Icebound | Ep. 19 | Out Of The Sky
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Welcome to Legends of Evantris. I am the one they call Yorneer, and this is Icebound, the runes tell of what happened last time. Look, I don't want to tell anyone how to do their job, but it certainly sounds like you let things get out of hand.

Yes. Jackass. I can offer you these gifts. The land you love will be safe in your hands with my help. Attempting to destroy me is futile. I alone have unlocked secrets of the cosmos. I alone can show you the truth of what lies ahead. The hexature armament powers my invincible shield because it is finished repairing the ship. Oof.

All of a sudden, the ship pulls away from the well cave floor and pushes out of the cave mouth through the waterfall and twists and turns up. I need everyone to roll initiative. Need to get to the armament. Hope has only nearly died.

It appears we have an unwelcome guest.

How interesting. I wonder if it knows who it is dealing with. The Princess of Wrath clutches the side of the ship with her great talons, rears back her head to the storming sky, and roars. Hope has nearly died within you when suddenly there is a flash of blinding light and moments later you hear a crackling boom. On the mountain peak you see a vertical jagged shape like a spike of ice projecting upwards.

The shape then moves and unfurls and you realize what exactly it is you look upon. The Princess of Wrath's massive wingspan is easily over 60 feet in length, spreading outwards. Her scales, as white as the driven snow, glisten with a faint blue hue. The dragon's body is thick and muscular. The spikes on her back are jagged and razor sharp.

Despite her massive size, the Princess of Wrath is incredibly agile. Her movements quick and precise. She soars forward straight for the ship, ascends and slams into the side of the ship, rocking it violently beneath your feet. The Princess of Wrath clutches the side of the ship with her great talons, rears back her head to the storming sky, and roars.

You find yourselves now trapped, fighting the elder brain Sophilus in the command room of its nautiloid ship as it soars through a snowstorm and as it is assaulted by the ancient white dragon you've come to know as the Princess of Wrath.

The thick and invisible hull that surrounds you does little to muffle her powerful bellow, and whatever you were feeling moments ago is washed away with pure adrenaline. The blood in your veins feels both hot and icy at the same time, and you realize that the decisions you make in the next few moments won't just determine your own fate, but perhaps the fate of thousands.

Wide-eyed, Ket Rostein stares out in shock at the sight of the Princess of Wrath and then towards each of you. The point of his magnificent silver sword continues to stab down and down into the invulnerable shield protecting Sopholith, and Ket yells out, What in the nice hells? A dragon? Tell me, friend or foe? Sopholith must be distracted by her arrival. I cannot lose this chance to destroy the nemesis of my people. Steal yourselves while you can!

What happens next is up to you. Before we dive in. Fucking cool. Let's do a little housekeeping. Okay. Because we're picking up right where we left off, and I'm not going to make you roll for initiative. We're keeping where we were, and we are keeping exactly where you picked back up. However, I need to remind myself a few things. Everyone except for Taishen failed the

the initial mind obliteration ability that dazed you. This is my variant of stunned that everyone enjoyed. And I have them already. So Barnabas, Yornear, Queenie, Scrim, the four of you will be dazed. And I can remind you of those rules when we get to that moment. Um...

Queenie, recall that you have put a Hunter's Mark mechanically on Sopholith. That's still true. Scrim, you put your Hexblade Curse on Sopholith. That is still true.

And the only damage that's happened so far to Sophilith is that he was chomped by the doggo that you summoned, Scrim. And then it was obliterated. And then it was obliterated by that same mind obliteration, which was a pretty powerful attack. It was really an opener that did a lot of good work for Sophilith. Hopefully he doesn't have more of those. You bastard. I was looking through my character sheet, and I'm like, wild shape, what the fuck? And I realized I was on Gritco. LAUGHTER

I also open Gideon to start. Oh, God. Back to level four. That's not... I also am trying to remember, you used a spell before we actually got to the ship itself. I believe you used the Rune of Protection. I did. And someone still has that, and it does good work. I have it. Keep that in mind as if you should get psychic damage. Yeah, no, I think I'm relatively healthy, and that's probably why. Okay, okay. Because...

I'm relatively healthy compared to an invalid or a 90-year-old man. From a certain point of view. And Scrim was a good friend. Was. So, here we have our arrangement. Let's do this thing, as they say. Let's do this thing.

You hear this roar, adrenaline dumps into your veins, and you can hear that same emotionless voice reverberate within your mind. Stay where you are one moment while I deal with this.

Still reeling from this sudden revelation, you watch as the massive tentacles that stretch out from the sides of the dominant mind reach up and smash down towards the Princess of Wrath. She dodges the first, but takes the full brunt of a second tentacle as thick as the trunk of an evergreen tree, smashing down against her shielding wing. Queenie, your turn. - Oh my god. - Okay, I was not prepared for it to be my turn.

You roll high. Yeah. You get them rabbit's feet. So do we have to do any rolls for the stun first? At the beginning of your turn, you can roll to clear the dazed. It's an intelligence saving throw, and the DC is 18, so I recommend you do that first. An int saving throw? Yep. I rolled the worst character for this arc. Scrim is dumb as a bag of rocks. No, suicide should not an int, I'm not.

I'm in. I'm in. Oh, charisma wisdom. Never mind. Now I'm thinking of wizards. Sorry. A wizard Scrim is not. Now, I think we toyed around with the idea. Maybe I'm remembering incorrectly, but didn't we talk a little bit about having Scrim be an int warlock? I don't know. You've been like me for like five minutes. Maybe we'll have a C-frunk-ass Scrim. I like my int warlocks. I hope not. Queenie will move.

towards the exit. Your movement is free, and then any additional thing that you do is going to be 1d6 damage unless you can clear the dazed condition that you currently are. Okay, so you can still move. But you can make the saving throw now if you want to try and clear it. But can I do, like...

Can I do that at the end of my turn after I take damage? If you want to, but mechanically, I would recommend that you do it now so that you see if you have the ability to clear it. So I can clear it for free? Yes. Potentially. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm asking if it's an action to clear. I like to do the, you can make the save at the end of your turns at the beginning of people's turns so that you don't have skip a turn abilities and stuff. You can make your intelligent saving throw now. Okay.

No. Okay. So I'm going to move towards the exit. And now we know. And I am going to look towards the brain and I am going to, Queenie's going to, just for the sake of, it's cool, fire an arrow towards the ceiling and it is going to rain down pollen.

casting fairy fire. - Oh! - Holy shit! - Oh! - It's very cool. - I'm presuming that your intent is only to illuminate Sophilith. - The brain, yes. - Okay, okay. - And so she would aim the arrow. It's got like a little yellow pouch on the front of the arrow and as it hits,

The pouch explodes, raining down the bottom. It starts to hit that invulnerable shield and it itself illuminates very much and you expect it to be able to persist. It has to make a dexterity saving throw. Oh. So it does get to do that. Oh, does it? Yeah. I forgot that that's true. I'm imagining an immovable brain is probably going to have trouble passing. I mean, I almost wanted to give it to you. Let's find out. I'm gonna hit him!

A three. It fails. Yeah. So any creature that attacks it will be at advantage. Very good. It's very fire. Love that. Thank you. Love that for you. Do you want to do anything else with your turn? Well, I would like to take the damage. How much damage am I taking? Oh, you didn't take, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. You take 1d6 for the casting of the spell. Is that a five or a two? It should be on the opposite of it. What's the opposite number? The opposite should be four if it's a two.

That's a two. That's a five. Opposite side should add up to seven. They do, but it's five and two. Oh, shit. Okay, so that's a two. So I'll take two points of damage. You take ten points of psychic damage. You're so stunned as you even just cast a simple spell, fairy fire. You get this spike, like a headache, jam right behind your ear, almost closing in towards the temple. You said that we had a potion. Where did that come from?

Ket gave us each a potion. If you didn't already drink your healing potion, then... I don't remember. I don't have it in my inventory. I am

Imagine that you would have used your hit dice and then you probably still have. Let me just quickly look up what I gave you. - I use all of my hit dice before he handed out. - You do rapid quaffing, yeah? - Yeah. - I would like to rapid quaff them. - You would like to rapid quaff. - If I still have them. - I have two health potions now. - Let me. - I've had a health potion this whole time. - I didn't know you were doing so well. - Did you get a raise? - Wow.

- You're hungry, boy. - It's a very dexterous brain. - I'm a dexterous brain. - It's a greater potion of healing. - Zach has two potions in it. - And that's a-- - I play Wordle every day. - 44 plus four. - 44 plus four. - Okay. - But you will, because it's a bonus action, you'll take 1d6 damage doing it. - I can survive that. - Oh yeah, plus it's a big old potion. - I'll do the damage first. That's fine. - Oof. - Are we sure? - No. - 'Cause I'm not.

- Four. - There you go. - Five. - Oh, you're in the black. - Six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 points. - Not good. - Nice. - Ooh. - Better. It's better than where I was to start. Thank you. That is my turn. - My pleasure.

- That's a good bird.

I will look around and see, are we, we're in a snowy area and there's a dragon. And I will just, after being slammed against it, my crab claws will scrape against the side of it. And I'll look around and I'll say, this is like the time we encountered a megatask off the coast of Kalooak. Ah!

This is how we die! Freedom for all those enslaved by this beastie! I said I would not stop until all my enemies are destroyed, and Sopholith, you are my enemy! And I'm going to run back

back to the point where I had been hammering. - Okay. - Completely mad eyed and bellowing with laughter as I just continue to just smash in as hard as I can with my anchor. - Make your intelligence saving throw. - Oh. - And then you can move and do whatever you like.

I fail. Okay. Can I move to where that was? It was next to the, on the other side of the brick. Yeah, I would say with your additional speed, because you're a barbarian, you'd be able to make it to. Yeah, yeah, so bang. Cool. And then take damage for that trash. You don't have to roll to hit, you just can roll damage. I gave that to you last session. I presume it's psychic damage, so I can't resist it.

- Oh, and object too. So would the wall count? He'd be at advantage against the wall? - He already automatically hits the wall. - Okay, cool. - I'm just gonna see if I crit. - In case you wanted to let him, you know, have advantage. - Oh, I suppose you could roll the crit. That's a fair point. - I don't. - I wouldn't fairy fire the wall. - It would happen automatically.

He's already advanced, isn't he? Yeah. Look, okay? I can't stop the fact that the pollen is going places. The wall is covered in pollen, okay? The wall is covered in pollen. It's yellow. You can see it. I can't help it. I can't help it. So I'm going to do this 2d6.

Okay. Ooh. 11, 11, 14, 14, 16, plus 14. 30 points of bludgeoning damage. Wow. On the... Ah! Holy shit. Wow. Take heart, like Mr. Steen said! Ha ha ha!

You're hearing this metallic clang every single time the anchor smashes into this wall, and though the illusion that you can see through in all directions is still perfect, you imagine that the hull is being damaged in your mind. And I take damage, correct? You take 1d6 damage for the additional action beyond movement. Four. What kind of damage is that, psychic? Psychic. Okay. That makes it easy for me. Oh, man. I know what I want to do.

Is that the conclusion of your turn? Oh yeah, sorry, that's my turn. The Princess of Wrath howls in pain and stumbles, her claws gripping into the slick surface of the boardwalk to keep balance. The psionic attack is only momentarily effective, and she rights herself, shrugging off whatever debilitating power Sopholith just attempted. Your turn. Is it obvious that he's still under the protection of the Hexature Armament?

Yes. The shield is even more obvious now that it is covered with the soft pollen glow of fairy fire. What was an invisible shield that you'd only ever see get struck and then these bands of energy would come out. Now it's like a cocoon.

Oh boy, I don't even know what to do. Dobro arrives. I guess I could eat a Reuben. I pass my turn and take a bite of my sandwich.

Oh man, this dragon is making me... I would start with the intelligence saving throw. Anyone craving Dairy Queen hot dogs now? Feels like a good... Could be good. I think I'm proficient in that. Good time to... Dairy Queen hot dogs. Yeah. 17. Just barely doesn't get it. 18.

- Oh, I should be remembering how to deal. - It's just psychic damage, right? - Mm-hmm. - Yeah, per extra action you take. Only if you get free action. - Yeah, you can do one thing. If you just do one thing, you don't take any damage. - We just got blasted against the wall. Are we prone or can I stand up? - I can't recall if you're prone, so I'm gonna say everyone was standing.

Flavors. Is anyone looking particularly weak? No, weaker than normal. No. Is anyone wounded, like brain-wise? I am not. Not brain-wounded. I mean, again, no more than normal. I'm a little bloody, but... Scrim's just always kind of brain-damaged. Queenie just drank a potion. She's feeling much better than she was previously. The side of my body that smashed into the side of the spaceship is still covered in barnacles on that one side. Nice. As I...

Shlooped up there. Then what I will do is... Fuck it. I'm going to say... Brain freeze. Enjoy some ice cream. Yeah, that's what I'm saying, Dairy Queen. I don't take care of this guy. Alden, dispel the sorcery, and I will cast Dispel Magic to see if it does anything on the shield. Okay.

Or did I try that last time? You have not yet. I don't think you did. You did not try that, though. You tested it by doing a wisdom saving throw or dexterity saving throw, like a cantrip, I believe, was your initial test. I think you threw a snowball at him. Yeah, your first round was like a snowball.

We'll try it. Okay. You cast Dispel Magic, and for a moment, there's this ripple that occurs, and you see it weaken for a moment, but it immediately pops back into a curved curve. It was worth the shot. That's my turn. That's your turn? It is worth a shot, I agree. Yeah, I'll save my resources. Thanks, old leader. Okay. Okay.

- Tadpoles. Who's got tadpoles on them and how many? - I guess I have one. - We all have one. - I definitely, Scrim has two potential. - I have none. - With Scrim or I could have two. - Assuming this one's on Kett, I have one, Kett has one, Yorner has two. - I have two, Queenie has two. - There's one on you, open. - I think this was Scrim. - You literally moved one over to me so it wouldn't be on you.

- I don't think I had three on me. - Also, for what it's worth, that one that was out there in the middle. - There was one that was between the two of us and it could have gone to either or. Rich, move one from you to Queenie. - No, because you moved, I moved one of them with you, but it was next to you. Let me start. So anyway, we'll say it's out in the middle. I don't remember us removing them, but.

Again, I don't know. It's out in the middle. I watched that chart. So is there one on Queenie? There is. There could potentially be two. It's really up to the DM, though, and not the cheater. That's true. I'm going to say it's on your near. Three on your near.

- Because they all slammed into the wall. These are slow moving creatures. Remember they sort of shoot forward and undulate. So they are going to attempt to start to crawl on you or grasp you. And these disgusting like lavender colored crawfish start to crawl all around. They're still hungry, hungry for something. Queenie, a 16.

- That doesn't, no, that misses. - That misses. And we have two on scrim. - Yeah. Happy Meal also made a good point. These are literally the taper tots. - That's true. - No! - I'm a taper tot. - Two or 17? - 17. - Okay. - It meets it. - Okay.

That means that you're going to be grasped by one of them. You see one of them crawling up your boot. Of course. Okay. Make a note of that. I've noted tadpole on boot. Okay, three on your ear, we said. Yeah. Fuck it, why not? Eight, six, seventeen. Seven, five, three, oh, nine. Nine, nine. Jenny! What was the highest? Seventeen? Seventeen. Oh. Jenny!

That's right. Yeah, no, that hits. 17 hits. Okay. You look down and you realize that one of them is on your thigh. It has actually managed to actually start to crawl up and make its way underneath between the fabric of your robe and between your pant leg. And there's one on Taishan or two? One. They are not interested in cat. Two on Taishan.

Oh, 'cause he's on top, like with the Buster Sword. Well, I think he's also a type of entity that they-- They don't have any taste for gith. 14 and 17. What, golden Dragonborn? Let's put it this way, they won't go after a creature they couldn't finish their work with. Oh, and they're-- 14 and 17? 14 would miss, 17 would, it would hit. Make a note that you have been grasped by one of these tadpole.

- This is scary. Be scared of the tadpoles. - On turn. - Oh gosh. - Great, that's fine. - It didn't get to me though, so I'm not scared. - That's true. You walked away from it pretty casually actually. - I did, yeah. - They're very slow. - It tried to latch onto me and I said no. - You probably could have stepped on one on the way, but you chose not to. You were too dazed. - I did. I'm mentally very perturbed by other things.

The princess redirects her attention to the flailing tentacles that threaten her and a brilliant blue light shines from the back of her throat and she roars. A massive surge of cold and ice explodes outward from her mouth as she roars. Nearly all of the tentacles on the starboard side of the ship freeze, shatter, break apart. The ship vibrates under your feet from the force of this attack and you feel a new vibrating turbulence.

We're fine. I unfortunately have several questions. I hate to do this. No, no, no, no. We're good. First of all, I watched the hound pass through the shield, correct?

Do I feel as if I were to have some other magical mist-like effect that would come out from me if that might get through the shield? Remind me what your stat block said about its ability to move in and out of the planes or something. The accursed specter. And it was that spectral nature that I made that judgment about. Specter.

has incorporeal movement. It can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes force damage if it ends up inside an object. It was that incorporeality that I judged would allow it to pass through. It's a ghost-like fashion. A misty-like spell wouldn't do anything. Oh, if you were to endeavor a teleport or something along those lines, I can't tell you what would happen. Maybe some sort of different outcome. I'm going to take an attempt, even though I only have two spell slots, provided my next question is also...

These tadpoles, is there a way that I could discern potentially that they might be leech-like? Leech-like? Yeah, like the animal, a leech. The creature, a leech. Oh, these are living creatures. They're organic in that way. Is it in the same family as a leech?

Can I make a discerning, can I discern that, right? From the material components. Would I be able to discern that this is a leech-like creature? Wow! I was trying not to, like, you know, try to discern if this is a leech, a leech- I'm trying to make some goblin surfing turf! Yeah, exactly!

- Some goblins. - Finally. - It's been 20 minutes, it's a matter of time. - That is cleverly asked, and I would say that the parasitic nature of what a tadpole truly is would fall in a leech-like category. - Okay, beautiful. - Lastly.

Can I use my free object interaction to grab one of these horrific tadpoles and use it as a material component? I would say that that would be doable. Now, you are still dazed. Free object interaction is not going to count against your shit, I would say. It's okay if it does. I'm going to roll intelligence first. The word free, free. 18! Yes! And with an 8, it's 1.

That means that you still fail. Fuck you! I have plus one, so I can remove this. Thank you fucking god. Okay, I hear Barnabas's incredible mad raving speech, and even though I still hate him deep down, it fills me with inspiration. I forgot we're fighting. Yeah, we're still fighting. It fills me with inspiration. I haven't forgotten. And I would like to see if I can either grab the leech on my boot or one on the ground.

with my free-of-the-air action. Yeah, you can grab the boot one. I'd be happy. Okay. Okay. I hear Barnabas's words. I think to myself, I look to the brain and I say, I'm coming for you, you fuck! And I throw myself at this thing, crushing the leech in my hand, and I cast, uh,

- Oh. - And as I am throwing myself with the ship tumbling and moving at this brain, when I get within 15 feet of it, the swirling red mist and gray mist will explode from me and any evil target that I choose, the brain, within 15 feet will be the target of my draining mist. - Oh. I would also argue that the leeches themselves could be targets in that spell. - Okay.

I'd like to fuck them up too. Then include them. Okay, I've included them. How does the spell work? I surround myself with Sinister Red Mist that drains a life from my foes and feeds it to me. Each target of my choice within range takes 4d8 necrotic damage unless it succeeds on a constitution saving throw. And then I gain health five times for the...

health to the number of targets up to 25 hit points. So there is a chance that he just won't take any damage. But constitution saving throw. We'll see how it goes. The invulnerability shield being what it is does protect him from the spell, the magics of the draining mist spell that you are attempting to pull from him specifically. But you do see all of the tadpoles around you at your feet struggle within the area of this effect that you have pulled. What is the DC? Queenie is also a

- She's not. - So she... - Take 48 necrotic damage. - Barnabas is fucked. - It actually doesn't say, so should it just be whatever my other DCs are?

- It would be your spell save, but you save, yeah. - So 16. - It's just a matter of what's the radius and how many are inside the radius. - Is it for the whole turn or is it in one moment? - It is just instantaneous. - It's instantaneous. So how many can he reach? - Within 15 of me. - I mean, you could literally get there and hit everybody. - Yeah. - Hit all of them. - That's all of them. - I was attempting to hit the brain though too.

And then I'm still going to continue as far as my movement will take me, even if that makes me land on the force field because I'm throwing myself at this part. But anyway. So you move here, cast the spell, and then finish your movement. Do you have full movement? Yeah, I should. Provided I succeeded and I'm good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're good. So it's a constitution saving throw of 16. 16. How many? Oh, you crushed one. So I'm going to do the seventh. I'm going to roll seven d20s.

So one's dead. You can remove one. And how many, how many, um, wow, that's garbage. Uh, 40. What is it? DC 16? 48. DC 16? DC 16 constitution. Okay. Three fail and I have one succeed. And then three more for the other seven. Uh, and two succeed. So you can remove all but two of the tadpoles. Uh, how about just both on your hand?

Do they take half damage if they succeed? They don't. Oh, okay. They take no damage. One point of damage is enough to kill one of these tadpoles. You were able to crush one in your hand, and as you were crushing it, you looked down for a brief moment, I would say, even in your jumping moment. You could see all of those tendrils reaching out for your face any time you got really close to it. But you crush it. It feels like...

crunching like an enchilada in between your fingers. - There are two laps you said. - And you race forward and you are now at the foot where the floor meets the actual dome, this invulnerability. - And my face is like up against the hexacharm ratio and I'm like, "Ahhh!" How many were affected? - Seven of them. - No, I mean, were killed, affected. - Two of them saved, so five of them were killed. - Five dead. I will gain full health, a full 25.

That is so fucking cool! Wow! I think she kinda sounded like a howl, too. That was pretty cool. Thank you for the big sound effects. Alright. Good turn. That was important. Tyshen, you're on deck, but before you do, another legendary action from the unbelievable conflict that's happening between this Elder Brain and the Princess of Wrath.

She suddenly slams down violently against the boardwalk. Her legs and wings scrape and thrash out in all directions, but her head and neck seem anchored down by some invisible force and you see the dragon's eyes go wild with rage. She forces herself up

only to be pushed down again and again, and rose pink blood begins to seep out from her ears and mouth and eyes. Only through sheer force of will, it seems, does she break free from the telekinetic anchor pinning her down, and the Princess of Wrath ultimately triumphs over the crushing force of Sophilus Psionix. She good. She's bleeding. She's hygienic. Oh my god. Oh my god. Bleeding, bleeding, bleeding from her ears.

If he can do that, he can crush us like Gushers. Like one Beezleberry. Yeah, he's crushing the Beezleberries. People are watching this campaign who do not watch Witchlighter. What the fuck?

You gotta watch all the shit! It's like the MCU, you gotta watch the obscure Disney Plus shit to know what the fuck's going on. Okay, okay. I'll say as Scrim runs past with his baying hound snapping up all the, or killing all the tadpoles, I'll say, "Sopholith, you have wounded Drakkar "and she has sent her answer.

Give up this madness or this ship will be your grave. And I'll try and reposition myself if I can get here.

That's gonna be quoted to you in a month, and you're gonna say, "Shit, that was a cool-ass hit, I like that." "Wow, yeah, that's real cool-ass." "Yeah, cold-ass motherfucker." And I will fire out a firebolt, ideally right just past Barnabus and try and help him break through to the hexagonal armament below.

Can I assume that I hit as well? No, last time I had you roll because I wanted to make sure you didn't hit Barnaboats, which would happen on a natural one. Five? I'd say that hits. You're firing like he's doing this. And you're firing right over in here at a precision point. I'm pretty good. I'm pretty good. I'm kind of nice.

Oh! 16 points of fire damage. 16, all right. Fire damage. That's the second time it's been heated by your spell, and you even feel that the metal underneath your smashing anchor seems to be weakening just a bit. Nicely done, Mr. Fire Blossom! Ha ha!

Is that the conclusion of your turn? You are dazed, so you can do other things if you want to. I don't think I can do other things, to be honest with you. Sorcerers don't have bonus actions.

I don't actually, right? You probably, I don't know. Oh, okay. I was going to say that would be a mace thing to believe. I'm pretty sure you can like quicken a spell so you can cast the full action. Oh, I don't have any resources left. Oh, yeah. You do have four sorcery points left. Yeah. You can use a bonus action to convert. I'm done with my turn. I'm done with my turn. Carry on, carry on.

It's right here. Mace rolling dice, Richie puppeting mace. Another legendary action then. The Princess of Wrath spreads her wings once again and dashes forward up the entirety of the ship, landing at the eye of the port side just towards the rear. Her claws puncture the side of the nautiloid ship and you can hear the sound of rending metal dozens of feet below you.

Her head turns this way and that, inspecting the ship. She glances inside the great circular window of the navigation deck just below you, and you watch as she spies the artifact you know is the hexature armament fastened to the propulsion system on the rear of the ship. Uh-oh. Captain.

- Oh, that's when she eats the hexagonal arm. - How close is she to, she's like on the ship? - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - She's a crap-boy. - I could have probably had some sort of a marker. - So if you imagine a Star Destroyer, right? - What the hell's a Star Destroyer? - Yeah, I get it. - On like the big point, and now she's looking at the bridge. - Yeah, you know, I get it. - I would say she's like right here. - She's gonna draw an arrow. - When I asked that question and Derek answered, I got it. - I'm explaining to you for-- - Do you get it? - Wait, what's a Star Destroyer? - I don't know.

You could have known. You said you got it. What's a Star Destroyer? I don't know what a Star Destroyer is. I just wanted to know if she was hanging on the side of the ship. It's in Star Wars, the big shapes. Who can tell? Because when he said that she was on the side of the ship looking in, I was confused. I was a little bit... It was unclear. I was imagining that the scene from PB's Big Adventure...

Can we talk about how fucked up that was for just a second? It's supposed to be a tense moment, all right? I'm tense. Derek is upset right now, okay? That was Tim Burton with the meth. Yeah. Right? Yeah. Wow, it's been so long. He had that rich kid, the chubby rich kid that had the pool as his bathtub.

And he was just in the pancakes. I remember very little. Whose turn is it, Derek? And the nun on the bike? Krastein's turn. Oh, I can remember the cat driver's turn. He goes, what is happening? What is the dragon? He casts Blur on himself and he turns to you, Taishan. Very good. Focus, focus on the other brain. We will get him. We will get him. And you feel this psionic bolstering. All of a sudden, this...

I'm gonna read it out loud. - You may wonder who speaks to you now. - You gain a psionic die, a D8. It's basically bardic inspiration. - Whoa! - Oh my, my, my. - Every time you use it, you die. - It's just how many times you die. - I was gonna say that movie, that's a very large spoiler. - Or how many turns until you die. - Yeah.

Damn. This entire time, you've been witnessing the dragon, focusing on what to do, feeling the power of this dazed effect going through your body. This entire time, the chaos storm rages all around you in its absolute pandemonium. When you realize you haven't heard the voice of Sophileth.

Sopholith is clearly doing everything it can to try and stop this dragon and has stopped focusing on you. What would have been a straight fight has now transformed with this additional-- - No, it would have been annihilation.

- No, it would not have been a straight fight with him. You would have annihilated us in one turn. - Oh. - We're very lucky that there's a dragon. - Well, you do feel a little gratitude towards the Princess of Wrath at this time. When the ship makes a sudden turn. This time, it turns neither left or right, but straight up and you are all thrown into the water.

at the doorframe as Sophilus attempts to hurl the Princess of Wrath, doing a barrel roll, from her perch. Everyone flies to the door side, taking one D6 for every 10 feet of movement. - What? - And the Princess of Wrath, but, but, the Princess of Wrath does not lose her powerful grip. - She doesn't, she's a fucking bam. - Wait, isn't this the front of the ship? - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You're all coming towards me. - Oh, you're right. - It'd be towards the back, right?

I get more pressed against the hexagon. I say, ha, ha, ha, ha. I was thinking of the door side, but you're right. I had my ship slipped. But you keep saying the hexagon armament's at the rear of the ship. Well, where do you want us to go? Right, so we would be going towards the front, which would be where Queenie is. He does this.

Right? And if this is the rear, then you all go that way. So yes. Oh, that's a far way to go. I will say, if you run into the brain, you would hit the brain. It is a giant fucking brain. You're not... I'm already on it. You're on it? You're already on it? So you're gonna... I am plastered to it, and I'm... I'm doing goblin things. Okay, I'm super into that. Queenie does fly.

- Your ear flies. - Yep. - Taishan flies. - I would slam into scrim. Do I kill him? - Queenie slams into scrim. - No, I have a little bit more hit. - I slam into Barnaboose. - You probably do damage to me. - I don't think you outright kill me. - How many did I go? - You went one, two, three. - That was three.

You might kill me if you have the density of a dark star. Is it 1d6 for every square? Yeah. Is that what it was last time? No, no, it's like falling damage, so it's every 10 feet. Oh, 10 feet. So round it down. So it's 1d6. So Queenie would take 1d6. Taishan would take... I'll roll. I'll take 1d6. I rolled already. That's on the way. That's rough. Yornir gets fucked. That's not good. Oh!

- Can I try to land on the leeches? - Make a straight dex check. - No, he had two on him. - Oh, straight dex? - Yeah. - 19, I think.

I'll give it to you. You crush one. You crush the one that was on your thigh. You look down and you're like, "Maybe if I angle my body a certain..." Where did the rice go? Oh fuck. It's all over here. No, I just moved one and disappeared. Anyway, I'll find it. Disappearing rice? My goodness. Okay, so that happens. That one right there on the edge of the paper. That was Sothoth's turn. We're back at the top of the round.

The Princess of Wrath scurries further up the side of the ship to more closely examine the hexature armament, and you see her eyes widen with curiosity. She bends her head down in an instant and bites and wrenches the artifact free in one deft movement, gripping the hexature armament between her fangs like a cigar. Behind her, a brilliant blue fissure in the snowstorm sky emerges

with a flash and a boom. The Princess of Wrath releases the ship's hull from her grasp and gracefully falls backwards through the opening before it crashes closed. The Princess of Wrath has vanished.

And just as suddenly as she arrived, the ancient white dragon is gone. And in the same moment, so too does the invulnerable shield protecting Sophileth pop out of existence. She didn't even bring us a bottle of wine or anything. Just gone. Crashed our party and then bounced.

Stole our hexagonal armament that bounced right off the wall. Had hoped to change you. And you can actually, in this emotionless voice, hear frustration for the first time, just in this slight stilted cadence of what Sophilus transmits to you now.

To witness your transformation into powerful thralls. I am left now with no choice. The hexature armament must be retrieved, and there are plenty of humans below. This game is over. I am left with no other option than to destroy you so I can pursue my purpose. Such...

Sopholith begins to rise up out of the brine pool. You can see the liquid dripping down. You can see underneath it these writhing tentacles now. For the first time, these tendrils that look like huge purple veins immediately begin to spread out and into the room. Oh no. What an awful time to eat gnocchi. Ew. Ew.

They look like little brains. A little bit, yeah. Queenie, you're up. Oh, it's my turn. Oh, when the popping happened, everyone who was dazed just no longer dazed. That seemed to have dropped. We are on the brain. You're definitely getting tentacled. I am going to move backwards. Oh, yeah, did the ship level out or anything? It's leveling out now. And I am going to... I'll take the rings.

Does it look like the Faerie Fire is affecting him, or was it only affecting the shield? It maintains. I would say that Sothlith continues to be under the effect of Faerie Fire. I enjoy that greatly, as I will-- Andi. If you're going to be the keeper of the conditions. I am. I've been voluntold. I am then going to cast Feybolt.

And I'm going to produce some fey bolts, 2d4 amounts of fey bolts. Ooh! Five fey bolts, and I'm going to take two of them and fire them immediately. Okay. So, this would be 20 to hit. 20 to hit. The first one is 20 to hit? That hits. Hold on, actually... How do I find my hit points?

I should just make sure. Oh yeah, I got four more left. Okay, okay. So yeah, so it's the first time I'm using Rift Cord and my Fae Bolts at the same time. So the first bolt, because it is fired from my Rift Cord, is going to do an additional die of damage. This is really, I need to find a better way to do this. So it'll do 2d8.

Is that a two or a five? That's a two. That's a six. 16 points of force damage for the first fey bolt. Nice. I'm gonna need to know the types of damage. Force. Force damage, all? Yeah. Oh, shit. Yeah, it's force or psychic, and so it's definitely gonna be force. Why? That's not fair. You wouldn't know. 31. 31.

For the... The next hit? The next hit does 31 points of damage? No, no, it's 31 to hit. Oh, yeah, yeah. No, no, you've seen the AC to such a degree that you then go back into failure territory. For another 10 points of damage. Okay, that's fine. This damage, were they both forced? Yes. All of it was forced? Okay. And then it's also going to do three more points of damage from my...

Hunter's Mark that's still on it. Okay, three more? Three more. And then my bees are going to slide in and they are going to do nine more points of poison damage. Piercing damage. Piercing damage. Okay. That's not great for Sophilus. He doesn't enjoy that one bit. Piercing damage?

- Yeah. - Oh, it was nine points of piercing damage? - Yeah. - Okay, okay. You are delighted to find that a fleshy brain seems more sensitive to piercing damage than a normal carapace or skin or a creature might be. - I love that. Love that for this brain. - Okay, that does your turn. And with his first legendary action, Sothlith will...

- Mmm. - One of these tendrils-- - I'm sorry, Derek. - Mm-hmm. - Okay, good. No cracks.

I'm at your advantage. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh! Yeah, yeah, yeah. For their first legendary action... Oh! Spell attacks, guys. Let us fucking go, Bricko! I need to remember how to play this game. Let me just make sure that I'm doing everything right. Yeah, a tendril flies out and attempts to grip Barnabas around the waist. Oh, shit. That's going to be a...

21 to hit. That'll hit. Okay, you take... Advantage too, right? The reckless luck? Yes. Oh, well, I'll... So we'll fix your crit, thank you. Okay, that was more, 24. And that's going to be... I need to grab the correct dice now, just one moment. That's going to be very little damage. That'll be seven points of bludgeoning damage. All right, that'll be three.

And you are grappled by the tendril as it wraps around you because it hits, and you are lifted up into the air by almost like an arm as it continues to lash around 15 feet into the actual air. From the point that you've been trying to hit, you're pulled away, and you suddenly realize that there's this purple arm that's grasping you around the belly.

And that'll be your turn, actually. - I would imagine as Barnabas is hammering away and Tyshen, as the Prince of Wrath just tears into it, I'm right there, I guess. I would look at her and I would bow like,

and I say, "I appreciate your services, your grace." As she tears it out. Well, basically that would have happened if it was any kind of moment where he could. Basically being in almost an awe and reverence for this thing that was basically trying to do the same thing that he wasn't taking. I'm just saying that Barnabas kind of has a little thump thump. As he then gets grit.

and he turns around and says, "Oh, now you're out to fight, coward? "You think this is the first tentacle I've been gripped by? "You just saved me a leap, "and I'm going to just lunge forward to stab my harpoon "into the brain." Okay. I don't need to recklessly attack because... Pollen. Pollen. I think that still hits. Oh.

Thank god for advantage. You probably plus eight, right? Yes, I mean, I am. It is... I'm not plus eight. You're plus eight, yep. So, 17. 17 to hit? Yes. That hits. Okay. Um...

Taishen. Would you say Taishen's within five feet of Barnabus at this time? Oh, yeah. I mean, if the ship was going, I know I lifted him up and whatnot, but, like, generally speaking. I would have assumed, I mean, the ship climbing, like, as I cascaded down, it's probably, like, on Barnabus, probably, like, hanging onto him as the ship was climbing up in the air. Make the intelligence saving throw, DC-18. You can do it. No, I can't. Yes, you can. Should we twist? Almost. Almost.

- We got twists. - Yeah, give me two. Give me two. I'm dumb as rocks. - What does that one say? - 17. Let's fucking go. - Is that enough? - No, it's 18, right? - Oh, plus one! - At least plus one.

- He's got plus one. - Okay, we're good, we're good. - Let's go. - Oh, I'm sweating. - Impros, Impros! - Impros! - Sopholith, seeing the incoming attack of Barnabas being as pointy and scary as I'm sure it would be to a giant soft brain like him, immediately tries to twist your brain and cause you to compel yourself to jump in the way. - Oh my god.

You are only because of the psionic bolstering that Ketch just gave you that you're able to steal yourself and realize, no, why would you do that? But there is a moment. 25 points of piercing damage. Piercing damage. You are delighted to find that a sensitive, fleshy brain like this, piercing damage, magical or no, does more damage than you would expect it to. Pump it like a balloon!

- Oh, I'm going in. I'm going in on this motherfucker. - You go in and you do a tremendous amount of damage. Is that the conclusion of your turn? - That is the conclusion of my turn. I don't have anything else. - You're in here. - I mean, do you know what? - He'll say, "Barnabas, stop or I will crush you."

Please continue. Be my guest, Spacey! Please stop that. No, stop. Stop, Barnabas! Please do not do that. I don't care for any of this. Joke's on you, I'm into it. That's my thing. Was there any damage to the wall at the back of the room when the Princess of Wrath bit from...

the artifact, or is our room still totally enclosed and there was no damage? Do we hear wind howling? - No, you wouldn't hear any change in sound until the hull was pierced, to your point. But you do look down and where the hexature of our momentum was, there seems to be a tremendous amount of damage to however magically this ship is propelled.

And so there's like a bite out of the back of this orb that essentially is what has been turning this thing and making it do all these unbelievable maneuvers as you fly around the mountain, well, well, thousands of feet now, perhaps, above Ogreton. Ogreton isn't even visible at this point. And all you can see is the cracky rock side. And looking at the propulsion system, what are like lances of electric, almost ice, like lances of arcing and magical energy.

And it's all below us. - It's all below you about-- - But we can still see through the ship, right? To see the damage. It's still clear. - Yeah, yeah, you can see, you can all plainly and clearly see the amount of damage that the Princess of Wrath was able to deliver before stealing the artifact and disappearing to who knows where. - But we're still completely indoors. - There is not a, I won't even make you roll for it. There's not a sign that there is an escapist. - I wasn't able to pierce through the hole just yet.

Is it daytime or nighttime? It's, uh, I would say it's like dead noon. It's like, that's how it's late. The sun's at its zenith in the sky. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you were to get high enough. Oh, there's a storm going on! Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're in storm cloud town right now. Sorry. I had to maintain game state. And also crush your dreams. I will see the storm raging around us. Can't always count on you. I will say, Odin's kin.

"Grandpas, the power of storms!" And I'm going to raise my staff and a thundercloud will sort of roll into the room. Hit the camera. And I hit the camera. Almost mimicking the storm outside. You hear thunder going on and you hear galloping of hooves very gently with like

kind of pairs of legs, just silhouettes as the lightning cracks. And you hear a massive boom of thunder and a gigantic crack of lightning, almost colored like the Aurora Borealis itself, strike down on the brain. And I cast it at a fourth level. Let's go!

I have second level spells. What is that? What are you doing? Lightning sword. That's so cool. It's a fourth level? I'm casting that at a fourth level. You upcast it? I upcast it. You son of a bitch. You're well done. You rolled well. Be very glad. Way better than average. It's like fucking the two towers, the flashback when Gandalf smokes the fucking Balrog. I'll just very briefly say mechanically why that's fucking awesome is because if it had been third or lower, he would have redirected that.

Oh no! You shouldn't have told us that. You shouldn't have told us that. You should not have told us that. Oh god. Let me just do the math. I think it's 25 points of damage. I'm imagining like Iroh on the cliffs in the Thunderstorm where he like redirects. Yeah, so 25 points of damage. Lightning damage. 25? Yep.

I have to actually get a calculator. He's a Frankenstein. It hits the pool of water he's in and it just like... I still have PTSD. Actually, my father is Frankenstein. I am his monster. Oh. Oh.

No, it's too late, that's too late. That's fine. You heal the Frankenstein for 96 points of damage. And then with my bonus action, I will-- You overhealed him. That's a turn. Okay. At the end of your turn, he's going to use two legendary actions to cast a spell. I need everyone to make a DC 18 intelligence saving throw. There's no way I splat his toys, right? Slow.

Oh no! Give me a two twists, please. Just straight. Natural 20! Natural 20. Woo! All right, here we go.

- Two twists. - Give me one twist, give me one twist. - There's no way I can play this. - That's how, oh no, hey, if I did it, you can do it. - No. - Twist it, twist it. - I already called one. - It is slow. - I called twist. - I'll twist it once. - Twice? - It's slow. - Okay. - I'm slow, I'm slow. - Okay, we'll get some slow- - Thank you, Chad. - Thank you, Chad. - Is it in save?

- Uh, 20. - Can you put a slow on Queenie, please? - Let me grab two slows. - I didn't have that real quick. You have my professional theory. - Okay, okay. You, I know how to play. - It's gonna be I, so. It's gonna say magic effect because there is no slow. Here's two. - Cool. Oh, nice. - Okay.

Everybody else is good? What does slow do? It's pretty fucking bad, huh? It's not good. Slow is one of my favorite spells. It does a lot of things. You can only use an action or a bonus action, not both. Your AC is reduced by two. Your speed is halved. And if you try to cast a spell that takes an action, it takes like two turns. And you can't take matches. If you attempt to cast a spell with a casting time of one action, you roll a d20. On an 11 or higher, the spell doesn't take effect until your next turn.

So you have a chance to cast it. Oh, that's no problem for me. I don't roll higher than an 11. That's fair. That's fun. Well, I think Derek rolls. The caster rolls.

- Is it on the condition? - He has to roll that. - Does he? - Yeah. - It's not a condition, it's spell. - I'm under effect. - I've always read it as the person who, if the creature attempts, yeah, you're right. It's the caster who rolls. - Cool, I'll roll.

Oh, wait, well, I'm not doing anything yet. The caster is slow. You don't have to roll, I'd say. Yes, that's true. It's not the person who is affected by this roll. And that's why you want to get... Correct. Yes. So who is slowed? Queenie and Taishan? Yes. That's it. How are you sure of this?

- You have a chance, you get to, there's a saving throw I think at the end of every round. - Honestly, of all the people that get affected by slow, it being queen is actually really beneficial. - Yeah. - 'Cause it doesn't, the only thing it affects me is I really can't use my bonus action because I get two attacks per action. - Do you still get that? - Yeah. - Or does it reduce it to one attack? - I think it reduces it to one attack.

- It shouldn't. - No, it shouldn't. - Unless it specifically says so, I don't remember. - I believe you get one attack still. - I think I have, maybe not, so let me check. - Of all the people for this to affect, it's just like... - The tadpole's turn. The one remaining tadpole in the corner tries to go for Yornir and with a 19, I believe that you are grasped.

You might not even notice, but it's crawling up the back of your cape at this point. Yeah, it's crawling up the back. Regardless of the creature's abilities, it can't make more than one melee or ranged attack. That is enough. You are all going to die. Scrim. Fuck, we are.

This Hexator armor, Michelle, has vanished. That's right. Scrim face plants into this fleshy, disgusting mess of a brain. That's right. It's like you fall into a memory foam mattress that's been soaked in... Okay, stop. I'm eating gnocchi. That was just hit by lightning. Bonus action. I Hexplace Curse it. You had already done that.

I don't think so. I remember very specifically. He told you at the beginning of the game that you had. Okay, I didn't mark it off here, but hey, if you don't want, you want to just give me that one. That's fine. I will attack twice as I am not affected by Sloth. It's at advantage, so I'm going to roll all these d20s. Yeah. I'm looking for 19 or 20. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, that's a high 22 to hit. That hits. And a crit. Oh!

Let's go. So I'm going to roll a total of nine D4s, and one of them is going to be Fury of the Small. So I will tell you how much damage. And I'm going to roll the non-crit first, because on the crit, I get to reroll as many of the D4s as I want, but I have to take the second one. I remember. It's delightful. So this is my non-crit. Four, five, six, seven.

It's gonna be seven plus three plus five, which is gonna be 15. Then these are the crits. I'm gonna keep all of those. Two, four, seven, plus three plus five, it's another 15.

I'm gonna reroll the ones. It's like a balloon and something bad happens for you! Seven plus three plus five, so that's gonna be... 45. 52 points of piercing damage. 52 points of piercing damage? Yeah, I rolled 15 every single attack. Every single damage attack.

52 points of piercing damage? Yeah, 15 times three is 45, plus seven for fear of the smallest 52. And your Hexblade, curse damage. I did. That's all included. And is that all piercing damage? Yeah, yes, yes, yeah! Blood, guts, and viscera, and brain is going everywhere. Okay, so you do 104. Oh my god!

Because it's... I'm covered in brain viscera. Piercing damage, slashing damage, and bludgeoning damage all... It's vulnerable to. I am completely covered in psionic juice. I need to get a calculator out one minute. Oh my god. Alright. Crim's gonna take a nap. How's the brain looking? Uh, terrible, actually. It's looking really bad, and... I mean, all of our physical people all do piercing damage.

well i mean he's vulnerable to all of them i thought it was just piercing well that's all we know of thus far i would say that it's bloodied

And because of that, you hear this telepathic wail for the first time. - Wails? - Yeah. - I like wails. - No, no, no, you hear a wail, a scream. What can only be the, if a headache could yell in your mind. And each creature within 60 feet must succeed on a DC 20 intelligence saving throw. I'm sorry, DC 18 intelligence saving throw or be dazed.

- Do slow impact me on a saving throw? - Do we have enough to... - Yes. - I'm gonna do two. - DC's not affected.

I got a natural 20. Scrim is the smartest he's ever been, ever. I also got a natural 20! Imposos! Woo! Yeah, you're fine, you're fine. Take out one. You somehow are able to resist. Take out two for me, take out two for me. I am rolling fire. Yeah. I'm rolling better than I have been in combat. Thanks to twist. I fail. These were straight up. Yeah.

Wow. This went very-- this turned around. All right. Barnabas failed. We've had a Legendary Action, so Tyshen, you're up. Barnabas failed to dazed. So what do I-- I'm slowed. So can you dazed token? Oh. Oh, he's also got something else on there. I'm grappled. Yeah, he's grappled. I'm gonna grapple that dazed. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Grappled? Is it-- Well, there's Paralyzed. I was using Restrained. Stunned. We'll use Stunned. Oh yeah. Yeah, that's perfect. Stunned is great. For dazed.

Good enough. What do I do about slow? You make a DC 18 intelligence saving throw to endeavor to throw it. Come on!

Okay, okay. What does this thing do again? It's inspiration. Can I just roll this? Didn't you use it to get the 17 up to the 18? No, I just had plus one because I'm super smart. Okay, well, if you haven't used your Psy I High, you can roll that now and add it to the total. He needs it. I just need four. I just need four. Oh.

Oh boy, I love this. You need a three, four, five, six, seven, eight. I have plus one to this? What's your natural plus to the die? It's plus one in intelligence. What's your modifier? Plus one. Yeah. So you're a 14 right now. So you need a four. Oh, that's right. Yeah. I can't do that. Oh my goodness. You need four, five, six, seven, or eight. That's the majority. That's the majority of the things. He's wicked schmack. Ah! It broke! Woo! Yeah! Ah!

Oh, okay. I break the shackles of slur. The fates fucking hate Sophilith. You clash through, yeah, apparently the fates are no longer pleased with Sophilith and you are a Taichen again. You come back to the speed of the reality around you. Your success screams are one of my favorite things. I agree. I'm jubilant.

I'm jubilant. Mace is feeling jubilant. Best next PC has done that. No, the next Mace next PC needs to have Guy fly Ares. Oh my god. That's true. Well, you know. Well, you know. Well, you know, I mean, I...

I got a Billy's store, huh? Hey, where's his wife? He's gonna be a wise guy, like a mobster. He's gonna be like one of Geno's nephews. See? See? For the next honey heist, that needs to be your character. Never get me, Kava. Dude, would Tyshaun have the sense that he's looking like real bad or like-- I'd say he's bloodied. Bloodied means on her half health. Yeah, he crossed a milestone in his health point arena.

I'll cast Elemental Burst at level one. Ooh. Okay. How does that work? Make a ranged spell attack to hit on a successful hit. The target takes 1d8 piercing damage and 1d8 fire damage. You can do piercing damage with a spell? Yeah, so I got hit on the first. Plus seven. Uh-oh.

It's a three. It's a three. It doesn't hit. What's your plus? Seven. So it's a ten. Okay. It doesn't hit. You should twist it. I mean, you could twist it if you wanted to. Oh, no, no, no. Don't. No. When Derek says it like that, don't do it. No, it is you who will be fucked.

Joke's on you. I do not like that. Please don't do that. The damage that you're doing is causing this unbelievable weird effect in your mind where he'll be in the middle of a sentence. You are nothing compared to, I could crush you with the pinnacle of intellect and power in this world. It is actually like skipping in a... Like changing channels. He's glitching out. He's glitching out. Finish him. Ket, Rusty, Ket. Oh. Uh.

Mr. Scene. We have him on the ropes. Go, go! And he flies forward and he will make...

Yeah, he's gonna make, he's gonna cast Zephyr Strike because that's a spell that exists in this game. Is it? Yeah, isn't this a limit break? Yeah, he does a limit break. I love limit break. He carves a square into the air and then Xs it off before doing a back flip and jumping up. Hell yeah. How is he fitting all of this in a six seconds? Look at him go! Cross slash! That's how he did it.

Are you serious? Nine, nine, nine, nine, nine, nine, nine, nine. How much is that? Why do I not know my own? Okay, that hits. Oh, yeah. And then he does it again. And that also hits. So he's going to do... What are you talking about? Final Fantasy VII. It was Limit Break in Final Fantasy VII. You know... That's where it comes from, I believe. Really? Yeah. I believe so. I don't think we were right. Is it a six?

- I thought there were limit breaks before, but. - Maybe. - I thought in five there was a limit break. - The avarice and excitement. - That's a great word. - The vengeance and fury in the eyes of the evil.

Okay. Are blind, to use another great word, by his graceful movements. Would you say they're super blind? Almost dances with this sword, slicing in and through, creating these huge gashes where you can see the brain just open up and immediately spill out blood. Even though the brain continues to levitate in the air just above this brine pool, you can see slashes carving into him like a turkey dinner. Oh!

And he will use his bonus action to...

- Turn to Queenie. You're no longer dazed or confused, are you? You can remove that token, Daishen. Get yourself together! And you feel the psionic die that he used, this bolstering, it happened in your mind. You feel that you are going to maybe have a better chance at-- - Amazing. - Yeah. That'll be the conclusion of that turn. - Oh no, it's Sophil's turn. - And it's Sophilith. - He's gonna go, "No, look."

What, Rich? Whose leg is that? What? Something's shaking. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Molly's are up in the air. Whoever's got a--

I have restless leg syndrome, Rich. Do you? I do, yeah, actually. Thanks for laughing, Evan. Something funny happened at work earlier. I'm gonna remember that the next time I stop laughing, actually. What are you laughing at? It happened earlier, don't worry about it. God, that's really good. It's unrelated to this incident. That sounds really funny. It's unrelated.

- Kendrills lash out, two of them. One in the direction of Scrim. - No. - That's going to be a 21 to hit. - Oh, that misses. - You got me. - It does 13 points of bludgeoning damage and you are now grappled. - That's it?

- This guy sucks. - Thank you. - Literally begging fate. - The brain is not what we have to worry about. It's what's gonna happen after we kill the brain. - No, Nikki, how could that be true? - This thing did 13 points of damage to you on its turn. - That's what I'm saying. This is like, this is we soft, Derek. I'm not impressed. - You're near. Natural 20. You are going to take... - This is...

- You're gonna take 16 points of bludgeoning damage. - 16? - Yes, and you are also grappled with that grappling tendril on... - Make sure you succeed your concentration, please. - Andy? - What are you concentrating on? - Can you be the guy? - Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. - Yeah, yeah, we're tentacling Yorneir at this time. - That's cool. - I would be honored to tentacle Yorneir. - Pass.

Oh. Oh. Concentration. Concentration. Yeah, you said. You said 17, or 16. On a crit? Yeah. Oh, yeah. And the ship turns, but it doesn't slam down. It doesn't fly in a direction that would immediately make momentum change for you the way that he's been intentionally, rudely splattering you against the walls and ceiling of this enclosed space.

but he does start to turn and you can feel it shifting and moving. Again, it still has that turbulent, the entire left side of the front of the ship having been frozen and torn away by the massive scream, the blast of, you know, what the fuck? I'm not laughing at you, it's something that happened to work earlier. Like, we're all thinking, I'm just gonna say it's Shuffle, it's a little bit of a bitch.

You may think me a bitch. He's in my head! We're turning the ship back to Ogerton now. You shut your mouth, we're turning the ship around. Let's see how you feel when you are facing thousands of mind control ogres and you can feel that you're beginning to descend back now towards Ogerton. And in that moment, all of the lashes that are connected to somebody

with psychic energy. - Oh, okay, all right. - So those are, we're grappled. - Yep. - If you are grappled, psychic energy courses through them and essentially races through your body doing an additional 11 points of psychic damage to Yornir, Scrim, and Barnabas. - Derek, I was just kidding.

- This is a very challenging fight. You don't have to-- - Just be cool, man, just be cool. - Just chill out. - And I am going to roll a d6. - Okay. - Just like a dragon's breath weapon, he gets a recharge of that mind obliteration ability that he was able to use. - Oh, cool. - That's nice. - Cool. - And he gets a five. - I'm doing my best.

That's the conclusion of Sophlet's turn. He's still doing okay here. Everything's looking good here. It's the top of the round. 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 Saltmark.

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Should we just roll for Queenie, or should we... Roll for Queenie? Yeah. I'm trying to decide if I should run Queenie. I've got her character sheet here. Oh, that is perfect. Okay. Yeah, that's perfect. Yeah. Okay. Perfect. Especially if you have all the sheets. I will... Maybe I'll do the voice though. God, Zeus! I've got the character sheets here. So, Queenie is continued to be

slow it, so she'll have to deal with that mechanically. At the top of the round, we're going to have what I believe is called a lair action. Gosh. I mean, you don't have to. You just skip over it. I really didn't mean all those mean things I said about your boss fight, Darren. I didn't mean it when I said Stoffel is a little bitch. I never said those words. That never came out of my mouth. I plead the fifth. You thought them, though, and he can hear you. You may choose. You

You may make an intelligence saving throw against Sophilus, saving DC, or, and if you fail, have disadvantage on ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws. Jesus. Or? But, when you make those rolls, you can take one psychic damage to increase...

by one if you need to. So, like, as an example, if you roll a 15, you could take three and go up to 18, and just by the very merit of pushing through sheer willpower style. That's option one. But that's only if we fail the in-check. Only if you fail the in-check. Okay, in-check or one point per... Is it all 18 again? Yes, these are all DC 18, so you have the choice. Make the in-check and nothing, or...

a disadvantage on all abilities, but you have the ability to get up to the DC if you want to make up the difference in psychic damage. - Or? - Or you just take a flat 3d6 psychic damage right now. - Oh, God. - I have statistically beaten this so many times, I think it's foolish for me to try again. - That's what a loser says. - Scrim would never back down from a gamble, my friends. I'm taking the roll. - You got this?

- I'm on a hot streak. - I got a seven. - Okay, so you're going to be in the strange disadvantage round of psychic damage. - My brain! - As your mind is suppressed by Sophilus, who is clearly losing what an eldritch creature of this kind's patience would be. - So disadvantage on skill checks only.

- No, spell checks, attack rolls, and saving throws. - Shit, is it too late for me to change the roll? - Yes. - Dammit, attack rolls, saving throws. - Yornir, what does Yornir choose as this mind suppression effect immediately waves and washes over you? - Can you restand it just one more time, the trade off? - Yes, you get a DC 18 intelligence saving throw. If you succeed, nothing happens. If you fail, you get essentially exhaustion three, where you have disadvantage on all ability checks, attacks, and saving throws, but you can make up the difference

With psychic damage. One point per extra point in the skill check. Or you just take a flat 3d6 right now. Yeah, we'll take the flat 3d6 right now. Yeah, I'll just... We'll just roll. Yeah, 20...

Oh, 21? Nice. I would tighten up my insides a little bit. I got goosebumps. 21. Okay. Did you see it like... Yeah. Yeah, it was literally almost like a... That's 10. That was a little greasy. It hit this, and then it bounced back to 17. Okay, Barnabas, what are you thinking in terms of your choices here? As you sort of get to pocket this sensation that Sophilus sprays out in all directions into one corner of your mind or the other. I'm going to save this option.

So that's to roll... That's to take 3d6, right? I'm taking 3d6. The safest option is to take the 3d6. I'm gonna take the 3d6. Provided you roll low. If you roll really high and take 18 points of damage, there's a chance that you're taking much more upfront damage. No, I'm rolling the thank you damage. Yep. Yep.

I would like to also-- Are you resistant to it? No, but I still-- I still think I am. If you wanna do it, if you wanna do them separately, you can. I will do them separately. Okay, okay. Keep going. Here's the thing, 'cause if you're like low in and you have to make up that, you're gonna take like seven points right off the bat. You know what I mean? Yeah. You take 12 psychic damage. Okay. All right, that's a little high.

Taishan, that was me rolling for you, Taishan. Are you taking the psychic damage? I'm taking it as well. Okay, I am giving you, oh, seven. That's pretty good. You got away very, that's good. 12's a little high. It's over half, it's over half.

- But here's the thing, if you roll like a three on a must make in saving throw, you're taking like 15 up front. - It's already so hard to hit the end saves that if I had disadvantage on every one, I'd never pass it. - Trust me, Andy knew what he wanted to do. Scrim's an idiot. - Queenie is up. She is going to attack twice.

That's going to be, well, if you add those two together, it'd be a natural 20. But she hits once and then she hits a second time. She just one attack. Oh, only one attack? Only one attack. Okay, so the first, she hits with the first one and she will do two, four, because it's going to be force damage now. And that's going to look like

Un momento, I am learning how to be a ranger. Oh, did we think, folks? We did. Oh, we did. Oh, it's 1d8. Very cool. I didn't realize that. And the Icebound challenge is... That's going to be 7, 13 points of piercing damage, which is 26. She does 26 points of piercing damage to the vulnerable brain getting us to that level. And...

And she's slowed, so she can only attack in her speed is half. - Or she gets a saving throw. - Oh, she gets a saving throw. Thank you. - You're welcome. - She does not succeed, unfortunately, but she is going to use her half movement to move back and her speed is 35. So move her back 15 feet.

Yeah, yeah. She'll back up right there. This is stopped, right? Yeah, the door is... The portal is held by some magical force, let's say. So that's as far back as she can go. That's as far back as she goes as she takes another... Slowly takes another arrow out of her quiver and says something excellent and queen-y like. That'll be the conclusion of her turn. And...

Barnabas. It's just like stopping grapes and wine season. Wow, that's pretty good. Barnabas, you're up. I am just going to say, you should have dropped me. Now I'm even closer. And I'm just going to keep...

I'm dazed, but I can just take damage and just, I'm gonna just keep taking damage and go ham, right? You get one free action, and then for every action after that, you take one d6. So I don't need to move, I just wanna fucking smack the shit out of him. But you have a chance, you get to roll the saving throw first. Oh, and saving throw. I fail. Okay. I'm going to roll, I'm gonna attack twice, okay. Yikes. Okay, that's a hit, second attack.

It's also pollinated, too, so... Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, both will hit. That's definitely, yeah. And I'm going to do... As the first attack comes in, Taishan, you feel another prick in your mind. Oh, boy. I need you to make a intelligence saving throw. But it's not a disadvantage, so there you go. I have to hit an eight. You can do it! Don't roll, babe, don't roll yet! Eight bros. Fourteen...

Damn it. Can I twist twice? Yes. You needed a 10 in front of that. Come on, one more. One more. No! One shot. Nope, nope. One shot. I was excited for a second by the sounds of the screams. That was the good note. You shouldn't use the good note when it's bad. Yeah. Your first attack will hit Taishen because Taishen... Wait, what did you roll for the hit?

It was a 16. Yeah, it was 20-something-something. It's kind of like when you go to the doctor and they do the reflex. All of a sudden, you just...

- A jump in front of you, you're compelled by the psychic push and you are jumping in front of an anchor swinging down. So the first damage, but the second will attack the-- - You got a sore with the evil. - 11 points of piercing damage. - Mr. Fire Blossom, what are you doing? - Oh, I didn't mean to do that. - You're a mad lad. - And then you crunch into the brain. - So then that'll actually, does that hit?

What? So it does hit, but is anyone else going to jump in front of my anchor? Is there anyone within five feet? No, no, no. He's already... Okay. So that would be... The first one hits Taishan, the second one will. 15 points of piercing damage. 15 points of piercing damage. If it pleases the DM. It does not please the DM. No, no, no. Well, it doesn't please the Asophelus. It pleases Derek. And that's the conclusion of your turn? That's it. That's all I can do.

Scrim, Yornir, and Barnabos are still grappled. He's gonna use another Psychic Lash, and you are all struck by 11 points of Psychic damage as the tendrils once again energize as he's trying to squeeze the life out of you through the psionic energy that courses through these veiny tendrils.

Yikes. Okay, that hurt. I didn't feel good. No. I don't care for it. It's very good. I gained one. I don't like it. I don't care for it one bit. I've tried it. I don't like it. He'll say, you think you can defeat me? You are all fools. You're near. You're up. Once again, I will raise my staff up and slam it on the ground, and as it hits the floor, another crack of lightning will come down and electric shock.

Thunder. What level spell is this? Thunder. Four. It's still the same spell. It's a concentration spell. I don't want to do it. Oh, it's a concentration spell? And I had a layer action called Shatter Concentration as a horse shed. Well, yeah. It's a lightning storm. Would you like to heal me 11 points and do that instead? No, you can't. Touch me, smooth me. No, no, lightning it up.

I wonder, does him being in a, or it being in this, like, pool, or is he floating above the pool entirely? The brain has largely left the pool, and, like, only, like, drips are, like, a foot and a half or so between, you know, two American footballs away from the top of the prize. I was hoping it could be, like, Bioshock when I'm trying to save ammo, and you, like, just shoot once, and you run away to a puddle, and you, like, lightning plasmid it. Oh, that's a classic move. Classic.

Oh, a dex saving throw. I don't know if I can dodge a lightning bolt, but... I mean, his dex is pretty bad. Oh my god. Okay. I am a very agile brain. It's a rolling hot fire. Oh, wait. I play Wurdl and do Duolingo. What happens if I succeed?

- Take half of it. - I think you get no damage. I think it's kinda get fucked, maybe not. - I think it's half. - Oh. - But I could be wrong. - That's how it was, the spell I used. - Unless the brain is a rogue. - He evades. - He's fast!

Yeah, half as much on a success. I'm going to take half as much. Oh. He manages to resist, having learned his lesson the first time. It feels this lightning blast come and hardens itself for a moment, and you notice that it does less damage than you would expect. So instead of 30, he will take 15.

Sopholith may not be a Frankenstein, but he is a brain, and brains are power on electricity, so he does heal. Oh, that's a great idea! Shit. I mean, I wasn't, no, I'm kidding. I'm a shambling elder brain now. How does Scrimmock? Fucked up? I would say he's not, like, actively bleeding, but he looks beat up, he looks tired. You can tell that he's a little, he's breathing heavy, he's a little slower than normal.

- He's not actively bleeding, but he looks a little beat up. - I will cast Healing Word as a bonus action with my, yeah, I guess with my available bonus action. I will say...

take this rejuvenation and, uh, I don't know, rejuvenation's the word. Oh, if you were interested at all... How much psychic damage did I do? That wasn't K'Qini, was it? Oh, no. If you're interested, Barnabas has created a kebab, a Taishan kebab, as it appears. Oh, yeah. Oh, no. It is a delicacy in some parts of Avantras. Dragonborn and Elder Brain. Dragonbonbongood.

That's a turn. And I'm restrained. Can I do anything to get out of it or would that be an action? Yeah, it's a classic grapple. The DC is much lower because it's based on its strength. I use my action on it, so I'll just heal. So it's, I use it at a third level, so I guess it's 3d4? Yeah, it's 3d4.

You heal four. Big money, Max! Good god. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. That's huge. That's massive. Oh, after Impaling Tysha, I just thought of this thing. Why are you trying to turn yourself into Dracoyaki? My point. Okay, I'll allow it. That's canon now. Singular tadpole. A singular tadpole crawling up very slowly, your near escape.

And I will now roll. He won't be able to feel that. What's your AC? My AC is 16. Do you have a very strange sensation as you are looking forward, you are

summoning this lightning that's happening. You're watching everyone else race around and you feel a squeezing, a hug of this tendril around you when all of a sudden it's like something in a,

goes out of your ear. It's like almost covered, almost like just that one ear is underwater for a moment. When you feel this invasive feeling of tendrils start to scrape and go into your actual ear hole, and what was this tadpole squeezes and pushes through into your ear, and you realize with a clasp against the side of your face too late,

that this tadpole has entered into your skull. This is so bad. I've made the longest mistake.

- This is really bad. - Your ear and Richie forgot about the worm on the tadpole. - Oh no. - I don't know how we solved that problem. - You even said last round, you were like, oh, with everything going on, I don't even remember it. Like I don't even recognize it. - The sound comes rushing back to your ear and suddenly you can hear the screams of your friends, the sound of the cacophony around you, the battle. But for that brief moment, a painful, sharp piercing feeling,

gone where whatever it was corrupt crept up your back as and is now somewhere inside of your head i don't like that it's a good thing you guys killed the rest i mean it's really disgusting very quickly how do you what a nightmare uh do you have a restoration um scrim uh i'm grappled by the brain um but am i still within stabbing distance he hasn't moved me

I would say, I've been, have you been using your reach to attack? I mean, I have the reach, but it doesn't, I haven't been using it. You're held right next to it. You'd be able to swing forward and get it with the edge of your blade. This is still affected by fairy fire. Yes, yes it is. I'm making two more attacks. Please do. But my attacks are disadvantage. So it's just straight. So it's straight up. I'll just roll two dice. This time it's in the four. Just like that.

They're both gonna hit, but I didn't get any crits. The lowest one is a 21 to hit. That hits? Wow. All right. Wow, those were both-- Wait, is Faerie Fire still on? But I'm just abandoning it. Oh. So I'll just make two attacks. Skill check attack, roll saving throws. Yeah, okay. That's pretty good. That's gonna be eight plus three plus five. Eight plus three plus five is 17.

60. 60. Did that sound like money from Aba? Yes. Yes. Whoa. 29 total points of damage per team to attacks. Oh, wow. So that's... Yeah! Oh, wow. Okay. So Simroth joined Aba. He's starting to look rough.

You're slashing into him and slaps are starting to hang down from what face there is of the Elder Brain. You can see the damage being done by all of your companion. The ripples of brain matter being what they are feel like rivers going down a mountain filled with blood gushing down and spilling into the green, bright neon green of this brine pool and creating upside down clouds almost as they splash and drip.

That's my whole turn. I'm just stabbing the shit out of this thing. I will... Do animals have a similar thing? Tychen, your action roll lashes out at you. At me? At you, that's right. And it's not even going to come close. You manage to dodge out of the way. Your wit's now about you as you are injured by Barnabas's attack and the strange impulse that suddenly came over you.

- There's, we established there's no sun out, right? - There's no sun. - Okay, okay. - It is daytime, but it is the equivalent of overcast and you are, if you had gotten high enough above the clouds, certainly there would be sun above because it is that time of day, high noon, let's say, but it is now descending now and you are watching the front of the ship snow, flurrying forward as you are heading what presumably back towards Ogerton.

To quote the legendary Captain Brizzy the Cutlass Crash, I think he means get fucked. We'll stand it. We'll stand it. Yeah. He just used slightly more words. Um...

I look towards Sopholith and I pull my right fist back and right at the knuckles, an orb of flame pools together, wrapped in wind and force.

and I pull it back and say, "We gave you so many chances, and now you can never go home." And as I'm about to strike out with an elemental burst, and I say, "You can never go home," I get,

flashes of who he was before Sawfleet. I get flashes of what they did to him, flashes of maybe the millennia of time from where he was, where he is now, and I think of home. And as the red hot flame burns at my fist, when I would normally punch it out, I slowly extend, it turns gold. And...

the head of a serpentine dragon forms. As it extends out from my fist, it moves slowly towards him, jaws open, and I cast Banishment. - Oh! Oh! - It's like Chang-Wu-Fei. - Oh, it is like Chang-Wu-Fei! From the 1994 series, Gundam Wind! Oh! - You caused Derek a think.

Which is a charisma save. Honor and battles, and I will defeat you! And battles! Holy shit. What are the implications of this? Is a charisma save 15? Should you decide to do so? He's a resistance lock save. Should he decide to do so? He's the almighty Derek, okay. If the target is native to a different plane of existence than the one we are on...

It is banished and returns to its home plane. His wisdom saving throw is plus eight. Well, it's charisma. Oh, it's charisma. It's plus four. He rolled a five. I'm going to use a twist of dread. It's a lot of fun, right? It's just a dread. Oh!

It's another five. It's fate. I'm going to ignore this. You are all desperate in these final motions. What is clearly the... Actually, you know what? Wow. I have things to say.

- Manchester. - You are all speeding towards victory, feeling on the edge of, and despite all that's happening around you, all of the crushing psychic damage that you're taking, these tendrils grappling onto you, the experience that you just had,

Yorneir, as something alien entered your mind. You are all hurting and you watch as Taishan's energy punches forward and it consumes Sophileth. How would you like to do this?

I, instead of punching it out with my fist, I'd like to slowly extend it and open to an open palm as the dragon rushes forth from it. Its jaws unfurl as it swirls around, loops up, and then crashes its, closes its maw around Sopholith, and it would explode into gold flame and...

he would be banished to his home plane. - Nothing but sparkling. What was sort of yellow pollen glow from Queenie's fairy fire, the disgusting acre that was dripping down. There is no moment of dropping where it splashes into the brine dramatically and then drops. Instead, this maw captures and passes almost through Sophlin and blinking for a moment, looking through this golden light, you realize,

Sopholith is gone. The reverberating sound in your mind, this speech that bubbled up from the surface of your memories is gone instantly. There's not even a pop or a satisfying vacuum sound of something suddenly not being there or not. Whatever Taishan has done has instead taken Sopholith away. I have so many thoughts.

Oh my god. Oh, he learned from the best! Yeah! Oh, let me shake your hands! Ah!

The three of you who are grappled drop to the floor, really, crunching into the ground, and you suddenly land, and all is quiet. The spells, any confusion or dazedness in your mind also leaves with Sophilus, the Elder Brain, going to some other world, some other place, some impossible place, and you can see Ket turn

What has happened? What has happened? This is some kind of trick. Where did he go? What did you do to kill him? Is it destroyed? No. I sent him home, separated from the ship. I sent him back from where he was made. You did what? I banished him from this plane. What does that mean? Is it still alive? Is it going to die? I mean, he was in pretty rough shape. We were so close.

You have lost the victory! Is it not destroyed? That's not how it works? Can it survive out of the vat? I don't know. I don't know. I just... I was ready to strike him down and I just kept thinking of everything he'd been through. I couldn't stop. I could see it in my head the moment when they changed him, when he had no choice. When they took everything there was from him like they did to your family, Ket.

And I sent him home. I-I-I mean, what happens next? Can-can it just come back? I-I mean... Yes, it'll be back, yes?

I've never cast this spell before. It's new to me. I don't know. I've never... You've never done this before? And you chose now to test out something like that? I've never done a lot of things before. Oh, Tai Shen, of all the boneheaded shit you've pulled in the last three months... I'm going to say it looked dead to me. It was consumed in Golden Dragon's fire...

And I don't think he can survive that, right, Mr. Fireblossom? If he dies, he deserves to die at home, not on a distant land filled with ice and death and horror. It deserves nothing.

Oh, I can't believe what I'm hearing. I can't believe this. Come on. All right. Come on, give us some rune action here. Tell us. Wheeler wall, give us something. Come on. No, it's going to happen. No. You feel? And you feel this shifting feeling under your feet. And it's turning. There's a...

that's starting to get louder and louder all around you. And... This ship has no pilot. Don't you understand? Don't you understand? We're in free fall! Can you pilot it? Aren't you a special mind powers guy? There's no controls here. There's no way for me to control the ship. So this is it? This is how we all die? What was your plan? No, we're not dying here. To die? No!

Your plan was to die? To get vengeance on my people? To avenge my son? The... the... the orthocon! The what? Excuse me, come again? The orthocon in... in... in... in... the... the... the... the... the bottom... the lowest level! They ship the escape pod! The escape pods... Can you fly those? Fly, yes. Land, no.

Let us go right away! Can we just let this ship crash into the ground or are we hurtling towards everyone? You have to see you mate!

Mr. Fireblossom? I live to the end of the day! Any hope of that? You certainly sent that out the fucking window! We are going to have a long discussion about who deserves to die where and fucking how. While Barnabas is yelling at Taishan, you just hear Scrim's feet running for the biscuit pot. I fucking take off. You race forward and there they go. Drop, because you... My apologies. There's a sealed door behind you.

- So you actually hear bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang as I'm like trying to bang on the door. - You start to do this and you realize whatever had been sealing that, it's going to take some effort to move out of the way. - Out of my way, Scrim. I'm literally gonna smack you out of the way.

God damn it! As I will put both of my hands and then all of the crab legs, this is for flavor, all of my crab legs will then start to shift as my legs will reform as they'll shift up to my back and then they'll all go in and I'm just gonna just, I will not let a door be the death of me, not this day! You carry an anchor as a weapon. You're not even gonna need to roll for it. You slide them apart and you all see a,

going down the same ladder that you ascended the bridge, going down to the next lowest floor. You start to make your way down there. It is starting to, you can hear the sound all around you reverberate and the turbulence is terrible. I need everyone to tell me how they are getting to the lowest floor to the Orthocone as quickly as possible.

Is the ship doing this? It feels like it's doing a little of, let me just see if I can do this. This? Like it is starting to go down, but it's not going down like this. It is going down like a helicopter. Like a helicopter crashing. Like a helicopter crashing. Perfect. Anachronism, yes.

Barnabas, you've got these crab legs, certainly. How are you making your way? What do you do to get down to the Orthocone as quickly as possible? I would say, who is weak and who needs a hand? Grab onto me. We'll scuttle on down as quickly as possible. And I'll obviously call out to grab whoever's looking weak and needs help to basically just grab them and drag them down as I'm scuttling. I'll then... I'll use another...

basically going back to my legs and just, or actually no, just from my back because I'm just going as quickly as possible and scuttling down and taking whoever I can along the walls, whatever I can do, trying to remember exactly where it was. - Ket is well ahead of you. He is actually able to, and he had not been using this ability, but step

You see him shift and blast forward and then run another couple steps and then start to do a flip and then disappear down a ladder and land safely and make his way. He's very graceful in these movements. Taishan, how are you keeping up? I would go with Barnabas if he'll have me. I'd jump onto his back or whatever, wherever the crab legs are. Are they off your back right now? Yeah, either that or I will just say...

We can have a conversation! I was gonna drag you by the scruff. So you're actually with Barnabas. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We can have whatever conversation you'd like once we make it out of this. I said until all my enemies were destroyed, Taishan, what did you not understand? I cast Throbbing Bones on Barnabas. Oh, I cross my legs, ooh! I'll have to grab like so. Oh no. Oh no.

No, I'm kidding, I don't do that. I am dexterous, I'm very dexterous, I'm quick. I'm small and I'm quick, and I have no problem sliding down the shipmatch from the bucket, and I have no problem doing those things. So I am just moving as quick as I can wherever there was like a railing or wherever there's a ladder,

I don't climb down it, I do like to slide down the sides of the ladder. I slide down a pole here or there. I take risky jumps when possible, even if I might take a pointer damage to you here, and I am just scrambling. So I'll say acrobatics or athletics. Acrobatics or athletics for you, Mikey. How are you contributing? Maybe to just, oof. As he's focusing on running, I'll be like, on his shoulders, like on the lookout, "Ah, look, I'm falling debris!"

So wisdom, perception. Yoneer, how are you endeavoring to get down to the Earth of Conan? As everyone has mostly left. Who's still with me? Who's still there? Right now, you've already watched them go like 60, 100 feet down into the bowels of the ship. Only Queenie and you are catching up with them. I'll turn to Queenie and I'll say, I will not die a host.

I've become a host to a parasite. You should go. Do not wait for me. If I make it, I will join you. And I would like to wait for Queenie to leave, and then just, you can come back to me. I'm not gonna leave you. I can get out of here quick as I can if something were to happen. Family doesn't leave family behind. Then take a step back.

and I'm going to crack my staff on the ground and a lightning bolt from the storm that's still there will strike me. I'm gonna try to like jump out of the way and take half damage if possible. Like, you know, in a mechanical sense, but I would like to try to electrocute myself and hopefully kill the parasite in my brain. Okay. So you take a moment to do this. Great idea. Great idea.

You know what? No? He rolls max damage. No, I think it's fate. I think it's fate. I fail. I'm going to take full damage. Oh. It's more dramatic. I am so glad that you thought of this. Okay, I rolled lower than my other two. Your other two were bangers. This was still a good amount of damage. 16 points of lightning damage I will take. Ooh.

You do what you can to silence the pain within you, but you feel the frying nature of this lightning course through all of the nerves in your system. And, uh... Queenie, you witness this terrible, uh... vision of Yornir. Somehow, the...

small amount of whispering pain that comes from his mouth is more horrible than many screams you've heard because of how stonic he typically is. Yornir, you are hurt. You've had this terrible experience of fighting Sotholith. You've gone through so much psychic damage, and I need you to make a perception check. Let's get a good one here. This is going to be such a tasty, you don't know if it works. Ah!

What is it? That whole fucking clutter. Well done. Before I could even finish my thought, you just cracked it out. You feel inside for a moment. You almost get into a meditative state. It doesn't seem like there's anything inside you. Let's fucking go. As I'm getting shocked, I sort of fall to one knee, holding onto my staff. And I'll feel that it's not there. I will not move away from him. No. He had said.

I will reach out and I would like to use my ranger abilities to sense whether there is something inside of him that he's missing. Because I should be able to do their operations, right? Yep. And so I should be able to tell if there are operations inside of him. And then depending on... Do you reach out with your ranger senses and you remember the first time you had the...

sense of aberrations and it didn't make sense at the time. You were just an Ogerton. You were trying to figure out exactly what was going on and that didn't make sense to you. Now you know exactly. It was the presence of these mind flayers, the presence of the elder brain sopholith and perhaps even the presence of these tadpoles. And you can look over and see this empty skull filled with now duller green brine and you even see that there are

more tadpoles that are starting to crawl out and starting to make their way. Don't even think about it. I don't have time for you. And you get the sense that there are aberrations nearby. I'll just look at Queenie as I stand up. You know it may still be in there, right? Well, if it is, I know what to do. No, you don't. Don't go on martyr on me. We'll fix this. And you know we will.

Trust in us, alright? I'll nod slowly. And I'm gonna cast Cure Wounds at a second level. Oh, that's nice. You feel the hand, the soft, small hand of Queenie touch your shoulder or elbow, and this magic brings you hope, brings you healing, and brings you a renewed will to see if she is right.

Let's go. 16. Thank you. I'm imagining the entire time. As this is happening, we find our way to the bottom, the lowest level of this nonaloid ship, and you already see in the first and frontmost seat, Ket Rasteen sitting there, and she is...

furious, concentrating, wiping tears from his eyes, but clearly flipping switches, essentially, attempting to get and ready the escape pod for what it's worth. And behind, there are five seats. The three of you can find immediately and easily, but looking back behind you, for a moment, there doesn't appear to be Yornie or Queenie. That was the first thing that I would notice is once I hit the door and I look to the other two, I look over my shoulder and say, where the fuck are the other two?!

Weren't they right behind us? I thought so. Thought so too. Fuck! We have to get in. There's no time. We are flying at who knows what speed we're gonna hit at any moment. We're not leaving them. We have to wait. I'll scuttle off and just make sure that they're coming. I will give you 10, 20 seconds and then I will be on my way.

I, as you, as Ket says this, I, like holding an elevator door with my body, I will step between the ship and the escape pod with the door to my back and lean against it. Like I'm holding an elevator door with my body. - This is this long, like toboggan-like sled almost, right? And then there's the, what is clearly the rear bottom layer. You're leaning up against that door with the orthocone and the door between you? - Yep.

Thank you for just clarifying those details. - And I just look at him and I'm like, go Bonobos. - 20 seconds. - If I, and as I'm scuttling off, if I was gonna stay behind, if I had the chance to save those cowards and cutthroats on the Moorbound, I'm not gonna leave behind Miss March and Mr. Yorn here. And I will try to basically go in the direction and I'll bellow out, Miss March, Mr. Yorn!

And I would say at this point, both of you have started making your way down and are probably passing through the floor where the organ is. Just one more ladder. You hear the shouting scream over the increasingly hectic sound of the sound of the ship and the storm all around you. How do you respond? Before we start to leave, I would look up and acknowledging what Queenie said.

I say, I will do so, but know that I will not die to enable the metamorphosis of something so unnatural, such an abomination. And I'll hear Barnabas, but for the sake of the others, should go with rabbit's haste.

and I will transform in a glow into a little white arctic hare and I'll look up and I will leap and start How much did your arctic hare weigh? Oh, nothing. I will see this and I'll immediately whistle out Alright bees,

do your best. And they're going to turn into their mage hands, scoop us both up and fly us. Oh, I mean, it would be, uh, you're cruising faster than anyone else. Yeah. And so very easily, uh, uh, you guys ride. It's like those fucking chairs in the movie. Um, uh, I want them to take the shape of a honey pot and we're just like sitting in the honey pot.

- It's like in Wall-E, those fucking chairs. Like all of a sudden you just have like picked up by this huge hand that flies you through the different corridors and that's what you see as Yornir and, or rather Queenie and a bunny. - And I just, I have Yornir on my lap. - Yeah, suddenly fly past the ladder and it emerges to you and you all three see this vision. - By the lady.

Thank her and her infinite wisdom for dragon kind and for be kind. It's good to see you. Don't tell me you've lost your air legs. Ha ha ha ha! Hot touch of vape! Get in, get in, get in, get in, get in! I just calmed down.

And as I get in, the legs will sloop into my body. I'll grab my shell in one hand and my flask in another, and I'll say, my lover, my lover, my sea and my sky,

See us through this and you'll see her as the familiar large manta ray wings will grow out of my back and wrap around me as I sit into the pod. Danny, y'all have the ability to amplify voice. Not me. Oh, I just got these lungs. Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on.

I would like to buckle up while they're looking. Yes, you do find what it could really be like a buckle. You see Ket Taishan, you see the back of his head, you're about one seat behind, and you see him look forward, and the pods that you initially passed when you were

first going through this level of the ship, you can see that he was true to his word, that there are mind flayers all pushed up against the glass, having been suffocated therein, having him sabotage all of them, including the one he indicated to be his son, and his eyes lock onto that, and you hear words in a language you do not understand whispered in apology. The words don't matter, but you feel the...

behind them. And then a hand reaches down his hand and pulls a lever and the back of the ship pulls away where all of a sudden there was a hole. There isn't because there is a opening. The, the, the back flies open and all of a sudden snow and flurrying, uh,

fly into this open space and you disappear through and out of the, off of the ship. And you are flying in no space at all. You can see the ship almost disappear. You can still keep your eyes on it, but for a moment, you're just spinning around your own self and feeling the control, the turbulence as, as Katristeen tries to do right, tries to get, to get close. And for a moment he does,

And you see the side of the mountain immediately start to approach. And he tries to up it, but it is a ship designed as an escape pod in the Astral Sea, not designed for this atmosphere. And you bounce against the side of the mountainside. You each take, and I need you to roll for yourself and subtract 1d6 bludgeoning damage. As you skip across the side of a rock and smash into the space, you continue to fly up. And for a moment, you were like a...

skipping stone on the surface of a water before all of a sudden you see a flat outcropping just on the side of the mountain and you slam into it, spinning in all directions before crashing again. I needed to take another 2d6 bludgeoning damage as you slam into the side of the wall, coming to a harsh and brutal stop. Only the sound of the storm surrounds you for but a moment.

but you are not on a ship that is going down. You are no longer flying in this escape pod experience, having for a moment only the panic and terror of not being in control of this free fall. And as much as your heart is beating in your chest, you are alive, it seems. Barely. What do you all do? I think I broke a rib! Ah!

Sound off! Is anybody dead? On the first hit, you would have heard a... And I'd shift back in a glow into your ear, and I'm probably all like... It's like in Dunmora when you kill a rabbit. And I would shift back forcefully, and I will sort of brush myself off and get up.

And I'll look around and I guess, I'm guessing, do I find Taishan unconscious? Yeah. You do. Okay.

Ket jumps out of the seat and jumps over to the edge of the cliff and races forward and his eyes are locked on what is clearly still the falling nautiloid ship beginning to dip down. And you can see for the first time since you, for some time, and since you left it, you can see the city of Ogerton just below it. Yorner, can you handle him?

I'll nod. Ken, do these things have any kind of loudspeaker or anything at all on them? Do you know? This is not... No, no, no, no. I know for a fact this is not the way. I will reach down and I will put my hand on the side of Taishen's face and it'll sort of glow with the warmth of a campfire as I cast Cure Wounds, giving you some amount of hit points and I'll turn.

I can summon the noise of a great beast, but that is the most I can do. Do that for me. Right now. Uh...

I will get up, finishing a healing you for some amount of damage, so you're fine. You take three plus five. You take eight damage. No, you take eight damage. Oh, God! It's a crit. That's two failed saves. How do I get out of this?

Just give yourself healing and it'll automatically get you out. Eight points. Ket didn't look when you asked. He answered factually, but his eyes are locked on the ship in not reverence and fear almost, but just trying to drink it in. Drink in the sight.

Is this your city here? I will say, I will immediately, from my mouth, it will sort of, I'll purse my lips, and almost like magically, you will see, almost like a spectral, for an instant, sort of glimmer the shape of a mammoth. As I go...

Let's fucking go. And I will, as loudly as I can, and as loud as a full blast mammoth cry would be,

I will shout that into the winter air. The sound reverberates. I will command my bees to create a funnel around my mouth in the hopes that it will amplify my voice at least a little bit, and Queenie will call out, Princess Arath, you are supposed to protect this place, and that is all of the people of Jakar. If you are out there, help them.

You shout into the storm. You shout the mammoth scream. You are only just coming to Taishan. Barnabas, Scrim, you are both watching, and Kett is watching the same as this non-alloyed ship continues to go down, and the sound rumbles and reverberates across the side of the cliff, across the side of this mountain, enough to actually dislodge Barnabas.

whatever ice was underneath the orthocone and it actually crumbles and falls to the side. You're only able to just pull yourself onto the ice and you watch as the spinning nautiloid ship, the dominant mind, mindlessly descends and spins through the torrenting snow. The front of the ship disappears through the veil first.

and then followed by the enormous shell-like back you brace yourself for what you know will happen next. The nautiloid ship crashes into Ogerton, and the charged propulsion helm explodes, destroying everything. For a brief moment, the instant the ship detonates, you see that city in its last moment before being consumed by an expanding dome of light and fire and smoke.

The illusory shield hiding the city vanishes the instant the ship detonates and the city is consumed by an expanding dome of fire. Everything is annihilated within this radius and even beyond the farms and sheds and villas, they are heavily damaged by the concussive force as it dissipates. The city crumbles and shatters and slides like a landslide inferno into the crevasse below. Mechanically speaking...

Let's do some quick napkin math to try and comprehend this level of destruction in D&D terms. According to the basic rules, a stick of dynamite is one pound and does 3d6 bludgeoning damage to anything within five feet. The radius of this explosion expands by five feet for each additional stick of dynamite doing an additional 1d6 bludgeoning damage.

A 4 mile radius is 21,120 feet. If we ignore the maximum radius described by the basic rules for a moment, we can calculate that it would take 4,224 sticks of dynamite to impact a 4 mile radius doing 4,226 D6 bludgeoning damage, an average of 16,904. But that is only 4,224 pounds of dynamite. Explosions like this.

are measured in TNT equivalents. The approximate energy released by the detonation of a metric ton or 1,000 kilograms of TNT. So to cover a four mile radius would be the approximate equivalent of about 1.91 metric tons of TNT. Let's call it two.

That's extremely low. The TNT equivalent in the real world to destroy a four mile radius area is more like 15,000 metric tons of TNT, not two. Put another way, this explosion should really be more in the neighborhood of 33,188,482 D6 bludgeoning damage.

All of that is but a vague reflection of what it feels like to be there now. None of you think in those terms. Numbers and equivalents and weights and averages mean nothing to you as you witness the total destruction of Ogerton. The sight and the sound of the falling ship is momentarily concealed. For just a handful of seconds, there's only the sound of your breathing and heart

pumpening in your ears. The mountain trembles and shakes beneath you and you see the last image of Ogerton before it is devoured by the dome of terrible light. You shield your eyes, hide yourself beneath your hands not knowing whether you too will be consumed by the catastrophic force rushing towards you that is enveloping the valley. There is a deafening crash of sound and warmth as the blast reaches you and for a time all is chaos and sound and darkness around you. Blinking

You find yourself unscathed, far enough away from the blast to survive. Only the sound of crumbling rocks reaches you now, as what remains of Ogerton finishes its sinking journey into the depths of the crevasse beneath the waterfall. Stunned and yet still alive, you slowly come to your senses. The others will be okay.

The others? The others? Oh, yeah. There's other people other than us. Okay, another sound off. Is anyone dead? Anyone of us dead? We all make it? No. Cast aside. That brain was willing to do that to all those souls, innocent and otherwise. They were just cattle to it.

and they... he slaughtered them like cattle. It is done. The Mark of Sothelit has been purged by fire. Is there, like, a mega crater?

like looking down on where Overton was. Like a meteor struck, and now it is crushed, and you can't tell the difference between debris and fragmented rock and what would have been painted stone or wood or structures. Instead, it all is like a landslide sinked down. It seems to come to rest directly into the waterfall, and it's now then being covered by its watery tongue. Oh.

I mean, the landscape has to be... Mr. Fireblow. Changed forever. That's gonna be there for millions of years. On your feet, lad. Thank you. I can't believe we made it out of there. This fate, Scrim, we were led here to end all of it. Fate has seen it done. To understand it was fate that the abominable scar upon the land

was wiped out in seconds. And all those ogres wiped out too. Yes. There's no different than their fate before their end. That's where we do agree, Mr. Yorneir, that an instantaneous fiery death is better than living as cattle. But we had a chance to put an end to all of it and free all those people. We did put an end to all of it.

We had a chance to claim their freedom back, in whatever form that may take. At least let them try to survive in their own ways. But it was not for us to decide their fate. Were we the ones that put them into this situation? Were we the ones that elevated their intelligence? This is a tragic loss of life, yes, but do not feel ill about it if you can. What about the young lady? Is she all right? Is she far enough away?

The blast pushed the clouds away. You are all looking up at blue sky, a ring of it. So powerful was the concussive force of this explosion that though there are some snowflakes falling down, you, exactly right, you can see that it's going to take a while for the snowstorm to re-encroach above Ogerton. And you're watching as sunlight falls

sprays down the brilliant rays towards what was once its site. And you can see through no snow at all with much greater visibility that they're the villas.

were not consumed by the explosion. They were beyond the perimeter of this blast. And you all remember that Daisy and the family Blaginius and the rest of the vassals of that house had journeyed beyond the perimeter of the illusory wall that had protected this place for so long.

into the forest. And if you made your way down from the mountain, you might be able to start making your way east towards Ogerton and north towards that same forest that you shielded them in. She's got to be okay. I mean, it's got to be plenty of distance, right? I mean, I'd only just be worried about her with the ogres. But she's clever and quick and resourceful. So surely she'll have gotten away. There's no chance they went back to try and free more.

Um, I certainly hope not. It is unlikely. There's nothing left, lad. I mean, before the ship crashed. And if she did, that would have been her choice. Would have been all of their choices. Because that's what we gave them. The freedom to choose. Exactly right, Miss March. Just like we chose to fight, knowing that our lives could end at any moment. They now have the freedom to choose. You're nearer.

And I'm going to reach out. And now being four miles or so away from that ship and those entities, I want to see if I can sense any aberrations. You push in with your mind. You feel the presence of aberrations. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. And it's in this moment that you hear this voice.

wail, this cry, this scream at the bright sky, at the heavens, at the clouds, and the sound of clanging metal as Kett drops his sword to his side and yells in sadness and frustration,

screams this unearthly scream until there's no more breath in his lungs and then breathes in and you can hear this release of grief and anger come from him and he falls down. Does anyone want to check on him? Because I certainly do not. I'll go do it. Thank you.

And I will walk over to Kat, and I will kneel down in front of him and lift his chin up with my little hair-and-gum finger. You gonna be all right, Kat? No. I will never be all right. You have your laugh. I have nothing. Nothing. I have lost my son. I've lost my...

My mother and my father again. I have lost my brothers and my sisters again. I have lost those who I called "co-allies" in untold battles and war. I have lost my vice again. I have lost all of it again. I have lost the chance to avenge any of them. I have lost... and for what reason?

To give him another chance? A chance to do it all again? See? Look at this! Look at this sight! You! I blame you! You fool! Kit, what did your son look like? What made him smile? What was his favorite thing to do when he was just spending time with you? What did it smell like? Can you remember those things? Of course.

Of course I can remember. Then your son is not lost. I'll put my hand on his heart. Because he lives right here. And while you still live, and while you still breathe, part of all of those you lost walk with you. And I'll put his hand on my heart. Because I've lost those I love too. And I will be unrelenting in my walk forward, knowing that every step I take, they walk by my side. Today may not be your day for vengeance.

His face softens. Biting, hissing words, you could feel welling up in him for Kaishen.

is put aside by the love he has for his son. And though he... You get a sense that he can't articulate himself in this moment. You get a sense of gratitude as tears roll down his face and freeze against his armor. He puts his hand on the hilt of the blade that lies next to him and slowly stands still.

then just looks out in quiet contemplation. I will put my hand on his shoulder, give it a little squeeze as he stands up. But knowing that he needs some time in his own thoughts, I will make my way back towards my friend. Let's give him some time. He'll be all right. He's a tough one. And don't take what he said to heart.

That was some pretty crazy shit, though. Holy crap, man. I mean, I don't know what you were thinking, but that was impressive, to say the least. I haven't, since the ship crashed and the 38 million megaton TNT explosion that pierced the heavens went off and leveled Ogerton, I haven't looked away from the crater. Jukar...

is a land of blood and death. And for a moment, I thought I could introduce something I hadn't seen in, I don't know, maybe ever, mercy. And this is what it brought. - Well, you know, you know what they say about the road paved to the nine hells, right? Good intentions.

But hey, look, you know, we hacked that thing up pretty good. So, you know, maybe you showed it back home. It got a little, oh, this is nice. And then gone. No, all we can do is pray that it's dead. Because if it continues its machinations, it's not like you and me and all of us mortals. It may not come around in our lifetime, but perhaps it'll come back again.

filled with even more revenge than our new friend. And then what terrors would unleash when it's already been defeated once. The bitterness, the hatred. If our friend here was consumed by vengeance, you've seen what it's done to him. I know what vengeance feels like. It's an all-consuming abyss, a beast of endless hunger.

It grows and it grows and it grows and whatever you do, it's never enough to fill it. It's like the drink. It grows the abyss. And I've achieved my vengeance. That's something that Mr. Steen doesn't know and Sophilith doesn't know. It's when you finally achieve that vengeance, it doesn't fill the hole. That hunger is still there. The black void is still there. I've seen lots of deep abysses. It's more terrible than any of them that I've dove in, fought monsters in.

and it leads men to do terrible things. What would it lead something like that, something that did that, to do? If there's any chance that what you did gave it that chance, we'll be 21 here on Avantris and encounters it when it does return. Tashin, do you regret what you've done, or do you feel like you made the right choice for you? I think the only thing we know is that

We don't know anything. I don't know if I made the right choice. We don't know where I sent it. I don't know how it will react when it gets there. I don't know if it will feel warmth, if it will feel saved, if it will feel angered, if it will feel betrayed, if it will feel stolen from. Or if it will even live. Or if it will live. We walked into that lair originally

To kill it, yes. To bring these creatures a choice, but we didn't bring them a choice. We brought only death. If we had joined Sotholith, we would be in space. Or wherever we've been. Astral Sea. Same thing. Sotholith would have turned us, turned us into more of his thralls. Like the ones that you fought that controlled us.

whatever this city was before sopholith lives the only way to destroy an elder brain is to do it you understand showing it mercy you have doomed others another group of people unfortunate enough to encounter it somewhere in an impossibly large sea that we call the astral sea there

Sophilus will continue to do evil. You are really not sugarcoating this, all right? Let's take a step back here and relax. Take a deep breath. Unless where he sent it, there are others like us. Others like us that are capable of doing what we could not. Let us not be ignorant enough to think we know all the thread that fate has woven. We walk but one path, and this is the one that we have chosen. Tashen.

Do not linger on this choice, for it was the one that you made. And however the outcome is, I will always stand by your side. Like I said to Yornir, we are family. The fate of other worlds does not concern us. He speaks! We are pilgrims guided by the land itself. Taishen, do not feel an ounce of guilt for what you did, for it was Dracar herself that placed you in this group.

of pilgrims on that vessel guided your hand to do what you did so that the stain of corruption the unnatural parasite could be burned away this was her will and do not for a second doubt it and i'll put a hand on one of your shoulders i'll put my hand on the other i think this is a load of shit but it seems that i am a pilgrim now too

I've nowhere to go. Where should we go? We'll get through to you eventually. You'll learn to like it. The rest of them did. Did you hear what I said about revenge? Don't make me repeat my speech, please. Oh, no, no, no. I heard it. Good. I am a knight of my people who has been unable to accomplish this task of defeating Sophelit, and I will have to learn to live with this.

Perhaps. I don't want to continue to pile on you, Mr. Fireblossom. And your wisdom is well stated, Miss March, Mr. Yornir. But I do disagree that it was her will. I cannot fathom that whatever this thing is that's called us here would believe in the concept of mercy. Much less for something like that. Does the land care about mercy?

Does the land feel for mercy? Do I speak of mercy to the brain? No. As Cat said, perhaps the survival of Sophil if he does live will lead to destruction, enslavement of four of Cat's people. It's not mercy at all that the land wrought this day. It was a cleansing. It is in the nature of the land itself to wish to be just that.

That's right. All right. You're right, Mr. Yorneir. No one would know the spirit of the land better than you, and the lady knows. Gods know that I am out of my element here. Not just so far from the sea, but so high up in the air, far from the embrace of my lover. There was a tribe from where I'm from in the wood that I visited many years ago. Helped them through a particularly hard winter.

They lived around the base of a volcano because they worshipped what they believed was a great fire god that lived inside. I did not look down upon their worship of such a god, but they believed that their worship and praise and sacrifices of beasts of their own would keep the fire at bay. When I felt the land

Start to show signs that the volcano was indeed a volcano. They did not listen. So I moved on and as volcanoes do, it erupted. And it killed them all. Our wishes, our wants, our desires, our senses of justice or mercy, all are irrelevant to the land. And so what you have did is just one more... Done. Peace.

of the truth that we are her pilgrims, and that this is the way forward. Aye. Nowhere to go but forward. Just keep moving. Nowhere to go but down, I think. And you see Ket jump down to the next lowest ledge, and taking perhaps a few more moments to talk amongst yourselves, you start to

make the slow progress of steadily coming down the side of the cliff of this mountain to a place where you can eventually reach the ground. The crevasse that Ogerton sank into is well, well, well to the east. You're able to reach the land and it curls off and you are able to start to walk, walk across the snowy plains before you

reach what would have been the edge of that dome, reach the site of what was Ogerton.

It takes you a few hours to cross the distance, making your way down from this nameless mountain, making your way to the perimeter of the blast, all walking, sometimes in silence, sometimes sharing moments. You're dazed. You're not confused, and you're not dazed in the psionic sense, but you are...

hollowed out from the experience of going in and endeavoring to save the people of Ogerton, to save the ogres, the family Blaginius that you are familiar with.

And turning, you walk past the fragmented stones and charred rubble, the ground itself seeming to have been burned by whatever this energy was that was contained within the propulsion system that had exploded. And Ket is extremely silent during this time.

eventually you turn north and you start to make your way back towards the site, towards the tree line, towards the place that you know if you were to go. But another four or five miles you would be able to reach where Daisy and the others that you had warned to get out of the city might be. But you do not have to cross into this tree line. Instead you are met by a

a caravan of sorts. You are met by a sight, a sight of these wagons being pulled down and towards the city. You are met by the sight of many what once were vassals. You are met by the sight of polar bears pulling perhaps a little bit more

primal than they had been under the influence of the psionic blasts of intelligence growth that Ogerton had provided them. But still willing enough for now to pull these wagons into space. And at the head, you see Daisy there. And she's looking out at the still-smoking rubble of the destroyed city. And then she spies you. And you see her shocked,

and thrilled to see all five of you alive.

Having heard, presumably, the blast and having led everyone here, and she races forward. As soon as we see her, we make eye contact and we have that exchange. I would like take my hat off and be like, hey, hey, oh my gods, you're alive. Thank you. Oh, we did it. Well, we did something. We did something. You're okay. You're good. We're good. Everybody's good. We did it. We're all right. Look at you.

What happened? Oh. Where do you want to start? How much time you got? We heard the sound. Was that... Was that crash this? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that was us. Mostly Taishen, but that was us. Sopholith had a ship beneath the ice. And it used to travel the skyways and lands beyond. And we dealt with him. And it crashed.

All destroyed? Everything. Many of the rest of us are here, having come from your words of warning. Many, many like me survived. We'll thank the sea. Silver linings. There you go. Chin up, Daishen. We gave them the right to choose, at the very least. What happened?

A ship that can fly, you say? I've never seen anything like it. It was like a giant creature, almost, of its own self. And when we confronted Sophileth, he announced the ship had been repaired days prior. It whirred to life and soared through the air like it was cutting through waves. While you were on it? While we were inside of it. Amazing.

I have no words. I don't recommend it. Any ship, snow on the sea, yeah. Hopefully you never get to see that. Oh yeah, it was an abject nightmare. It was crazy. Absolutely crazy. Who is this? And she points to Ket Rostein. I guess he's with us or something. He was on the ship. He helped us out.

Looks very different. He's our new friend. He, like many here, has recently lost his family. He'll need the tribe, like you all here are building now. The ogres got a little weird. A little. Like, or a lot. Because we were pretty sure that they were going to, like, change. They did change a lot. Oh, boy.

And she points and you can see all of a sudden one of the doors swings wide from the side of the wagon and out comes what is clearly Manius Blaginius. Friends! Hello! Friends! Hello!

Oh, no, he's flowers for Algernon-ing us. I don't think I can take this. Mattius, you made it. That's good to see you're in all right shape. Strong. Feel good. That's what matters. City, gone. Oi, it's all gone. I can't even talk to him. This is going to make me too upset. It's...

It's alright, though. You were made for this climate in the ways that we weren't. You're a natural survivor. You even survived that. Yes. Strong. Strong. Feel good? Feel good. Yeah, this is a lot more like the ogres I've wrestled. God, I can't take this. And your family, are they okay? All good. Strong, yes. Yes. Man, this is...

Uh, manish. Manny. Manny. I like that. Ogre's free? Ogre's free. Aye. Ogre's free. Yeah. Manny. Come, see you.

and the rest of the family, and you notice that there are a few ogres who've joined, who are similarly looking around with perhaps a little bit more stupefication on their face, but taking in the sight of the city in surprisingly good spirits. Do you, Manny, mind if we...

take a look in your things for supplies or anything that you might not need. No. Friend of Manny. Friend of Ogre. Yeah, okay. I'm gonna take a look. I don't want to be here right now, if you don't mind. Did you just ask him if you could steal from him? No, I'm asking if we could take supplies that they're not going to need. Okay, I'm just making sure. You never know with you, Scrim. We're gonna need them. Oh, I know it.

And quite frankly, I don't want to watch this. All right, Mr. Stavis Gatch. I'll be back. Maybe if you can find yourself some alcohol. I'll weigh ahead of you on that front. You start to make your way and you hear what is Manius' son cry out. Papa, look!

And you see all of the ogres follow the direction, the pointing of the young boy. And, son? What? Ancestors. And all of them, the twins, the wife, the, the, the, the, Manny, what was Mannyus, now just man, Manny.

Look, and you can see them all looking up and up and seeing something on the horizon over the site of Ogerton. And they're watching that sort of go up and into the sky. Strength. Son. Ancestors. Yes. Ogres free. Heaven, son. And you turn and you look.

You don't see what spirits had been trapped in the dome, the ones that Yornir encountered, angry, but you can see the eyes of these ogres watching something. There's no doubt in your mind that in this moment they are watching the spirits of those killed in the blast, perhaps, of those consumed by the Illithid, reaching their halls of...

their ancestors. And for a moment you're all frozen in time, standing in silence, looking out at the ruins of a false city. A city of deception and a city of tears. But now a city that has been erased and its evil with it.

Oi, Manny. Ogres free. Ogres free. They are with the Allfather now. We're off to the Fiddler's Green. Either way, they're at peace. Yes. And land still good. We build again. Ogres. A town. Ogre Town. Some things don't change.

Daisy. God, that name is so stupid. Well, I thought it was a little pretentious to pronounce it Ogerton, personally, so at the very least, they're staying humble. And you eventually turn and make your way to find perhaps some brandy or some effects. The rest of you continue to converse with

What may have been a savage race, let's say, whatever Sothlith told you, it could have been true. They may have found a brutal tribe of these ogres and the experience of erasing their memories, crafting this culture, changing them, may have been justified.

You'll never know if it was deception or if it was truth. But these ogres seem pacified and they certainly trust you and the others like Daisy. There's clearly no danger here. I feel a little better. I was about to cry. At least they didn't decide to name the place Holgerton. Son?

And in spite of the destruction in front of them, the ogres are immediately turned to their own devices and socialize and play. And you can see Mylon,

He is actually whipping some of the other, what once were vassals, the other humans, let's say, into shape. And they are finding cattle. They're finding sheep. They're finding pigs who have escaped the perimeter of knocked over fences and stuff. And they're herding them and getting them together, trying to start to immediately repair what has happened.

They're all to work, and what happens next? You are left to decide for yourselves. I will say, after you've said what you said, and getting the sense that they...

are not going to come... It sounds like they're not going to completely lose their intelligence. They've retained a certain level. It doesn't seem like they're going to continue to regress. It feels like they've come to rest, and that it would have happened actually very quickly, probably just after you left, in the same way that the polar bears themselves, that what were more intelligent bears were happily able to pull wagons or perhaps pulling them a little bit more ornery and getting back to their natural intelligence.

levels. Everything is dropping back. And even now, the effects of intelligence, that psionic blasts that was being put out by the orb at the silver ship in the center of the city that was creating that illusory shield, that was benefiting you. You feel a little dumber, too. Eh, what else is new? Just another day that ends in Y. So just to clarify, I do or I do not get the sense that this is going to continue to repress

It stopped. They've reached the level of intelligence. We've got it basically. Yeah, yeah. Okay, knowing that... I'll just tell you that. I'm not going to completely pilfer all their shit. Because I figured if they were going to completely return to, like, wild animals, they wouldn't have any use for it. But it sounds like they will be able to make use of...

Talking to Daisy and getting a sense of them being what they are. They have limited language. They still have their accents, which makes it a little weird. But yeah, you get the sense that this is the level that they've returned to and that they won't go any farther. I'm going to look for booze and load up, but I'm only going to take enough food for us to survive for a couple days. Because we're probably tapped out. I'd have to take a look at what we all have, but I assume we need food. And I would definitely look for some sort of

Something that'll keep for at least a couple days. - Survival in mind, you immediately go to fill up your pack, thinking not just of yourself, but of your companions. And you find some rations, you find a few bottles of wine. - I need stronger than that, commentary. - Roll a d20. - Yes.

I don't even like wine. Sounds like Scrim's desperate. What am I rolling? Investigation? Uh, no, no, I'm just saying a natural... Oh, I got a fucking seven. You got a fucking seven? You don't find any of the hard stuff. They decided not to bring it with them in their hasty journey out of the city while you guys were... I take the wine. And the rations. And provided we still got all of our stuff back, I should still have eight of those candles. Those bonfire candles. If I've been keeping track. Um...

Yeah, and as long as we have some food, I would be satisfied with that. And I would want to make sure that, you know, we at least have some provisions before we set out. Daisy comes to you. Scrim, what are you doing? I'm preparing. I know, I know. Very unlike me, but it beats going to hunt. So I'm just taking some of the food and some other things as well. So at least we have some rations for a few days, at least until we figure out where we're going. And we can do some hunting or God forbid, fishing.

I hope that you would stay for at least a little while. The villa may be damaged, but still stands. Oh, well, personally, I'd love to stay. But if I know old Yornir, I'm going to stick up his ass, and he's going to push us out into the wilderness. I will talk to Yornir. Ah, sounds good to me. Just...

A little, a week, perhaps, if you'd stay. You don't need to twist my arm. We could ring in the new year. It's only four days away. Well, that sounds lovely. I am sure we would all be honored. And then I'd like to come with you. Oh, well, again, no objections from me. There's a whole world out there. That's right. And I don't think I'm going to stay here. I'd rather be with all of you.

Well, I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say we would love to have you. We couldn't have done this without you. Did you tell my dad that he was the reason why my sister died? Me? I certainly didn't. No. We're going to have to unpack that. Look, you know, hey. He's really upset. Yeah, well, he punched me.

So, you know, that makes two of us, but I'm not holding it against him. I kind of think I should punch you. I didn't say it. It wasn't me. You didn't say it. It wasn't me. Let's make our way to the villa. You don't have to pack to leave just yet. Fair enough. Oh, he also punched me before that comment was made. I'm not sure if I believe you. If she wants to roll for deception, she can. Are you deceiving? No, she's being, I mean, truthful. I didn't say that. Oh, then...

an insight for her. If I'm recalling the conversation that you're... She doesn't know if she believes you. Okay. If I'm recalling the conversation that you are saying, I am being 100% honest. I believe it was Queenie. Oh, yes. I believe it was Queenie as well. I'm sitting over here like, is he going to rat out Queenie right now? It was not. That was in character. But if she is trying to incite, I'm being 100% honest. Just...

She doesn't know one way or the other because it was a strange thing her dad said during the time that they were...

together after you left and made your way to the dominant mind. But there are many humans who have survived, and some ogres. Some of them even coming from some of the villas that themselves haven't been destroyed. But you are all able to make your way back, and even though the fronts of these buildings, wood and paint have been stripped off, there are hanging windows, some roof pieces have flown off,

relatively intact shelters and the gardens have been pushed over, trees have been flattened. It seems like a place where in no time at all you might be able to repair and you all assemble, not just you and the ogres and the other humans, but what is left of Ogerton. And

You find yourselves there now as the sun sets and it starts to get darker and darker. On our way there, I would want to hold back a little bit and be walking in the back or at least sort of away from everyone else. If I could sort of just walk alongside Ket, imagining that. It's not unusual for Eordnir to be sort of by himself, but also Ket might not be with everybody else. And sort of under my breath, if I could, and I feel like everyone's out of earshot, I would say. Do you mind if I ask you...

That was a question. I will continue. The parasite that transformed your son, is there any treatment that you know of in the herb or medicine or procedure that can reverse or remove it?

No, I once a creature that was compatible was taken and one of these tadpoles made its way into their mind.

their brain would slowly, slowly, over the course of many days, change. And as he's saying these words, you are re-witnessing the vision that you were given at the beginning. You're seeing that strange creature start to get dizzy and pound against the walls and slowly lose its faculties, teeth falling out, transforming.

No, I... It's a terrible thing. That's why we have made it our mission. The Gith have always done what they could to destroy all Illithid, for they are a scourge in any world. Thank you. Why do you ask? I will say nothing. And I will turn away and walk toward... Try to, like, hustle a little bit and increase my pace with the rest of the group.

No, guys, I didn't get bit. I'm good. I'm healthy. It's just a scratch. Zombie bit me. And you make your way back to the villa, what once was the Manor Blaginus, but now is perhaps just Manblog.

And if you go back and rewatch the rest of this arc, you'll notice that all of these are just literally stupid ogre names with Ineos or something like that attached to it. I just want to point that out now instead of during a mantras and chill. Do you guys do anything before you go to bed? Yes. Yes. I would kind of...

as I'm like just taking everything in, I'll like grab the, uh, the piercing, the, the hex spoon, uh, amulet that I made and kind of touch the, uh, the, uh, cormorant tattoo, the seabird tattoo that I gave myself. And I'm said, I told, I told him, I told him good luck. This is about as good luck we could have hoped. And that would be, and then I'd go proceed. And I would want to like make dinner for people. There's plenty of,

of food still in the basement. You do have to step over the body of Commodus and his son, but you are able to, in the larder of this villa, make your way and there are, it's stored for winter, what mild winter Ogerton once had, and certainly winter now is going to be a true Dracarion winter. You are able to whip up whatever feast you could possibly imagine.

I'll gather a bunch of ingredients and I'll pull out my pan and I'll see that it wasn't stripped. I'll say, "Maybe Mr. Fireblossom was right to give it a little bit of mercy." I'll start cooking and using liberal amounts of ancient estuary.

What do you do before sleep eventually takes you to Taishan? It's been a long day. Has been a long day. I would, in classic Taishan fashion, have brewed some of my most calming tea. It's the first time we've had the teapot in a while, right?

I love that thing. Yeah, I think so. Oh, yes. The actual teapot. The item teapot, yes. Oh, so this will be my first brew since we hit Ogerton. So I draw my first brew since we hit Ogerton. I did a terrible thing and thank you all for allowing me to take it. Literally go on a quest where you guys don't have any of your shit. I

I would probably quietly drink deep from it, welcoming its familiar warmth and hoping that it will quiet the tumultuous swirl of emotions that is just roiling within me. And I...

I'm in a place right now where I liken it kind of to like a wildfire that's ripped through an overgrown forest. And what we see now is kind of the first signs of like sprouts coming back up. But I haven't lost sight of the burnt trees and the ash. And as the tea does not have the desired effect,

Scrim, did you find wine? Uh... One, maybe. And two, how did you know? You were walking around saying, I found wine. Yeah. Yeah, fine, fine, fine. I'll share, I'll share. Here, give me a cup. As you are sharing this cup, as Scrim is sharing a cup with you, and you're thinking about the simple act of giving, and thinking about, uh...

Numbing a bit. Wait, wait, wait, bad luck. Here's to another day. Come on. Cheers. A woman approaches, swaddling a small baby. And you recognize this to be the mother who gave birth to a young child and that that child was silenced. She comes up and with one hand, can I share in some tea?

Please, please. I've always liked tea. Your child is... Are they okay? Just fine. Just fine. I'm sorry, but for a moment, may I? And she hands you the child and starts to sip on the warm tea herself. Clearly, it's something that she probably might not have really enjoyed, uh...

very often in her previous position, but now feeling the fruits of freedom. You have a beautiful child. Thank you. Thank you for the tea, as you were. And she takes her cup and she starts to sort of make her way out of almost reverence, like respect. And you find yourself in that moment, then looking again down at the sheared cup of wine that Scrim has shared with you.

To another day. That's right. Queenie, you're in here. How do you find yourselves either together or apart entering what is a well-deserved rest? Queenie would find herself apart from everyone else and on a trip into the wreckage. So Queenie is going to sneak away

ignore dinner and she is going to, even if it takes all night, hunt for the one of these slugs, one of the tadpoles. Whether alive or dead, she prefers dead, the remains of one. Okay. That's what she'd do. You spend a number of hours walking.

You spend a number of hours looking through the rubble and immediately realizing... The queen has a flying speed for what it's... How much? Oh, that's right. Because of the bees, she can just fly. I'm sorry. You go straight comic book and you immediately silver surfer your way down with the fucking bees flying, racing through the air, being carried by your hive to the...

wreckage and uh you're able to with your um ranger abilities uh start to sort through um as you get closer to the center you see how much there was uh disintegration and that the land itself was so uh fragmented and destroyed by the immense power of this blast that uh it almost turned to a slurry and then slid down uh make an investigation check hmm

23. With a 23, I don't know if Queenie is hoping to find a dead body of a tadpole. She's hoping to find some remains of one of them, whether it's a full thing or part of it. Two things happen with a 23. The first is that...

You, only because of your small size, that you are able to eventually touch down, step off your bees, and you find what was once a street. And you are able to make your way underneath where there once were sewers. And though it is cramped and much of the sewers have collapsed, this pocketed area seems to have been preserved. And you find one of the wands.

these wands that the ogres carried that they could use to control by the bangles that were worn by somebody. And when you pick it up, there's this connection that you have with it that you do not expect. All of a sudden, there's this almost magical charge that goes through your arm. That is not why you are here. You...

put it away, and you maybe put that in your pocket for a second to think about it a moment later. And I will say that here you do find the back half of a dead tadpole. Thank you. Queenie will pick it up, see that it's dead, look up at the sky, the ring where the clouds have been pushed away, I'm assuming still not having closed.

No, it was a slow-moving storm, so it's still a good circle, a halo of sorts. She would look up to the night sky, and then she would take the tadpole and pocket it, and just to Dracar itself, she'd say, and in this night you're near. Let's hope for hope. And she'll make her way back to the villa. And you start to fly your way back. I would like to speak with Manny as possible. Did you want to go last?

- Oh, have you gone? - I was just gonna say, I just, if you wanna go last. - I don't have to go last, I just, I just. - Go ahead. - Go ahead. - It's fine, I just wanna respect that. - I just thought mine was gonna be like longer than everybody else like chatting. - I'm gonna use one sentence. - Okay. - I spend three or four hours telling Daisy every detail of our adventure once we parted.

Whether Tyshen stays there for that and shares the wine or not, that's fine. But I would tell her everything, like an epic story of what happened once we left them. You start to tell the story, and Daisy is already at the Fellowship of the Rings when others start to assemble. And you start to get a crowd.

And very quickly, uh, ogres, uh, adult and children alike, uh, and humans all stand. And, uh, pretty quickly, uh, the two of you are sipping on wine and, um, perhaps with a few additions from Taishan, uh, you are all, uh,

drinking and listening to the dramatic story Barnabas arrives with plates of hot steaming perfectly cooked ancient estuary season I'd call out Mr. Staviscotch is that a red or a white um fucking it's a red can I can I spare a cup I'm teaching the young master here how to how to deglaze we're gonna make the best gravy for beef you've ever had of course please help yourself

And I'll be like, basically, if there's a young vassal, maybe someone who would have reminded me of the cabin boy from The Shep, I'd be basically teaching him how to cook and how to deglaze and to make a gravy for beef. The fact that you are willing to, after all of the day that you've had, immediately dive into cooking and share what tips and tricks you have, you are already a champion in these people's eyes. And every... Jeez.

cabin boy shows up to learn. - Oh, there you see, you're good. See the lady, you make, you have a date and you make her this. She's gonna fall in love with you on the spot. And that's a Barnabo's promise.

And then I'll come back in with bowls or plates for everyone, and I'll say, "I think that Mr. Stab-a-Scotch is embellishing to make himself look better and make me look worse on account of us having fought for a while, but I'll let you continue, Mr. Stab-a-Scotch, and I'll get to it." And now, by the time you get to the Return of the King, you've gotten wrapped, audience.

Three, four hours of storytelling later, you are... Regardless of who shows up, though, I am telling Daisy the story. Okay. Okay. And she's got her legs crossed, sitting on the floor, and...

completely in awe. The only reactions you're getting from her are not from her hand code at this point, but just through her eyes and her face as you describe what it was like to get on the lower level, what it's like for the doors to have opened, what it was like for you to experience the combat with the mind flayers in the initial...

how it felt to suddenly produce this specter, if you include this particular detail. What should be a fairy tale is something that you experienced and you can tell to the utmost detail. And when you're all done, you get sleepy and start to go to bed. But first... Queenie would eventually, and this will be up to Jornir when it would happen, would eventually make her way back to Jornir.

You'll arrive, I would say, just before your narration's bad. But it would be hours getting there and coming back. So as she's probably still just heading, Queenie is still just heading to the city, you hear all the commotion and everyone getting together and having survived, enjoying almost a night of celebration. A sad celebration, but one of freedom. And...

You find Manius. He is talking to his wife and they're looking for their cat. Manny, is this what you are called now? Name... too long. Manny Fine. Yes, yes, yes, of course. Do you mind if I speak with you for a while? Yes, fine.

And you hear the wife looking underneath one of the couches. And Manius takes you to one of the side rooms. The guest room where you originally stayed. Some sitting area. An empty area where you're able... Actually, you're brought back to the room that you woke up in when you first came to Ogerton. Very cool. Full circle. I'll sit down and I'll say it.

What do you know of the gods? Gods determine all. Who is the god that you worship? I have no name. It's stolen from me. But not Sophomath. I wanted to make sure that you knew that the god that you once worshipped was not a god.

No. No. Have you ever heard of Anam, the Allfather? Anam? No. Allfather? Hmph. He is the god of the giants. My people. And I'll switch to speaking giant. Your people. Perhaps this was the name that was stolen from you. He's the creator of our kind.

And he's an honorable and strong God indeed. - Anum. - What I wanted to share with you, my faith is the old faith, and that Anum alone cannot steal you and your people through hard times, cold winters. My religion believes in a triad of gods.

I'll pull out some, I think I had some parchment that I made like a map on and like chalk or whatever, like charcoal. It would be easy enough to find parchment on every shelf. This once was a place of the house of knowledge. And so there's parchment both empty and complete on many shelves. And so I will say, there is on them all father. And I will draw like sort of a rough sketch of like

an ogre-y looking face so that he can sort of identify with it. There is the land and instead of drawing a mammoth, I'm gonna draw a rhino. This is Drakar, the goddess of the land. And as importantly, there's Odin. This is the all-father of man. Of the human? Yes.

the All-Father, He is the God that watches over those that you live with, that you coexist with. Coexist as friends. Yes. The Triad itself is, they are three gods in one. They are, they watch over the land and they will make sure that you are safe, that the humans are safe, that the land stays safe. It will build a strong connection

between you, your family, and your new family, and your new claim on the land. Do you understand? He takes his huge mitt of a hand and presses it against his forehead and sort of slicks it back around and down his neck, across his bald head. He's also speaking in giant with you now. Yes? Also, man, protect

Keep safe myself, yes? Yes, and the tribe. Together? For an individual of our kind, we live in tribes, do we not? Your family, the other ogres. Glad I met you. And those that worship and that are protected by, and I'll point to the bearded man in a hood with one eye that I sort of sketched out in charcoal. They are part of the tribe too. Of course.

Of course. Of course. I'll sort of pass him the... I'll just try to draw sort of like a triad of the gods. I will show you more things if we stay. But I wanted to give you back something that was taken from you in your deception. Or in deception of you, I guess, technically. Thank you, Jorn. Good night, man. You will be a good leader.

I know. Gift for you. He gives you his wand. And when you pick it up, this same charge that runs through Queenie almost at the same time, given how the timing works, strikes you and you realize this almost could work as a channel for you.

a channel of arcane magic. Thank you. I will always remember this place and what we've done together with this. I'll think back on when we first got here, and the first time I ever laid eyes on him in the hot spring, him holding a wand, I'll think back, I'll bring this all full circle, and I will smile, and I will get up.

and I'll grab my staff and I'll put a hand on their shoulder and say, "Good night, Matt Muse." - Find Cat. And he slams the door open and he makes his way. And you, with what questions you have in your mind, feel you've done a great gesture in this moment.

I will return to the rest of them, uh, and get ready for the next up round. Just as the story ends, you realize everyone is full. Everyone is tired. People are making what spaces they can. The interior, many of the rooms are undamaged. They are far enough away from the face of this manor. And you each find a resting place, and you go to sleep.

Until, my apologies, I forgot. Queenie arrives just in time to find you making your bed, Yorner. Yorner, you got a minute? Yes. You alone in here? I don't know. I look around. He has found a single bed for himself, a guest room. You wouldn't want me to lie to you.

About anything. It is not something I think about whether you deceive me or not. But you... Can you just work with me here, buddy? Oh. Uh, I suppose no. I would... My preference... It's still in there. I think you know that. I have a feeling it may be...

Now, I know that our family is not necessarily like us. We are people of nature, you and I. And though we differ greatly, I think the core of our understanding is from a very similar place. Now, I think if we work together, we can fix this problem if you want to try it.

So I went back and I found this and I pull out the half of the, I know it's gross, but I have these and I pull out one of my glowing faces. If this, with its renewal, you saw what it did for those ghosts. If we could find some way

Oh, and this! And I pull out the wand. And it's thrumming. I don't know what it's about, but I'm thinking... I have one too! Oh! Well, look at us. We're getting real powerful in here. I'm thinking, I know that pests and parasites never grew on these flowers. Ever. There was never a mosquito near them. There were no leeches in the earth.

There were no bugs that ate their leaves. Why? If we could find some way to combine this magic with this thing, maybe we could use these to get that thing out of you. Now I'm not a medicine woman. That's not my area of expertise, but you know medicine. And so I thought maybe if I brought this to you, we could cut it open and we could see how it works. Maybe. I've never done this.

We could cut this open and see how it works. And if we work together, my mind and yours, maybe we can figure out how to make this stop. We don't have much time, but I ain't completely stupid, and you're quite smart yourself. So I don't know. Maybe it's just a vague hope, but when I looked up at the stars and I thought about all the things we've been through, at least there's a little bit of hope, right? I do not know, but...

It's worth a shot. I have been reflecting since it happened. Perhaps this is the end of my pilgrimage. Perhaps it was my purpose to cleanse this. Perhaps the Princess of Wrath, the seemingly primal being in pure communion with the land itself, having the

Perhaps that was the purpose. You said something to Tyshan. And I know you're not the type to try and make people feel better for the sake of making people feel better. That's my job. But you said something to him that the land brought him here for a reason. And I hold the seat up to you and you can see it glowing in its beautiful fairy light. I think the land brought me here for a reason too. And if there's a parasite on this land and you were the symbol of that land...

Maybe together we can find a way to purge the parasite from the land. Are you getting what I'm picking? Are you picking up what I'm laying down? Why am I here? If not for these... Without you here, you never would have brought the sun back. Perhaps because you have more seeds you have for the purpose. Yeah. It might not work, but we can try. I do not know...

If the land has further purpose for me, then you'll see that I'm sort of, I've been fiddling with my knife. I do not know how much time I have. Neither do I. But I will not let myself become corrupted into an abomination that I have spent so long, so many years, so many steps.

attempting to purge. No, and I'm not saying you do that. But that thing's not gone. And I don't want to say it in front of Tyshen because he's already walking around with a bushel full of guilt. But... We can try. If it comes back and if it brings more, if we can crack the code on how to stop it with you... Will you provide me this?

I'll pass it to you and I'll pass you the butt half of the tadpole. I will... You just give me one second. Mm-hmm.

I will take out my kuksa, and I will put half of it, half of the parasite in the cup. I will put the seed in the cup, and then I will go into my herbalism kit and just pull out all the different herbs and roots and things that are known for diseases, cures,

you know, anything, getting rid of parasites, take for, you know, whatever I think would sort of help in my medicine man past, I would add that to the cup and I would pull out a small pestle and smash it into a paste. You do. And you start to work the herbs and the medicine and the seed and the lavender crawfish tadpole into

paste of sorts. And at first it's hard to get a consistent slurry of sorts, but you are eventually able to work the pestle into a consistent and clean product. And it simultaneously looks sickly, a sort of gray-pink color, unlike most medicine. And it

also sparkles, still capturing that amazing, magical, potent power of these seeds that Queenie keeps with her. And you arrive at what you think is the conclusion, what it must be. Tasting it, you hope that...

the ratios are right. You've put all of your shamanistic effort into it and Queenie has provided two new components that come from her very heart and goodwill, certainly, but may also give you a hope to free yourself from what might be inside, like a seed growing in your own mind. Will you stay with me? I'm not going anywhere.

Join me. And I will take it off the bed and I will sit down on the ground. I'll gesture for you to sit across from me. I sit across from you. I will reach out, reach into my pack and I will pull out a rolled up piece of sealed hide that's wrapped with some leather strap.

I will untie it and I will unroll it and place it between us. And you'll see all of these runes and etchings on it. And sort of kind of done in a rough way. And I'll lay it out in front of me and I'll say, I brought this here from my home. I've had it with me this whole way. Before I left, when I was at the

gathering of standing stones. My circle communed on one of our holy holidays and an elder from the circle had a vision. His name, he was called Imnar. He would not tell me what the vision entailed. But he gave me this and he told me I would know when to use it. I don't know if this is that time, but I don't see a future for myself. So this must be the time.

And in front of me is a, from a mechanical perspective, a scroll of lesser restoration that I've had since literally session one. Was that how you, like, take an item off a table or whatever? Holy shit! You look at the scroll and you look at the symbols therein and your experience being what it is, perhaps it's the...

smell the medicine or the experiences that you've had over the last day or perhaps it's that Queenie is lending you her strength but you see through lesser restoration you see perhaps an extra boon a little early. What the hell? Can I read this? If you want to. Open hand.

You invite the spirits of the land to cleanse a willing creature's essence, fostering balance with the primal forces. As an action, you can touch the creature and end any disease, curse, or negative conditions afflicting it.

Only diseases, curses, or negative conditions that would require a wish to remove cannot be cleansed in this way. Once you use this feature, you must finish a long rest in which you dream before you can use it again. Oh my god. What a cool condition. Restoration seems to be before you. And you can't write this shit. As I'm sitting there, the scroll's in front of me. I will take some incense out.

I will take my hands and I will place them on yours. I will light the incense. And go through the whole process with you. I will take some of the paste. I will mark a rune on my forehead. I will mark a rune under one eye. I will mark a rune on the other eye, creating a new trial. And then I will take the rest of the paste. I'll consume it. And then I will put my hands down and I will chant

the shamanic verve or shamanic chant that is written in runes on the seal skin. In a sort of trance-like state, casting Lesser Restoration and I guess also using this ability, Open Hand, simultaneously maybe unlocking it however you want to flavor it.

That's what I do. You do this. And as you chant, there's a moment where all of a sudden it's like your ears pop and you hear this thud. Queenie, you see what is clearly trying to hold on and into your near's mind one of these final tadpoles. Get...

pushed out by the will of Yornir and slide to the ground with a disgusting wet slap, hit the ground next to Yornir. He doesn't seem to notice. He's still chanting and opening himself to the land. He's still working through that, but you have a moment while this... I'm gonna crush it. Like a mosquito, it splatters to a thin pancake, and you are able to end...

this threat immediately, without question, easily. And you... But I will do it just like hunting in the forest. I will make no noise. Yornir will have no idea that I've moved at all. You do this, and crushing it as you do, you know that Yornir is back to his old self, whole again, with no risk or potential transformation. But you...

Don't stop him from completing the ritual as he goes deep into his own meditative state. And a while passes. Hard to say if it's a minute, ten, or an hour, but eventually, Yornir, you come back to yourself. And as tired as you both are, the threat is over. There is no chance that you will ever seromorphize into a mind flayer. How are you feeling? I grabbed your hands.

It worked. It worked. And you'll see, like, the seal parchment almost, like, turn into, like, sea spray and salt as it sort of blows away in the incense, in the swirling incense. Thank you. You're welcome. I'm gonna stay with you tonight to make sure you're all right. All right. Okay. Thank you, Yornir, for keeping Hope alive. Let's get some sleep. I will deeply nod.

And I will, yeah, I'll go to bed. You do. Eventually, I think you're the last to go to sleep, Queenie. Yeah, I would wait until I can hear the soft snores of Yornir. But Yornir would be the second to last. For your three companions, Taishen, Barnabos, and Scrim had already been fast asleep. And eventually, you enter a deep rest knowing there will be a morning and some new future that awaits you.

All of you dream. All of you have a very familiar dream. A dream of a library. Your own library. The library of your mind. Walking past the shelves of tomes, everything is in its rightful place. And you sense no dread or tension or sensation of an intruder as you did before. You pass by books that represent your memories, your sensations.

specific things, skills even, emotions. You pass books left best unopened. You pass by some that you choose to remain closed. You pass by books that represent family. You walk further until finally you find a new book on a shelf. Pristine, the binding unmarked, unworn. But this is not the book of today's memories. It is a book that can only be written

By the terrible stress one endures in a confrontation with a being like Sophaleth. The pages were pressed by psionic power. And, in itself, the mental strain it took to push against those telepathic attacks. Penned by the brutality and force of survival in those moments that nearly broke you.

Reaching up, you take the tome and flip through it and realize the experience you've had has opened your mind to even greater potentials than you would have not found on your own. Queenie dreams and reads this tome. Taishen, you find this in your book. Barnabas, for you, Scrim. And Yornir, you do not dream. You enjoy a sleepless...

Restful night. Before you all awaken the next morning. A new day ahead. And that is where we'll call tonight's session. Man! What a session! What an arc! Thank you, Derek. What an arc. And that is where we'll call this arc. That's exactly right. Wow.

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