transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:00] Pokemon and Target are calling all trainers to celebrate 30 years of Pokemon with a limited time only collection. We're talking over 100 pieces you won't find anywhere else. A Pokemon Starter Jacket, Mystery Pokemon Water Bottles, a Great Ball Bag Charm, Kaboodles, and tons more. This collection has something for every Pokemon fan. It appears in Target stores May 2nd and online May 3rd, then evolves June 6th. Target is calling all trainers to join the celebration. Explore now at target.com.

Speaker 2:
[00:30] For a small business owner, every day is full of surprises. Some great, some not so great. Like when a client cancels their order at the last minute. But here's a surprise you will like. Progressive provides small business owners with 30 customizable coverage options to help keep their business going strong. So go ahead, surprise yourself. Get a quote in as little as 8 minutes at progressivecommercial.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates and third-party insurers. Coverage is not available in all states or for all vehicles and coverage selections.

Speaker 3:
[01:00] You know that thing where you get an amazing pair of shoes at a really great price and want to tell everyone about it? Yeah, so do we. Here at Designer Shoe Warehouse, we'll give you something to brag about, like the latest styles from brands you love, or the trends everyone's obsessing over, or shoes that make you feel like, well, you. So go ahead, show off a little. Find shoes that get you, at prices that get your budget. Head to your DSW store or dsw.com today. DSW, let us surprise you.

Speaker 4:
[01:32] Why hello there. I'm Brennan Lee Mulligan, and welcome to Campaign Four of Critical Role.

Speaker 5:
[01:38] Thank you for joining us on this journey as we explore Araman, a world of fractured kingdoms, tumultuous rebellion, and sorcery that rises from the graveyard of the gods.

Speaker 4:
[01:51] You're listening to part one of this adventure, with part two arriving this upcoming Tuesday. Our episodes typically arrive on the Critical Role Podcast Network a week after our initial Thursday night streams on Beacon, YouTube, and Twitch. But if you'd rather listen to a full podcast episode of Campaign Four, right when it airs, without any ads, consider becoming a Beacon member. You'll receive access to exclusive content, discounts at all our online Critical Role shops, presales for live events, and so much more. Start your seven-day free trial today at beacon.tv.

Speaker 6:
[02:23] Now, without further ado, let's begin this episode of Critical Role.

Speaker 4:
[02:35] Golden light cascades from towering trees that stretch towards a sky gleaming with a light not of the world of Ahriman. Glittering white towers, banners flapping in the wind, we hear trumpets blaring, calling home the banners of House Royce. Flying in the wind, the tree in key, the sigil of their house. What a glorious day here in the world between worlds. The Golden Orchard. Dozens of trees taller than castle walls whose leaves reflect added light such that shadow dapples with a luminous glow as flittering butterflies made of magic itself arise from the foliage, rich jasmine and moss, the smell of flowers as horses thunder down the main thoroughfare towards the open courtyard of a castle. We see a massive eagle flying overhead as the envoy of House Einfossen arrives. We see the horses of House Royce and Davinos and the various vassals of this place and a carriage with iron bars as a prisoner of war comes to face trial.

Speaker 5:
[04:10] We see a carriage black as midnight and the clanking of plate armor as House Tachonis approaches.

Speaker 4:
[04:21] It is the year 59, some 12 years before our story begins. The banners have been called home, for the Falconer's Rebellion has ended. And the houses of nobility emerge victorious from this failed revolution. Alex, where on the grounds of House Royce is a eight year old Occtis Tachonis, I presume hiding?

Speaker 7:
[04:57] I think Occtus is off to the side, as much as he can get away from the rest of his family in that he's never really comfortable or welcomed. So, I think he's just off investigating some of the trees. He's never seen trees like this. This is his first time anywhere like the Golden Orchard, and it is, it's blowing his mind. He is so engrossed in just the light and the feeling of magic that's here that's so different from home.

Speaker 4:
[05:35] So, looking around as your father, Primus Tachonis, exits speaking to his children, you see Petra and Raya, your older siblings, are quite nearby. Listen to this. This matter will begin shortly. I know Royce is going to make some endeavor to save the life of this Theazi Fang, but we have, I think, a legal case that may in fact, and you see doors of gold open as a very young Erinessa Royce commands a magic that she will no longer have as our main story begins, for indeed, the gates of Faerie are still open. Lord Primus, my father wishes to speak with you. Primus turns around, looking at those of his children who are here and says, stay close, look in order. You see his eyes, a light over to you, Occtus. Why don't you use this opportunity in this demiplane to see if your connection to the Tenebral Reaches might be aided by the abundant magic of this place? Yes, Father, I'll try. Some recitations, perhaps?

Speaker 8:
[06:59] Yeah, okay.

Speaker 4:
[07:01] Time is of the essence, young Occtus. And you see that he moves away. Many of your siblings had already begun to manifest some powers by this time. You look around from the courtyard, white gravel, stone, enormous trees. As the Tachonis begin emerging, you see that two of the trees shake and faces appear.

Speaker 5:
[07:27] Welcome to the Golden Orchard.

Speaker 4:
[07:31] And you see that one of the trees looks down at you, sort of off from the main gate. These two eyes open and a seam of bark opens along the mouth.

Speaker 5:
[07:40] Hello, little boy.

Speaker 7:
[07:44] Hi.

Speaker 4:
[07:46] Are you entering inside the Castle Walls?

Speaker 7:
[07:51] I think they want me to stay out here.

Speaker 4:
[07:55] Oh, would you like an apple?

Speaker 7:
[08:00] Sure, yeah.

Speaker 4:
[08:05] A golden apple that you see, even through the wax of its skin, smells sweet. It's like you can smell fresh-cut apples just holding this thing. Everything here is alive and rich and filled with energy.

Speaker 7:
[08:22] I can eat this?

Speaker 9:
[08:23] Yes, of course.

Speaker 7:
[08:25] It takes a huge bite of the apple.

Speaker 4:
[08:28] Looking next to the courtyard, you see that there is an enormous shimmering lake that has these huge 15-foot-long beautiful goldfish sort of swam through it. You look down and see that the fish are flying over a separate wing of the castle, which is under the lake. You see that there appears to be people walking those parapets down there, and they don't appear to be wet. It's like something, maybe this lake is like some special kind of water you can't tell, but it just looks like you're looking through the surface of a pond and seeing another castle down there. At this moment, you hear behind you a sort of scuff, and you are pelted for one point of blood-eating damage as your older brother, Etheryn, throws a rock at your head.

Speaker 7:
[09:27] Etheryn, don't, it hurt.

Speaker 4:
[09:31] Oh, it hurt?

Speaker 9:
[09:32] Well, you should be focusing.

Speaker 4:
[09:35] You should already be able to manifest some lights or something. You're gonna embarrass everybody.

Speaker 10:
[09:41] I'm trying, please.

Speaker 4:
[09:43] You see the eye turns around. At this moment, are there any other creatures nearby witnessing this act of aggression as a little kid throws a rock at his brother's head?

Speaker 11:
[09:57] Yeah, I'm up in the tree sitting with my brother and we're both snickering.

Speaker 4:
[10:02] Next to you, you see wearing that kind of Royce green little needle sword at his side, looking also very childlike. What does Thimble look like in this memory?

Speaker 11:
[10:14] She is, oh, she looks about 10 years old. And she's wearing these little green overalls that are a little bit rugged. They look like they might have been nice at some point, but she rolls in the dirt a lot and they're just kind of messy. Her hair is a little bit longer and into little pigtails.

Speaker 4:
[10:40] Thimble, your brother Twig is near you. You see he's taken an enormous bite of a blueberry that's holding up most of his hand. He looks down and says, poor kid, what are these? They're the Tachonis family, right?

Speaker 11:
[10:55] Yeah, they're shitheads. Although, I don't know, he doesn't seem too bad, but Tachonises in general, absolute dog sheds.

Speaker 8:
[11:05] Really?

Speaker 11:
[11:05] Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 5:
[11:06] Were you fighting these guys out there?

Speaker 8:
[11:07] Yeah, we were fighting them all the time.

Speaker 11:
[11:09] You wouldn't believe it, they're weak as fuck, but they do have some pretty cool magic.

Speaker 4:
[11:16] Oh, that's pretty good. Inside you hear trumpets blaring, and you see that there's a shout from one of the Einfossens saying, the pixie companion of the captive has escaped.

Speaker 11:
[11:27] Listen, so they're putting Thaz on trial today? Don't worry, nothing bad's gonna happen.

Speaker 6:
[11:35] What, on trial?

Speaker 3:
[11:36] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 11:
[11:37] I think the Tachonises are trying to get him killed or something, but we don't have anything to worry about.

Speaker 4:
[11:43] Oh, well, Lord Royce is not gonna let anything like that happen.

Speaker 3:
[11:47] He's still married to Lady Erina, so. Oh, yeah.

Speaker 4:
[11:50] All right. Should we go stab this older kid?

Speaker 3:
[11:53] Sure.

Speaker 4:
[11:58] You see Ethryn sort of menaces Occtus some more, and Thimble, what do you do in this moment?

Speaker 11:
[12:04] I'm gonna fly down and pick up a rock and throw it at Ethryn.

Speaker 4:
[12:08] Go ahead and give me an attack. Okay.

Speaker 11:
[12:10] Oh, jeez, oh, jeez.

Speaker 12:
[12:12] I was rolling all these dice.

Speaker 11:
[12:14] Let's see.

Speaker 9:
[12:15] Oh, cool, three.

Speaker 4:
[12:17] Three. The rock whizzes by. See, Ethryn goes, ah! Stupid fairies.

Speaker 11:
[12:21] Get outta here, you're not welcome in our orchard.

Speaker 4:
[12:25] Yeah, I am. Our families are allied. The Tachonis are a proud family, and we're allies with House Royce.

Speaker 8:
[12:31] Yeah, all right, then get inside and get outta my orchard.

Speaker 4:
[12:35] What are you gonna do?

Speaker 11:
[12:37] I'm gonna hang out here.

Speaker 4:
[12:41] He says, oh, no, I meant like, what are you, okay. You see that Twig looks over and goes, hey, you should listen to my sister. She's killed, I think, dozens of your family and bannermen.

Speaker 11:
[12:53] Yeah, pretty much.

Speaker 4:
[12:55] You see, and goes, that's not true, is it?

Speaker 11:
[12:58] Yes, it is. Yes, it is. I've been in battle. I'm a hardened warrior, a warrior.

Speaker 4:
[13:06] Ethryn, go ahead and give me Intimidate Roll with a advantage. The energy is absolutely purplish.

Speaker 11:
[13:11] Oh, 19! 19!

Speaker 4:
[13:13] Ethryn goes, Father! And rushes inside. And Occtus, you are there looking at two pixies hovering in the air.

Speaker 7:
[13:21] Believing the exact same thing that Ethryn believes.

Speaker 11:
[13:23] He's just, You should duck next time someone throws a rock at your head.

Speaker 7:
[13:30] I didn't see him throw it.

Speaker 11:
[13:33] I looked down at the apple. You know, if you let it ferment, it'll get you real fucked up.

Speaker 7:
[13:40] I don't know what that means.

Speaker 4:
[13:43] Drunk?

Speaker 7:
[13:44] Oh, oh, okay. I've never been drunk.

Speaker 4:
[13:48] Really?

Speaker 8:
[13:48] I'm just a kid.

Speaker 4:
[13:51] We're kids forever. And we get drunk all the time.

Speaker 8:
[13:56] What?

Speaker 7:
[13:57] Um, I, I, I, sorry, I, I'm, my name is Occtus.

Speaker 8:
[14:03] Hi. Who are you?

Speaker 11:
[14:05] Hello. I'm Thimble. This is my brother, Twig.

Speaker 4:
[14:09] Hi.

Speaker 8:
[14:10] Hi, Thimble, Twig.

Speaker 7:
[14:11] Hi, nice to meet you. Are you gonna throw rocks at me, too?

Speaker 11:
[14:16] No, unless you are like the rest of your family.

Speaker 4:
[14:22] Hearing the barking of dogs from inside, you see that Twig says, you better go hide. I'll go hold him off. He darts into the castle.

Speaker 8:
[14:31] We should go hide. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. Although, here, come with me.

Speaker 11:
[14:37] And I'm gonna lead him to where there's like a window that we can like peek in and watch the trial and make sure nothing super bad happens to that. Don't worry, Thaiz is not gonna get hurt today, okay?

Speaker 7:
[14:47] Okay.

Speaker 11:
[14:48] He's just on trial. It's no big deal.

Speaker 7:
[14:50] Right. Seemed like a big deal.

Speaker 4:
[14:52] Go ahead and give me stealth checks, both of you. Reminder right now, Thimble, you're first level and-

Speaker 7:
[14:58] I'm a child.

Speaker 4:
[14:59] You're a child. You have child stats. I got child stats.

Speaker 7:
[15:02] We all know child stats. Oh no!

Speaker 6:
[15:04] No.

Speaker 7:
[15:05] That's a 19.

Speaker 12:
[15:06] Oh good, I rolled a two.

Speaker 4:
[15:08] A 19 and a two. On a group stealth check, Occtus, you see that Thimble begins to-

Speaker 8:
[15:13] Just shy of crits both ways.

Speaker 4:
[15:15] Just shy of crits both ways. You see that Thimble darts forward towards a window. You are pretty sure that that window is magically guarded, although you don't feel anything in the pit of your stomach telling you that. You know that your family would be able to sort of sense it innately, but-

Speaker 13:
[15:38] Wait, wait, wait, please don't go through there.

Speaker 4:
[15:42] Thimble, you hold up and stop real quick, looking into the window, into the room, and you do see that around the edge of the window, as Occtus stops you, there is some humming kind of entity and you realize this is one of many sort of arcane protected windows. If you were to-

Speaker 11:
[16:00] I wasn't over there before.

Speaker 4:
[16:03] Looking at it from an angle, you see that yes, this window shows you inside the castle, but if you were to fly through it or touch it, you see an endless stretch of black leafless trees stretching into Harrow, the home of the dark fae on the other side of the Golden Orchard.

Speaker 11:
[16:30] I think they put some extra protections up today because-

Speaker 4:
[16:36] Because of you?

Speaker 11:
[16:38] No, not because of me, because of you.

Speaker 8:
[16:40] Because of your family, because you guys are here and they don't know what you're going to do.

Speaker 7:
[16:45] Yeah, that makes sense.

Speaker 8:
[16:48] What are you going to do? What are you doing, by the way?

Speaker 11:
[16:52] Why were you outside when the rest of your family was inside?

Speaker 7:
[16:56] I can't do anything. I don't have any magic right now, at least. So I have a spot. It hasn't happened yet.

Speaker 11:
[17:10] I'm gonna fly and like look in your ear.

Speaker 8:
[17:13] That sucks for you.

Speaker 7:
[17:16] Yeah, so they don't really care what I do. Or when I'm worried. They just leave me alone.

Speaker 11:
[17:27] It's lonely.

Speaker 7:
[17:29] Yeah, it is.

Speaker 8:
[17:33] I got lots of brothers and sisters. They're all pretty cool.

Speaker 7:
[17:36] I have lots of brothers and sisters.

Speaker 11:
[17:41] Not pretty cool.

Speaker 7:
[17:41] No. They're really powerful though.

Speaker 8:
[17:44] Yeah.

Speaker 7:
[17:45] Yeah.

Speaker 8:
[17:45] I know.

Speaker 11:
[17:46] No, I really did fight them.

Speaker 7:
[17:47] Yeah?

Speaker 8:
[17:48] Yeah.

Speaker 7:
[17:50] That's cool. Do you think, Theazee is the criminal, right?

Speaker 8:
[18:00] He's not a criminal. But yeah, he was fighting.

Speaker 11:
[18:03] Your family.

Speaker 7:
[18:04] They gonna?

Speaker 11:
[18:05] And Aranessa's family, which is a little messed up.

Speaker 7:
[18:09] Why?

Speaker 11:
[18:10] Well, because he's married to Aranessa.

Speaker 7:
[18:12] Oh, whoa.

Speaker 9:
[18:14] I know.

Speaker 7:
[18:16] Why would he?

Speaker 1:
[18:17] That's complicated.

Speaker 11:
[18:18] Yeah, I don't think she liked it very much.

Speaker 9:
[18:21] In fact.

Speaker 4:
[18:24] You look inside and see in the defendant's sort of area that a manacled Theazee Fang is standing there. You see his arms are crossed and manacled behind him. And you see that he sort of stares out despondently. Aranessa, you can see, is looking across the chamber, heartbroken that he's not making eye contact with her. And you can see that the Einfaz and the Quamra are here. And you see that Aranessa's father is speaking. You see that Lord Otto Einfaz is speaking and saying, the burden of proof will be on you, Lord Tachonis, that he is a mercenary. This, all of his fighting was contracted work. The laws of our land are clear.

Speaker 5:
[19:16] If we were to execute him, think about what would happen to all of the mercenary, that no one would take a contract again.

Speaker 4:
[19:22] We ourselves would not be able to hire. This rule is in place. And you see as he's speaking, both of you give me a perception check.

Speaker 8:
[19:32] Oh, god. 10. 15.

Speaker 4:
[19:35] 15. You see that Fiazi sort of scratches the side of his head. And I think as you see him do that, it just sort of looks like he's sort of standing there swaying, scratches his head. About 30 seconds later, scratches his head again. And as he does, you realize that he's slipping his hand out from his manacles to do that. And come back, and you recognize that he's doing the exact same motion on loop over and over again. And a moment afterwards, you hear a voice behind you invisibly go, Thimble, how's it going? And you see that Fiazi appears behind you. We only have a few minutes. They're gonna notice. Listen, we should get back to my old room, because there's a couple of things that I left up there. Do you want...

Speaker 8:
[20:29] This is Occtus. He's...

Speaker 5:
[20:32] Occtus Tachonis?

Speaker 7:
[20:34] Yeah.

Speaker 8:
[20:35] But don't worry, his brother threw a rock at his head. I don't think they like him very much.

Speaker 7:
[20:39] Yeah.

Speaker 4:
[20:40] You got a rock thrown at your head by your brother? That's not nice.

Speaker 7:
[20:42] Yeah, well, they don't like me that much.

Speaker 5:
[20:46] Oh.

Speaker 4:
[20:49] Why are you left out here? Everybody else?

Speaker 7:
[20:52] My dad thought that maybe this place would stoke my abilities and make me have magic that I don't have.

Speaker 11:
[21:00] He's powerless. It's sad.

Speaker 4:
[21:02] Thimble, don't say things are sad so loud.

Speaker 11:
[21:05] Sorry.

Speaker 4:
[21:07] He looks and says, kid, there's a lot of ways to get magic.

Speaker 11:
[21:12] Really?

Speaker 4:
[21:13] Oh, yeah. I'm not supposed to have magic. I grew up a few minutes outside the tanners in Dol-Makjar.

Speaker 11:
[21:23] Yeah, and then he started snorting pixie dust up his butt and suddenly he's super powerful.

Speaker 4:
[21:27] Yeah, I snorted it up my butt. Yeah, I used my lungs to snort it up my butt. That's great, Thimble.

Speaker 11:
[21:32] He's really strong.

Speaker 4:
[21:33] Look, we gotta rob myself. My old things are upstairs. Do you, you're interested in magic, right? Yeah. Thimble, why don't you take our young friend here and head up, oh, because you're a Tachonis and you're welcome here.

Speaker 7:
[21:49] Technically?

Speaker 4:
[21:51] Technically is how a lot of very clever things work. I'm gonna head over to the stables. You head upstairs to my room.

Speaker 5:
[21:58] Okay.

Speaker 11:
[21:59] Hey, Aranessa was looking at you in there. Longingly.

Speaker 4:
[22:10] I don't know if longingly is what the look is, but you got it. Thimble, I'll have none of that.

Speaker 5:
[22:23] Occtus, nice to meet you.

Speaker 11:
[22:24] Nice to meet you.

Speaker 4:
[22:25] Thimble.

Speaker 5:
[22:25] I'll go get your shit. All right, good.

Speaker 4:
[22:28] You see he turns off to head away. Occtus, you look out and see Thimble next to you smiling as the Ozzy leaves and turns invisible again. What do you do in this moment?

Speaker 7:
[22:44] So we, that was the Ozzy?

Speaker 11:
[22:46] Yeah, isn't he great?

Speaker 7:
[22:47] He seems cool. He has magic, and he didn't- He's got magic. Didn't always have magic.

Speaker 5:
[22:52] Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4:
[22:53] You take up off the stairs, running up. Each stair alights with a small glow of multicolored energy as notes of music play, ascending the staircase, and you begin your first, I'll say misadventure together. And that's all for this vision of what once was in the Golden Orchard. We'll continue our story with our schemers and Dol-Makjar on tonight's episode of Critical Role.

Speaker 1:
[23:23] Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the Critical Role announcement playhouse. Our sponsor for this episode is Thorum, makers of cool rings and watches. Sam, what do you got to say about it?

Speaker 14:
[23:35] Thorum makes rings out of meteorite, whiskey barrel, ironwood, dinosaur bone, and more. And they offer minimalist watches in a variety of materials. Founded in 2012, founder Caleb Martin couldn't afford an engagement band for his now wife, Steph. So he made one and proposed. How romantic is that? And these days when I think romance, I think vertical dramas. Now these are super dramatic mini-series for phone viewing shot vertically. Very soapy. You know what they are. So with the help of some amazing actors, I would like to present to you a recreation of the proposal of the founders of Thorum, but as a vertical drama. I take you there now. Okay, here we go, guys. Ready?

Speaker 10:
[24:21] And action. Hey, Steph, it's me, your boyfriend, Caleb Martin. You're so beautiful.

Speaker 14:
[24:32] Will you? Liam, just a little bit over. Could you move further? It's a vertical drama, remember? Yeah, great. Keep going. I'm sorry.

Speaker 10:
[24:40] Steph, my love, will you marry me?

Speaker 2:
[24:43] A little bit closer.

Speaker 14:
[24:45] Yeah.

Speaker 15:
[24:46] Caleb, my darling, you know I would.

Speaker 14:
[24:50] A little bit closer. You really got to get closer. It's a vertical drama, you guys.

Speaker 15:
[24:54] You know I would if only we could afford a stylish wedding ring.

Speaker 10:
[25:01] But that's just it. Look, I made you this ring.

Speaker 14:
[25:05] You know what, Liam, you've got to hold the ring in frame. This is a vertical drama. I can't stress that enough.

Speaker 10:
[25:11] But look, I made you this ring.

Speaker 15:
[25:14] Wow, that ring is so unique and stylish. We would...

Speaker 14:
[25:19] Even closer. Even closer together, if you can.

Speaker 16:
[25:22] I went to NYU.

Speaker 15:
[25:24] We should create a company that makes unique and stylish rings for everyone.

Speaker 9:
[25:32] Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! It will never happen, now that I've stolen your prototype!

Speaker 14:
[25:39] Taliesin, we cannot see you.

Speaker 9:
[25:41] We cannot see you.

Speaker 14:
[25:42] You have to get into frame. This is a work.

Speaker 9:
[25:43] You gotta center up. Center up. Even closer. Now, you can never get married!

Speaker 5:
[25:50] Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Speaker 16:
[25:55] I'm sorry, Sam. This is really awkward and it's really hitting my goony ear.

Speaker 15:
[25:59] Yeah, honestly, one of us smells like organzola.

Speaker 13:
[26:01] No, I think that's you, actually.

Speaker 17:
[26:03] It's melting my mustache off.

Speaker 14:
[26:05] And cut! Oh, wow. That was amazing. Good job, you guys. Good acting. With over 10,000 five-star reviews, free silicone activity bands and walnut wood ring boxes, free shipping and a lifetime warranty, or a warrant, as it says in the prompter. Oh, you. Get them. Get them. Arrest them. Wear your story with Thorum. Whether you need a wedding ring, anniversary ring, or just want a ring that looks awesome, head over to thorum.com and use code CRITICALROLL. Matt, back to you.

Speaker 1:
[26:39] Thank you, Sam. Liam, you have an announcement, I believe.

Speaker 16:
[26:42] Oh, gee, we're excited to share that Daggerheart, Daggerheart is now available on Fantasy Grounds. This virtual ten o top provides tools for campaign management, maps, rules integration, so you can jump into a campaign online and focus on telling great stories without worrying about managing the mechanics.

Speaker 1:
[27:02] Am I right?

Speaker 16:
[27:03] Fantasy Grounds is totally free to start, so you can bring your table together for adventures anywhere, anytime. www.fancygrounds.com Slash Daggerheart to learn more.

Speaker 4:
[27:19] Maps!

Speaker 17:
[27:20] I miss our vertical drama right now.

Speaker 3:
[27:23] Alright, well then.

Speaker 1:
[27:25] Travis, I believe you have a little thing to talk about.

Speaker 13:
[27:27] Oh yeah, hey guys, in case you missed it, Season 4 of The Legend of Vox Machinawool premieres on June 3rd! It's the beginning of another incredible story arc, and we guarantee you that Vox Machinawool will buck shit up, plus Wayne Brady is Taryon Darington! Many more updates to come and art and trailers, so please keep your eyes peeled on our socials, newsletters and all the good stuff so you don't miss a beat.

Speaker 14:
[27:53] Brilliant, it's gonna be good.

Speaker 1:
[27:54] Thank y'all. And last up, Darington Press' newest game, A Familiar Find, is now available in the Critical Role shops and at the Darington Press Guild stores. Now, Familiar Find is a light-hearted card game where you play as an animal companion racing across all corners of Exandria to gather magical ingredients, but you're not alone. Rival familiars that lurk nearby, attempting to set traps and sabotage your plans at every turn. Oh, your friends will hate you by the end of it. It's great. That's not true, it's wonderful. The game is sized to travel anywhere you go and includes 10 familiar characters to play, each with their own unique abilities, including beloved beasts such as Trinket, Mr. and Pate. My boys. I think it's Pat. A familiar find was designed by Ian Zang with art by John Ramsey and Svetlana Kucherevenko. And if you grab your copy from your local Darrington Press Guild store, you also have a chance to receive unique location promo cards with your purchase. So grab yours today and learn more at darringtonpress.com/afamiliarfind.

Speaker 9:
[28:52] Familiar find.

Speaker 1:
[28:54] Go for it. And Marisha, you got some announcements.

Speaker 18:
[28:57] You guys, our beacon show, Daggerheart Azerim, featuring the talented cast from Viva La Dirt League, just wrapped up on the Beast Feast campaign frame and has now jumped into a brand new storyline, Hammer Time.

Speaker 14:
[29:12] Is it about that song?

Speaker 13:
[29:13] No.

Speaker 18:
[29:15] We get it for you. No, we can't. For anyone who has been waiting to dive into the world of Daggerheart Azerim, now is the best time to start watching each distinct campaign arc while part of the larger ongoing series is designed to function as a wonderful yet self-contained story. So if you're not already a Beacon member, you can start a free seven day trial and check it out right now at beacon.tv/joinmaps.

Speaker 13:
[29:40] MC Heather, always over her.

Speaker 1:
[29:41] Got it. Boom.

Speaker 14:
[29:43] Rest in peace.

Speaker 1:
[29:45] I think that concludes our announcements. So with that, let's go ahead and jump back into Araman. What do I do with my hands?

Speaker 14:
[31:14] When you're starting off with something new, it seems like your to-do list keeps growing every day with new tasks, and that list can easily begin to overrun your life. Finding the right tool that not only helps you out, but simplifies everything can be such a game changer. For millions of businesses, that tool is Shopify. With Shopify, you can tackle all those important tasks in one place, from inventory to payments to analytics and more. No need to save multiple websites or try to figure out what platform is hosting the tool that you need. Everything is all in one place, making your life easier and your business operations smoother. Now, we hear a critical role have been using Shopify for years, and it has brought wonderful efficiencies to our business, especially its robust point of sale system. Start your business today with the industry's best business partner, Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at shopify.com/critical. Go to shopify.com/critical. That's shopify.com/critical.

Speaker 3:
[32:16] At DSW, we ask the important questions, like what shoes are you going to wear? Whether you're prepping for wedding season, festival season, or just planning the ultimate vacay, the right shoes can make or break an RSVP. So own the moment. You've got big plans and we've got just the shoes, at the perfect price, of course. Get ready to get ready with Designer Shoe Warehouse. Head to your DSW store or dsw.com today and let us surprise you.

Speaker 4:
[32:45] Hello and welcome to another episode of Critical Role.

Speaker 6:
[32:49] We return here to the world.

Speaker 4:
[32:52] You're wondering if I'm gonna narcize. Well, I'm afraid this night, Liam said always be masturbating.

Speaker 9:
[33:00] There was context.

Speaker 4:
[33:02] There was context.

Speaker 18:
[33:04] Honestly, it almost makes it more weird.

Speaker 10:
[33:09] I'm new.

Speaker 4:
[33:11] We return to the Schemers table here in Dol-Makjar, deep in the sewers under Caravan Hill, where our brave adventurers have gone underground. One adventurer sort of becoming an adventurer fully this night. Indeed, Halandil Fang waiting at the gate, looking down and realizing that the journey of a thousand begins with a single step, and the road goes ever on. This road led down into some nasty sewers, because you've been hot on the trail of Demidus Blix, the illusionist grad student of the Penteveral, who went missing after you discovered he helped the House of Tachonis, perhaps unbeknownst to him, cover up the massacre at the Palazzo Davinos. Having sprung Misha Undragore from prison, you guys had an eventful night at the Seven Stars Tavern. Howe connected with Romina Roundtree with all of the intel she had from working at the Stahlkeep, the sort of manse here in Dol-Makjar of House Einfassen. You, Bolaire played a hand of cards with a horrifying merchant named Druspen Fortunata, a traveling wizard named Arnisha Vane, having taken the seat of Gnomish smuggler, Pimley Morn, and played a hand of cards with King Augustus Valian, who was come and absconded from Seven Stars as Hound of the King Sir Martin came and found his liege and got him the hell out of this bar to get back to the business at hand, staying with Mr. Boesprit, a merchant that you have some familiarity with. Murray pinned down Pimley and found out that he had indeed, having recognized the blue flame of the candlelight, had indeed been part, at first, of trying to get Demetis Blix out of town after whatever task he accomplished for the Tachonis. Seemed that he must have, you know, gotten the hell out of that, just from seeing the writing on the wall. And Pimley realized that this was a little too hot for him and dumped the desperate Demetis, who was depending on him for help, into the clutches of the Crowkeepers, to whom Demetis owed some money. Following the Crowkeepers after Murray made contact with an ally in Caravan Hill, the soothsayer Temelow. Temelow gave you a reading of your cards, speaking surreptitiously of the eye she had been keeping on the guard tower, the old tavern, frequented by the leadership of the Crowkeepers. Crowkeepers, you were told, were in disarray. Their guild master, Solomon, having been killed several days ago by the elven warrior, Vaelus, who then left town after the world's first known revenant was created, you see that they seem to be in disarray and took Demetis into their own custody after paying Pymline Warren handsomely for doing so. You went deep underground where you discovered this hiding place of the Crowkeepers and speaking to something inhuman in the chamber beyond. A careful illusion was cast and created for you to look out and essentially draw some of the Crowkeepers away. This city fief is affected by a phantasmal force and heard an illusion from Hal and a rock hurled into the muck water beyond. And many of them are about to peel out. However, we must resolve at the top of Initiative, one of them who spotted a strange sight of a mask peering around the corner here. We enter Initiative, but before we enter Initiative, we must first produce your heroes.

Speaker 3:
[37:13] Yes!

Speaker 1:
[37:16] Murray Mag'Nesson!

Speaker 3:
[37:19] Look at her!

Speaker 6:
[37:22] Halandil Fang!

Speaker 3:
[37:24] Oh, wow.

Speaker 6:
[37:26] Bolaire Lathalia!

Speaker 17:
[37:28] Oh, my man, look at him. He's so pretty.

Speaker 4:
[37:31] And Azune Nayar. Yeah.

Speaker 19:
[37:34] Gimme, gimme, gimme.

Speaker 4:
[37:35] So cool.

Speaker 19:
[37:36] Wow.

Speaker 4:
[37:38] I will let you guys know that you can see the extended version of the map with the pathway you guys have taken down here. Kindly place your minis where you would in this area here.

Speaker 19:
[37:48] Okay.

Speaker 18:
[37:51] Bolaire, you were up and had peaked around the corner.

Speaker 17:
[37:54] So I'm going to be in the far corner there. Great.

Speaker 18:
[37:58] Far corner where?

Speaker 17:
[37:59] Like in the corner over there.

Speaker 18:
[38:00] Here where the crates are?

Speaker 4:
[38:01] So yeah, you just, so you're here amongst the crates, essentially, right?

Speaker 17:
[38:05] Yeah.

Speaker 4:
[38:06] Okay, gotcha. Yeah, dipped around the corner, dipped back.

Speaker 17:
[38:11] I might have even tried to go a little deeper, but yeah, that'll do.

Speaker 18:
[38:14] Murray's going to stay towards the back. Cool. I want to be up a little bit, but not.

Speaker 4:
[38:22] Murray, by the way, you remember that you did your tremor sense to get a lay of the land beyond. And see a vision of all of this and communicate it to your partners. You also know that there is a way to go back up the staircase and find your way down these ladders, essentially.

Speaker 17:
[38:38] I'll actually, throw me in the far. I think I would have been back to wall, back there, because I know I got tagged.

Speaker 5:
[38:45] So back.

Speaker 4:
[38:45] Then like here?

Speaker 16:
[38:47] Yeah, like actually, but it was Bolaire's mask that popped out for a second.

Speaker 5:
[38:50] Yes, correct.

Speaker 16:
[38:51] Alerting one of those two.

Speaker 4:
[38:53] Yes, one of them, there was a lot of noise and ruckus, and this one is shouting, guards, guards, guards. You have, you know that it's this sort of hulking, bruiser looking guy right there that is the one who made you.

Speaker 17:
[39:05] Yeah, I want him to get in there.

Speaker 4:
[39:07] But again, I think it's important to say in this moment, with a lot of chaos happening, made is a relative term, right? In other words, he saw something down that passageway, but it's not that he didn't hear the splash or the illusion or anything else, it's not that he's not hearing his companions say they're going that way, but he knows he saw something.

Speaker 19:
[39:24] He saw something.

Speaker 17:
[39:25] And I'm, yeah.

Speaker 19:
[39:27] And what we've seen is you peek out, do something, and then just kind of back up and get in that corner.

Speaker 17:
[39:35] I backed out into the corner.

Speaker 19:
[39:36] Okay. I think I would be maybe right next to Hal on, is that a place that I can stand on, that kind of platform?

Speaker 4:
[39:45] Sure. Yeah, right there, man.

Speaker 17:
[39:47] I think it would be there.

Speaker 4:
[39:47] Hell yeah.

Speaker 16:
[39:49] And Dianne, can you remind me, one of the two people guarding that sewer entrance has the whammy on them from Bolaire.

Speaker 4:
[39:59] Whammy right here. In fact, let me get a token on there just for us to be super clear. Great.

Speaker 16:
[40:03] And that's a temporary whammy?

Speaker 17:
[40:06] That is, hold on, I can give you the whole rigamarole for that one.

Speaker 16:
[40:10] And the other one is in his right mind, best we know, I mean, we can't see him, but you narrated that he spotted a weird horror movie mask peeking around the corner. Okay. And there's a group of other folks going, get him, as they run after the illusion that we see.

Speaker 4:
[40:29] That running has not started. This one is, we're sort of doing the immediate moments after that illusion. So this one is shouting into the room, alerting other people of what's going on.

Speaker 17:
[40:43] I can, yeah, the, he's affected by, it's a concentration spell, so he thinks he saw, and I can drop the concentration spell and he'll stop seeing it or be aware of it, but like, which I have to do, because it's just far enough back there where once he hits it, I don't think I can move a phantasmal force.

Speaker 4:
[41:04] No, I don't think, no.

Speaker 16:
[41:05] But what he believes is that enemies ran off down the hall.

Speaker 17:
[41:10] Yeah.

Speaker 16:
[41:10] We mixed some things together and they heard someone else.

Speaker 17:
[41:14] And I'm debating whether or not to let him die so that they're clearly, something bad is up there or not.

Speaker 2:
[41:23] I don't know.

Speaker 17:
[41:26] So, yeah, once he gets into my target, I can have him take 2d8 psychic damage. But he would have to actually pay attention and make an attempt to like, he would have to do an investigation check to see if it's not real. But also, if I drop it, he still will think it's real. It's just he won't see it anymore.

Speaker 2:
[41:44] We can't do anything.

Speaker 17:
[41:46] So yeah, he's fine. He would have to see, someone would have to prove to him that there was nothing there.

Speaker 2:
[41:51] Okay. Yeah.

Speaker 4:
[41:55] So, are you all placed?

Speaker 2:
[41:57] I think so.

Speaker 4:
[41:59] The first thing we are going to resolve is what happens as this crowkeeper, as this one turns to shout into the chamber about what he's seen, this other one, not seeing any of this, is going to rush around the side here. Rushing around the side, I'm going to roll. Okay, moving around the corner enters here. Do you guys have visible sources of light on you, for traffic?

Speaker 19:
[42:29] I extinguished my torch.

Speaker 4:
[42:30] Extinguished your torch. Is there no light?

Speaker 19:
[42:33] I mean, that was our only light source, and what we were relying on was the torches that were being lit from the area itself.

Speaker 4:
[42:39] Great, so in that case, with that torch light extinguished, this human rogue rounds the corner, stepping forward, I'm gonna need everybody here to make one final group stealth at the top of this. Because you have extinguished the torch, you may do so with advantage.

Speaker 5:
[43:00] Oh.

Speaker 18:
[43:01] Oh, with advantage.

Speaker 19:
[43:02] I think that makes it a straight roll for me. My stealth checks are at disadvantage because of my armor.

Speaker 5:
[43:06] Yep.

Speaker 18:
[43:09] That's true.

Speaker 19:
[43:10] Yep.

Speaker 17:
[43:11] Could be yours.

Speaker 4:
[43:13] What do we got?

Speaker 17:
[43:13] 14.

Speaker 4:
[43:14] 14, okay.

Speaker 17:
[43:18] Don't make that face.

Speaker 18:
[43:20] Could be worse.

Speaker 4:
[43:21] What do we get, how?

Speaker 17:
[43:22] A seven. Oh, no.

Speaker 12:
[43:24] Could be that.

Speaker 4:
[43:25] Seven, great. 14, seven.

Speaker 12:
[43:27] 12.

Speaker 4:
[43:27] 12. 12.

Speaker 3:
[43:28] 12, okay.

Speaker 12:
[43:33] Retangling.

Speaker 4:
[43:35] This figure rushes around, like rushes down, rushes around the corner, stops right here in the dark, so you can see him kind of silhouetted, because torchlight's being cast from here and flickering on this back wall. So it's so dark in here, you can't see his face at all. It's just his silhouette framed against dappled, weak torchlight on stone and water behind him. And as he stands in the doorway, he goes, hey! And reaches down to a bag to grab torch for him. Bolaire and Azune, you share an 11 initiative. You are going to be the only ones able to act before this guy pulls the torch out. Exciting. Okay. And you are first.

Speaker 17:
[44:23] I go first. We've, so I'm going to.

Speaker 4:
[44:26] But I'll point out that with no light here, you also are gonna need to make a, you will get disadvantage on the attack rolls against him.

Speaker 17:
[44:32] That's fine.

Speaker 5:
[44:32] Okay.

Speaker 17:
[44:34] I'm going to try and deftly circle around him so that he can't leave.

Speaker 4:
[44:40] Okay.

Speaker 17:
[44:44] Actually, it's probably better that you do that.

Speaker 5:
[44:45] Great.

Speaker 17:
[44:46] I'm gonna get right behind him.

Speaker 5:
[44:48] Great.

Speaker 17:
[44:48] And I'm just going to whisper in his ear, silence.

Speaker 5:
[44:53] Okay.

Speaker 17:
[44:54] And I'm gonna be casting, I'm casting the command.

Speaker 5:
[45:00] Okay, great.

Speaker 17:
[45:01] That is a save against a wisdom of 14.

Speaker 5:
[45:04] Save against a wisdom of 14.

Speaker 4:
[45:08] He fails. I mean, it's perfectly silent.

Speaker 5:
[45:11] Oh, good.

Speaker 4:
[45:14] Great. That is your action. Any bonus actions for me?

Speaker 17:
[45:19] I don't even know if I can. Let me see.

Speaker 4:
[45:26] You have major armor?

Speaker 17:
[45:27] No, I got nothing.

Speaker 4:
[45:28] Azune, that is you.

Speaker 19:
[45:30] Okay. Oh.

Speaker 17:
[45:31] I have no bonus actions.

Speaker 19:
[45:33] Seeing Bolaire move in, I am going to follow suit. If I can reach.

Speaker 4:
[45:39] Step thing, get me, yeah, please.

Speaker 16:
[45:42] My arms are not long enough.

Speaker 19:
[45:44] I'm just going to close in.

Speaker 4:
[45:45] That's weird. Okay.

Speaker 10:
[45:46] Right there.

Speaker 17:
[45:47] Great.

Speaker 4:
[45:48] That's a very weird.

Speaker 5:
[45:50] And you're good?

Speaker 17:
[45:51] Yeah, I just see a thing I'm going to make a note of because I don't know why it's not my thing.

Speaker 19:
[45:55] Okay, there's a lot of cool stuff that I could do, but it's all loud or very bright and I'm not going to do any of those things. I'm instead going to just straight up attack this guy. Cool. I would, I'm flanking him, which would give advantage, but I'm also at disadvantage because of the darkness. So I'm going to have to be really good at rolling.

Speaker 14:
[46:19] Please hit, please hit, please hit.

Speaker 18:
[46:21] Bolaire, are you like out in the open, though?

Speaker 19:
[46:23] Look what I did. What'd you do?

Speaker 9:
[46:25] Oh!

Speaker 18:
[46:29] You say it, you say it.

Speaker 19:
[46:30] It's a credit, it's a credit.

Speaker 9:
[46:32] All right!

Speaker 19:
[46:34] Oh, the things I wish I could do right now with them all so loud and bright.

Speaker 16:
[46:39] Always be masturbating.

Speaker 4:
[46:41] I know right?

Speaker 10:
[46:41] Yeah, that's good advice.

Speaker 17:
[46:43] Thankfully, it's dark, but I definitely know I'm a little visible there.

Speaker 4:
[46:48] I do want to confirm for you, Bolaire, that I think you only used 15 feet of movement to get there. If anyone else comes down the hallway, you will be visible in that spot.

Speaker 17:
[46:57] Okay, so do I still have space to move, or is that not?

Speaker 4:
[47:01] Do you still have space left? You do still have space left, that's correct.

Speaker 17:
[47:04] I will definitely do that, then.

Speaker 4:
[47:06] Okay.

Speaker 19:
[47:07] Is that happening in tandem, or will I need to roll that at disadvantage?

Speaker 4:
[47:09] You both have an 11.

Speaker 17:
[47:11] We're on the same fucking number.

Speaker 4:
[47:14] I'm fine with you guys acting in tandem here.

Speaker 5:
[47:16] Beautiful, cool.

Speaker 16:
[47:17] So I love that.

Speaker 19:
[47:19] Cool, so much.

Speaker 4:
[47:19] Great. Okay, so Azune, you crit.

Speaker 19:
[47:25] I do, how do we crit? Is it full damage?

Speaker 4:
[47:27] No, roll double your dice. Double dice, okay. Double dice, that's correct.

Speaker 19:
[47:31] And he was going to take.

Speaker 16:
[47:33] No.

Speaker 19:
[47:34] Seven and a one.

Speaker 16:
[47:35] Oh.

Speaker 19:
[47:36] So it's not, you know. But you just take 12 points of damage, bludgeoning.

Speaker 4:
[47:44] 12 points of damage.

Speaker 11:
[47:45] Wait.

Speaker 4:
[47:46] Can you describe your weapon for us and what it looks like when you attack?

Speaker 19:
[47:49] Yeah.

Speaker 17:
[47:50] Oh, okay, yeah, 1d8.

Speaker 19:
[47:51] Yes, I'm 1d8. So I already had my shield in my hand.

Speaker 18:
[47:54] Hang on, wait for clarification. Do you mean double the dice as in he gets to roll 2d8s or roll 1d8 and double it?

Speaker 4:
[48:02] I believe, unless they changed it in 2024, I believe it's double dice.

Speaker 19:
[48:07] Yeah, that's a typical move.

Speaker 18:
[48:09] Two dice. You're gonna roll two dice, okay.

Speaker 19:
[48:13] Yeah, my normal weapon attack is 1d8. So you're rolling 2d8. So I rolled two, yes.

Speaker 17:
[48:17] 2d8 and then plus the four.

Speaker 19:
[48:18] Plus my four, yes. All right. So seven plus one plus four is 12.

Speaker 4:
[48:23] 12 damage.

Speaker 19:
[48:25] So a shield was already in my hand and a part of the attack, I draw my war hammer, which is, it's made of steel, it's slender, it's got leather wraps around the handle and it's a very, it's seen, you can tell that this has done some hammering. It's got some worn bits of it. And I just lay right into his chest.

Speaker 4:
[48:57] For Hal and Murray, I don't know, Hal has been in war as a young kid, he was in the War of Accident. Decades ago. Decades ago. Murray, I don't know if you have been in war or not, or in pitched combat. So Azune, you step forward, this crowkeeper goes, hey! Barking out, because all he saw was a bit of a mask. It's almost like a weird, creepy thing to see. Can't be sure, but he, you know, heard the splash. His friend is shouting, guards, guards! He goes for the torch. Bolaire slinks behind him and goes, silence. He goes, and as he whips around, horrified by this mask, all you need, Azune, you don't need to see his features. The silhouette is enough, and your hammer connects with a thud into his chest, such that you can feel the blunt head of the hammer cuts through cloth that hits his chest so hard.

Speaker 6:
[49:55] Just, whew, bam!

Speaker 4:
[49:57] Ribs crack and a heart is stopped instantaneously. Blunt force trauma through the rib cage into the heart, dead.

Speaker 19:
[50:06] Love that.

Speaker 4:
[50:09] Bolaire, you have 15 feet of movement, and Azune, this guy is about to drop and make a heavy thud on the ground.

Speaker 19:
[50:16] I'm gonna try to catch him. All right, at least interpose myself so that he lands on me instead of.

Speaker 17:
[50:22] If I am stay within, I meant to actually stay within range there. Can I assist on this, if there's just two of us there, to pick them up?

Speaker 4:
[50:31] Yes, I'll go ahead and say that each of you guys can make a dexterity saving throw, AC 10 and try to catch the body as it falls.

Speaker 19:
[50:43] 17.

Speaker 4:
[50:44] Hell yes. Bolaire, silence, a hammer. As you say silence, the susurice of it, thankfully Azune, hitting this guy Max Force in the chest with a hammer, which already through fabric would have made a softer thud anyway, sails sonically under the noise of running water. His body would have made a loud bang, but a hammer blow to the heart, boom, and each of you gets under one of his shoulders, and with 15 feet of movement, you can flatten against the darkness of the wall as you hear footsteps begin to thunder down the hallway past you. We are going to.

Speaker 19:
[51:18] I have my hand on his chest.

Speaker 5:
[51:20] Yes.

Speaker 19:
[51:22] I want to feel the lack of his heartbeat.

Speaker 5:
[51:24] Okay.

Speaker 19:
[51:25] As we sit there silently.

Speaker 4:
[51:31] You can feel autonomic twitches in his extremity even as his heart has stopped.

Speaker 19:
[51:38] One, I say, under my breath.

Speaker 3:
[51:43] You know that thing where you get an amazing pair of shoes at a really great price and want to tell everyone about it? Yeah, so do we. Here at Designer Shoe Warehouse, we'll give you something to brag about, like the latest styles from brands you love or the trends everyone's obsessing over or shoes that make you feel like, well, you. So go ahead, show off a little. Find shoes that get you at prices that get your budget. Head to your DSW store or dsw.com today. DSW, let us surprise you.

Speaker 4:
[52:13] I'm pulling him to the side. You then hear the voice of a commander of the Crowkeepers go, after them, find out if there's a captain. If it's just, if it's just guards, slit their throats and dump them in the water. And you see Phantasmal Force here grabs three others. One, two, three. And on their turn, they're gonna take a double move. And they sprint all the way and get probably to the water's edge here. As you see one of them calls out and says, where are they? And you see that the one with the Phantasmal Force goes, they're right ahead, follow me! With a level of confidence that strikes the other three as deeply confusing though. They all did hear a shout of a guard a moment ago.

Speaker 17:
[53:15] And there is still, because we tossed it, there's still some ripple in the water.

Speaker 19:
[53:19] Yeah.

Speaker 4:
[53:19] Yeah.

Speaker 17:
[53:21] And I drop Phantasmal.

Speaker 19:
[53:22] Okay.

Speaker 4:
[53:25] That is their turn. This, you see one of them is going to rush here, looking out the hallway. So another, you hear another footstep there. The commander calls out and says, Run them down!

Speaker 5:
[53:44] Listen, allow me, we don't have time.

Speaker 4:
[53:48] We are going to move. And I think here, ta ta ta.

Speaker 19:
[54:05] Not one sec.

Speaker 5:
[54:14] Five, 10, 15, 20.

Speaker 4:
[54:18] What's that?

Speaker 17:
[54:19] Is that the big what the fuck? That's a big what the fuck.

Speaker 4:
[54:21] Yeah, what the?

Speaker 12:
[54:23] What is it?

Speaker 19:
[54:25] Okay. Looks friendly.

Speaker 12:
[54:33] Oh, boy.

Speaker 4:
[54:37] Okay. Flinging an effect down the hallway, you hear a voice go, Ah, they must not survive to know of this place. Something under the water erupts, and all of you narrowly missing these crowkeepers who flush to the wall and hitting the area that each of you were standing in, but a half a second before, an eruption of stinking muck moves around. All you can see here on these wooden barricades that are up is that they are standing there. There is a momentary eruption of jet black filth and sludge that gushes forth like a tidal wave, and as it collapses to the ground in a stinking heap, where these were, there is a few seconds of a handful of them dripping black sludge before they dissolve and are gone.

Speaker 18:
[55:42] Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool.

Speaker 4:
[55:48] We are going to remain in initiative. However, you do not know if you are made or not, or if your presence is known here in this moment. You just see something, hear a horrifying voice, and see some enormous eruption of magic occur in that moment. How? It is your turn.

Speaker 16:
[56:11] Wow. Wow. One clarifying question before I start talking further here. The group that went chasing the illusory noise, are they still in sight?

Speaker 4:
[56:24] They are still where you see them on the map.

Speaker 16:
[56:26] Okay.

Speaker 4:
[56:26] So in other words, to allow them to clear, you would have to potentially either give another round to allow them to move further on or take some other course of action. But that's 60 feet of movement from them, essentially.

Speaker 16:
[56:41] But their attention is not on us.

Speaker 4:
[56:42] It's not on you guys. Whatever your 12 perception was, was enough at least to bypass the passive perception of these crow keepers.

Speaker 16:
[56:50] Okay, so headspace-wise, Hal is kind of reeling. He just watched Bolaire, good friend, but yet living mask, and his warden friend just seal team six a guy in six seconds flat. He is feeling totally out of body in this moment. He cannot believe that events have reached this point. He's a little bit paralyzed, and I think all he's going to do is look over his shoulder at Murray and say, you watch my ass and I'll watch yours. And intention and genuine need ripples out from his voice and hits your spine, prickles up the back of your neck, and you take a bardic inspiration. And Hal doesn't know what the fuck to do right now, so I think he's just literally going to creep up to the edge to watch as this group runs, also scared of what looks like corrosive slime or sewage or something.

Speaker 12:
[57:58] Just sticking in the shadow.

Speaker 18:
[57:59] You're D6 on your bardic inspiration?

Speaker 16:
[58:01] Yeah, new class, who this? It is D6, yes.

Speaker 4:
[58:08] Murray, that is going to be your turn.

Speaker 12:
[58:12] Up the stairs, then? We're going?

Speaker 19:
[58:15] I just give you a nod.

Speaker 12:
[58:19] I just kind of look at everybody and be like, tk tk tk tk tk.

Speaker 18:
[58:24] And I'm gonna go up and around to this staircase, start making my way to that stair, that ladder in this way. So up and around.

Speaker 4:
[58:32] So action and movement, 60 feet, right?

Speaker 18:
[58:36] I believe so, I believe so.

Speaker 16:
[58:38] Well, there was the one plan, I mean.

Speaker 19:
[58:41] There's a second floor that takes us to ladders that go down.

Speaker 17:
[58:43] Done and done, cool. That's right.

Speaker 4:
[58:45] Great, yes.

Speaker 16:
[58:46] I'm playing shell shocked, but that's the smart thing to do.

Speaker 4:
[58:50] Killer, okay, awesome. Thank you for the refresh. Okay, ba-da-bum. Okay, great. You guys are going to move through in that case to... So, the whole squad is heading up. Is the plan for the whole squad to head up the staircase together?

Speaker 12:
[59:10] I think so, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 17:
[59:12] Okay.

Speaker 16:
[59:13] Hal doesn't have a plan, but if that's what everybody does, he follows.

Speaker 17:
[59:16] He's just gonna put a hand on your shoulder and very...

Speaker 5:
[59:19] Great, okay.

Speaker 4:
[59:21] Then we are going to fast track through...

Speaker 18:
[59:25] Do you want this little cork buddy?

Speaker 4:
[59:27] No, no, I got you right here.

Speaker 18:
[59:28] Who got one?

Speaker 5:
[59:28] I got his own cork buddy.

Speaker 4:
[59:32] We are gonna fast track through this, ba-da-boom. And we will re-enter this round of combat. So, Hal, Murray, you move up into position, running up the stairs. On the upper level, you see another area of the sewer up here. The ladder comes up and continues also up past you to another level above, but you look down and you can hear the voices once again down here. Going back to the top, you hear as you're moving, the Zaggy, the captain of the Crow Keepers, turning around and going, Low me, we have to bring this to the Tachonis. All right, we can by favor with them.

Speaker 5:
[60:20] They've found us already. This cannot be given away idly. It must be bargained for. They are searching for her as well.

Speaker 4:
[60:32] And you see that, back to the top of Initiative, Azune and Bolaire, you guys are gonna follow Murray up to the top here. With that, these crow keepers vanish off the map. You have successfully, with a very expensive series of illusions and a phantasmal force, you have bought four enemies with trickery off the battlefield.

Speaker 18:
[61:05] Wait, did you move?

Speaker 16:
[61:08] I squandered my movement because I'm... I'll catch up. I have a way to catch up, but...

Speaker 19:
[61:16] There's no way in hell I would leave Howe behind. I would ready my move and wait for him, but I'm happy to copy that.

Speaker 17:
[61:23] Yeah, I think the two of us would have just kind of brought you along.

Speaker 4:
[61:27] In that case, as Murray goes to investigate the way, because Murray is the only one with tremor sense that saw where the entrance was, you guys wait for Howe as Howe you look around.

Speaker 5:
[61:38] This thing here, you get a glimmer with your dark vision.

Speaker 4:
[61:43] It is not striding. Its corpus seems to inch forward as though guts or intestines made of ropes of filth and mold were spilling from a torso in coiling heaps in front of it. Two dim yellow eyes, some bioluminescent, a sickly maggot firefly in the eyes of this hateful, hidden mold spirit. As it turns around, the tendrils grasping off of it, and you can feel its presence, Murray, because much like a fungus, its visible component is but the smallest of itself. It's his network is in the walls here in this space. What? Um, uh, turning around, Hal, you get one last look as he attempts to, summon something back. I'm gonna roll in front of the board. You don't want a five or a six. Okay. Two, um, tendrils seep into the stone, but before this creature can drink deeply of the darkness, whips around and says, Sargi, you lack vision. And is going to proceed back to this table and begin to ascend up the staircase. You hear the voice of Sargi go, hands off the merchandise! And the spirit here in the dark stops. How, that's gonna be your turn and you can move into position with the rest of them.

Speaker 16:
[63:35] Yeah, so, um, body course still, like ears going, coursing with adrenaline. In fact, I will use the Orc trait adrenaline rush as a bonus action, which gives me the dash action and I gain two temporary hit points.

Speaker 9:
[63:52] Hell yeah.

Speaker 16:
[63:54] So, I will just use dash and movement will get me 60 feet.

Speaker 4:
[63:59] Yes.

Speaker 16:
[64:00] I don't know if that gets me to the group. If I need it, I can then use my action to go further.

Speaker 4:
[64:06] I think you'll need to use your action to get all the way in. Great, great. You guys rush up behind you, have your ready to actions. As you rush forward, the four of you are hearing underneath this sort of continuation of Zagie speaking to the figure that she referred to as Laumi. Murray, that is going to be your turn. The four of you are up here, but while we are very much in initiative because time is of the essence, you do not know if you are made yet. Okay.

Speaker 18:
[64:46] And just out of curiosity, no worries if not, my tremor sense lasts for 10 minutes. Has it been that long?

Speaker 4:
[64:58] It has definitely been under 10 minutes.

Speaker 18:
[65:00] It has. So can I get an idea of, or can I see pretty well of what's happening in here and what we're working with?

Speaker 4:
[65:12] That tremor sense, Laumi is moving across the wooden walkway towards Demedess, and it seems that Zaggy just stopped him, saying, don't touch the merchandise. Okay.

Speaker 12:
[65:25] Maybe we can cause a little bit of in-fighting. Continue to take some people off the table here.

Speaker 19:
[65:34] We'll have to lower them out somehow.

Speaker 18:
[65:38] Is Laumi looking at Zaggy?

Speaker 4:
[65:46] Give me an insight check. And I'll allow you to do so with advantage.

Speaker 18:
[65:50] Okay. Okay. That is gonna be, yeah, thank goodness. Insight, you said, that's gonna be 16.

Speaker 4:
[66:00] On a 16, your tremor sense comes back in. Thinking about the ability to like, you're thinking about what you might be able to do in terms of trickery or in fighting. And I think on that insight, you can feel tremors of the ground of A, the other crow keepers running that way. And it occurs to you that with the spell dropped and with them following, there are no guards for them to find. They may come back sooner rather than later. And on top of that, I think you also can just hear the panic in the voice of Zoggy down here. They're, with the surprise of the guards, which was a good ruse, but no one is going to hear themselves get discovered by guards and decide to continue with a slow paced negotiation. Whatever's happening down there is going to resolve in the next few seconds.

Speaker 18:
[66:52] Yeah, we got it. I mean, ideally, I don't think we can really, I think this guy feels far above our pay grade. I think the ultimate goal is to get Demetis and get the fuck out. So.

Speaker 19:
[67:07] Can we see Demetis from where we are?

Speaker 18:
[67:09] I know where Demetis is, and he's right.

Speaker 4:
[67:12] Demetis is right there.

Speaker 7:
[67:13] Oh, he's there.

Speaker 18:
[67:14] And I have another guard guarding this thing, this space.

Speaker 4:
[67:18] Yes, there's one right down the ladder from you guys.

Speaker 18:
[67:20] Okay, I'm gonna try, I'm gonna, we're gonna see, we're gonna see.

Speaker 17:
[67:23] How many people can we see right now?

Speaker 4:
[67:24] Right now, with your naked eye, Murray is able to communicate everyone's positionality based on tremor sense. But a line of sight, just the guard down for me.

Speaker 17:
[67:35] Okay, I have to wait then.

Speaker 18:
[67:36] So I'm gonna get down if I can. I don't need to see everything, I just need to see a little bit. Can I, with my mage hand, it looks like there's some little tools or something on this little table or whatever I can use. Kind of coming from the direction of Zoggy, it looks like there's a little dagger or even if it's a fucking rock, I know the map's always just an approximation. Can I take my mage hand and take that dagger and fling it at Laumi as if Zoggy is attacking him?

Speaker 16:
[68:15] Ooh, sick.

Speaker 4:
[68:16] Okay. Through your tremor sense.

Speaker 17:
[68:20] Damn.

Speaker 4:
[68:21] Through your tremor sense, I will allow this. What we are going to do here is we are going to use your proficiency in arcana, but because this is an act of deception, I'm going to ask that we make a, I'll allow you, actually, it's a dealer's choice. You can make a charisma arcana check or an intelligence deception check, because it's a combination of your spell casting ability and you doing this persuasively to make it truly seem like Zoggy has thrown this knife.

Speaker 18:
[68:54] So, adding my int modifier along with deception.

Speaker 4:
[68:59] Or your charisma modifier to your arcana.

Speaker 18:
[69:03] Ooh. They're, hilariously, they're kind of close with the modifiers, but I will try. I've got a little bit more of an advantage with charisma and arcana.

Speaker 4:
[69:13] Cool, so do you have expertise in arcana or just proficiency? I believe it's just proficiency, right?

Speaker 18:
[69:18] Expertise is when it's-

Speaker 4:
[69:19] You double your proficiency, when it's a double circle.

Speaker 18:
[69:21] The double circle, I have expertise.

Speaker 4:
[69:23] Great, so you'll be adding your charisma modifier plus four to this roll.

Speaker 18:
[69:28] Plus four, cause I have an eight in arcana, a plus eight in arcana.

Speaker 4:
[69:32] Yes, cause you're adding your intelligence normally. This will be your charisma, so it's a little bit worse, right? Cause if you're doing something that's a little tricky here, it's not pure arcana.

Speaker 18:
[69:40] I see what you're saying. I see what you're saying.

Speaker 4:
[69:42] You'll add a plus seven to this.

Speaker 18:
[69:43] Plus seven and then the other would be-

Speaker 4:
[69:49] Yeah, what do you have in deception?

Speaker 18:
[69:50] Deception would be plus one plus my int, which is also plus seven. So it's all the same, okay.

Speaker 16:
[69:55] And you have bardic inspiration.

Speaker 18:
[69:57] And I have a bardic inspiration. Okay, let's see, let's see.

Speaker 12:
[70:01] Let's do this one.

Speaker 18:
[70:04] So plus this plus seven and I can choose to do this post roll?

Speaker 10:
[70:08] Yes.

Speaker 18:
[70:10] I'm trying to make sure 2020, 2024, who does?

Speaker 16:
[70:14] When the creature fails, you can roll and add it. Yes, if you fail.

Speaker 19:
[70:19] So when you learn the result.

Speaker 17:
[70:20] We'll keep forgetting that we've updated spells. Yeah.

Speaker 18:
[70:26] Wanna add it?

Speaker 17:
[70:27] Add it.

Speaker 18:
[70:28] Okay. Okay. 15 total.

Speaker 4:
[70:34] 15 total.

Speaker 18:
[70:36] Thank you.

Speaker 4:
[70:38] We are going to roll in front of the board the Insight, the Insight check. The Insight check of Laumi.

Speaker 16:
[70:47] Sludge Innerance Monster.

Speaker 18:
[70:49] Insight check from Sludge.

Speaker 4:
[70:52] Might be high. On a 13 or higher.

Speaker 16:
[70:56] Oh, gosh.

Speaker 4:
[70:57] On a 13 or higher. This will not necessarily give away your location or anything, but it will just be seen as like that flew off the table for no reason, right? So you're looking for a 12 or lower on this die.

Speaker 16:
[71:12] Killer idea.

Speaker 4:
[71:14] That is a four. Laumi, Murray, describe this spell. What do your companions see of you up at the top of this like hole, this like ladder hole shooting down into the darkness?

Speaker 18:
[71:28] Okay, so I think they would see, because I'm kind of trying to get advantage. So, Marie, she's a dwarf, she's already a little, but she's kind of like doing one of these. And she kind of starts like tracing her fingers in the very back of her pants. Something that I don't think anyone has seen yet, but she has a couple of daggers tucked behind her cloak. And she's kind of almost like in her head, tracing the weight, the feeling, as if she were the one throwing this dagger. Something that she's maybe done on a weekend or two after a few beers with Azune, and he's taught her a few pointers. So as she kind of traces the outline of the dagger, you see it's almost as if she draws it herself, and then she just, but she obviously isn't grabbing it, and flings it, pantomiming, as if she was the one doing it.

Speaker 4:
[72:27] All of you above the station, looking down the hole, as Murray moves her hand, all of you hear a whistle in the air as though a dagger just left Murray's hand. Below, you hear, You forget yourself! And, and.

Speaker 16:
[72:47] By the way, that was the most Appalachia wizard shit I ever saw.

Speaker 18:
[72:55] You're gonna have a few beers and throw knives? Got some moonshine my cousin, Errol, just made.

Speaker 4:
[73:04] Okay. We are going to roll now for the, the leader of the Crowkeepers has looks in, sees this nonsense happen and holds up her hands and goes, allow me, I don't know what that was, I didn't, and begins to back away. She's going to make a, she's going to make a persuasion check with disadvantage here in this moment.

Speaker 5:
[73:39] Hold on a second.

Speaker 4:
[73:42] That is an eight on the die. She spends her action backing up and going, allow me, listen, I don't know what that was.

Speaker 5:
[73:51] He goes, what I cannot buy I will merely take for myself.

Speaker 4:
[73:59] And that is the, you hear the captain draw a weapon. You hear Zaidi draw a weapon. We are going to go, Azune, that is your turn.

Speaker 5:
[74:11] Oh my gosh.

Speaker 18:
[74:12] Remember, we got a guard directly below us.

Speaker 2:
[74:22] I can't jump in there.

Speaker 19:
[74:23] I'm gonna stay up here and hope this escalates. What are all the sources of fire? I see that there's torches on those pillars.

Speaker 2:
[74:32] Yeah.

Speaker 19:
[74:32] Is that it? Is there anything on the ground?

Speaker 4:
[74:39] Oh, there are torches on the pillars. Yes, that's casting light. In terms of other sources of light, other than the torches, no, there's a dim, sputtering light in here. But you know, I think you would actually know that will give people disadvantage on perception checks. A dim light is not, it's easier to sneak around in this quality of light, for sure.

Speaker 19:
[74:59] Okay. Okay.

Speaker 4:
[75:02] But I will say, at the top of our round two, let me roll a D4. Please go ahead and roll a D20 for me.

Speaker 19:
[75:11] Okay. How about right here in front of you?

Speaker 4:
[75:15] 12. 12. Okay, great. This is our top of the round lock check to see if our other companions give up.

Speaker 19:
[75:23] Okay. I'll, hmm. Seeing that, I'll turn to you. I hope you have a plan for that. Buddy it down below. I'm gonna cast Control Flames on the torch that's closest to the one that's below us.

Speaker 17:
[75:40] Oh, we're going there, are we?

Speaker 19:
[75:41] I'm going to dim it.

Speaker 5:
[75:43] Okay, great.

Speaker 19:
[75:43] It's one of the things that I can do, so now, the bright light that it casts is halved, obscuring things around it, hopefully a little bit better. Great, and that's what I'll do.

Speaker 5:
[75:52] Great.

Speaker 19:
[75:53] Oh, yes, that'll be my turn.

Speaker 4:
[75:57] Incredible, the light flickers. As it does, I think that you sense that that act of magic, in the escalating tension of what's happening downstairs, everyone has seen weird magic shit happening in this room before, and it's possible that no one attributes that to, each of the sides of this negotiation may be attributing that to the other side in this moment. Azune, that's your turn, Bolaire, that is your turn.

Speaker 17:
[76:26] I think, suppose it's time to do some damage. Whoever, I'm going to do a thing that will leave them, hm?

Speaker 18:
[76:33] Get the guard right below us.

Speaker 17:
[76:34] That's who I'm gonna do damage to, and I think, as long as they're line of sight, I don't have to go anywhere. And I don't think this spell will be visible. I'm gonna be using, I'm gonna try using Mind Sliver. Hell yeah. Which I don't think it will be a visible thing. It's psychic damage.

Speaker 4:
[76:49] Yeah.

Speaker 17:
[76:51] So the other thing just to put in mind is that they will have a negative d4 in their next saving throw. Okay. That's an intelligence save of 14, so I very, very...

Speaker 4:
[77:02] That is a failed save.

Speaker 17:
[77:03] So, let's see, where's my, there we are. I'm gonna use this one. I should get the weird ones out. Yes. Very gently, as I'm looking down, I reach into my mouth and I pull out a long sliver of glass, like a splinter, and then I crack it, and you can almost see one go in one ear, out the other, and snap in their head. That is six points of psychic damage.

Speaker 4:
[77:35] Hell yes. Person down there, as the lights dim, screams, go ahead, if you wouldn't, give me a deception check with advantage.

Speaker 17:
[77:46] Happily.

Speaker 18:
[77:47] Yeah, maybe a sewer monster.

Speaker 17:
[77:50] Shit's going weird, man. Oh, thank god there's advantage, that would have been real bad. That's 17.

Speaker 4:
[77:57] Seeing the scream from over there, you hear Zoggy say, kill him, pointing to Laumey.

Speaker 17:
[78:03] And I back out, next.

Speaker 4:
[78:05] Great. Bolaire, after your turn, the other crow keepers are going to rush Laumey. Sprinting forward up the ladder right here, this one running from over here.

Speaker 17:
[78:18] Over there.

Speaker 3:
[78:19] Oh, jeez.

Speaker 4:
[78:20] Rushing over. These thieves rush over to this monstrosity and are gonna take their swings. That, amazingly, is... Okay, one of them does manage to hit.

Speaker 5:
[78:41] And that's gonna be...

Speaker 17:
[78:43] I may not have to use Bane. Just going.

Speaker 19:
[78:47] I think I'm just gonna eat some popcorn.

Speaker 18:
[78:49] If we can get them and go.

Speaker 19:
[78:50] I know.

Speaker 5:
[78:54] Find out.

Speaker 17:
[78:55] Now that this changes things, I'm gonna look at some shit.

Speaker 4:
[78:59] Swiping at this monstrosity with their blades, you see one of them does connect into the filth, and you hear a sickening wet snap of a tendon within this monstrosity as one of them manages to score a hit sneak attack on the monstrosity. The monstrosity is going to go. The monstrosity is going to, Laumey is gonna roll again.

Speaker 5:
[79:29] Okay.

Speaker 4:
[79:31] He's six. You see he sucks up a bunch of spores and filth into himself and is going to reach out. He reaches out to this one in front of him, and thunders a wet, slimy arm that is composed of writhing tendrils into the open mouth of that thief, whose skull cavity fills with rot and blasts out of his eyes with the pressure of bacterial putrescence, falls off to the ground dead. That is going to be Howe's turn.

Speaker 16:
[80:19] Oh, man.

Speaker 18:
[80:21] You just saw a dude's face explode. You're up.

Speaker 16:
[80:25] Right.

Speaker 4:
[80:26] Sorry, one second. Also, the one back here who scored that sneak attack hit on this monstrosity, he gets his wrist too close to the body and the tendrils wrap around and begin to pull him into the back of the creature behind him.

Speaker 6:
[80:48] What?

Speaker 12:
[80:51] Guys, if you have black mold in your house, how?

Speaker 18:
[80:55] It's important to maintain that space.

Speaker 4:
[80:58] Air purifier.

Speaker 18:
[81:00] Look what can happen.

Speaker 6:
[81:02] It gets so bad, how?

Speaker 4:
[81:04] That is your turn, my friend.

Speaker 16:
[81:06] Okay, so I think in this moment your insanity is erupting down there. How old is Demetus? Look to the eye.

Speaker 4:
[81:13] Demetus is about, what, 20? He's a grad student. He'd be like 22. Yeah.

Speaker 16:
[81:18] The chaos of the last 20 or 30 seconds are bringing Hal back to running through war when he was barely more than a boy himself. Blade in hand, seeing people skewered, decapitated, stabbed, dying around him, and this is just a kid. Just like so many men and women, he saw fall when he was a young man and he knows that that is somebody's son and he just starts to descend the ladder.

Speaker 4:
[81:42] Awesome. You descend the ladder. You can use your movement to get to the bottom here. It is dim light, but that doesn't make you invisible.

Speaker 16:
[81:51] Right.

Speaker 4:
[81:51] So you'll need a stealth check here to attempt to, and that'll be an action unless you have cunning action, do it as a bonus action. So stealth would be an action here.

Speaker 16:
[82:03] Let's say instead that I will use my second and last adrenaline rush to bonus action, dash down. Cool, love it. So now I can use my action for the stealth.

Speaker 4:
[82:14] Yes, absolutely. And you have your movement left as well.

Speaker 16:
[82:16] And that'll leave me with movement after this.

Speaker 4:
[82:18] Yep.

Speaker 16:
[82:21] That's not terrible. It's a 15.

Speaker 4:
[82:25] 15, ta ta ta, on a 15, on a 15 you cannot be certain in the chaos happening down here if you have been spotted or not. But no one reacts to your appearance here in the chamber.

Speaker 16:
[82:42] And I know that we are on borrowed time here, so I don't stop and I use my movement to creep up to the side of those crates and get to where I can lay a hand on Demidus' ankle.

Speaker 4:
[82:54] Yes.

Speaker 16:
[82:55] Or wrist to check for a pulse. And that's for the end of my time.

Speaker 4:
[82:58] Great. Bonus action down, cross action to stealth. I'll allow you to make a free medicine check as you get to the bottom here.

Speaker 16:
[83:09] That is a 22.

Speaker 4:
[83:10] Reaching down, Demidus is stable at zero. 22, you know exactly what his condition is.

Speaker 16:
[83:17] So he's fucked up.

Speaker 18:
[83:18] Oh, he's unconscious.

Speaker 4:
[83:20] He is, shallow breathing is he's unconscious. He's not making death saves. He's not making death saves. He is stable, but they have, you look at this poor young man. He's had, he's been beaten to hell.

Speaker 18:
[83:30] Oh, okay. That's good to know. That's just things.

Speaker 17:
[83:34] Yeah, that makes things, yeah. That makes things difficult.

Speaker 4:
[83:44] Okay. Hal, that is your turn.

Speaker 16:
[83:46] Feeling like Bilbo Baggins next to the dragon.

Speaker 4:
[83:51] Unbelievable. Murray, that's gonna be you.

Speaker 18:
[83:55] Okay, this is, this new information. Okay, question, what I was gonna ask was, do we see if Demetus is, is he like hands tied up, feet tied?

Speaker 4:
[84:11] Yes, manacled. Manacled, but because he's unconscious, he's not tied up. He's not like tied around a post or anything.

Speaker 16:
[84:18] And I will say, at the end of Howl's, all of that happening, he whips his head back to you guys at this, you know, at the hole in the ceiling and gives a very worried but brisk nod to try to indicate that he's alive.

Speaker 17:
[84:31] I think some of this is gonna be holding until they notice.

Speaker 18:
[84:35] 100%.

Speaker 17:
[84:36] So make sure there's room. Okay.

Speaker 18:
[84:44] Okay. Do I, so manacled, so chains on both hands and feet?

Speaker 4:
[84:53] You see, give me a perception check.

Speaker 17:
[84:57] Okay.

Speaker 18:
[85:01] Bad, very bad. Four.

Speaker 4:
[85:05] Without being down there to get a better look, you just know that he, you can see the manacles on his hands. He might have them on his feet, he might have other bindings or anything else like that. There are, the arcane marshals have manacles that separate your fingers, they have gags that go in your mouth and hold your tongue still, they have ways of dealing with arcane casters. The crow keepers have a much older model of handling arcanists, which is to beat them into unconsciousness.

Speaker 18:
[85:34] Sure, sure. It's classic. It is. Okay, I don't think it makes sense for me to jump down there in the fray. I am going to hold my action. I have to declare which spell I want to hold, don't I?

Speaker 4:
[85:55] Yeah.

Speaker 18:
[85:56] I am going to hold.

Speaker 16:
[85:58] Yes, wizard, yes, yes, wizard, yes.

Speaker 18:
[86:02] I'm going to hold a chromatic orb in case I need to sling a spell and give Hal back up, but at this point in time, I'm going to stay the fuck out of the way and just watch and wait.

Speaker 4:
[86:14] Hell yeah.

Speaker 18:
[86:15] Catch your back.

Speaker 4:
[86:16] Hell yeah.

Speaker 17:
[86:17] You should also, I'm going to bane, so you can go right after me for that. We'll do a double whammy.

Speaker 9:
[86:25] We'll do a double whammy.

Speaker 16:
[86:29] Something's never changed.

Speaker 17:
[86:34] Were you born in darkness?

Speaker 4:
[86:43] Hmm.

Speaker 17:
[86:44] This is great.

Speaker 16:
[86:45] I love Torrence and Minis in combat.

Speaker 4:
[86:48] Minis in combat. Seeing one of her crow keepers being sucked into this body, the other one, literally having his, in the inner flesh of his skull, putrefied so much that it blasts out of the orifices of his head. Zaggy effortlessly leaps to the table, leaps to the catwalk. Wow. And lays into Laumi here with a scimitar, scoring two hits across the shoulders in front of you all. And partially obscuring you, Hal, who she clearly does not see in this moment. That is going to be, that is her turn, which brings us back to the top with Azune.

Speaker 19:
[87:33] Does that person exist?

Speaker 4:
[87:35] This little guy right here? Yes, he's jumped up here in the mix as well.

Speaker 19:
[87:40] Oh boy, okay.

Speaker 17:
[87:41] Do you wanna hold turn as well?

Speaker 19:
[87:43] Oh, I'm holding, yeah, yeah, yeah. If I'm holding my action to cast a spell, I'm just trying to remember this rule. It's only the action. If I'm holding my turn, I don't get a full action and bonus action?

Speaker 4:
[87:56] Yeah.

Speaker 19:
[87:56] Oh, I do.

Speaker 4:
[87:57] If you're holding your turn, you can just delay an initiative if you wanna hold on to the whole action and bonus action.

Speaker 19:
[88:03] Yes, I would like to do that to the end of this. Like to go kind of in tandem with the two.

Speaker 17:
[88:13] I think the difference is holding initiative means that you have to decide, like somebody will get a turn before you can do anything.

Speaker 4:
[88:21] Yeah, I will allow you to delay, because there's no real advantage to just not going, right? So if you wanna just send your turn down the initiative order, the only thing I will say is, when you want to go again, you go after whoever is gone.

Speaker 19:
[88:37] This is not my new order moving forward.

Speaker 4:
[88:39] You fully send your initiative down, and when you want to go again, you can't interrupt someone else's turn.

Speaker 19:
[88:44] Great.

Speaker 4:
[88:45] Right?

Speaker 19:
[88:46] I am going to go after Bolaire.

Speaker 17:
[88:50] All right.

Speaker 4:
[88:50] Okay. Bolaire, your turn.

Speaker 17:
[88:52] I'm going to figure out the best. I'm gonna get on, not even hands and knees, I'm gonna get on just, almost ready to pounce, and I'm gonna get low, and I'm gonna find the best angle where I can see the three most irritating people in this group.

Speaker 4:
[89:13] Great. You'll have to scoot down where the ceiling opens up around the ladder, so you will be visible, you'll have to make a stealth check, and you'll have to use an action to make that stealth check.

Speaker 17:
[89:24] Oh, that'll blow my spell.

Speaker 4:
[89:27] Potentially will blow your spell. Unless you have cunning action or something like that that would allow you to make a spell.

Speaker 17:
[89:32] Do not. Yeah. Let's say, so you can see what's, you're holding a spell right now.

Speaker 18:
[89:38] I'm holding a spell, but I'm just basically crouched. I can't see the whole room.

Speaker 17:
[89:43] In that case, I'm going to hold my turn. I'm going to push turn two because that way I can get movement and the spell. Yeah.

Speaker 4:
[89:49] Cool.

Speaker 18:
[89:50] Are we all just holding for Hal?

Speaker 19:
[89:51] I'm actually going to, yeah, holding after Hal.

Speaker 4:
[89:52] Yeah.

Speaker 18:
[89:52] Okay.

Speaker 17:
[89:53] I'm just going to hold until something happens.

Speaker 4:
[89:56] All of you are sending your turn down an initiative. That is going to be another seven. That's going to be another 11. One of these rogue strikes out, hits Laumi again. Laumi is not bloody, but has taken a lot of hits and is going to allow everybody to get a swipe on him. As he moves back over here, it's going to retreat. Oh, shit. Everyone's getting an attack of opportunity. All of our crow keepers miss. Perhaps Zaggy will be more lucky. Zaggy exactly hits, dealing another mighty blow. And you can see Hal. You guys cannot see this, but I think Tremor sent it. So Murray and Hal can both sense now. That's going to be, the Laumi moves into bloodied status. Hal, I think Hal and, you know, Laumi's taken a tremendous amount of damage, but moves into bloodied. Looks out at Zaggy and goes, you came into the dark.

Speaker 5:
[91:18] I have waited for time immemorial. Let's end your short, sweet summer life.

Speaker 4:
[91:29] And is going to throw that same filth bomb up. We're gonna center it here, which, Jesus Christ, misses Demidus' head by inches.

Speaker 6:
[91:44] Uh, uh, boom!

Speaker 4:
[91:51] Okay.

Speaker 17:
[91:53] This is so insane.

Speaker 4:
[91:56] Even if they save for half, all of these rugs are destroyed.

Speaker 15:
[92:00] Wow. Wow.

Speaker 4:
[92:03] And Zoggy needs to make a Constitution saving throw. On which she crits!

Speaker 18:
[92:14] All the other crow keepers are gonna come back and be like, what happened?

Speaker 14:
[92:17] The fuck?

Speaker 4:
[92:18] What the fuck happened here? Um, uh, ta ta ta. Oh, boy.

Speaker 14:
[92:23] Okay, okay, okay.

Speaker 4:
[92:27] Okay, however, Zoggy takes a still hefty amount of damage. Um, gah! As she sort of leaps out of the way of this blast of sludge that begins to melt the wood around her. Hal, that is going to be your turn.

Speaker 16:
[92:47] Okay, um, I am going to lift this young man up over my shoulder. Fireman carry.

Speaker 4:
[92:56] Yeah.

Speaker 16:
[92:58] And I'm going to try to quietly make my way to the base of the ladder.

Speaker 4:
[93:02] Okay, I am going to need a stealth check with disadvantage.

Speaker 16:
[93:06] Okay. One's a natural 20.

Speaker 4:
[93:10] Nice.

Speaker 16:
[93:11] The other one is good, 17.

Speaker 4:
[93:13] 17.

Speaker 15:
[93:13] Okay, okay.

Speaker 4:
[93:15] Demetus is not large. He is a small gnome. He goes up in your hands pretty quick. Incredible, you have your movement and bonus action.

Speaker 16:
[93:25] Does he slow movement at all?

Speaker 4:
[93:26] No, he does not go past your incumbents.

Speaker 16:
[93:29] Okay, so that was my action was to lift him.

Speaker 4:
[93:34] Was to lift him and stealth.

Speaker 16:
[93:36] And stealth. All right, so then I creep back to the base of the stairs. Maybe I can even get one, like, one or two feet up the ladder.

Speaker 4:
[93:43] Yes.

Speaker 16:
[93:44] And bonus action. I will quietly whisper into this kid's ear, time to go, kid. And that reverberates through his sleeping mind and I will cast its bonus action, Healing Word.

Speaker 4:
[93:58] Hell yes.

Speaker 18:
[94:00] Good idea.

Speaker 16:
[94:04] Six hit points.

Speaker 4:
[94:05] Six hit points for our friend. He's at full force.

Speaker 18:
[94:10] Yeah, pretty much.

Speaker 16:
[94:12] Anybody hits this kid or throws goop at us, he's a dead, dead.

Speaker 18:
[94:16] Hit points of a kitten.

Speaker 4:
[94:17] Okay. Ta-ta-ta.

Speaker 16:
[94:22] I just hope he doesn't freak out.

Speaker 4:
[94:24] Yeah. You see, in this moment, Demidus, now that you actually have gone and picked him up, Demidus has gotten beat to hell by these rugs. His shirt's in tatters. You see he's got a sort of flop of hair, big swollen black eye. As he comes to, he's got his little sort of like pentaviral vest that has some like badges and other sort of school pride things on it. He's got a chest binder that has a deep, rich blue with like wizard stars over it that wraps around his chest. And he looks up and goes. And he is going to, he is going to cast mage armor on you. Cast mage armor on you, your AC becomes 13 plus dex mod. Okay, okay. And I think you begin to ascend up the ladder at this point. I am going to roll one quick stealth check for Demetus to cast this spell on scene. Demetus has a plus two to stealth, rolling in front of the board. That's a natural one.

Speaker 9:
[96:06] Violent, violent!

Speaker 5:
[96:10] He looks and goes, I'm almost dead, don't worry, I'll take care of you.

Speaker 4:
[96:14] And his mage armor goes, boing, boom, and fireworks shoot, and you are covered in gleaming, beautiful armor that shines with starlight, because this kid only knows how to do things loud.

Speaker 9:
[96:28] Oh my god, that's gross.

Speaker 16:
[96:30] Time to turn towards the frango.

Speaker 6:
[96:34] Oh my god.

Speaker 18:
[96:38] That wasn't like a wild magic roll, it's just to see if he.

Speaker 9:
[96:41] No, it's just, it's just Demetri's style.

Speaker 6:
[96:44] He just sucks.

Speaker 18:
[96:45] He just, he's just.

Speaker 9:
[96:46] Shit's bad.

Speaker 18:
[96:47] He's an illusionist.

Speaker 4:
[96:48] She's an illusionist, his mage armor's made. People pay a lot for mage armor that looks this good, okay?

Speaker 18:
[96:56] Oh, boy.

Speaker 6:
[96:57] Okay. And whips around.

Speaker 4:
[97:02] Murray, that is your turn. You see Hal's like four feet up the ladder, like literally clinging to the wall, turning around with Demetrius in his arm. As Demetrius twists around, blood come out of his nose and goes, hi. As he is looking around, as Laumi and Zoggy both turn around to see that the daring escape has happened.

Speaker 6:
[97:22] Okay. Murray, it's your turn.

Speaker 18:
[97:23] Okay, so I know. I just look at Demetrius and just kind of shake my head.

Speaker 12:
[97:31] You nitwit.

Speaker 18:
[97:33] I'm going to... Who do I slam? I'm gonna slam.

Speaker 17:
[97:44] Do you... Does this require a save on their end? Or is this just an attack?

Speaker 18:
[97:51] The Chromatic Orb that I was holding is just an attack.

Speaker 4:
[97:56] Okay. Oh. You held and lost the action that round, right? It just went all the way.

Speaker 18:
[98:00] I held and lost it. Okay, so I don't have to do Chromatic Orb if I don't want to.

Speaker 4:
[98:04] And you guys are sending your initiative down the line, so you guys can go right after Murray if you want to go after Murray.

Speaker 18:
[98:09] Okay.

Speaker 4:
[98:10] Right? But if Murray, if you're looking like down the hatch, here we go, then you may do that.

Speaker 8:
[98:18] No, you know?

Speaker 17:
[98:19] Because we can double up then, because if we're holding ours, then we can just.

Speaker 4:
[98:23] Yeah, you guys could basically all act at once, right?

Speaker 18:
[98:25] The main goal is to get the fuck out of here. I am going to.

Speaker 17:
[98:35] Get too far away from you to do that.

Speaker 18:
[98:36] I'm gonna turn to Azune and be like, hold my feet! And I'm going to go down and grab Dimitris.

Speaker 4:
[98:43] Cool.

Speaker 18:
[98:43] And try and lift him up the ladder the rest of the way.

Speaker 4:
[98:47] Go ahead and just give me athletics. We'll call it, he's a very small guy. Give me DC 10 athletics.

Speaker 18:
[98:51] It's a little guy. It's a little guy. And I'm just a wizard, but here we go. Middle this up.

Speaker 12:
[99:02] That's good enough, 13.

Speaker 4:
[99:04] 13.

Speaker 6:
[99:05] Up, down the hole.

Speaker 4:
[99:07] You grab this kid and yoink him back up out of the hole. Demetus is up on the upper level with you. Bam.

Speaker 18:
[99:13] Fantastic. That was my action.

Speaker 4:
[99:15] Yes.

Speaker 18:
[99:16] Am I able to kind of grab him and start moving in a direction that resembles out of here?

Speaker 4:
[99:23] Yes, you can grab him and start moving in a direction that resembles out of here. Okay. Yeah.

Speaker 18:
[99:27] That's what we do. Even if it's 10 feet, just want to start getting him out.

Speaker 4:
[99:30] Hell yeah. That is going to be Azune and Bolaire. I will remind Azune and Bolaire, oh sorry, no, it's going to be Zoggy. Zoggy is going to, Oh, can I?

Speaker 6:
[99:48] Oh no, yes, you guys go before Zoggy.

Speaker 17:
[99:50] I want to get in before Zoggy.

Speaker 19:
[99:51] Yes, yes, yes.

Speaker 17:
[99:53] This will be fun.

Speaker 19:
[99:54] They've all turned their heads towards us, right?

Speaker 4:
[99:56] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 17:
[99:58] So I'm just going to hop down just far enough to cast Command because Command's so great. And I got another one. This is my...

Speaker 18:
[100:10] Is this your last one?

Speaker 17:
[100:11] No, this is what I do, thankfully. And I'm just going to say, what am I going to, I'm just going to tell him to drop, drop it, and next turn, apparently, he has to drop whatever he's holding, then it ends his turn.

Speaker 4:
[100:32] This is to Zoggy? Yeah. Okay, gotcha.

Speaker 17:
[100:34] And then I'm running right back up with a little, and I'm back up.

Speaker 4:
[100:38] All right, great. Mask pops down, drop, bam. And that is to Zoggy, correct? Yes. So this is a wisdom saving throw. 14, and then you're up. Great.

Speaker 5:
[100:52] Zoggy fails the save.

Speaker 17:
[100:55] So on his turn, he will be dropping anything in his hands and going, what the fuck just happened?

Speaker 4:
[101:00] Okay, amazing.

Speaker 17:
[101:01] And, um, Zoggy's a woman, yes.

Speaker 4:
[101:07] So she will drop her weapon.

Speaker 18:
[101:10] It is dark down here.

Speaker 19:
[101:12] Cool.

Speaker 4:
[101:13] Azune, at the top of your turn, please roll that d20 for me about the other crows.

Speaker 19:
[101:20] Is that a one? That's a one. There they come. That's a one.

Speaker 4:
[101:24] Murray, as you begin to rush down the hallway up here, you hear footsteps coming in your direction going, no, they're this way!

Speaker 18:
[101:34] I just look at the others and go, dang. Time to go. We're in a time-spot. That movie's worth a re-watch again. Wait a minute. Yeah, well, let's just tell everybody, time to go.

Speaker 19:
[101:49] Time to go. No time for that. Oh, boop. No, no.

Speaker 17:
[101:57] It might just be, don't do anything this round. It might just be run.

Speaker 18:
[102:00] Hopefully the guards get back, see carnage and immediately start attacking the sludge monster.

Speaker 4:
[102:06] Right.

Speaker 19:
[102:07] Do we hear, did we hear them coming from where we are? Like, if we run that way, did we have guards there?

Speaker 4:
[102:14] So here's the thing. On a nat one, I have to fuck you guys. Yes, yes. So, they are coming from the only direction that you know to make your way back. There are, the hallway does go a different direction, deeper into the dark where you don't know.

Speaker 16:
[102:34] Get out the way we first entered. We run towards their voices.

Speaker 4:
[102:38] Yes. Okay.

Speaker 19:
[102:39] Then let's run into Les. I am putting all this together. As soon as you give me that directive, Azune shifts. He kind of gets, his center of gravity gets a little bit lower into the ground and I whip into the direction where I think those guards are and bonus action, I'm activating innate sorcery. The ground around me starts to spiral around me like a mini vortex. There's sparks gathering, little small bits of fire gathering around me as my eyes start to glow. The water part of my iris, the blue part of my iris starts to look liquid. The sunset part starts to emanate light and I'm rushing towards where those guards are. The first one I see. Hell yeah. I will do stuff too.

Speaker 4:
[103:32] Look at this. You are able to rush forward to this other passage. I'm gonna elevate this one ever so slightly. Making it up on the fly.

Speaker 18:
[103:45] This is what we do here.

Speaker 4:
[103:46] This is what we're doing, I love it. Okay, here we go.

Speaker 16:
[103:49] The circus must go on.

Speaker 4:
[103:50] The circus must go on. Okay. Okay, so, rushing into this other chamber, Azune. I love it, here we go. Nice and precarious, this is what we like to see. Yep, there we go. Okay, Azune, rushing forward into this chamber, boom. You behold the other four crowkeepers rushing in towards, following up this passageway here. Your guess is they doubled back when one of them noticed that their companion was not with them, right? So, you rush into this room, they are before you, you cast Use Innate Sorcery, it is your turn.

Speaker 19:
[104:41] Okay, I look upon them and there's just something about the scum of these grow keepers that reminds me of that first mercenary group that I was with. And I know that we've tangled with them before. I'm going for that one, not the one that's closest, actually, the one that is to my left, where the tongue is showing. I'm moving in to that one, and I have my war hammer.

Speaker 4:
[105:18] Hell yeah.

Speaker 19:
[105:19] And I, the sparks and the fire that's gathering around me, it gets absorbed into my war hammer as I cast Booming Blade on him, pop! Yeah!

Speaker 4:
[105:28] Hell yeah, go for it, give me your attack roll.

Speaker 19:
[105:30] And it's at advantage with an eight sorcery.

Speaker 18:
[105:32] So, badda, badda, badda.

Speaker 19:
[105:34] Holy crap, it's not a great roll. It is a 10 to hit.

Speaker 4:
[105:40] 10 is a miss. Swing pass, that is a miss, and eight sorcery is your bonus action.

Speaker 19:
[105:49] And I'm positioned right next to them, so those two are adjacent to me. Okay. That's okay.

Speaker 4:
[105:55] Bolaire and Azune have both acted in this moment. Zaggy drops the weapon, drops to the ground, looking at you, Hal, frozen there to the wall as Demetis is yoinked out of your hands. She stares at you, dropping her weapon in the sludge, the bones of her guild members around her, as this thing in the dark calls filth to itself, sort of raising up higher and higher, becoming eight, nine, 10 feet tall. She looks at you, frozen with Bolaire's command, and goes, Miller, playwright? And looks down to the sword on your belt, and goes, you picked up his sword.

Speaker 5:
[106:57] Well, you'll die like he did.

Speaker 4:
[107:00] And that is the end of her turn. Top of the round, having sent your initiatives down, it is gonna be Crow Keepers. Azune, you're in the one situation that in the Brethren Hall, they tell you never to get in, which is surrounded by rogues.

Speaker 19:
[107:16] That's okay. No! That is okay.

Speaker 9:
[107:19] No, is it, though?

Speaker 4:
[107:22] I'll say, by the way, this doorway is right at the edge of this block here, so you guys are like 30 feet from the madness, right?

Speaker 18:
[107:29] Like around a corner, I'm guessing?

Speaker 4:
[107:32] No, like literally directly, like they're on top of you. Azune, your armor class is 20, correct? They are getting advantage because they're flanking, so that's going to be a hit with sneak attack. Oh, sorry, no, no, no. I'm incorrect. They only have a plus three to hit, so a 16 does not hit with advantage. That is a miss, but when they hit, it will be with sneak attack.

Speaker 19:
[107:56] Okay, I'll need to know if they hit because I have something.

Speaker 4:
[108:00] I need it. That is a hit on a natural 19 on the die.

Speaker 19:
[108:06] Reaction, I cast shield.

Speaker 4:
[108:08] Your armor is 25.

Speaker 19:
[108:10] My armor is 25 now. And it almost looks like a figure steps in front of me and just crosses its arms and becomes almost like a spectral barricade for me.

Speaker 4:
[108:24] I think Murray and Bolaire look through and see Azune, who is ever, you know, like seeing Shemad and these other arcane marshals. Azune, your friend who speaks with a voice of understanding and knowing this city and loving this city has transformed into a beautiful nightmare in the room beyond you. These guys don't know they're in a game of D&D, but on an intuitive level, they know what it means to miss on a 19. Meaning, to hit this guy, it takes a fucking miracle, right? I can only hit on a crit. Their attack bonus is not high enough for a 25 armor class to be anything other than the stuff of legends, right?

Speaker 19:
[109:14] I've been waiting for this moment.

Speaker 4:
[109:17] Just hitting the armor shield up, war hammer up. They all take swings with advantage and have nothing to write home about. Incredible. And that is going to be Rao Granath. We're gonna roll this D6. That's a two. That is a two, which means, which means that Laumi, our Raul Grometh, which is the name of the type of being they are, is going to, Laumi goes, five, 10, 15, 20, 30. Oh my god. And looking at you, Hal, but not wanting to waste, not wanting to waste an action of like double moving. Laumi, again, moving by spilling these writhing, putrid innards from out of a torso. Moves up, Laumi cannot move. And you see that all Laumi does is not even raise his hands, but just moves into Zagie's square that his body envelops her. And you watch sludge covered bones fall out of his body as Zagie's remains just clatter to the ground. As Laumi looks at you, Hal, and goes, first time in the sewers.

Speaker 18:
[111:02] Oh shit, Hal.

Speaker 16:
[111:05] Her guts just go.

Speaker 4:
[111:09] That's Laumi's turn. Hal, that's your turn.

Speaker 16:
[111:12] So Zagie's off the map.

Speaker 4:
[111:14] Off the map. Two hits at average damage, clears.

Speaker 16:
[111:19] I allow Hal two seconds just to gape stupidly at what he's just seen, and then he will pull up some reserve of strength he didn't know he had, and he shouts in a very loud voice, Deal with darkness, die by it, and his voice echoes through the entire chamber here, and that is the casting of the second level spell, Shatter, which I will aim for the, not actually, it's got a 10-foot radius, so I focus it on the wooden platform that Raomi is standing on, so both Raomi and the platform are going to get thunder damage.

Speaker 4:
[111:59] Hell, yes.

Speaker 16:
[112:02] Hell's magic is all smoke and mirrors trickery.

Speaker 6:
[112:05] Except for this.

Speaker 16:
[112:06] Except for the things that aren't.

Speaker 6:
[112:08] That's a good one.

Speaker 18:
[112:09] What was it from last game?

Speaker 4:
[112:10] Go ahead, roll damage, I believe it does double damage against crystalline. It's crystalline.

Speaker 16:
[112:19] A construct has disadvantage on the save. Loud noise erupts in the point of your choice within range. Each creature in a 10 foot radius sphere centered there makes a constitution save. 3d8 thunder damage on a failed save, half as much on a successful.

Speaker 4:
[112:33] Okay, go ahead and roll 3d8. I'm gonna make the con save for Raomi. That is a failure for the con save for Raomi here.

Speaker 16:
[112:41] One, a single one, but the other ones were high, so that is 16 points of damage.

Speaker 4:
[112:48] 16 points of damage. Ta ta ta. Okay, I want you, Hal, to also give me a, either give me Arcana or Investigation in this moment. I'll call this a DC 20.

Speaker 16:
[113:15] Okay, I'll make it Arcana.

Speaker 4:
[113:17] Cool.

Speaker 16:
[113:18] Even though they're the same. DC 20.

Speaker 4:
[113:21] DC 20.

Speaker 16:
[113:24] Not enough. 17.

Speaker 4:
[113:25] 17. The shatter spell goes off. The wooden bridge collapses, falling away into sludge and nothingness. As Laumi falls as well, and you hear a collapse. It also, because it's a sphere, it hits the stones above it, it hits the stones below it. This is a, let's be very clear, dangerous spell to cast in a honeycomb of interconnected waterways. Like that. And Laumi, as your voice carries out, booming throughout this space, announcing yourself as a spellcaster for the first time in the darkness here.

Speaker 16:
[114:12] And with my movement, I'll say, that's all, folks, and I scurry up a ladder.

Speaker 4:
[114:17] And you scramble up the ladder to join Murray and Bolaire up here. Incredible. Hal, that's your turn. Demetis.

Speaker 5:
[114:37] What is Demetis going to do?

Speaker 4:
[114:43] You see...

Speaker 5:
[114:49] That doesn't look good.

Speaker 19:
[114:52] My situation? Yeah. I'm okay.

Speaker 17:
[114:57] Murray, you can have it.

Speaker 5:
[114:57] Okay.

Speaker 19:
[114:59] I'm all right.

Speaker 18:
[115:01] Then he goes, you're naked, and it's fine.

Speaker 19:
[115:03] All right.

Speaker 16:
[115:03] That's real bad. That's real bad.

Speaker 19:
[115:04] Is it? You're okay?

Speaker 18:
[115:07] Are you sure? Okay.

Speaker 19:
[115:08] I mean, you can, people are welcome to help.

Speaker 17:
[115:12] I've got another plan.

Speaker 19:
[115:13] You got other stuff.

Speaker 16:
[115:15] I got this guy. That is four presumably rogues, all at advantage.

Speaker 19:
[115:21] I'm okay. For two more rounds.

Speaker 5:
[115:25] Okay.

Speaker 4:
[115:27] Demidus looks at you, Murray, and he goes, or looks at Hal jumping through, and he goes, Professor Mag'Nesson!

Speaker 5:
[115:36] Oh, you showed up!

Speaker 9:
[115:38] Oh, Bolaire!

Speaker 4:
[115:39] You showed up!

Speaker 1:
[115:42] Oh, sorry, sorry!

Speaker 4:
[115:44] I don't know who you are.

Speaker 5:
[115:45] I know!

Speaker 6:
[115:46] And you see that, Shut up!

Speaker 4:
[115:50] Demidus goes, uh, uh, monster, or these guys! And starts to summon some magic into his fingers.

Speaker 12:
[115:57] Those guys, we gotta get the fuck out of here.

Speaker 4:
[115:59] Azune, as these rogues surround you, looking at their inability to harm you in any meaningful way, you gleam with light, and you see Demidus looks over and goes, Wow, beautiful. And behind you, you see a 12 foot tall knight made of light erupts and says, Brother, I have arrived to aid you.

Speaker 6:
[116:25] I am also a handsome knight, and 100% real. Oh my goodness.

Speaker 18:
[116:33] I just look at Demidus and go, We're gonna have to talk about reading the room. I did it, I'm helping. Stop helping. Don't help.

Speaker 4:
[116:43] And Murray, that is your turn.

Speaker 16:
[116:45] Acting is about doing less.

Speaker 18:
[116:47] Yeah.

Speaker 19:
[116:49] Don't show your work.

Speaker 4:
[116:50] You say doing less and he goes, He goes, got it. And a bunch of magical bottle rockets fire out at him in all directions.

Speaker 19:
[116:56] He's so much fun under every other circumstance.

Speaker 4:
[116:59] This right now.

Speaker 18:
[117:01] Just for flavor, I do up my own lighter illusion and I go like, uh, flashing red light, your time's up. And I want to get like a cane with the fork at the end and I want to yoink him as if you hear the Oscar music playing, playing them off stage.

Speaker 9:
[117:19] With the hokey goes, dig deep folks.

Speaker 4:
[117:23] And Murray, that is your turn.

Speaker 18:
[117:25] Can I, um, can I just literally grab him by the collar, scoop him up under my own arm and we just keep heading out?

Speaker 4:
[117:38] Are you heading out into the room that is the way out with Azune, or are you heading deeper into unknown darkness?

Speaker 18:
[117:50] I think it's...

Speaker 19:
[117:55] I'm busy and I'm looking...

Speaker 16:
[117:58] Have you been taking any damage? Are you hurt?

Speaker 18:
[117:59] Uh-uh.

Speaker 19:
[118:00] They didn't touch me.

Speaker 16:
[118:01] Okay.

Speaker 18:
[118:02] I think in this instance it's almost better to go to where Azune is and go past and go the way that we know.

Speaker 4:
[118:09] Okay.

Speaker 18:
[118:09] Go the most direct route. I don't want to just go down and hit a dead end.

Speaker 4:
[118:13] You're gonna grab Demetis. You're gonna go five, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30. If you move this way, this guy's gonna get an attack of opportunity on you.

Speaker 18:
[118:25] Shit.

Speaker 4:
[118:26] Right? This crowded room in the sewers for you trying to get out through your exit here.

Speaker 6:
[118:31] Just give me one second.

Speaker 18:
[118:32] Is that my move and my action considering I'm cutting him? I do still have an action. Okay. You... it, shit, balls, okay. I am going to, man, he's surrounded.

Speaker 4:
[119:07] Yeah, that one was rough. But looking out here, you can see, if you attempt to run around, I think your options as such right now are, they're gonna get some swings on you if you try to run around them and hope that they stay pinned on Azune. You can, like, using your action, like, at a certain, like, you can also use your action to fight them or to try to, like, blow your way past them, which might also help get Azune out of here sooner at the cost of you. It's basically, you're weighing, is the ultimate priority beating feet, even if they get swings on me, versus are we fucked and need to fight our way out.

Speaker 12:
[119:49] How's your constitution?

Speaker 19:
[119:52] Pretty good.

Speaker 18:
[119:53] All right, we're going to do a little color spray.

Speaker 6:
[119:56] What?

Speaker 18:
[119:57] Let's do a little color spray.

Speaker 4:
[119:58] Hell yeah.

Speaker 1:
[119:59] You best, better save, bitch.

Speaker 2:
[120:01] I hope so.

Speaker 1:
[120:03] It's a 15-foot cone.

Speaker 2:
[120:05] Great.

Speaker 1:
[120:06] Let me see if I could see, and then I'll see which way if I'm going to try and hit all of them with Azune or if I pick a lane. We're at color spray.

Speaker 2:
[120:13] 15-foot cone right here. 15-foot cone. I think 15-foot cone, you can get these three right here in one cone with that and hit Azune or potentially if you want to avoid Azune entirely, you could like sidestep and just get two of them in a line.

Speaker 1:
[120:31] Just the two, not hit you probably. Because if you're feeling good, let's do that. Let's sidestep. I'm going to try and position myself to only get those two.

Speaker 2:
[120:40] Hell yeah.

Speaker 1:
[120:40] So it's a constitution saving throw. Cause also if you fail, I don't want you to be blinded. That would be real bad.

Speaker 2:
[120:47] Oh yeah, that would be. Okay. Two fails.

Speaker 1:
[120:53] Wow. Okay. So, yeah.

Speaker 2:
[121:02] What does your color spray look like and what effect does it have on them?

Speaker 4:
[121:05] This is going to be so stupid. Can I do it?

Speaker 1:
[121:07] This is going to be dumb. Oh, okay. So, yeah. If we're any more succeed in consumer or blinded condition until the end of your next turn. So, can I, like, because I'm holding Demetus, like a sack of potatoes and he's the illusion guy, can I take him and his glittery magic that's already swirling around him and like use him like a shotgun?

Speaker 2:
[121:34] Yeah, like holding up a skunk and just being like.

Speaker 1:
[121:38] And I'm going to take it and just whatever sparkly magic. Yeah, he already has going on because it's an illusion spell. I'm going to take what he has and just amplify it. He is your component.

Speaker 2:
[121:52] You reach into one of his pockets in his shirt. There's a bunch of broken spell components from when he was getting beat up. You just grab the thing and a bunch of glitter. Both pro keepers reel back blinded as glitter just dances over their face. And you can see almost like their faces become like mirror glass of iridescent light creeping into their eyes as they are blinded. That is your turn.

Speaker 1:
[122:23] That's my turn.

Speaker 2:
[122:24] Hell, yes.

Speaker 1:
[122:25] So they're both blinded.

Speaker 2:
[122:27] That is going to be Azune and Bolaire. Bolaire and Hal are still standing over the hole covering, hearing the growling hiss of the entity down below. And Hal, and then Azune, you are in the room now with Murray and Demetis. Would you like to go first this time, or do you want me to?

Speaker 3:
[122:54] I just want to have a little fun.

Speaker 2:
[122:56] Have all the fun.

Speaker 3:
[122:57] I'm going to pop down the ladder just a bit. Just saying, actually, and out of curiosity, how well-built is this ladder, would you say?

Speaker 2:
[123:05] Quite well-built.

Speaker 3:
[123:06] Okay.

Speaker 2:
[123:06] Yeah.

Speaker 3:
[123:07] Sturdy. Let's go, sir. Good to know. And I'm going to cast, on our little mud friend over here, a little, I'm gonna cast Dissonant Whispers.

Speaker 2:
[123:16] Hell yes. What is the save on Dissonant Whispers?

Speaker 3:
[123:19] It's a 14 wisdom.

Speaker 2:
[123:21] That is a failure.

Speaker 3:
[123:22] Okay, so I crawl down just a bit and look directly at this creature. Eyes lock. And it almost seems like the mask itself becomes concave and reflective, and there's this twisted version of its own face that's suddenly looking at it. And it hears this quiet, quiet roll in its head.

Speaker 4:
[123:48] Creature of refuse and filth. How else would you find your face than to be buried in the sewers forever where you belong?

Speaker 3:
[123:58] And let's do some damage. That's, uh.

Speaker 4:
[124:03] Come on. Come on.

Speaker 3:
[124:04] 10, 11, 12. That's 12 points of psychic damage. And he has to run away from me. He must immediately use its reaction if it be able to move as far away from me as it can on a successful level.

Speaker 2:
[124:20] Oh, yeah. You know, I am going to ask you for an intimidation check. And I am going to ask for an intimidation check in this moment, if it'd be so kind.

Speaker 3:
[124:33] Yeah, no problem. Natural 20. So that gives me, just for fun, a 26. This is what I was born for. Being mean and correct.

Speaker 2:
[124:48] Now that none of your friends can see you, you decide to prove that this guy is not the freakiest thing in this dark pit. And moving down the ladder, you not only move Laumi to a quarter of his hit points total, but with that reaction, being banished to flee, Laumi looks and goes, I am sorry. And zooms in the, as the water seeps through the cracks of Hal's shatter spell in the floor, he flushes himself down into a deeper darkness, vanishing at the horror of your dissonant whispers. Laumi exits combat in this moment. And we will come back after the break. Oh, you. And that's where we'll leave our story for now. Part 2 of this episode of Campaign 4 drops this Tuesday. Thanks for listening and we'll see you soon for more Critical Role.