Arc 3 Ep. 7: Battle at Waeldon Keep! PART 2
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What is up Rotatoes, it's me Jasper William Cartwright. Do you want to listen to these episodes in their full and original form? Well you can do! Over at the Rotating Heroes Patreon where you can sign up for as little as five dollars, five pounds a month.

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5th of April this year that's right the 5th of April this year 3 Black Halflings is doing our first ever live show at the Leicester Square Theatre and it would be so incredible to see some of you there you can go ahead to the Leicester Square Theatre website or if you just google 3 Black Halflings live you will find it no problems but it would be so incredible to see some of you rotators there

there no doubt I will be hanging out afterwards and saying hello to some people as well but that's about everything for now so let's go ahead and do what we always do and hand over to past Zach

You've successfully thinned the herd out towards the front. It seems like you would have to, at this point, go down there to help these guys. What are you guys doing? We have to help my brothers down there. These are my countrymen. I'm with you till the end. And I. This is what we came to do. Point Gongo's nose down and make him swoop. Gongoboz to the keep! Bow! Uh...

You see it just, like, does sort of like an eagle dive. You guys are bracing, holding on as this griffin flaps down. The soldiers are, like, kind of... They look too exhausted to really even react to it, but saw that these firebombs were coming from it. So they, like, kind of wave you down as you guys come down. These guys are like, is that...

Is it, are you Rufus? Is it Rufus? Freya! And, and, you know, look at both of you and like, like, uh, just shocked and confused to have any help at all. Uh, what, what's going on? How did, how did you find us? Uh, you see these, these soldiers are confused, but like are happy to have this like breather. A few of them are still like launching arrows off towards these bugs as they come in. Oh,

What is going on? We're defending the castle. What are you guys doing here? We're here to liberate you.

Save your lives. Yeah, okay. What do we do? As you say, you've thinned out this herd of bugs, but enough of them are still heading at you guys. It feels like this is a more fightable amount. So this is where the next section of this battle of the Walden Keep begins.

Rufus turns to the soldier who asked him, what do we do? And he says, he pulls out his bow and says, we fight! Incredible. Rufus, there's like probably like 30 soldiers on this gate of the original 75 that you thought. Yeah, like 30 that you can see. So maybe there's some more in the castle and stuff.

You don't see your father or brother anywhere yet. But as you say that, the gate, this like wrought iron gate that was like closed, it's starting to get like peeled back by these bugs that are coming in. So the bomb rolls, this is what's going to dictate, the bomb rolls will dictate this part. So as these bugs are trying to brace and break through the gate, somebody roll a D4.

And that will dictate the number of rounds you have to do this. We're also going to do a couple things to represent the soldiers fighting other bugs. And I'll explain that in a second. So let me know. Someone roll a d4. I'll roll the d4. I've been rolling low. Two. Cool. Sick. So you guys had an okay amount of bomb rolls.

So that means you roll a d4 plus two. So you have four rounds of bugs coming after you guys in this thinned out herd. There's more further back, but it feels like you have to face this crew before you're able to safely explore any other options.

We're going to represent the soldiers fighting the other bugs by contested D8 rolls. So someone on your team is going to roll a D8, and I'm going to roll a D8 for the bugs. The difference is the amount of extra attacks that you guys get attacked by. So if your soldiers roll a 6 and the bugs roll an 8, two random attacks are going to come at you guys. Beyond that, the bonuses are...

You could have a plus one to these rolls if you decide to give, like, a spell to these guys as well. Or you can give, like, one of your attacks or whatever to give them a plus one to this fight. So, like, they're just rolling flat d8s, but if you, say, gave them Bless, they would have a plus one to that roll.

Does that make sense? Yes. So, like, this is just a way to not have to run 100 characters. Yeah. Cool. And I got it from... NADPOD had this art called the Hexblade Chronicles, I think, with Lou. That was great. And Murph did this and said I could use it. So, thank you. Yeah.

So the soldiers are all running around like, hold the gate! And they're like knocking arrows from above, shooting down at them. You guys can roll this. I'm going to roll a d8 for the bugs. You guys roll a d8 for your team. Let me know if you're going to use any spells or anything to buff them prior to doing this. I think... Should we just roll flat to start? See how they do with an opening salvo before we buff them up? Or do we have buffs to spare? Well, I mean...

I have all my spell slots. I could do a bless or something. How many? So we're doing four rounds? Yeah, so let me know what you guys do. Cool. I'm going to support by giving them bark skin with my staff of the woodlands. You see...

slam his new staff on the ground and Bart flies off of it and like wraps around some of the soldiers who are like, what? Like invigorated with this sort of natural energy as like you see bugs like scraping off of it and it's giving them newfound strength. So we're going to add a plus one to them. Any other spells or anything? Is that enough? Should I add them less? No, I mean, there's no wrong way to do it. So they have a plus one. Oh, great.

So I am, and we can do it, kind of learn if it is enough or not as the round's going. So for the first round, I'm going to roll for the bugs. We have a four. Someone on your team can roll for the colored forces. Go for it, Victoria. I rolled a one.

So we add a 1 to that. So you guys are going to take two attacks. So you see this gate is being rent open, and three of those Ankh-Uks from the first battle you guys had rip themselves through and start running at you guys. Let's roll initiative. Big high. Five for my initiative. Eleven for my main. I got 21. Still a little weak.

Great. And Boz is flying around still, I think, unless you have him with you. Oh, just like swooping above us? Yeah, I mean, let me know what you want him to do or want them to do. Does he have a dive attack or anything like that? If you just like Google Griffin 5E, it has those stats and someone can just control Boz if they'd like. I don't mind. That'd be great. Where is he in the turn order?

He'll just go on your turn. So this is the first turn. Rufus, you're up first. You're getting hot. You're getting angry. It's feeling like you feel something changing within you, but not necessarily this turn. But you're ready to fight. You see these three bugs spilling out. What do you do? Oh, and we're going to do this at random. It's a D1. I'll reroll. So Grip's two, Freya's three, Rufus is four.

Freya, you get... One of them runs out immediately, tries to bite you. What is your armor class again? 14. Yeah, 14. Roll a 26. So you get hit for 6 slashing damage plus 3 acid damage. So you take 9 damage. And then let's roll for the next one. Another 3. Another hit. So that is...

eight damage from another one biting. Okay, do we think they know me somehow? So is that 17 damage? Jesus. Yeah, these things are no joke. But, so that is Rufus's turn. What? I didn't do anything. No, I mean, it's, sorry, that is your turn. It's your turn. Got it. And it's over. I was like, my turn is Freya gets her ass kicked? That sucks. I just got both my arms bit. Yeah.

I see these bugs snapping and tearing at my companion Freya. And it infuriates me in a steely gaze, forms on my face as I pull out my bow and my arrow. I guess I already had it pulled out. As I grab my bow, pull back the arrow and say, It's time to break up the Beatles. Okay.

A lot of nodding from the other players. Yeah, just a grib, just being like, the nod is more of a, you said that. Yeah. I guess he did say that. Freya's nod is kind of like, why are you taking the time to say anything? It is sort of a newer trait. Freya's covered in acid wounds. Here we go. 22.

That'll hit. Roll damage. Eight. So one of these bugs, there's three that came through, takes eight damage. The one on the far right gets an arrow through its shoulder into sort of its weird gut abdomen. So you can only shoot one on a turn? Yeah, I think so. I'm sticking to range for this first wave probably, and then we'll see.

Like Legolas shooting through that little cave troll. Yeah, that's right. Exactly like that. After Rufus, Cribbage is going to pop up and he's like, I'm still here too. And takes an attack with advantage because he's hiding. And he rolls. Sneaky, sneaky.

He hits it for 11 damage. So this one's been hit for 19 so far. He throws it at the same one. After Cribbage is these three dudes, these three bugs. So they're going to all take attacks on each of you. So the first one's going to come up. It's going to miss Grib. The second one's going to take an attack at Freya.

and miss. And the third one's going to take an attack at Rufus and hits. So this one is going to pop up at Rufus and take the same bite attack as before. So this will be 2d6. So 8...

So that hits you for 11 damage. Oh, my God. So wait, these bugs got to start this round and then have a turn in the middle of the round? So those two attacks were from that eight on eight, you know, that roll off thing. Since you guys lost by two, you guys got two attacks. I see. So that's representative of just the overall map. So I took 11 damage of...

...bug bit a big chunk out of my forearm, the same section of my forearms that seems to just be at the mercy of the beasts we encounter. Okay.

You need to just like maybe get some metal bracers. Yeah, these bracers aren't cutting it. I don't know. After that, Freya, it is your turn. Okay, great. Right now I'm just trying to decide between whether I want to do a bunch of divine smites or if I just want to go crazy with a big old like searing smite or thunderous smite. But I mean, I'm going to go ahead and do an attack with my great sword. I'm pissed. I'm bitten and I'm burned. Roll your attacks. Okay, an eight and a twenty one.

Cool. So the 21 hits for sure. Roll damage on that. Are you talking the wounded one or the fresh ones? I guess I'll go for the wounded one. How wounded is he? I guess I don't know. How wounded is that one? 19. Taking 19. Okay. So my damage, I only hit one, right? Only got one hit. Yes. Nine. Nine. Did you add any smites or anything to it? No. You can add a smite if you want.

All right, up to you though. Yes, I want to add a thunderous smite to this. Seven. So you hit it for 16 damage? Yes, that's right. I hit it for 16 damage. So this thing's been hit for a lot and it is like still woozy standing up, kind of like falling on its, like, it seems like basically mortally wounded, but it's still standing up trying to fight. It's just, it's a bug. Die, you bug!

After Freya, is that the end of your turn? Yes. Grib, it is your turn. I'm going to cast Tidal Wave. Ooh. Whoa. What is that? You conjure up a wave of water that crashes down on an area within range. The area can be 30 feet long, 10 feet wide, 10 feet tall. Each creature in that area must make a dex saving throw on a failed save, 48 damage, bludgeoning damage, and is knocked prone.

On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage and is not prone. All flames are extinguished. 48 damage? 4d8. Oh, 4d8. I also heard 4d8. I had to just take a screenshot of the face that Victoria was making in surprise at the damage. Hold on, let me see. Just put it in the chat. Let me see. Oh, dear. Downloading, downloading, downloading. Yeah, taking so long to download. Downloading takes so much time.

Shocked. She's shocked. And I'd like to do it in a way where the line of the wave is crashing on the three of them, if that's possible. Yeah, I think that from where you guys are standing, you could easily hit all three of those guys. You can conjure it maybe between your friends and the people. That's awesome. Just nail it. Yeah, that sounds cool. And also, this is a little different. We've never seen Grib use water. Or maybe we have. I don't know. Who cares? This is a little different, or maybe more of the same. Yeah.

I don't think Grib's used a lot of water. I don't think so. Not on this adventure. We all know fire is his thing. Yeah, what's Swamp going to say about this? Don't tell Swamp. Don't tell Swamp. Swamp's asleep. He's fully asleep. What's going on? Is anything happening? And Grib, like Santa to a toddler on the staircase, puts his finger to his mouth and goes, Okay, good night. Aww.

This mom tucks himself into Ragnaros and goes to sleep. Yeah, Grib. What kind of save did they make? Or did they make a save? 15. Okay. Let's see. These things, not... Two fails, one save. Cool. So two are going to take the full damage. The save was the one that was most injured. Great. Okay. So that actually works out. Oh, heck yeah. 20 damage. 20 damage? Woo! Woo! Cheech! Get some, folks! Cheech! Cheech! Cheech!

So there's two bugs standing and the other one is just wiped away. Like the, the wave hits it. Like there's like, you see these sewer grates in between you guys, that water just starts to condensate out of, and then just like a mass into this wave in between you guys. And then just gets the full force of like a, a tidal wave push behind it. And,

They get pushed backwards, nailing the gate behind them. The one that's most injured is just shredded against the metal gate as its pieces fly back and bugs that are clamoring at it. After that, Grib, do you have anything else you want to do? I'll go ahead and do the griffin. Oh yeah, the griffin attack. So there's two still standing there.

Griffin's not weak. No, he's pretty beefy. He's got, let's see, 16 hits. Does a 16 hit? 16 does hit. Five, 19 will hit. 2d6 plus four. 15. Whoa. 15 for the second one. 15 damage? Yeah. So are you attacking the same target twice? Yes, same target twice.

So this second bug is just ripped to pieces by the griffin. Boz bites down on it, shakes it up. It's like, you know, when you see like a little sparrow or something just eating a bug. Just whacking it against the concrete. So that one is dead. So there's one still up. Incredible turn from Grib. After that, you see...

the order starts back up again, we're going to need another D8 roll from you guys. And let me know if you're going to use any of your abilities or attacks. Like, you could give, like, say, Rufus, if you wanted to do your multi-attack, you could use one of those attacks for the mitt. You know what I mean? Right. To bolster their thing. But also, whoever wants to do... I'll do another bark skin. I will give them one of my attacks.

Brea, any... Yeah. Are you going to hang on to yours? I mean, your attacks are stronger, so it makes sense to keep them as well. You can go either way on it, honestly. I could do a bless spell, though, to give them plus one. Is that, or do they only get one plus one? No, that works. So they have plus three now, if you guys do all that. All right, so I will roll for the bugs, and one of you guys can roll. I rolled an eight. Sheesh. That's a six.

Plus three. So that's a nine. Yes. Plus three. So you guys win by one. So as this second bug died, two more bugs spill through. Again, there are now three bugs in front of you, but one of them has been hurt pretty badly. But you also see a...

an attack from above that since since the soldiers out uh outdid the bugs this round one of the soldiers peaks down and shoots an arrow at the injured bug hitting it for uh hitting it for six damage all right so that's much better than being attacked yeah eight times so we're back at the top of the order rufus it is your turn as they're now three again three bugs facing you

Oh, the guy... You said there's three. The guy that's left over is prone, is he not? That's a good point. So he is on the ground. And while he's prone, his armor class is lowered. Okay, I'm going to use... I'm going to attack with one of my hand axes with my remaining attack, but I'm also going to use action surge, which I could use to take a second attack, right?

You can. So I'm going to get my full two axe swings, baby. Rufus pulls out his axe and twirls him around, dumb action movie style, and gets ready to hack into this prone-ass bug. Hell yeah. So you run up to the bug. Rufus, take your attacks. Ooh, baby. Your eyes are starting... Freya and Grib, as you see Rufus run up, you start to see flashes of red in his eyes. Okay.

I got a 10 and a 26. Whoa. Okay. And you have, uh, he's on X games out there. What does that do? I always forget what those do.

You add a D4 to one roll once a day. Okay. I will use my bracers to add a D4 to that 10, baby. Incredible. So no matter what, it's going to hit now because while they're prone, armor class is 11. I got a two. So you got two hits on it. Roll your attacks. Grib, are you seeing what I'm seeing in his eyes? It's quite devilish, isn't it? I got a six and a five for a total of 11.

Ooh, Rufus, you just sliced this bug to pieces. Okay, I kill this thing? Okay, I'm going to swing my axes down and chop off its head and then lift up its head.

and hold it up in front of the other bugs and say, is this your brethren? With a full bear voice. Incredible. Yeah, you see just the most lifeless eyes looking at you. It's not really registering for them on the emotional level. They're trying to eat that head. Yeah, no problem. Pure instinct, no real intent, like...

mindfulness happening uh so that one is down but there are two more still up right there uh rufus great turn um are you gonna you can take some steps back if you want just because you killed yeah i suppose i will just to try to be out of be among my comrades okay so you back up with to your crew um you see the soldiers above you going like wow that was rufus uh uh

That's so good. As you say that, behind you, you see a little guy pop out to the side. Cribbage is once again hiding in your legs, and he's going to take a sneak attack on this second one. Hey, man. He rolled. That is a 13. He missed Cribbage. Unfortunate. Unfortunate for Cribbage. He's like, sorry, dude. I got scared. This is really scary.

I kind of forgot what we were doing. I don't know if it was fully explained to me, but I am here now. After that, Grib is just going to bonus action hide. He hides. After that, the bugs are going to go. So these two bugs are going to... One's going to come at Grib, and one's going to go at Freya. Ooh, a nat 20 on Grib. Grib. Ooh. That is a lot of damage.

That's fucked. That's 66. What? Because you double the dice in these bite attacks. How many hit points do you have to start? Whatever it is. Okay, so you get hit for... Whatever it is, it ain't no thing. 17 slashing damage and 3 acid damage.

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Yeah, this bug absolutely takes my torso with a giant bite, and I dap him, and I go, I'll fuck with you. Griffith sees this and goes, Grib, your beautiful abs! Yes. Grib's beautiful abs are torn to shreds. Shredded and not the way we like. No. You see the bug just try to pull out a little claw and try to dap you up. Mm-hmm.

That was those bugs' turn. You see more trying to pull themselves through. Freya, it is your turn as these two bugs are left standing here. Okay. Freya's pissed, because even though she didn't say anything, we know Freya likes muscles, and she is upset that they would do this to her friend's stomach, abdomen, his toy abs. So...

Freya's going to do a greatsword attack. And I want to attack the one that took a bite out of him. Nice. I'm going to use my searing smite to do a greatsword attack. Amazing. Okay. I rolled a seven and a 21. Okay. So your second attack hits and you can use the searing smite on it. Awesome. Roll damage. And let me know if you're going to divine smite as well. I'm going to hold off on divine smite just so I keep a spell slot.

Okay, so in total damage, I do 14. Wow. Nice. So this one is uninjured before that, so he's taken 14 points of damage. Almost as much as you did to Jacob, or I'm sorry, Grib. Not nothing. After Freya, Grib, it is your turn. This thing just sliced your stomach open. Are they close enough that...

I could get them in like a 15 foot cone. Yeah. Multiple. I would, I'll say you can like move to the side a little bit and do that. Oh shit. I forgot to do this. Um, just, you, I will say it's a target. So you should be grappled. I, I should say, um, uh, maybe next turn. Yeah. Maybe next turn. I don't know, man. Seems like you forgot. I don't know.

If it bites you and you're a large or smaller creature, you should be grappled. And I'll say for the way those other attacks have been working. Did you say large or small? Large or smaller.

That's fair. Okay, yeah, so I'm grappled. So I'll say that those attacks that were paired with the eight-on-eight rolls wouldn't grab you just because those creatures aren't really represented by this fight. So from here on out, I think I will instill that. No, totally. I mean, if you want me to be grappled now, that's fine. That's okay. Yeah, I think you probably should be grappled. Yeah, that's cool. I was just being silly.

Then, because we're in close quarters, I'm just going to absolutely eviscerate him with the burning hands. I'm just going to try and scorch him while I'm at. And because I'm grappled, I can't really maneuver to hit anybody else, right? Give me just sort of a luck check to see if you can angle that. Do a luck check. Let's see. Over 15, I'll say you can. 18. Great. So you're able to maneuver your hand in a way that you could hit them both.

Great. So I'm going to cast level one burning hands. Light them up. Oh, they got to make a deck save. Okay. 15 is the DC. Okay. The one that's not holding you makes the save, but the one in your hands does not. Okay. So 13 damage. So one takes half the other.

Takes 13. Wow. Okay. And then I'm going to, as a bonus action, cure wounds myself. Whoa. Okay. You can't, unfortunately, because there are two spells. Oh, got it. Cool. Any other bonus actions? No. I'll just take the griffin's turn. Okay. He'll attack the one touching me, grabbing me. Okay. A nine doesn't hit. This is second attack. No, unfortunately. Ooh. Oh, I almost got the nat 20. 14 hit.

14 hits. Cool. 2d6. That's their armor class. 2d6 plus 4. Yes, baby. 9 plus 4, 13. One point more than it had. He bites this one's head off, rips it off of you. Extremely protective of you. Wow. Wow.

Peace and love, Gongo Boz. Peace and love, man. Boz Gongo? Rips this bug's head off. Throws it to Rufus to play with because it thinks it's a game. No, no, no, no. I don't want that. Boz Gongo? No, Boz Gongo. No. Boz? No. Rufus kind of snaps his fingers at Boz Gongo to go, no. So that was Grib's turn. After Grib...

you guys look behind you and on the, uh, castle wall behind you on one of those turrets, you, you hear a familiar voice as, uh,

Rufus, you look up there and you see a familiar face, or in fact, two familiar faces. Don't do this to me. As your father and brother pull a cannon over the side of the edge and point it at the gate and say, My God, my son, get out of the way. And he takes a shot with a cannon at the bugs at the gate. They both are alive. Get down. Daddy! And they're going...

They're going to just shoot at this Cuthbert Cutler II and Cuthbert Cutler III, aim the cannon down, and fire at this one last dude. And it's just going to be... It's going to take... Let's see if it makes a save. About 6,000 damage. This third bug is blown to pieces. Yes! Yes!

Daddy did it. So that's the end of the second round as the men are like, they're all here. The Cutler men are here. That is the end of the second round. Rufus, it is back at the top of the order and you guys have another D8 roll to make. I will lend another bark skin. Cool.

Can I give more than one? I think it's a concentration spell, so I think that we'll just leave that. And I'll just say that that bark skin you gave at the top can have been used for this whole time. I don't think you need to use those charges every time. Oh, cool. So I can undo the other two charges? Yes, I'll say that. Want me to roll that D8? I'll give a bless.

Okay. So you guys got a plus two. So I'll roll for the bugs. Rufus, you're going to roll for? Great. Rolled a six. And I rolled a four. Plus three? Or plus two? Plus a six. So we matched.

Tag goes to the bug. No one gets attacked by anything. You can just see everyone matching blows. So no extra attacks hitting anyone. So that's good, at least. You see your dad and brother trying to fuck with the cannon. It's not a guarantee that they'll... I'll say that they have to roll a five or a six on a D6 in order to reload it in time for their next turn. But Rufus, it is your turn. Well, first I quickly turn to my father and brother and I say...

Daddy! Brother, I did it. I'm here. I'm here to save you. Look at me. Look over here. You came to save us? Yes. There's no time for that now. I have to kill all these bugs. And so I turned around and... But you called out to us. Okay. This cannon's weird. And I go, I may have called out to you, but you called the exterminator.

You know what I'm saying? I was going to make an exterminator joke next time. Boss? Boss? Thank you. Boss loves it. Boss is nodding. Boss sort of gets my twisted sense of humor. That's okay by me. Anywho, time to attack.

I'm going to just do my standard two axes on one of these, but 24, 25. Incredible. Yeah. Like after you killed this third bug, three more flew in. It's sort of just, you know, they're just keep pouring through this gate. The first one, 24 and 28, 24 and 25. And then for damage, I got nine and a six. So 15, 15. Nice.

So you're just doing one guy? Yeah. Cool. Nice. So there's three newish ones. One has been hit for 15. After that, it is Cribbage's turn. Cribbage is like, once again, pops out from its hiding place behind Rufus and takes an attack. Come on, Crib. All right. I got it this time. 15 on the die. So that is going to hit. So he's going to roll 2d6 plus 4 plus 3. Only does 12 damage. Okay.

So that's not bad. Well done, Cribbage. Well done, friend. Thank you. Daddy, brother, this is my friend Cribbage. It's the first person he introduces? The first person he introduces is Cribbage? Well, he's just the first one I'm introducing because he's the first one to attack after me. I'll introduce you to everyone else. My God, is that an elephant man? What's that? Is that an elephant man? It's rude to say it like that. Yeah, I'll explain why that's not okay in a moment. We'll get to that. Happy to learn.

Yeah, so one has been hit for 27 so far, and the other two are fresh. So that was Cribbage's turn. He's going to hide again. Nat went on the hide, so he just stands in front of Rufus's legs. After that, the bugs are going to go. We're going to get three attacks from these bugs. Nat, 20, and it is on Cribbage. Right in front of me, this happens? Yes. So you see Cribbage. Dad, meet my new friend and watch him get his ass beat.

And he gets hit. 23 damage. No! And he's grappled. Wow. The thing picks up Cribbage and its mandibles. You see Cribbage shaking around like, Ah, shit! Why did I come here? After that, the other two are going to attack a miss and a miss. So, a brutal round for Cribbage and no one else. After that, Freya, it is your turn. You see Cribbage being...

dangled in the air, bitten by this thing. Yeah, so I gotta go for the guy who has crewage.

Yes. Krivage has taken a lot of damage and he's not that hardy, honestly. Oh my gosh. So I'm gonna go ahead and target this guy who is Krivage. I'm gonna attack him. Well, I would like to say first, I... So the one you Searing Smited got destroyed by the Cannonball. So these are all like fresh. These are fresh.

But I'm going to give a Searing... I'm going to go in with Searing Smite on this one and attack with my Greatsword. Oh, sorry. One's been hit for 27. So that's the one that is holding Cribbage. It is the one that's been hit for 27? Yes. I will Searing Smite him. So I'm going in with Searing Smite for my Greatsword attack. I do not like that this thing has Cribbage. So Freya's sort of screaming, lunges at this bug. You guys look up and see Freya just...

than you've ever seen. Protective of cribbage coming in at this bug. Daddy, brother, this is my friend Freya. She is furious and I think she's still menstruating. So something to keep in mind. I'm sure you don't remember me. Yes, of course, Freya, the only elf we know. Oh, you know my name? I rolled a nine and a 17. Nine's gonna miss, but the 17 will hit. Yeah, okay. So 16 damage.

16 damage. Okay. So this one holding cribbage, you chop it in half. Its mandibles rip off holding cribbage. Cribbage takes them off. He actually puts these little mandibles in his pocket. Like he might do something with it. He's like, thanks. That really hurt. And he looks at Grib and is like, look at us. We're matching at your ab wounds. Pretty cool. Pretty cool of us.

Sorry, mate. No, it was being genuine. We're brothers in battle. Cool scars on us. Cribbage, we're going to sort you out later. Thanks. Okay. I really appreciate that. I'm concerned you may be beyond sorting out. Rufus. Is it time for me to go? No. Never mind. To that great portal in the sky? No. Okay.

Well, it might be. I mean, I'm not going to say no. I'm not going to lie. Who knows? We don't know. Grim, between you and me, I agree with you, but let's just focus. Okay, I'm focused. Freya, between you and me, I don't think anyone can hear me. How many people are standing? How many bugs are there? Sorry. Shoot me straight, guys. Do I need to die right now? Don't. No. Don't die. No.

I want you to chop off my head and I want you to cut my legs off. Grimmage, I promise when the time comes, I will cut your head off. And then Grimm, throw me in that volcano where your people come from. If I must. Sure, I'll char your bones. Hey, what are you afraid of? My biggest fear is pickles. Huh.

In the jar, outside of the jar, sliced, speared, cubed, relished. I hate pickles. And daddy. What is happening? Brother, this is my friend Grib, and he is a loxodon druid, as I've come to learn. It's called a loxodon. It's called a loxodon. Interesting. Loxodon, yes. A beautiful introduction. I don't know if you've heard, but it seems he's afraid of pickled vegetables or something.

Just cucumbers. I don't mind a pickled radish or a pickled carrot. He has like four HP. Grib, it is your turn. How many people are standing? There are two bugs standing in front of you. And we have how many rounds left? Two? Or one left? This is the third round. So we have one left. After this one. Yes. And I should say that that is within this first wave. That number of waves, of rounds, represents this first wave.

You were looking out, there are more bugs, but you feel like this is the imminent threat. Okay. Great. I'll cast Tidal Wave again. Incredible. Grib, once again, draws water from the sewers below and lets it rip. Deck saves, baby. Two fails. Seven and a ten. Two fails. You got that seven ten split, Grib. Seventeen damage. And they are primed. Awesome.

So these guys are hit for 17. And then the griffin will attack. Let's see. 12 plus 6, that'll hit. He has advantage on attacks while they're prone. Great, great. So the beak will hit. 1d8 plus 4. Ooh, yes. 8 plus 4, 12. And then roll for a second attack. Yes, dude. Yes. Ooh. Oh, I have advantage. The 4's not good. But 15 hits. Hits. 2d6 plus 4.

I won't even make you roll. He smokes this one bug. So there's one bug left on this round, 17 damage. Grib, after you go, I'm going to roll a couple of things. Is that the end of your turn? That's a completed turn for me. Thank you. Rufus, you look up. Your dad and brother are working on this cannon. It's on a five and six. I'll let you roll. On a five and six, the cannon's reloaded. Oh, good luck, daddy.

Come on, baby. Four. Damn. You see they're working on it. They're focused on the cannon. You see some other guys up there kind of trying to get another cannon going. One of them's working on it. And then they see that you guys are coming to rescue, and they're like, oh, what's that? Is that another member of your group?

I think there's more people here. And he looks over the side, and you see a metal arm grab him by the neck and throw him off the castle as you see the leader of the Red Rust Clan come up over the battlements. No! On the other side? On the far side of the castle. No. This is no friend of ours. He just...

toss one of the guys off the edge and he's going to take an attack on my brother. So he is going to take a meaty claw attack on this guy. Eight.

Damage plus three. And he's grappled. No. No! Rufus, as you see this roll... Okay, I'll just say this. You can roll a constitution saving throw or you can choose to just fail it as you feel the rage filled in your body. Wait a second. What does it mean if I...

I see. I see what you're saying. You have a feeling that you should be controlling. Yeah, I can either fight. You could be controlling something. I can either fight what's boiling up inside of me, or I can let it loose. Cue Metallica's Ride the Lightning. I'm going to go ahead and throw caution to the wind, and maybe my axe is to the fucking ground, because a beast is about to come out, baby. Yeah.

I fail. Freya, Grib, you look over as you see Rufus looking up at his brother held in this metallic arm. You see Rufus literally grow in size as he screams with rage. Rufus, what do you say as you see your brother held by this metallic arm? Hold on to me. You see this man that you heard was named Rickard say...

What are you guys doing in my castle? As he has popped over this backside of him. What are you doing in my fucking forest? Rufus fully transforms into this bear human creature. This werebear stands next to you as these two figures face off. You hear a horrible screeching bear roar.

I look to Freya and I kind of like, wow, that's not too shabby. Yeah. I look at Grib and I'm kind of like, I'm surprised to see Rufus in this light. Freya? Grib? Freya? Yes? If we get out of this alive. Yes? I'll sing you an original song. Ha ha ha ha ha!

You know, it was the ace in the sleeve that you were hoping you didn't have to pull, it sounds like. Well, Grib. Yep, I was looking at that list. Grib, I truly hope we make it out alive, though.

As you see this new bear form of Rufus face this leader of the Red Rust Clan, we're going to end the episode. Wow. That's how you do a cliffhanger, folks. Wow. Dude, I did not see him coming. I did not see him coming into the castle, dude.

the heck, Zach? You're flipping me out! He did roll a nat 20. That sucks. Yeah. What an entrance. Because it would have been pretty wild if he'd, like, climbed over the wall and then rolled a one and, like, tripped over his feet. Yeah. Falling off the spire. Yeah. This metal arm is weird. Yeah. Oh!

Well, that was a fun episode. Very exciting to see you guys finally get to Walden Keep and meet up with the sort of the forces of Fort Cutler, finally meeting Rufus's father and brother, although we wish it was under more pleasant circumstances. Thanks for listening. This arc, of course, features Devin Field, a.k.a. ThatDevinField on Twitter, and Victoria Longwell at

at longwell v on twitter and jacob wiseaki at jacob wiseaki on twitter does anybody want to plug anything as well yes please i would just like to plug uh i gotta plug my podcast with my co-host how you got in uh it's friends talk frazier and feelings uh come listen to us talk about frazier and all that mental health appreciation stuff and uh also

Oh, I tried to remember something from earlier that I was going to say. Oh, send me pics of quilts. Send me pics of my quilts for summer sleeping. Light quilt. Light summer quilt.

Hot girl summer, light summer, quilt summer. Yeah. Hot quilt summer. I don't know. Yeah. That's so much better than the two summer thing that I've seen. I got to plug my podcast. It's firsthand podcast. Let's give it a listen. And I got to also shout out, Hey fans send in honor of my transformation and grips deployment of the tidal wave. Please send me pictures of bears swimming or floating in bodies of water. Hell yeah, dude. Oh,

Hell yeah. Only one person sent me a fierce bear, and it was great, but I need more. You know what I mean? You need more? So if you're sitting there thinking like, oh, he asked for it, but I don't know if I want to give it. Send one. Please. We're begging you. Jacob, do you have anything you're calling for? Yeah, go get a bagel with your babe and send me a pic. A nice little sundae treat. Get a bagel with your baby, and then let me know about your favorite baggie, baby. Your favorite baby? Yeah.

Incredible. Get some crutches for your baggy baby. Thanks for listening. We'll be back next week with the Arc Park. See ya. We hope that you enjoyed that episode of Rotating Heroes. That was DM'd by the one and only Zach Oyama and the players were Victoria Longwell, Jacob Wysocki, and Devin Field. Remember, if you're enjoying Rotating Heroes, then please go ahead and check out the Rotating Heroes website

Patreon, which is where you can get early access to all of the episodes. You can get them in full as well, so not part one and part two. And you can also get the exclusive talkbacks, which is where the crew dissect and talk about everything that happened in obviously totally the most serious possible way. So I don't even know why you'd think anything else. This episode has been edited and produced by Zakoyama and Jasper William Cartwright, which is me.