Beneath Dark Wings | Ep. 22 | Hoot and Holler: Part 2
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Welcome to Legends of Avantris. I'm Mikey Gilder and you're listening to Beneath Dark Wings. Here's what happened last time. You arrive at a small hatch that is swung open and you can see the darkened canopy of the forest. Garden of Newl. It's where the worshippers of Garrix...

reside she opens up her paw and you see that there is a beautifully crafted pendant i want to help these people i i just don't want to commit genocide to do it we are blindly trusting someone we know has been seen that's not for me to understand when you choose to take a life

You cannot use ignorance as a reason for taking the wrong way. So I think our objective was to find out more about the wind spirits, the dukes.

potentially being held captive by the Okaksan court, we don't know. But I agree, hopefully we don't have to burn this whole place down. I think that'll only cause more bloodshed. What business do you have in the Garden of Renewal? You have not earned yet the power of flame, the power of fire. You must prove that your hearts are made of fire, and you must swear to use it to destroy the evil.

You have all been granted the power of flame. Now see if you can temper it. See if you can control it. Can you resist the power of fire? I mean, everyone in the constitution saving throw as the flame intensifies and you feel a warmth come over you as the

the golden red fire shines down and fills you with once again more warmth and more power. And that original orb, Swarming, dissipates for just a moment and you're all in the lake. - So, you all are now standing.

at the center of the Garden of Renewal, at the central grove, as the golden red flame that had been raging above you, and on either side in the form of two draconic shapes, has all dissipated into nothingness. The ashen remains on the charred grounds, and where the remnants of those draconic creatures now is, you start to see movement beneath the soil.

and you see sprouting green plants rising up until these just small little saplings appear. At the center, that small sapling you had seen now stands about four inches taller and is sprouting a few more leaves than it had been previously. Hmm.

As the calm settles, you feel that power instill within you, granting you level 8. You hear the voice no longer booming, but coming from central point, from the treeline, as you see Ulfax step out. His lantern raised. "Well done. You've exceeded my expectations and gained the right to wield the power

of the Fire Lord himself. He steps forward and shines the light on all of you. You intend to take this to the Okaxian port itself, yes? Something's the plan, I suppose. That was what originally Farnox had wanted. Yeah, that was his idea. Do you know how to get there? I mean, up there?

I am not one for infiltration into their great treetop cities. We work on the ground below, in the bushes and the underbrush. But this one here, and he points to heart, she has been to their cities, to their town. She's climbed and scaled, but she should know where to go.

and how to infiltrate best. And you see that Heart looks a little nervous as she kind of rubs the back of her head and says, "Well, I mean, it was only one time and it wasn't even close to K'Liri. It wasn't close to the capital at all, but I did find out a few things." "It's incredible. So you have inside information?" "Well, I wasn't sure if it'd be relevant, but I

I heard of a black market dealer who sells transmutation. The ability to turn yourself into a noble Aarakocra and forge an identity for yourself. The lower born go to him to potentially try to get a new life.

Wait, are you suggesting that these changes are permanent? I don't think so. I think that they're for Aarakocra that want to lie and seek their way into higher society. What a terrible existence to constantly have to keep up some kind of transmogrification. That's how they do things up there. I suppose perhaps even being local-born up there is just as bad as living down here.

It's definitely not just as bad. At least bad. Not good. Not great, anyway. Perhaps less bad, but still not good. She looks at you. Very confused. I... I don't really care why they go to this... to this spellcaster. Why they use his services, but...

What I care about is... is maybe how we could use it. Fair enough. It'd be a lot easier to get into C'lyri itself if... if we had disguises that weren't just illusions. Oh, there's not a chance I'm turning myself into a bird. Yeah, I'm with you. We are going to have to find a different course of action. We are both. That is a great deal. Lord Hacker. Just as we are. Why not?

Quite literally not happening. I eat birds, I'm not a bird. You won't actually be a bird. You'll still be... It's very temporary. You'll just look like a bird. I am the daughter of the Pharaoh of Sikhet. If you think I'm going to let some strange transmutation weirdo turn me into a bird creature, you are sorely mistaken. It won't last forever. I bet he likes birds. Well, I'm not willing to roll the dice on it. Does he like birds? Who? Who?

The great Pharaoh of Sarkat. - That is? - Yes, does he like birds? - There are certain birds. There are falcon-headed gods. - Well, perhaps you could be one of those. - I'm a tabaxi. - I'm just saying, for this very temporary way to get in, and perhaps if we do this, we won't have to burn things to the ground. - Oh, no. - It would be like wearing a costume. - No.

Perhaps we just go to this guy and see what he's got and see if he's got... No, well... Maybe he has different skills.

For what? Anything. I don't know. It sounds like somebody I'd like to meet, to at least talk to him for a little bit. No, of course we should meet him, but I will not turn myself into a bird. There's quite literally nothing you can say to him that's me. Welp. Anubis himself would have to walk in front of me and said, you will be a bird. Could you perhaps ask him to say that? I'm not going to ask him permission to be a bird. He would have to want to.

It would have to be so important to him that he would appear in front of me in all of his godly glory and tell me to do it for me to do it. How crazy would it be if he just appeared right then and there and told her to do it? When suddenly... Can he do that? I don't know. I'm not really much about that. You know I can hear everything you say. But I still thought it would be pretty funny.

Well, I think that you should lead us to this guy. And we should at least see what he has to sell. Perhaps he has an invisibility potion for us. I agree. I agree. I definitely want to meet this potion for the rest of us. Or scrolls, even. We might be able to purchase some things and copy them into our spellbooks permanently. I mean, my spellbook. I mean, just see what he has to offer. Well, I mean, I think if a bunch of us, not being Aarakocra, just show up, he's...

We're gonna have to be really persuasive. We have to get to him. How do we get to him? You have to... have to find him in his treetop town. Oh boy. Well that does complicate things a little bit. Yeah. Well, um, I'm good at climbing. So is Arus. I can float. She can float. I can float too.

I can't do any of that. I can float better. You probably can float better. I'm not willing to have this debate right now. Okay, that's good. I am not going to be a bird. Well, that's fine, but could you perhaps help Hart with...

With maybe going up there and... Yeah, no one will make you be a bird. You say that with a look in your eyes. You've got to find a way to make me a bird. Iris, you should know me better by now. That is exactly why I made the statement. I would never, I would never make you do anything you didn't want to do. Ever. Do not trust your feelings.

Fair enough. But I do appreciate the gumption in which you are trying to convince me to do this. Heart, I will help you. I will not be a bird. We understood? How can... Felix? Understood? How's everyone at climbing? They're not. But I probably could carry someone who's light atop my back if they held on tightly. Well, if they float, you could just tie a rope to yourself and... Well, it's less like floating and it's more falling like a feather.

So it's not like the levitate spell, like she can do. Yeah, so you're saying that you can't float? Not yet, no. I see. No, that's not something I learned to do. I could probably climb fine. I mean, I can climb okay, you know. I could tie myself to Felix to make sure it doesn't fall. What, like, you're just gonna, like...

I mean, I can climb a tree. I mean, I climb palm trees. I start flipping through my spell book and I like turn away from the room. I climb the rigging of my boat. I can climb. I mean... I have some climbing gear in my pack. I don't need it. Well, I think I might have climbing in a pack that I have. Maybe that we got when we first started all this.

- We have like, explorers packs, right? I think I have an explorers pack. - There's a kite here in the desert. - I just have rope, yeah. - I only have rope. - I don't have pitons. - Pitons? - I don't know, Renee. How do you pronounce that? Pitons? - Piton. - See? There you go. - Piton. - I have no idea.

It's a little jabby thing that you... Like a stake? Yeah, with the ring on the end. I know what you're talking about. You can do the old railroad stake. Rope around the tree and then... And then jump. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That old thing. Do I have a magical rope with any cards? Nope. Well, actually, I don't know. I don't know why I said no. Nope, you don't. Oh, man.

I don't. So at this point, Hart puts away her pack and says, "Well, I think if we all work together and we're extra stealthy about it, I think I know a way. This is an area that is more where a lot of the lower born Aarakocra live. It's a lot less patrolled. It's still going to be really dangerous."

But it's where the black market is and it's called Boo Box. Boom Box? Well, not an M, no. Well, it's another one we should have looked in the mirror before we said it. Can you spell that for us? B-U-B-O-X. Oh. Oh, the Boo Box play. Let it go. Let it go.

I've been up there once and I poked around. It's gonna be a couple days from here. Up, up, up. Climbing? Straight up? No, to where it is and then we have to climb. I mean those trees are really tall. I just got worried for a minute. It's gonna take a while. But the further we get away from Kaliri, the safer we are. That's fine by me. I trust your expertise. So you'll be going away from Kaliri by traveling in this direction? Yes.

Alright, well, lead the way. I think I'm ready to go, and I can get all my stuff. Um... Is, uh... What's his name? Ulfax. Is Ulfax still there? Yeah. Is there anything else we should know before we leave, or anything we should take with us? Yes, you should take the Power of the Firewood. We have spent years collecting it. Come. Oh. I thought this was more of like a...

Like a... Like a metaphor. Yeah, you did it. Kind of a thing. Yeah. Right. Yeah. The power of the Fire Lord is not metaphorical. I didn't know. Why don't you take us to whatever you're referring to is... Come. And...

And he leads you out of this grove. And with his lantern held high, he guides you through the winding, fervid garden until you see a large tree towards the back of this garden. And there is a large hollowed-out hole that is bored deep into the tree, and it's

very dark as he approaches it. He shines the light and casts this reddish-golden light across it. And you see that there are stacks and stacks of these pallets with jars shimmering. And there's this thick, viscous black liquid in each of them. This here...

When you arrive at C'lyri, use this. Cast it as much as you can, and then set it aflame. It will burn it all down with the power of the Firelord, the power of Dragon's Fire. We've spent hundreds of years collecting this. How much should we take? As much as you can carry. What is it? 'Tis the oil of the Edelwoods. It will ignite Dragon's Fire, blessed by Garrix himself.

Be very far away when you ignite it.

lest you be caught up in the power itself. - We can take as much as we can carry. How much do you think I can physically carry without it being ridiculous? - Yeah, that was gonna be my question. How much do you think we can each carry? - I mean, you can carry a lot. I mean, the Bag of Holding is obviously very, there's a ton that you could fit in there. You could probably fit all of it into the Bag of Holding if you wanted to. - Do we have a Bag of Holding? - I don't think we have one. - Yeah, you do. - Yeah, we do. - Yeah, that's right.

Oh, that's right, we have a Beggar Folder! Can you spell Edelwood Oil? E-D-E-L-W-O-D-E-L. Okay. E-D-E-L. We're A's this whole time, like... Do you want to just put it all in, or should we all be holding some? I'll just worry that it'll ignite unintentionally. In the Beggar Folding, it's at least, like, safe in their separate plane. What do we have in there? I didn't even know we had this bag. That's true.

Do we have anything in there? I don't think we have anything. I think it's entirely... This is perfect! We have an empty bag of holding to keep all of this! That's true, because if it goes boom, there's nothing in there. It's a hundred years worth of Firelord powers, oils, and we can put it all in the bag of holding. Yeah, you definitely don't want to get that on you. How do you milk a tree with oil? Is the milking process? You tap it. You mill it. Oh.

Maple woods. Syrup. Hundreds of years in the making. It's a lot of wood. How is this different from normal oil that you would use to ignite stuff? It is an order of magnitudes more flammable. It will catch and grow and spread like wildfire. It has the power, the magical power of dragon's fire. It cannot be suppressed once lit.

Well, this sounds like exactly what we've needed. Thank you for collecting this for the last hundred years. I certainly hope we don't mess it up. Yeah. And can we take all of it? I think if we could... Let's try to fit it all in.

I start loading it in the bag of holding, if you're fine with that. Make a dexterity check with advantage. Oh no. We're good. The gold, maybe. 23. 23, I'd say it takes you about an hour to basically fill the bag of holding to where you feel like it'd be comfortable. And you basically have, I guess this is a climate-controlled storage room in the bag of holding. Exactly, right? Yeah. And there's no air in there. No.

Even better. There's no error. And so you basically have a... Physically cannot ignite. It cannot ignite. Like magic dragon fire. Well, I mean, that would be up to Mike, right? That would be up to Mike. Yeah. Hopefully we don't have to ever answer that scientific question. I'm going to say no. We'll say for all intents and purposes, no. But...

You manage to load all of these crates, or these pallets, and you see that there is a hatch, a thick wooden hatch at the bottom of this tree. And Ulfax seems to make no mention of it, but it seems to go down into the earth. You're not sure how much more may be in there. But Ulfax turns to you and says,

Do not use it carelessly, or you will ruin your mission and all surely perish. Well, we will use it very wisely, and we won't use it until we're meant to. Agreed. Trust us. And should you fail, we have waited this long, we can wait again. But if I saw you in the fire, it was for a reason. Burn it.

Burn it down. Burn it to the ground. Break the chains with holy fire. We will. I wish you well. Thank you, and we won't let you down, and we'll make sure to use this effectively. Do I get the sense when he says "break the chains" he is not referring to the Unchained God? Make a insight check.

Twelve. Twelve? Seems like he's talking about everything you've been talking about. Seems fine. Seems fine. As... As he... He nods and says, You, as long as you stand beneath the flame and beneath the shadow of Garrix the Fire Lord, you're welcome in the garden. Thank you. But I hope the next time we meet...

It is amidst the ashes of our oppressors. Alright! He turns, and without another word, he just walks off. He parks that middle grove, and disappears. That guy is really, really intense. Agreed.

So can we go out of here? Can you lead the- do you know the way from here? I think I can get- I think I can get a handle of my bearings here. We should probably get going as quickly as possible then. Okay.

Let's go. Let's go. And, um, she, uh, she guides you out of the garden, and you see the, that, that warm firelight, uh, disappear behind you, the second you penetrate that, that thick ring of trees. And once again, the sound gets muffled and dampened, and there's nothing left but the, the ashy, gray, um, boughs, or enda and, and trunks of these trees.

as you see once again the faces emerge, and it's not much longer until you arrive back at where you're out into the forests of Erios. Let me change my music here.

So how will you guys travel to where you are going? Are you going to travel as much as you can? Are you going to travel by day, travel by night?

I was just going to say, it seems like we should go travel during the day, hide at night. I would agree with that. Yeah, I think it would make sense to sleep and rest and watch like we would normally at night and under the cover of the watchful eye of the Eerios and move as much as we can unhindered during the day. Would be what I would say. Out of character.

Well, it is what it is.

Okay, let's go. So, uh, let me get a group stealth check, please. A group stealth check. Yikes. Not bad. Can I twist that shit? Yeah. I got a 14. I got a 15. It should be a 12.

I got a 22. 22. I got a 19. 19. 6. 6? Even with the twist? I rolled a 1 with the twist. Whoops. Wow. Wow. Felix, what do you have? Oh, I got a 14. 14. Okay. So, you travel.

for about a day and a half so you'll enjoy the benefits of a long rest. Oh yeah. You camp out and your heart leads you

through the underbrush and beneath the huge boughs, you see once again the huge shapes of the giant owls, and you see occasionally the regiments of flying Aarakocra. And it seems to get less and less the further away you get from the capital city of Ciliri. However, every day that goes by, the storms

come out more often. Sometimes, um, they last for hours as the wind howls and the rain drips down and booms over you, the thunder. And, uh, it's... And it seems like every single storm that

that comes, it gets wetter and wetter as if more and more rain is pouring down on top of this massive forest of giant trees. And it is on this, on the second day of travel that you... So on the second day of travel that you...

You're traveling through the Underbrush, Heart is continually looking around, and I am going to need... You are in a very small narrow path. It's probably an Elk path. Very narrow, there is enough space for you to all walk almost in single file.

As you continue your way through the underbrush, it's been relatively quiet. You just have your mission. The Bag of Holding has allowed you to move about unimpeded of all of these jars of oil. And at this point, it is about midday, and you haven't seen a lick of any owls, any Aarakocra at all.

And as you feel like you're basically out of the woods here, and you really feel like you're making great progress, anyone make a perception check for me, please? Perception? 14. I am not perceptive. Lied. I lied. Yeah, 16. 16? Give me the follow. Thank you so much for the follow, Den Max. Much appreciated. 15. 15.

- 21. - 21. - 21. - Just barely, Iris and Lufthansa, as you're making your way through, there is, you hear a very, very faint snapping of twigs and you see a very faint rustling of movement and the glimpse of brown fur on either side of this trail. - Did you see that dog?

- A brown thing. - Yes. - Okay, cool. - Yes. - What is it? - A brown thing. - I stop and look around, not having seen what I've seen. - There's something around us. I don't know what it is. - I'm gonna cast Mage Armor on myself. - What is it? - And as you say that, suddenly you see just hatchets fly in from every which direction.

as you realize that you have not been as careful as you could have been.

and suddenly axes fly in every which way. And I roll for initiative. As you see, a number of bugbears appear. Natural 20. You got a natural 22? Oh, a 20 and a 19. Wow. Natural 3. Natural 2. I have a 23. I'm going to last. Oh, peaches! And...

- You see these bugbears emerge and it's very, you've met a bugbear, you gathered, you traveled and adventured with a bugbear for a long time, but these look gaunt.

almost rail thin, starving. Their faces are sallow and sunken in. Their fur is patchy. As you see that they emerge from the brush on either side, having flung axes at you. But thanks to Lufty and Iris' big

barely noticing them. They do not get a surprise round, which gives them some extra benefits. - Would they have gotten a surprise round? - They would not have. So they did not enjoy the surprise round because of that. - Because of Dakota?

- Because you wouldn't be able to be surprised. - You can't be surprised. - Well, anyone within 30 feet of me can't be surprised. - Oh, so they would not have been surprised anyway, I suppose. - As long as I'm cautious. - Oh yeah, yeah. So, but they did not get the jump on you. - A brick flies out, knocks her unconscious, and they're well surprised.

- Mike is now gonna knock you unconscious every time. - Hey, you know, 21 was enough. 21 was enough as bugbear ambushers fly at you and there is something interesting about them. They all have these heavy nets and shackles and their eyes are all wild looking at the group of you and they all seem to be looking at one of you in particular.

They also need to be looking at Lufty. No! Not my precious rainclap! Okay, so 20 to 25. Holy shit. 23. 23, okay. I think he got a 24. Oh yeah, 24. 24. A 23. Do we have a map so we can see? Yes, we do. I'm just trying to see...

i believe it's this one yep okay there you go do you want to do battle map yeah keep it here i guess we can do that um so you guys place yourself just whenever marching order it's not a big deal um and they are they are getting ready to attack uh usually bring up the rear

17 for Persia. Felix, what did you get? End of the day. I got a 6. I got a 7. No! I thought for sure that I was gonna be last when I came in and ran for my money. Caprice is a heart. Let's find the penis.

- Ooh. - And where are they? - Your weapons. - I'll place them in a second when I do, what'd you call that? - Oh, I kinda see one. - I see one penis. - Maybe two, actually. - I see a small second penis. Three if you count the curvy ones. - That's, yeah, we've gone back to cave painting when you were there. - So you see one seems to be a bit larger. And while most of them have nets and axes, this one has this massive club that has blades on the side of it. - Jeez.

They emerge from the cover on either side. That's not the big fella, is it? No. Boink. Boink. Boink. So that's going to be there. That's going to be there. Wait, where's big fella Jones?

Big fella Jones. Oh no, we don't need him. Big fella Jones is right here as you see him. He is getting ready to charge. With that, it's Iris' turn. They're all around us like, I'm gonna hold my action until I get in range. What's the terrain like outside of the path?

- It's pretty heavy underbrush. If you're going to run around it, I don't think it'd be difficult terrain. I think so. It just, you know, to just run through. - I'm gonna move in front of Look-See to the side. Can we do that? Or is it a five by five queue? - You can move back, sure, yeah. - Okay, so I'm gonna be between her and the camera. Rich, you're moving between Look-See and the camera. Especially right there.

Yeah, I'm just gonna hold my Scarab Staff, and if they move within, if they get within melee range of Luffy, I am going to use it. Okay, got it. With that, it is all, it is their turn. Wow, they rolled high. They did. They did, they rolled very high. Did one of the trees look like a penis?

Well, there's like a cave painting wiener in this room. Oh, there's definitely a wiener in that one. You can see in this example, a snipey short piece. Sure.

So they are going to run. That one is going to run within melee range of Lufty. The moment it gets into melee range, I'm going to shroud the area in scarabs they cannot see. So it is heavily obscured. Heavily obscured. Got it. What's the area? It's literally encompassing the three of us, so they will not be able to see you.

You're heavily obscured by a storm of scarabs. So the second that this bugbear has his neck as he's running right towards you, you're gripping your scarab staff that High General Zurn gave you. These buggers have no idea what it does. And as soon as that happens, you slam it on the ground and you hear a loud, swarming buzzing. It's an incredible...

dense cloud of scarabs swarms over and it's heavily obscured and it's very difficult to see. It's like, "Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

- I can see through it because that's just how the item works. - Okay. With that. - Do I have a new that you cast that? - I would have put my hand on you and been like, I will protect you. - Okay. - 'Cause they don't touch.

- You might still be like, "Oh, God." - They're not real. - Number six is going to run into it and it has a, its eyes are wild, it's gonna run into it at disadvantage. Don't try to chuck that net on there. - One would have been a natural 20. - What did it eat? - Does a 16 hit? - No. - Okay. - It would have. And I think her AC also goes up, right?

- I do not believe so. - Because of the obscure? - I think it's just disadvantage of all I'm right. - Right, 'cause it's not actually, nothing's blocking them. She's unseen, so it's disadvantage. - So they can't see you heal two nets cluttered down. And so with that, the other ones are going to adjust their strategy here. - Oh, it's a 30 foot radius for me, so.

And with that, you hear axes just whiz into you and they're just gonna stand where they are and they're gonna all just be disadvantaged. So let's do, one is gonna attack heart.

- It must protect your smile. - It misses all three axes. Okay, then one is going to attack Toa. That's gonna hit, as it does, 'cause it's Toa. And it is going to, wow, that's not gonna be a whole lot. - I'm not even raging yet. - Nine points of slashing damage, an axe cleaves into you. - We got a long rest, right? - Yeah. - Yes, we did. - Let me just go on a real slow pace here.

- Okay, three on Felix. - My AC is at 16. - Got it. - Metro one. - I'm going to reaction and reduce that. - The arrows are just, they are not able to see at all through this mass of scarabs as they're just flying and everything is with it. Toad is just so massive. He just made the take on in this trailer for being so massive. So one, one, two, three, one, two, three.

One is going to fly in and is going to actually hit you, Lufty, as one of the axes. - The other? - An axe. - I'm going to use my reaction to deflect missiles. - Okay, can you throw it back? - Maybe. - You can use a ki point to throw it back. - Roll your damage, though. - That is going to be eight points of slashing damage. - Eight?

Okay, so I can definitely... So how this works is that when I do so, the damage I take is reduced by 1d10 plus 5 plus 8. If I reduce damage to 0, which I don't even have to roll for, I can spend a ki point and make a ranged attack. Okay. Hell yeah! But you're also blind, so you're disadvantaged. But you're just going to chuck it back to where it came from? Yeah. You got the sense of where you're going to... It's in the Renaissance Fair! Incredible!

I don't know what the plus would be. It's a whiff. It's an improvised-- right? Or is it the plus of the weapon? What are they? Just hand axes. So it is your strength score. So what's your strength score? Good question. Plus one. Yeah, plus one. So it's proficiency plus your strength plus one. So four. So four total. Eight. Well, that was not one. That was not yet. So 13. No. One right there. That was not one.

Yeah. Plus one? No, plus four. Oh, plus four. Okay. Thirteen. Thirteen. You fling it out and you just hear hit a tree. But I'm like war screaming though. I say those guys would be terrified though if the axe just like disappeared with a lot of bugs and came right back out. That would be horrifying. And that's gonna...

I assume a 15 misses. Yeah, I missed. Okay, yeah. It flies and you hear, like, it's cleaving into some of these scarabs, but there's more that just take its place. They're unable to see. That was their turn. Jesus. None of the other ones are moving in at all? No, they're just waiting. It's this huge storm. It's for 10 minutes. It's for 10 minutes. They're just waiting to see what happens. That's what they do. Toa, you're up.

I think that was the enemy. Anyone want to spring on? No, that gives a lot of hurt here. The spirit is willing, but the... So, I'm going to walk up there, and I'm going to whip off my back the tribal tiki mask.

with the feathers and stuff. I'm gonna throw it on, I'm gonna hunker down in my tribal war stance and rage, and then I will have my bonus action. And then as my action, I will cast the scary kind of war chant from the mask. And so everybody but this guy needs to make a-- - And the guy on the other side too, right? - This guy, no, he's within range. This guy's just barely out of range. - Cheers. - He needs to make a DC 15 win saving throw.

So we're gonna go around the horn number four is going to was it easy 15 15 barely hits 15 number two is going to get a 25 okay number that guy is going to He's gonna get an 11 and he fails

We are going to, that guy closest to Nikki, he fails. - Six? - Yep, and then the, oh no, no. - I thought you said closest to Nikki. - Nikki, yeah. - And then the guy, yep, and then the other guy around the horn, he fails as well. - And then we're at five. - And then five, I don't know, or six. - What does this do? - Bear a fruit. - If you're required to sight, you auto-fail since it's blind. - No, it's scary. It's not a sound. - Just making sure. - Scary chant. - With that, that is going to be a 14.

So that fails. That fails. So the two right there resist everyone else as you hear this, as you don your tiki mask, and it lets out this incredibly repetitive, haunting chant. And you hear a...

As most of them seem to be just gibbering in fear, what language does everyone speak? Who speaks goblin language? Ooh, like that's an actual thing? Yes. I do not speak goblin. Goblin. Goblin. I don't think I speak goblin, no. And if I have a quick second to yell out, I would say, please run away! We'll kill you all! Make an intimidation check. Oh.

- Shit, 19. - Everything's super cool today. - 19. As the ones that seem to be afraid are, are, are, are, and they're speaking some strange guttural language. There's a lot of fear in their voice. Okay, Hersha, you're up. - Is this blind darkness? - No. - Nope.

We're just blinded? There's nothing you can do. It's heavily obscure. There's literally nothing outside of getting out of the radius you can do to get rid of it. So just imagine tons of scarabs in your face. Yes, scarabs. Okay. So if I hit somebody right in front of me, it'd be a disadvantage? Yes. It requires save. Okay. I gotcha. But if you do something that requires them to make a save, you're not at disadvantage. So like, if you had fireball, you could drop fireball on them. Yeah.

Do I get the sense that they're all attacking Lifty? I would say they're all turning to Lifty, you know that the two nets tried to connect with Lifty and did not connect. Okay.

Can I use my action to help her or protect her in some way that would potentially cause additional disadvantages outside of just my protection reaction? I would say that the help action is a thing you can do, which basically gives her advantage on stuff that she does. Okay. I will do that. I'll use my...

Do I know if her weapon's magical? I would say you probably know that. If I'm touching something, like if I want to touch her weapon and cast magic weapon, is that something that would require sight if she's standing right next to me? I would say you could communicate and grab out for it, yeah. And it's not magical, right? Yes. Okay.

I'll be like "Luffy, I don't know what's going on, but this might help!" And I'll pat her and find her spoon.

I promise I won't take this from you for a yellow salad. And I'll cast Magic Weapon on it. Okay. So your weapon becomes magical, and it's a +1 bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls. Okay. I'm concentrating on that, and then I'll just use the help action to blindly put my shield in front of her and try to ward off any attacks. So you do that, the Scarab is swarming all around you. And with that, how does the fear work, Rich, for Bigfella?

So they're just here. So if you look at fighting moves. They can't move towards you. They can't move closer to me. Yeah, you're right. As the... As you hear...

You hear a voice call out, and his voice is a lot more deeper. He's still afraid, and you see no movement. - I don't think he has a range attack. - Nope. - As he's just gonna hunker down and try to resist-- - Hold on, at the end of his turn, hold on. It could make the save again. - It succeeds. - Okay. - With a 20, yeah, 23.

As you move from the one close to Maya. I got it. Yep. As he resists though, okay, and shrugs it off. But he called out something to all of the other bugbears. Why don't any of us understand it? Unless he's got one. I don't think so. To be blinded. Yes, you are obscured from anyone else. Yes. Cool.

Okay, with that, it is Heart's turn as she is going to-- Please don't get fired, Vern. Don't do it, thanks for hanging out though. They were hiding in a corner just to see what's up. We appreciate the dedication, but please don't get fired. As she is going to just-- What's going on? Why are they here? And she's just going to back up and get right next to Lifty and raise her shield up.

And with that, it is Olfie's turn. She moved like 40 years ago. Oh yeah. The spoon is now a magical piece that helps with anything. And I'm helping you with whatever you need help with. Oh my gosh. Would I be able to hear them? I mean, I can hear him like, gibbering. Oh yeah, there are two guys right next to you. Okay, yeah, so I'm just gonna, hearing that, I'm just gonna wildly strike out with my spoon. Okay.

So with help action, are you using that to give her advantage on her first attack? So I'll just be in normal roll, because I'm disadvantage and then available. If that's cool with you. So your help is either you give someone advantage, because you're within melee range of this guy, or if you want to make an ability check, you would also be advantageous to them. So you can see the roll.

17 plus 8. You're at advantage. Or no, regular, sorry. Yeah, but it's great because it gets rid of my disadvantage. Okay, so that is... And then you add plus 1 to the attack and damage. Okay.

So 3 plus 5 is 6. We could screw it and do it with less than. Might be. Okay, so that is 8 damage. To number? To a... What is that number? I can't see what it is. This guy is a 6. 6? 8 damage to number 6? Yes. And so...

Also feeling that I hit him, I'm gonna strike out with an unarmed attack. I'll just kind of kick out. And this will be it. Nice. You're doing pretty good. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. 16 plus eight. 15 is the ace. 15 is the ace, yeah.

Wow, those tissues. Okay, so seven. Seven? Seven was damage? Yes. Okay, number six. You fling out wildly. You feel this rough, patchy leather armor as your fist smashes and you hear a crack as some blood spits up on your arm. But the spirits are swarming all around you.

- Is that your turn? - Yeah. - Cool, Felix, roll. - I'm going to cast Mirror Image on myself. - Okay. - And then I'm going to just like run in a direction, five, 10, 15, 20, 25, and then like five, 10, where's 30? Looks like 30, I'm trying to get out of the cloud.

So I can get out here. Yeah. And as soon as I see this guy, I'll move one more square and basically I'm tumbling out of the, uh, this four of me tumbles out of the scarabs and all four of us go, Oh gods, what's that? Like in unison, like almost like slightly offset. And that's my turn. So you tumble and then there's a bugbear right next to you. And all four of me like jump in unison. You look at the head.

- They have all these hand axes and these bandoliers and they seem to be really rough-shodden and poorly made. With that, it is Ira's turn. - I'm going to... The 20 foot radius is the other thing, right? Can you get that for me?

I don't know how to do that. I'm going to turn around to the guy that is immediately behind me, not the one that's frightened. And I'm going to put my hand on him and I'm going to cast Inflict Wounds. Okay. And I'm going to do that at a third level. Got it. So he is going to take...

- Five d10 points of damage. - Did it hit him, I assume? - Yeah, if it hit him, sorry. - Oh, 15. So you reach out your hand and even with you being able to see through the scarabs, he sees-- - Can I use a twist of fate? - Yeah, yeah. - Yeah, of course you can. - Sure. - I'm gonna use a twist of fate. - We've got a bunch of 'em. - Let's go, tons. - What are we down to, like 11? - Okay, yeah, now's the net.

- It's exactly right up. - Those bell slots. - Yeah, no, that's a very-- - Oh, it's just 10. - I have a bell slot. - So if you do that and it fails, you lose your slot. - I lose my slot, yeah. - Yeah. - I'm gonna get some strapping. - Okay.

Everyone is here! 23 points of damage. 23 points of damage to number, which number is he? Wow. Wow. I don't know. Three? Three? 23 points of damage. This one's number three. As you reach out through this Scarab Swarm, and he is flailing around trying to, you see there's another net that he's reaching for. Uh,

flailing around trying to, uh, swat at these scarabs with no avail. You just easily reach through the swarm and you grab him and once again that same pestilence spreads over. He sounds very weak. Does the swarm move with you or just from where you cast it? It moves with you. Okay, so it moves with you. Yeah. Come closer! Uh, with that, it is their turn as, uh, this one seems to...

So the two that are next to Lifty are going to once again use their action to cast the net. Disadvantage because of the swarm. It's going to miss. And that is going to hit. Is that a projectile? Is it net? Ha ha ha!

I guess technically it is, but... GM's rules here. It's gonna be up to you, I guess. No, no, it's not. It's not a projectile, because you're not throwing something to hit. It's technically a... It's a melee weapon. It's a melee weapon. Okay. Yeah, so it has a range, so it's... We got lucky this time. Okay.

- It's already disadvantaged. - Yeah, it's already disadvantaged, yeah. - You can't double disadvantage. - You, Lufty, you feel this incredibly heavy net, it seems to be weighted, actually. - No! - Fall down around you and kind of wrap up in the ground. You're immediately brought down into the ground prone. You are grappled and restrained as well. - What the heck? - And this net wraps all around you. And so that is their turns. You're going to see two,

He's looking Felix in the eyes. He's gonna take his Ana and... He said "prone, grappled"? Prone, grappled, and restrained, yep. So if you hit, I'll have to roll a d20. So... Oh no, just kidding. If you target me with an attack, I'll roll a d20. You're gonna target me with three attacks. Alright. First attack. First attack. Targets a clone. Targets a clone. AC 13? That is going to be an 18. So he's going to try to swing again. Next attack.

- Target's clone. - 12. - AC 13. - 12. - It misses the clone. - This is clone survives. - Okay, this one is not, again, see if it targets it. - Targets me. - It doesn't matter, he just horribly misses. As he just is seemingly surprised. And Toad, you're out of the cloud, right? - Yep. - Okay, so this one is going to...

- This one is going to inch a little closer outside of the range. He's gonna do it as close as he can outside of the range. And actually as soon as the one hit the net. - Who hit me with the net?

One of these guys. That guy. Number six? Yeah. He hits him with a net. You hear a... And it cries out to everyone, and they all begin to act in kind. Oh, no! As... This is not good. As this one is just going to use his action to...

He is just gonna book it into right towards lifting. He's gonna sprint. Which one? No, the one closest to me, number two. Number two. How far can he move? He'll be able to get there with his sprint. He can't get there without it. So he is going to just run up there. I think he would take an opportunity attack from either of those guys, right? From Felix, yeah.

He'd have to do it through Felix, yeah. - Well, I didn't take War Cache, so I guess I'll swipe at him with my dagger. No, I'm actually gonna see my reaction. I'm not gonna take an opportunity. - Okay, he just trundles on past you into this sort of like, as you feel these long grasping arms all around you. And then with that,

We're going to get, they can't move anywhere closer to you. So we are going to just get, they're very afraid of you. They're just gonna do three attacks on you, Toa. Because they're afraid they're disadvantaged, right? - Yep. - Oh, that's still gonna hit though. 21. - Yep. - One is gonna fly at you. Seven points of slashing. And then the last one, that's gonna probably miss. And then three more on you. Miss.

- Miss. - Doesn't matter. - Miss. Fly out, miss. - Okay. - You hear as the trees are getting pelted with these axes. Splinters are flying everywhere. - And with that, they need to make their saves. - Okay. - So six. - Six saves.

- The other one fails. - Okay, so he's still afraid. - And is there another guy that has-- - There's one more guy. - Oh, I didn't see him. - Yeah, he's back there. - That's gonna be an 11, so he's still afraid. - Okay. - So they can't resist him. Okay, Caprice, it's heart as she is going to, she hears the one that has trundled next to her and she's gonna swing at it. - I need to trundle.

That's actually gonna hit. And then the next one. - Nice heart. - Two natural 20s. - Yeah! Go heart, go! - Excellent. I would like to use Sentinel at death's door on the gate. - Two, one in 400 chance for, man, heart's getting the good one. - Heart is, heart, oh. - Heart has a lot of damage. - Wow, and that's also max damage. - I love heart. - Holy hand grenade, Batman. So that is... - Where are we, are we here?

Caprice. Did you go? Yeah. I didn't go. Right? You went. Because I took my first turn. Oh, well, we'll just skip her. I'm just going to keep her. Wait, did I go? Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

So I, so no, we should have been Toa. So I'm gonna keep her because she got a natural 20. We're gonna just have her go and then we're gonna go back to Tanya. I thought we were monsters too. Yeah, yeah, we were monsters too. What's the difference between monsters one and monsters two? Big boss versus one. I thought he was a big boss. This guy, he's different. Oh, I didn't know that. He was feared for a round. And he didn't have a ring to attack. Sorry.

And what number is that? He's number two. As you, uh, she's swinging around in here and blood just splatters you. He's sounding very weak, but he's still hanging on barely. With that, it is showtime.

- I don't, this is a huge form of scare up, right? - Yes. - So I have no idea what's going on there. - No, it's heavily obscured. - But I know that, I hope you guys are all right. I'm gonna run up here and I'm going to non-lethally attack this guy.

I'm going to... It's a rune that can steal me all over again. Recklessly attack, power attack. Iris is gonna set the scares like they're corpses. Just 18 hit? 18 does hit, yep. And you give me strength. 26 damage for the first attack. Okay, yeah, you smack him, all of his ribs crack. He's horribly weak, yeah. Another hit.

Oh no, sorry, I had two more damage on top of that. Yep, okay, he's barely hanging on still. The, uh, nine to the 11, 12, 13, 23 damage. You cave in his skull. No, no, no, and on lethal, and on lethal. Oh, okay! You smack in, and he's like, his ribs are all cracked, and you just boop him. He's down, cold, snoring. Um...

And because I believe my feet, as long as I knock them out, I can bonus action attack a guy. I'll just make sure that it's not...

Yeah, when I reduce it to zero HP, which I have done, right? Yep, what's that? Like, why is that? No, no, if he kills somebody or renders them unconscious, he can make another. Oh, I thought it was a key and he specifically makes them unconscious. No, no, no. And he takes them to zero. I thought that was just like big friendly guys. So he's out, he's out.

And then the scarabs devour him and he's dead. No, I'm kidding. Is this passive on terrain? That is just, yeah, it's fine. It's just green shit. I will bonus action attack that guy. 17 to hit. Hits? Barely. 1, 2, so 3...

- 10 damage. - 10 damage. As you follow up as the leader, he looks at you and he is ready to do battle. 10 damage, you move him a little bit. Okay. With that, it's her turn. - Do I feel or hear Lufty going down next to me? - Oh, she went down like a sack of potatoes.

- Can I feel around to see if this is just like netting is covering her, I could tear the net off or if I have to like-- - I would say to get a sense of the sense of it, you would have to use your action to do that. - I wanna just grab the net and try to tear it off. - Okay, then make an athletics check.

15. 15. With that, you heave. Just barely. Just barely. You heave and look to you feel the net get yanked off and chuck it off to the side. And you are no longer grappled or restrained. You're still prone. Thank you whoever did that. The net comes flying back into the swarm. It was a pleasure. I watched the whole thing through my scarab storm. Now everybody look out because I'm really mad. I can't see shit.

Yes, I know, darling, but they can't see anything either. I will not... I don't have really bonus action to use here, so I'll just hold my hand out for... Try to, like, help...

Okay. So you throw the net at the side and the swarm is still all around you. And with that... It's big guy Jones. It's big guy Jones. They still went. So this is correct. He is monsters one. I just went. I had a heart go to her. So... And he's going to look at you and he's going to call out

This is what Goblin sounds like. As he's gonna froth and his eyes are wild. His eyes are wild as he's going to just make, what attacks does he have? Oh, he has two attacks. Boink, boink. One's gonna miss, but one is absolutely gonna hit as he smashes in with his blade club. On who? On Toa. Oh, shit. So he's going to pivot around you, however, and he's gonna head towards the swarm.

19 points of bludgeoning damage as it smashes you. I was going to say, you hunkered. You did your trance. Yeah, he did. With that, she already went. You're up. You're on the ground, but you feel the net get thrown away. So that removes grapple and restrain? Yes, but you're still prone. I'm going to stand up and just...

And strike out with my, uh, um, magical spoon. Please make magical spoon. Uh, and I guess in theory it would be whichever one if I could hit, but I guess I'll aim for two. Yeah, go for two. That's fine. Okay.

So still disadvantaged. Am I still advantage for you or that was just the touch? No, that was, yeah. Even now it's just plus one. It's just plus one to the attack and the sketch. Okay. She had to use her action to get the net off. A lot of things go on. One more time. Why? Because you're disadvantaged. Oh, okay. Okay.

You're welcome. So 19 either way. 19 either way, yeah. That hits. Okay. Roll that first, please. I'll do seven damage, and I'm going to spend a ki point to make it a spinning straight. Number two? No, I'm sorry. Eight damage, and I'm going to spend a ki point. I'm going to keep the ki point. You hear a little sickening smack.

- Snap as you hear a loud thump. - Which number? - Number two. - In that case, I'm gonna spend a key point. Would I hear that there's a guy next to him?

- I would say that even though it's a swarm, you still see bits of body parts, right? It's still heavily obscured, but you're able to see that there are guys on it. - We can outline. - Okay, then I'm gonna-- - Disadvantage don't. - Yeah, I'll spend, I'm just gonna do a bonus attack on him. - Okay. - And I'll just try to knee up into his gut.

- Ooh, six plus. - Niga. - Eight is 14. - 15 to hit? - You don't add the one to that 'cause you're not using your-- - Oh, okay, so what did I just say? - 14. - Yes, 14 to hit. - 14 to hit misses. - Great. - And so you reach out, but you're unable to see him very well, so it misses. - Okay. - Is that it? - That is it. - Feel a drop. - All right, I'm gonna move. Nine, 10, 15.

And then I'm gonna shoot this guy with a... What do I got here? Hit him with the... Oh, man. I'm just gonna hit him with the old fire bolt. So it's a plus eight to hit. Okay. AC 17. Oh. That's gonna be a big old miss for me. It flies off and hits the tree, singeing the bark. With that, it's Iris' turn. Top of the round.

I am going to cast Spirit Guardians on myself at level 30. Jesus! And when I cast it, I can designate all of my allies to be unaffected by it. Yeah, you can. And it hits those two guys right now. Okay. Six and three. I cast it where they're at.

- And they're both blinded. So I don't know how you would want to rule that work to a spirit guardian, but it's a wisdom save. - If it's a wisdom, they fail anyway. They've got a three and a four, so. - But cool, they're gonna take 3d8. - Two spirit guardians, Gordian and Ascarabs? - Yep, that's my, Ascarabs are my staff spell. - Holy shit.

13 points of damage to both of those that are next to us. You see the flashes, and you're able to see Kluuth and Swarm. Your Anubian Warriors slices down the one that's wounded, and he falls to the ground dead. The other one is on that...

Number... that was number two? He's dead already. So six or three it would have been. Three. Three's fine. Six? Oh wait, how much damage did he take? Thirteen. Thirteen. Barely, barely hanging on as it cuts him and he's very wounded, but he's... I am then going to use my Feline Agility and run up between these two guys. Okay. These two guys over here. So in the middle of them, so they're now... Okay, they're now in the scarab. Did we decide if he's dead or not?

Three is dead, yep. Okay. Oh, I thought you said Barrel of Hang-On. Six Barrel of Hang-On, yeah. So now, on their turn, if they're still there, they'll take my Spirit Guardians, but not now. Okay, with that, it is their turn, and now they take it. Okay. Right? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So they have to do their thing. That is going to be a... So the one there is going to be V's Dumb. That's going to be 22. That passes. And that's going to be a 24. Okay.

They're gonna take half of that. And remind me of which-- that's five and-- could you move that default? Which one? One and five, I assume. They both passed? No, they passed Rosé.

I don't even know what numbers they are. Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry. So they take nine points of damage. Nine points of damage. So five and one. As they're slicing and managing to resist some of this, but then they're going to roll for their fear, right? Or no, they have not moved yet. That's the end of their turn. And then one is just going to try to hatchet Felix. Actually... He's unconscious, right? Yeah, four's unconscious. Four's unconscious. Number...

Number six is gonna call out and he's gonna try to net. He is no longer conceding Scarab. You gotta be kidding me. - What's his score? - 13 doesn't hit for nothing. The net once again flies impotently. Then with that, it is going to, he's unconscious. And then we're going to just get six attacks on Iris at disadvantage as they are going to just

One. Two 17s plus five is... 17 is my AC. Okay, so that'll hit. One is going... The handaxe is going to deal four points of slashing damage. Next one. That's going to miss. Then the other one is going to get three attacks in. That's going to miss. That's going to hit. Do another four points of slashing damage. And then that's their turn. And then they're going to...

make the wisdom save and both of them succeed on the field as they are not able to move closer to Toad and then they resist it and that's a 19 and a 20. Is there everybody's turn? Yeah. Okay. With that as Toad's turn. - I'm going to turn around and recklessly swing in. I'll do the first one to power attack here. 21. - 21 hits, yeah. - BC 17, I think.

Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, twenty-three damage. Twenty-three damage, remember, to big fella? Yep. Okay. You smash into him with your maul, you're cracking a bone. Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen... sixteen misses, right? Uh, yep. Yep, barely. So, I am done. Okay. You manage to parry the next one with his club, and send your maul down to the ground.

Uh, the...Tersia, you're up. Oh, yeah, we're weak. Now I can see the gate number six? Yep. I'll use my bonus action, try to knock them prone. Okay. So, athletics is an eight. Man, I always roll so well on these. Yeah, no, it's like a 22. Okay. So, my first attack, uh, 22? Five hits.

All right, 10 points. Number six. You smash him, cave in his skull. His blood splatters everywhere. Okay, so he's dead? Yep. Six. Five. Six.

- I will, so I can't see anything here 'cause it's all-- - Correct, you see a massive swarm of scarabs. - Okay. - So we can see. - Yeah, it's following me. - Got it, okay. - So once I knew you were safe enough that you guys could handle that last guy, I moved to the outliers.

And they're in difficult terrain, right? Because of the spirit gardens? Is this like a tree right here or can I move in this spot? You can move in that spot. It's all just green shit. Yeah, it's fine. Where do you want to go? Right here. That's 25 feet of movement. And that's my turn. Okay. Oh, I still have another attack. Well, I can't throw. My javelin has to be melee attack for multi-attack.

It's a great question. Attack action on your turn. You can throw a javelin. I'll throw a javelin at big boss number one. Big fella. Plus five. 18? That'll hit. Oh my gosh. That'll do min damage, three piercing. Three points of piercing as it flies in, pierces the side and clatters to the ground. Okay.

- Oh wow, it's a big old storm. As the storm is now raging all around you, as for flavor, you hear a loud crack of thunder way above you, hundreds of feet in the air. And with that, big fella is going to just, he is going to look at you, Lufty. He's gonna see all of his dead dudes. And he's just gonna run away from Toa. And he's gonna head directly towards you.

So he's gonna move, how far can he move? - You get an opportunity attack. - 30, yeah, I'll get an opportunity attack, he does not care. - Toa? - Toa. - What's that? - Opportunity attack. - He's gonna start moving towards her. - Yeah, yep, yep, yep. - Recklessly does not, what you call it, right? - Yep. - It's my turn, sorry, I missed. - Okay, so he's gonna move 30 feet. - 15, 20. - 25, 30.

And that's gonna be barely, he's going to pull out his own net that's super heavy in weight and he's gonna chuck it on you, Lufty. He seems to be very desperate here. He's in disadvantage 'cause he's far away. He wants his big ol' arms.

And that's gonna be a three and a four. So you manage to dodge out of the way as his eyes are wild with determination. Okay, that's gonna be Heart's turn. And she's gonna run up to him like, you have to go to me first! And then try to stab him. Oh!

- Two slices. - Oh, Mark! - And she misses both times terribly. - I need to give him a double 20. - Yeah, come on, she got a double 20. As he slices and slices, he managed to parry both and he looks at her and he spits blood down on the ground. And with that, it is Lufty's turn. - All right, I'm gonna...

Why don't you take a picture? It will last longer. And I'll charge him with my spoon out and just try to, like, get him to the gun. What a picture! You still have the magic weapon from Hersha. I do. Oh, yeah. I should, yeah. So I'll kind of, like, I kind of want to, like, step in front of her. Is that good? Yeah, that's fine. Just try to kind of get between them. Let's see. Here we go.

- 15, 16. - DC said that Reckless stays until your next turn, Rips. You should have had advantage. - Oh. - It's a 24 to hit for the staff. - That'll hit, yeah, that'll hit. - On number... - Nine, 10 damage. - On number one? - On number one, big bad. And then I'm gonna follow that up with a flurry of blows. - Okay, you smack, you're allowed to crack as he looks at you, the net now sitting impotently down on the floor.

Okay, so that is 17. 18 to hit and I'm launched. No, I just make two attacks. Gotcha. So both should hit. That's five, six, seven. 17 damage. 17 damage, okay. And then I will...

just sway and kind of like disengage away from him. - Okay, you dance back, you smack, and he's too busy parrying a harp and you manage to just get three incredibly fast attacks in his side and then dance back. With that, it is Felix's turn, you're up. - All right, I'm just going to hit this guy with another firebolt. - Got it.

Hey, that'll do it. 23. Yeah, that'll hit. 23, yeah, 23. It's 2d10, I think is what it is. Sorry, I'm trying to like see what spells I can-- I'm actually just gonna change the direction that I move and move away some, so that was fun.

- 11 points of damage. - Okay, fire's at me and his fur starts to sing, it's a horrible smell. Okay, he's looking pretty rough. Iris, you're up. I'm just gonna move this way. - I am going to look at him and I'm gonna point my finger towards him as you see like mummy wrappings and like necrotic bits of magic flow towards him and I'm gonna cast Blight. So can you make a call saving throw please? - I can do that.

I can get a 12. That does not damage! It's 88. That's a damage. You want a d8? Yeah, please, if you don't mind. Because then I can just roll that twice. Okay. I'm going to hand you back one because it'll be easier to just roll twice. I'm going to try and do that. I rolled really, really badly. Ooh!

33 points of damage. I'm gonna do this. There you go! As literally as possible. I just want to reach my hand towards him, like, with my claws out, and it looks like I'm sucking the soul out of his body, and I just want to rip it straight towards him. As you do that, it looks like the fucking mummy starring Brendan Fraser. Yay!

As your claw, kind of this swirling dark magic, as Bandit and these scarabs and these swirling pestle, it reaches out and it washes over him. Oh, my God.

And with this horrific exhale, you see this faint wisp of the shadowy energy as his soul's ripped out. His eyes roll back and he collapses to the ground. You have been judged damned. Damn. Damn is right. Karen, do I hear the, yeah. Damn! Damn!

- Damn is right. And they're going, they have no idea what you did. - They're gonna have to do their thing. - Oh yeah. - 'Cause I still have my spirit guardians. - They both fail. - Sick burn, I don't care what you did. Mark off four balls, fell flat. This is three, eight. Is this Cuphead? - Of course.

It's Electro Swing remixes of Cuphead, so you know. - Incredible. - Very cool. - Very cool. 12 points of damage to both of them. - 12 points of damage. The musical goes, check him out, check out his channel. He's really awesome. Oh, they're slicing into both of them as they are both taking the same amount of damage actually. 12 points of damage that, got it.

As they're looking rough, as they're swirling around, they have no idea. The swarm is around. They don't know that their boss is dead. As they are looking around, they're both blinded. The boss is dead. The big boss is dead, yeah. He just croaked. There are so many of his face. Oh,

- Oh, that was him. - Yeah, they're going to just stumble forward as they know that they are going to just keep at it because they have no idea. And they're gonna be disadvantaged for each of these. So we're gonna just do some hatchet attacks. Miss. Miss. 16.

- Misses. - Okay, so next guy, three hatchet attacks, miss. - You have to see me see. - 17? - Miss. That is going to be a 19. - That hits. - Only one of all six hits, and that is going to be four points of slashing damage as you cleave into it, and then with that, it is Toa's turn, right? Yeah, Toa's turn. I didn't skip you this time. - I'm gonna run over to this guy.

- I tried to stop you, I tried to save you. - You're a disadvantage. - Oh. - Scarab storm. - So do I even know that there's, I probably, I saw that the guy was there. - You know they're there. - You know roughly where they are. - You can follow us out. Like maybe so you can see kind of bits and pieces, but it's just a bunch. - 16 missiles, right? - No, it should be going up. - Nope, that's, big bad was 17. - And you get a 15.

11 damage. Fucking dies. You just hear a sickening crack in his head caves in. He down. Wait, so hold on. So I was where? I was here? Yeah, you were. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...

And I believe I have 40 movements, so three squares left. Yeah, okay, just finish him off. Put him out of his misery. So I rolled twice already for that, so that's 15. Deadhead's roll. Total damage. He gave me the item. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. I like, he's dead. How do you want to do this? How do you want to do this? How do you want to do this? Because it's, you know, it's the last guy of the battle.

I just want to, I don't know, do you have a choice? You just cave in one skull, you walk over, cave in the other one. A blood splatters all of you, collapses to the ground, and... I'm gonna drop the Scarab Storm and then immediately Feline Agility over to Lifty. Danika, are you okay?

Yeah, I'm fine. I don't think anybody even touched me at all. They were trying to put you in shackles. I saw that. It was weird. I don't recognize them. Do I also mind me or something? Is there any reason that any of us can think that somebody would want to kidnap Lufty? Yeah. Look at how haggard they look. I feel bad that we just killed them all. Maybe they were hungry. How would you feel if someone... What, was I going to eat me?

I don't know. Maybe they're desperate. Guys, this one's still breathing. Can I insight check Lufty? Yeah. I'm going to turn towards it. Why is this one still breathing?

- But don't kill him, I want to see what he has to say. I'm gonna go towards the big boss and pick up his net and just bring it over. - You take the net and you just drop it on him. He's still unconscious, bleeding out. - This is convenient, I should get one of these. - I still have like scarabs for him. I mean, I'm like very frustrated that like my friend was almost stolen.

I rolled a 10 for insight. It's okay! I didn't have a need of that. Is he telling the truth? You know, she seems to be telling the truth. As Heart walks over and she sheathes her sword, "Why would they want to take you?" I don't know. Who is that? Do I recognize any of these? You don't need to make a roll. No, you have no idea. These are some rando bugbears. I mean, I knew that there were bandits here, but what?

But why wouldn't they want to take the one with the most money? The prettiest one. The one who's obviously at the highest standing. Yes, exactly! Like me. Is it worth searching their bodies to see if they have anything on them? Is this kind of thing common here in the woods?

I mean, people are desperate. They do desperate things, but I don't know why they don't go for... Why wouldn't they go for the jewels? That's all right. That is my point. Well, I'm wondering if there's a contractor or something. You should look through them, Phoenix. It's all spread out, I guess. I'll help you guys. We'll just all take bodies, I guess, and start looking. Yeah.

I'm actually pretty good at it. That's my remaining mirror images. They poof away from existence. They worked better than usual. The bugs actually kind of protected us. I still got a few good stabs.

- Because you're on advantage. - Oh, at advantage you say? - He's running on advantage. - Okay, 21. - 21. You pat around and you find a total of 17 copper pieces on all of the regular guys. - Oh, we loaded. - But then when you start going through the body of the boss man, you find a hefty coin purse. - Oh!

- Ooh, baby. - That's my favorite thing to come from his body. - I've been known to do that once or twice. - Oh wait, I'm not doing this. - You find 400 pieces of gold. - Oh, wow. - I'll just divvy them up evenly amongst us. - You find 400 gold pieces and you find a crystal. It seems to be this light blue, nearly translucent crystal that seems to glow.

And as you pick it up, you're to see that the glowing moves. And as you move around the point, it is a crystal with four points. And as it moves, there's a faint purplish-blue light.

each corner and it blows, glows brightly and it seems to follow lifting. Oh, this must be a hottie compass. I'm just kidding. We would take inspiration. We would take inspiration. 8-0. 8-0. What is this? 80 gold is what we each have. This is some sort of compass, but it, no matter which direction I go, it just

Points to Lufti. What a useless compass. What do you mean? That's a fabulous compass. This is exactly what I was concerned with. They were specifically hunting. They were using this compass to track you. They found you because of that thing. Why on earth would they want something like you? What value do you hold to anyone but me?

Perhaps there's more information on the ghost body. I didn't mean that as an insult. Do you guys mind if I... I'm not saying people really like... I'm saying specifically, who have you screwed over? Many people. Who is the one you've screwed over? Who is the most powerful? Many people. Didn't you, like, sleep with a bunch of guys during that one week? Oh, yes, but none of them are mad at her. I could tell by the way they were speaking. And you made people pretty happy with me.

Yes, I know. Does anyone mind if I hold on to this just to study it? I've never seen anything like this before. No.

See if you can, you know, see what it is, but I think I want it. Certainly, you can keep it if you like, I'm just curious as to how it works. Yeah, how did- ugh. It didn't like take any of my hair, I did say. But to know there wasn't like a counterpart to it or something where your binary is too- There might be, it's worth studying. I'm gonna like start to study it while they're all discussing. Sudol, again, who have you angered? I don't know.

Probably a lot of people. Most people, like I said, like me a lot. You bring to climax, yes. Not necessarily. You know, sometimes I play games and we talk and sometimes climax. But, you know, so forth. Yeah, but, you know, not just sexy things. Like, we play card games. I'm a very entertaining person. It is true. I've seen that, actually.

What are you thinking? I mean, everybody loves me. You don't know why everybody loves you. No, I don't know why anybody wouldn't love me. I mean, look at me. I'm so lovable. I'm like the most lovable. I think she was hitting the head.

I wasn't. Are you feeling alright? Yeah. No, let me hold me. I'm scared. We could wake up that one guy you guys knocked out. I've got a resource prepared. Yeah, wake him up. Are you going to make him tell the truth? I can't. He's a type of paladin that I...

Because that's a really helpful paladin to beat me with. It's pretty cool. I want to know what he has to say. I don't think I've ever used it, so we'll see how it goes, but I can do it. Well, I think the question here is, can anybody speak to him? Because if he only speaks the one language, I could not understand a single thing he'd say. Did anybody? Heart, did you understand him? I don't speak Goblin now. Oh, you're too good. I never had any need. Well...

Is goblin script any similar to horse script? That's not one of the dozen or so languages I actually know. Can I arcana check this device? Yeah, arcana check.

Ooh, I got a min 11. It does seem, it absolutely seems to be a magical device, and it seems to be divining something about Lufty, but beyond that, you don't really get anything else. Well, if you want to keep this thing, you can. If you don't like the fact that it's constantly pointing at you, I can try to dispel whatever magic might be on here. But it's up to you. And I hand it over to her.

Do I feel anything when it's like touching me? As you're touching it, it starts to, as it gets in the palm of your hand, it starts spinning wildly and glowing very brightly. And then all of a sudden it goes, hey, what's up? Hi.

I'm your third gemini. Hey, what's up? I vibrate and I'm magical and I talk to you. Sounds perfect. Well, if it's pointing to me anyway, I guess it doesn't hurt if it's just already on me. I think somebody would have to have this to use it. Can you tell what kind of magic's on it?

Was I able to tell what kind of magic was on it? I can cast detect magic. Well, actually, shit, you can do that, Will. Damn it! Well, hold on. I want to... Where's my thing? Detect magic would tell you what school of magic it is.

So I would like to do that, just sort of like, since this is a new thing for me, I would take it and feel that there's magic and kind of unknowing what I'm doing, like, see what sense I'm getting from that. You sense it and you kind of channel your innate magic blood. And with, just by blinking, suddenly your hand glows and in your mind you know that this is magical and it has divination magic. Okay.

So would I know that Goblin shares a script with Dwarvish? I would say for Persia. I knew this as a player. I want to know if I would know. I think when it shares a script, though, it's still not the same language. So it's kind of like how gnomes and dwarves, they use runic languages. But if as a gnome, I wrote out gnomish and dwarven runes, a dwarf couldn't read it.

They could read it but not understand it? No, you would recognize it. You would say, "Oh, I recognize the symbols, but they don't mean anything in that order." Basically is what you'd be looking at. It's the same thing as if you tried to read Spanish. It's using the same script. Right, Swedish has the same script as English. But we don't understand what the words mean. I see what you mean. Okay. They just use the same letters. Like some languages, y'all use Cyrillic, but they don't, you know, you can't read it if one's Russian and one's whatever. Sure.

No said much like how English uses Latin characters. Andy, get off my head.

Is there any other little villages or something nearby? This is pretty sparsely populated out here. Usually they don't let people settle out this far away from the centralization of power. Honestly, I don't think that it's a horrible idea to give Persia's idea a shot if he speaks common and she can force him to tell the truth. She can say, "Do you speak common?"

Was that true? Yeah. And then if he speaks common, he would tell them the truth. We are being very stereotypical, so there would only be no problem. Please? I mean, we've met one of these creatures, the drunkard, Jarad. That's very true. And she spoke common. No doubt she spoke that. Oh, yeah, that. Peaches are fruit. Both buzzies are. True, yes. And both can be alcoholic. Well, common is pretty...

Common, so it might just be that he speaks it and we can just ask him and let's just wake him up. Is he balanced? Well, I don't mind attempting that. Yeah, I don't mind. I don't mind. Would it be better to cast it on him when he's not awake? Does it matter? I'm not sure it matters. It's a wisdom saving throw. I don't know if it matters. Charisma saving throw. I think even if he's unconscious, he'll start to resist. It's his will, yeah. Okay, so he has to be conscious. So it won't make a difference.

Give him a good slap. I slap him away. I'll cast it as soon as he wakes up. Do you speak Cummin? Hold on. Oh, no, I don't. Do you speak Cummin? DC's 14 charisma savings. I said, do you speak Cummin? I get a 13. Yay!

- I just got 14, 'cause I put two points in Chris's life. - That's how you do it. - That's how you do it. - 'Cause he would have otherwise saved it. - The genuine joy on Maya's face. - My DC is 14, so low. - And you smack him away, and he's so wounded. You see him, the net is on him, and you see him look around, and he tries to heat himself up, and you...

destroyed his fucking rib cage. Like, horrifically. - Oh yes, I remember that. - And he cannot go anywhere as he's looking at you wide. And once again, this one, this bugbear was incredibly sallow and sunken in. You remember Jammity was a lot more well fed, reading around and stealing pork and booze. He seems very gaunt. - Smith.

Got it. Hey man, um, do you speak common? And so, so, so, so, so don't do this. And he basically, when he's in, he has to tell the truth.

He can't willingly tell a lie. On a failed save, creature can't speak a deliberate lie while in the radius. You know whether each creature succeeds or fails on its savings or so I know that it failed. An affected creature is aware of the spell and can thus avoid answering questions to which it would normally respond with a lie. Such a creature can be evasive in its answers as long as it remains within the boundaries of the tree. So the problem is that he can just say, yes, I can speak common in Goblin. He looks at you and he says, I'm a goblin.

I'm going to take one of my cat's claws and put it right at the wound on the side and put it in just enough that it hurts but it doesn't do any damage. And I'm going to say in common, I can heal you.

and then take that life away over and over and over again. And the moment you are on the brink of death and you're begging for release, I will not let you get there. Lubus will judge you, but you will not find the afterlife. If you can speak common, I urge you to do so now. Make an intimidation check in advance. LAUGHTER Gotta give it up. MUSIC PLAYS

- Intimidation, you say? I don't think I'm really intimidating. - That's definitely intimidation. - 14. - 14, yeah, that's a pass. That's a pass. You see him flinch as his ribcage is caved in. He's horribly contorted from Toa obliterating him. And then the claw, you see him wince as he looks at you and he says, "I can speak common."

He can speak common, guys. So, who knows? Well, uh... What do you want with Lufty? Yeah, what do you want with me? Who are you? What is your name? My name is Sorbek. He keeps darting his eyes back. You give the sense that he would be a lot more resistant, but he's very, very shook, as the kids say. He's hashtag shook as... Money! Money!

Living love and trees promised. Bring genie. We get food. We get gold. We get to live in the treetops. See, I told you guys. You're just trying to make an honest wage. Well, maybe not honest. That's not honest. I'm just trying to survive. The crystal says you're a genie.

Am I technically a genie? I thought a genie was like a full blown genie. Oh, that's your lineage. You have blood. That's your lineage, yeah. I don't know how this stuff works. What is that crystal? What does it do? It finds blood and creatures of air. But who told you, who sent you precisely? Were you looking for me or just any genie?

They're... they need one more. What do you mean, "one more"? I have one of a kind. They have six. All air? Genasi? I don't think they have ever met another Genasi. Wha- d- wait, do they need... they need six genies? Not genie. Air. Wind. Storm. And she's one of them? She has blood. They decide if it is one... of seven. Hmm.

What are they trying to do with the seven? I do not know. We were not told. But storms getting worse. You just simply want a good luck. I want to eat. They promised us food. They promised us the birds. They want to bring storms. Where do they want to bring storms? Everywhere. But I was promised. We promised.

To be safe beneath trees. But you weren't, now were you? They were only safe once we find the last... The last of the air creatures they need. Do you know what other air creatures they have? No. I know they have six. I saw one. Only. What did it look like? It...

was a she. She was large and blue skin, dark blue skin, long black hair, braids. They put... The rich. Oh, so do you know where they're keeping these six? Spare us. Kaliri. Where else?

Do you know how to get to the city safely? Nothing is safe for me anymore. I am dead. Why are you dead? No, we kept you alive. Does not matter. We were only kept alive because we promised we could track. And we were sneaky. But we were not as sneaky. Not sneaky enough. They will kill you anyway. Yes. Even if you caught her.

I do not know if I get her maybe I get food and gold and a good life in the trees protected from the storm beast they want to call. You stay there in your net. I need to huddle. Do you know the name of the person that told you to come after us? No. Boss. Boss did all dealings. He can speak their language.

They can speak, they can speak this tongue, but they refuse to sink to our level. What did you want to say? Sorry, I have to go. So, what if we use this guy to get us up there? We do the whole, like, reverse prisoner trick. My sad thoughts, Lifty. I knew that you were smart and that was the reason we kept you. Thank you! Well, they're not gonna care about him. Sounds like they only talked to the dead guy.

Yeah, but they will care about him if he's able to say, I caught a genie. And Lufty and I speak their language. As do I. If only there was a way to talk to the guy at the stake. Oh. Eric or Christopher? Well, I'm assuming we spoke to the, we heard them talking when they attacked us. You heard them speaking Orin, which both of you would know is a dialectic primordial quote. Hmm.

So maybe we could keep going to the shop, keep this guy as a prisoner, get a couple of the scrolls to turn a few of us into air cochra, and we can worm our way in. He's looking pretty rough. Do you think you can bring him back from the brink? Of course I can. That is not all I think we should do. I believe that they have been starving them.

and using their desperation as a means to control them. And my fear is that should we attempt to work with this creature, that his fear and his need for gold and food and that which he is being starved would cause him to betray us in some way. I think that we should give him the things that he seeks. We should feed him.

We should warm him. We should show him that he is safe with us. I'm fine with providing him gold pieces. Yeah, of course. I don't have much need for money. I mean, to a new life afterwards. Maybe he could coitus interruptus with Jammete. Is that what you do? That's gross. I don't know what that is. Bum-slamming thing. Coitus? What did you say? Coitus. Coitus interruptus? Is that what you call it?

I don't know what you're saying. I'm a woman of the cloth. I don't like to talk about such things. Like I have little babies or something. You hear a little snicker. Am I saying it wrong, darling? No, that's really cool. I just like scratch her head. How old are you, hot? I'm old enough. Are you in your teens? Your twenties?

Four hundreds. I mean, I'm sure you thought I was like twenty-eight. You're definitely very mature. I'm sixteen. I knew it. You're going to grow down. Tower over the West. You'll be fearsome.

I haven't grown in a long time, but I will hear something. Not to interrupt, but my zone of truth only lasts ten minutes. We already got everything we need out of him. We should still see if he would want to come and work with us. He doesn't really have a choice. We're just trying to sweeten the pot. Feel free to ask him, though. Yes, of course. Better to know if he's lying. Offer him some jello salad. I don't have any other eyes I would. I'll approach him and...

like, offer him some jerky. I don't know if he, like, his arms are working, but he'll feed it there. He has a net, so he could technically reach out. He's got this big old long check here. I'll stick a piece of jerky through the net into his mouth. There's poison? No. No? No, I take a bite out of it and chew on it and feed it. A psycho just walks around with poison food. I'm sure there are quite a few, actually. I'm resistant to it, so I'm very well-guided, but anyway...

So I look down, I'm like squatting over him, over the net. He needs to roll a constitution saving throw, or actually wisdom saving throw to be enchanted by the gigantic thighs that are now in Ivan's head. He fails. Oh, I'm glad I got your attention. So what about this? I can't assure you that you're going to be safe.

Even after you attempted to try and turn Mufti in, which you failed to do. Yeah, don't do that again. We prefer if you don't do that again. But what I'm saying is, I don't think that the Iroquoca would have given you safe passage. I mean, you heard it yourself, they wouldn't even talk to you guys in your common tongue

They only spoke in whatever they talk. I don't know. I don't like it. What makes you think that they're not just gonna kick you off the freaking trees?

As soon as you turn her in. Your life is good as gone to them. I don't think they have much respect for you guys. Herrscher actually has a really good point. You don't know the deal that your leader made. He could have had you working for them, and he was going to get all the gold and the money, the gold and the food and the stature, and they were going to kill you. And you'd never know. He had gold, said we could get our share once we found the air creature.

and it was the one they needed. All seven. How much were you promised? What was your portion? It was more than... I count... 50 gold pieces. Okay, I'm gonna step into the Zone of Truth and choose to fail it. Okay. As you know, you cannot lie here, and neither can I. I will give you 100 gold pieces.

We will feed you, we will clothe you, and we will offer you our protection if you assist us in bringing down the tyranny of these bird people. You have my word that I will do everything I can to keep you safe and to make sure that going forward, you can live a healthy and happy life. Make your swing ticket advantage. Do we have your word?

24. 24. His eyes are wide as he hears that. He sees 100 gold pieces, something he probably hasn't even seen that much in one place offered to him in his entire life. Absolutely not. As his eyes are wide and he looks down, he's distracted by Herja. After failing the save. Yeah.

I magically cannot tell a lie. And girl, you're sicker than a bowl of oatmeal. I immediately firebolt him. I cannot tell a lie.

- We barely knew ye, Zorbak. - Oh, God. Sorry, continue. - Zorbak looks at you and he says, "You will not kill me. I will eat. I get gold.

Yes, we are. But you have to promise that you'll work with us and you won't abandon us when we need you. We need to get to the top. We need to burn down this incursion. Tell me what Zorbak would do. Food. Safety. Gold. Thighs. Ha ha ha!

I can't promise you thighs, but...

I will kill you. Keep him disappointed. Dakota will shout at us when you're nearby. She'll consider you a friend, and I try to friendly, but kind of, probably looks too threateningly, show him my foil. I will help how I can, but I'm a bugbear. I am vermin to them. Without one of their owls,

His eyes look like they're looking at him. He actually seemed to be genuinely shameful.

and he looks, he feels kind of bad as he's being scolded, and he's like, "All right."

I only want to eat. Toa, have some of the dried food, please. Of course. And I'm going to sit down. I'm going to feed him food through the things in the bar. Do we know? You do that. Was Jammity just a drunk or are bugbears in general prone to alcoholism? Make a nature check in advantage. Bugbears prone to alcoholism. That's really good.

- Seven. - But she's a muter, so plus zero. - 10. - 10, you know that, you know, being that like goblinoids and bugbears are pretty common in Striga, and this is your home, you know that they definitely like a drink. Jammity was on a whole other level. I would say that Jammity is absolutely on a whole other level, but you know that they enjoy a good drink. They're usually lazy and loafing unless desperate.

And this, as Zorbek seems to be. "I think we could be friends. Open your mouth." I'll pour a little of my drinking water in. It's like a kind of a wounded animal or an animal in a trap. He's very cautiously opening his mouth. "Why do you do this for Zorbek?" The answer is quite simple, Zorbek.

You did not do this on your own free will. They starved you. They made you fear them. Same tactic I used to get you to speak. Because fear can be a powerful thing. But I, however, was willing to give you the chance. I do not believe that they were. They used you as cannon fodder. And I don't think that's fair to do to anyone. It is not my job to judge you. It is that of a noobess to do so. Prove yourself worthy of this life. That you may live.

and happiness when you rest. I want to live. I want to eat. Well, hopefully when you're not hungry, hopefully you'll be able to say more things to us. You know some jokes? No. I do not have jokes. Oh.

Do you promise them while you are under our protection that you will not be deceitful, you will treat us like friends, at least like colleagues, and maybe just stick to speaking in common? You already gave him the gold or you're handing it out? I have a little sack of it and I basically counted it while I put it in the sack so he knows exactly how much is in there and I'm holding it. You give gold, you do not kill me.

I keep more food. I will do what you need. I will help how I can. I cannot do much, but I know. I know my way around this forest. I will hand him a sack of gold. How do you bugbears tend to seal a deal? Do you shake? Do you pinky? We drink. Same bottle.

I think we can make arrangements. That's my kind of bug bill. I'll, uh... Are we cool? Sure. Of course. Yes, he seems... Your name again? Well-intentioned. Zorbek. Zorbek. I've given you a hundred gold. Should you prove useful and kind and willing to help us and you do not betray us, I would be open to negotiating additional gold at the end of all events.

That may not be all you want from me. I would like more gold. I would drink. I would fight. I take the netting off of him and help him up. You easily pull it off with the time that you have. How bad does he look? He's really... Toa fucked him up. Toa fucked... With, like, he's keeping an eye... He's softened a little bit towards Iris after the intimidation. Oh, but he sees...

He sees Toa and like, he's like horribly like, and he's only in a world of magic could anyone come back from what Toa did to him. I'll pour, as I'm pulling him up, I'll pour 30 points of Lay on Hands into him. As I'm watching that. You hear like the sickening as his bones start to re-

Align and unbreak as his wounds impact the blood that was pouring out from Toa's horrific Maul attack. - Oh, sorry about that. - While Ursus is fixing him up, I just turn to Toa and I'm like, "Remember the time we were in that dungeon "and you almost turned and liquefied my bones?"

Which work? Which time? Yeah, you got the stuff in your face and you turned on me and then you almost mauled me to death. Oh right, that time. I'm really glad that I didn't end up like that. Well, me too. And I just recently learned how to do a really lot of damage. So I'm glad I didn't have that then because then I think your head wouldn't exist now. I'm grateful buddy, thanks. And just one more question. Sure. What's a colleague?

Oh, you know, the idea of someone who's equal to you. You work together to get a common goal completed. Like a co-worker. Like someone who works together with you. A co-worker? Yeah, like two people who work together. Just like a friend? Like a family member? No, it's more of a professional thing than a family thing. It's more professional level.

Oh, so like a white collar office job. I don't know what that is. She said colleague to the bugbear and the bugbear acted like he knew what the word meant. And I'm like, I don't know what that word means. So like in a college where there are people who teach, there might be two teachers who work together. They are colleagues. Oh, got it. They're co-leading.

They're in league together. Oh, that makes sense. I'm just frustrated that we killed the guy that had all the information. I'm not. Neither am I.

And he begins to, after healing, he says, his eyes go wide as he sees, you saved me. I did. Eyes. Yeah, I have to. Thank you. You're welcome. Is he holding an antler and like following her around? You smell nice. I like the way you smell. You're pretty. I like you. Do you have drink to seal? I think so. I ain't got no teeth, but I love you.

There you go. One for you, one for me, one for friendship. That makes three. I'll take a drink and pass it around. You have Zorbax friendship. And we've got Zorbax back. You've got friendship as well, Zorbax.

You have my colleagues. Thank you. Toa won't try to liquefy your bones anymore. No, I will- Unless you betray us. Yeah, he's very friendly. But what I said in the beginning, Mr. Sans, you betray us, and I will keep you on the very precipice of life. No, not nose. Zorbak knows. But, if you're good to us, we'll let you walk behind her, Jean. Uh-huh.

I hope I could like that very much. Oh, God. What have we done? What have we done? Uh, as he's, he heaves to get up and he's quite tall, not as tall as Toa, but, uh,

Definitely, probably even shorter than Jammity a little bit as he steps forward, looking at all of you. I collect my axes.

I'm gonna walk over to him and I'm gonna link my arm through his. You do not need to be afraid. We are friends now. Let's collect your things, get you cleaned up, and get some food in you. All right? And he goes and he just starts taking all of the axes. All of his, all the people. And I'd say, you don't even need to make a roll. And as he passes over the boss, he stops and he looks down.

and he spits this huge loogie on top of his corpse. I would like to contest the loogie and try to spit a bigger loogie on top of him. Okay. I will do the same thing, but I've never spit a loogie. And think of Titanic when Rose is trying to hack a loogie off the side of the ship. I think this will be the first time and probably the only time we'll ever get a constitution check.

Because how much can you muster your phlegm? Yeah, that's a good con check. Yeah, I'm going to do mine at disadvantage because... No, yeah, disadvantage for Iris. I was 100% going to do it at disadvantage. Okay, perfect. Straight con? Straight con check. Not great. I got a 12. A con check? No, his is considered... He got a 17. Oh.

I get a six. Considerably larger. Ira's-- and there's like a little bit of dribble hanging down from her cat lip. God, that's horrific. It's like slimy. Oh, oh, oh, hold on, hold on! And Heart spits. Oh my god. And she does even worse. You've got a little-- oh, god. Wow, you guys really do have heroes' hearts. Well, I don't know if I'd call that heroic.

You just saved the life of... I was gonna stab him in the neck! I got you made about the spitting. Well, I'm glad that I decided not to kill him and just simply knock him out. No, that was really good of you, Tor. You did the right thing. Well... You're pretty nice. Thank you for not groaning at me in character.

To be fair, I wasn't groaning. I was just getting PTSD flashbacks. Nikki was groaning, not Iris. I just started laughing because I knew Nikki was gonna be like, "Lord, help me." I was! But I'm playing Iris, not Sylvie, so Iris would be... Oh, God. Iris would be lenient. Zorbek, I just want you to know that you're very lucky that there are no Forest, no Fae Warlocks in this campaign.

Otherwise, you would have... The lights would have gone dark. I do not like forest gnomes. They scare me.

Oh, they are-- From what I've heard, they can be very horrific. They are bloodthirsty. They are. Do not cross the forest gnome. Hersha's gonna look down disappointingly that her loogie was smaller than his, and in her mind she's gonna go, "What dat mouth do, though?" And then we could be walking away. And no one but Hersha knows this happens. She thinks in her mouth. She thinks in her mouth. In her brain.

Jesus Christ. As you all pack up and he gets all his axes ready to go, he has his satchel

And he starts to root through. And you notice that there's actually a bit of climbing gear in all of their satchels as well. And some camping gear. Basically, we'll say there's a dungeoneering pack in every one. So there's seven dungeoneering packs. I'm going to take the climbing gear. Yeah. So he passes it out.

Can I get some extra rope? Yeah, let's say another 50 feet. Should we just each add a Dungeoneering pack? Add each add a Dungeoneering pack to your inventory, which should have climbing gear, rope, pitons, I think is how you pronounce that, pitons. I think the climbing kit has all of that in it. There's an item called a climbing kit. Yeah, climbing kit. There's a climbing kit on all of them because why not? Special pitons, boot tips, gloves, and a harness. Do the climbing

So there's a climbing pack very conveniently because why not? Climbers kit. Climbers kit. Oh. It's called climbers kit, yeah. And then it just says that when you're using this stuff, you can't fall more than 25 feet from the point where you anchor yourself and you can't climb more than 25 feet away from the point that you're without undoing the anchor. So like you have to climb, anchor, climb, anchor. Well, I think I'm warm. I guess that solves our problems.

Certainly helps. How much farther do you think we have to go today before we make camp? And then how much farther till we start climbing? Well, I guess Poobox is not that much farther. We could probably make it there in another half a day if we hurry. So we can make it to the base of wherever we need to start climbing and then get a fresh start in the morning? I think that's a good idea. Let's go. Sounds good to me. Well, I will follow where you go.

Why don't you stay with me? Thank you. How are you feeling? Better, thanks to her. Of course. I hand him some more jerky. Thank you. It's happening!

She's always going to have some weird animalistic boyfriend in each campaign. There's a comic that I'm going to send you right after this. It's PG. So, in Feywild, Renee has a minotaur and hers is now got a bug. Yeah, I'm going to send everyone the comic. Maybe I'll post it in the Discord. Um,

- Literally from this freaking session. - Yes, thank you, thank you. And he just devours it immediately. He seems absolutely ravenous. And you all begin-- - When was the last time you ate an actual meal? - Meal? Maybe a week. - Oh, that's horrible. - Scraps.

Like, I ate a squirrel four days ago. Take all day's worth of rations. And I'll just give him like a bun of bread and there's probably some cheese and sausage and fish and stuff.

He just completely destroys him in five seconds. I'm literally linked arms with him, so I've got all this food. Oh, yeah, there's saliva and food bits. Anubis, grant me the patience. I'm just going to keep walking with all this stuff all over my face. While this is going on, I want to talk to Hersha. Okay. I walk up to you, and in Draconic, I say, I didn't know you knew how to speak Draconic.

Oh yeah, I know a few. How did you learn? I think my dad taught me growing up. That's incredible. It's not unusual, I think, for dwarves considering our kin against dragons. So it's kind of useful to know it in case we ever come across one. That's great. I guess I don't really know very much about you and I should take the time to learn more. I also know Dwarvish, as you may imagine, but that's the only other languages I know.

I also am really good at, uh, uh, manning a wagon. So if we ever get horses and a cart of some kind, I can always drive. I don't speak Dwarvish, but maybe you can show me some things. Sometime. Sure. What other languages do you know? A whole bunch. Celestial, Common, Draconic, Elvish, Gnomish, Primordial, Sylvan. Things that help me learn magics and spells. Whatever I can, you know...

Must her up. That's super helpful. I would definitely like to know another language at some point. I just don't know which one. It's quite the option. It just comes with the whole learning thing, I guess. I don't know. But thank you. This was nice. We'll have to practice Draconic and stay sharp. I agree. This is good. I haven't had the chance to talk Draconic with anyone since my dad left. Ma barely knows it. Cool. I give him a fist bump.

It's draconic for cool. I don't like how that sounds. Do you say that out loud? Huh? Do you say that out loud? Sure. I turn to you in a draconic, I tell you what it is. Oh, do you speak draconic too? I'm from Nekpet. Oh, Nekpet. That's true.

I don't like it when everybody's saying things and I can't understand them. I only know three. Not nearly as cool as Felix. I'm sure you couldn't tell, but he... No one's ever said that... Labeled off like 14 languages. No one's ever said that... No one's ever said that...

My father would absolutely love you. You would make a valuable member of the court. You'd be able to talk to so many people from all around the nation. I hope I get the opportunity to meet your father one day. Thank you. I've done a lot of traveling and I never know what anybody's saying. So I just have to like, oh, and do things like that. Yes, well, your assets are a little bit lower than your man's. Yeah, okay.

I don't think anybody thinks that. I don't think that. Yeah. Most people speak common though, luckily. Yes, of course. You can speak with just about everybody. No, but they intentionally exclude me. Yeah, me too.

We could speak common together. Maybe one day we should try to speak common together at some point. We should set a time to sit down and speak common to each other. Oh my god, Tor, you're really adorable right now. But I'm also incredibly sad because you probably do not realize how stupid you are. Zorvex speaks common. See, it's so widely spoken, even this guy speaks it. We can speak common.

Do you speak giant, Bodgehands? Giant? No. Goblin. Goblin. Oh, maybe you could teach Felix. He's a quick learner. Could at least give him a little bit of schooling. It is easy. Not many sounds. Mostly grunting. Oh, lovely speaks, Goblin. I heard Lewis. I didn't know. I heard her grunt before. Oh, no. You want the one grunting.

Oh. You know, you can't just keep giving me these things and then taking them away. I'm not saying you don't speak it. I'm just... clarification. You're very smart. I think you're smarter than me.

I'm going to ramble off just kind of angrily. What do I speak for primordial? I always do that. I say things. I guess he would understand. I blush. I'm just going to stumble for a little while. Oh, my. So you make your way through the forest and it takes you probably another, the rest of the day. And you see, that's it over there.

and you see a treetop village. It spans across three massive trunks connected by bridges as well as various landing pads. And you see that you remember the bits of some of the cities and towns that you had seen with this glorious architecture and

just beautiful polished woods and perfectly carved ornately and this has nothing like that. All of the, there's stacks upon stacks upon stacks of dwellings and nests all built up on top of each other with walkways and ropeways all connecting all of them in a

in a configuration that looks like this was the lower class, or even maybe the slums of the Okaxian court, this is probably it. And Heart stopped and says, "This is Bubax! We're here!" So this is where the dealer is? "I snuck up here. I told everyone that I went to Celeri. That was a lie. I'm sorry."

Agreed.

I don't suppose that they're going to let us sleep up there. No, down here we'll go high, and me underbrush, and we'll just get a night's sleep, and then we'll climb up there and turn into birds. I don't want to be a bird. Well, what's our plan? I don't want to be a bird. Should we kill him or... No! Why what? Who? Kill the dealer. Oh, maybe. No, no, no. How's it gonna help us if he's dead? Yes, maybe his...

But he's gonna look at us and turn us away immediately. So he won't deal with non-Avacopra? Unless, I guess, unless he thinks that we're with the court. And he probably will with the help of our new friend. Who are you looking for? We're looking for the owl that gives everyone a new life, a new lease.

And he looks... He rubs his chin and... If it's worth anything, you know, tomorrow morning when I have some time to prepare, I can disguise myself for up to an hour, at least if we need to get in somewhere. As an Arakoka, I've never done it before, but I could probably figure out. I've seen what they look like. You are looking for Gaboru.

Gaboro? Gaboro. G-A-B-O-R-O. Gaboro. Gaboro. And he's an air cougar? Yeah. You know what? That actually sounds like something that I heard them talking about. I just know that he has the ability to give people fake identities and make them look different, like they're higher born. That is Gaboro. He is a powerful bird.

Lots of money, lots of gold. Our boss did deals for him. Bad deals. I did bushwhacking. He will not speak. He will not dare speak anything but his tongue. Although he is lowborn, he likes to be the king of the worms. Well, I think at least a few of us know their tongue. Perhaps. If we wait until the morning...

I should be able to cast a spell on the rest of you that don't speak Trimordial. And you should be able to speak and understand the language. Should we all try to go, or maybe just send Felix? My fear is that should we just send Felix, something may go awry.

And he may be killed on the spot, and I would love to know that. That is a real possibility. Maybe you could disguise yourself like Bossman and go up there with... Oh, yeah. With, uh... Zorbak. Zorbak. Yes. Especially if he recognizes you. The only thing is we don't really know his personality. The only thing I'm worried about, too, is if this...

person, Gaboroh, is as strong and as powerful as they're saying, you might be able to see right through my magic anyway. But you have the orc

What's your orb? The crystal orb that tracks Lufti. Oh, well, Lufti has it for now, but I guess I could take it back as some sort of... If you needed to, like, prove yourself. Sure, sure. No, I think that's a great idea. Of course. We have all night to discuss, and I guess as we set up our camp... You're setting up camp and night or day, whatever it is. I just need to know before morning before I do my spell preparation for the day. So we think that it might be better for me to disguise myself as the deceased...

Bugbear, as opposed to an Aarakopra. Yeah, I guess you're probably right. No, no, yeah, that's what I mean by boss man. Especially if he's worked with him before. You could tell us a little bit about his personality. Maybe he could try to match it. Be unsuspecting. We also have this ring. Oh, yeah, you could... Disguise self. I mean, you could speak it. Maybe you take this. If you... What? If you can change your...

Raised to be a bugbear into anything, it should be bird. That was what I was thinking, but I take all of your word- Bossman was one worm above the rest of us worms. Well, I don't want to be a worm. But bird is like tapworm. I think you should take this, since you speak the language. You even speak the dialect! If I understand the whole language thing correctly,

Wow.

But they want to capture her immediately! If Felix were to make himself look like a bird, you were to make yourself look like a large and imposing bird, then you could technically shackle- I'm sorry, Lufti, but shackle Lufti. You could take the orb thing, showing that you've been tracking, you were able to capture her,

And I have no idea what the hell her genre will do, but we'll figure it out. We'll be down here, I can't climb. Well, I could carry you on my back. Okay. We also have all this climbing gear, and I can help! That as well. I think both of us can probably get her. Okay. And if the two of you were with our new friend, acting as though we were delivering Luffy to whoever runs this place, that is a way that we could gain audience.

Gabor will very much have interest in her. He will see it as way to rise above his station. My only concern is if he does and then he decides he wants to take her, then we have a fight on our hands. Other than that, I think it's a perfect plan. Well, it's what, seven on one? We just don't want to cause the scene too early.

I'm happy to go and do the plan, I just don't speak the language. You can help me understand the language. And I can help you speak it. I can speak the language too? You will be able to speak it back, yes. Oh, well, then I can definitely do it. And I immediately try to turn into an Eric O'Krab. Can I look like something that I... Make an answer check. You've seen Eric O'Krab before. No, but like... It all says that you have to have the same basic arrangement of limbs. That's the only restriction. A letter.

But are they all owls around here? Yes. And just keep in mind that if a creature decides to use this action to inspect you and it succeeds on an investigation check and don't dispel DC, it figures out. I'll say for rule of cool and for this purpose, you see Toa put on the ring and he taps and suddenly...

He poofs and you're standing before you is a large owl creature. The wings are sitting on your back. You're not able to move them at all. And this is, if anyone knows the Eurasian eagle owl, that is probably what you look like. These bright red eyes, tall tongues, absolutely massive, this kind of whitish light gray feathers. And...

and your large, imposing owl, Aarakocra. - Is this convincing? - Yes, very much so. - Oh my. - Oh wow. - It's dark as brown as gray as fur, fur, not fur, feathers. - Oh my god, this cute little owl, you're crazy. - All right, and I'll shift back. - Okay, I think we can do this. - Agreed. - All right, but so what's the plan? We're all going to get--

disguises from the sky. Yeah, we're gonna make disguises for everybody and fake identities. I kind of assumed you knew what the plan was once we got to him. I just want to make sure that's still the plan. No, that's the plan. We're gonna get our identities and then you guys stealthily follow behind so you're not too far in case things go wrong. Are we staying up there and continuing on or is this our way into the city or are we trying to come back down to the... I think once we're up there, we're up there. Well, we need to get to Kaliri. Is this a way to Kaliri? Is through the black market?

No, it's far away, but this is the only way we can pass ourselves as nobility. But do we continue through the treetops into Cleary, or do we have to go back down? We have to go back down, unless we can find a way to fly there. I said it. Well, let's see what this guy has to say in the morning.

Do we all want to go up though? Even if we have to come back down just in case there's an attack? Yes, I think we should all go up together so we aren't that far. Okay. I'm a little worried about these ladies, but I'll try to make it work. Are you talking about your clothes? I am.

- Do we know if Aarakocra have night vision, dark vision? - I would say you would know that Aarakocra probably generally don't, but this variety would absolutely. - Okay, all right. - Absolutely. - Do we know, I'm just gonna ask Heart in character.

At night? I know they're mostly nocturnal. Do they keep light in their villages at night? Like, if we are to walk through the cities and make our way to K'liri, will the way be lighted at night? Yes, I mean, from what I know, even though they can see well in the dark, they can see better with light. The only reason I ask is I have to know what I'm going to be using tomorrow, and if I don't need darkvision, I might give it up.

We may. I can't promise that we're gonna be in well-lit conditions the whole time. Right. We may need to dive into the Underbrush and- Of course, of course. Alright. Well, I'm gonna get some sleep. Me too. Nice to be your new adventuring pal, Mr. Bugbear. And she walks over and goes to bed, and Zorbak looks at her and says, Thank you for not stabbing me in the throat.

It looks like best friends all over you. It's so sweet. So, unless anyone else wants to discuss, you all enjoy a long rest, we'll say. We do. This podcast is brought to you by our Patreon. Become a patron today at patreon.com slash legendsofavantris and gain access to tons of exclusive perks, including a monthly movie night and a weekly Patreon exclusive campaign set on the high seas. Shroud over Saltmark.

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as the hustle and bustle in the city above, you hear the flapping of wings and you see the silhouettes of the owls flying all around. The giant owls themselves flapping around as well as the arachocra. And it seems to be a hustle and bustle. And Zorbex says, I know. I know where we can be unseen. Lead the way. And Zorbex

He guides you, and it's not very far, probably takes you half an hour. As you all make your way, you find a part where there's a huge wooden plank far above you, where you had seen huge rows and rows of these nests and dwellings all built up. And it seems as if all of the...

There are a number of patrols with weapons, but they seem to not be, doesn't seem to be nearly heavily patrolled. Did, what's his face? I don't know, I can't remember his name. Um, Bek? Zorbek. Zorbek. Did he say what type of buildings, like what kind of material are the buildings made out of? All wood. All wood. All wood. There's some, you know, there's some stone, I would say that, you know,

stone that's used, but not a lot of heavy use. I mean there is some metal obviously to reinforce, but it's mostly wood. Got it. Where are we going? Up. And you see that there are a few points of where there are gaps in the large wooden planks that are built into these huge treetop cities that make up these massive promenades and foundations for these huge structures.

So what's his plan? Yeah, no, that's a good question. So what's... should I... am I going to turn into an Aarakocra? Well, I think not right now, but once we go up there and get disguises, then yes. Can you turn in... you can't turn into an Aarakocra otherwise, can you? No. That's why I wanted to come find this guy. Yeah, so what we're going to do is we're going to go up there. It's going to be for three of us, I think we said. And in...

Can I call you Zoro? Oh, me? For short. You can call me whatever you want. Alright, so you and Zoro get to go up. And then we'll follow behind. Alright, and you guys be as stealthy as you can. I guess it's just the three of you stealthily staying behind. And we'll certainly try.

Alright, and I'll use the ring to shift back into the owl. I'm not going to cast Disguise Self on myself until we get up there, because it will last an hour. I am going to cast Major Armor on myself when I start the day. You do that. Alright, so this is the tree? Yeah. And I'm going to take ten minutes in one action to cast a Ritual Spell. Okay, so you're getting ready to go.

You see Heart goes over to you. Heart is like, "Well, I can help bring you up to-- You know how to use climbing gear, right? So I'll be-- We should still tie it around my waist 'cause I can dig in real good." No, that'd be great. I'm kind of heavy, though. I should-- Well, I mean, I carry around all this armor. I'm pretty strong. All right. I'll trust you.

I'm gonna dumb my climbing gear as well. Okay. Just figure out how to use it. Yeah. Okay. Do you know how to use climbing gear? No, but it's pretty straightforward and I'm, you know, I like to think I'm at least semi-intelligent. I'm sure I can figure this out. Just, just, here's a rope. I'll just make sure that you're always tied to me. Fair enough. Buddy system. I'm gonna dig my claws into the wood of the morning and climb up. Okay. And what was the ritual spell? Do I have to tell you? Oh. Oh.

If it has an effect. Why don't you slip him a note? If you don't want anybody else. Just tell him and don't tell us. If that's what you want to give us. Do the math. Yeah, write him a note. Just like write him a text message or something. Unless you don't want him to do it. It's not in... I've cast it so that it's active on myself, but I'm not currently using it yet. That's fine. That's fine. I'm letting you know if I can use it. So...

You all kind of make sure that you're all climbing. So I'm going to need everyone to make a self-check.

DM distrust. I'm a DM, so I don't trust myself. I don't trust other DMs. May I use a twist? I rolled a eight. Would you say a stealth? Yeah. I'm going to use one as well. Yikes. 15. 15. 11 for me. 11? Got it. 16. I got a 12. Should I twist? I think 12s. I don't care if I'm being so sneaky, do I? I don't think so. I think it's less important. Yeah. I'm going to roll a base. 10. Okay.

And I'm also going to need a group athletics check for everyone without a climbing speed at advantage. Because... Acrobatics, you say? Athletics. Acrobatics, you say? So does the climbing here not give me climbing speed? No, you'll still need to be using it. And so the advantage, because heart is kind of helping everyone, a claw around and helping. So if I don't have a climbing speed, you don't need me to roll the athletics check?

- If you do have a climbing speed, you don't need to roll. - Okay, got it. - So Heart and Iris don't need to do it because they can climb there. - You said athletics? - Athletics. - I got a 14 because I got zero. - Okay. - That was at advantage. - No. - I thought you just said roll. - I just don't have to roll. - I rolled another 14. - One at 400 chance.

- 16. - Getting matched today with these. - 10. - 10? - For a flex. - 23. - 23. So you all manage to make your way up. Hersia, however, it's been a while since you used climbing gear and you keep occasionally stumble and hardest like, oh gosh, I wish I could. - I should keep starting. - You're even having,

- Okay, okay, no, it's fine, it's fine, it's fine. And so, Herja slows everyone down considerably. Okay, no, okay, I got it, I got it, I got it. And so, Herja's like, you're occasionally slipping, but Heart is really, she's making sure that she knows the weak link in the chain. And she is doting on you at this point.

And you all eventually, as you rise, the huge wooden planks that go off hundreds of feet on either side all around this tree are giving you pretty insane cover. You see the occasional wings flap around, but it looks like the flying aracoka are not looking beneath the tree, as you all manage to get to probably about 50 feet below where these massive wooden planks are. And...

A heart points up at a, there's a narrow gap about maybe eight and a half feet wide, and she points at this and says, "I think we can get through there, in this alleyway. That's how I got up." I look up at the slope and then I look down at my hips and I pondered in myself, "Well, I think so." You think about that, and only the gods would know.

- And I look up to the slits. I look down at my hips. - Yeah. - And I ponder. - Does it fits? - Does it fits? - That is the next Anubis to grind. - That better not be. - Is that wheel or woe or both or neither? - Is that wheel or woe or is it? - It's woe. - It's woe. - You arrive and you get closer and you hear the, the rumbling of thunder almost shakes you.

from how much the storm is raging. That wind is whipping around you. The rain is pelting down. It's occasionally dripping down, but it seems like the canopy of these huge trees is keeping everything a lot more dry than it would have been. And however, Heart looks at all of you and says, well, I guess we'll be here if you need us. I guess that's going to have to be good enough. All right, you're going to cast that thing on me, right?

Oh, yes, sure. Oh, are we not going to do that anymore? Oh, no, of course. I just completely forgot about it. But I remembered before I could do it. I scaled the tree. I'm so glad you did as well. I'm going to reach out and I'm going to cast a spell. Did you guys understand that? Yes. What did he say? I said, he mean...

I just put my head in my hands and I'm like...

I just like shape change. And I try to like make myself look like a smaller version of Tella, but like not the same. I'm modeling my- A small owl. Yeah, I'm modeling my image though off of, you know, I'm using it as a way to not fuck this thing up. A natural 20. Plus five. Yeah.

- For nature? - So you can look at the tops of the nature model head and you see Felix disguise self and feathers erupt and there's this kind of bright tawny coloring and you shape into a screech owl with these large yellow eyes and a lot of

a little considerably smaller than Toa, but you look to be, you fit the part 100%. I do a little tap dance. So, do we put her in chains? As you're all hanging down. Yes, yes, we need to shackle you up right away. Do we have chains? I have, yes, chains. Oh, of course you have chains. Of course, that is what my whole thing was. How are we going to convince them to turn her into a bird?

No, we just need to understand how the whole disguise works. We need to be like, we need a few from our ne'er-do-well gang and we'll pay you good gold. If I had to guess, it might just be spell scrolls, but I don't know. And we might just be able to bring them back without having to bring the person there. But we'll find out and we'll let you know.

Lovely. Good luck. Don't you die. I'll try not to. Do I know if Aerochocra are... Are they just considered humanoid? Yes. Okay, then that's fine. Never mind. Are you ready? All right, let's do this. And I look out in the direction of the house. What the hell is hoo-hoo? My fault. Hoo-hoo! No, you screech! Like the first time. That was better.

Oh no. Zorbak stops and he turns to Persia and says, if I die, thank you. And also, thank you. And he like, as he climbs away, Oh no.

- Gotta shoot your shot, bro. - Don't throw away your shot. - As he begins to climb up, and all of you do that, and I'll say, you've all, with all the check, you managed to get away as the two tabaxi and the dwarf, and I guess the caprice is here, like, "Ah, I'm gonna play on my fizzle, I don't know." - So we know where we're headed, right? I mean, like, Heart would have told us. - Well, the bugbear knows. - Yes. - Okay, so I'm like, "All right, all right." - Whoo!

And as you all, the narrowing crack-- - You only have an hour, by the way. - Gets higher and higher, gets closer and closer, and you, but all managed to, all four of you,

pop out to this filthy back alley. These large wooden buildings. A very narrow alley that's no more than five feet across. There's a couple of crates and barrels blocking your path. But you see that it's a hustling and bustling street. You see a humanoid feathered forms walking along. They're wearing...

rags almost, or just very simple clothing as they're just going about their business. You see men and women, males and females, and you see the occasional small little owlet running around as you all manage to...

see the crowd walking by. It's not super populated, but you see Eric Hocher of all shapes and sizes. - I'm just excited. - As the much larger owl and the smaller owl stand up and Zorbak stands up just-- - I'm like over-coded with like woodsy creature goodness right now. Everything's so cute. - Like Kelsey cute or like Lifty cute? - Kelsey cute.

I can't wait to burn all the girls. I'll grab the chains. Pekka!

Just play it cool for your life. Sorry, sorry. You do talking. I do not understand. Don't worry, just show us where we're going. She's our prisoner. I would have passed tongues on him too. The two of them. I will not speak. You still do talking, I will understand. Sure, just take us where we're going and we'll pretend like we belong here. Okay. Okay.

As you all stumble out of the alley and he looks around, all of a sudden everyone's eyes turn to you. You see all of these large yellow, gold, red, white eyes all turning towards you as they see a bugbear walking around and a genasi. As their eyes are all turning, everyone make a performance check to see how natural you are. Come on, you. This is going to be pretty brutal. I am so...

chained up and said, oh, terrible. Six. Me too. I didn't do so good. Oh my God. Twelve. All rolled awful.

Awful! We have Twisted Fate. Come on, you genie! Trash! One of my hands slips out of the shackle and I'm like, "Ooh!" I'm gonna do a group insight check for that one. You genie, Trash. So the eyes turn to you and they all kind of linger as Zorbak looks like, "Oh no!"

Come this way, this way. And the Bottle Bear leads you, and I just kind of linger on you as you see this city as rows upon rows upon rows of these Aarakocra slums. Almost, it doesn't feel unlike the Seven Heavens, but a...

tree top version of it. It seems to be the owl folk that you're seeing seem to have the same kind of general gait and look as if they were just birds. It's honestly not so different from this perspective.

as you make your way through these wooden streets, you cross a rope bridge, as some look at you a little bit longer than others with that, as... - Oh yeah.

And their eyes linger, and you see the occasional sentry flying around, but they do not seem to notice you. And then you make your way, get to one of these central trees, and you begin to rise higher and higher on this spiral walkway that goes to the very top. And there is...

a large circular building. There's a large circular building on top of this. And there's a number of these large barrel-chested Aarakocra that seem to be...

like common thugs or goons standing at either side of this large door. And, uh, you see, uh, this sign that is in gaudy, uh, design that says Gaboros. And it has, uh, this, these splatterings of, of, of red and green and purple as if it's supposed to look magical. And it says, um,

enchantment, illusion, transmutation. As you see that the door is dark, but there's this

faint glow coming from inside, and the thugs keep an eye on you as these large Aarakocra, their eyes linger on you, but they let you pass. They especially linger on you lifting. However, they see

They see Zorbak. And they are going to... Okay. He says... And there seems to be a bit of acknowledgement as they nod and turn to the side and let you enter. Come on, you. Let's go. Oh, no. As you enter this room, it is a large building with...

that is very warming. There's kind of this, this faint glow of, of torches that are flickering with this bright red and green and purple flame that to make it feel inviting and magical, you see walls and walls and walls of, uh, of, of papers and scrolls and folded paper all around you. You see, um, a, uh,

rows and rows of strange rings and trinkets that seem to be like huckster items, but you get, I say you guys, you two would get the sense that there's a faint magical glow to it. You're not sure how powerful this guy is, but it's probably way more powerful than any of the average people that you pass by. And at the center, you see a circular desk

where sitting behind, facing the door is a large, plump, bloated, grey feathered owl-era Coker with these huge feathered circles around his large yellow eyes. It's a group of a great grey owl situation, very small beak. As he looks at you,

And his eyes look discerningly between you, and he lingers a little bit on Zorbak, when there's a look of disgust as he brings up these feathered, these clawed fingers and clacks the talons together. And he says, "Welcome in Orin." "What have you brought me today?"

Why do you bring this filth into my shop? We have, uh, something you may have an interest in. Word was that the, uh, higher-ups were looking for one of them. This is a creature of air. Don't you recognize a genie when you see one?

And you used this worm to procure this beauty? And he clacks his talons together. You see that there's a huge ring on every single one of his talons. As you see that he has these long, gaudy velvet robes. And on his hat is this green hat with a huge, colorful feather out of it. As his eyes look up and down,

and do you wish to sell her? is that why you come? well i think we're looking for something perhaps we could trade what is your name? you do not know who i am, it's skaboro

Oh, I just wanted to make sure that you were the one on the side. Make a deception check at disadvantage. I rub my feathery head with my feathery face finger things. Just wanted to make sure it's all this. Excuse my friend here. He's a little confused. Make a deception check straight.

- That's gonna be a 20, baby. - 19 insight. - I'm 18 plus. - As his beak clacks, as his taloned fingers, his large gray wings almost kind of bulging out from his large belly as he leans forward over his desk.

He seems to be the simple one. I would ask that you speak to me. I will not speak to him again. Fair enough. Of course, of course. We're just... Stop. We're looking... The trade my friend speaks of is we're looking to get ourselves a better standing in this society, and we hear that you're the one who can give it to us. Like all the rest...

You want your one-way ticket to C'lyri? Well, you're the best at what you do, and you offer me this pretty little prize. I rattle the chains. I kind of pull her so she's like, you kind of do that trick. Bring her to me. I rip her over. I'll pick her up and I'll put her in front of him.

He extends a plump talon hand. Aren't you a pretty one? Do you know what you have here, boys? Of course we know what we have. We caught her.

We do know what we have. Have you told anyone else about your find? No. Oh. No, Colin, no. I couldn't answer it. I didn't even give you a chance.

What? Everyone tell me. I know. I know.

What he means by "no"... The virus just immediately starts screaming in the clearing somewhere for no reason. What he means by "no" is that there are a whole group of us who had to work together to capture her. What my friend means by "no" is that of course it wasn't just the two of us that worked together to capture her, we had a whole crew of people.

There's no way we're going to trade her just for two standings in society. We want at least seven. - Make a deception check at advantage. - It's two, I'm very proud of you. - 22. - Oh, you're very sorry! - Thank you! - You're amazing, thank you so much. - Toad Town, Arianne. - You see that there's a bit, as soon as Toa said no, his eyes lit up and he looked towards the thugs at the,

at the front of his room and he looks back and you see that there are four in the shop towards the back of the room as he looks back. And then when you say that, he seems to buy it and there's a little bit of disappointment that comes to his face. Very well. This whole place is made of wood, right? Yeah. Okay, good. Make an intelligence check. Oh, well. Here comes the one.

I actually didn't see what it was. Seven. That'll be a... If it's just straight intelligence, it'll be a 12. Make an arcana check. I'll say make an arcana. That'll be plus eight, which would be 15. 15. I would say that although all this is made of wood, there's a bit of a slickness and glisteningness as if the wood is treated beside them. Shucks. And with that, he leans forward.

You are looking for seven new lives? As long as I'm not miscounting. Yep, seven. Yes. And I get her. Sir, sir, whatever you say. Yes, I do. You will leave her with me then? Well, I don't know about that. We need to make sure that our standings are going to be in good position first, and we need to talk about the details. We need to know about what you do to make this possible. Are you all looking to be part of the same noble house?

Sure, that sounds fantastic. What are our options? What are you looking for, friend?

We didn't gather enough information before we tried it. The same noble house sounds fine unless you have a pamphlet with a... Does that make it easier for us to move around if we're all part of the same noble house? There is quite a dramatic difference in heights and weights and girths.

I will come up with something individualized. So how does this work? What do you do to make this work? I will give you one of my famous little rings. You will appear highborn, noble, plumage that you cannot fake. Without my magic, without my transmutation,

And then I will provide you the appropriate papers. What do you think, friend? Give me one moment with my colleague here. We want to make sure that this trade is even. Will you leave my little prize here with me?

Not while we're- I will handle the genasi. Not while we're discussing? No, we haven't made any trains yet. Well, she's worth almost nothing. Oh, that is- I can't believe you would even offend us like that! Seven is a good enough deal that you can expect. I pull the chains towards me and tell her- And like we're heading towards the door a little bit, like we- Make a persuasion check. Or performance. Do I get to choose? Yeah. Why not? They're the same! What do you know?

I gotta need. His eyes narrow as you yank her away. It's like, you have three minutes before I rescind my generous offer. That's all the time we need. And then I'm really quietly, I lie huddled into a tell and I say, we can't leave her here. We have to get these things. So we need to say, we need to verify the veracity of the offer. So we need to take her and we'll come back with payment.

What? I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-

"Prisoner!" That's all he hears is my like, rattling chains. - Rattle the chains! - Make your performance check. - Rattle the chains.

- 15. - Okay, that's high enough. - I don't know what other choice we have. So Olivia. - Please say yes. - Is it Felix or Andy? Tell me. - Please say yes. - I'm not sure what I'm hearing. - It was Andy, but please say yes. - Please make signals, I'm very confused. Felix.

I am getting impatient. Just, just, just... We have to walk around. We can break around. Exactly, I don't see any other way out. Well, take the rings. And you can keep on, Genasi. No, no, no, no, no, no.

Very well. No! Come here, my pretty. Somewhere in the world right now, there is a cat that is ripping all of the hair out of her body. She goes to your back, pulls out this pristine regal pillow, and just... Come here, my dear. Come here.

You're a creature of air like we are. We're practically the same species. First of all, we are nothing the same. And you can have me if you think that you can take me. Quiet prisoner! I'm gonna kick your ass and say "You sold me!" Make an athletics contest.

- It's happening. - 15. - 17! - Oh! - Suck it! - You take five points of bludgeoning damage as she kicks you. Do not have your prisoner under control. - Well, you heard what she said. We don't own her anymore. Rings, please. Bring her to me.

I very cautiously approach Lufty and I say, "Come on now! This direction!" And I rattle the chains and I pull at her. "We'll be right back!" "We'll come back for you!" "Just go!" "I promise!" "This way!" White hot furium, a thousand suns, just burns in my eyes.

He grabs the chain in his talons and yanks you forward, Lufty. Come here. Say please. Better women than you have tried. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. You guys can go now. I'm done with you. Rings, allow me one moment. And, uh...

He yanks Lufty around the room as he stands up. You see that this Aarakocra is not nearly as large as Toa, but he still has an imposing presence. As he yanks around, his talons go over the various rings that are on the shelves. What are the... How many men and women?

Four women and three men. Very well. And he goes around the room, pulling out rings of different colors, and then these papers that are all hanging on the wall. Did you say you could have three? No, one, two, three. Oh, seven. One, two, three hearts. Oh, okay. Eight.

I wasn't worried about the worm guy, to be honest. That's why I said I wasn't sure if I miscounted, but I don't think he's gonna come with us this whole time. So I counted six plus one for heart. And he goes around and... Yes, very much so. And he opens up a case, and there's a number of slots, rings, and he puts seven rings out, and he folds up each one. They're color-coded by the wax seal.

Even an imbecile as you should be able to figure it out. And he hands you the case and he slams it shut. We're going to make sure that these work and if they don't, we're coming back. They work just fine. You now are nobles. Congratulations. Thank you.

It was a pleasure to meet you, Gaboro. Don't thank him. Go, go! And I push him out towards the door. You do that, but you make a perception check as you leave. Oh, and Zoro's with him too, right? Yeah. Well, well. He's speaking low. 19. 19. I think I got a 17.

- 17, okay. And both of you hear, and he says, "Well, I think we're going to need to have a private chat." - As soon as we get outside, I put my hand on Toa's arm, and I'm like, "Oh God, oh God, oh God, this is gonna kill us, we have to get back, we have to go save her immediately." - Why did you talk me into that? - I talked you into it, it was your idea. - No, you sent me to that, come on, we have to get out.

- We gotta fix this before mom gets home! - It's fine, just, we gotta be cool! - Okay, okay! - I'm like sprinting back where we came from. - Make a performance check and disadvantage. - I'm trying to be as cool as I can. - Eight plus two is 10. - Okay, you freak out and once again, eyes turn to you as you all start making your way back as quickly as possible.

And Lufty, you are immediately yanked forward as the guards on either side make way. There's four guards and then there's two more, so there's six in total. As there's that door towards the back. It is, come my dear. Well, I suppose I have to. But I will come because I want to. Let's go. Make a deception check. Shh.

Nine. As soon as he shuffles forward, his large robes are dragging across the floor. His gray tail is poking out from behind. As he says, he looks at all of his guards and says, take a walk. Tell the boys to just keep an eye on the place.

- As he, as the door opens. - Like you would never. - And the door opens and-- - Too much out later.

- I've seen this one! - As the door opens and you see a room that is... - You're okay. - That is totally, this complete gaudy, this red velvet everywhere and purple and green. As like, you see, you smell this disgusting incense. This looks like a little,

a wooden hollow, almost like a little owl's nest, but just with this plush, as if they're just trying to compensate for something. As you see a large jug of wine, and he says, well, my dear, I've persuaded you quite easily have a seat. I've persuaded you, yes. I am a very powerful and rich man. I consider this from your many, many ranks.

Do you wish to live the rest of your life in chains? Your short life? Well, that's not very nice. I think we got off on the wrong foot. And what foot would that be to you? I don't know. Not the right one. I am lofty. Make a choice and check an advantage.

God, why are my dice being so heavy? Did he play Final Fantasy 7? I got a 10. Uh, 10? He extends his hand. I am Gaboru.

the most powerful man in this whole city. The whole city, you don't say? Yes. My goodness. And perhaps you would be more amenable to this beautiful company. There's no better arrangements in the whole city. I believe it. Oh, the beautiful fabrics, I love it. It's very classy. Some people say that you should not mix red and purple and, you know, some people would find this gaudy. I think it's just enough.

Make a deception check. It's not deception, I did it quickly. Okay, make a persuasion check. There we go. 21. He blinks and he clacks his fingers together. "Do you really think so? "I hear all of my goons giggling "and making fun of me behind my back." Oh, well, what to say now?

Well, a drink we shall have! As he steps over to the large pitcher of wine, he grabs two goblets and he pours two large goblets and he places it down and he raises it up and says,

to ripping off rubes that don't know what they have. - I just want him to laugh, 'cause I like it. - Make a persuasion check in advance. - 'Cause I like it. And I love it when he does the little, "Oh, 13."

You can save me, I don't mean to put you on the spot. - No, he's just, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh. And he clinks his glass to yours. - I go to raise my glass up and clink his, and then I, oh, oh, oh, I can't take it with these chains. This is terrible.

It smells so good. So from here, it must be very fine wine. Make a deception check. Is that like swill? Deception-- oh, I did that advantage, sorry.

17. 17. He looks at you and he blinks a little bit and if an owl could blush, there's a bit of rosiness coming to his feathers and he says, Eyes dying. Well, I suppose...

You are a poor, helpless little girl. I am. It's awful. You are the nicest man I've met all day. I suppose I can, and this is how I got my start. He extends one of his talons and he goes into the manacle. Oh? And undoes the shackles as they clatter to the ground. Oh, thank you. Your drink, my dear. Oh, thank you. And I'll take a sip. To think...

I don't think that you're the one they're looking for. You don't? No, I don't. I think you're far too beautiful. Would you... Did you... Care to try your drink? I'll take a little sip. Tastes like... Meh wine. You've had much better. It's the finest wine that we can...

Find here in all of Ereus. Oh, I believe it. So good. So, how are, you know, why are you around this town? Why are you, you know, why are you not up in the big capital? You're so smart, I can tell from now, from here. Oh, you're very wise. To shame that they would...

sacrifice you to an elder tempest silly I don't wish to I don't wish to waste I don't wish to waste

To be such a pretty young thing. But you're so smart. Oh yeah, I know lots of things. I've travelled all around, you know.

And what are you doing here? They caught you. Those knuckleheads. They did. I'm really quite embarrassed. You are a frail, weak thing, I can tell. But don't worry, don't be scared. He got the nearest Targaryen. Oh, honey. Yes, I suppose I overindulged and they got the better of me one night. Snuck right up to my cabin.

Well, they didn't know what they had. No, they certainly didn't. There are birds that would pay a very, very, very hefty price for you. And I could easily use any of my own devices and walk right in as a noble. But I would be the bottom of the rung amongst the nobles. So why not rule all the vermin and the peasants here? That is what I care for. I would rule over the ashes if I could.

And at this time, you all are arriving back to the group. Oh no. Oh.

Oh god, what have we done? She's gonna kill us. You have to tell her. What? I'm not telling her. This was your idea. God damn it. Okay, okay, okay. I'm not the idea guy. Stop, stop, stop. Find, find. And we'll walk in.

Well, they're down under the tree. Oh, okay. Well, I guess we'll meet up wherever we left them. Yeah, yeah. You're right down there. And you're able to poke your head in and talk to them, I'd say. Okay, then. Kirsten and I are sitting on the ground. I have my leg up against hers. I don't think my thighs are that much smaller than yours. Why do the large ones mean so much to strange, hairy creatures? I take my sheep.

If you took the fur off, it would only be slightly smaller. I unbuckle my thigh armor and it just fans out like a pancake. Oh my god, how did you make it do that? It's like a thigh corset, basically. I have to keep everything really tight to make sure I stay firm and strong and not pliable and cava. It's like cottage cheese. Well, it's more like a, you know...

like a red firm cottage cheese and i'm like squishing on it and that's what we're doing is you get like that great thigh squish and make you just go like sweet so we're able to just poke our heads out i would say for the sake of ease of role play that yes you can cook your heads down oh um uh hi hi uh i've got like one big

I'm looking at it. - So here, take this. Here's one ring for you, one ring for Herrscher, one for Caprice, here, heart, you can take this. - Oh, these are the rings that are going to turn us into birds? - Yes, yeah, there's probably documents in there as well. - I don't want to be a bird. I thought that was the end of it. - We'll talk about that first. There's something that's going to concern you far more than being turned into a bird. We got the rings. Let's focus on the positive. We had to leave Lufty with the guy. - I'm sorry, what?

We left Lufty with the guy, but it's fine. I immediately feel an agility climb the tree and I'm like literally in Felix's face. We're gonna go break her out. Darling, can you repeat that for me one more time? Toa made me leave her with the guy. No, I didn't do anything. It was Felix's idea. May the sins bury you where you stand! And I immediately...

I immediately cast from my staff my giant scarab and I have like three giant scarabs now. They immediately arrive. I swear to Anubis I will kill you both. Just look, we gotta use our rings and break her out right away. Just bring your sproles and...

- While we're going back, can we read to see who was meant for what? - I will say you all have new names and you all find that you have an identity and we'll discuss that next session. You have an identity and you all have an owl form that you're able to find is probably appropriate for each of you. - Do I get to be Albert Sunshod Benedict Powerbottom the Third again? - We'll discuss that. - Okay. - A bit of some chill.

- I'm hiding behind my chief car set, AKA my armor. - And Ahart is just looking completely horrified, like, and she goes like, "Ah!"

I'm back at heart under my thoughts. Well, come on. There's no time to waste. We should probably go right away. We're just gonna go break her out. It'll be lickety-split, in and out. Put your rig on. Quick 20-minute adventure. What did you do, Toa, and feed us? There was no other way. Toa said we had to. He's a lot bigger than me. No, he... I just didn't understand. I couldn't think... I'm not very smart. I couldn't think of something on the spot.

We walked up and he's like hooking a- If you felt that you were too stupid to get the job done, you should have had someone else do it. I was there to protect him, the smart one!

Well, obviously, he's not very smart, is he? I never claimed I wasn't smart. Cross it up those thighs and get your ass up. Right away, right away. Let me just squish all this back in there. I'm literally rolling on the ground. I got my leg up in the air. She's very, very valuable. He's not going to do anything to her.

that you know of, if they touch a hair on that strange little clouded head of hers, I will destroy you both, do you understand? I will crush your bones in the palm of my hand and feed it to whatever the hell that hairy muskox thing is that owns her mouth. Agreed, deal. Complete deal. This is completely on us, we understand. Wait, here we think, do you mean pay to shut your mouth? Tell us, shut your mouth.

His ears gonna perk up. - Snap. - I think she needs Peyton, but let's not worry about that right now. - I just wasn't sure. - We have to fix this. - We have to fix this. - There's literally a figure that we need to wear. - We got the rings, we'll get her out, we'll put the ring on her finger, and we'll disappear into the night. - We are worms. - We are not worthy, we are just worms.

Oh, man. And put rings on the both of you, and I'm going to smash their heads. If I ever hear that you sell my friend in slavery ever again. We didn't sell her. We're taking her back. So you mean that when you provided her as payment for rings, you did not sell her? No, it was more of a barter. I smack her head. LAUGHTER

It is in your best interest that the both of you shut up. Let's move. Pleasure. You're my new best friend until I get Lufty back. Let's go. Should I stay here? Yes, don't don't. Please, just stay right here. Just don't be seen. If I knew you better, I would blame you for what they've done. I could understand, but I was powerless to stop this. I...

He doesn't- Completely understand. Oh, you should! You will come with us and you will assist us. Put your ring on. No, he doesn't get it. I don't have a ring. Well, I keep forgetting that Caprice is here. Caprice, how could you let them do this? You know, I actually have a thong about owls and now I'm Felpin, suddenly. You ever hear the band of Hootie and the Blowfish? I love Darius Rucker.

Zing. All right, I'm going to try my ring on. So Zoro's not coming with us? I don't think he can, no. Well, why didn't we get him a ring? To be honest, I didn't want to be bogged down by another NPC the whole time. And I mean this as no offense. All the bugbears look the same.

No, he can come with us, it's normal for them to see him. In the eyes of these birds. No, he can be with us. It's just he can't be with us right now because he knows that we were- we was with the other birds. Do you honestly think whoever this gentleman is is going to remember the face of a bugger? Alright, Zorro, you're coming with us. As someone whose nobility, I can promise you, we do not. Wait, do you mean he's coming with us or he's not? I mean you should shut your mouth, Tomas. I'm just okay, I agree with whatever you say.

Why don't we give him one of the rings and we use the ring that we already have to look like the new us?

So that we match the plumes? Give him your ring, Toa. It sounds like the one we got is not better anyway. I throw in my ring of disguise. We'll just say, he tunes in immediately. He says, DM Fiat. And now, we will go save Lufty. Okay, but what's his story? Because he looks, his feather age is a little different. Darling, best friend. New best friend. Temporary best friend. Shut up. The both of you.

Any wound she has received, any emotional pain she has received, any discomfort she has received, I will do, thank you, I will do to each of you

Times ten. Do you understand? Understood, yes. And when I bury you alive and you are screaming for my mercy, I will stand over your suffocating corpses and I will laugh. Do you understand me? Understood. And then, when Lufty convinces me to unbury you and she reprimands me, I will apologize. But until that time, I am furious. Understood. Heart is...

is peeking up behind Hirsch's thighs and like trying to like mimic as well. Aww.

And she's like, she's so cool! All right, we should go. Yeah, I want to try on my ring. You all turn on your rings and you all turn into Aarakocra. And although you're unable to use your wings, the plumage that you have is just this absolute, is a magnitude of thicker plumage, of a beautiful, there's a shimmering sheen. The beak, the tufts of those that have it

and you all look like just pristine, noble owls. - My whiskers! My whiskers! - And with that, we're cutting back to Lüfty.

as this plump owl is finishing his wine, and he's starting to, his eyes are kind of glazing over, he's like, I just don't know why they would sacrifice something as precious as this. I know, they are just terrible. But now that we're getting to know each other, I think maybe I'd like to get a closer look at you.

He's such a big handsome bird. Make him Swadien check advantage. *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers* *whispers*

- Oh, hey. - He gets a seven. - What do I? It's your spell save DC, so it's a 13. - I was gonna say, can't be that low. - He failed, yeah. - 100%. - Just as I thought. Handsome up close too.

And you're such a big bird, I bet that, um, you know, I don't know how those rings fit on your fingers. I bet these chains that I was wearing, they wouldn't even fit on you, you big strong thing, huh? No, I am a big strong thing, yes. I believe it. So I am on. The pink glasses had flashed just momentarily.

Quick enough for anyone who wasn't looking for it to miss as his eyes go pink and then they glaze over and he looks at you dumbly. As he, and even more so than the wine that he's consumed, is "Oh, I am a big strong bird, yes!" Oh, I believe it. Okay, let's play a game. You try on these chains and I try on one of your rings.

I bet that they won't fit because I'm so tiny and you're so big. Hey, this could be a bracelet for you. Oh, you're right. You're so tiny. I am. Hold on one moment. You know, I was never... You want to fan art this? I was never really into this, but I'm open-minded. Any clamshells?

- As he shuts the manacles around his wrists and, "See? "And oh, here, take whichever you'd like." - Oh, he's just a best bun.

- They're all very nice. - You think so? - Yes. - Which one would fit my beautiful personality the best? - I think this one, he points at one that's just a sky blue that almost matches your skin. - Oh, yo, I love it. And I'll slip the ring off of his finger. - You slip it off. - I'm just gonna hold it in my palm for a minute. - Okay, you hold it. You feel the kind of magic radiating from this ring. - Did you check the magic that missed? - It suits you so well.

You think so? Let us sit on the... Is there a bed in here? Yeah. Well, it's more of like a giant beanbag. It's like a gaudy velvet plush nest. Right back at you, Alex. Yep. He's got fuzzy walls. Yeah. Oh, it's all fuzzy walls. Leopard ribs. Yeah, I know.

Oh god. There's actually the bead walkthrough. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's have a seat over here where it's more comfortable. Okay. And he falls back, and he lands back as he tries to take another sip of wine. It spills all over, staining his feathers and his robe. I'm going to take the goblet and just start pouring.

in his mouth. Oh, thank you. Just slowly enough that he can keep drinking, not choking on it. And he lapsed it up and he does not stop because he is charmed. It is so good, isn't it? It is. You know, I just always feel so sleepy when I drink wine like that. Do you feel sleepy? I don't know, do I? I feel very sleepy. I don't know.

Always feel so sleepy when I drink wine like that. Do you feel sick? Okay, Kels, here's what I found in the area. Yes, I'm feeling... You're very persuasive. I'm feeling very sleepy. And he zonks out onto his bed. All right, I'm going to detect magic on the ring. You detect magic. It has transmutation magic on it. Oh, I guess it wouldn't tell me what it's called. It's not identified. Please, you go.

and I'm gonna slip it on my finger? You slip it on your finger and you feel like you can transform into a noble-looking Owlera Cobra. Do I look like a girl owl? Uh, try it on. Yeah, put it on. Yeah, try it. You look like a female Owlera Cobra. Okay, because I just picked one for a reason. He recommended it. Well, that's true, that's true. But I don't know what he's into.

- Touche. - So I'm gonna look around the room. Is there any exit beside the one where we came in? - Make an investigation check at advantage. - Damn, nice.

So 19. 19. So you start digging around. He is passed out. And actually behind his bed, you see that there's a strange little pillow that's propped up. And as you pull it back, you see that there is a little escape chute with a wooden slat with a handle.

That'll do. I'm going to open it and just kind of peek and see if I see anything. And if the coast is clear, I'm going to come out. You peek and you see that there's a little rope ladder and then a little perch. And it opens up to the outside. And as you see down, you see, remember that there's a spiraling wooden pathway. You look down and you see the slums of the city below. And you see a group of...

there's one person that you recognize being the bugbear and the rest of these owl-era Coker looking like they're power walking up with a vengeance. The one in the front keeps turning back and yelling at two behind them who just keep looking really frustrated. I'm going to walk...

I'm gonna just walk down furiously at them like Power Bird walk. Okay. I'm just gonna flap my big birdie wings at Iris. What are these? Oh my god. Oh, Lottie, I told you we saved her! We did! She's not dead! She's fine! She's fine! Did they tell you what they did to me? They did. I'm assuming you got them to Clarix.

No, actually, he just fell right asleep. Sometimes that happens. I'm so close to killing them, darling. Well, it's not off the table yet. I'm so sorry, Lufty. It was... It wasn't my idea. It was a terrible, terrible plan. We just... We didn't think. I didn't know of a way out. We ran out of options. Them that they did not have any other options, was that the case? Or were they just too stupid to think of any? Well, probably the latter.

But I also could not think of anything. So that is one point in your favor. But how on earth did you get out? Oh, it's quite a story. Please tell us. Regain us. Oh, well, my glasses, they're not just making me look cute. They're for charming people. Oh, yes, I knew this. Oh, you do? Oh, so I'm a noobess. Oh. Yeah.

That's crazy fast. What the fuck? I haven't, I just thought of it. You see a little red feather burrowing looking owl kind of scamper up. Wait, you broke yourself out of the big bat owl guy? Yeah, he was like a big fluff ball. How are you guys all so cool?

Honestly, I didn't know she was capable of it, but it makes sense. She is my best friend. Yeah, now we have an extra ring, too, I guess. Did you learn anything? Oh, not really. He's kind of lame. He just, you know...

Basically, what's his name? Zorobak? No, wait. Zoro is what Ujj has been calling him. What's the bugbear's name? Zorobak. Yeah, it's basically what Zorobak said. He, you know, just lords over this tiny slum. So he didn't say anything about where the wind creatures that they're capturing are being hidden? I didn't ask him.

It was gross. And you guys left me there. I'm really, really sorry. Well, you both have to say something very nice to me before I forgive you. You're very, very... Think about it before you speak. Because if it's not very good, I will hurt you. I will rip your throat from above. I'm just going to kick them, but that's good too. Right.

I think the way that you got yourself out of the situation that we put you in was the most resourceful thing I've ever seen in my whole life. And I think that you are very, very clever. Is that good enough, darling? Seems like a lie because it wasn't on there. But you told her, so it's good. Was it good enough? I have, like, my claws extended looking at her. Do it, Felix. Ooh!

- I kiss her feather hand. - The beak kinda clacks up against the hand. - I extend my talents again. - Toa.

You're very, very, very intelligent and amazing and so capable that we were just in the position that I couldn't think of anything. I'm merely... I have a very average intelligence and I'm sorry that I couldn't ask you for what we should have done in the moment because of the situation, but anyway, I think you're very capable and you don't even need us. We may as well not even be here because you can do all of this on your own.

You do need me though, Lila. Oh, of course. But he just hit the right ticket. Love, you may kiss my feathers. Of course. I'll dust for you. If you ever sell my friend into slavery again, horrible things will happen to him. Fair enough. You know, the worst part is that I had to drink his wine and it was so bad. It was awful. That does sound like the worst part. Wait, how did you get out? Did you get out?

Unseen? There's like a little trapdoor in his room. She told us he's sleeping. Yeah. And he's in my chains. Like a secret hidden entrance back here. Oh yes, that's very clever. Yeah. He's going to just wake up and he's not going to know nothing. It is what it sounds like. We should go. We should get in there and we should make sure that he can never say anything ever again. Well, we should at least tie him up and see if there's anything... He's in chains, Toa. We should just get in there and see if we can find any information on the wind spirits. Yes.

Well, you know, that's something that I'd allow you to do had you not turned my friend into slavery. I just think we'd be very stealthy and we'd be the back way in that's in his private chambers. Perhaps we... That's what she said. Perhaps we... Back way into his private chambers. Keep going. Never mind. Oh, well, we just sneak in and perhaps we could learn quite a bit. We can ransack the whole place.

Oh, he does have a lot of magic stuff. He does! I'm with you on this one. He's already in chains, you got him good and liquored up. We can just sneak in and see if we can get as much information, if you're comfortable with that, and Iris thinks it's a good idea. We may sneak through the whole thing. Wolfie should go back in maybe with Iris if she's cool with it, and you could be like, "I brought a friend!" And the two of you could do some talking, because I'm not really good at that. I can't really be sexy.

Two of you are really good at that. Together, and you won't be far apart. No, but I don't think we should wake him up. He's unconscious, right? Yeah, but he's going to know that she knocked him out. He's going to be in chains. He's going to start. He's going to know what she looks like. He might sleep through the whole thing, is what I'm hoping for. I doubt it. I'm sure he'll sleep under the actual.

What do you think? Nothing was clearing my throat and he wasn't breathing in any feathers. And doesn't he have goons? Or would they be checking on him? He told them to take a walk. I don't know. I don't think I heard them. That doesn't mean that I was going to find them. I think we should go up there and we should slit his throat. That's kind of... It seems a little unnecessary. Why? He was willing to purchase my friend. That's true. But it wasn't that mean.

I don't know. I'm not really into just murdering people. I think if we want to talk to him, maybe we can. I don't think that you should be looting. The problem is, you can go and you can loot them, you can do whatever you want, but he knows exactly what our papers say, what our bird-hungry people like. And the moment he knows that you've swindled him...

That's true. Um... Yeah, I guess the papers wouldn't be any good. He wouldn't know what we look like, but he knows our names. What do you mean he wouldn't know what we look like? He gave us the rings. I'm sure he knows what each ring... He probably knows exactly what we look like.

Do we have to kill him? Is that what he's saying? No, why don't we just threaten him? We don't necessarily have to kill him, but... We should go up there and threaten him and make sure that he knows that we're very powerful and that we'll come and kill him if he wrecks us out. What if that's going to stop him? He could call down the entire force of the treetop thing. What if we turn ourselves into one of those Garrix folks? They seem to be fearing of the leisure folk. No, I think only in their garden. All right.

That was the owl. Owl. Well, uh, if we just want to go, that's fine. I just feel like... I believe your boss said that the owl guy knew something about what they were doing with these windbeams. At the current state of things, we are not at fault for putting the windbeams down. He'll be looking for her, not us. You paid the price. She got one over on it.

His vendetta is now with her and not with us. That's a good point! As long as we do not show back up with her, we'll be fine. I agree. So, this is what I suggest. You do not wear his ring. He will know exactly what you look like should you wear it. You will wear Toa's previous ring. It'll look like a completely different bird. We have seven... we have an extra ring.

She can wear the ring originally intended for her, and he'll never know that it was her. Oh, lovely. Perfect. Well, he made the rings so he would know exactly what she was wearing. But he didn't know that she is the one wearing it. Right. Do you agree, your friend? He knows.

If she were to try the two different rings on and just like-- You get the sense that each ring casts Alter Cells, and each ring seems to have a different look for Air Kokhra. It seems to be based on the sex and the height and the size and all of that business. All of them seem to have that pristine, noble plumage. So we need to put you in the ring that we got for you. As you can't be seen walking around wearing this ring. You'll be able to pick you out of the crowd. Okay.

And then we just put the other in. But you keep that as a token of your deception. Kind of a trophy at this point. It is. So we're not going to go learn more? I don't think we can, Trello.

I should have thought about that. There'll be more opportunities to learn more. I'm with heart. This isn't the end. We look like real ones. I'm almost disgusted with myself, but this is so cool. I am disgusted with myself, and you should be too, heart. Oh, should I? Oh, I'm disgusted. These hands. What these hands have done. These talons have done. Ha ha! That's so cute.

No. It's fair. And I don't want to risk anyone... I don't want to put anyone else in danger. Oh, you don't, Tony? No, I don't. I don't. Do you feel remorse for what you did? Yes, I do. I feel terrible. I'm so sorry, Lufty. I didn't mean...

I'm glad you're unharmed. It's a huge relief. I was worried about it for those like ten minutes where I was like, "Oh no, Iris is gonna kill us anyway." You should have heard me screaming. This was all for naught. I threw up. He was screaming. He literally threw up. That's sweet. He did throw up. Aww, okay. We're good. I would have thrown up too if I had a cat, uh, tabaxi towering over me threatening to rip my spine out the top of my head.

I think the saddest part about all of this is I became Iris' best friend for all of 90 seconds. A little longer than that. We're still not best friends. Aww. What? Are we bonding? I don't know what you're talking about. We are. We are bonding, I can tell. Only fair as it goes. Did you guys hear that? Yes, yes. Is that real? It's what's real. What'd you say? What did I say? That I'm one of your best friends? Of course. Since when?

Literally like ten minutes ago. But you said she was going to replace me as soon as you got her back. Well, I know, but I'm feeling emotionally exhilarated.

If you want, I can take it back. Okay, fine. You're not my best friend. Caprice plays me a sad song. It's okay to cry. It's okay to cry. It's all right to cry. So we should leave then. We should head back down.

Well, towards the capital city. Well, right, but it's a very long journey away. We've got to go down. We've got to go down and then... Do we...

I thought we just traveled through the treetops. No, it doesn't connect unless we can find another way, but I guess we could look around the city. Wait a minute, but the animals, they fly. We can't fly. No. Oh, we can't fly. We just look like we just look like I just assumed that. Oh, well, that's a great idea. We can look around the city in these disguises. Look, we are nobles. If someone asks us to fly, are you seriously asking me to waste time?

My energy? I think a lot of the nobles don't. No. How do they get around? I think it's giant owls. They're walk. Oh, perfect.

Giant Alice. I will teach you everything there is to know about being better than everyone. Thank you. Let's go explore the city and figure out what we're gonna do. Let's do it. Now, as we're walking hold your heads high. Do not make eye contact with anyone that does not look like they have more money than you do. And if they look like they have more money than you do, you make sure you look at them as if you are still better than they are. Noted. So, what this... Oh my god. That's pretty good. I can do that too.

- Cheor, can you look less like you have to poop? - What? - Yeah. What are you both doing with your mouth? - We're just, we're showing disgust. - Cheor, well, Chinna. - Well, he's the thing I really have to poop. - And that is where we're gonna end the story.

Thank you. And as you actually notice this, despite you all being in the middle of the street arguing with each other, all of the Alarcoca artists, like they see that there are a bunch of nobles. They seem like, oh, the nobles are arguing again. Why are they here? And they're just like, oh, no, don't make that kind of, don't make that kind of.

As they're all kind of just darting away from you, you seem to- no one seems to be even looking in that second glance at you. Um, as, uh, they all- they're all kind of keeping an eye on the, uh, "Oh, actually!" Then you actually realize the bugbear, um,

Zorbek was actually able to disguise himself as well. So there's a bunch of, he doesn't look like a noble, but the other do. And so no one seems to be paying you any mind. You're able to do all this. So Zorbek, do you know any other of them up here that are, you know, maybe a little higher up? Like...

Here... Gabor? He is the most high up here. But we may be able to find other ways to get around. Yeah, well, I do feel bad that I forgot to ask. I was just really angry at you guys, and I forgot to ask maybe some important questions. No, no, you shouldn't have had to ask me. Not at all. You have nothing to apologize for.

Well, I'm thinking maybe if we can find some other, you know, slightly higher up people here, maybe they would know. If not here, then definitely towards the capital, for sure. Or, alternately, maybe some like really lower people who are like hunting these things and would know who asked them to hunt. That's a good idea too, yeah. Well, I think there's no place to go but out here in this city. Are you excited? You seem excited.

I am. I mean, I don't care who knows it. This is going to be a hoot. And that is where we're going to end the session. Yeah. Yeah. Check out what they wanted. Check out what they wanted. Thank you, everyone. Thank you, everybody.

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