask.

and just drinking. And so as you're all sitting around the fire and kind of looking, go ahead. - Just since basically this is where we're set up, I'd like to put this area here, just ritually cast alarm. - Okay. - So I can designate creatures that are brave and pass freely through it. That'll be all of us. And basically anything else that were to pass through this opening that we came through would trigger an alarm.

Okay. Does that look like the only area where an alarm could be? Based on the logs and whatnot, this is where we came through. Logically, Felix is going to think that this is the opening. You're going to be in kind of like Craggy Highland areas where like, you know, this was deliberately built into the side of this. That was there. Yeah, no, I would say based on looking at the map,

Obviously, it looks like somebody could come over this log, but it's going to make more noise than if they're sneaking around where we came through, right? And it's true. The logical opening is where I'm placing the alarm because it's only a 20-foot block. 20-foot cube.

So it's a big square. Remind me again, is any part of the entrance like super broken or something along those lines? So, I mean, like there's a couple of walls have had a place to kind of film a building wall, but nothing's been totally smashed. You just ran in. So it says a mental alarm alerts you with a ping in your mind if you are within one mile of the warded area. Wow.

This ping awakens you if you are sleeping. An audible alarm produces the sound of a handbell for 10 seconds within 60 feet. But I guess they have to pass through the queue. Okay, so you make everyone accept that. Just to bolster hers' weapon. Yep. Okay, cool. And so you all do that, and you take the first watch, and so she... Jammity sits down and just looks at Amos and says...

What are you planning to do with this guy, particularly from the other side? Well... To be honest with you, I've taken some samples and I'd like to further research it, but if he turns and there's nothing we can do about it, we're going to kill him and burn the body. It doesn't make me proud to admit that, but we're doing everything we can to at least see if we can save him first.

I was able to deduce that he's affected by some sort of transmutation magic and it's possible that that's fixable but I don't have the knowledge or ability to do that.

Yeah, we were just on our way down the path from the crossroads to Kirstein, and he ran out towards us. And he seemed totally human and fine at that point. Came from Miss Crow's Crossing, or Miss Crow's... Yep, that's it. And, no, he's been transforming and shaking and sweating and horning, and it's been a bad night. No, he's in the same fucking way. Be offering him a drink. Yeah.

She stands up and kind of snuggles over to him and says, Hey! Hey, ugly! Can you take a drink? I don't think he'll respond other than he's been apologizing profusely. I apologize! Hey, hold on, hold on, hold on. She takes her hand and kind of smashes it on his head and kind of prides him out of the room. Here you go! And she just pours beer into the mouth. Don't drown him! And he's like...

Hey, you know, you got something for your short, miserable fucking lifetime. And she walks back and sits down and says, well, I'm going to be very much looking forward to the good shit we can get. I'm going to quickly glance and see if that had any positive impact on...

I think it's very obvious that it didn't. He is fluttering his mouth because it's completely covered in beer. It's completely soaked in beer. And he says, well, I haven't tried. And then he's like, well, I'm going to go to sleep now. I'll sleep in. No one's trying to wake me up. And she kind of curls up against the cage where she had been kept. And then he

And so then she falls asleep? The alarm is good for eight hours. Okay, cool. And I'll take the first two-hour shift, and based on whoever else wants to stay up or go to sleep, I'm the second to last to wake up or to go to sleep, but I'll say, you know, wake me up in two hours. I'll take the next step. All right, I appreciate that. Thank you. Okay. So as you're all taking your watch, you enjoy long nights.

You see that Amos is still in his fevered state. Is it Amon or Amos? Amos. I think it's Amon. Amos. He's in his fevered state.

and he is continuing, he seems to be kind of barely conscious, but he's like, he's rashing around more and more and more. It seems to be subtle, the increments, but kind of in longer periods of time, it does seem to be getting progressively worse.

Alright, I don't know how far we are or how far we made it, but we need to hustle. We need to find a place where we can keep him, and then we need to send people into Karstein to at least attempt to save this man's life. Otherwise, we need to take it. We need to put him out of his misery. This is awful. Do I get a sense that he's in pain or agony? He seems distressed.

or pain that's tough for you to tell? I know he looks really stressed, but I wouldn't say that he needs to be put out of his misery. Like, everybody, I mean, he looks like one of my good friends back at home when this went for a really bad breakup. Like, he's not...

Let's try to get him to somebody who may know what they're doing better than we do. Agreed. Agreed. We need to hurry, though. I'm just saying, let's not kill him. Does he still seem, like, alive in the human sense of being alive? He's still forming the word, which is more than the creature that he's... But, like, does he have, like, a pulse? Are you going to check? Yeah. Make a medicine call.

I think it'll go well. Be careful. You're touching him, dude. I cannot stress. You're gonna ask me to do it. I cannot stress enough. I'm the designated toucher. Yes, you need to avoid contact. Okay. Will you, uh, you know, feel for us? Yeah, I would be happy to. Good. Bansan check for me, then.

13. 13, he has a pulse. Okay. And he's very, very fast. Yeah, no, he seems to be really working hard, but there is definitely a pulse here. That's normal. That's not good. We need to hurry. Please, I urge all of you, we need to hustle.

I agree with you. We need to figure out what's this lady doing for us. Listen, Toa, you know how I feel about this. I have no real will towards her, but I'm not going to slow down for this. I agree. We've picked up four people that I don't even... We need to keep moving. I don't have time for this. And I think that's fine. Maybe perhaps we can let her know. She's like not in your shop. She told us not to wake her up. Perhaps...

we just leave a note. We let her know that she's supposed to scout. She's a scout, right? She doesn't need us with her. Fair enough. Do I hear any of this? Yeah. I'm letting everybody know. I took care of it. She's going to know. So she knows what she's doing. Yeah. You know she's fine.

Does she know where she's going to meet us? Yeah, does she know how to contact us? Did you think of any of this? You're uptight. You need to unwind a little bit. You're in Kirsten now. What's the name of the inn we'll be staying in? Could you just leave a note and we can just let her know, like, hey...

Oh, yes, that would be a brilliant idea, so that when somebody comes along and we have a letter that says, hey, you can find us here at this inn, they're like, oh, now I know it. Again, I hate to agree with Iris, but she's right. You hate to agree with Iris? He literally says that every time. We've been, you know, a little bit at odds here. Which is quite strange, considering the fact that I'm the only one that speaks sense. Again, I hate to agree, but... What is what I know about in town? What different inns would I know about? So you know that...

that you spend most of your time in the monastery, so you didn't spend too much time, but basically every time they would let you out to kind of go explore, that the town has a large number of taverns and bars, and so there's really no hotel. Every single tavern has like space, and it's always mainly a place of alcohol consumption, but they all have rooms, so. - Do we know if bugbears speak any other language other than common?

I would say you could probably assume that, that they're goblins, so you could put they're goblins. What language is that? Goblin. It is specifically goblin language. Okay. No good. And so you know that how many languages are the Holy Hop House, the Pink Elephant, the Rallian Stallion, Ripper Tingers...

And those are the four kind of main ones that you've been to and kind of poked your head in and done your shenanigans. So clearly the Reliant Stallion is going to be my favorite. Really? I thought that we were talking about the thing that's not in the room right now. I can't with you right now. I can't.

Okay. The what? The people. Yeah, so I will take you all. We'll go into town. I don't know if they'll have rooms available, but my favorite place. I'll take you all there, and we'll see if we can find some rooms. The point is we're not leaving her with any information. You don't worry about her. I'll find her when we're ready. We just met her. You really want to tell her where we're going to be? That's what I'm saying. You're so skittish all the time.

I hate to agree with her, but she's right. You are all scared. I don't think you have any idea the danger that we're all in. I think I'm probably the only one that does. So like I've said, we need to make a decision what we're going to do with this man. Interesting.

We're gonna keep Cammy and then we're gonna station her away. Let's go. Come on. She looks like she'll do the thing. We're not. We're gonna find a good station. We'll tuck him in the rocks. So, Luffy, please, lead the way. Let's go. Okay, so I will lead the way. Looking for a place to hide him. She's leading Jamie at the camp seat. Yeah, she told us how to wait here. Okay, so you all make your way. Um...

make your way through the, uh, out of the, this, this little, uh, crag and, uh, find your way back to the road. You continue your journey, uh, as soon as you kind of make your way to the road, clouds open up and it starts to rain. Uh, the rain stays pretty consistently heavy and it's kind of the, the, uh, Amos is kind of shaking more and more as the rain hits him. Apologies. And, uh, you,

are walking and continue on your way. And as you... Who's in order? I need to make a perception check, please. Uh-oh. I'm behind her. That's really bad. It's a nine. A nine. Who's in second? I would say, yeah, one of us two. I would say the first half of you. So Iris and...

- Ready on perception? - Yep. - Also a nine. - Oh lord, oh no! - 12. - 12, okay. So I'll say that Iris, you're the only one that noticed as it's kind of winding around, you hear the loud sound of, as you feel like you're getting pretty close, of marching

footsteps that seem to be coming in from the road up ahead as kind of a round event.

"Felix, darling, I know that you don't like me, but I'm hearing marching footsteps. Sounds like it could be an army or something worse. Maybe you want to jump in the foliage like you did when we met?" "Agreed, agreed, everyone, come on, let's take cover!" "Look when we met, or run!" And I pick him up and run off to the side. "I said emergency's over!" So Toad, you pick him up and run off with the rest of your group. "Oh wait, I hope who it is!"

Oh, I have one over one arm. Can I pick him over the other arm? I would say you could probably pick him. He's a ginormous giant. You could easily pick up the other one. Yeah.

All right. So once we get in there, I lean in towards Iris and I say, what did you hear? Did you hear any sort of marching orders? Anything? No, just the loud footsteps. I immediately thought of you and how paranoid you are. Is there any chance that I would know of any other opponents?

- I mean, like, is there any sort of internal? - Not this far into the country. - Right, so there's most likely, I would assume that is the Provocative Military. - Okay. - You said we're making stealth? - No, stealth. - Do I have to roll again? Oh, stealth, I'm sorry. - Oh, that's a beautiful one. - I got a 12. - You got a 23? - 14. - 14.

Uh, four plus seven is eleven. Eleven? I got that one. So, as you are all running to behind a large boulder off the road, you all dive behind it. And as you're kind of keeping your eye out, you see the tall banner.

the symbol of a legion's head on a black banner, a white raider on a black banner. I'm not going to say anything, but I'm going to look over at Felix and give him a knowing look. And you hear the footsteps, marching footsteps, louder and louder and louder, as you see probably about two dozen Korvahian soldiers. Is there any way for me to determine what kind of unit this is?

Based on patches, the call sign, whatever. Make an intelligence check. I'd love to. 18. 18. You would know that this is just a standard military...

The Talon. The Talon War. Not the Talon War, this is just the standard peacekeeping unit that kind of basically just makes their way around, protect the Talon villages from... So infantry. So they're just general infantry. And you do, however, see that there is one decorated commander, you recognize the rank, at the head of this.

seems to be an uber man probably in his early 50s who is in heavy, heavy armor. The rankings of a commander in blades and the ornateness of his armor definitely reflects his rankings.

as he's guiding them. Everyone is in silence as they are walking. And as you all kind of try to hide behind, you see him stop for a second and his neck just snaps in your direction.

and the younger man kind of walks behind him, "Something wrong, sir?" And then he turns and says, "No, I thought I heard something." And then he continues to march forward and-- - And I don't recognize this person? - No. - Okay. - Do we recognize any of them from coming in at port?

I would say it's pretty easy for you to tell that you wouldn't recognize this room. And they continue the way that you came, and you hear the and the sound of the marching footsteps fade, and something quieter turns in the shriveling rain.

So now, darling, whatever you have against me, you should probably put to the sergeant, I think. It's nothing personal. I just... I don't trust anyone, and I'm not going to begin to. The point is, I've warned all of you of this. If they find me, and I'm talking about me, Felix, and they recognize you as sheltering me, we're all dead. I'm letting you know that right now. It's Thomas...

You were Thomas, darling. At least keep alive. I know you're not all taking this seriously, but I'm telling you, you'll be charged with hosting and protecting someone who went AWOL. And there will be nothing that I can do.

So that's why he's always like this. Don't take any offense. You mean uptight? No, I was more speaking in the lines of every time he says, I hate to say it, but I agree with him. The only person that I trust here is Tala, and I make that more clear. I'm going to cut my hair. You're going to be the oldest and like the tallest. We have passed by the military and, you know, we've

problems maybe I should not worry so much great you're not me they probably recognize me on site it would be absurd if they didn't have any kind of wanted post nurse or anything why does they want you so bad I left I ran away I abandoned my post because I discovered what they were doing you don't just get to walk away from that when they know what I know why did you decide to put on a disguise

I say nothing. Okay. Oh, I've never met him. Okay, let's go. Look, we just try to be safe. And even if the toe breathing makes him mad. No, no, hold on. It's very reasonable. This place is very dangerous. And I think that he's being completely, completely understanding. Look, this whole continent, this whole country. The military is everywhere. We can't escape them. Ah.

The best we can do is hope to lie low and hope they don't find us. Because there's no running away. I mean, to be honest, I haven't seen much military in this area. Like, we saw a large number of military when we were on the coast, but it felt like they were like coalescing there and prepping for battle. To be fair though, have you been to any of the major cities in this region? Because we're heading to Kirchstein, which is a major city, between the more

unlikely there's going to be a large military presence, which then leads me to what the hell are you doing traveling to Kirstein if you're afraid of the military? None of your business. Is Kirstein... How big of a city is Kirstein? It's not a big city. I would say it's like a town. It's probably one of the more prominent cities

villages in the area. It's kind of one of the larger ones. There's the large exporter of barley and obviously a beer and horses here. I'm not going to get into details, but you know that I'm looking for my brother. And I believe that this town, after we've been traveling for months, is the best place to start looking for information. And again, you all accepted the danger of traveling with me when you asked me for my real name, that if the military catches us, we are all dead.

And I'm not responsible for it. I warned you all. As I've said many a time, when a newbush chooses to take my soul, it is his decision and not mine.

and then i will fight kicking in squeak so let's just try our best to lay low and avoid the military that we can because right now we can't a full we can't afford a full-on frontal assault we can't we need to avoid them the best we can but let's just let's just find a place to to stash this guy and and again toa i can't stress it enough i i give you full

you know permission to kill him if necessary and and and if we just split up i'm listen we haven't been apart for three months now three four months now and i'm not looking forward to the idea of us you staying here and me going into town i i trust no one other than you let's let's just like you said let's just find a place to put this guy and then we can discuss how we want to split the party as much as i i don't like it and it's fine whatever you're most comfortable with

- So, let's have Lufty will continue to guard us. So should we say, are we like there? - Well, I was saying you're back on the road. - Try to get to the outskirts of the town essentially and find a hobble to throw this guy in. - Okay.

So, you continue on your way, marching, and you pass the occasional farmer merchant kind of traveling along. You see basically entirely humans. You see the occasional rock gnome and people walking that you pass. And they kind of like look at your ragtag van and

And as you get closer, the terrain gets a little bit, it gets more and more hilly and rocky, and you're having to kind of take all these roundabout paths between, veering through the highlands.

and you kind of get the sense that you're actually moving up and up and up. And as you're going through, you see, you know, as you're going through, you see the occasional running of these wild birds of horses, and the occasional cry of a falcon, and obviously, even in this very few trees, you get a familiar croak of the ray of concept.

And as you're going higher and higher up, the road starts to narrow a little bit. As it kind of becomes more winding. And you start to kind of hear the...

It sounds like civilization. Thank God. I want to turn to Lufty and just say, do you know where you're taking us? Is there a safe place that we can leave this person? Yeah, it'd be fun. I may be able to offer help if we're shouting.

You know, if you want to keep an eye out, keep an eye out. But I know where I am. We're going to talk about it before we get to the gates, all right? Just let Luthi, when we're at the entrance, let me know so that we can pause and figure out what we're going to do with this guy and decide who's going to go into the town and who isn't. So I'm going to look for like an outcropping that I would know about. As you're walking through this path, as you kind of start to pass a bend up ahead of you,

the large wooden walls of Kirstine. You can kind of start to see that it's... Wooden walls? Wooden walls. Okay. Of Kirstine. As you can kind of see that this city, this town, seems to be built into, on like a tier of cliffs. As you walk through the river going right through, you see that the walls kind of continue on either side of this roaring river, a series of waterfalls.

You see the large gate up ahead, but it's far enough away. There's its altitude. You can kind of, you can see, get a good sense of it. You see,

shapes moving along the top of the wall. You would recognize these as kind of the general town log and the general centuries. And you can see that there are varying levels and you can kind of see just over the wall that familiar kind of dot at the very top of the town. Cloistered away from the rest, separated by the river, you see

monastery of Lachwarn where you were raised. And you... But we don't... She hasn't shared this with us. We just know she's from the town. And so you know that you are getting close and that you could probably go off to the side of the road, go along the river, find a bank, and stash the dude in some place safe. Okay.

So we found an outcropping. So yeah, you're able to kind of get the sense that there's some place off the road. And how far from the town gates are we? So you're probably another good 20 minute walk up the side of these highlands to the town. But it's like a little hidden. It is a little hidden village. And you

kind of get the sense why this is always number one in my heart

YSH Rock for so long that it's basically built into... You have just walked into a nap prop. Exactly what I love these stuff. And I'm rolling a perception check. Do I get, like, inspiration for paying attention? No, because I'm going to get it. No, are you okay? Oh! Wow! This is favoritism. I need something extra hard. Oh, and I rolled a 12! Woo!

That doesn't count, it doesn't count. It's not an attack, but it counts. Hold on, you may be on freak down. Blue. Why is that aggressive? This is very aggressive. 22 for perception. 22. So. I always give the littlest chips. As soon as you kind of walk into the ideal outcropping, you see a shape. Kind of

half behind a boulder. And you hear a voice call out, What the fuck took you so long? Oh my god. Are you trying to get out of our fucking deal? Oh my god. No, she told us that you had it all under control and then what's the deal? Is that you, Jammity? Is that Jammity? And you told us not to wake you up. Jammity walks out from behind the lock at the outgrowth and

And she says, well, I appreciate you didn't wake me up, but I just don't want you running out on a deal. And I figured, you know, I don't know what the hell took you so long. You must have taken the windy route instead of going straight on. No, no, I'm traveling with visitors. Following the road like someone doesn't know what the fuck they're doing. Well, you know, so don't know.

being here. I'm just taking the ways of the Taurus God. I'm not backing out on our deal. Okay. One good cask, six near casks. I'm bringing them to you, but you have to get on the information. So let's just clarify what you're doing. What were you under the impression of that you were going to do for us? I was going to lead you to Butcher the Bluff.

you want to leave that stuff which is black so so so here's the deal i i'm interested in going i want to learn more but we have business here in kirstein first that's fine i'm i have business here i have business with her being here in kirstein

You owe this fine lady... Four. ...books and scouting. Four. Taking us to Butcher's Bluff. I don't want to go to Butcher's Bluff. Well, I do. That is not the deal. That is the deal. That is the deal. And you get the information. No, no, no, no, no, no. You go to Butcher's Bluff and find Zian's information and then bring it back for me while I party in Kirsten. What happens if I'm interested in going?

That's on you. I think we should go if that's what they said before. That's part of the deal. To be fair though, darling, I was only half asleep at the time, but that is actually the deal she made. She specifically said I want to party while you're doing all this. Yeah, I was pretty clear that if I want to go to Fushtown, I don't want to muck around in Butcher's Bluff. Do you mind if I go with you? Toa will come too.

We can fight. We can take care of ourselves and there's potential information that I need. Why would you want to go there when you can't do it for us? Because I'm looking for my brother and I need to be there if we find him. Well, we're not sketchy pictures and everything. No, that won't do. I'm going along to find him. I ain't going with just the three of us who are planning on picking a fight. You don't understand what we can do. We're going full strong. And I'm sure that these two would be happy to come along.

What if your father's there? And what if you have something about family tree? I don't know what this feeling is, but it's like I kind of want to help them, but I don't know what that's like. It's like it's creeping in on me. To be honest, we were headed to Kirstein and we're investigating her dad. That's why we're here. I need to go into Kirstein as well, but then I'm saying I want to go to Butcher's Bluff. How far is Butcher's Bluff from here?

I'm willing to give at least a good three days. No, we're not going to do that. Can we go? Maybe in a day or two. Here's the plan.

- Jamothy, I apologize if I'm... - Jamothy? - Jamothy. - Jamothy, that's my cousin, Jamothy. - Right, it's a name that rings a bell, but neither here nor there. The point is, we need to procure... Lufty's part of the deal. She has to get the booze. - Let me say that well. The deals that I made did not involve me going to Portugal. - You don't have to go. - If... - You get her the alcohol and I'll go. - You are making me mad now. - Fine.

It's not fine. It doesn't seem like it's fine. I don't understand what's so hard to understand here, Toa. I don't want to go... I don't want to go three days off. We're not going out of the way. We're dealing with what we have to in Kirstein first.

And then, regardless of whatever you do, I'm going with the bugbear and I'm going to... It sounds like the only way you're going with the bugbear is if Lufty goes into that monastery. I'll do what I have to do to get there. And it sounds like Lufty's not going to do that unless you calm your tits, darling. And you let those...

Yeah, buddy. Hakuna goes kata. We've got a deal. Thank you. We have a deal, and the deal was booze for going. The deal was that she would do this for a certain thing. Right, and if I accompany Jammity on the expedition, I'll go. I'll go where I want to. Listen to what Jammity said. She said she's not going with just the two of you. So right there, you're already fucked. The deal is broken. So if we're all going, it's a lesser feeb.

I will get you one good cask and, you know, one bottle of something else. That wasn't the deal. Can I get another cask? Cask and cask. One bad, one good? I think it's really good. That was pretty laid out at six and one. One ninety. That was a high roll.

What's my end of the bargain? I don't have a lot to fucking claim. The bargain is that if we all have to go with you, you get one good cask and one bad cask for leading us out. I was going to give you much, much more, but that, you know, depended on me not having to go the fucking butcher's block. I'm telling you, I don't know what, therefore he was fucking taking me.

I believe it, but I am only making this deal on behalf of my competitors. I think what she's saying is that it's very dangerous to go alone, so she can't... That's right, we're going to pick a fight, right? You're missing the point. The point was, whoever's half asleep, I still remember it.

deal was that Lutti didn't have to go, so this bugbear was going to make the trip for that alcohol, so we didn't have to go. Now this bugbear is here asking for alcohol, but also wants us to accompany him. So the price of our services is less alcohol. It was a misunderstanding. We've now cleared it up. You're going to give her one cask, one good cask, one regular... One cask and one assailant and one schmuck from wherever I found it. Alright, we don't got any other better fucking hot bags. That is right.

Well, I'll do it. That's fine. All right. I mean, everybody needs a fucking drink. Mickey, can you pass me some?

Is that okay with you? I'm following the bugger of the Fair, regardless. I don't care what the deal is. If she's going to Butch's Block, I'm following. No, wouldn't the only way she's going to Butch's Block is if he provides alcohol? Which again, was the deal. An addendum to our deal. You stay here. And watch this forming goat man. And I will add in two more casks. One good from the monastery, and one bad.

How about another two bad and one good? Nine, I've stated my deal. Two good casks from the monastery and two bad casks from wherever. Ooh, that's bad. Do I have like guidance or something that I can give you? It's five. Hold on, hold on, let me see. It's such a good deal, come on! I'm gonna, before, I'm gonna give you guidance. Is that okay? Because I was looking it up, so...

So with Guidance, you get to roll a d4 and add the number if you choose to. One. It's always a one. Yeah, it really is always a one. Oh, man. Hashtag last. It's a three. So what was it? Eight. Persuasion or persuasion? No, you said persuasion. So five plus three is an eight, yeah.

I'll tell you, I mean I'm happy, I appreciate the two cats, but I think an extra, how hard is it to get an extra cat? Fine, I'll stay with it, and then she only gets one and one. I'll go two. No, hold on, hold on, hold on. What's the best offer you can give? Two and two. I assume it's a perception check. Perception? Persuasion. Ah.

No, but only doing it for one. What was it, one and one?

Two and two. Two and two. We were extending that. You stayed with this creature. You said no to that deal. So we won't accept it. I will stay with that creature and you'll get two and two. I wouldn't leave a drunk with him anyway, so I'm not quite sure. That's the smart thing. I was going to say, I don't know what you were thinking with that wham, but I was going to do it. Okay, that's fine.

And the question is, who's gonna stay with... I literally just said I'm going to stay with him. No, but I mean, who else? You can't stay by yourself. We're taking him to Kirstein. No, we know we are not. Not until we at least find that someone can help. Because we are not going to cause a panic. We're not going to take this gold man in and attack Vampire City. Absolutely, we are not risking innocent lives. We're taking him at Kirstein, might be a better way to say it. We're going to leave him, we're just outside, we're keeping his ass out, Poppy. However...

We're going to Kirstein for a specific reason. You guys can go nuts or whatever you want to do, but I am on my way to Kirstein. Agreed. I'm going with you. Also, you have to understand that I have very specific reasons that I'm here, and this innocent soul is just because I'm trying to do something good, but this is not my main focus. Okay.

It just sounds like you guys were detouring really hard. No. I just wanted to make sure that we were on the same page. And the only reason I'm going to Butcher's Block is because I believe that's going to give me more information about my brother. Then that's great. So, here's the thing. Aros had originally suggested that me and her, that she and I stay behind and

I'm fine to do that. I know that you... I don't like it. I'm sorry to interrupt. I'm sorry to interrupt, Noah. Did you ever tell me your determination as to whether or not two dogs could be considered a pet? No one ever told me this! And we never had a philosophical discussion after this. Noah, this is the time. No, hold on. Can we take 12 minutes to discuss this? I mean, as soon as we get to a place where we can sit down and have a drink, we are going to talk about that for about an hour. This is my issue with this entire thing.

We all came here for psychic reasons. And for some reason, Felix's reason, seems to trump everybody else's. No, I'm doing my own thing. She tried to force Luffy into doing his vision. Well, she's trying to waltz on her bed, but neither of you know that. Well, she's not, because this woman is trying to bring it on her bed. It was one in six, is what we had decided on. That's all I'm saying. A completely separate thing. No, disagree. She's going to go to Butch's Bluff, and I was going to follow along. That's all.

At the end of the day, she's not going unless we all go, which means that all of us are forced to go if you get to go. Didn't hear that. All I heard was that she was going to do her thing and I was going to follow along. It has nothing to do with teamwork. There's nothing to do with that. Her literal words were, I'm not going to go unless I have all of you there. No, her words were, I'm not going with the three of us.

Didn't say all. So then what are you going to do with just the three of you then if she's not going? I'm not worried about it. Towa and I have survived by ourselves for months. This isn't anything new. Then my vote is I'm not going, so... You don't have to go. I don't think that's required. Why don't we take a few days? I think you should say that I'm not going to deliver you any alcohol because...

And then again, waltz on your back, that's fine. You can choose to follow through with what I ask you to. You're going to party. No, the fact is, we were going to party. We were finally getting to Kirsten. I could stay in a nice bedroom. I didn't have to sleep on her back for the entire night. And now all of a sudden we're being traipsed about to some place called Butcher's Bluff.

That sounds terrible. Why would I want to do that? Well, the whole point is that it sounds like that's the secret. If you care about this guy and you care about this disease affecting this entire area... It doesn't sound like they do. I care about not bringing this disease to this town. I care to be home, but I haven't been home for a while. You're the one that decided to spare his life, drag him all across...

the countryside, make a detour to a bugbear, release it, kill an ettin. Now we're here trying to pay off this bugbear to do something we...

Actually didn't agree to do it. When I'm so close to home, you want me to turn around and go to butcher's block? No, no one's asking that. And then we're completely ignoring Caprice and Herrscher who are saying we have things to do here. No, we're trying to say, let's take some time in the town. Agreed. And then we'll all go together once you get the alcohol. Or not. We'll hang out. We can take turns. I'm not going to lie to you. The attitude of your friend, Terrell, makes me not want to have anything to do with him. Part of me wants to go, excuse me.

Excuse me, military. We have a runaway. I dare you. Let's see what happens. I dare you. Yeah, good luck. Good luck with that. You'll never see me again, which is fine. Oh, I'll find you 100%. Good luck. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Come on. Good luck with that. We all have the same goal in mind. We're all good people. And we're all trying genuinely at least prevent bad things from happening to us. I don't think that's the truth.

What do you mean? What do you think the truth is? I think the truth is that every single person here is acting on their own selfish needs and nobody's thinking about everyone else. The fact that we even went to Miss Crosscrossing should prove that that isn't true! Like I said, we can agree to disagree.

What purpose? None of us had to go, right? We went. We went there. We investigated. We killed bad guys. Yes, and our mission was then to bring this gentleman back to Kirstein so that we could provide them with some way to potentially cure this. And now all of a sudden we're all being told that we have to go to Britches Block. No one's asking you to go to Britches Block. Not a single person is asking you to go to Britches Block. So we're just saying, well, it takes some time. We're going to give you a home.

And at least some of us, at least two of us, perhaps four of us, who knows, will accompany you and if we're not going to pick a fight, how about this? If it's just the two of us, then... We'll scout with you. We'll just scout. We're not going to pick a fight. We're going to be stealthy, run along... Okay, if you're done with that, I'm just here and I'm out of a job. Agreed. I'm not sure what the confusion is here. We had a deal for booze and scouting and I'm going along and that's it.

- Fine by me, I think everyone needs a drink. I got a few extras. - Yeah, I'll take one there. - Okay, there's a little short stack here, there you go. - Okay, I'm fine for it, I'm not short stack, but thanks. - I mean, I got like two feet on you. - Well, whatever, you're not that tall.

Okay.

So Gemini is willing to sit here and wait. Agreed. Sitting around and drinking face off is what I do then. But you're still missing my point. We still have to send people into Kirchstein. We have to have people waiting outside with this Gemini. Correct. So what is your plan? What is the purpose of going to this place? I want to sit here and wait. Everybody else, you get your night in and in. You can get your home. What are you going to do if he scratches you or if something happens? I'm going to kill him.

But there's no one... She wants the booze. And she's a drunk. I guarantee the moment she falls asleep... I'll be fine. I promise. I'll be fine. Like I said, I'm not leaving her. I don't trust anybody with him alone. Agreed. I trust Toa alone, but that's it.

And I'm happy to stay alone with this guy and Gemini, Gemini, you- But you're still not letting me get to my point. What is your plan? We brought him here. That was our plan. We were then going to go off on our separate ways and do our things. Now, we're all roped together to go to this butcher's block. What is the end game?

Someone needs to go in there and find either a cleric, go to the temple, go to any kind of wizardry or something. I'm asking what is our endgame for going to this butcher's love place? I'm going to find my brother. Information on my brother. That's it. Our understanding is that they are taking people there and sacrificing them. This may involve the military. This may be where the military is taking these young children. That sounds awful. But now this deal that I've made, you know, I can't just...

walk up into the monastery and walk out with a cuss. That's not how it works. It takes time. Maybe you don't cash checks that your butt, you don't bounce a check that your butt can't cash. Maybe you don't cash in on the checks that I cash. Or I write, or whatever. If this woman is headed to Butcher's Bluff, then I'm following. That's all that matters. Other than that, I'll find my own way. But she's only heading there with the booze that I bring her. So I would make more sense to come and help me get the booze and then bring it to her and then we all go together. Listen, listen, I,

I'm not opposed to helping you. I'm saying I don't know anything about this monistical, okay? If there's something that I can do to help you fulfill your bet, then fine. But don't promise something if you're going to then turn around and tell me that you can't do it. I did not say that, but I think that this is a waste of your time and my efforts. You sit in a cave while I do all the work. I have things that I need to do in Kirstein. There's a reason that Toa and I came to Kirstein and we're going to follow it through. I'm going to cast Silence. Silence.

- Everybody's silence. - I mean, is this the kind of, is that the kind of thing where we know we're silenced? - Yeah, I think that no sound can get in front. - Evan, I'm gonna start circling and patting the ground and I'm just gonna curl up. - I'm gonna leaf towards Kirstein.

I'll just sit there and wait. Would I be aware of the range or do I just talk until I walk and then make noise? It's a what, 20 foot? Yeah. So once I'm out of range, I'm going to turn back towards Toad and say, hey, Toad. He won't be able to hear you inside of it. It's silence. I'll motion regardless. I'll talk in motion. I'll leave the silence and I'll take it.

Listen, it's been three, four months now since we've been traveling. 120 feet. I don't want to leave. I'm not comfortable leaving you alone. So I'm going to, and Beatrice will come out of my coat, I'm going to say, Beatrice will stay with you. She's good at watching, looking. All right, all right.

Use her. And I hate to do this, to leave, but if I don't come back... If I don't come back, you need to burn the book that I gave you. Burn it. Don't let that fall into anyone's hands. Alright. Just like we planned, I will stay right here. Be sure to keep an eye out for me. You can always send her back to me. Alright. If you need to relay a message. Alright. Um...

And I'll be very careful. I'll let Beatrice know if there's any danger, and she'll obviously let me know. Is there anything in Kirstein that you'd like me to do on your behalf? Um, well, perhaps... Uh... Just... Maya, she's not alcohol. Maya!

Well, uh... Just keep an eye out for any top spirits. Because I'm mainly here for you. I'm here to help you. I'm more... I'm more lost in my journey. I'm just looking for information at this point. Anything about spirits or... Well, listen. If we're going to try to solve the problem with this person...

I'm gonna talk to some wizards, and then maybe they will know, you know, about these spirits. Is there anything I need to know about the spirits? Just... If there's a way... Just anything about... Out of character. What do I know specifically... I guess...

Can you tell me what I would know to think to ask Felix? Right. I'm looking for slightly more detail so that if I meet a wizard or something, a prophet. I would say you know the four wind spirits that correspond to four different animal totems, which would be the boar, the turtle, the shark, and the moa. Boar, turtle, shark, boar,

And moa? What's a moa? Oh, it's a bird. Yeah, it's like an axe beak almost. Four wind spirits, okay. And that's pretty much what I know about, right? I don't know anything else. And what do you want me to ask about these things? Just if there's a good word that there's something in this land...

Has the power to either silence or abduct or even kill these kinds of spirits? I don't know what's happening. All right, but something's happening. Something's different. And I'm trying to figure out what that is. I will, listen, I'm going to find a wizard, a mystic, something that may be able to talk about transmutation magic. And I'll ask about these spirits. I'll do the best that I can. And again, if there's any trouble at all, tell Beatrice to find me. And I will rush right back. I want that.

She'll be my arse. So don't you worry. We'll take care of everything here. You find your brother. Enric, something happens to me, you burn the book. That's it. Of course. Right. Thank you. Are you still in silence? Silence is off. Oh yeah. Okay. Jannetty just sat down and pulled out a flask and is just like looking around at all of you. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Thank you.

We keep adding the ground and just... I'm gonna start walking towards Kirsten. Okay. I'm going to start following her and I'm going to just sort of give an arm up and be like, hey, we need to make our way to Kirsten. But you hear nothing because you're in silence indefinitely. Okay.

It's the offer of the arm, that's it. Can I interpret based off of Lumi, I'm so sorry. Lufti. Lufti and Capricci moving towards. But I feel like I can also mean that they're moving towards. Yeah, they tell you, yeah, you can probably get it. I silently hook my arm excitedly through Capricci's and I say...

All of you are out of the silence, except for the two of you that are-- - Oh, well, then I'm-- - Well, now you eventually leave. - Thinking I'm still in silence. - You now, four of you basically walk together, the three of you walk together. - Yeah, no, let's make our way, shall we? - I'm saying. - On the Iris and Tell path. - Iris and Tell. - And then we make our way. - I wanna find my dad. - Yeah, no, I'm-- - I'm gonna shout back at Iris and then Iris can't hear me.

I'm going to miss you! You see that I'm just like playing in the dirt. She's very un-ironic. Rolling on your back. Doing the scraping, like the scraping poop motion. I finally was sand. This has been too much. I hate that sand. So, you guys, Felix is probably about probably like

100 feet ahead of you. You can see him kind of following Amon. Where did we leave Amon? He's with me and Koa. Yes. In the outcrop thing. So we would feel comfortable leaving. That's the idea. It's off the road. It's a kind of safe spot, right? Yeah. Thank you.

So yeah, you're basically on the side of this roaring river and you see that there's a series of waterfalls that are crashing down as you make your way. And so basically you're kind of behind this little outcropping, this little rocky alcove. We were able to kind of hide in there, the three of you.

And once again you see Jamedy kind of like point at Amos in the silence and just say like... And she pulls out a water skin and goes to the stream and fills it up. And she like grabs his face and like pries it open and it's the same result of him just like sputtering and like... He's just kind of struggling and then she just shrugs and goes back down and drinks.

not seeming to be bothered. So, as you're all approaching, you kind of all see that there are, there's not many people kind of coming and going, but you see a large, let me see what this music's like. - Okay, I think I have three more. - So, we have to go back to,

Germany, unless it's some craft work. And so you're all, so basically you see a large wooden gate, and as soon as you all approach, you kind of all have to stop all at the same point. The rest of you catch up with Felix as you hear kind of some shouting. As you see this large, tall wooden gate, probably looks about like 20 feet tall.

and there seems to be some structure behind it where, of course, some sentries are walking back and forth along this wall. You kind of hear that loud roaring of the waterfall next to you. And they say, oh, they seem fine. And they just take a look and say, yeah, sure. And then you hear...

And then a large wooden gate slides open, and you step in to Kiersan. I'm leaving the way, I'm flagging. As much as I can keep to the front of this group, I try to keep to the front of that group as we go.

Okay, so like Caprice is kind of like jaunts up ahead and just kind of is just swaggering about as all of these you see a town that seems to be um, it looks like it would have, oh, let me go to my Kierstein playlist. There's a playlist! It's almost like it's like a little BG. Ooh.

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