Campaign 2 (Astragar) Episode 16: Cult of the Pox

[00:00:31] Speaker A: Welcome to carrots and suffering A-D-D odyssey. I am Nate, your dungeon master, and I have a special treat for you all today. But first, don't forget to leave us a rating and review. Now onward to that special treat. We are beginning our historic vignettes where we begin to learn about the history and the backstory of our characters. Some of that history will, of course, come back to play in haunt our characters. Some might just humanize them a little bit, which I think is really important if anybody's playing antagonistic character concepts at the table. Robert, by the way, is a sweetheart in real life and, you know, a little complicated. All right, last time on carrots and suffering, an evil divine vestige. A former God of disease made contact with Xeris in his dreams. And then something says to you, I believe you attempted to contact me. [00:01:23] Speaker B: You know, I probably did. What's your name, friend? [00:01:28] Speaker A: You can call me the pox. [00:01:30] Speaker B: All right, the pox. Where can I meet you? [00:01:35] Speaker A: I accept tribute. Our heroes investigated the house of the fallen alchemist, who was discovered dead and historically buried. [00:01:42] Speaker C: He says, I do not think this was a natural occurrence of plague. I think he may have been attacked by undead. [00:01:50] Speaker D: Does he have all his fingers? [00:01:52] Speaker C: Well, the body's not here. [00:01:53] Speaker A: Well, the body's gone, but it left a puddle of gross behind. Our heroes investigated the old abandoned mages guild house that had burnt down about four days ago. [00:02:04] Speaker D: Creedon will grab this book with the paper she found and just stuff it in her bag and then run over to the edge of, I guess, where the floor is collapsed and call down. Oh, my God. Are you okay? [00:02:16] Speaker B: That was unpleasant, but I'm fine. I helped Elaine up. [00:02:19] Speaker C: I think I partially landed on Zyrus. [00:02:23] Speaker B: Sounds about right. [00:02:24] Speaker A: The investigation continued as they did research into ghosts with the help of art sage Mason, and figured out how one might fight one. You recognize the word Horcrux? Ghosts usually have some sort of unfinished business or a literal physical object tethering them to this world. It would seem that this spell requires you to designate one. The investigation continued at the shrine where the local priest had gone missing. [00:02:50] Speaker C: She looks at Zuris and says, do you want to just break the lock? [00:02:54] Speaker B: Well, first, let's walk around the building. [00:02:57] Speaker C: You have not killed anything all day. [00:03:00] Speaker A: After following a few more leads, including some missing spell casters, an empty grave, our heroes got a glimpse at some fishermen disposing of something bodylike in the lake and have moved to confront them. [00:03:11] Speaker D: Are we trying to be stealthy, or are we just going to burst in and do our thing. [00:03:18] Speaker B: I mean, the streets are fairly empty at this point, right? [00:03:21] Speaker A: Oh. There is no one awake in this town except you and those two people who just threw something in the lake. [00:03:26] Speaker C: I do not see a reason for stealth. We know they are in there. [00:03:32] Speaker D: All right, well, let's go. [00:03:33] Speaker B: I open the door. [00:03:36] Speaker A: All right, let's get into it. Okay. You swing the door open. Inside is the smell of gross mud and old fish. It's truly foul. And in this mess, you see about six guys sitting around a table playing cards. [00:04:05] Speaker C: Good evening. [00:04:06] Speaker B: Good evening. [00:04:07] Speaker D: Are we talking? Hi. [00:04:11] Speaker A: One of them stands up and says, hey, this is my warehouse. You guys here for cards? What's the deal? [00:04:18] Speaker D: What'd you throw in the lake? [00:04:20] Speaker B: I was curious about it. Looked like a body you threw in the lake. What was that? [00:04:25] Speaker C: He says with a big smile on his face. [00:04:30] Speaker D: So scary. [00:04:31] Speaker A: I mean, we throw stuff in the lake all the time. It's just the trash pit. I mean, we didn't throw a body in there, but, like, fish guts and stuff. That's normal. [00:04:39] Speaker D: No wonder your water is so bad at one. [00:04:44] Speaker A: It's probably more like two or three now, but we're night owls. [00:04:51] Speaker B: Let me get a sense motive. [00:04:53] Speaker A: Yeah, roll it. [00:04:54] Speaker D: Sense motive. [00:04:57] Speaker A: Insight. [00:04:57] Speaker B: Yeah, it's. [00:04:57] Speaker A: Insight is the appropriate name of that skill. [00:05:00] Speaker D: Is that 35 or pathfinder? Sense motive. [00:05:02] Speaker A: Both of them. [00:05:03] Speaker D: Okay. [00:05:04] Speaker A: Share sense motive. [00:05:05] Speaker C: I'll roll insight, too. [00:05:07] Speaker B: Yeah, I've only gotten an eleven. [00:05:08] Speaker C: Natural 20, which is a 25. [00:05:10] Speaker A: Natural 20. Okay. [00:05:12] Speaker C: Wow. [00:05:13] Speaker A: With an eleven, you think this table is being strangely stone faced in a way that maybe they're nervous with a 20, Mandy, you get the impression that these guys are very nervous. They have been caught doing something. You see, like, beads of sweat running down their faces. You think they're lying through their teeth. [00:05:32] Speaker C: Okay. She says, well, I actually have a need of some fish guts for something I'm working on. So I think I will go out and collect what you just threw in the lake. If that is of no concern to. [00:05:44] Speaker D: You, I want to whisper over. Should I just suggestion? [00:05:49] Speaker C: Oh, you could do that, too. [00:05:50] Speaker A: One of the guys looks at you and he says, be my guest. [00:05:54] Speaker C: Perhaps you could show me the exact spot you threw it in. If you do not mind, I can pay for your. [00:06:00] Speaker A: No, no. We're in the middle of a card game. I'm busy at the moment, but it should be just right at the end of the docks. [00:06:05] Speaker C: The lane glances at Zuris and Creedon. [00:06:09] Speaker B: I'm ready. [00:06:10] Speaker D: I want to cast suggestion on one of them, but I realized that that might not be. I mean, we don't have surprise. So that may mean rolling into initiative. [00:06:19] Speaker A: I mean, you'd basically just say, I suggest, and whatever you want to suggest to them. [00:06:24] Speaker D: Yeah, I will look at, I guess, the guy that said that he owns the warehouse and say, I suggest that you tell us what you're truly doing and what you're truly throwing into the lake. We would hate for things to get hairy. [00:06:37] Speaker A: He rolls a natural one. [00:06:39] Speaker C: Oh, good. Yeah. [00:06:40] Speaker A: He says, oh, yeah. We're making offerings to the pox, the God that then protects us from the evil art sage mason, who wipes our brains and forbids people from gazing upon the God they immediately forget. And so we're the only people in town who can actually see it. And in order to keep that power, we have to keep feeding it dead bodies. [00:07:02] Speaker C: Was that so hard? [00:07:04] Speaker D: Was that all you needed to hear, Zerus? [00:07:07] Speaker A: You see the table of five guys slowly pushing their chairs back from the table? [00:07:14] Speaker C: They're all men. [00:07:15] Speaker A: Yes. [00:07:15] Speaker C: Billy says, gentlemen, that will be enough. [00:07:18] Speaker A: They look at each other and they're. [00:07:20] Speaker B: Like, okay, so next question. And we're on the precipice of getting rough and tumble, so your answers count. How have you met pox? And I'm purposely being intimidating. [00:07:39] Speaker A: Roll me. Intimidate. Sure. [00:07:41] Speaker D: With a big smile in your hand. Griffin, your axe. [00:07:44] Speaker C: Gregarious. [00:07:46] Speaker B: 15. [00:07:47] Speaker D: That smile just says, got him. [00:07:51] Speaker A: The guy who is doing most of the talking looks at you and says, well, pox. We don't really meet pox. You get really sick, and then he comes to you in your fever dreams and says, I'll heal you and protect you from the evil wizard if you throw the guy who died last week into the river. And so we do. [00:08:14] Speaker B: Is it always the same place in the lake? [00:08:17] Speaker A: Doesn't have to be. Pox doesn't specify. Great. [00:08:21] Speaker B: Do y'all have any last words or family you want contacted? [00:08:26] Speaker A: You see them look around at the table and they're like, Timmy, get out here. And rising out of the floor is a ghost that appears to be missing its fingers. Please roll me. Initiative. [00:08:37] Speaker D: I knew they were all tied together. [00:08:40] Speaker C: Creedon, you get advantage because you got the bow. Oh, yeah. [00:08:45] Speaker D: Thank you for the reminder. [00:08:47] Speaker C: I got an eleven. [00:08:49] Speaker B: I also got an 11:00 a.m.. [00:08:52] Speaker C: I. More dexterous than you, you probably are. [00:08:54] Speaker B: I have a zero, Dex. [00:08:55] Speaker C: Oh, twelve. Sorry. Plus one, Dex. [00:08:58] Speaker D: Okay, I got an 18. [00:09:01] Speaker A: Creedon, you were first a ghost, and six guys are all around this table. [00:09:06] Speaker D: I am just going to. [00:09:09] Speaker C: Eldritch. [00:09:09] Speaker D: Last one. [00:09:10] Speaker A: I think a guy or a ghost. [00:09:13] Speaker D: I'll go for the ghost. And I got a 14 to hit. [00:09:19] Speaker A: 14 hits. [00:09:21] Speaker D: Oh, cool. Seven force damage. [00:09:24] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah, rockets through him. The ghost. [00:09:28] Speaker D: Wait, when you say rockets through, is. [00:09:30] Speaker A: It hits your heart goes through him. Because he's not really corporeal and it seems to take some essence with him. With it. [00:09:40] Speaker C: Cool. [00:09:41] Speaker A: The ghost for its turn says, that was a mistake. And his face opens up revealing rows and rows of screaming teeth. Please, everyone, roll me a wisdom saving throw. [00:09:54] Speaker C: The teeth are screaming. [00:09:55] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:09:56] Speaker B: What is a screaming tooth? [00:09:59] Speaker A: Each individual tooth has a smaller mouth on it that screams. [00:10:03] Speaker B: That is terrifying. [00:10:04] Speaker D: Did you say constitution? No wisdom. [00:10:07] Speaker A: Oh, no wisdom. [00:10:08] Speaker D: Ten. [00:10:09] Speaker C: I got a natural 20, so that's a 25. [00:10:11] Speaker D: Oh, wait, no, I have. Okay, not ten. 1212. [00:10:15] Speaker B: I got a five. Oh, it's just a bad day for dice. [00:10:19] Speaker C: It's knocking you out. [00:10:20] Speaker A: Zerus, please roll me a d four. [00:10:23] Speaker B: Okay, one. [00:10:24] Speaker A: Great. You're ten years older. [00:10:27] Speaker D: No. Oh, my God. [00:10:31] Speaker A: As your life energy flees your body. One of those fucking Creedon and Xeris. You are frightened. You cannot move closer to this specter. Zerus, how old was Xeros? [00:10:46] Speaker B: Somewhere around 30. So now somewhere around 40. [00:10:48] Speaker A: Now you're looking like you're in your 40s, my friend. [00:10:52] Speaker D: Creden is horrified. I'm frightened. Less of the ghost and more of what just happened. [00:11:00] Speaker B: Oh, actually, I put down age 40. [00:11:04] Speaker D: Now those knees. [00:11:07] Speaker C: The knees are going to give out. It's always the knees first. [00:11:10] Speaker A: Those poor, poor knees. That was the ghost's turn. So next up was. Was it Ziris with an eleven? [00:11:19] Speaker B: Yeah, it'd be boulain with an eleven. [00:11:21] Speaker C: We both got an eleven. [00:11:22] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah, you're both up. Who goes first? Pick yourself up and do it. [00:11:26] Speaker B: Boulain can go first. [00:11:27] Speaker C: Boulain is going to cast silence on the room. [00:11:31] Speaker A: It goes quiet. [00:11:33] Speaker C: Definitely quiet. And as a bonus action, she is going to cast spiritual weapon. [00:11:37] Speaker A: So if you silence the room. [00:11:39] Speaker C: Oh, I can't cast a spell, can I? [00:11:41] Speaker A: Could you silence yourself? I think you would. [00:11:44] Speaker B: You can do it in the other order. But it also will stop Creed and spells. [00:11:47] Speaker C: It will, but I don't want that thing to scream again. [00:11:50] Speaker D: Oh, yeah. I mean, I do have a bow. [00:11:53] Speaker C: I do have a crossbow with silver bowls. I was saving them for the hawks, but maybe I don't want to do that. [00:12:00] Speaker D: Yeah, we do need to take out the ghost. And at least I need magic for that. [00:12:05] Speaker C: All right, she's going to cast guiding bolt on the ghost. [00:12:10] Speaker A: Okay, roll to hit. [00:12:12] Speaker C: That is a 16. [00:12:13] Speaker A: That hits yay. [00:12:15] Speaker C: All right, it's 46 radiant damage. [00:12:17] Speaker A: Yes. [00:12:18] Speaker C: 14 points of radiant damage. [00:12:21] Speaker A: Okay, you blast it. There's a hole in the middle of this ghost. Good, Xeris. [00:12:27] Speaker B: I will rush to the middle of the card playing, folks. I assume they're all still kind of around the table. [00:12:34] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, they haven't had a turn yet. [00:12:36] Speaker B: I will become enraged at their reasonable, hedonistic heresy, and I will start shopping. So I will pick the guy we were talking with first. [00:12:47] Speaker A: Okay, roll to hit. [00:12:49] Speaker B: With pleasure. That's an 18 super hits with 15 damage total, split between slogan and radiant. [00:12:59] Speaker A: Yeah, you cut his arm off and deep into his chest, and he goes down gurgling. [00:13:04] Speaker B: I look at the next one, and that's my turn. [00:13:07] Speaker A: Okay. The guys look a little shocked, a little surprised. Out from under the table comes buckets and shovels. Xeris, three of them are going to attack you with shovels. Okay, these are improvised weapons. 20 to hit is probably going to connect. Yes, but an eight and a three are not going to do it. [00:13:27] Speaker B: Correct. And half damage, please. [00:13:30] Speaker A: So half of six is three. Meanwhile, the guys with buckets decide to try to run, but you all are between them in the main door. So they are going to sprint into the back of the warehouse looking for weapons. [00:13:44] Speaker B: I'm going to take an attack of opportunity on one of them. [00:13:46] Speaker A: Sure. Take it. [00:13:49] Speaker B: That's an eleven to hit. [00:13:50] Speaker A: That'll hit. [00:13:51] Speaker B: Excellent. Nine slashing and four radiant for a total of 13. [00:13:56] Speaker A: Great. You take off a leg. A man is dead, Creed, and you're at the bottom of the order. Go ahead. [00:14:01] Speaker D: I'm frightened of it, but can I attack it or no? [00:14:05] Speaker A: You can attack it, but you can't move near it. Okay, let me check the frightened condition and make sure that you can attack it without any penalties. [00:14:12] Speaker D: Yeah. Tempted to just cast protection from evil. [00:14:16] Speaker C: And good on myself because I'm scared. [00:14:18] Speaker D: Of it, but maybe I should damage it so it doesn't turn you. [00:14:20] Speaker A: 60 disadvantage on attack rolls for as long as you can see him. [00:14:26] Speaker D: Okay, well, it does make sense that if I'm very scared of it, I'm going to cast protection from evil and good on myself. [00:14:33] Speaker A: Excellent. Zerus, for the ghost's turn, it smiles at you and reaches a hand. Forward, please. Moral me a charisma saving throw. [00:14:41] Speaker B: I would love to. That's a much better save for me. I mean, much better as two, but eleven is what I've scored on that. [00:14:50] Speaker A: Okay, the ghost disappears into your chest. You are not you. [00:14:56] Speaker C: Oh, shit. [00:14:57] Speaker A: Oh, God damn it. [00:14:59] Speaker D: I should have cast it on him. [00:15:02] Speaker B: Quick. Burn the wharf down. [00:15:05] Speaker A: Xeris will turn to face you all. [00:15:09] Speaker C: Oh, no. [00:15:09] Speaker A: And say in Zyrus's voice, oh, no. [00:15:13] Speaker C: Oh, no. [00:15:14] Speaker D: Oh, no. [00:15:16] Speaker B: You're both spellcasters, I see. I have a proposition for you. [00:15:29] Speaker A: Ziris. An incident occurred in which you have manifested your divine rage. It did not go how the Paladins would have wanted it to go. You are now in the office of the general of Genoch. He is eight or nine ranks above you and very angry. Standing next to you is your sergeant, who is generally a pretty chill dude, who is trying to convince the general that there's a little bit of an overreaction. Without saying that, and I believe that is the scene I want to run. Is there anything you want to add to it? Any other people that need to be present? [00:16:08] Speaker B: If you want. We also discussed potentially adding fikes. [00:16:13] Speaker A: Oh, yes. [00:16:14] Speaker B: Or an offended party. Yeah, he could definitely be the offended party. [00:16:18] Speaker A: Okay. [00:16:19] Speaker C: I said frikers. [00:16:20] Speaker A: Yeah, that's right. [00:16:24] Speaker B: Is it like frikers or frikers like. [00:16:29] Speaker A: General of Genoch? Any name for a general of genocide? Everybody, just one name. Just last name. [00:16:34] Speaker C: Boris Johnson. [00:16:37] Speaker A: General Boris Johnson. [00:16:45] Speaker C: It's okay. He stepped down. [00:16:51] Speaker A: You guys are really good at helping here. I'm going to play on that. I'm going to go with joking. [00:17:00] Speaker D: I love it. [00:17:02] Speaker C: I'm only joking. [00:17:04] Speaker B: I don't know about that. [00:17:08] Speaker A: General joking. [00:17:09] Speaker C: He wrote the rank of general murdering everyone who played on his name. [00:17:14] Speaker D: He can be General Jerkin. General Jerkin. [00:17:20] Speaker B: Wow. [00:17:22] Speaker C: Isn't that a kind of sweater? [00:17:25] Speaker A: I think he has a name. I think he has a very generic astragarian name. [00:17:33] Speaker B: What is a generic? See, that's my problem. I don't know what a generic astragarian name is. One of the names that came. [00:17:38] Speaker C: The only generic name we know is Astra. [00:17:40] Speaker A: Yeah, well, that's going to be. [00:17:41] Speaker B: His first name was Mallory, but I don't know how generic that is for. [00:17:47] Speaker A: I think the general of Genoch is not like he's a paladin in title, but I think he's a cleric in actuality, probably of the luminous one. So I'm going to name him Astra, and then I need a light evoking name. Solaris. [00:18:03] Speaker C: Solaris is kind of light evoking, but shine bottom. [00:18:09] Speaker B: Is he a halfling now? [00:18:11] Speaker A: He's. [00:18:14] Speaker B: That's an amazing halfling name, man, if I ever do a halfling palette and his name is shine bottom, for sure. [00:18:24] Speaker A: All right, sergeant Goats, what about just locks, astrologs? [00:18:33] Speaker D: I dig that. [00:18:34] Speaker A: And sergeant Goats. And I think your sergeant is actually the very rare cleric of the green man. He's got kind of army Ranger vibes, except that he's way into the survival element. So much so, it's embarrassing for everyone else. He's the kind of guy that has a beard down to his dick and wanders into the woods with a knife for three months. [00:19:02] Speaker B: I'm going on sabbatical. [00:19:04] Speaker A: Yeah, deal with it. [00:19:06] Speaker C: Wanders into the woods wearing nothing and only has the knife with him, like that kind of thing. [00:19:13] Speaker A: So this scene opens Cirrus, you are younger. You are actually a very young man. Casual observers might not even call you an adult if they didn't know better. In this office, there is a imposing figure in clerical robes behind a desk with military medals hanging off of a sash that wraps over his sort of priest garb. And you know that. This is the general of Genoch, General Lux. He's been in charge in the military for many, many years. Came up through the ranks, was a paladin from a very young age, and is a bit of a living legend. Next to you is your sergeant, sergeant goats. Sergeant Goats is a cleric of the green man. He has hair that's just way too long, way too much facial hair, and is constantly covered in sort of animal furs that he caught himself in, tanned. He's a very survivalistic dude, but he's also really live and let live. And he seems kind of unperturbed by the events that brought you here. Sitting in a chair across the room, away from you, looking terrified, is, like, frikers now, like, is a big kid. He is also a young man, a little larger than you, but I believe, like, he has two black eyes. His jaw is probably dislocated, and his arm is broken. General Lux is going to start us off. And he says, okay, men, this is a disaster. This is not behavior that we expect from the paladin corps in any way, shape or form. This is not according to our code of conduct. Oh, I am furious. Sergeant, explain the situation. And sergeant says, well, newly minted Sergeant Xeris here. And the general says, stop it, stop it. Okay? He's clearly pulled some divine power. That's wonderful. I have not promoted him yet. He does not have the promotion. He says, okay, lieutenant Xeris here feels that private, like frikers, committed a crime on his watch. Zyrus was a witness to that. And things got heated, and Xeris took matters into his own hands. The general looks over at, like, and says, what do you have to say for yourself. And, like, says, it was like a mistake. Like, I wasn't going to steal it for real, he says, talking through a broken jaw. And the general says, that was bullshit. And he turns and looks over at you, Xeris, and says, xeris? What the fuck? [00:22:05] Speaker B: Well, sir, the private here was going to take more than double his daily rations worth. And when I told him to put it back, he said, what? As though he didn't know what I was talking about. So I felt that there was going to be no reasoning with him. So I reasoned with him. [00:22:33] Speaker A: The general sits down and rubs his temples with both hands and says, like, you're cleaning the shitters for three months. Get out of the office. And, like, stands up and sort of walks out, leaving as much physical space between you and him as humanly possible as he leaves. And the general says, sergeant, I cannot have this behavior. Cannot have this behavior. I can't have it in the city of Genoch. I can't have it in the military camp. I cannot have it in public like this for any reason. This is a disaster. And I certainly cannot elevate a person for pulling divine power out of their ass in this way against another paladin. And the sergeant says, with all due respect, general, a God selected him. I don't think there's anything we can do about that. And a general seems to put on a very stoned face. He suddenly becomes incredibly calm. It would set a bad precedence to elevate you, Sirius. Immediately I am inclined to move you out of the paladin guard to city guard. The city guard has been asking for more resources. A person who can channel divine power would be considered a big boon, a big favor. It would go a long ways to building diplomatic relationships between the military camp of Genoch and the guard of Astragar. However, you will not have the rank of paladin. And the sergeant says, this feels a little extreme, like, survived. And the general kind of looks at him and says, do you have any idea how much political shit is going to start for this absolute fuck up? I am going to be pulled into meetings. This is going to be a complete disaster. Like, this is going to bogart my time for months. Explain to me, sergeant, how you think this person, who is not even an officer yet, deserves this level of exception. And the sergeant kind of looks over at you and says, you want to add anything, man? [00:25:01] Speaker B: Well, in my defense, I didn't know that divinity would channel through me as I was striking him. And there aren't many frikes left, so it should be a smaller shitstorm. [00:25:28] Speaker A: This sergeant gives you a little giggle and looks at the general. And the general says, oh, my God. Okay, Zerus, you're taking a position on the city guard of Astragar. In one year. I will review your case. You may be able to come back in if I decide that you have learned something, anything at all, and this is blown over. All right, sergeant, make it happen. Paperwork now. [00:25:59] Speaker B: Yes, sir. If that's how I'm best to serve. [00:26:05] Speaker A: And the general sort of waves his hand, and the sergeant turns and says, we should probably go. You get out into the hallway. And sergeant says, okay, all things considered, I think that was a little on the harsh side. But, hey, maybe in a year, we can get you back in. Back on the paladin path, right? [00:26:24] Speaker B: I slammed my fist angrily into the wall next to me. Yeah, that's going to be great. [00:26:32] Speaker A: Okay, I'm going to go fill out that paperwork, and if you see, like, do me a favor and let him live, okay? [00:26:40] Speaker B: Sure thing, sarge. [00:26:42] Speaker D: The true tragedy of this being an audio medium is that people won't get to see Robert's horrifying smile in his anger. Like that horrifying smile that you're just. [00:26:54] Speaker C: Like, oh, shit, dude. [00:27:05] Speaker A: We'll see who's next in initiative order. Boulain. [00:27:09] Speaker C: Fuck. I don't know what to do. Zuris has taken damage. [00:27:13] Speaker A: Yes. [00:27:14] Speaker D: I need an hour, and then I can fix this problem. [00:27:19] Speaker C: Boulain touches the raven tattoo, and she casts hold person on Xeris. [00:27:24] Speaker A: Okay, Xeris won't roll the saving throw, the ghost will. But that's actually good because the ghost is worse than Xeris with a three. [00:27:31] Speaker C: Oh. Excellent. All right. [00:27:33] Speaker A: Xeris freezes up and does not move. Okay, that's my whole guys with shovels. They turn towards you two. There's only two of them left. Point their shovels at you and say, all right, sounds like our friend here, Mr. Seven fingers, would like to deal with you personally. So we're just going to go away now, and y'all are going to let us just leave. [00:27:58] Speaker D: Okay. [00:27:59] Speaker A: Top of the initiative order is cretan. [00:28:01] Speaker D: Should we hit him? I say, pointing to Xeris. [00:28:07] Speaker C: Boulain looks totally uncertain. She looks like she is absolutely out of her wheelhouse. [00:28:13] Speaker A: What would Xeris do? [00:28:14] Speaker C: What would Zerus do? Xeris would attack Xerith. [00:28:17] Speaker D: Xeris would kill himself. [00:28:22] Speaker C: I suppose we could attack him until he is unconscious. [00:28:26] Speaker D: Yeah, I think I'm going to try to hit him with an Eldridge, blast. [00:28:30] Speaker A: Okay. [00:28:31] Speaker D: I don't think we should negotiate with this guy. [00:28:34] Speaker C: Agreed. [00:28:35] Speaker D: Oh, boy. Well, that was a ten to hit. [00:28:38] Speaker A: I believe Xeris's armor class is higher than that. [00:28:41] Speaker D: I'm going to also run 30ft away. [00:28:44] Speaker A: 30Ft will take you back out of this warehouse. [00:28:46] Speaker D: That's fine to me. [00:28:48] Speaker A: Okay, you sprint out of that warehouse leaving Boulain alone. [00:28:53] Speaker C: Fuck. Creed in. [00:28:56] Speaker D: Oh, wait. Oh, oh. I have protection from evil. [00:28:59] Speaker C: Like good on me as well. [00:29:00] Speaker D: Okay, can I just run to the doorway but not all the way out? [00:29:03] Speaker A: You can run to the doorway. [00:29:04] Speaker C: Are you blocking the guys from leaving? [00:29:06] Speaker D: But no, next to the door. I'm ready to bolt if things go too sideways. [00:29:10] Speaker A: Well, you are frightened and can't move closer and should move further. Yeah, so this makes sense to me. Xeris, please read me this. [00:29:21] Speaker D: So scared. [00:29:22] Speaker C: Can he speak with hold person? [00:29:24] Speaker A: His mouth doesn't seem to move, but this voice comes out of him. [00:29:27] Speaker B: I can make you like me. Give up your corporeal form then. [00:29:31] Speaker A: Zerus, please roll me a wisdom saving throw. [00:29:33] Speaker B: I would love to try. [00:29:35] Speaker A: Six, Kate. No change. [00:29:39] Speaker C: Okay, who's next? Is it my turn? [00:29:41] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:29:42] Speaker C: Lane says, I am fairly fond of my corporeal form. Unfortunately for you, she's going to cast toll the dead on him. [00:29:52] Speaker A: Okay, he's going to roll a wisdom saving throw. Zerus, it's your body. Go ahead and roll it. [00:29:57] Speaker C: You can choose to. [00:29:58] Speaker B: That's an 18. Yeah, I rolled an 18. But if I can choose to fail. [00:30:04] Speaker A: Your previous wisdom saving throw is not sufficient for you to make. [00:30:08] Speaker B: Yeah, that's fair. [00:30:09] Speaker A: A willful choice. Unfortunately, you did have to roll. [00:30:11] Speaker C: Can I also do a bonus action though? [00:30:13] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:30:14] Speaker C: I will also cast spiritual weapon. [00:30:16] Speaker A: Okay. A weapon appears. What does it look like? [00:30:20] Speaker C: It looks like a ghost form of a raven. And it's a force damage. So I'm going to say it closes its wings. [00:30:26] Speaker A: All right. A big raven smacks Xeris roll to hit. [00:30:33] Speaker C: That's a 15. That's not good. [00:30:36] Speaker A: Xeris, what's your ac 14? [00:30:38] Speaker B: So you hit. [00:30:39] Speaker C: Oh, okay. [00:30:40] Speaker B: And I don't think I'm raging anymore. [00:30:42] Speaker A: You have come out of rage. Correct. Because you did not sustain your attacks. [00:30:47] Speaker C: Nine points of damage. [00:30:48] Speaker A: So track that for me, Xeros. Sure. [00:30:50] Speaker C: And that's up for 1 minute. [00:30:52] Speaker A: Okay, the thugs see that you're not going for this, so they charge you. Belaine. [00:30:56] Speaker C: Oh, good. [00:30:58] Speaker A: 14 to hit. [00:30:59] Speaker C: No. 1516. I thought they were just running. [00:31:04] Speaker A: Oh, well, you're still between them and the door. [00:31:08] Speaker C: Yeah, one of them hit the 16 hits, take four. [00:31:11] Speaker A: Damage. As you were hit with a shovel. [00:31:12] Speaker C: And he said four just now? [00:31:14] Speaker A: Correct. Running out of the back of the warehouse comes men carrying meat hooks. [00:31:19] Speaker D: Yeah, there's more of them? [00:31:21] Speaker A: For the most part. [00:31:21] Speaker B: There were two that made it to the back. [00:31:24] Speaker A: Yes, there were two that made it to the back, and they come running out. Boulane, you were the first person and the only person. Fish hook number one. A twelve to hit and a 15 to hit. So that's one hit, I believe. Take three, damage as you are hit with a meat hook. [00:31:41] Speaker C: God damn it. [00:31:42] Speaker A: Meanwhile, Creedon, it is your turn. [00:31:47] Speaker D: Yeah, I guess I'm going to keep trying to hit. Zero. Okay, that was a 20. Non natural to hit. [00:31:55] Speaker A: That hits cirrus. [00:31:57] Speaker D: That is. [00:31:58] Speaker C: Ooh. [00:31:59] Speaker D: 13 force damage. [00:32:01] Speaker A: Sirius, take 13 damage. [00:32:03] Speaker B: I am unconscious. [00:32:04] Speaker C: Excellent. That's what we wanted. [00:32:06] Speaker A: Zerus falls down, and a ghost spews out of his mouth and is now floating above Xeris. And the ghost says, one down. Shame you didn't agree to anything. And with its turn, it will fly forward to try to touch. Boulain. [00:32:23] Speaker D: No. [00:32:24] Speaker C: Dang. [00:32:25] Speaker A: Boulain. I need a charisma saving charisma. [00:32:28] Speaker C: Okay, that's not bad. One of my 14, that is. [00:32:33] Speaker A: Just enough as it touches you and you force it away as you feel it touching your mind. [00:32:40] Speaker C: I've got, like, five things to do here. [00:32:43] Speaker A: Boulain, it is now your turn. There is a ghost touching you. There's four dudes surrounding you. Credence, behind you. Zirus is down on the ground. [00:32:52] Speaker C: Okay. [00:32:54] Speaker A: Just out of reach. [00:32:55] Speaker C: Okay. She's going to grab the dude who got her with the meat hook and cast and inflict wounds on him. No. [00:33:04] Speaker D: Kill the ghost. [00:33:05] Speaker C: Well, she's kind of got immediate threat. And the bigger threat, the ghost is. [00:33:09] Speaker D: A very immediate threat. [00:33:10] Speaker C: And then she's going to also move the spiritual weapon to hit one of the other dudes who's right there. Okay, so she's going to roll to inflict wounds. That's a 15. [00:33:22] Speaker A: That is shit. [00:33:23] Speaker C: What is this? Three D? [00:33:24] Speaker A: Ten. [00:33:25] Speaker D: I'm pretty sure that when they see us kill a ghost, they'll probably not. [00:33:28] Speaker C: Want to fight us. I'm hoping if I kill one of them, they will no longer want to fight us. This is also an intimidation move on her part. I don't know if that matters. Let's see. That's 1111 points of necrotic damage as cuts just open up all over this dude's body. [00:33:43] Speaker A: Yeah, his veins explode and he melts into a pool of ooze. [00:33:49] Speaker C: And then the spiritual weapon, which she moved onto another guy. She doesn't even blink. She moves the raven over and it claps its wings at one of the other ones for a whopping one point of damage. [00:34:00] Speaker A: He looks hurt. [00:34:01] Speaker C: Good. [00:34:01] Speaker A: She pulls back with a broken nose. That brings us to their turn. [00:34:05] Speaker C: Can I roll, intimidate or something on them to scare them away? [00:34:08] Speaker D: Jerk. [00:34:09] Speaker C: That was what she wanted. She wanted to scare them with that. [00:34:12] Speaker A: D 20 plus charisma. I mean, you melted a man. [00:34:15] Speaker C: It's true. [00:34:16] Speaker A: It's pretty intimidating. [00:34:19] Speaker C: Twelve. It's not great. [00:34:21] Speaker A: Yeah. They all look at Creedon and Bull Rush Creedon as they try to get out of this building. Boulain, if you have a malay weapon, you can attack with. Attack. [00:34:33] Speaker C: Over. Two is going to swing her quarter staff around and try to whack one of them. That is a ten. [00:34:39] Speaker A: That misses. Okay. Three people are going to bull Rush. Creden. Credent, I need you to give me first an athletics role or acrobatics. [00:34:48] Speaker D: Okay. Five. [00:34:52] Speaker A: Good news. The first guy runs up to shove you. I think he touches your breast and then gets really awkward about it and then just backs up really fast, like, oh, God, I didn't meet it. That's not what I was going for. [00:35:01] Speaker D: If looks could kill. [00:35:05] Speaker A: Press the. I'm not a pervert, I swear. [00:35:06] Speaker D: Advantage. [00:35:08] Speaker A: He rolls a natural one on his athletics chair. Another guy throws his shoulder into you. Creedon, I need another 112. You are blasted backwards 5ft. You are no longer blocking the door. [00:35:21] Speaker D: Oh, I was not blocking the door. I said that. I was standing next to the door. [00:35:26] Speaker A: You are nowhere near the door now. [00:35:28] Speaker D: Okay. [00:35:28] Speaker A: And a third guy slams into you, threatening to throw you into the mud. Please roll me another one. [00:35:34] Speaker D: Anything but that calamity. Oh, no. Nine. [00:35:38] Speaker A: Ooh. He rolls in 18. He shoves you. You go down off the dock. Roll me a dexterity saving throw. No. [00:35:48] Speaker D: Oh. That is a 21. [00:35:51] Speaker A: You catch the rim of the dock. You do not fall into the mud. You are not sucked down. There is nothing that eats you, but you are hanging by your hands off of the dock. That's their whole turn, though. They basically run up, push Cretan, move 10ft away, and that's it. Except for the guy who is too embarrassed to live or die now, eldritch blast. [00:36:12] Speaker C: Eldritch blast. [00:36:13] Speaker D: Am I still frightened? [00:36:15] Speaker A: You are frightened for a minute. It's only been 12 seconds. [00:36:19] Speaker D: Okay. [00:36:19] Speaker A: Got a ways to go. [00:36:21] Speaker D: Well, I can't really attack the ghost because I have disadvantage on it. Oh, did I take any damage during that, because I have no protection from good and evil is concentration. [00:36:30] Speaker A: You just got shoved. [00:36:31] Speaker D: Okay, can I pull myself up? [00:36:34] Speaker A: Yeah. It's going to take your whole movement to pull yourself up and stand up, but you can do that. You are on the dock again. [00:36:40] Speaker D: But the guy's running. [00:36:41] Speaker A: They appear to be running from you, but they're 510ft away. [00:36:45] Speaker D: I mean, if they're running away, I don't really care. I'm worried about that ghost. So I guess I'm just going to try to attack the ghost with altered splash with disadvantage. [00:36:52] Speaker A: Can I see it through the door? Yeah. [00:36:54] Speaker D: Okay, that's a ten to hit. [00:36:58] Speaker A: A ten is just going to miss. The ghost just has Boulain to choose from. [00:37:05] Speaker D: Yeah, this is bad because I can't get it. [00:37:07] Speaker C: This is a bad situation. [00:37:08] Speaker D: This is why I'm telling you to kill the ghost. [00:37:10] Speaker C: Fuck. [00:37:11] Speaker A: It says, last chance. Join me or die. And it touches you. You don't get to save this time. It touches you, and you now will understand how the alchemist died. So a 21 will hit you, and necrotic damage floods every corner of your body. You take 17 necrotic damage. [00:37:37] Speaker C: Oh, damn. That knocks her right out. [00:37:39] Speaker D: Oh, fuck me. [00:37:41] Speaker C: Yeah, that. It was just enough to hit her. Hit point maximum, so she's out. [00:37:46] Speaker A: You are oozing all kinds of terrible fluids. [00:37:50] Speaker C: Sorry, Zuris. I was going to heal you on my next turn as soon as I wasn't being attacked anymore, but guess that's out. [00:38:05] Speaker A: So today I want to talk about mysteries. I love to run them. They're very tricky, though. So mysteries start as an unknown story that already happened. Our characters try to find that story, but what makes a mystery interesting is that there isn't someone sitting around who can just tell them the whole story. Because DND adds crazy powers, like speak with dead suggestion, mind reading charms, divinations dominate person. It's important to ensure that no one person or monster in the story has the whole story. Otherwise, it'd be really easy to kind of boring to just get the details. An extra trick is that I ensure that each person has a spin on the details that they know or they believe they have a perspective, an objective truth, or even a favorite set of lies. Characters and players then have to decide how much they trust the person they're talking to and how much they trust the method by which they came from that information. Now, it's important that our mystery has witnesses and evidence. Now, I prefer to make a list of possible evidence and a list of possible witnesses before running the game. This gives me a few options. As we play, I cross off evidence as bad roles, eliminate the possibility that they are going to get bad evidence. Also, as players think out loud and come up with really cool ideas, they might say something that I didn't think of, and then I can add that to the evidence list. I also encourage the players to stop and think out loud to try to put together the pieces they've found. I get really excited when they're both right and when they're wrong, because it lets me confirm or deny these theories with subtle shifts in the evidence down the line. This gives players the impression that they're solving a difficult problem, and that is because they are. I don't correct everything, and if they believe a lie, well, that's part of the story. But I do try to send them towards some kind of success at the end. Now for the really hard part. A mystery can be failed, and this is really essential, because if there's no chance of failure, it wasn't a mystery. You should know what failure looks like ahead of time. Characters could lose key pieces of information. They could not find the answer in time. Key witnesses could disappear. The information could be just gone. They could ask the wrong questions or fall for lies. They could miss a key clue. Now, I generally give them more than one chance to get a given clue, but it's possible the story they knit together ends up being just wrong, and the actions they take as a result could be completely misplaced. I don't tell them when they failed, though. Sometimes it's obvious. But I do make it clear that failure is always an option. And in a game where failure often leads to a fight and possibly death, I find this kind of failure failing a mystery to be far more threatening and far more rewarding than just how many hit points are left in your body. Now, podcasting a mystery is exceptionally tricky because the audience has to share the fate of the players, who are sort of the audience for the mystery story, even if they fail. So, from time to time, you'll hear me adding in tidbits and edits, because I don't want you to be confused, even if confusion is what the players earned. Well, those are the steps to making a mystery plot and my personal philosophy on it. Good luck. Make a plot. Enjoy the time. It's going to be great, guys. Blaine, I think this is Admiral Lunari. Comes to visit you in, essentially, the funeral home at the entrance of catacombs. [00:41:45] Speaker C: Okay. [00:41:45] Speaker A: Is there anybody else here? [00:41:47] Speaker C: I don't think so, because I think Belaine prefers to work at night when it's dark, because the light doesn't hurt her eyes if she has to go outside. So I think if he's coming to see her, it's probably the middle of the night to the wee hours of the morning. And, yeah, she's alone with bodies, probably doing her work. [00:42:07] Speaker A: Okay, so you have a couple of dock workers who got in a scuffle, and you are busy interning these bodies. It's a real shame. They were in their mid 40s. Could have made it another 20 years, at least. But you live with the decisions you make and you die the same way as everybody else. [00:42:27] Speaker C: So I imagine she is wrapping these bodies in. I should do more research on this death cloth. I don't know. [00:42:35] Speaker A: Sure. [00:42:35] Speaker C: She's turning them into mummies, essentially. And there is probably a section in the graveyard or in a crypt or somewhere where they put unimportant people who died anonymously or whatever. And so she is just getting them ready for that burial, right? [00:42:53] Speaker A: There is a knock on the door of the funeral home. [00:42:57] Speaker C: She wipes her hands and goes and opens the door, a little bit surprised. [00:43:03] Speaker A: It is very late. It is like three in the morning. You can see the full moon shining up above. It's past the zenith. It's very, very late. And at your door, in full dress uniform is Admiral Lunari, the de facto leader of this whole city. He looks like he has hastily donned his military coat, his navy jacket, but he still looks like he's in pretty good shape. Admiral Lunari looks to be about 52. He's got some distinguished gray streaks through his hair. He's got a weathered look on his face and spent a lot of time fighting pirates in his youth. He's got many visible battle scars, but these days, desk job. [00:43:48] Speaker C: She says, admiral, what brings you here at this hour? [00:43:51] Speaker A: Boulain, I feel the need to inform you of some developments. We made an arrest at a bar. [00:43:58] Speaker C: Would you come in? [00:43:59] Speaker A: Yes, absolutely. Is your workout on the tables? Because I would really prefer to. Maybe. [00:44:05] Speaker C: I have a sitting area. [00:44:07] Speaker A: Okay, great. [00:44:08] Speaker C: She takes them to a little table and chairs, and there's a little not quite kitchen, but there's some accoutrements there. And she says, would you like tea? [00:44:17] Speaker A: No. There's something about this area and its proximity to the other room where I think no food prepped here is going to meet my needs. [00:44:27] Speaker C: She pulls out her flask and puts it on the table and says, or whiskey. [00:44:30] Speaker A: You know, whiskey sounds good. [00:44:32] Speaker C: She gets out two little cups and fills them and sits down, he takes. [00:44:37] Speaker A: A little sip and says, so two men were in a little bit of a barroom scuffle earlier and we arrested them. [00:44:43] Speaker C: Oh, you arrested them. Good. They are still alive. [00:44:45] Speaker A: Yeah, they're both in the drunk tank. I was chatting with one of them because they were under the impression that there was some danger that was coming for you specifically. [00:45:01] Speaker C: For me? [00:45:02] Speaker A: Yeah. Do you know Taeman? Half elf named Taeman. [00:45:07] Speaker C: She draws up a little bit and looks ask of him and she says, yes, I know a Taman half elf. [00:45:17] Speaker A: So I guess he was trying to help find you. Some long lost relative left you money or something. Anyway, the person he escorted here turns out is a bounty hunter and is looking to abduct you. This revelation. [00:45:38] Speaker C: This bounty hunter is looking for me by name? [00:45:41] Speaker A: No, apparently he's looking for an elf with unmatched eyes and pale skin. [00:45:49] Speaker C: Well, that does narrow things down. [00:45:51] Speaker A: He has apparently, a piece of paper with some descriptions of some notable tattoos on it. [00:45:57] Speaker C: All right, she scoots back and she says, taemin is under the impression that this person wants to bring me money from a dead loved one. [00:46:07] Speaker A: Well, he was apparently. After a few drinks, this bounty hunter let his true intentions be known, and they got in a bit of a scuffle and I arrested both of them. [00:46:19] Speaker C: Oh, Taeman, you beautiful, charming idiot. [00:46:22] Speaker A: I am under the impression that this bounty hunter has very likely learned your name. [00:46:28] Speaker C: She gets up and she starts to pace for a second, and she turns around and looks at him and says, admiral, can you find a reason to hold them for two days? [00:46:42] Speaker A: Yeah, I can. I think they've given me at least that level of offense. [00:46:48] Speaker C: She nods her head slowly and she says, all right, that should give me enough time. [00:46:52] Speaker A: Assume you are not planning on striking first, right, because I don't want to deal with a murder. [00:46:59] Speaker C: Oh, no, admiral, I assure you, I would do nothing of the sort. No, two days will give me enough time to pull on the resources I need to leave undetected. I am going to have to go away for some time. I think it is all right. Seven's granddaughter is now the captain of her old ship, and her crew still thinks of me as family. They will help me. I suppose I should also send to Astragar that you will need a new mortician temporarily. [00:47:27] Speaker A: Yeah, well, so before we get too far down that road, are you this. [00:47:34] Speaker C: No, admiral, I am not safe at all. [00:47:37] Speaker A: Do I need to do something? I mean, you're a respected member of this community. Do I need to do something? [00:47:42] Speaker C: Admiral, the best thing for me to do right now is just disappear. I've been evading this sort for a long time. I'm quite good at it. [00:47:52] Speaker A: Okay. [00:47:52] Speaker C: Do not do anything to the bounty hunter. They keep tabs on each other. They have a guild. If anything happens to this bounty hunter, his buddies will learn about it, and they will be on your doorstep as well. So just hold them for two days. I will be gone. I will see to it that the temple sends you another mortician. You can work out a similar arrangement with them that you have with me, and they can use my house until I come back. [00:48:17] Speaker A: All right? [00:48:19] Speaker C: And her face through this has been very neutral, but just the fact that she's pacing says that she's pretty troubled about this whole thing. [00:48:27] Speaker A: He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a couple of gold and sets it down on the table and says, this isn't much, but hopefully it'll cover some moving expenses. And I want you to know that this community really appreciates you, and I hope you come back. [00:48:40] Speaker C: I do, too, general. I have not had a place I have been able to call home for most of my life, and Turtle Bay has been that for the last 60 years. [00:48:50] Speaker A: I was going to say you've certainly been here all of my life. [00:48:53] Speaker C: And a good deal of your father's. You know, when seven died after we buried her at sea, I had always figured I would take back to the itinerant life and start traveling again. But I had rather grown to enjoy settling down, so I was staying. My mistake. [00:49:14] Speaker A: Boulain, I'm not going to ask questions about why there's a bounty hunter chasing you. Obviously, it's not empire business, or it would be paladins. But I want you to know you'll always have an ally here in Turtle Bay if you decide to come back. [00:49:32] Speaker C: Thank you, admiral. That means a lot. [00:49:36] Speaker A: And he stands up and says, if you'll excuse me, it is long past my bedtime. [00:49:40] Speaker C: I understand. She gets up and opens the door for him, and she says, thank you, admiral, for coming to warn me. [00:49:47] Speaker A: Yeah, well, I suspect trayman won't be helping this bounty hunter out anymore. You want me to give him a. [00:49:55] Speaker C: No. No. Taemin and I split three years ago, and I had no plans on ever seeing him again. [00:50:05] Speaker A: All right, then. That will be how we keep it. [00:50:07] Speaker C: Thank you. [00:50:08] Speaker A: And the admiral walks off in the. [00:50:09] Speaker C: Moonlight, and Boulain closes the door, quickly finishes her work on the two bodies, and then starts to pack. [00:50:26] Speaker A: The three dudes run for it, Creedon. [00:50:29] Speaker D: Well, I guess we're just going to have a disadvantaged fight against each other. So I'm just going to try to eldridge plastic because I don't have much else going for me. Oh, God. Well, that's a seven to hit. [00:50:39] Speaker A: That won't do it. [00:50:41] Speaker D: What should I try to do? I can't run in there to try to help anybody because I can't approach it. [00:50:47] Speaker B: Oh, actually I need to make a death save. My first death save is a success. [00:50:52] Speaker A: Okay, the ghost flies out at you, Creighton. It is about to touch you when the area around you fills with a brilliant light. [00:51:03] Speaker C: Oh, the arch sage showed up. [00:51:05] Speaker A: Let's see. Mask here. Light wounds. Ten damage is healed to all three of you. [00:51:12] Speaker D: I was already at full so I just feel a gust of air. [00:51:15] Speaker A: Now you're beaming and the light fades away almost immediately. Creed and roll me a knowledge religion. You're the only one conscious to potentially observe this. [00:51:23] Speaker D: Oh, that was a net. [00:51:24] Speaker C: One great lightning struck and brought us back to life. Frankenstein monster style. [00:51:32] Speaker D: Whoa. [00:51:32] Speaker A: You don't have any idea what happened there. Make whatever assumptions you wish. No information is for free. [00:51:38] Speaker D: Thanks, patron. [00:51:39] Speaker A: I guess it goes to touch you, Creighton. It has disadvantage. Meaning a nine will probably not hit you. [00:51:48] Speaker D: Oh, wait. Also whenever I cast that on myself. Actually my frightened ended whenever I cast good and evil. Or wait. [00:51:53] Speaker C: No. [00:51:54] Speaker D: I have advantage on any new saving throw. Do I not get to do a saving throw again for this? [00:51:58] Speaker A: No, the frightened just lasts 1 minute. [00:52:00] Speaker D: Okay, well, that's a bummer. I thought that would help me get out of the frightened. [00:52:06] Speaker A: I mean. No, but it is keeping you alive right now. Zerus, your eyes open. It felt for a moment very warm. Roll me a knowledge religion role. You have disadvantaged because you were literally unconscious. [00:52:20] Speaker D: Please, somebody figure this out. [00:52:21] Speaker B: We have a 21 and a 1414. [00:52:25] Speaker A: That light felt how your divine rage feels. Some godlike power has intervened on your behalf. With that in mind. You're awake. You have ten hit points. What are you doing? [00:52:39] Speaker B: I am attacking a ghost with some rage behind it. [00:52:43] Speaker A: Okay, charge and roll to hit, please. [00:52:46] Speaker B: As soon as I mark my rage. [00:52:48] Speaker A: Use here. [00:52:49] Speaker B: Okay. You and you 16 to hit. Oh, and that'll definitely hit 16 magical slashing and four radiant Jesus. [00:53:03] Speaker A: Okay, you rip an axe through it and the ghost goes. This is only the beginning and it dissipates your previous knowledge. Religion role is sufficient to let you know it will be back midnight tomorrow night. Unless you can find its Horcrux and destroy it. [00:53:21] Speaker D: Creedon is crying. She was so scared. [00:53:25] Speaker B: I rush over to Boulain and heal her for four points. [00:53:29] Speaker C: Oh, thank you. I was going to heal you, too. [00:53:34] Speaker D: I thought you two were dead. [00:53:37] Speaker B: Thought I was, too. That was interesting. [00:53:41] Speaker C: Yes, I was a bit worried for a moment there. Boulain will cast healing word on Xeris. [00:53:48] Speaker B: Why not a stronger heel just to put it out there? [00:53:50] Speaker A: Cure wounds is more powerful. Oh, it is? [00:53:53] Speaker C: Well, potentially. I mean, it's still a die roll, right? [00:53:56] Speaker A: Correct. [00:53:57] Speaker C: Yeah, she'll cast cure wound, but you. [00:53:58] Speaker A: Are under no stress, so you don't need to use the ranged version. [00:54:01] Speaker C: That's true. Ten points. [00:54:02] Speaker B: Awesome. That is pretty good. [00:54:05] Speaker A: So three of these guys have run off into town. Three of them are dead, lying around the floor. [00:54:11] Speaker B: Let's search this warehouse. [00:54:13] Speaker C: Yes, we should search the warehouse. I would also be interested to see if the body outside has already been claimed by the box. [00:54:21] Speaker A: If you go to the edge of the docks and look down, you do not see a body in the mud. All right, well, but give me an investigate roll for the warehouse. [00:54:28] Speaker B: Yes. I assume someone's going to help me. [00:54:30] Speaker C: Yes, I will help you. Instead of rolling. [00:54:32] Speaker A: 19, then. [00:54:33] Speaker D: I'm still too disappointed. [00:54:34] Speaker A: 19. In the back of the warehouse, you find a trap door. [00:54:38] Speaker B: I open the trap door. [00:54:42] Speaker A: Cool. The smell of fish dissipates to something far worse. There is truly noxious fumes. [00:54:53] Speaker D: Creighton sprays some of her fancy perfume in a handkerchief and ties it over. [00:54:57] Speaker C: Elaine casts somaturgy on herself and also on Xeris and Creedon so that we're getting the Vix vapor rub smell under our noses instead. [00:55:06] Speaker A: Vicks incense. [00:55:08] Speaker C: Yes. [00:55:08] Speaker A: Okay. You can not throw up. [00:55:11] Speaker C: Great. [00:55:11] Speaker B: Pretty good. [00:55:12] Speaker C: What's down there? [00:55:13] Speaker D: Yeah, who's going down there? [00:55:15] Speaker B: Sure. [00:55:15] Speaker A: A little ladder that goes down into the darkness. [00:55:18] Speaker B: I will go down first. [00:55:19] Speaker C: Would you like me to look before we climb down? Because I can see in the dark. [00:55:23] Speaker B: I can also use a lantern. [00:55:25] Speaker C: All right. I'm just saying I could poke my head down there before you actually go down. [00:55:29] Speaker B: Okay, go ahead. [00:55:30] Speaker C: All right. Belain will look before. [00:55:33] Speaker A: Okay, Belain, roll me. Perception. [00:55:36] Speaker C: Okay. 22. [00:55:39] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah. There is a shrine down there. It doesn't appear to be dedicated to any God you recognize. It appears to have rotting hunks of flesh and pus piled up in a pile in front of it. [00:55:51] Speaker C: Sorry, I just threw up a little bit of my mouth. [00:55:54] Speaker A: And behind the shrine is a couple of storage crates and a stone door leading toward the lake. [00:56:02] Speaker C: Okay. She will poke her head back up and says, well, there is a shrine to rot that we could probably just burn on our way. Out. And there are some crates and a stone door to the lake. [00:56:12] Speaker B: Let's begin. All right, so I'll go down there. Let's start with the boxes. [00:56:18] Speaker C: Yeah, the crates first. [00:56:20] Speaker A: Okay. You pop the crates open. In here is mostly spoiled food stuffs, things that have been rotted and destroyed. You're guessing. It's like backup sacrifices for the altar. Okay. [00:56:36] Speaker C: And that's it. That's the only thing in there. [00:56:38] Speaker A: Roll me. Perception as you look at a pile of rotted food. 13, not 2011, not 20, something catches your eye. There's a glint of silver underneath, some truly outrageous dead rats, and some fruit that is no longer recognizable. [00:56:56] Speaker B: Hey, what's that? [00:56:57] Speaker C: What is what? [00:56:58] Speaker B: I go for it to figure out what it is. [00:57:01] Speaker D: I mean, I can mag hand it if you prefer. [00:57:03] Speaker C: That might not be a bad idea. [00:57:05] Speaker A: I would save someone a concave. [00:57:07] Speaker B: Sure. [00:57:08] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:57:08] Speaker D: I would like to attempt to pick it up with mage hand. [00:57:10] Speaker A: Okay, mage hand, you pull out from a pile of rot, a silver symbol of the radiant one, destroying that shit. [00:57:19] Speaker D: Yeah, I'll hold it up. You can shoot it. [00:57:21] Speaker A: How so? Describe your destruction. [00:57:25] Speaker C: I will cast sacred flame on it, which will do radiant damage. [00:57:29] Speaker A: Okay. [00:57:30] Speaker C: And I can do that repeatedly. [00:57:31] Speaker A: That's cool. I just wanted it more looking for description than an actual combat challenge here. All right. [00:57:36] Speaker C: She has Creedon hold it at a distance from us and then she touches the raven tattoo and says a spell and raises the other hand up and a beam of light just comes down. This is the Horcrux. [00:57:51] Speaker D: Do you not want us to destroy it? [00:57:53] Speaker B: No, I want us to destroy it. But can we destroy it in a way that it can be repaired? [00:57:56] Speaker C: Will sacred plain allow us to repair it? [00:57:58] Speaker A: So radiant damage probably leaves a little bit to be desired. Mechanically speaking, I don't have a good answer for you, so I'm going to make a dungeon master's call here. Radiant damage will leave the structure of this thing intact. It's not like hot, it's not going to melt the metal, it's not going to mar it, but it will absolutely destroy anything evil attached to it. [00:58:18] Speaker B: That sounds perfect then. [00:58:19] Speaker C: Okay, so she touches the raven tattoo and says a spell and raise her hands to the sky, and a beams of light just come down and blast at this thing until it is dead. [00:58:28] Speaker A: There's an energy that fades off of this thing and you are left with a somewhat cool to the touch amulet medallion. [00:58:38] Speaker C: Well, hopefully that takes care of their ghost thug. What about this door to the lake? Do we want to open that? [00:58:45] Speaker B: Yes. [00:58:46] Speaker C: All right. [00:58:46] Speaker D: I mean, I wouldn't mind a rest. [00:58:49] Speaker C: She has a point. [00:58:51] Speaker D: Maybe just a short one. Not in this gross basement. [00:58:55] Speaker A: You take a short rest. Remember you can spend hit dice to heal yourself. Take a short rest. [00:59:00] Speaker B: That's not a bad plan. [00:59:02] Speaker D: Yay. I can spend useful again. [00:59:04] Speaker C: Back down to eleven damage. [00:59:07] Speaker B: Yeah, I'll use two dice to heal myself to full. [00:59:10] Speaker D: Are you still older? [00:59:12] Speaker A: Yes. [00:59:12] Speaker B: I don't think that goes away. [00:59:14] Speaker C: I think you have to go to a special cleric or something. [00:59:18] Speaker D: Is it a curse or you have. [00:59:19] Speaker C: To get like restoration? [00:59:21] Speaker A: It is a more powerful curse than remove curse can handle. [00:59:24] Speaker D: Because I have a scroll. [00:59:25] Speaker A: Greater restoration. [00:59:27] Speaker C: Oh, you have a scroll for greater restoration. [00:59:29] Speaker D: I have a scroll of greater restoration. [00:59:31] Speaker C: Maybe we should wait until we're done with the big baddie and then do all that. [00:59:35] Speaker D: I mean, yes, but I just want it to be known. [00:59:38] Speaker A: Being 50 does not currently seem to be hurting Xeros'combat prowess. [00:59:42] Speaker D: I just wanted to make sure that we knew that I had xeros. [00:59:46] Speaker A: I think your hairline has receded several inches though. And that's pretty offensive. [00:59:51] Speaker C: He's got a little grayer. [00:59:53] Speaker D: Got some salt and pepper on the sides. [00:59:57] Speaker B: Probably pure white at this point, but yeah. [01:00:00] Speaker C: Okay. [01:00:01] Speaker A: Who's opening this door? [01:00:03] Speaker C: Hold on a second. So we are down a level. So we're like down under the water. [01:00:08] Speaker A: You are below the waterline of the lake. [01:00:11] Speaker C: I have some reservations about opening this door. Yeah, I think we need to make sure there's a ladder going up. We have a quick way to get back up. [01:00:23] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:00:24] Speaker D: Before you open the door, I am going to cast a guidance on terrace. [01:00:29] Speaker C: Yeah, good call. Okay, I'm going to wait by the ladder while you open that door. [01:00:35] Speaker B: That seems reasonable. [01:00:37] Speaker D: Prepare an action to climb the ladder. [01:00:39] Speaker C: Here comes the way. You open the door and all these mycelium come out and strangle us. [01:00:44] Speaker B: Yeah, I'll have the axe out. [01:00:46] Speaker D: He's looking at his book. [01:00:47] Speaker C: He pulled out the monster manual. [01:00:50] Speaker A: So, Xeris, you open this door, right? [01:00:53] Speaker B: Yes. [01:00:53] Speaker A: I'm going to need an athletics check from you, my friend. Hey, I've gotten guidance. [01:00:58] Speaker B: Guidance is the D four version of skill checks, right? [01:01:01] Speaker D: Yes. [01:01:02] Speaker A: Okay. [01:01:02] Speaker D: Also, Creedon is feeling so guilty taking you down. [01:01:07] Speaker B: Not 20. So it's 26. [01:01:10] Speaker A: Jeez. The room is filled with tentacles. Creedon and Boulane. I need also athletics or acrobatics. Check. Zerus. A tentacle wraps around you and goes to pull. It cannot get you through this door. You will not allow it. [01:01:28] Speaker C: I'm going to go for acrobatics here. 611. [01:01:32] Speaker A: Creedon it wraps around you and yanks you towards the door. You slam into Xeris's back with an eleven boulain. It wraps around you and pulls you to the door. You slam into Xeris's back. Xeris. I need another athletics check. As two people slam into the back. [01:01:46] Speaker B: Of you and I no longer have guidance. Is that correct? Guidance is just for the next ability. [01:01:52] Speaker A: Go ahead and add it. [01:01:53] Speaker B: Okay. [01:01:53] Speaker A: Sort of instantaneous thing, really. [01:01:56] Speaker B: 14. 1919 plus three is 22. [01:01:59] Speaker A: Damn. Okay. Yeah, you hold. And that is where we're going to stop for this evening. [01:02:08] Speaker D: Oh, my God. [01:02:09] Speaker C: Oh, shit. [01:02:20] Speaker A: And that is our show today. Special thanks to Tod Ferguson of my pet machine for our tunes, Julie at elaborate flight of fancy for our logo, and author Tim beach, who was the original creator of the town of North bank and DNd lore in, I believe, 1992. Don't forget to leave us a rating and review. Next up, it's boss fight time on carrots and suffering at the indie Odyssey.