Edge of Midnight | Ep. 21 | The Ballad of William Van Brunt
02:40:25 Share

Howdy-do! Welcome to Legends of Aventress. I'm old Jericho Sticks, and you're listening to Edge of Midnight. Here's what happened last time. You stare down at the bloated corpse of the Archbishop, and you watch the mayhem of Cyril unfold before you. Your lips grace Lethika's neck, your fangs piercing into her flesh. No, no, no, no, no! It's almost like you can hear her voice in your head. Georgie?

Are we going to go outside and play a game? With a loud crack and pop, the cathedral levels itself. What happened to those strange people that he was working with? Are you trying to say that they're evil? Yes, I'm trying to say that they're evil. With everything going on, I had forgotten about Van Brunt. He is still out there and we need to make sure that he isn't harming innocent people. Citizens of Cyril,

Well, I'm William Van Brunt. Today, we're going to kill the last witch in full sense. Maggie McDuff will die. William Van Brunt for mayor. William Van Brunt, our new leader. Billy, Billy, Billy, Billy. Something ain't quite right in the city of Cyril.

With the demons dispelled, the archbishop dead, the wicked witch-hunting turning tail and flying away on her broomstick, the fine folk of this fine city should be filled with peace and positive intentions, right? Wrong. Maybe the lesson all along was that the true darkness comes from the hearts and minds of people pushed to the edge and thoroughly out of options. What do I know? I'm just a narrator. You are all standing.

in the middle of the town center of Cyril. You are silhouetted by the smoldering ruins of what once had been the cathedral in this town center. The grisly visage of the former archbishop, Danton Alexander Renault, is strung up against the fountain and desecrated. And you stand here in this place almost in shock

as an army, well, 20 to 30 mounted men on horseback, but functioning like a small army, rides off to fell the witch, led by one William Van Brunt. And you should have seen this coming. Where the archbishop had fallen, a power vacuum was left, and the city of Cyril was going to need someone to look to, someone to lead them, someone to give them

Something to believe in. And who better than William Van Brunt? With his charisma and his good looks, it was obvious that he would rise to the occasion and seize this moment. But so soon is quite shocking. You watch as he leads the charge, not noticing all of you as you make your way out of the alleyway and stand in the shadows of the smoldering cathedral.

The only peace that you feel is that he is very clearly going in the wrong direction, at least for now. But he knows the area well and will eventually lead these men to his mark. So you know you don't have all the time in the world, but you at least have some. And as you look around Cyril in this moment, you realize that these people that are still chanting and still...

cheering for what William Van Brunt plans to bring to this city. They are not cursed. This is not the magics of the Knight of Sin or the Archbishop swaying their thoughts and opinions.

These are people easily swayed. And at first, that ignites in you a rage that they could be so quick to turn after realizing what had happened here, seeing directly in front of you, desecrated on this fountain, the root of the evil in this city, that they could so quickly go back to their old ways. But as you watch them, almost in slow motion, you see that these people are haggard.

They have dark circles under their eyes. Their skin is sallow. They're clearly, many of them underweight, underfed. You see some of them are sickly. This is a city that has not been well taken care of. The archbishop had one goal and one plan in mind. And the citizens of Cyril were just puppets and pawns in his game. And they paid the price for that.

And when people are at their weakest, and when people are desperate, they will do heinous things. And it's very clear as you look around that these people will do anything to survive. And you do begin to hear the stirrings of unrest, whispers about the monsters that lurk in the city. And you were reminded as you stand here and you watch this from afar that you are those monsters. And that right now, with William Van Brunt

attempting to claim the seat of power that you are not safe here. Well, gosh. Miss McDuff has a child familiar? I thought Flora was a little rabbit. She seemed to be... about middle-aged for a rabbit, according to my estimation. No, I... I mean, that's the point. They're fucking bullshit!

Have they all ridden away? All of the mounted men, they immediately charged out. You did see that they went out the main gate and made a right turn instead of a left. You're familiar with where Maggie McDuff's cottage is. They are not going in the

the straightest direction to hit there, but you do imagine that they will eventually get there. They know the forests. They are hunters by nature. You had been told your first night in the inn and shown a lot of the game that was brought in by Billy and his men. Once they find a mark, they will catch it. It's just a matter of time.

So you know that you don't have to immediately leave the city, but time is of the essence. You are left there without the horsemen. It is just the citizens milling about, some of them not at all interested in the scene that's happening. It is very clear that the city is in turmoil and that there are many citizens that don't want to be a part of any more hatred or anger or death. They just want to heal.

but there are many that are wounded and scared and angry and they are easily swayed. Those are the ones that you notice more in this center milling about looking at this rotting corpse and commenting about you not noticing that you were there. - So what are we gonna do with them? - Oh, he means the little one. - No, I mean those. - The horses? - The people, the townspeople. You can see them.

The lies that they've told and it's just gonna spread like a rock for all of them.

Are we like within-- You have left one of the alleyways coming from the House of the Mirabelles, and you are in the shadows of a broken part of these smoldering ruins. You have cover, but you do imagine that eventually the townspeople will notice you. They don't notice you right now. They're not looking in this direction. They're focused on where the men had ridden out, where Billy had been.

making his grand statements and telling the city that he would be the change that they needed and the leader that they're looking for and giving them the hope that they had lost. And so they're all focused in the center, but you do see that they begin to mill about and move and you do hear that they are here and there talking about you, the monsters of the city. So you know that at some point, if you stay here, you will be noticed. But for now, you're safe. Well...

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but even though one of the tenets is to always aid, I get the feeling we may have done as much aiding as we can possibly do. Right now, I feel it's most important that we find Maggie McDuff, make sure that she and the child are all right, and then we need to leave. It's possible we can strike two birds with one shovel. These people are like sheep.

They need a shepherd. They've turned to William because he's the only voice here. We can convince Maggie to take control. She might be able to wrest this town into something respectable. As you say, strike two birds with one shovel. Virgil will look at you like, excuse me. And you're gonna hear it go.

The same piercing eyes stare back at me. Well, I mean...

Gosh, I mean, hitting two birds with one shovel, that's quite a mighty impressive feat. But hey, wasn't Miss McDuff also working on some sort of witch's brew? Good witch's brew, not the bad witch's brew. Witch's, oh, we don't know witches here. I'll step back as much as I can into the shadows. Witch, witch, witch, witch. Echoes through the town. She had that magic of the land, what protected us against all of them spooky demons. Except for Virgil.

That didn't do nothing for Virgin. I mean, is the goal of the brew to help people? Is it going to make people better? Because there were-- I don't see people that are sick. You remember that there was a sickness that had overcome this entire province. That there were people falling ill and falling into a stupor and then never waking up. And that is the brew that Maggie had been working on with the rest of her coven.

before they perished and that she, with the help of the books that you found from the Coven of Hags, you were able to, or she was able to crack the code on it and has been working to make

a large volume of this potion, and it did have some positive side effects, and you imagine that a lot of the things that ail these people, the sores and the sickness and even some of the hunger would be cured by this. Jorgim's right. It's a very good suggestion. If perhaps we can deal with Van Brunt and Maggie's up for it, then perhaps she can at least install someone

and maybe help oversee these people and protect them. He leads them currently through fear, if she can dispense this potion she's been working on, maybe she can alleviate all the issues this place has come to experience and somebody who cares can take control. And we can write songs about her and spread the word about what a great person she is. We can create our own propaganda.

And we'll turn the tide. And then we don't have to abandon all these poor people to their horrible, filthy, miserable, hungry, sick existence. You know what I don't fucking appreciate? Is we saved a whole damn fucking city and they believe in these lies about us. How close is the closest peasant? Probably about... I would say probably about 20 feet or so. That really mashes my chunk. But they are...

They are messing with a large crate filled with blacksmithing material. They're clearly taking it to the local blacksmith. It's a scrawny, younger male, probably an apprentice of some sort. If there's anyone off to the side, I'm gonna walk up to him. Give me that! His sinister hallmark, the pamphlet. This doesn't even look like us!

And presumably there's little horns and like-- Marius is pretty accurate, but everybody else is horrific. You're doing that? Yeah. You walk up to what is clearly a young woman in her early 20s, and you rip the pamphlet out of her hands, and you begin to look at it. You turn towards everyone else, and you show them these--

inaccurate depictions. Yorgrim is significantly more hunched over, covered in warts and pustules. Marius, though looking similar, is much more vampiric with bat-like features and longer fangs. Farron is...

covered in moss and detritus and blood and fungus and pustules and then the rest. I guess it's kind of an improvement for me, actually. And you do, you look at this and you...

This girl stands there and stares at you for a while, her eyes ever getting larger and larger and larger until she lets out a blood-curdling scream. Everyone in the town center turns to look at what has happened over in this corner. As she calls and yells out, it's the monsters! Oh!

And everybody begins to, everyone begins to run and scream. You notice that the women are rushing into the alleyways, grabbing their children and their loved ones. Some of the men are stumbling after them. A couple of the drunker men who feel a little more emboldened pick up random things that they can find, loose stones that have fallen from the cathedrals. I need you all to roll a dexterity saving throw. As they begin to hurl.

I'll throw all these stones at you, and an angry mob begins to form and rush your way. You said, oh, plus four, and if everybody's within 10 feet of me, plus four on saves, like 30. I got a 16. No, 27. 21. 18. 12. No, no, no, 13. 15, anyone tell me 15 below. No. That's what's important. Golden. You are going to take

11 points of bludgeoning damage as you are pelted by five or six large stones from the rubble of the destruction of this cathedral. And this angry mob is forming, led by a drunkard, a very clearly intoxicated man who's stumbling and slurring his words, "Kill me!"

And the town is incensed. They have already been suspicious of you. Van Brunt mentioned that you were the monsters lurking in the shadows brought here by the Archbishop, and that was not untrue. The Archbishop announced your arrival and proclaimed you as a ward, and under his protection, it is easy to believe that you are here under false pretenses and...

They mobilize. After I see poor Jericho get hit with a brick, I will immediately raise my shield and pull Jorgren with me and say, come with me, come with me, everyone behind us, quickly, and I'm gonna grab Briggsie and pull him back and try to get everybody behind us as we just kind of walk backwards and deflect garbage and rocks and shit. Things are being thrown at you.

This one particular man is stumbling forward. You actually whack him with your shovel and move him backwards. A large gash appears on his face. Oh no. But he gets back up. He seems to not even be bothered by it. A lot of the other people behind him. His head flies off and he spins around like Johnny Gordo. A lot of the people behind him see this and you can tell they're hesitant. They don't want to be hurt. They're already weakened.

So they advance, but not with as much gusto. However, this one singular drunk individual has no sense of self-preservation, and he is continuing to rush at you. As soon as I see that everybody else kind of is...

backing off and this drunkard is gonna double at us, I will lower my shield just enough so that he can see my face and point at him and say, "Stop!" as I use command. Okay. It's a wisdom 15 saving throw. He is drunk, so he will roll at disadvantage. Don't worry. And he got a five. Yes!

Even the pee stops. He immediately stops. Part of his face is lilted with alcohol. As he looks at you, he begins to drool. But he is-- you can see a look of panic behind his eyes, where he clearly knows what's going on, but he has no control over his limbs.

The rest of the people that were following, though apprehensive, they were still willing to engage. They watch this and you immediately see as they start to slow down and back off. They continue to throw things, hurl things at you and you're able to narrowly miss them. But they do slowly disperse, though you hear that the

what had been a whispering, an undercurrent of distrust for the monsters has now turned into people running through the streets. The monsters are here. They, um, did you see what they did, um, to old Jim Johnson? Um, and you, you are now, you are now, um, yeah, uh,

You're now enemy number one. Awesome. You point me back. Don't believe his lies! Don't believe the cutting of lips! No! I'm gonna tear it out, Boosters. Everywhere I can. No! First of all, look out! They've got a scared crew seeking bricks in this place! We have to get out of here. They left their deadliest marksman to defend the town. I'll pull a chunk of my flesh and throw it back at the guy who threw the brick. No!

It hits Jim Johnson right in the face. He's now a shaman. We have to go find Miss Lethica and Hugo before the town gets out of hand! We gotta find a way to pursue the angry mob! No, the other angry mob! One of the angry mobs!

Yeah, and then I would just try to lead us back, keeping an eye on the debris and whatnot. Roll a stealth check for me, please. Sure. A group stealth check. I roll that at disadvantage, but everyone has, oh no, stealth check. Oh, double 13!

He's in disadvantage because of his armor. You get a plus four because you're near him. I thought that was true. I'm drawing my plus four. I thought you said the roll of disadvantage. No, I said that because I have shitty armor. Of course, I got a 21! How about that? So with double 13s, I got a 14. Should I twist this? Well, I got a 14 as well. I would just like to make sure you're aware that this is your fault.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. He knows. Well, yeah. I think he knows. Richie knows. 17. All right, so do we roll up with the 14s? I rolled 14. What? Oh, you're not there. I got a 23. Oh, you got a 21. That's pretty fun. Yeah, okay. I think we're all right. It makes sense. Yeah. Bash bros. Yeah, yeah, exactly. One at the front, one at the back.

You make your way through the back streets of Cyril, retracing the steps that you had taken to get to the town center when you were awoken by the noises of William Van Brunt and the angry mob that he had gathered. And you--

You have become accustomed to this city enough that retracing your steps is easy. There are more people that have joined the streets, especially the back portions of these streets. None of them make any motion to move towards you, but it is very clear that they take note of you and the direction that you're going in. I need you all to roll a perception check for me, please. We tried.

Oh, a natural one. Oh, a natural two. I'm cubithykin, hit with bricks. Yes. Damn, okay, fair enough, let's go. 19. Ooh, okay, 11. Yeah, I like this little guy. You feel like you

are able to move through these streets, and though you're not able to completely avoid detection, that you go mostly unnoticed. Farron, however, you notice a young boy, no more than maybe eight or nine,

notice you and watch all of you a little bit longer than you would expect of someone that age, someone who would be afraid of the monsters in the streets before he darts into a building and disappears. He's on Billy's payroll. And you continue. Are you okay, Jericho? Oh, gosh! They keep breaking my F-sign! I should restate that. laughter

My head keeps getting hit with bricks on account of the fallen cathedral and all of the townsfolk mighty cross about our simple existence. Half of my face is like ripped open. It's just like glowing orange and void and like a bent metal. That'll buff right out. I'll be fine, I appreciate it, Miss Farron.

I've got a parched dry mouth and I don't even got a tongue. I'm glad you're okay. What were you thinking? I couldn't watch you and just stand for that.

The fact that all of those pamphlets are being passed around, being hung up, spreading lies. These people are fucking ungrateful. How many times have we had to have this conversation? Well, I've told you we don't do what we do for recognition or praise. So we're just, we're always going to, hey, just for the sake of it. Look, I only help those who help themselves. And these people don't want to be helped. It's not for the sake of it, Briggsie. If we get back to Phil, look,

I'm just involved. All right. Then we get all that. Damn it. He's a bit out of breath. Oh, God! They're like Olympic shot put. Damn it! Where did they get all these bricks from? He promised us all those treasures to deal with the things that haunt us. That's why we did it. That's why we were here. And that's exactly my point. Mission accomplished. Frankly, who gives a fuck?

Let Billy fucking lead them for all I care. Well, we have to at the very least save Miss McDuff. We can't leave her and the little one undefended while a bunch of angry mob burns down the hut and puts them to the torch or the pitchfork. That is not going to happen, Jericho. Gosh, I hope not. And you know, I feel bad for all these people. I said it.

They're just, they're not thinking clearly. On account of the demons and also now on account of just all their other sorrows. I don't want to leave them here just to suffer. And you, what Jericho says rings true to you as you think about this city in a whole and what it would be like to live here. If you didn't have your experience, if you didn't have your innate skills, if you weren't fate-touched in some way, what it would be like, you think of...

You think of the girl that you met yesterday, the baker's daughter, and what it must have been like to be born in this city. Born afraid from the moment that you can open your eyes, the moment you can think you've been told that everything that you do is sinful and that there will be a price to pay for every choice that you make. And always having someone lording over you and telling you how to live and who to be and what's okay.

and never being given the things that you need to survive. And yet she still found happiness, and she still found a way to trust you. It's clear that there are good people here. It's clear that fear is a powerful tool.

I mean, I know that you're feeling mighty cross on account of the evil genius mastermind Percy Phipps and all, but I feel like we need a little bit of perspective where if you grow up your whole life saying everything's going to be fine, just trust the archbishop and he turns into a giant demon gargoyle and flies to the moon and explodes and then you're only beacon of

Look, I've been run out of towns like this before. And I've never known anything to change the collective opinion on fucking anything. Besides madness. And look, I'm not saying we're not gonna go save people. That's fine. That's fine.

All I'm saying is, I feel like trying to change these people's minds. It's such a tall fucking order. So you better get writing. Oh, well, I thought maybe Miss Levica would write the propaganda instead. I'm more kind of a, I don't really write my music down. It's kind of more... Oh, well, I mean, you're presuming that she's going to be okay, you know. She took a nasty blood loss event.

No offense. Yeah, actually, Darch is not the game, man. There's Murr. I took a nasty gargoyle clawed body. And I'm right as rain. I'm just fine. Look, I'm just saying, I'm not going to say no, we're not going to do it.

I'm just saying we should watch out. I mean, these people, it's not going to take, you know, you don't need no offense, it's not going to take that many of them to fucking overpower us and just kill us. Did you see how they all lined up in single files and ran out of the town? I mean, it's easy. And you woke up when you were clawed by a monster. You woke up as a demon.

We don't know if Lethika's gonna wake up the same way. She might be in no condition to write down fancy lyrics. Oh, did we not fill him in? Not it. Well...

Let me, can I see that? We're walking, obviously. No, I know. I'm just allowing you your moment. I'll look at it, and Fitz had run out of space. It's just like the corner of my hand. And I'll look. No, it's actually mostly Virgil the Crow. Oh, it's mostly Virgil? Yeah.

Virgil, look, we're on a genuine money monster! Look at that, you ever thought we'd ever amount to much? We're genuine wanted by somebody finally. It might be Phipps on account of an angry posse, but guards, we're really moving up. Phipps has clearly spelled his name wrong. Oh! Well, the H, I suppose, is silent anyway. And I suppose you wouldn't know that there would be an H there if...

Oh, there shouldn't be two O's and an M and a B at the end there. It sticks with an ST. Well, you know, it's the thought that counts. This just says, old Jerichoom Dicks.

And Virgil spelled perfectly. But anyways, I hope Hugo and Miss Leathercar are feeling more like themselves. And it is around this time that you find yourselves back at the house. You

Wait for a moment and scout the area. There doesn't seem to be anyone around. What you were told yesterday by the baker's daughter seems to be true. People are avoiding this house. They're afraid of what happened in this house and that it might be a seat of evil. They're not quite ready yet to explore it and risk peril to themselves. And so you find yourself in quiet, all except for the sounds of weeping.

As you open the door, you see Hugo rocking in front of the fire, holding Lethika to his chest. - Hugo, miss Lethika. - And he's just holding her tightly, almost too tightly. - I'll take my hat off. Is everything okay, Hugo? We just had to go to the store.

We're going to rush forward and try to see how she's doing in his office. He recoils from you for a moment. He is very protective of her as he cradles her. He pets her hair. His hand is gigantic. He could...

No. He is being very gentle. But it is almost comical the way that he smooths her hair. It has fallen out of the tight bun that it's normally up in, and it is now cascading down her back. But he's being very careful not to move her mask in any way. You can tell that Hugo has a great reverence for her.

but he sees you and he smiles. You're fair and he wants to take care of you too. He's so afraid of what is happening to her that he

is hesitant, but he knows the magic that you possess, and he slowly lowers Lethika down to the ground and places her gently on the rug in front of the fire as he moves the tendril of hair off of her mask, and he looks at you. His

the dirt and soot that's been covering this mass of a man from the breaking of the cathedral, from the rubble that he was pinned beneath. He is still caked in dried blood, but there are two rivers of clean flesh on his face where it's clear that from the moment that you left, he has been crying. And he points down to her. "Fix Lethika for Hugo."

Take it easy, it's all right. We're here now and let me take a look at her. And I'll just, is she in the same condition we left her in or is there any-- She is still sleeping from what you can tell, roll a medicine check. As Hugo lays Lethika down on the ground, I will go to take a step forward and stop and take a step back. I guess I will.

You got a seven? I got a seven. Twist it. Yes, yes. We got him. We got him, eh? Don't do me dirty, little dice. Come on. Fuck you, Kelsey. Noodle.

You-- Six. Derek's out of the campaign. This confuses you. You are familiar with the cycle of life and death, but not this state of stasis that Lethekub here is to be in. This is something that is wholly unfamiliar to you. Her chest rises and falls with breath. She's clearly not dying or dead,

She seems peaceful, but she's not waking. The sounds of Hugo sobbing were loud enough to be heard outside, even with the screams and yelling from the citizens all over Cyril, and yet you could hear the booming voice of Hugo, and it wasn't enough to wake her. It's strange and not something you quite understand. She seems the same to me, but she's not dead, and she's not alive.

It's a place in between that I'm unfamiliar with. Well, gosh. Well, if you can't rouse her, maybe Marius, you could? I could certainly try. Are we all right with that? Why wouldn't we be? Jorgen, will you assist me, please? Yes. No, no, come with me.

And I will walk towards Lethica, and with Jorgrym next to me, I'll look to him and say: If anything happens, you pulled me away. If I see you lose yourself, I'll move. All right. And I begin to undo my gauntlets again to get my bare hands out. And I think back to that moment in the broken cathedral.

and I dig deep and I say a prayer to the Morning Lord and I attempt to feel if I can lay hands on Lethika to see if there's a way for me to heal her. - You immediately feel the heat begin to build in your palms, but once again, it is not the Morning Lord that answers. You smell the scent of roses, but the heat begins to build in that soft red glow.

begins to pulse and radiate from your hands, and you know that you could do this. Yet again, you would not be using his magic. You would be using someone else's.

My face will be stoic, but your room is close enough to see that my hands are shaking ever so slightly. And I will kneel down next to Lethika and put one arm underneath of her shoulders like I did before, and the other kind of on her face, next to her mask on her bare skin and her neck where I bit her. And I will attempt to lay on hands and

Heal her. I would place my hand on Marius's shoulder as I see his hand start to shake. If I can, I'd like to actually use some of the pool to restore hit points, and then if I feel like there's a disease or a poisoning effect, I can use five hit points to do that as well. Okay. I'm just gonna use a shitload of HP. You...

I'll give Bardic Inspiration to you as well. I'll say, ♪ Wake up this morning ♪ ♪ Please, myth let the come ♪ ♪ Wake up this morning ♪ ♪ Please, myth let the come ♪ And I'm going to keep doing that little bit and enjoy Bardic Inspiration. D8? D8, yeah. You barely hear the music that Jericho's making. You can feel your heartbeat.

pounding in your ears. And as you place your hand on Lethika's neck, you can feel those two pinpricks pulsing almost in unison with yours. Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.

Jericho feels miles away as he sings this song to you. You feel Yorgrym's hand on your back, but even that feels like it's out of space, out of time, as you are surrounded by the smell of roses, and you think to yourself about the Morning Lord, and you hope for the light of dawn, but that is not the magic that emanates from you. It's more akin to

to the red of a blood moon as you channel everything that you have into waking this woman. Lethika, darkness surrounds you, but this is nothing new to you. You relish in the darkness, the true darkness of a night with a full moon and not a star in the sky. Then a terrible scent fills your nostrils. The smell of smoke as suddenly a blazing inferno rages before you and you see a dark silhouette within.

It is a strong masculine shape, and a terrible dread fills you for a moment. Until the figure turns. A plume of smoke drifts away as the firelight illuminates the face of Marius Renethir, his crimson eyes bleeding and fangs longer than you've ever seen them. He steps forward, and in an instant his hand is around your throat, and suddenly you're jolted awake. Oh! Oh! Oh! Nathica! I... I... I'm... I'm so...

Sorry. Get off of me. What do I remember from the church? I would say you remember all of it. You were lucid for those moments before you passed out. In those moments, you saw the light change in his eyes and that Marius wasn't Marius anymore. He was wholly overtaken by something else. You remember feeling the pressure on your neck, the two...

pricks of pain as his fangs pierced into your flesh, and then that feeling of your heart slowing with every gulp of blood that he stole from you, and the way that your heart felt like it was slowly being squeezed and emptied before you found darkness.

Huff, huff, and I'll scurry back and just slip out of your arms as quickly as I can. You'll feel me push away with as much strength as I have to muster. Yeah, you would have no problem escaping my grasp as I would fall backwards as well and land. Lethika, okay, Hugo, Hugo, love Lethika. Lethika, are you all right? Where are we?

What is happening? You're safe for now. Just take your breath. He quickly reaches over and he fumbles with his gigantic hands, but he has been keeping a tea kettle boiling this entire time. It looks minuscule in his hands as he pours the tea kettle into a mug and shakily he hands it to you. He is very overwhelmed. Drink. Thank you, Hugo. Thank you.

I'm opening a cupboard, like leaning down, breathing in. It's killing me. I just turn. I stop mid-juke.

Bring one of my spice drink breaks. As I realize that Lethika has done this and she's drinking tea, I will blink a few times and regain my composure as the stoicness kind of returns to my face and I'll slowly and smoothly stand up

pick up my gauntlets off the floor, just begin to redawn them as I take three or four, five steps backwards past Yorgrim, back past Brig-Z, and kind of with my back up against the door where we came in, and I won't say anything. I'll just observe what's happening, and I still kind of look a little shocked, but stoic, just a tinge of surprise. How much time has passed?

About a night, we're back in the Mirabelle house. You fell in the battle against Renault. I remember. What happened after I fell? How did we get back here? The cathedral started to collapse. We climbed down to Hugo and its depths. We all ran out together. We carried you back here. Thank you. I need a moment.

Good, it'll take me a moment to restring this. I'm glad, if it makes you feel better, Miss Lethika, I also fell in battle too. Apparently, uh, Virgil came to say hello anyways. Not this Virgil, the other Virgil, the real, anyways. I'll like reach into my pack and I'll pull out a stirrup. You want a snack?

I found some cured turkey paste. What? It says "Gobbled Goo." I'm assuming it's turkey. No. I can't really taste it. You sure? All right, I'll just... It'll be in the icebox. I'll have some, Briggsie. Oh, here you go. And I'll hand her a few slices of cured goo. I'm beginning to...

"get my strength back. "What do you mean, the real Virgil?" Well, the Virgil that talks to me when he's feeling not quite so sick, and when we have thoughts that aren't quite as cacophonous, so to speak, that's a nice, fancy word that he uses. He always calls it lucidity. I don't know what that means.

And let me tune this. And I'll just start tuning my banjo after I've reached rung up. It seems that much has happened since I fell in battle. You're gonna miss a lot. And nobody's at fault. It's nobody's fault, all right? We're doing the best we can. We've been through a lot, haven't we? I narrow my eyes. I think everybody can use a snack. I mean, there's nuts if you're not into turkey. I'll take a little bit of a snack. Briggsie.

It was someone's fault. It was mine. Well, I mean from a certain point of view, I guess you could say that, but on the other hand, I mean, you know, it's part and parcel with the curse, you know, right? So, I mean, I guess it was your fault that you got cursed in the first place. Many things happened on top of that tower. We don't know what drove us to do them.

I'll finally stand and sort of brush myself off and put the teacup down and I'll look at Marius and seeing that everybody is discussing this topic, I'll walk directly through the room and reach up, slapping Marius in the face. Hi!

Here's Briggsie. I'm getting like a scoop. We do not need to speak of it. What else has happened? Is everyone okay? We'd love to give you the time you need to recover, but you should also know that

Van Brunt has rounded up a posse of riders, and he hunts Maggie McDuff currently. That's right. We've just come from the town center. Yeah, so when you say you need a moment, we don't have a whole lot of moments. Van Brunt rode in the wrong direction, but he'll find his way eventually. The townspeople are quite riled. What is our next move? I can travel. Are you sure, Miss Lethica? How do you feel? At least have some gobble goo...

It's like a go-gurt. It's actually just a turkey gurt. Oh no. I hate you for it. Goo-gurt, my favorite.

It's really just the slimy stuff on Spam. I just need a moment to sew up the old left sack, one moment, and I'll pull out my, along with, next to my string, there's like a spool of thread and a needle that's like super rusty and old, and I'll try to like pull together my burlap. And I'll start stitching myself back up.

I mean, either way, if we're gonna, I mean, beat them to the punch, you really expect me to waddle all the way out into the fucking woods and beat them there? They got like fucking war horses. Well, considering the direction they were going and the fact that Brunt isn't necessarily the sharpest, I still think that we could beat them. We just have to be careful as we move there. He's the dumbest human I've ever met, but-- You hear a soft knocking at the door.

But what? But even he can follow our trail. I would just turn around and...

Just enough for me to stick an eyeball out. You open it just enough to look out as the door immediately swings in and a small girl, about 15, covered in flour, spins into the room. I raise my shovel. And you see that she is very quickly trailed by an even smaller boy. Oh.

Farron, you immediately recognize this boy as the boy that you saw watch you for too long and then dart into the building. Looking at them both, it's very clear that they are siblings. The resemblance between the two of them is uncanny. He, you notice, is covered in straw and dirt while she is covered in flour and cooking detritus.

And she swings her basket in and slams the door shut. You have made a mess of this town. What were you thinking? Hold on. Where are your parents? Working. Oh, so they're alive? Yeah. You're not orphans? No. Okay, good. Anyway, come in. And I should be at the bakery. Dozen cookies that I have to make. I shouldn't be here worried about you fools. What did I warn you yesterday? The town wants you dead.

Why are you being stupid? Do I recognize this girl? No, you've never seen her before. My apologies. Oh. My name is Lethika. What is your name? She's like looking at you, staring at the mask and looking away and staring back at the mask. I'm just catching up.

Oh, um, her name's Betty. Betty. Betty Bailey from Bailey's Bountiful Bakery. Yeah, my parents. I'm sorry. Alliteration is awesome. Awesome. Well, that's essence. This is my young brother, Ben Bailey.

Betty and Ben. It is a pleasure to meet you. Bailey's blacksmithing and livery. I mean, fortunately, livery doesn't start with a B. And you can't say borses, because horses starts with an H. This is all very funny. Are we in any danger? Yeah. Then we should move quickly. Yes, you should.

Did you say livery? Yes, and that's why I'm here. Oh, thank you. Ben came by the bakery to tell me that he saw you running through the streets after somebody made a scene in the town center. Yeah, all those cross townsfolk really made a scene.

Yeah. Gosh. I stuck my neck out for you. They were mighty cross, right? Oh, they were mighty cross indeed, doing all that to the poor archbishop. If any of these people found out that I was helping you, do you know what they would do to my family? Think about that stuff. We're trying to help, okay? And I'm trying to help you. You know, look, in my defense, we caught a rebellion. Can you please put that weird gelatinous meat down and she throws you a croissant?

Oh, that's not bad. For like the 2% I could taste. I made it myself. I was in a bit of a mood.

We just went through a horrible conflict. They were ringing bells. It was a fucking nightmare, all right? And I'm a little upset that, you know, all of your townsfolk friends are, you know, trying to kill us and, you know, drawing really poorly illustrated pictures of us and-- I can see your skeleton. I mean, a bit of a skeleton. You are a decaying crocodile.

That had I not been, you know, a mighty fine shot with the old voodoo gun, you know, it wouldn't have happened. Do you have any idea how horrifying you are? Look, there's not a whole lot I can do about that, okay? Do you think anyone in this town has seen anything like you before? You don't trust us because you don't know us. We don't trust you because we don't know you. I'm taking a risk here, buddy. Well, as old Marius always says, we're trying to aid you.

Are you? Put that gelatinous meat down! She walks over and slaps it out of your hand, and she hands you... And it's my hand detaching. She looks down at your hand as it kind of like jolts a little bit, and she goes, really? Virgil and Anne are eating the gobble ghoul. It's like...

She reaches into her basket and she pulls out a red checkered cloth that is wrapped up and bundled and she opens it up and you see a... You see a...

variety of cheeses and some cured meats and she takes it and she lays it out on the table and she starts pulling more things out of her basket. She lays out some more croissants, a large baguette, some morning muffins. You immediately smell bergamot

You're familiar with this scent. But you also see some blueberry and raspberry and sherry's berries and-- Wow. Cherry's berries and berry's berries berries. And she has laid out a breakfast feast for all of you.

Betty, this is very kind and you are taking a risk. How can we repair you? Stop making a scene and save Maggie McDuff? She took care of me when I was a little girl. You know, she used to run the school when there was a school. She taught me a lot. She's sweet. They have the wrong idea about her. She never would have hurt any of those kids and she's definitely not behind any of this. She loved us.

She also saved our lives, and we are going to repay the favor. And she's a witch! She is not a witch! No, no, I mean a good, uh... Sorry, we just had a little bit of inter-party tension. And I'm just feeling a little off is all. She's a good witch, who's gonna save the town with her good magic. We may need to rebrand witch, though. We may need to think of a new... She's a woman of the woods, yeah.

A woodswoman? Yeah, she has innate earth magic. It's really cool. A woods wizard. A woodswoman is better. I don't like that. Workshop it. We'll workshop it. Well, thank you very much for this spread of breakfast.

We're gonna regain our strength and you said there's a livery? - She reaches down and she ruffles her younger brother's hair. He looks up at her with wide eyes and smiles. You can tell that he adores his older sister. As she looks towards him, she sees that he is, you can tell by looking at them, even though they run a bakery, they still are very hungry. And she looks over to him

She looks at all of you and she reaches out and she grabs a croissant, a couple of slices of cured meat and a few cheeses and she hands them to him and she says, Ben, you know what to do. Carlton, Buttercup, Chester, Daffodil, Frank, and Witch Stomper. And as she says the name Witch Stomper, you see he smiles and hops a little bit. But make haste. They're gonna eat and I'm gonna get them there so you hurry.

And he squeezes her hand, looks at all of you, squeaks in a little bit of fear and then darts out of the door. And you hear the patter of his feet as he begins running through the streets of Cyril. You need to eat, get together, whatever plan you need to get together. And then you'll follow me through these streets. We're going to be going through houses, mostly abandoned. But you have to do what I say, okay? If I tell you to duck, you duck. If I tell you to shut up, shut up.

If I tell you not to draw attention to yourself, don't draw attention to yourself. Understood. We're gonna get you to the livery. My dad has a delivery today, and so he's not gonna be around. At least not for the next couple of hours. He's not gonna be happy when he sees his best horses gone, so make sure you return them. What's gonna happen to the horses? You're gonna ride out of here on them! Ooooooh!

Oh, I understand. Wait, you thought you were going to chase a group of mounted combatants on foot? Oh, well, I wasn't going to do that. You know what? Oh, me. You see me legs? No. Horses and I don't usually get along. They can usually sense when there's evil afoot. If we're going to be riding horses, I'll probably need a change of clothes. Can't help you with that. Maybe...

check upstairs, this family had a lot of money. Wouldn't be surprised if they had riding attire, who knows what else in here. Wow, this place is a veritable mansion compared to where I live. Would have been nice to be the sister of the archbishop. I guess not now, considering, anyway. I'll actually get down on my knees so that I'm sort of like the same height and hold Betty's hands.

Betty, you have shown us great kindness today. Yeah, it's no problem. Will you be safe? Is there anything we can do before you leave us to our task? Please try not to draw any more attention to yourself. If anyone finds out that my brother and I helped you, if my parents find out that my brother and I helped you, we would have a target on our backs, too. The only thing that keeps us safe is...

I'm a pretty good baker. You tried the bergamot cupcakes yet? They're my specialty. I've been working on them really hard lately. No, I have not. I have been out for a little while, but I will attempt to keep the boys under control. Okay. Anyway, I'm really proud of them. And we do good work, my family. So as long as people don't get wind that I've helped you, we'll be safe. They're not going to do anything to the Baileys.

Let me just speak a short prayer, a blessing. Oh, what god do you worship? Voltus? I worship a goddess of mercy, loss. Why loss? To help those who need comfort when they are grieving. Oh, that's kind. A lot of people in Cyril right now are dealing with loss. They've lost everything.

A lot of us have. And perhaps I can return one day and help show them the ways of my goddess to allow them to find relief. All right. Just don't tell my mom. She'd freak.

And she squeezes your hands. And I'll bend down. This is so cool. And I'll start to whisper, but as I'm whispering, because of the experiences we've just had over the last 48 hours, I'm gonna cast Detect Thoughts and get a sense of what's happening inside the mind of Betty to make sure that we're not being tricked and that we're not about to eat anything that we wouldn't want to eat. Okay, and so how does this work? Oh, I guess I have to look up Detect Thoughts.

That's smart. That is a good figure. That's using your noodle. One moment. Fool us once, shame on you, Ogrim. Fool us twice, shame on the rest of us. Um...

You don't have to make a wisdom saving throw unless I go deeper into your state. By casting the spell, using the blessing of the Lady of Lost that I have, I initially just learn the surface thoughts of the creature, what's going on in its mind at that moment. So without probing any further, I just want to get a sense of is there good, is there earnestness, is there sincerity in there? It doesn't work if her intelligence is three or lower.

She's smart, Cuckie, I think you're fine. You're immediately overwhelmed with good vibes. The first thing that you read from her is, "I wonder what she looks like under that mask. "I bet she's pretty. "Her hands are really soft. "Ben, better not get yourself caught. "Please be safe. "It's gonna be all right."

It's dangerous, Betty. Why are you doing this? You gotta make sure that Miss McDuff is safe. She's like a second mom to you. It's gonna be okay. People are nice. Even the one that's missing pieces of himself.

Doesn't seem like he's gonna hurt you or anything. Anyway, what was it that about a loss? God, Mom would be so mad if she found it that I was standing with someone who worships somebody else and we're talking about other gods and stuff. And may the cloak of darkness protect you under the night sky. And I'll stand up. Thank you, Betty, that was... for sharing that with me. I apologize for my appearance. No, no, I mean, you're not...

missing part of your stomach, no offense. I haven't had time to clean up. All right, well. I don't hear it. I'm deep in thought. I'll try one of those burger mitten muffins.

Oh, you know what they say, down the-- I'll have the same. Garsh! It's delicious. That is perfectly baked and bread seasoned.

It is less like a muffin and more like a cupcake. It is clearly her attempt at making a breakfast food that is akin to dessert so that she can have dessert all day every day. It has a cream cheese glaze with a hint of lavender and there

there are candied chunks of bergamot in it. And it's very clear that it was made with a steeped tea versus water as the moisture agent. And it is... You can see how something like this could have been dry or too...

too pungent with some of those more sour notes that come along with bergamot, but she's clearly been working on this recipe and she watches in anticipation as you both eat them. You can see that she occasionally looks away, not wanting to seem too eager for your feedback on her creation.

Well, that's mighty fine, young lady. You've got a great career as a baker yourself. Well, I'm probably going to take over for Mom when she's ready to retire, so I really want to make her proud. You are already very skilled, Abita. Shucks, thanks. But if I don't get you to the livery soon, Mom's going to know I'm gone, and Dad's going to return from his deliveries...

and you're not going to be able to catch that mob of men and save Maggie, so maybe you hurry. We should go. We will move. What about Hugo?

You look over and you see that now that Hugo, you see that he is looking between all of you. He is leaning up against the fireplace. He's even more covered in soot now that he's so close to the flames. But he is very clearly exhausted and wounded and tired. And he is occasionally, he struggles to sit up, but then he slowly sinks back down against the stone.

and he is struggling to keep his eyes open, but he is almost afraid to look away from you. What about Shaman? I don't know anyone named Shaman. What? I know a Seamus. For the rebrand. Like instead of Woodwitch. Yeah, instead of Good Wizard. Wood Wizard. Gosh, I'm getting mildly attached to Wood Wizard. Anyways, we can workshop it after we save her life and the life of the little one. Pretty good. Only two syllables. Anyway.

You need to stick with what you're good at, voodoo, not propaganda. You need the propaganda to the experts. You think that propaganda is something that when you take a really good look at something. That's really funny, Miss Lepica. Anyways, is Hugo going to be all right? He can't travel with us in this condition. He's exhausted. As they're discussing, I'll walk up and...

He reaches out and he puts his large hand on your face. Let the cop, okay? I am fine, Hugo. You took very good care of me, thank you. Hugo, sleep now. Yes, sleep, and when you wake, your wounds will be mended. And let the cop be here with Hugo? I cannot say for sure. We may need to go and save Maggie. Hugo? Hugo?

Alone? We will figure something out, but even if you are alone, you will have me in your heart, just as I have you. He looks down at his hands. They're caked in blood and dirt and tears, and he puts his hand over his heart. Let her come here. And the knowledge that you helped save all of us through your strength, what you did was so brave.

Family. Yes. Hugo has family. Hugo sleep. Hugo tired. Rest now. And I'll put my hand sort of on his forehead, and I can probably feel that it's quite hot. He's definitely feverish. I'm trying to cool him off, and I may even take a little bit of cloth and just sort of like...

probably unknowingly rhyme with the fact that he was petting me, but just wipe his wounds, wipe away some of the dirt on his face, and as gently as I can to lull him into sleep. And it doesn't take long at all. As he relaxes into your care, you are quickly, you quickly hear the rise and fall, or you quickly see the rise and fall of his chest and the soft sounds of him sleeping. Um,

He does not snore, but his breathing is loud, but it is even. A good night's sleep will do him well. And then I cast Inflict Wounds at 3rd-level. No, I'm just kidding. No, no, no, no, I cast Cure Wounds. Cure Wounds, Cure Wounds! That's what I meant, that's what I meant! Shit! Cure Wounds, so important. Oh, that's awful sweet. He's sleeping like a little babe in the woods.

It's a nice thing you did for him. It was a nice thing that you saved me, all of you. And how much healing, sorry. Oh yes, I will roll. Oh, maximum healing for 13 points of healing. Oh! Wow, 13. Thank you. Betty. Yeah? Can you keep an eye on this house? Make sure that none of the townspeople

I can do my best, but it would be a little suspicious if the Bailey girl was seen around the Maribel house a lot. I'll see what I can do. My brother has some friends that are a little more rapscallion in nature. As long as they're nice. Hugo's very sensitive, and if they made fun of him, my gosh, we'd just feel terrible. He means a great deal to us.

She looks over at the sleeping giant and seems nervous. Her experience with this is this entity would fall from the sky and turn the people of Cyril into paste for even the smallest of crimes. But she seems to trust you and...

It is-- Couple-goose people-picks. Oh yeah, he did used to carry human-sized cages on his back and bring them to the jail. But it's clear to her that he, just like the townsfolk that she speaks so highly of and is so understanding of,

that he was in a situation he couldn't control. And she's willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and trust you. I'll make sure he's all right. I'll make sure he's fed. And I won't let anyone come to the house that would harm him. I'll do my best. Keep yourself safe, more than anything. But just keep an eye out if you can. Could you leave him a note or something so that he knows that Betty is friend, not food? I don't...

Could you go read? You don't know. We'll certainly try. Yes, young lady. That would make me feel a lot better. I didn't get a chance to talk to him, but yeah. I don't want him waking up and, you know. I will leave a note for him explaining the situation. Maybe we can make a little drawing to go with it.

That is not a bad idea. The muffin girl. Oh, Betty the muffin girl. I like that. I start looking for crafts. Like, literally, like, are there cupboards? Is there paper? You knew that a child lived here, and as you're going through the cupboards, you do find what is the equivalent to a booster seat and some maps and some crayons. One of the things that you notice that really, yeah, craftsmanship.

One of the things that you notice that really actually causes an irrational sense of frustration is you notice that there's a connect the dots in the shape of a triangle. And it is just 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. It's just-- This makes me irrationally upset. Why would you do it? It's obvious. There's nothing here.

This world is doomed. Just make it obvious that, like, she brings and bakes and sells muffins and that she, like, isn't a muffin. You know what I mean? If I had more time, I would make a diorama, but I will write it out. We are running out of time. There's an angry posse searching the woods. Jericho's right. We should get a move on.

I will attempt to make a few illustrations of Betty. I'll roll a performance check to see how well you do creating. I don't know how good Monica is at this. Is she an artistic person or not? Let's find out.

Ooh! I think she is. She's feeling pretty 21 about them crafts. Big money. You flip this horrible Connect the Dots over and you begin creating this almost like a comic strip where you show

Betty coming to the house and feeding you and Hugo falling asleep and Lethika, or you, shaking her hand and thumbs-upping, she's like, "She's cool!" And her coming back to the house and feeding Hugo and taking care of him. And even though you're not sure if Hugo can read, you end this, what is that thing that you drew for the Crooked Moon?

What's that thing called? Storyboard. You end this storyboard with the words Betty Friend. Oh. That's nice. I don't think that's too bad. Garth, that looks great. You're a genuine artiste, Miss Lefica. Hugo, save this and we will put it on the larder later. Hold on. Now, shall we? I am going to check upstairs if there is any clothes that I might wear and tidy a bit.

But is there anything else we need to do in the city before we go? I'm not sticking around for any longer. Let's get the fuck out of here. Thank you, Betty. Thank you again. I'll say my goodbye now and be upstairs. I'm leading you to the livery.

Goodbye. You can... Just like mid-sentence as you walk up the stairs. Shh. All right. I'll just wait right here then. She leans up against the wall and crosses her arms. And you...

You rush upstairs, you quickly look through the cupboards and the drawers and the armoire, and you do eventually see what is Zephyrine Mirabelle's riding outfit. And it looks to be a very similar size to you. You're able to don it very quickly.

And as you are now in these leathers, you're prepared to ride. Is Bag still by my side? Bag is still by your side. Okay, I'll finish putting on the really, really tall boots that come with riding and talking to Bag. You could have protected me, you know. I was all by myself, and I had no one to defend myself. You watch as the hand creeps out, not one, but two, and it goes--

Yes, yes. And I'll come back downstairs and I've got like the writing stick and the little cap and everything, everything else is in my sack. Well, shall we? Let's go. All right, remember what I said. Listen to everything I say, all right? Let's not get ourselves killed today. Let's go save Maggie McDuff.

and she quickly darts out of the house. I'm going to be okay. I need you all to make a stealth roll. Oh gosh, I'm going to twist it. Oh, that's pretty good. Do we get the things for you or no? No, it's just a check. I have to twist this. I absolutely have to. Come on. 23. 24. 22.

You know, I rolled like hot fire last week. It was bound to happen. I got a five. 20. 25. Can't win them all. Oh. Can't win them all. So everyone got 20 or above except for Mariam. Clank, clank. Oh, my God.

I think about helping you, but then I don't. Betty is smart. She has walked these streets her entire life. She knows the movements of the town people, who's going to be where, who's making a delivery when, when this house is open, when old--

Bill Jones has gone on his lunch break or Susan Warner is out having her morning tea with her mister and you are able to make your way through these houses and through these streets and it's almost as if

Even though Marius is a little louder than the rest, and he's a little more disruptive, it takes a bit, but Betty accounts for it. She stops you and you listen. You do what you're told for the first time in this entire campaign.

And she stops you and you stop moving and as a cart begins to roll down the cobblestone street making significantly more noise, you dart through the shadows completely masking any sound your armor would have made. And it takes you about 30 minutes to make your way to the livery. It's nothing special. It is a moderately sized stables, fairly well kept.

and you see that there are horses lined up here for you. That Ben had done what he was told by his sister, and he had lined up these horses. Carlton, Buttercup, Chester, Daffodil, Frank, and Witchstomper, which is a very small pony. Badass! I love that. You look towards all of them, and they are...

They have their saddles and their gear, and you see that each of them has an emblem strapped at their chest, stamped in leather that has their name on it, as well as what is clearly the symbol for the bakery and the livery, which is a horseshoe with two muffins on either end. Oh, gosh.

And they are ready for you. Most of them are just average horses, but Buttercup is a large and impressive Clydesdale. Yes! And outside of the small pony, Witchstomper, the others are average. You can bet emotions. You pick the horse you want. I'll look for the horse with the darkest shade of...

Horse fur? I don't care. Main and tail. What in the hell? I think you also could have just said dark as shade. This is Frank. Thank you. Frank is off to the side, and he is, his main and tail are a deep blue-black,

almost resemblant of a midnight sky, and it is exactly what you were looking for. You even notice that his bridle, instead of the golds that the others are in, are in beautiful silvers. I know about riding horses. I walk up and I'll pet the mane and offer some gobble goo and make friends with Frank. Roll an animal handling check. Oh, okay.

Why is, that was very absurd, Indy Bum. Oh my goodness, it's a natural 20. Well done. Immediately, immediately Frank begins to puff out his chest and stomp too. He recognizes the gear that you're wearing. He sees this established,

I was at Horses Street. What do you think, equestrianism? Yes. Yeah. I am an equine aficionado. And he senses your familiarity with steeds, and he taters to you and immediately responds to your gentle clicks and the...

orders, essentially, you're giving him as he feeds, or he eats the gobble goo. I put a foot in one stirrup and I mount the horse and in an instance, I have him walking backwards and doing circles and tricks. Well, I'm ready to go. I go with Stomper! We got Frank, with Stomper, and Buttercup, one of the other friends.

I go for Witchstomper, I don't give a fuck. I need someone to go with Norton. You're so cruel! I need you to roll an animal handling check for me, please. At disadvantage, come on. Animal handling? Oh, that's pretty good. That's not bad. Lucky number 13 plus. Oh, Witchstomper.

Animal Handling, oh, that's 15, nice. Dread? Oh no, please don't break Witch Stalker. We need you.

17. Okay. You rush towards Witchjumper, and at first, this small pony rears back in horror as you shamble towards him. You are bigger than this horse. This is, this was, Witchjumper, you now understand Ben's reaction. This is clearly Ben's horse. This is a pony that is designed exclusively

for an eight year old boy to learn how to ride. - Witch Stomper permanently loses two inches of weight. - Witch Stomper sinks into the ground as you get atop his back. You look ridiculous. But this horse,

This horse is young and determined. It looks towards Frank that is gallantly carrying Lethika straight his back and he attempts to puff out his chest and wheezes out a whinny as he tries to move forward on his shaky legs but he starts to get it. You imagine it's gonna be a bit of a struggle but Witch Stomper is relentless and he moves

moves forward and stands next to Frank, completely overshadowed by this massive horse. Every vessel needs a badass name.

And I ride atop the witch stomper. Stomper of witches. Yes, you and the five-year-old child are very similar. You see Ben looks horrified as he stands by the stables. He's clearly cleaning up for the rest of the horses. You see him muttering to himself and you hear in his breath, "Oh man."

You shouldn't have let them take Witch Stomper. They're going to hurt him. That's my pony. And then he continues to do his business. He occasionally looks back and is just like, "Ah." We got Frank Buttercup and Witch Stomper. What are the other-- Wait, so who's taking Buttercup?

Nobody has yet. I'm just, I can remember. Oh, Carlton, Chester, and Daffodil. Which one's the biggest one? Buttercup. Yeah, Buttercup is the biggest. I'll take Buttercup. Classic. If I'm the only one that can take that tombstone. Can you roll a... I'll roll 800 pounds. Can you roll an animal handling check for me, please? No.

- This horse is just like, I can take on all the other horses as long as they line up. - You make your way towards Buttercup. She is clearly the largest of the horses.

and she is very well kept. She's clearly a prize steed in this place, and as you look around the rest of the livery, you take note of some of the other horses. There were clearly options better than Witch Stomper here for Brigsy, but they are still stabled as you reach out to lay your hand on Buttercup, and she's apprehensive about you at first. - Majestic beast.

But as you begin to say these kind words to her, she flicks her head back and forth and looks towards you. She nips at you for a moment cheekily and then nuzzles you, almost asking you for more praise. Oh.

The horse is flirting with you. What's the matter? I know that. Listen, you worry about your horse, right? You haven't chosen one yet. Not like Buttercup, the beautiful horse. She immediately whinnies and

and writes her stance as she looks forward, her head tilted up, almost like she's looking down at the rest of the horses, and she waits for you to mount her. And I will climb upon

I think you should ride Daffodil. - Is that one of the options? - Yeah, so Carlton and Daffodil. - Oh, I immediately try to find Daffodil. - Daffodil's there. She is clearly distracted by a butterfly that is flitting around by the wooden fence. She's not looking at any of what's going on. Occasionally her head kind of lulls this way or that.

It's very clear she doesn't have full control of her tongue as it lolls out of one side of her mouth. And she occasionally realizes that her mouth is open, she's breathing heavily, and her tongue's just dangling, and she'll slurp it back into her mouth. She almost looks like she's smiling, just a goofy grin. I've been riding horses forever, so it doesn't really matter to marry a switch horse, just one that...

can ride and he would treat this horse with the utmost respect and reverence. I'll roll an animal handling check. Don't worry, I'll get a one. Watch out, Carlton. The only one here. Yeah, that's not very good. I would like to twist it. You may twist it. I'm unfortunate. You're a fucking horse, you're a knight. I know, but it's like it's a wisdom thing. I don't have proficiency. It would be very RP if I did, but I didn't think this was going to happen. We're going to go with a hot...

We're gonna go with a hot seven.

It's the horse, it's not you. It's all good. You walk up to Daffodil. You are familiar with horses. You are a knight. You've ridden them a million times. You watched Briggsie mount Witchstomper, the small pony. You watched Jorgrim charm this monster of a Clydesdale with attitude to boot. And you watched Frank...

immediately latch himself onto Lethika as you saunter over to Daffodil and you make the noises you're supposed to make. You pull on her reins and her head just lulls from one side to the next as she's following this butterfly completely just nonplussed. You know, that's okay. We're gonna let it happen. It's okay. It's all right. It's okay. She's not paying any attention to you.

I'm so naive. It's okay. It's all right. It's okay. Andy's having a crisis. Nobody ask Andy what's happening. This is like that time Carl interrupted his big speed. I can swap my spells out at any time, can't I? Beginning of every day? Yeah. You can swap your spell out now. I don't care. I thought this was a higher level spell, but I would cast Find Steed.

And I would summon my horse that I didn't fucking forget on the battlefield. I would summon my own horse. I thought it was like a third or fourth level spell. You see that Daffodil isn't paying any attention to you. You pet her and you see that she is clearly an untrained horse.

and probably not the best pick to be riding out against a mob of angry men, but Ben is a young boy. He doesn't know any better, and this is probably one of his favorite horses because she's clearly very silly. She's pretty. You decide to leave Daffodil to her own devices, and you take her reins, and you tie him around the hitching post,

and you leave her to herself, pulling a bucket over that is filled with slop and allow her to eat happily while you then cast and summon your own steed. A steed that previously had been the epitome of morning light, beautiful, golden in color, shining with the rays, the bright rays of dawn,

But when you call your steed forth this time, it is a...

It is a large, even larger than your Grimm's horse, this steed. A large black horse, eyes aflame with ruby red. Tendrils of red streaking through its hair. You see that the bridle is emblazoned with the symbol of the rose. I should have seen this coming. The horse looks at you and as it snorts, you see smoke.

Do I feel that it's the same horse, but transformed, or do I feel like this is a different horse? You look towards the horse, and at first this feels wholly unfamiliar to you, but the facial features are the same. This is the horse that you remember. This is your buddy.

I would be relieved to see the horse, and I would embrace it just like I normally would, perhaps maybe give it a treat or something, but I would endeavor not to show that something is wrong. The horse immediately recognizes you and begins to nuzzle into you, very happy to see you. Though the look of this steed has changed, the countenance has not, and this is clearly your old friend.

"Good boy." And I wasn't prepared to cast a spell, so I haven't come up with a name yet. "Good boy." And I will be very happy to be reunited with my magically invincible horse that is basically Roach from The Witcher. Oh, you're-- Cool. Wow, an invincible horse. Maybe you can name him Invincible. So when you summon him, he just is on the side of a roof, right? That's right. Yeah, he's just like a few cluck cluck. You just hear a cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cl

Thank you for allowing me to take that back and cast my steam. Yeah, no, of course. Do you go up in the back to get some space to do it? Yeah, yeah. Like what you call upon. I definitely, I am definitely completely blindsided by this and I was not prepared as I wanted to be the way that this played out in my head. But yeah, I would go, I would assume that there's space that I can maybe step out into. There's a large, there's a large,

why can't I remember what it's called, circular enclosure where they do training with the horses and you are able to find a large open area to cast the steed. I would draw my sword and shield and kneel and put my sword point down into the dirt with both hands and in prayer,

say a prayer to the morning lord, like I normally do, to summon this deed, and then everything would happen as thus is stated. You smell sulfur as the spell takes root, and then you hear the galloping before you see the horse, as it breaks through a fine red mist. And then I embrace, and everything happens as normal. You should name the horse Dawn. It's kind of badass. Okay, okay.

We can also change what the horse looks like. We have to lock in the cannon right now. This is forever decision. It's the horse of the morning. But you did describe it perfectly. Okay, cool, cool, cool, cool.

Okay, somebody else's turn. Cool. You cast, you summon your steed, and once you have mounted, you make your way back around as Jorggrim is sitting tall astride Buttercup as you sidle in beside him, towering over him on this monstrous summoned steed.

Well, Farron, it's just you and me. Chester Carlton. Two regular horses. Just two regular, normal horses. Uh,

I'm feeling a little less feared, a little less feared about Chester on account of his pretty mane and the cute little diamond on his forehead. But they seem to be like twins, perhaps they're brothers, Chester and Carlton. They do actually look very similar. And they seem to be paying a lot of attention to each other. They seem to like to be close to each other. As one does something, the other will kind of mimic it.

They're just very large I know you can sense evil

Technically, you can probably smell a lot of evil on and in me. You know, it really doesn't put people at ease when you say that out loud. Oh, god. Have I been saying that out loud? Well, I'll ride through the forest on a horse with a name. My friend Chester's got a pretty mane. And I'll reach up and I'll try to stroke its mane. Oh, oh, oh.

♪ Run through the forest on a horse ♪ ♪ With the very last name Chester, Chester friend ♪ And I'll like very timidly try to like pet it. Stay away, get away from Chester. Roll an animal handling check for me please. Okay. That was a good spell, I liked that. Garch! Oh, do that again. I'll twist it, I'll twist it, I'll twist it.

through the forest on a-- Garsh, that's not bad. And I'm also-- there's a bee with a buh-- a bee with a buh. Sorry, that's a stupid lyric. I'm just-- I'll account for me being so nervous. Thank you, America. Oh, Garsh, why do I keep losing old Jericho Stings? Animal Handle, Animal Handle. Garsh, that's a 17!

These horses are very clearly used to train younger people. Not in the same way that Witch Stomper is for children, but for younger boys as they are

um, as they're truly learning how to ride. And these horses, um, these two, uh, Carlton and Chester clearly have to have the disposition for anybody to be able to handle that kind of training. And they are non-blushed by you. Uh,

as you are able to mount them, Virgil lands on one of the ears and the ear wiggles, trying to knock him off, so he goes to the other one. He's just trying to irritate the shit out of this horse. But luckily for you, this horse is steadfast and resilient and does not let Virgil get the best of him. Well, gosh, how about that? I'm a real live animal handler, Farron. How about that? I ain't a fear no more.

And yes, Witch Domber is more like a Shetland pony. It's like Bill the Pony. Bill the Pony literally levels up. Okay, I'll like shakily, I'll step into the, step on the saddle and I'll slide off. Okay, gosh, no, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine. I'll scuttle up on top of it. Okay. Okay.

Ah, this feels good, Farron. You and Carlton, I'm sure, are the best of buds now. I'll walk up to Carlton and kind of take his face between my hands and stroke the front of it, his nose and his muzzle. "Bad friend, between you and I--" I'll look down at my hooves and look at his. This feels a little awkward. "If it's all right with you, it's all right with me." I'll give him a scratch and

Roll an animal handling check. It's gonna be like that video of the deer that walks over a children's slide. That is so funny. I got a 16. Nice! You see that you were on Chester.

I'm not protesting. Oh. You see that Carlton looks towards your hooves, looks towards his hooves, looks towards your hooves, and then if horses could shrug, he would. Incredible. And he allows you to-- It's not unusual. To mount him. And you all find yourselves now atop these steeds, this strange band of characters. You're varying horse sizes.

And Betty looks on and just kind of shakes her head. So these are the people that are going to save Maggie McDuff and potentially Cyril. Well, here's to hoping, all right? Good luck. Thank you, little girl. And now...

We ride! Me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me

And it's because there are noises that are getting much louder than Jericho's banjo. Shouts and yells, clanking and stomping. Sounds like a stampede, a herd of elephants barreling this way. And then you see it. A mob of angry people rounds the corner, leading the charge is someone you have never seen before. A...

mousy brown hair, cute face.

bright brown eyes, but a look of anger and hatred just affixed on her face. She has an apron that is covered in soot and dirt. She's clearly been cleaning. And she rounds the corner first, and you see a wicked smile on her face as she takes in the sight of you on all of these horses. And then you hear her call out,

the fuckers that killed my Carl. Oh, whoops. You know, we all make mistakes. That's true. That's true. This podcast is brought to you by our Patreon. Become a patron today at patreon.com slash legends of Avantris 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 Saltmarsh. You can also go to thecrookedmoon.com to pick up your own copy of our first published supplement, The Crooked Moon, a folk horror tome for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. And don't forget to snag all the extra goodies like dice, miniatures, plushies, a tarot deck, and more. Thank you!

The woman yells out and you immediately think back to the asshole that interrupted your speech. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And how sweet that death was. And you look at these townspeople rushing towards you and they are clearly just townspeople with pitchforks and rage and a vendetta. As Betty calls out at you and tells you to run,

You don't have time for this. Get out of here. Will you be okay? Yeah, but...

I'll make sure Ben's all right. I'll make sure Hugo's all right. We'll just go back to the house. And you see that they're gaining ground as you begin to hear behind them the clopping of hooves as what appear to be six mounted riders. These are men, as you see them turn the corner, these are men you've seen with William Van Brunt before.

They were clearly men that he had left behind to keep the town in check or to hunt for you, or who knows what nefarious deeds he had them up to. But as they round the corner, you notice that they all have wicked grins as one of them calls out, "Good job, Philomena. We'll take it from here."

and the crowd of people parts. They're all looking at you. They're all still barreling down on you. They're walking quickly and with purpose, torches and pitchforks held high as they make a pathway for these mounted riders to rush towards you. It is clear that you could have the upper hand should you choose to make your escape now or deal with them and the mob at the same time. What do you choose to do?

I don't want to speak for anybody else, but what I think Marius would do is he would hear Betty's plight and Marius would remember what she said about do what I say, listen to me.

And he's a good soldier. He's a good knight. He would know that that's the right thing to do. And I think Marius would eschew the attempt to logic and reason and admit to the act that he did to this woman and instead shout to his friends and say, you know, she's right. We need to ride on. And I would attempt to...

urge my horse forward and draw these riders after us and draw this crowd with us if the rest of the gang were to go with us to draw them away from Betty's. Betty reaches up for a second before you have a moment to speak and she says, knock me over.

Do it now. And then in that moment, I would understand and I would raise my hand, my gauntleted hand up and pretend to come down and smack her away. She flings herself backwards and yells out and she says, get them! They're stealing my father's

And as she says this, I will look to the woman whose son perhaps I killed, and I will grin and bare my fangs in full view of this rousting crowd to attempt to spur their anger and their hatred. They scream and yell. You hear people, did you see what they did to the...

oh, Bailey's daughter, did you see that? And they rush forward. They begin to grab things and start to throw things. The mounted riders begin to rush forward as Marius calls out for you to make haste. And all of you begin to rush forward. You begin to...

what is essentially a horse chase as you navigate the streets of Cyril. Now we ride! Seeing what Marius has done, I'm assuming some of them have torches. I'll snap a few times and put out each one with each snap. You hear gasps and shrieks. This only incenses these people as they watch your magic and you hear the words witch, occultist,

Devil worshipper. Hi-ho, wish-stomper! The movement speed is 10 feet per second. I'll kick my spirits and I'll whisper into my horse's ear, ride, ride like the wind, Shadow Frank. Amazing. Shadow Frank! Shadow Frank! And you all begin to ride. You...

You are well ahead of these armed riders, but their steeds are all similar sizes. These steeds were built for hunting. They were built to carry men. And you are riding Witchstomper and have steeds that were built for training. And as children's pony ride ponies. You are children's pony ride ponies. And even though you are... You are...

These steeds are responding to you. They can only go so quickly. And as you exit Cyril and begin to dart into the woods, heading in the direction that you imagine William Van Brunt heading,

was heading in, they begin to gain ground on you as they make a chase. If you could all put your minis on the board and then put these five riders there, I need you all to roll for initiative. Five? Yeah! Oh, sorry, six riders. Shit. Man.

So we're going this way. Badass! I call a giant. I feel like Marius would be probably in the lead. In the lead? Sure. I'm Marius Galapagos. Yeah, I'm Wraithing. Maybe not voluntarily next to each other. No, Wraithing. We'd probably be pretty close together with the twin horses. Yeah.

Oh, can we get some camera-- And I would say put them about 30 feet behind you. Good! Move us forward then a little bit. So that way we can get about 30. 10, 15, 20, 25, 30. Okay, yeah, that's good. That's good. About 30 feet. Especially for a-- for a pregnant-- Witch Stomper's like 10 feet behind everyone.

Gosh, isn't it nice, Farron? Our horses are friends. They even run the same, just like us. You're best to be holding on. Oh, gosh, should I not give us a nice chase tune? I'm holding his reins while he's playing the bass.

Not bad, not bad. Not bad. Oh, I gotta roll for initiative. Initiative. Initiative. Initiative. Too busy. What? Six to initiative. Holy shit. Nice, dude. Classic board. Yeah, I had no idea.

Do you wanna swing that around here so that we're looking more-- Oh yeah, dynamic shot. Well, you know, somebody's gotta do it. I was doing it. Yeah, but that angle was just too-- It was a very epic shot, right? The Nazgul and the-- And also a giant bird was there. 20 to 25. That angle was just not it. 20 to 25. You're actually right, that was a much better angle. 20 to 25. No one. 15 to 20.

Please, not solid. 16, 16, 16. 15. Okay, so. Everyone's just hitting the deck. My initiative is bad. It's not us. That's pretty good. 10 to 15. I got an 11. 13. 12. 10. Okay, hold on. Oh! Yorgrym. Yorgrym, Feren, Marius, Jericho. That's a plus six? I like the way you're doing that. Feren, Marius.

Yes, that's correct. That sounds nefarious. That's true. What do you like? It sounds nefarious. What did you say you like? Oh, it sounded like nefarious, because it's-- Oh! I like the cards. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's really-- I'm going to do that instead of having the weird wine. Oh, you mean sticking them in the notch. Yeah, that's way cooler. Fix.

It doesn't cover up my stuff on the back, which is why I like it. And it keeps the magnetic strip usable.

I'm learning how to DM while I watch. Yeah, seriously, I'm like... Lethika, you have now broken into the tree line. You are rushing through this forest, and you are doing your best to stay to the path that was clearly recently traught...

by 20-plus men on horseback. It's easy to see where they had ridden. And you were following the trail knowing that you were going to have to, one, find Van Brent and his men before they get to Maggie McDuff, but also find some way to either...

to either destroy or evade these men on horseback as they're gaining speed. You all break through the tree line and you turn and look back and you see that they are gaining ground on you very quickly. What do you do? I will...

continue to focus on the path ahead of me and then quickly looking back know that all of my companions are in danger if they manage to overtake us. So I will endeavor to aid them by turning and whispering a few magic words and with a

the outline of these men and their horses will start to flicker and become darker and give them almost like a drop shadow in Photoshop to make something look a little bit bolder. I'm going to cast Faerie Fire on them. And each of them needs to make a dexterity saving throw. My DC I haven't looked at in some time. It's...

Where the fuck is my DC? Oh, it's 16. Okay. One got a six, two got a five, five got a two, six got a three, three got a 19, and four got a 14. So which ones fail? So three passes. Three passes. So all the others? 14 wasn't good enough?

16 was the DC. Oh, shit. Okay. Well, I should have listened to that. That would have made it easier. Yeah, so... Oh, nice. So all of them have fairy fire except for 19. Except for number three. Yep. And what does that do besides make them invisible? You have advantage on them. Oh, you all... Yeah, thank you. Just advantage on my attacks? Yeah. It's...

Attack rolls against the affected creatures have advantage, and the affected creature or object cannot benefit from being invisible. Right. Ah. 'Cause I'm sure they were about to cast Invisibility. Quick, the Invisibility, gentlemen! I don't trust these tricksy peasants. And I guess I'll just continue to ride. Do I see left or right? Like, do I need to do anything with movement? I guess for the sake, we'll explain in a little bit.

If you want to, obviously it works like regular movement, you're moving at 60 feet per turn. I'm not gonna have you actually move the minis unless something affects your movement. There are things that will affect your movement. Otherwise we're assuming that you're all moving in sync at this point. You can use your full action to dash and double your speed.

And otherwise-- So like, in a head? Yeah. Otherwise, combat works as usual. I've used my action. Until and unless I say otherwise. I will forego my bonus action. That is the conclusion of my turn, thank you. Hey, Briggsy. Oh god. Dash! Yeah.

Run like the wind. Oh, you, no, you'll go at 60. I was gonna put you at 40, but that's too much for me to track. Or else I'll get killed immediately. They run at 80. We've got one of them. Everyone stop and beat it up. The scene from Office Space with the printer. Yeah, cast spells. Yeah. I am going to-- You just watched Lethika cast a spell. Okay.

Let's make sure. But I'm an experienced horsewoman, so you might fall off if you turn and try to cast anything. Come on, Witch Troubler! You can do it! We got this! I've always kind of wanted to do this. I'm going to hold on to the rain with my right hand. Hell yeah. I'm going to...

With my hand open, my left hand, I'm going to look behind myself and I'm going to make a cross with my fingers and cast Hex. This is the first guy I see. This guy here, number two. Which number? Two. And then I'm going to pull out my flip lock and I'm going to turn around and aim and close one eye and shoot Eldritch Blast at... Okay. And I'm advantaged. Uh-huh.

So they are hexed. Yeah, they are glowing with a silvery moonlight that halos around all of them and it makes them a lot easier to pick out in the darkness. It's a 20 something for the first one. Ooh, that might actually miss, depending. Spells, that is a 16 for the first one. That hits. Nice. Ooh. Yoink, yoink.

And then I need to do... 20 points of damage to number two. You...

reach behind you and you let out one blast. It hits him in the shoulder and you see that he rears backwards, almost falling off of his steed, but he is able to hold on the reins wrapped around his wrist, keeping him astride as you let out the second blast and this completely severs the joint at his elbow

and he flies off of the steed into the path of the other horses and you watch as he is just trampled to death.

Wow. Number two? Violet. Gone. Oh my god. Smoked him. The horse trips and stumbles over his body. Jeez. The other riders begin to yell. This incenses them. And you watch as number one reaches into one of the saddlebags and pulls out what is clearly a whiskey bottle with a piece of mottled cloth hanging out of the top.

He quickly, all of them have torches and things. He quickly moves his arms over, lights it, and throws it towards you. It's really hard for me to see. Sorry, I got you. But he is going to attempt to get as many of you as possible. It is a 10-foot radius. Oh!

Sphere. Yeah. Hit your drum. Yeah, it'll probably hit all of us up here. Okay, so it is going to attack all of you. I need you all to make dexterity saving throws for me, please. Oh gosh, can I get one twist, please? Pretty please? You guys do not have my bonus. Correct. Oh! One more twist, one more twist, and another die. Okay, it was fated. A three, a three, and a two. 15.

13. Oh no, no, no. 18. The smell of burning horse. Chester, no! Oh wow. Still an 11. Three plus eight. Who, Briggsie and Jericho, you're the only two that got below 15? Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

It was meant to be. Briggsie Jericho, you're going to take 10 points of fire damage as this bottle explodes. You feel bits of glass embedded in your flesh as bits of your hair is singed off. The horses all rear back

The rest of you take half that, so you'll take five points of damage. And I need all of you to roll an acrobatics or an athletics saving throw. As you take this damage, these horses are not used to mounted combat. They don't know what to do, and it takes all of your control in this moment to keep these horses under control. Everyone? Everyone. Anyone who took damage. Anyone who took damage, sorry. Everyone took damage from it though, right? No, no, no. I did not. Yeah.

We were out of rank. But you did, yes. So acrobatics check? Acrobatics or athletics. No, you, if you didn't get hit by the Molotov cocktail, you don't take any damage. Oh, okay. If you pass the dex save? No, no, no, no. You got hit, but passed. So you take half damage. Yes, the only people who didn't get hit, period. You two take half, and the four of us all make that acrobatics or athletics. Sorry, I should have explained further. 23.

Nice. 24? Nice. 15? Probably good enough. 16? Good enough. You are all able to keep control of your seeds. For the sake of this, the DC is 10. Oh, yeah. It's a generous DC item. Pulling off your horse in this would be bad. And you watch as numbers three, four, five, and six all...

rush forward. Ooh. An additional trying to get within range of you guys. Do you want us to leave them where they are, though? Are they moving at the same pace? No, they are using their dash so you will actually move them closer to you. And they're trying to surround you. 30. 5, 10. Or 40. Are they 40? 50. 60. Oh. Uh-oh. 20. Well, they're going to

- They don't want to pass you, they just want to surround you. So as best they can get around you. - I mean, they can get all the way fucking here. I mean, that's easily 60, right? - Okay, well. - 50, 55, 60, yeah, that's good enough. And you said that was three, five? - It was three, four, five, and six. - Three, four, five, oh, perfect. So we'll just do this? - Yeah, perfect.

Well, over there we ride. And that is their turn, your turn. Seeing them ride up and catch up to us very easily, I would, you'll see the mists kind of start to pour from my lantern, this greenish, smoky glow begins to overtake me.

as it shrouds over my form, overtaking Buttercup as well. And the mists start to leave a trail behind us as it pours under the hooved beets. And I would move

seeing Brigsy and Witchstomper struggling a little bit, I would attempt to slow up a little and try and get in between him and horse number four, or whatever horse it is. Sure, you can do that. Actually, the die is their number, so. Oh, wow. Derek was very thoughtful about that. Yeah, I thought that was just, you were just mindlessly doing that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was very nice. Right up here.

and I'll strike out with my shovel and say: You seek your death in the mists! Aw. Badass. That's a cool, bloody thing to say to a motherfucker before you-- Bob the Shovel in his ass. Is that right? The gravedigger is in. 26. That hits. And a natural 20! Way to go!

He turns to pace! You're advantage, by the way. Yeah, you're advantage, but it's a natural 20. Oh yeah. Yeah. Oh, well, so I guess I would attack twice. Yes, you could attack twice and see if you fish for another natural 20. Well, let me see if I just-- Oh, that's probably true, yeah. Move up and kill the other guy. Ooh, gosh, yeah! All right. That is true. Let's just see, let's just see. So-- That is very true. Nine.

So 19, and I only had the plus once, right? Plus 5? That is true. 24. If you're raging, it's plus 7. Oh, shit. Oh, man. God. Barbarians! They're a barbarian! 26, 26. However, I also have a great weapon master.

We score a critical hit with a melee weapon or reduce creature to zero. You make one melee weapon attack as a bonus. I use my bonus action. That's okay. That's okay. Which one? So 26 damage on number four. You...

raise your shovel, and as you bring it down, he spurs his horse forward, and it presents the perfect angle as you slice directly through him with the shovel, and you watch as he falls off of the horse.

And then seeing him fall off the horse and ride out, I move towards horse six. Wait, you said that was four? That was four. Okay, thank you. And now you have to make another attack at advantage. Go ahead. Oh, 26 to hit. Go ahead. That hits. And...

Oh! You're on fire, brother. 17. 17 points of damage. Number six. Number six. You... You reach, or you bring your shovel down onto this one and you slam the back of it into the back of his head. He slumps forward, nearly unconscious, as he is almost sliding off of this horse. He is alive, barely within an inch of his life. Mm.

Faryn. Okay, I am going to, I'll be riding with my staff in hand, which is adorned with like a spooky skull. I am going to swing it down almost like a polo player and strike the ground with it, and from that point you'll see like kind of black, like red,

moldy wicker vines coursing up and down through the ground, shooting at these other two, and I'm going to, you'll see it explode into a patch around them, and I'm going to cast Entangle. Yeah. Oh! Inbund! 20-foot square there. That's awesome. Yeah, badass. So weeds will shoot up there, and they will need to-- Deck save, maybe? Strength check. That's my spell save DC. And it numbers what?

That's five and three. Your spell safety is hidden, but it's behind you. You know what? No, I'm going to let it happen. They got a one and a three. Amazing. Okay, so-- Get at it! They are restrained until the spell ends, and that's it, right? Yes. Okay, cool.

You watch as the vines whip up, or not the vines, the wicker and the moss begins to sprout out of the ground. Almost like a thicket of moss.

of this as it ensnares the legs of these horses. One of the mounted combatants holds on tightly to his horse as they are, as both of them are affixed firmly in place in almost an instant. The other one was not able to react quickly enough. The horse is ensnared, but he flies backwards off, slamming into a tree, doing...

Oh, he died. A significant amount of damage. He is not dead, but he is very clearly dazed. As he is shaking his head, he clearly concussed as he is struggling to understand what's happening.

Is he effectively removed from combat or is he still-- Which one was that, five or three? Three is still alive. Both of them are still alive. Five is firmly fixed on its force and three has been knocked off and we can just take him off the board. Ego, get him out of here! Okay, so five is restrained. Marius.

You know what, Derek? I'm locking it in. With my left hand holding Dawn's reins. Oh, yeah! With my right hand drawing my sword. I've done this more times than I can count. And I...

Pull Dawn to the right and swing wide out around number six and actually slow down to ride down next to six using my movement. I have, again, just with natural fluidity, I make two attacks against this creature.

Is he still effective on the Faerie Fire, or has it been used up? Which one? I don't think he gets used up. Okay, I didn't know if it was the one time. No, no, I have concentration on it for like a minute. As I make the first strike, I whisper a prayer to the Mourning Lord.

hoping in my heart of hearts that the light from my sword will glow with the radiance, but a sickening knowledge that it's going to come out rose-colored as I imbue the weapon with extra damage. You watch as the bright golden light appears for a second before it's snuffed out by red, and you make your attack. Seeing this, I'll look back behind my shoulder, and Lethika will whisper, let the darkness guide you. Wow.

No, no, just being bad. Just being honest, yeah. You're cursing me. 16 for the first hit. And this is number six? Yeah. Oh, yeah. This one was the one that had already been attacked by Jorgrim. Yeah. And he was barely hanging on. He had blood dripping out of his ears. With three hit points left, you absolutely turned him to paste. Yeah, I just lob us that off. I love that. One swift motion. He becomes a Duel of Ham.

And then I will not use my second action. I'll just kind of, as his source falls away, I will use the remainder of my movement to kind of close up the pack and continue to ride with my companions. That's my turn. Jericho. I don't think it would have been lost on me. There are two riders left. Only one in pursuit. They are...

- Maybe there is something to think about William Van Brunt that seeing what has happened to the rest of his friends, his pursuit of you takes precedence over that. He is more afraid of William Van Brunt than he is of you. - Whoa! - And he continues to pursue. - Damn it, Billy.

So can I presume that he basically, we're gonna be able to, with the wicker, basically outrun this guy? Yes. And that he's the only one? One is in play. Yes, one is in play. Chester, do you trust me? Chester, do you trust me? I'm gonna take that as a yes. And I'm gonna slow down my horse to let him come up until he's within 30 feet. Okay. Okay.

Are you like holding your action? So I'm basically slowing, using my movement to slow down basically. It's basically moving backwards. Yes. And I'm going to go, I'll be plucking my bedroom. Ding, ding, ding, ding.

You might as well jump! Go ahead and jump! It's like, cast suggestion on him. Incredible. Okay. Damn. Well done. Oh, man. Go ahead and jump. And so he needs to make a... I don't know how that works, actually. Um...

Wisdom saving throw against my DC of 16. He rolled a 15. And he has no plus to wisdom. So it will pursue the course of action you described to the best of its ability. You watch as all of a sudden this anger that is on his face and this determination to fulfill Billy's will is completely, it completely shifts as his expression becomes neutral.

and without even thinking about it, he just immediately drops the reins and begins climbing up onto the back of the horse. He teeters there precariously. As he looks around at you, it almost looks as if there's nothing going on in his eyes as he quickly just leaps into the air and jumps. The horse continues to propel forward, and the motion of this, he jumps out and

he slams into a tree. You hear the cracking of bones. As you round a bend, you have no clue the fate of horse rider number one. ♪ Just tuck and roll ♪ ♪ On the ground ♪ Oh, we didn't hear that part. Frigyl, why are you laughing? Oh, thank you very much. I didn't know you were an equestrian.

And I'll try to catch up to my friends. And with that, you continue to speed through the forest for a while until you get to a point where you feel like you have made enough headway that even...

the rider number five that was held in place would no longer be able to find you. If they decided to continue their pursuit, it would be a fool's errand. As you make your way through the forest itself, you are finally able to catch your breath. You're finally able to slow down, finally able to think for a moment. That was a close call.

There are so many things that could have happened there if you hadn't gained the upper hand on them so quickly. Good job, Chester! We really are a great, swell team, ain't we? Well done, Shadow Frank. And you, Buttercup. I think we all know that Witchstample really performed the best. You know, he's got gumption.

But Stomper is wheezing. He's like, "I'm really having a hard time." He's an adamantian spider now. It's like my favorite major image video game, The Shmelden Ring.

Well, is this the right way to Miss McDuff's cottage cabin? And it is now that you look around. As you ride through the dark woods pursuing your quarry, William Van Brunt, you're grateful that you've made such good time despite the pursuit. However, as you ride through the wooded path, it becomes more winding, twisted, and choked with trees that have less and less foliage with each passing minute.

As you wind your way through the path, certain that this is the way to proceed, the gnarled dead branches scrape and scratch at you as you ride past, almost as if they're trying to snatch you off of your horses. You begin to notice a foul stench in the air. It gets stronger and stronger the more you delve into this wood, to the point that you feel like you might be sick.

The smell of rotting flesh and putrid blood surrounds you as you delve deeper into a wood that suddenly loses the familiarity of the full sense forest you've previously traversed. The available light is blocked out by the knotted canopy and your horses must slow to a trot. Everything about this woodland seems off, twisted, crooked.

Are you sure this is the right way, Marius? This doesn't seem very familiar. To be quite frank with you, I don't recognize any of this. We haven't seen anything like this before. I would still have my sword out, and I would be, if we're going slow, we're almost trying to, like...

hack a path, right? If I feel like the trees are almost reaching out, I would be like trying to cut through a little bit and keep clearing the way as we're going slower and slower. You do that, and on occasion it almost feels like the branches slither out of the way for a second. You have to do a double take as you wonder if

if there was movement there that shouldn't be. You begin to notice that as you make your way through this forest, that there are fruits that dot the trees, or some semblance of fruit. You, Jorgrem, recognize Bergamot. I don't like the look of this forest. Lorelei. Maybe.

Maybe Miss McDuff redecorated with her cabin? We were riding erratically, escaping those attackers for some time. Did we take a wrong turn, perhaps? Marius, do you still see the hoof prints? Ah, that's a good question. Roll a perception check.

I think we were following-- You were following the tracks of the angry horse-ridden mob. All right, we'll start with the perception. I thought they went a different direction. They did. Yeah, you were following them because you wanted to head them off before they got to-- Oh, okay, we were trying to get-- I see what you're saying, okay. 14. You look towards the ground. You have slowed to a crawl.

as you are using your sword to break these branches and keep yourselves safe from the gnarled grasp of these trees. And you scan the ground, looking for the hoof prints that you had been following. And the ground looks wet. It looks darkly wet.

And as you pass through a section of trees, the moonlight shines through and casts a ray of light, a soft milk light over the forest floor. And you see that it is not mist or dew or water that soaks the soil here, but blood.

Do the trees in the forest that have the bergamot remind me of the tree from the Crooked House? Roll a perception check. Oh no. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh!

Oh, let's go, baby! I could see it from here. That was beautiful. Those are magic dice. Your nostrils go . Rolling hot fire. The canopy of the trees hangs down low over you, and you are hesitant at first, but your curiosity gets the better of you as you blindly reach up and grab one of these bergamots from-- Oh.

from a branch, and as you pull it towards you, you pierce into it with your fingers, your large, orcish fingers, and you...

you feel the tooth as it hits your nail before you see it, and as you split the fruit open, you see that there are rows and rows of small childlike teeth inside the fruit. I yak. Everyone stop! Look, I show up the bergamot, the fruit from the crooked house, teeth in the bergamot. What the fuck?

Didn't we deal with that? We shattered that crystal in the basement. Something escaped. Oh, gosh, yeah. I mean, Marius, I know that you're kind of going through a rough time right now, but didn't you break that open and let that lady with the spooky voice out? I believe it was an inevitability.

And for clarification, not like the orphans, it's clear that these teeth are growing inside of these fruit. They're organic to them. They didn't come from somewhere else. At least that you can tell. They appear to be like human teeth. But it's almost as if they're growing inside of the fruit itself. It is also in this moment that you begin to see that it's not just in the fruit itself.

but along the roots and the branches, you see teeth poking out here and there. As you get deeper and deeper in, the ground beneath you gets soggier with blood. You notice more and more teeth protruding from the roots and the bark of these trees. Do we all notice that it's blood? Yes.

We think it's possible that maybe we don't have to chase anybody anymore, 'cause they don't, you know, basically exist anymore. If anyone is going to have survived through this, it's Maggie McDuff. It's then that you realize you're on the right path, as you see distant torchlight in several directions all around you through the wood.

You see no shapes of humans or horses, but you certainly hear their screams. As the torchlight moves about violently, the panicked shouts of men and the terrified whinnies of horses echo all around you as one by one, each distant glowing ember blinks out until you are surrounded by the darkness of the forest once more.

Then you hear the sounds of shouts, scared and pleading, almost turning to squeaks. Drackley up ahead, just around a bend in the path, past a dark thicket. The voice is unmistakable. The voice can only belong to Percy Phipps. Phipps! I'm like in the back and I'm just all of a sudden...

I try to get Witchstomper to just trot along. Witchstomper sinks down into the bloody soil, trying very hard to make it through. No one rush ahead. We must stick together. Visibility is low and the path is treacherous. This is your chance. We can cut the head off the snake to mastermind. Put an end to this. We should approach, but with caution. We have clearly come to an evil place.

What's killing all those men out in the woods? It has to be a creature most powerful. We have to approach carefully. All right, Marius and Dawn, pretty cool. Either way. Should we remain on our horses? I'm not fucking walking through the blood. Yes, for now, we should.

And I will attempt to just narrow my eyes to make sure that I can still see relatively well in this darkness to see if it's not magical in any way. It doesn't appear to be magical, at least at this juncture. Then I will slowly continue leading the way carefully, watching for pointing out potentially treacherous terrain as we go. Roll a group stealth check, and I would like you to roll a survival check. Okay.

Let me take a look here. Stealth, you say? Oh man, I'm not good at any of these things. I was helping you. Yeah, roll an advantage for the survival. The survival, oh jeez, okay, I crushed it on that one. That's fine. I got a 21 for survival. And then I got a real stealth at disadvantage.

18 for stealth. Can I talk to my stealth? No, we're doing stealth. You can. Oh man. Everyone has to do stealth. I'm going to twist for a few. Yeah, everyone has to do stealth. My stealth is trash, I got to fuck. The survival's good, though. The survivor's disadvantaged. Yeah, it's just no-- Plus one, so it's not going to work on us. Dirty 20. 19. 14. 20. You are--

This forest is no longer quiet, and you are able to keep yourselves hidden within the toothy branches of these strange trees as you make your way slowly forward. Marius, your horse is

unlike any steed that anyone has ever seen. Its ability is far above and beyond what a horse is capable of, and it is even with the sound of your clanking armor, it is able to carry you quietly through this forest. And its perception is unmatched.

as it is able to suss out any gnarled root that juts from the soggy, bloody soil. And you are able to safely make your way to the edges of the treeline. And you all ride onward.

And as you turn the bend, you see a dark clearing with two men in its center. To the sides of the clearing, you see the corpses of two stallions, seemingly torn apart by a regularly jagged tooth and claw, as if some unspeakable beast had butchered them both.

The source of the voice was indeed Percy Phipps as he stands, sweating and covered in blood with panic in his eyes as he screams, pleads and begs, shaking the vest of William Van Brunt who rests on his knees, his back to you. Despite the jittery movements of his companion, Van Brunt is motionless. Facing forward, the distant screams of the remaining fourth of his men is snuffed out into silence by some unseen horror.

Which, with each shriek, Phipps jumps in his skin and looks over his shoulder. "Come on, Billy! We need to go! The beat's coming back at any moment! Get up! Please! Can you hear me? What do we do?" A quiet falls for a moment before William Van Brunt finally speaks. "There's nothing we can do. The jig is up, Phipps. I had nightmares of this. I heard whispers of it. I thought it was just witch tricks.

Come on, Billy! We can still find the witch and her familiar and kill them! Save all the Folesense ourselves! We don't need those wackies! We can... Bips gasps as he finally notices you entering the clearing and his eyes grow even wide with terror. You! You did this! I knew it! I'm sorry, Billy! I'm sorry! I'm getting out of here!

Phipps immediately bolts away from the catatonic Van Brunt and sprints as fast as he can away from you into the forest. He makes it a single step out of the clearing until he passes an enormous bent tree with twisted limbs, its gnarled branches dotted with round green fruit. Then he trips and you quickly see why. With a loud creak, the tree's roots move on their own out of the ground.

but slick and dripping with putrid dark blood. One such bloody root wraps itself around Phipps' foot and yanks him to the ground, dragging him across the forest floor as the gnarled trunk of the tree opens. You see a gaping wooden hollow filled with slimy blood and you realize horrifyingly that it is lined with rows of rotted, crooked teeth. Phipps is dragged screaming into the tree's newly formed maw and in a single slam, he is swallowed whole.

Van Brunt makes no motion. He continues to stare off into the distance where the screams of his men have died out, nothing but pure darkness. You cannot see his face, but he seems to not care that you're here. He just stares and waits. Van Brunt. You see his shoulders sag as you address him, but he makes no move to speak to you. William.

Can you hear me? Oh, sure, we say pity the bitch. He started to respond, and then as your, as Briggsie cuts in, he quiets himself and continues to stare on him. I move over to him. I get right in front of him, wherever he's like kneeling in the ground, or if he's looking down, and I grab him by the front of his shirt, and I pick him up until he's eye to eye with me, and I say, what happened out here?

He doesn't look at you at first. He looks over your shoulder, beyond you, at the tree line, the carnage, and then he turns and he looks towards the tree where Phipps had been dragged and then consumed. I had a dream about this. It got them. I knew it would. There's nothing that can be done. There's nothing anyone can do. It's over. I'm outmatched.

It will get all of us soon. He seems shaken and scared. My men are slain. I failed. Why did you come here? Why did you come into this forest? To kill the witch. To stop it. Stop all of it. You were hunting Maggie. I was hunting a witch. And he looks at you and you see that same face.

that same spark of William Van Brunt returned to his eyes and he pushes off from you and attempts to wrench himself out of your grasp. I'll let him go. He spits at your feet. What am I talking about? I'm William Van Brunt. I'm the strongest man in Folsom. I would not be, I don't need these men. I don't need Percy Phipps, pathetic weakling.

I could take you with my bare hands right here on the forest floor. Before you can respond, poison knife! Wow. You see as he wipes the spittle off of his face. Yes, that's exactly what I need. I need a challenge to prove to myself I can do this on my own. I don't need them and I don't need you. And I could take you. You think you're so strong.

He takes the knife that he had stabbed you with, the poison knife, and he throws it off into the underbrush. "A fair fight, a fair fight this time. "I challenge you, will you take it or are you a coward?"

I sigh very loudly. He saunters over and he grabs his axe, which has been splattered with the blood of his men. And you see for a moment that he stops and the realization of what happened hits him again before he tampers down his true emotions and regains that vibrato that he had before and he slings his huntsman's axe over his shoulder. Well, are you a coward?

Are you going to fight me? In this forest of evil, surrounded by the blood of your men, you are interested in proving that you are stronger than me. And all you've succeeded in doing is proving that you are the weak.

I am the sole survivor, you monster. Look at me. Am I dead? No, I'm not. I was spared by that thing because clearly I have something special. What do you have? Your lattes. It's fine. Tell me you are too afraid to fight me. Say it plainly, coward. Through everything we've been through here...

One thing I've come to realize is that you don't matter. Got it. Says the man who was tricked by a little girl. The girl who fed me your locations and told me your weaknesses and talked to me about how Yorgi cared for her so much. I'm the one that doesn't matter. You can't even get the affection of children.

And they love everyone, especially monsters. I take my shovel off my back, I spin it in my hands and I plant it in the ground. I let go of it. We came here to save Maggie. You came here to hunt witches. You led 30 men to their death in an evil forest. Your punishment has come. I have no interest in you.

Can you just roll a wisdom saving throw for me, please? As Jorgrym says this, though, anybody who would be paying attention, Marius would smile and give a solemn nod at the growth that Jorgrym has shown today. Marius is beaming with pride. Four. Wisdom saving throw. Oh, man.

You got a four? Yeah. Just know I'm proud of you. You ignite the flames. You get plus four if you're near me. If you're too far away, you don't. You hear in the back of your mind, don't be a coward. Do it. Kill him. You know he'll find a way to get your friends. What is that? Does that compel me? No, you just hear the voice. You...

You're nothing. Folsens is allowed to make its own choices. We came here to expunge evil. And that's been done. We only... we only seek to save Maggie. Come on, Yogi! Let's put a fucking end to this! Let's get a rematch!

Jorgrim. Faring Square, I swear. Are you all right? Please do not listen to Briggs. You're being the bigger man. You are doing the right thing. Something's speaking to me. I feel something reaching out from beyond the woods. I would dismount, Don, and just quickly walk up to Jorgrim and put my hand on his shoulder. Ignore it.

Expel it, do not listen, do not give in. You are stronger than this, you are better. Yes, yes. It's in this moment that you hear these words. I knew you were a coward.

And before you can act, William Van Brunt moves with lightning speed. With a flick of his wrist, a handful of spiked caltrops dripping with a dark, sticky venom are careening towards your face. I need you to make a dexterity saving. Throw at disadvantage, please. I'm at advantage if I can see it coming, though. You're at disadvantage. So it's just straight? No, you're at disadvantage. Oh, boy. All right, all right.

And you are unfortunately turned to Swiss cheese, standing right next to Marius. I get a plus four, though, now, for sure. That's true, that is true. Oh boy. 12. That's not bad. Not good. It could be worse. It's not bad, not good. It could be worse. You are going to take two piercing damage.

and you are going to take four poison damage, and you are poisoned and blinded for an hour. William Van Brunt has lied once more. The moment the envenomed caltrops leave his grip, he bolts away from you, sprinting as fast as he can out of the clearing, perhaps not realizing that this is the same escape route that Percy Phipps had taken.

Once, the cacophonous creaking of trunk and branch roars around you, all at once, but the tree's bloody roots do not move. With a squelched yelp, Van Brunt is hoisted off the ground by a gnarled tree limb that tightens around his neck as his legs and arms impotently flail in midair. In a moment, there is a sickening pop as his head is snapped to the side in a violent twist. Another putrid hollow and the tree opens up with even more rotting, crooked teeth than you had seen before.

In a swift, creaking movement, the hanging corpse of William Van Brunt disappears into the crooked tree and the writhing maw slams shut. Silence erupts all around you. Loud, pulsing silence. Jörgrim, in the moment of stunned silence that follows, the same voice returns for just a single moment. Crickly crap. And that's where we'll end the session.

Son of a gun! Damn it! You know, we're just never rewarded for doing the right thing. I'm proud of you. Not in this session, or not in this campaign. No good to you goes unpunished, but you did the right thing. I was all

You know, if I hadn't wasted all of my Lay on Hand pool, I could fix your eyeballs, give sight to the blind. Damn it! All I can do is darken them further. Ah, thanks for running the session. You're welcome. Good session. Unbelievable. Unbelievable.

Thank you so much for listening to the Legends of Avantris podcast. We hope you enjoyed the session. If you want even more campaigns to listen to, become a member of our Patreon at the Pearl Dolphin tier or higher to unlock Shroud of Ersalmarsh, a patron-exclusive campaign set on the high seas. You can find that at patreon.com forward slash legendsofavantris. If you want to chat about the episode with the Avantris community, join us on Discord at legendsofavantris.com forward slash discord.

We also post content nearly every day on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, so make sure you follow our socials at legendsofadventress.com forward slash social. And make sure you check out The Crooked Moon so you can terrify your friends with a folk horror 5e supplement published by us. Get your own copy at thecrookedmoon.com. Thanks again, and we'll see you next time.