Campaign 2 (Astragar) Episode 41: Temple of Nodig

[00:00:30] Speaker A: Welcome to Carrots and suffering a DND Odyssey. I am Nate, your dungeon master and story writer. Don't forget to leave us a rating and review. Last time on carrots and suffering, our heroes wandered through the swamp, having several close calls with dangerous swamp beasts. [00:00:48] Speaker B: We should give this at birth. [00:00:51] Speaker C: I have a bad feeling about those vines up there. I can't tell if there's a way around, but I think I see them moving. [00:00:59] Speaker A: So the good news is, you have identified the location of two of these things, and you have gone the other way. You do run into a third one. [00:01:08] Speaker C: I mean, I think that we just try to sneak through again if we can. [00:01:11] Speaker B: Well, I could cast a darkness spell over us while we go through. They would not be able to see us, but we also would not be able to see us. [00:01:22] Speaker A: A rocket of a tongue breaks the surface of the water, shoots directly out and slaps your dancing lights, kind of zipping through them, and then sucks directly back in. [00:01:37] Speaker C: It's like a frog. [00:01:38] Speaker B: That is one hell of a frog. [00:01:41] Speaker C: Is this the all frogger? [00:01:46] Speaker A: He actually spends all of his days trying to cross roads. [00:01:49] Speaker B: He's trying to cross roads, not getting hit by trucks. [00:01:52] Speaker A: Our heroes found their way to the Lizardman Swamp and discovered that the Lizardmen were enslaved by the dragon who opposed their draconic overlord. So they slipped into the ancient lair. [00:02:02] Speaker D: It was my understanding that the great Bisonth was sovereign of these lands, but you seem to have some disagreement with that. If you have a secret stash. [00:02:14] Speaker A: I am old enough to remember the time before Bicent came here. [00:02:21] Speaker D: If you could show us to the temple, that would probably be the help we need. If you had another plan, I'm open to hearing it. Go on. [00:02:29] Speaker A: I will tell my people you are pilgrims of nodic. [00:02:33] Speaker D: Great. [00:02:33] Speaker A: They will take you to the temple. [00:02:35] Speaker D: Okay. [00:02:36] Speaker A: I hope you can swim. Bisonth has made some upgrades. [00:02:40] Speaker D: We're going to find out if we can swim. We're going to need about a minute to prepare for any lengthy swimming, but we should be able to do that. [00:02:50] Speaker A: And the only other thing you see, aside from these two smaller lizard men, is two large lizard creatures. One of them looks to be about the size of a dog, only it has a lizardesque exoskeleton and weirdly, long legs for a lizard. Again, the exoskeleton is black, like Onyx or obsidian. And then there is a much larger lizard. Let's get into it. So you head into this temple complex dread. By the way, his eyes are like saucers. As he's taking in all of these carvings and analyzing them, Jom and Max don't seem to have any clue or interest, but you head in and they take you down and around these twists and turns, and you end up in what is definitely a complex. This is a large hallway. I'm going to say man made, although you don't recognize any of this architecture. Ancient, ancient stonework covered in lizard reliefs. Wide hallways, tall ceilings, large enough that you think a fairly big creature could walk down these or squeeze down them if they're really big. And you see some side rooms as you walk by. And in one of them, it looks like a row of little cells has been created, jail cells. They have wooden spiked gates on them, and you can see humans in them. [00:04:22] Speaker B: Live humans or dead humans? [00:04:23] Speaker A: Live humans. They look like centipedes have been biting them. And there appears to be a little lizard man who's poking them with a stick. But you walk by. Yes. [00:04:32] Speaker D: Just going to walk by that for the moment. [00:04:34] Speaker C: You had no problem doing it last time. [00:04:39] Speaker D: Yeah, but this time I want to kill the people who are doing it. [00:04:44] Speaker A: As you continue through this area, there is a large meeting room that has ancient stone sitting structures. Again, it's all really old, really worn. Nothing is square. No angle is square anymore. It's all been worn. And the creature leading you, this small dragon man says, this is the ward. Mostly it serves as the meeting room, but these days it's really more of the larder. And he points to just piles of barrels that smell very acidic. [00:05:19] Speaker D: Yes. [00:05:20] Speaker A: And over here is the temple. And he walks you into this massive structure. It's absolutely huge. A dragon could stand at its full height in here. It stretches well above ground. There aren't any windows or openings, though. And there is a huge painting or a mural of stones plucked across the surface of a massive dragon. It has iridescent stones used in it, and so you can't tell what color the dragon is like. It's a different color at every different angle you look at it, but it is this massive, massive creature specifically designed to look regal. But just the raw size of it is terrifying. And then there are little reliefs also, all very ancient, difficult to read of different smaller dragons having been created in little, again, pebble frescoes. And there's a lot of writing, none of which you can read. [00:06:18] Speaker D: So it's just this large, empty temple with massive statue and our sorcerer supreme and dos. [00:06:26] Speaker A: There is one more creature in this room. There is a large, pony sized, dragon like creature that appears to be just coiled up in the corner. It completely ignores you when you walk in. It has green scales from head to toe. [00:06:43] Speaker C: Man, I could try to ritual cast comprehend languages although then I wouldn't be able to keep my detect magic up. I should have gone ahead and cast that first and then done a ritual cast detect magic because that would have worked fine. [00:06:57] Speaker A: Xeris. No, dig whispers in your ear. [00:07:00] Speaker D: All right. [00:07:00] Speaker A: He says, this is the temple to my father. No, dig. That creature there is the guardian of the temple. [00:07:08] Speaker B: Amiostax vendor locks is the dragon skeleton we killed outside of Sternheim. [00:07:14] Speaker A: Right? [00:07:14] Speaker B: Okay. [00:07:15] Speaker D: All right. [00:07:15] Speaker A: And there is, weirdly enough, a large red dragon relief that seems a little newer than everything else in here that has been plucked into the wall. And next to it is a very fresh black dragon relief that, judging from the proportions has been made to look bigger than it is. [00:07:32] Speaker C: What was the name of this Guardian? [00:07:35] Speaker A: Amius Dax. [00:07:37] Speaker D: One word I wrote. Amy Stacks. So I'm glad we had that. [00:07:40] Speaker C: I heard stacks, too. [00:07:43] Speaker D: So I hope you don't have an objection. We're killing it now. [00:07:47] Speaker B: Like right now. [00:07:48] Speaker D: That's to nodig. [00:07:49] Speaker A: Oh, no. Dig says you can do whatever you wish with it. [00:07:55] Speaker D: Excellent. [00:07:55] Speaker C: Killing the Guardian. Is this where the horde is or is this just a shrine? [00:08:00] Speaker A: You don't see a horde. [00:08:01] Speaker D: We got to get out of the room to find the. Anyway. Not going to explain that because what I will explain is to dread. I'm going to be get the others ready for an attack. [00:08:10] Speaker A: Dread lets out this heavy sigh and Max immediately grabs his weapon. [00:08:16] Speaker C: Creighton looks a bit confused but pulls out her wand. [00:08:20] Speaker D: Geek the mage and I'll attack with that. [00:08:23] Speaker A: Okay. [00:08:24] Speaker D: Down the sorcerer would be more appropriate than geek the mage because that's shatter. [00:08:29] Speaker A: And speak, but roll me a deception roll to see if you can get the drop on said. [00:08:36] Speaker C: This is so messed up. [00:08:38] Speaker D: I'm going to do the thing that I'm trying to do as little of as possible. Since this is entirely for my own motivations and not altruistic at all. Can I have advantage? [00:08:48] Speaker A: Yeah. Yes, you may. [00:08:49] Speaker D: All right. [00:08:49] Speaker A: No. Dig is perfectly willing to have you slaughter all of these creatures. [00:08:53] Speaker D: Deception is 16. [00:08:56] Speaker A: Okay? Yeah. You get the drop on him. Give me a swing. All right. [00:08:59] Speaker D: We're going to go rage and reckless. [00:09:01] Speaker A: All right, do it. [00:09:02] Speaker B: Did Dread prepare us or did he just sigh? [00:09:05] Speaker A: Dread just sighed. Max recognized that signal and so did Creedon. [00:09:10] Speaker C: Well, Creedon knows well enough to know that if Max reacts to something dread does it's probably some kind of subtext she doesn't quite get yet. [00:09:19] Speaker D: We're going to go ahead and swing at him with some recklessness. The first swing is. I assume you're a dragon. [00:09:26] Speaker A: Oh, yes. [00:09:27] Speaker D: All right. Awesome. 19 to hit. [00:09:29] Speaker A: That hits. [00:09:31] Speaker D: Okay, I will. 20 points on the first swing. [00:09:35] Speaker A: Okay. That will be your surprise action. Okay, go ahead and take your second swing because whenever you get an attack action, you get a second swing. We're just going to roll it together. One of the dice fell off. [00:09:47] Speaker D: Okay, so that's a much higher. That's going to be a 24. That is a seven slashing. And 19 not slashing. So that's 26. [00:09:59] Speaker A: Okay. You cut this creature twice, and instead of dying or bleeding, it dissolves in a black mist until the only thing left is a single black dragon scale about the size of the palm of your hand lying on the ground where it was. [00:10:17] Speaker D: Take the scale. [00:10:18] Speaker A: I need an initiative role from Everybody because there is another creature in this room that will be upset about this development. [00:10:25] Speaker D: I'm not surprised, but the mage had. [00:10:27] Speaker B: To go to 15. [00:10:29] Speaker C: That was a net 20 for a total of six. Everybody know what? [00:10:34] Speaker B: 26. [00:10:36] Speaker C: I don't know why my brain shirt circuited for just a given. [00:10:43] Speaker A: Negative 14 to initiative. What's going on? [00:10:48] Speaker C: I don't know where that number came from. You're an engineer, and it bothered. It disturbs me every day. [00:10:57] Speaker B: Sundays are not for mathing, Nate. You don't math on the weekends. [00:11:04] Speaker C: Look, I played a previous D D games with myself, an aerospace engineer and a guy that majored in the liberal arts, and he did all of the simple math force. Okay. [00:11:13] Speaker A: All right. [00:11:14] Speaker D: Zero's got a 16 on the shift. [00:11:16] Speaker C: 22. [00:11:16] Speaker A: Creedon, you're first. [00:11:21] Speaker C: I mean, Creedon is going to shout out, Zerus, what are we doing? But she's also going to go ahead and do eldritch blast. [00:11:29] Speaker A: Sure. [00:11:29] Speaker C: Both of my beams. Oh, my God. Those are some sad rolls. That's going to be a. Oh, God. Now I'm self conscious about her trying to do math. 13 to hit with. [00:11:42] Speaker A: 113 will miss. [00:11:43] Speaker C: Okay, well, so does the other one. [00:11:44] Speaker A: Well, it won't miss, but its scales are. [00:11:47] Speaker C: I just. [00:11:47] Speaker A: Very effective. [00:11:49] Speaker C: Completely beef the two actual Eldritch blasts. [00:11:51] Speaker A: It happens. [00:11:52] Speaker C: But you hexed it. [00:11:53] Speaker B: That's what matters. [00:11:54] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:11:54] Speaker A: The creature stands up as two hearts bounce off of its face. It looks confused. [00:12:03] Speaker C: It and me both. [00:12:04] Speaker A: It takes a deep breath and then spews venom across the entire 60 foot line in a steaming streak at Creed. Creedon. I need a con saving throw. [00:12:18] Speaker C: You got it. Oh, okay, that's pretty good. That's going to be a 19. [00:12:23] Speaker A: Okay, that's lovely. That's lovely. You only take 18 poison damage as this thing sprays you with poison. Its attack was a 60 foot line to see if there was anybody in front of you. We are going to roll a. I. [00:12:40] Speaker D: Mean, I would try to position myself in front of her, so I'm fine. [00:12:42] Speaker C: Yeah, I would probably usually try to be hiding behind some. [00:12:47] Speaker A: Well, it's a big open room, so there was no need for you to be in a line. All right, so I'm going to roll a D 20. The D 20 says it's about average. I don't think there was anybody between you and it, per se. So it just strikes Creedon and then it starts to suck in more air. Zerus. All right, so get it in the windpipe. [00:13:09] Speaker D: I'm about 60ft away from it. [00:13:11] Speaker A: Yes. [00:13:11] Speaker D: Okay. I'm going to move 30ft, and then I'm going to drop my. Well, not drop, but I'm going to drop on my foot or whatever my glave and just try to two handed throw this mall at the dragon. [00:13:28] Speaker A: You will not receive your proficiency bonus for this attack. [00:13:30] Speaker D: No, that's totally fine. That's totally fine. We will go ahead and be reckless because we're 30ft away from it. And if he's using both weapons, it's not even going to matter. We're just going to try and just axe throw this limestone mall. Well, the one that's showing is in. [00:13:45] Speaker A: That one, so that's sad. [00:13:47] Speaker D: But the other one is a no proficiency bonus. Just straight strength. Gives me an 18. [00:13:54] Speaker A: An 18, okay. It smacks directly into this thing's chest as it's trying to pull in another breath to presumably spray poison at you. Go ahead and roll damage. Assume this mall is what? Two D six. [00:14:06] Speaker D: That sounds right. Let's do that. [00:14:08] Speaker A: Okay. [00:14:10] Speaker D: Two D six. That is going to be eight points of damage. Man, I miss noticing. [00:14:17] Speaker A: It's all right. It gets you there. You did some damage, Boolain. [00:14:21] Speaker B: Okie. She will cast toll the dead on the dragon and also spiritual weapon. So toll the dead is his disadvantaged wisdom. Save. [00:14:33] Speaker A: Okay. He makes his saving throw. [00:14:36] Speaker B: Okay. And then spiritual weapon is going to. [00:14:40] Speaker A: Be 1313 will not get through its armor. So it strikes it, but its scales are just too strong. [00:14:48] Speaker B: And she is going to keep her distance from this thing. So she's going to move 30ft away. [00:14:52] Speaker A: Okay. You space yourself out along this massive opening. Max is going to double move, charging right up to this dragon's face, but not getting to attack. Chom is going to follow Max's lead, doing the same thing again, getting right into his face, but not able to attack. Dread pulls his crossbow, pushes up to about where Xeris is, spreads out a little bit to avoid said poison breath weapon and will take a single shot, which will connect. And he has friends in the melee, but he doesn't roll terribly well. But he will hit it, doing some damage. 15 of some damage, bringing us to Creighton. [00:15:31] Speaker C: Going to try to redeem myself with another eldritch blast combo. Okay, that's looking a little bit better. I got 115 to hit. [00:15:41] Speaker A: A 15 just misses connecting with the scales, but not getting into the damage. [00:15:46] Speaker C: All right. And then a 19 to hit. [00:15:48] Speaker A: Super hits. [00:15:49] Speaker C: All right, so that'll be almost minimum damage, of course. Seven force damage and two necrotic damage. [00:15:59] Speaker A: All right. With two targets happily immediately next to him, this creature goes to town. [00:16:06] Speaker C: Oh, no. [00:16:07] Speaker A: Max did use his bonus action to rage, which might be what saves his life. [00:16:11] Speaker C: Oh, no. [00:16:12] Speaker A: All right. As this thing bites Max and digs two claws in. Oh, thank gosh. So this thing snaps at Max, who ducks underneath of it. It slams two claws down and Max manages to roll off of both of them. And even though this thing is just dripping poison, it doesn't seem to have gotten into any of Max's little scratches from this. And Max walks away unhit. [00:16:40] Speaker C: Very cool of Max. [00:16:41] Speaker A: Very lucky of Max. Which brings us to zeros. [00:16:45] Speaker D: All right, well, do it again. So pick up, no dig and charge 30ft and start swinging. We're going to slice that at once with fresh attack recklessly. 23 to hit. That hits ten. That's 24. [00:17:01] Speaker A: Okay. [00:17:01] Speaker D: And then we're going to do it again. No, Nick really is the Dragon Slayer. It's kind of crazy. That's 20. Okay, I was worried for a second. That is low damage, though. 1016. [00:17:16] Speaker A: Yeah. Your dragon slaying glave tears into this dragon and it's brutal. The thing is still alive. [00:17:21] Speaker B: Boolain is going to do repeat. She's going to do toll the dead and spiritual weapon on it. So disadvantaged save. He's got to get a 15. [00:17:30] Speaker A: Okie dokie. He fails. [00:17:34] Speaker B: Excellent. Which save was it? Wisdom. [00:17:36] Speaker C: Oh, cool reminder that it has disadvantage. [00:17:38] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:17:39] Speaker B: Okay, so that is six necrotic damage. That was lousy. All right. And then the spiritual weapon. Oh, that's a little bit better. 22. [00:17:48] Speaker A: Okay, that hits. [00:17:50] Speaker B: All right. And that is twelve force damage. [00:17:54] Speaker A: Okay. [00:17:55] Speaker B: Oh, she did have to move closer to do the toll the dead, but she'll try to swing around so she's a little behind it, especially since it's engaged with Cirrus and Max. [00:18:03] Speaker A: Now that works. Chom starts hacking it to pieces. He is brutalizing this thing. Similarly, Max takes a swing. His first swing does not do great, but his second one solidly connects. He rolls minimum damage and is so sad. [00:18:22] Speaker C: I relate. [00:18:23] Speaker B: The attack I got in was quite bad. [00:18:26] Speaker A: Dread takes a shot. Dread crits? Yeah, with sneak attack. Hitting it for a lot. [00:18:33] Speaker B: Excellent. [00:18:34] Speaker A: This thing has a crossbow bolt sticking out of its throat. [00:18:37] Speaker B: Creedon keeping it from activating its breath weapon. [00:18:39] Speaker A: I wouldn't be so sure about that. [00:18:42] Speaker C: Rinse and repeat. Double eldritch bust, here we come. Ooh, both of those are going to hit. The lower one is a 24 to hit. [00:18:51] Speaker A: Okay. Yes. They both hit. [00:18:53] Speaker C: All right, so the first attack. Oh, my God. Rolling a one on a D ten is just. It shouldn't be allowed. [00:18:59] Speaker B: It's so punishing. Right. On those d twelve s. I rolled two threes on those D twelve s. I was so mad. [00:19:06] Speaker C: Okay, well, that's six force damage. And bright side, six necrotic damage on the first one. The second one is going to be nine force damage and one necrotic damage. [00:19:18] Speaker A: All right, so this entity explodes. [00:19:22] Speaker C: Got it. [00:19:22] Speaker A: Poison flies all over the room. There are only three people in range, but I need a concave from Xeris. Max and Chom. [00:19:33] Speaker D: You got it. Here we go. Nope, that row came up a two. So it's a four. A six. [00:19:41] Speaker C: I like the Zurich. Just never responded to Creed in asking what we were doing. Just kill first, explain later. [00:19:49] Speaker A: He got mad. [00:19:50] Speaker D: Yeah, it wasn't the time. [00:19:51] Speaker A: That is 36 poison damage halved. Is it? Do you have the ability to have poison? [00:19:59] Speaker D: I'm raging. It's everything but psychic. I will double check that. [00:20:02] Speaker C: But pretty sure your rage squeezes the poison out of your veins. Oh, sorry. It's like Wolverine and Logan when he. [00:20:23] Speaker B: Gets shot and he's like. He flexes his chest and the bullets pop out. [00:20:28] Speaker C: Yes, exactly. Except it's poison, so it squirts. [00:20:35] Speaker D: Oh, I thought it was. It just says piercing slashing damage. Hold on. Let me just double check. [00:20:39] Speaker A: Yeah, I think it's just normal weapons. [00:20:43] Speaker D: I must be wrong. Hold on. I totally thought it was for some reason. I know I have this in my head, so let me clear this from my head. Just give me 1 second. [00:20:50] Speaker A: There is a type of bear barbarian that. [00:20:53] Speaker D: It's right here. Yeah, I must be. Yeah, no, 36. [00:20:57] Speaker A: Okay. [00:20:58] Speaker D: I must be thinking of a certain type of barbarian is what it is. [00:21:02] Speaker C: The Wolverine type of barbarian. [00:21:04] Speaker A: Okay, so yeah, Max and Chom also eat that same amount of damage as they were not expecting the creature to explode on death. But it does. [00:21:13] Speaker C: Oh, no. Yeah, this is worth it, right? [00:21:15] Speaker A: Chom's going to take a little breather because. Ow. That's a lot of acid. And he'll try to get it off of him. He'll use his second wind to heal up a little bit, but Max just takes that in the face. [00:21:27] Speaker B: We can chill for an hour and people can roll, hit dice. [00:21:30] Speaker C: I love that. [00:21:30] Speaker B: Or I can use four level one spell slots and cure people. [00:21:33] Speaker C: I mean, we're probably not safe anymore. [00:21:36] Speaker D: Yeah, I really don't know that we should stop here. [00:21:39] Speaker C: Okay. [00:21:39] Speaker B: Boulain will ask cure runes four times and heal people. So that's going to be. [00:21:45] Speaker C: I'm doing more okay than everyone else. [00:21:48] Speaker B: You're going to need your strength because we're about to be chased. [00:21:52] Speaker C: It's true. I mean, why did we do that? Zerus. [00:21:56] Speaker B: All right, Creedon. You get ten points back. Zero. You get 13 points back. Max gets eight points back. Chom gets nine points back. [00:22:09] Speaker D: We did that because we were going to have to. And now we have free reign of the lair. [00:22:13] Speaker C: Why were we going to have to. You didn't even try to talk to it. You've been talking to everything else. [00:22:18] Speaker D: Because this was the plan we talked about, that we get in, we still. [00:22:23] Speaker C: Don'T even know where the Horde is. Well, the original plan was, yes, to go in guns blazing, but it seemed like we had an alternate path that maybe didn't involve that. That maybe we could have run out of here with all of our resources. [00:22:35] Speaker B: It is true that we were unlikely to get out of this room without an altercation, but it would be lovely if we could work on some warning signal Zuris, so that we are not caught so off guard. [00:22:47] Speaker D: Dread sigh. Apparently that's the signal I told him to. [00:22:51] Speaker A: Noted for next one where the poison exploded. There is no body. There is one green Dragon scale about the size of someone's torso. [00:23:03] Speaker B: Wow, you want a dragon scale, Cretan, to go with your tooth? [00:23:06] Speaker D: Yeah, someone's torso. But, yeah, I'll put that in a pack if it fits. [00:23:10] Speaker C: Okay, you're taking it. [00:23:12] Speaker A: You can kind of make it fit. It's about the size of a shield. [00:23:15] Speaker D: All right. It's too big for your purse. [00:23:21] Speaker C: This is a very stylish fanny pack. [00:23:23] Speaker D: I will have, you know, adventurous satchel, I think is what it said in the market stall. [00:23:30] Speaker B: Stylish and Fanny pack do not belong in the same sentence together. [00:23:34] Speaker C: While we're doing this be healing up and everything? Creedon's going to. I mean, I know it'll take ten minutes, but she's at least going to try to start recasting, detect magic. I think she's going to want it when we get to the Horde, so she's trying to do it in advance if at all possible. [00:23:50] Speaker D: Sure, yeah, we can take ten minutes for that. Sure. [00:23:52] Speaker A: Let me just mark that on my timer. [00:23:55] Speaker D: Are you originally casting it or are you. [00:23:56] Speaker C: It is original cast. That's the only way that I know it. [00:23:59] Speaker B: Ulaine is going to take a moment to look through Brandir's eyes circling around outside. [00:24:04] Speaker C: Good call. [00:24:04] Speaker A: Yeah. So, outside, nothing seems to have changed. It looks like an overgrown set of stone ruins with domes covered in vines and giant centipedes. For the most part, the two lizard men who brought you here seem to swim back to the village. Your canoes are unmolested, and it's quiet. [00:24:24] Speaker B: Great. She will think to him. Keep us posted. [00:24:27] Speaker C: As soon as Creedon's done with original cast, she's going to be like, let's go. Last ten minutes. Let's go. [00:24:32] Speaker D: What exits do we have from this room? [00:24:34] Speaker A: There's one that takes you back into the Larder Ward, and then there was a hallway that went in two directions. [00:24:41] Speaker D: All right, so here's my plan. From here, we go to the larder, we kill the guards, we release the people, and then we go find the Horde. [00:24:48] Speaker B: Okay. [00:24:49] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, Crayden actually likes that plan. [00:24:50] Speaker B: I have a question. Is killing the guard and stealing the giant scale enough? Do we need to find a horde? [00:24:56] Speaker D: Yeah, I think so, because this is just a dragon scale. [00:24:59] Speaker C: All right, Creighton will back that up some and be like, yeah, I think the Horde is what Bison really cares about. We are also full of. [00:25:10] Speaker B: We're so shifty. [00:25:12] Speaker C: We're all so shifty. [00:25:15] Speaker B: Belaine shrugs, says, all right, Max and. [00:25:18] Speaker C: Choms get Dreadship, but watch us all like awkwardly keeping secrets from each other. [00:25:24] Speaker A: The only one who will notice is Dred, and he won't say anything. [00:25:27] Speaker B: Dread is the one who has already figured out what all of our secrets are. Pretty sure. [00:25:32] Speaker A: So as you run into the larder, there are just barrels and barrels and barrels of meat, pickling and acid. [00:25:40] Speaker C: Yum. [00:25:41] Speaker A: There appears to be one little lizard man here who hasn't really noticed any noise coming from the temple or didn't think anything of it, and appears to be trying to use a stick to dunk some sort of hunk of meat into one of these barrels. [00:25:56] Speaker C: Creighton wants to whisper before we engage it that we should try to capture it alive so it can tell us where the Horde is. Because we do have multiple paths. [00:26:04] Speaker D: Don't you have a spell for that? [00:26:05] Speaker C: What do you mean? I don't have a spell to find the Horde? I mean, I could try to get it to help us. [00:26:11] Speaker D: Yeah, I've seen you several times get people to help us. [00:26:13] Speaker C: Yeah. Okay. Can I try that before we try to kill it? [00:26:18] Speaker B: Yeah, cast suggestion on it. Yeah. [00:26:20] Speaker C: Okay. I guess. Yeah. Can I bust in and try to cast suggestion? [00:26:24] Speaker A: Sure. This one is a dummy. [00:26:27] Speaker D: I kick in the door and I say, be my friend. [00:26:31] Speaker A: This one's a dummy. It gets an eleven, which is going to fail at saving throw. What do you suggest it do? [00:26:36] Speaker C: I am going to suggest that it surrender itself to us and lead us to the Horde through the safest to us path possible. [00:26:43] Speaker D: We have to work on your suggestions. [00:26:46] Speaker C: I'm not good at thinking of them in the moment. Okay. I mean. Dredd, feel free to chime in if you think of a really. You seem like you would be really good at contracts. [00:26:56] Speaker A: You know what? You're doing great. [00:26:58] Speaker C: Yeah, that's right. [00:26:59] Speaker B: Positive reinforcement. [00:27:01] Speaker D: No, you are. You are doing great. You are doing great. I'm sorry. [00:27:04] Speaker A: So the little dragon creature tilts its set and says, okay, follow mE. [00:27:09] Speaker B: The lane looks at Max and says, do you want to free the prisoner? [00:27:11] Speaker C: Yeah, let him out real quick. I forgot to tell it to wait for us. I did say that as the lead us. So it would need to wait for us. [00:27:20] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:27:20] Speaker A: So you round the corner into this prison. I will point out that there is one hallway direction you are not taking. Because the Kobo is taking you away from it. [00:27:30] Speaker D: Right. [00:27:31] Speaker A: You arrive at this prison and it looks like it used to be small rooms. Like maybe temple priests would have lived in them. But they have been converted into things that look like they just hold meat in the form of people. There are three little onyx colored lizard men. All three of them have made these giant tongs or chopsticks that they are holding large centipedes with. And they seem to be shoving them at prisoners and giggling when it bites them. [00:27:59] Speaker B: Little jerks. [00:28:01] Speaker A: You do not need to roll dice if you choose to kill them. [00:28:04] Speaker D: I choose to kill them. [00:28:05] Speaker A: Okay, great. Because they are quite wimpy. Where each one dies, a black dragon scale about the size of a palm of your hand falls. [00:28:13] Speaker D: I take three more dragon scales and cut all the locks off all the cages. Hopefully, as a group we do that. [00:28:20] Speaker A: You need to roll me. Actually, nobody needs to roll me anything because Dredd's passive insight is sufficient. Dread says, oh, this is the guy that disappeared from our boat on the trip down. He fell overboard. [00:28:30] Speaker B: Oh, thank goodness. I mean, I am sorry you wound up here, but I am glad you were alive. [00:28:36] Speaker A: The guy's skin has turned colors from all the weird centipede poisons that have clearly bitten him. And he's like they were going to feed us to the dragon. You got to get us out of here. [00:28:45] Speaker D: Yes, we're freeing you. And I cut the locks. [00:28:49] Speaker A: Okay. [00:28:50] Speaker D: And then as per the plan, I follow the guide. [00:29:02] Speaker A: Dread files Dragon of the Swamp the investigation of Bison's lair was revealing. Infested with draconic cobalt and a variety of Drakes. Holding mortal captives as sacrifices for the Silent Fang. The temple contained ancient stonework, many millennia old. Bearing heavily worn draconic in an ancient dialect. This indicates that it predates the empire as well as empirical doctrine on the nature of divinity. The entry to the temple is blocked, likely no more than 50 years ago. With rubble of considerable size, but not so large. Indicating Bison's size is likely bigger than a horse, but smaller than a house. The creature left only a pool of water to enter by, well hidden in the swamp. As the Guardians die, they leave behind dragon scales. Some of bisonth. But the impressive ones were from a much larger green dragon. I conclude that the creatures are a kind of draconic construct. Built through magical ritual involving a sacrifice scale. The cost of magic likely ensures the scale will not grow back once removed. Unless the creature with the scale is destroyed. This is likely a process that is quite distressing for the host. And will alert the dragon to our presence in his lair. Considering the enslavement of the lizard folk, the gathering of sacrifices, despite ample food and resources, the destruction of the lair's original entrance, and the occupation by only feeble minded constructs. Bicenth is a rather insecure dragon. Despite his status, paranoia and disguised inferiority complex are likely. The main temple proved to be dedicated to some long forgotten dragon god named Nodig, father of dragons. The addition of other dragon reliefs implies that the original worshippers considered dragons of particularly large size to be of divine origin. It is also clear that Bisonth is the smallest dragon to ever hold such a position. Indicating that other dragons do not consider him divine or even in high regard. The previous dragon was clearly a large red beast, likely accounting for the animated bones, the salted Sternheim. While the one before that was green. Given the lack of Red dragon constructs, it's possible the death of the host destroys the construct. Or more likely, the Black dragon was threatened by the creations of the Red One. I infer this more likely because the alternative implies a truly colossal and ancient green dragon. Which would likely be noticed by the Empire were it still alive. The Horde was at the end of a labyrinth of traps, though our guide bypassed them by following a well worn path. Sloppy, given the intended purpose of misguiding unwanted visitors. Meaning that the dragon is likely unable or unwilling. To risk entry into the labyrinth. The only trap indicating the presence of the Black Dragon. Was within reach of the Horde Chamber. And indicates that the dragon is incapable of shape changing to human size or entering the labyrinth at all. Unlike his predecessors, whose shape changing ability was well documented by temple inscriptions. I conclude that Bisonth is more of a squatter than a revered figure. The treasure Horde is massive and contains numerous art and battle objects centuries old. Given my conclusion that Bisonth only entered these ruins a few decades ago, it's safe to assume the Horde inherited from a much greater and older beast. Likely this once belonged to the ancient dragon. Killed by heroes of the Empire. Outside of Sternheim. In its prime, the beast must have been truly amazing. And the heroes who felt it even more so. Our task with Bisonth will be relatively more simple. I anticipate that Bisonth will seek to assert dominance, given his mental state through violence. Before he attempts to negotiate a common tactic of the insecure and anxious. I also assert that Bison will likely not attempt direct assault. Without first seeking some leverage or advantage, like open water. This indicates the dark arbiter's lock trap may actually work. And our attempts to flee through the swamp could also be successful. As long as we avoid open water. Where the dragon has the maneuverability advantage. Initial report concluded. All right, so the guy takes you into the main room. In the main room, there is a large, thorns covered, green scaled dragon. And two small black ones. These, again, are wingless dragons. They're actually called Drakes. And the two small black ones have this weird, bony exoskeleton. They all look up at you, but as you are being escorted by a cobalt, they don't even get up. [00:33:45] Speaker B: Great. [00:33:45] Speaker C: Cool. Let's go. [00:33:47] Speaker A: The cobalt takes you to the south entrance. He walks you into what quickly becomes a labyrinth. It does have stone walls, like the area you are in, but it's much tighter. You can tell the dragon does not come in this way. And you are left. Weaving through these tunnels, it takes you a right turn, a left turn, two more rights, then a left. [00:34:10] Speaker C: Oh, boy. I'm glad that we have this. [00:34:12] Speaker A: It arrives at a pool of water and it says, just this way, and it dives under the water. [00:34:17] Speaker C: Creighton is going to be marking with chalk or something every now and then, like where we're turning, so that hopefully we could find our way back out. Should we not have this help? Because I think when we get to the Horde, its suggestion is done. [00:34:30] Speaker D: Yeah. All right, everyone, make sure you have your potion with you. If we're diving into this pool and we don't know how long the travel. [00:34:38] Speaker C: Is, can I try to ask the lizard? I don't know if it speaks common. Can you try to ask it? [00:34:44] Speaker A: It does. The little black lizard man does in fact, speak common. [00:34:48] Speaker C: I will attempt to ask it how long the swim is. [00:34:50] Speaker A: It says, I don't know, 20 seconds? [00:34:54] Speaker D: Okay, I make sure I have my potion ready and jump in. [00:34:57] Speaker B: I will make sure I have my potion ready and jump in and follow it. [00:35:00] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I will have it ready. [00:35:02] Speaker D: Check it on my pouch. I'm like, okay, I know where it is. If I need to in an emergency, I can drink it. We're going. [00:35:07] Speaker A: You swim through murky water, you come out on the other side. [00:35:11] Speaker C: Oh, that's so scary. In a cave network. [00:35:14] Speaker A: Oh. Even though there's a pile of centipedes just everywhere, they seem to mostly ignore you, and you arrive at another pool. This one is clearly made of acid. He says, well, it's through there. [00:35:27] Speaker D: How far? [00:35:30] Speaker C: About 20 seconds. [00:35:31] Speaker A: 20 seconds? [00:35:35] Speaker D: Show me. [00:35:36] Speaker A: It dives in, swims down through this thing, disappearing into a pool. It comes back out about 30 seconds later. [00:35:47] Speaker D: Excellent. [00:35:47] Speaker C: So I guess if we do use Ultrasolf to be one of them, we can get there, but that'll be our use. [00:35:54] Speaker D: No, it's not going to help us against the acid. [00:35:57] Speaker C: I thought that if altar self would make us have the characteristics of it, so we would have the same immunities. Is that not accurate? I need to look that back up. [00:36:06] Speaker A: Alter self will make you look like things, and it can give you aquatic adaptations. [00:36:10] Speaker C: Okay, it just helps us with aquatic. [00:36:12] Speaker A: Stuff, but it does not give you supernatural resistances. [00:36:16] Speaker D: Okay, it's all right. I mean, I don't mind going in there, but our guide is still here. [00:36:23] Speaker A: I will remind you, you have one nature miracle. [00:36:29] Speaker C: This might be where Creedon tries to use it. She's got to get to that horde. [00:36:34] Speaker D: I mean, I'll put my hand in for a second and pull it out. [00:36:37] Speaker A: Oh, shit, it burns. Yeah, no, take three. Really, really, really burning. [00:36:42] Speaker D: All right, that's pretty potent stuff right there. That is far stronger than I anticipated. I mean, I could make it there and back again pretty quick, but that's it. [00:36:53] Speaker B: There is nothing around we could use to bridge his space, is there? [00:36:56] Speaker A: It looks like all of the creatures who swim this are made from black dragon scales. [00:37:01] Speaker B: Is it water with acid in it or is it acid? [00:37:05] Speaker A: It appears to be mostly acid. It could be water with acid in it. Roll me, nature. [00:37:11] Speaker D: She's going to do some water bending. [00:37:14] Speaker B: Might be able to do some water bending. That's not great. That's a six. I have no idea. [00:37:18] Speaker A: You would assume that it was probably water at some point that a dragon barfed into. [00:37:23] Speaker B: I can try to move it, but if it doesn't work, that's like my one level four slot. But I can try to part the water. [00:37:29] Speaker C: Can we see where we want to go? Is it below in another cave? [00:37:32] Speaker A: You would have to go down and come up. It goes under a wall. [00:37:36] Speaker C: But can I see where we need to go? [00:37:38] Speaker A: I think there's probably an inch between the acid surface and this wall. C is a generous term, but for line of sight you could probably pull off that Creedon. [00:37:49] Speaker D: I can see Creedon getting on the. [00:37:50] Speaker A: Ground and closing one eye and trying. [00:37:55] Speaker D: To draw that perfect line of sight across the surface. [00:37:58] Speaker C: Is it within 60ft? Yes, I can get there. [00:38:01] Speaker B: Oh, you can? Bamf? [00:38:03] Speaker C: I can use an ability that I have. I will use One where I will briefly touch the acid or poke myself or something. But then I can poof right on over there. Well, I can become gaseous and then get over there if I take a small amount of damage, I mean, or a big amount of damage, but I'm not going to do that. How much farther to the horde, friend? [00:38:24] Speaker D: About 20 seconds. [00:38:25] Speaker A: It pops its head up and just, oh, it's just on the other side of this wall pretty much. [00:38:29] Speaker C: Creighton just sticks her hand at the acid and does a teleport or not a teleport. Well, actually, no. I turn invisible and I teleport. Yeah. Okay. And then I remain invisible. I just poof over there invisibly. How much damage do I take for sticking my hand in the acid? [00:38:45] Speaker A: Three damage. [00:38:47] Speaker C: I do maintain my concentration. [00:38:49] Speaker D: All right. I will cast armor of Agathas and then I will jump in and swim as quickly as possible. [00:38:58] Speaker B: Oh my gosh. [00:38:59] Speaker D: Straight over. [00:39:00] Speaker C: You're a madman. [00:39:01] Speaker A: I need a con save. [00:39:03] Speaker D: Sure. [00:39:04] Speaker B: You know what? I'm going to cast control water and see if it parts this pool and just let them walk. [00:39:09] Speaker C: We all really want to get to the horn. [00:39:12] Speaker A: When you cast control water, the pool of acid does, in fact, part Xeris. You do not have to fall into the water and give me a con saving throw. [00:39:21] Speaker D: All right. [00:39:21] Speaker B: And Boulain says I am staying here. You have ten minutes. [00:39:24] Speaker D: Okay. I rush over there. [00:39:26] Speaker A: Okay. Max, dread and chem follow, leaving boulain behind. [00:39:29] Speaker D: You arrive as soon as we arrive. I dispatch the guide. [00:39:34] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay. You chop him. One thing you notice upon entering in here is six black dragon scales the size of the palm of your hand, just lying on the ground between you and a whole pile of treasure. Allow me to describe said pile of treasure. [00:39:50] Speaker C: Yay. Finding a dragon herd is so exciting. Come on. [00:39:54] Speaker D: It is. [00:39:54] Speaker C: Tell me. [00:39:55] Speaker D: No, it's very exciting. No, I love it. No judgment, no shade. [00:40:00] Speaker A: It was just great. [00:40:00] Speaker D: It was so, like, childlike. It was so like. [00:40:02] Speaker A: Yes, I like D and T. No, it's fantastic. [00:40:06] Speaker D: It's good stuff. [00:40:08] Speaker A: There are. You can write this down, but I'm not sure how you're going to carry it all. There are 12,000 gold pieces, 12,000 copper pieces, 12,000 silver pieces, 700 platinum pieces, a variety of very expensive large gems, as well as a collection of metal arms and armor, all lying around in a huge heap. [00:40:32] Speaker C: Is there anything in particular that draws Creedon's eye or can she feel anything? Detect magic is still running. [00:40:41] Speaker A: With your detect magic active, you notice that in this pile of completely non magical coinage and gems, there is one little piece of magic. It's very faint. It's sitting buried under some coins, but you can see the magic blinds radiating out of it. There's one looks like tiny magic coin. [00:41:00] Speaker C: Creden is still invisible and Creedon is going to try to go over and I guess I know that she can move stuff when she's invisible. So I guess attempt to sight of hand. [00:41:11] Speaker A: It roll sight of hand. [00:41:13] Speaker D: Does she trigger the guards? [00:41:16] Speaker C: Oh, that's good. That is going to be a 21. [00:41:20] Speaker A: All right, Creighton, as soon as your hand touches this coin, you instantly know a couple of things. You know that on one side of this coin is the relief of a glowing sun. It's weathered to the point where you can almost not see the sun, but it's there. On the other side, the metal darkens and there's a relief of a crescent moon. It's so weathered. It's really just a divot that cuts a little bit. And there is a small hole in it like it is meant to be worn on an amulet. You have a moment. It feels as if time stops. Nothing moves. You are in utter silence. And a glistening man and a glinting woman appear near you. And behind you there's this old, old voice that says, you must honor the pact. She has come and picked it up. And behind you you see an old woman with hair of sunflowers. And this glistening man and this glinting woman look at each other. And the man says, creedon Samantha Brightwind. You are of a lineage that I would normally choose as a follower. And turns its head and looks at the glinting one. And the glinting one says, your understanding of magic is passable. I wouldn't normally choose you. Rude, but perhaps you'd surprise me. And the old woman behind you says, then the deal is struck. Goodbye, Creighton. You have found your gods. And with that, time seems to move again. And you are exactly where you left. Picking up a coin. [00:42:56] Speaker C: Wait. Creedon still hasn't said the thing, though. [00:42:58] Speaker A: You didn't apparently have to. [00:43:00] Speaker C: Oh, man. Okay. I mean, do I feel any different? [00:43:06] Speaker A: No. [00:43:07] Speaker C: Do I feel like I still have access to my, uh. [00:43:10] Speaker A: How would you know? [00:43:11] Speaker C: I mean, I assume that there is a connection that I could feel with my patron. [00:43:15] Speaker B: Is she still invisible? [00:43:16] Speaker C: Yeah. Am I still. [00:43:18] Speaker A: No. [00:43:18] Speaker B: No. [00:43:19] Speaker C: Oh, no. [00:43:21] Speaker B: Oh, shit. [00:43:22] Speaker C: I saw Zirius. You just see Creedin on one of the small mounds of gold, holding a coin, looking very confused. But I don't think that she realizes that she's not in. [00:43:30] Speaker A: A spray of coins flies in every direction as a hulking man, a human wearing some improvised armor and wielding and improvised weapons. Throws coins everywhere and goes to stab you, Creed. And then stops and says, you're not a cobalt. And looks over and you all recognize Mayor Valrictus. [00:43:52] Speaker C: Oh my God, this motherfucker. I mean, I'm amazed that he didn't stab me. Actually. [00:43:57] Speaker A: He stands up and, uh. Is the dragon dead already? Because honestly, it would be just fitting if you took the last bit of honor I have. [00:44:06] Speaker C: Oh, no, actually, are you interested in taking them out? [00:44:10] Speaker A: That's what I'm here for. Actually, they captured me. I killed like seven of them. I snuck in here, I put on the armor. And you realize, actually he has acid wounds. Just burnt up. He's missing hair. [00:44:25] Speaker C: You're looking pretty bad. [00:44:26] Speaker A: Yeah, no, acid is a serious problem. [00:44:29] Speaker D: Our plan is to steal the Horde and make bisons chase us to a more favorable location. [00:44:35] Speaker A: Is the favorable location in the swamp? [00:44:37] Speaker D: No, it's Lolock. [00:44:39] Speaker A: I can't go to Lolock. [00:44:41] Speaker D: Maybe you could in the middle of a conflict. And that would help redeem you after Bison shows up. [00:44:47] Speaker A: Well, you're the judge. [00:44:48] Speaker D: I think that sounds amenable. [00:44:50] Speaker C: Perhaps some kind of something could be arranged for your aid in this. The empire does want this taken care of. Creedon's also just gonna pocket her coin and pretend that nothing happened. [00:45:00] Speaker A: All right, look. If you agree to reverse my banishment and file the paperwork, I will come with you and fight the dragon on your terms. [00:45:08] Speaker D: All right? [00:45:09] Speaker C: I mean, we can agree to do the paperwork and put in a good word. I don't know if we can guarantee that it will be granted. [00:45:16] Speaker A: Zirus is the judge. If he signs with the paperwork, I have every confidence that the provincial mayor will approve. [00:45:21] Speaker D: That'll be great. Everyone, we don't have much time. Grab what you can and then leave immediately. [00:45:27] Speaker A: All right. Just a second. [00:45:29] Speaker C: Creighton did realize just now that she forgot to save a spell slut. And without a short rest, has no way to get back across the. No. [00:45:38] Speaker B: Boulain's got the acid pool hardened. [00:45:40] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. Okay, good. [00:45:42] Speaker D: We have five minutes. [00:45:43] Speaker B: Yeah, five minutes to grab what you want and get back across quickly. [00:45:48] Speaker D: Fill your packs and let's go. [00:45:51] Speaker C: How much can I carry? [00:45:52] Speaker A: Nate, I'm going to go ahead and say that you can take your strength score times two in pounds of coinage and gems. [00:46:04] Speaker C: Okay? The score itself, not the modifier. [00:46:06] Speaker A: The score, not the modifier. Times ten, times two. So, for example, zeros. What's your strength score? [00:46:14] Speaker D: I have 16. So I can carry 32 pounds of gold coins. [00:46:17] Speaker C: Okay. [00:46:18] Speaker A: 32 pounds of gold coins? Yes. [00:46:21] Speaker C: How much is 16 pounds of gold coins? [00:46:23] Speaker D: If that's what you want. Just say I take 16 pounds. [00:46:26] Speaker A: I can assure you, when we're converting poundage, you will be rich. Okay. [00:46:30] Speaker B: Can you grab some for me? Because I'm keeping the water way open. [00:46:33] Speaker C: Plan on sharing some with you? [00:46:35] Speaker A: Yes. [00:46:36] Speaker D: Creedon will share some with you. [00:46:37] Speaker C: Excuse me. You can carry so much more than me. [00:46:42] Speaker A: Dread grabs up a small amount of coinage because he is not very strong. Max and Chom are tanks of men and fill their bags with coins and gems to the brim. [00:46:52] Speaker B: I can carry 16 pounds for what it's worth. [00:46:56] Speaker C: We just can't over encumber ourselves. We have to make sure we have all of our mobility. [00:46:59] Speaker D: I'm going to make sure Bison follows us, so everybody get out of here. [00:47:02] Speaker C: Creighton hustles away. [00:47:04] Speaker A: Okay. Dread thinks to grab a second bag. So, Boulain, you get 16 pounds of. [00:47:10] Speaker D: Nice. That's fantastic. [00:47:11] Speaker A: Your strength is the same as his, so he has to make two trips. But whatever. [00:47:15] Speaker B: If he can do it in under five minutes. That's great. [00:47:18] Speaker C: Hey, weak arm Club. [00:47:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:47:21] Speaker C: We all have the same strength. [00:47:23] Speaker A: You all have wimpy, wimpy arms. [00:47:24] Speaker D: Favoring the magical trinkets. I will start there and quickly just scoop the smallest items in, then gems until the thing is full. No coin. Okay, so 32 pounds of gems and trinkets. [00:47:40] Speaker A: Done. [00:47:41] Speaker D: And then I'm just going to set no dig on the pile. Oh, this portion is yours. [00:47:48] Speaker C: Oh, my gosh. Wait, what? Oh, we're going to get five senses of tension. All right. [00:47:56] Speaker B: God. [00:47:57] Speaker C: Wait, do we see this? [00:47:58] Speaker D: No. That's why I brushed you all out of the room. [00:48:01] Speaker A: No, you ran back. [00:48:02] Speaker C: Okay, okay. [00:48:03] Speaker A: Zerus, it doesn't take no dig long because Nodig loves this. [00:48:07] Speaker D: Yeah, I have no doubt. [00:48:09] Speaker B: BFFs forever. [00:48:11] Speaker A: All of the luster in all of the coins fades. The preciousness of the metals fades and they appear to be nothing more than brittle ash by the time he's done gobbling it up. [00:48:22] Speaker B: Oh, he going to be pissed. [00:48:24] Speaker D: Quickly. I'll take the remains and spell out no dig and as many ash coins as it takes. [00:48:31] Speaker A: Okay. [00:48:32] Speaker D: And then bolt. [00:48:34] Speaker C: No dig was here. [00:48:37] Speaker B: Dang, dude. [00:48:38] Speaker C: This is some brutal dragon on Dragon visceration. [00:48:42] Speaker B: When you pick fights, you pick motherfucking fights. [00:48:46] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:48:46] Speaker D: Xeris doesn't go half. When Xeros is against you, he's against you. [00:48:50] Speaker A: Okay. [00:48:51] Speaker D: All right, it's time to go. We got to go. You run right now. [00:48:54] Speaker C: All right, we're going Max Speed. [00:48:57] Speaker A: As you sprint back into the entry hall where you can dive into the water to get back to your canoes, you realize you don't have a cobalt with you. [00:49:08] Speaker D: No. [00:49:08] Speaker A: Guide across the room toward the collapsed stairwell is three Drakes. Two little ones with skeletal like features making them look almost like skeletons, although they are quite lizardy and scaled, in fact. And one large green one that seems to be covered in vines. You do not have an escort and they immediately charge you. I need everyone to roll me. Initiative. [00:49:36] Speaker B: Oh, my God. [00:49:37] Speaker C: 517. [00:49:39] Speaker A: That hot, hot cleric initiative. [00:49:41] Speaker D: You did better than my one. [00:49:43] Speaker B: Oh, no. They caught us by surprise. This kind of makes sense. Although of all of us, I would expect creden to be the discombobulated one. [00:49:51] Speaker A: All right, let's see. I've got a 19. Did anybody beat a 19? [00:49:56] Speaker B: No. [00:49:56] Speaker A: Then let's see how these little skull like ones do. Oh, hey, they nat one. That's great. Let's see. What does that give them? A four Xeros. When you nat one, what do you get? [00:50:06] Speaker D: A one. [00:50:07] Speaker A: Nice. [00:50:11] Speaker D: My score is my role? [00:50:12] Speaker A: Yeah, that's great. [00:50:14] Speaker D: It's simple. [00:50:15] Speaker A: So it's going to go this vine creature, Creedon, Boulain, the little Drakes and Xeris followed by our NPC cast the sharp edge of the pub. The viny covered Drake lets loose this charge as it begins streaking across the floor. Coming within range of a few of you, it is going to shoot a line of acid out of its mouth. It is going to choose at random. And so the way to do this fairly, one, two is Boulain, three four is Creedon. Five six is Xeris. [00:50:56] Speaker C: Why not our NPCs? [00:50:57] Speaker A: Oh, they're in the back line. Behind Xeros is one, two will be dread. Three four will be max. 56 will be Gem. [00:51:07] Speaker D: Oh, I got hit. [00:51:08] Speaker A: Apparently it's spraying a line of acid at zeros with dread behind him. I need a dexterity saving throw. All right, dread drops flat. The acid sprays over the top of him. [00:51:23] Speaker D: Scored a 14 for Dex. [00:51:25] Speaker A: A 14 is just good enough. Kindly take eleven damage as acid sprays over you. But at least it's not 22 damage. [00:51:34] Speaker D: I'm going to use my reaction to get myself resistance to that and take five instead. [00:51:41] Speaker A: All right, that sounds wonderful, Creighton. [00:51:43] Speaker C: Okay, does Creighton feel different? [00:51:46] Speaker A: No, expressly your power still comes from somewhere outside of you and so I think you feel the same. [00:51:54] Speaker C: All right, Creighton is going to draw her wand and attempt elder to blast. [00:51:59] Speaker A: All right, what happens? [00:52:01] Speaker C: I suppose this is a question for you. Do you think that it would be replaced with another cantrip or do you think that it would just kind of fizzle? [00:52:07] Speaker A: What's your other cantrip choices? What would your other attack can trip be during the day? [00:52:12] Speaker C: Sacred flame. [00:52:13] Speaker A: Okay, so you go to fire a bolt and instead of this lipstick heart streaming out of your wand, a beam of sunlight seems to rip down from the sky. Despite the fact that the sky is quite covered by a dome structure. And which Drake are you attacking? [00:52:33] Speaker C: Let's see, there's basically a larger one and a smaller one, right? [00:52:35] Speaker A: Large one and two small ones. [00:52:37] Speaker C: Okay, I'm going to go for one of the small ones. [00:52:39] Speaker A: Okay, they totally fail. Roll your damage. [00:52:41] Speaker B: He belizes that spell, it's like stay in your lane. [00:52:46] Speaker C: That is going to be seven radiant damage. [00:52:50] Speaker A: Okay, and you do get two dice at this level, right? Just to make sure you rolled them? [00:52:54] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, I was just reading the rest of that. All right. Actually. Oh, jeez. Okay, never mind. That's 15 radiant damage. Okay, that's nearly maximum damage. [00:53:01] Speaker A: I mean, you can roll a seven on two dice. It just seemed painfully average. [00:53:05] Speaker C: Yeah. So I suppose instead of the usual pink heart kissed lip sort of thing, a burst of flaming light comes out of her wand and she yelps and nearly drops her wand, but manages to hold onto it. And I suppose as long as since I have a breath weapon, she wants to move away from everyone a little bit, just to get out of the cluster, but not get closer to them, if possible. [00:53:27] Speaker A: Okay, Boulain, what's up with you? [00:53:29] Speaker B: How bad is Zuris doing? [00:53:31] Speaker A: Bad. [00:53:32] Speaker B: Bad. [00:53:33] Speaker D: I am at this point showing many wounds and I look about half as healthy as I normally do. [00:53:39] Speaker B: All right. Okay. She's not going to help him yet. She's going to cast sacred flame at the big one and then spiritual weapon as a bonus action. Okay, so sacred flaming needs to make a deck save. [00:53:51] Speaker A: This big viny creature gets a 14. [00:53:54] Speaker B: Not enough. Okay, all right, so that is seven radiant damage and then the spiritual weapon. Oh, no, that's a ten. That's probably not enough. [00:54:08] Speaker A: Let me double check. Note, his dragon scales do give him some pretty good armor class. And that's going to bring us to Drakes. So, one of them has been hit by a beam of light. It finds that upsetting and charges at Creedon. Creedon, as it gets close to you from its breath, from its mouth, spews this noxious swamp gas. Please give me a constitution saving throw. [00:54:35] Speaker C: Ooh, that's going to be pretty good. That is 22. [00:54:39] Speaker A: Okay, you make your save, takes seven damage. It's pretty mean and it is necrotic damage if it matters. So you feel withered, drained. The other one is going to bound up towards Boulain. It takes in a big breath and because it is an AOE effect in a cone rather than a line, I'm going to need a con saving throw from zeros, from everybody but Creedon. [00:55:09] Speaker D: I got us 15, not 20, for Xeris. [00:55:12] Speaker A: Okay, everybody makes their saving throw except for Max, for some reason. Everybody but Max takes seven. Max is going to take 14. All right. And that is going to bring us to the bottom of the round. Time for sharp edge of the pub counterattack. Oh, wait for Cirrus. Yes. [00:55:28] Speaker D: Okay, just making sure. [00:55:29] Speaker A: You rolled so low, I almost put you after the people who automatically. [00:55:35] Speaker D: That's okay. I did roll low. I'm going to rage. I'm going to charge the big guy and I'm going to get started. [00:55:42] Speaker A: He's a dragon. [00:55:43] Speaker D: We are going to just double check that I don't mess this up. Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and curse him, and then we're going to hit him with no dig. We've hit a 21. Super hits recklessly is 32. Okay, next attack. 20 on the armor. Yep, that hits 26 damage. [00:56:04] Speaker A: And as you attack him, these vines that are wrapped around him sprout thorns like a porcupine. Kindly take eight piercing damage from two different connections with this thorny body. [00:56:17] Speaker D: So I'm going to go ahead and take four piercing damage for the Resistance. [00:56:20] Speaker A: That's perfect. All right, now for the great pub. [00:56:25] Speaker B: Feel like they're going to attack with Steins. [00:56:27] Speaker A: Yeah, they're going to sing the beer song, which I won't sing for the recording. Chom darts up to him, swinging wildly. Manages to connect three times despite making six swings, but comes away cracking this creature for a substantive 28 damage and taking twelve for his efforts. Max leaps at him, cracking him just once with all of his. Poor Max. He rolls so bad. No, only doing eleven damage. And dread fires off a shot. And that wins. [00:57:10] Speaker C: This bodes so well for when we fight the real dragon. [00:57:12] Speaker A: Yeah. Firing his bolt just randomly. It would seem he didn't have it all the way in the crossbow when he pulled the trigger. Which brings us to top of the initiative. This vine creature, it is not in good shape, but it doesn't seem to care too much. It goes nuts with one bite, one claw, and one vine lash. All whipping at. Well, let's see. Xeris managed to do 63. I think two of them are coming at Xeris, and one is going to come at Chom Chom. [00:57:42] Speaker D: Sure. Just a reminder, I did attack recklessly. [00:57:45] Speaker B: Ooh. [00:57:45] Speaker A: Okay. A bite at Xeros. Ooh, a crit. Shit. Xeris. I need a concave, please. [00:57:52] Speaker D: Surely that's a 19, so concave is 23. [00:57:56] Speaker A: Okay. That is 19 damage. Ten of that is poison. [00:58:01] Speaker D: Okay. I'm going to use my reaction to give myself resistance to poison. [00:58:04] Speaker A: Okay. And you are not going to have any prolonged poisoned effect, giving you future disadvantage because your save is a success. [00:58:12] Speaker D: Oh, good. [00:58:13] Speaker A: The claw is going to whip at you, and it whips you good. It is not terribly an impressive weapon. However, that is seven damage, of which you may take half. [00:58:22] Speaker D: I will take three. [00:58:23] Speaker A: The vine whips Chom, also succeeding in whipping him good. It wraps around Chom, grappling him and doing eight damage. Chom is currently restrained. If that condition lasts. [00:58:39] Speaker B: I'm sorry, did Xerness just take a critical hit? [00:58:41] Speaker A: You did. [00:58:42] Speaker B: I have a reaction that I forgot about. Okay, sentinel at death door. I can turn a critical hit into a normal hit. [00:58:48] Speaker A: So that was the hit where you took ten poison, took 19 total. [00:58:52] Speaker D: And give myself resistance to it. [00:58:54] Speaker A: Okay, cut the damage you took in half again. [00:58:56] Speaker D: Okay, I will heal myself by five damage, which is half of what I half that to. [00:59:02] Speaker A: Okay, great. That is going to bring us to Creedon. [00:59:06] Speaker C: Okay, none of them are down yet, right? [00:59:08] Speaker A: No. Although the vine Drake does not look to be in good shape. [00:59:12] Speaker C: Okay, I'm going to sacred flame again on the vine, this time trying to take it out. [00:59:18] Speaker A: Okay. It is going to attempt a saving throw. It will fail. [00:59:24] Speaker C: All right. And it is going to do twelve radiant damage to it. [00:59:30] Speaker A: Okay, that will kill it. What does a beam of light look like? [00:59:35] Speaker C: This beam of light shoots into the vines, but then the ends of the vines start turning into ash and like a Thanos snap, it just fades away. [00:59:44] Speaker A: This body also continues to fade away until it leaves behind a single green dragon scale about the size of a shield. That's going to bring us to Boulain. There are two little ones. [00:59:57] Speaker B: There's just two little ones. [00:59:58] Speaker C: That's it. [00:59:58] Speaker A: Two little ones. [01:00:00] Speaker D: Okay, wait, give me a second. I regain four hit points as the big guy, my cursed target, dies. [01:00:06] Speaker A: Check. [01:00:07] Speaker C: Nice. [01:00:07] Speaker B: Yay. Okay, I'm going to cast pull the dead on one of the wounded ones. [01:00:12] Speaker A: Okay, there's only one wounded one, so that makes the choice quite easy. And the save it generates is a twelve, which I believe is a fail. [01:00:21] Speaker B: It is a fail. My God. [01:00:25] Speaker A: That's three on two, d twelve out. [01:00:27] Speaker B: Of got three damage on that. [01:00:30] Speaker A: Well, all right. [01:00:31] Speaker B: And then I'm going to do the spiritual weapon on the other one. And that is a 14. [01:00:37] Speaker A: A 14 to hit will just miss. Failing to get through the draconic scales that look oddly like bone. That is going to bring us to those two Drakes. So one of them was circling Creedon. It is going to run up and attempt to bite you. Actually, first we're going to see if it's breath weapon recharges real quick. No, it does not. No, that's right. However, that might not be better for you. It runs up to bite you. AC Twelve. I believe I'm probably missing. [01:01:09] Speaker C: Yeah, that misses. [01:01:10] Speaker A: Okay, great. And it rolls a nat one on the next one. Kind of rolling around at your feet almost like a cute puppy gesture in the end, despite its attempt at being vicious. Meanwhile, the other one, which was circling towards Boulain, is going to continue to try to bite them. Two nat ones in a row. [01:01:28] Speaker D: Wow. [01:01:30] Speaker C: You love to see it when it's you. [01:01:32] Speaker B: When it's the monsters. [01:01:34] Speaker A: Christ, I don't even know how to describe this failure. It leaps at you with two claws bared. It comes up a solid 3ft short, smacking its face into the ground. Must have slipped. [01:01:49] Speaker B: Maybe just one of those days. Me too, buddy. Me too. [01:01:53] Speaker A: Yeah. And that's going to bring us to Xeris. [01:01:56] Speaker D: All right, I will go up to the one that has been properly been getting messed up. No, I'll go up to the fresh one. This is a dragon, I assume it is a dragon. [01:02:05] Speaker A: Yeah. You have advantage because it is prone for its double one failures. [01:02:10] Speaker D: Then I will not attack recklessly. I will just attack it and have advantage. That's a Nat 20. [01:02:17] Speaker A: Oh, shit, that's a Crit. [01:02:19] Speaker D: All right. Also, I'm going to activate my chromatic infusion, so I get extra D four of damage, which is. I put it in the die pool. But I forgot to say it. 27 plus ten is 37 plus a second roll. [01:02:32] Speaker A: Okay. [01:02:34] Speaker D: 62 with the first attack. [01:02:36] Speaker A: Okay, it's alive. Go ahead and make your second attack. [01:02:39] Speaker D: My God, crits with this guy real bad. That's a 24 to hit. [01:02:45] Speaker A: Very much hits. [01:02:46] Speaker D: And 45 points of damage on the second swing. [01:02:49] Speaker A: Okay. Its body dissipates, leaving behind a single black dragon scale at your feet. [01:02:54] Speaker D: Dragons. It's what I kill. [01:02:56] Speaker A: You're very good at killing dragons. That's going to bring us to the sharp edge of the pub, which turns its full might on the. Ooh, gross. Chom runs up and crits twice. [01:03:08] Speaker C: Oh, my God, Chom. He's growing on me. [01:03:13] Speaker B: He's becoming useful. [01:03:15] Speaker A: Chom runs up and rips him apart. Although the thing is still technically alive when Max lands on it. Not an amazing showing from Max, but sufficient. And then dread finishes it off, leaving you yet another palm sized black Dragon scale. [01:03:32] Speaker C: So which one was that one? Was that one of the small ones or the large one? [01:03:35] Speaker A: The small ones. Both small ones are dead now. Zeros chopped one in half and sharp edge of the pub. Ganged up and killed the second one. The one that you had damaged. [01:03:43] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:03:43] Speaker A: Leaving you in a quiet room with only a pool of water between you and freedom. [01:03:48] Speaker B: Let's get in the cool of water and swim to freedom. [01:04:02] Speaker A: And that is our show for today. Don't forget to leave us a rating and review. Special thanks to Todd Ferguson and MyPep machine for our tunes and Julie at elaborate Flight of Fancy for our logo. We're getting close to the end of book three of the Carrots and suffering chronicles. Find out next time on carrots and suffering a DND odyssey.