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Campaign 2 Episode 006 Transcript

Anthony 0:00
Greetings adventurer and welcome to the Adventure Incorporated Podcast. I am your Dungeon Master, Anthony Reed. This is episode six and it is part of the New Beginnings story arc. As we go along I want to remind people that if you’re not part of our social media, Steph and Mike have been doing a lot of stuff on social media, and man is it great. Head to Twitter. Follow us on Twitter @adventureincpod. Follow us on Instagram as part of the Series Business Network’s Instagram, and follow the Twitter for the Series Business Network as well. Join the Facebook group. Get up on Discord. Our Discord community especially is so much fun to be a part of. We have so many great people come in there that we can talk to and hang out with. You know, people who have become friends just by hanging out there and being part of that, and you can too. It’s easy. Follow the links here in the show notes. Head to our website, and follow the links you find there. There’s all kinds of places you can go to get all connected up with us. Make sure you’re following us on Twitch at twitch.tv/srsbiz_network. Every third Thursday of every month we will be doing our Tavern night. They are in canon, a temporal stories that are just fun. They’re a good opportunity to hang, and you should come and check them out there. They are a blast. There’s all kinds of other fun stuff happening there too. Steph and I do a Survivor podcast. All the Patron bonus content shows up up there on the Twitch feed. Mike and I do a show called Ask the Pokedexpert. Steph frequently does her Shakespeare streams up there. There’s all kinds of stuff. It’s totally worth your time and effort. If you happen to be an Amazon Prime subscriber, you get some of Jeff Bezos’ money to throw at us to for free. So head over there twitch.tv/srsbiz_network. Make sure you’re following. Turn on those emails throw us a subscription. That is how it’s done. Alright, let’s get started.

Nobles and farmers, knights and scoundrels gather round, gather round to hear a tale of excitement and mystery. Brave adventurers, facing grave dangers. Belroth, the Ranger.

Belroth 2:30
She’s a grimalkin. That’s understood. No pets allowed. Even though she’s not a pet. I will wait outside. Everyone, if anyone needs anything. I am outside.

Anthony 2:40
Skarpin, the Cleric.

Belroth 2:42
Should I just try and snipe them from over here?

Skarpin 2:45
Yeah, okay. I did say they were as good as dead. I would hate to break my word on our first contract with Adventure Incorporated.

Anthony 2:53
Ellori, the Bard.

Ellori 2:56
We would want you to leave this warehouse.

Anthony 2:59
He points behind you. Church!

Ellori 3:02
Oh, sorry. We want you to leave this church.

Anthony 3:06
Deeran, the wizard. He say you no, worship Shattered Fang.

Deeran 3:11
Yeah, man. He’s like super wrong. We love Broken Tooth, uh Shattered Fang, man.

Anthony 3:16
Prepare yourselves, for these are the tales of Adventure Incorporated.

It’s your turn. Yeah, you guys are staring down the spine creature with large wings that is here in this jungle around you. It has just attacked Belroth mortally.

Ellori 3:45
Ellori is going to run to Belroth, put her hands on his temple, and sing ~Fights aren’t easy. Wounds can kill, but if I can help it, none of them will~ and heal him for-

Belroth 4:00
Big money. No whammy. Big money. No whammy.

Ellori 4:04
9.

Belroth 4:04
Hey, that’s no whammy

Ellori 4:07
No, it’s okay.

Belroth 4:09
No, I think it’s great because I’m now at 10.

Ellori 4:14
Better than me, buddy.

Anthony 4:16
The wounds start to close around the spines that are still lodged into your flesh.

Belroth 4:25
Can I pull any out?

Anthony 4:27
As you start to pull, you realize they are barbed?

Belroth 4:32
Oh, no. All right. Is it close enough to me that it would inhibit my ranged attack or far enough away? Because if it’s like right up against me, I have disadvantage.

Anthony 4:50
Right. I would say that yes, it still is because it just attacked you, and it didn’t get far enough away that it would grant you an attack of opportunity. So it’s still close enough.

Belroth 5:01
Sure. Well, Belroth not having a whole lot of options and not really wanting to disengage and leave Ellori in front of a barbed demon. I’m gonna take a shot at disadvantage.

Anthony 5:21
Okay. You’re just like, “Peace!”

Belroth 5:24
Thanks for the healing! Oooo, in two universes, a 16 and a 15.

Anthony 5:35
Very good.

Belroth 5:36
Plus 7.

Anthony 5:37
You hit.

Belroth 5:39
Cool. I’m pissed, so I’m gonna use my Favored Foe. On this favorite guy.

Anthony 5:47
Yep, he’s your favorite.

Belroth 5:48
He’s my favorite foe.

Deeran 5:50
I love this foe!

Anthony 5:52
Aw, this one’s my favorite!

Belroth 5:55
10 damage.

Anthony 5:57
Okay. Yeah, you sink an arrow into his shoulder for 10.

Deeran 6:10
Yeah, as the arrow sinks into the creature. Belroth. Nope. Why do I keep calling myself you? The name is so good! I’m Jealous!

Belroth 6:24
Thank you. That’s really sweet, I guess.

Deeran 6:27
Stupid Deeran-

Belroth 6:28
Stupid sexy Deeran.

Deeran 6:34
Deeran swings his arm, and rings the bell one more time. So it’ll have to make that Wisdom save.

Anthony 6:44
That as a success.

Deeran 6:47
Okay. The sound still happens, Anthony.

Anthony 6:53
Okay, good to know.

Deeran 6:58
Nothing happens, but everyone hears the sound so- Wow, man, this thing’s strong!

Skarpin 7:06
Oh, yes, yes. I’m gonna try something here, and Skarpin goes to try and- he wants to basically trap it under his shield. He wants to get it on the ground somehow, and like scoop it like a hat. Give it a hat.

Anthony 7:25
It’s like medium sized humanoid creature flying in the air, just above Belroth.

Yeah, he’s gonna give it a hat and try and scoop it to the ground

Okay

I was thinking a Strength or an Athletics sort of deal.

Yeah, give me a Strength check. Because you have to like get at it in the air, make it a disadvantage.

That should bode well with my minus 1 Strength. Seven.

Uh, no. You fail.

Deeran 8:02
It’s just a little hop.

Anthony 8:08
It ignores you largely.

Ugh, it didn’t work. In case anyone couldn’t tell.

So, the creature having only been struck by one of you bears down on Belroth again.

Deeran 8:34
We don’t need to say that.

Anthony 8:36
This time it comes in with its arm trying to jam you with the spikes on its arm, and then it tries to get in and bite on you as well. So, first the arm. Okay, that’s a miss.

Belroth 8:54
Hey!

Deeran 8:56
The bite is a hit.

Belroth 8:58
No!

Anthony 9:01
4 damage.

Belroth 9:08
Literally 4. I was gonna make a joke, but I’ll take 4 damage.

Anthony 9:12
You will. He will take 4 damage.

Belroth 9:20
But it’s 4 damage so it’s fine.

Anthony 9:21
It’s you guys.

Deeran 9:26
Deeranswings his hand back again, ringing the bell one more time.

Anthony 9:32
Gong! Gong! That’s fun. 12 is the DC?

Deeran 9:43
13 is the DC

Anthony 9:44
Okay, he fails.

Deeran 9:46
Yeah! He takes 9 damage. Let’s go!

Anthony 9:53
Okay. Okay.

Great idea! The shield’s against his leg now because he dropped it, and he smacks his quarterstaff against the shield, and casts Toll the Dead as well.

Okay. What’s your DC?

Skarpin 10:13
12

Anthony 10:14
A fail.

Skarpin 10:16
Niiiice!

Anthony 10:16
No, I’m sorry, he succeeds. You fail.

Skarpin 10:21
Nooo!

Anthony 10:21
No, he succeeds the save. I’m sorry.

It’s a meaner way of saying it. He could have switched it.

Deeran 10:31
Somebody call an ambulance…for you.

Belroth 10:38
Belroth still at disadvantage, takes another close range shot at this barbed demon. That’s a 2 plus 7. I’m sure it missed.

Anthony 10:51
Yeah, that does in fact, miss.

Belroth 10:55
He sure does. That’s it.

Anthony 10:59
Okay.

Ellori 11:01
Ellori is gonna use her charkam, and throw it. For 8 to hit.

Anthony 11:10
That’s not gonna do it.

Ellori 11:12
Into a tree. She’s kind of like rocking back and forth a little bit. You can see she is pouring blood which is doubly unhealthy for her.

Anthony 11:24
It doesn’t grow back. Okay, two more attacks coming at you then still Belroth.

Belroth 11:31
God, Deeran got hit.

Anthony 11:37
One hit. What’s the bite again.

Belroth 11:41
Stop biting me!

Anthony 11:42
4 damage.

Unknown Speaker 11:44
I liked it the

Unknown Speaker 11:46
Ugh, I’m at 2.

Anthony 11:47
Skarpin seeing Belroth just taking a beating, an absolute beating, he tries to waddle over and position himself in between that monster and Belroth.

Okay, it’s above Belroth.

Well, he stands over Belroth because he’s bigger. He’s not, but-

Belroth 12:07
We’re like the same height

Anthony 12:09
He holds the shield above Belroth’s head and then reaches up and clanks he quarterstaff above him and casts Toll the Dead.

Deeran 12:20
Belroth is the same height as Skarpin’s quarterstaff, not actually Skarpin.

Anthony 12:30
He succeeds.

Okay. Well, hey, at least a shady under here. Am I right?

Belroth 12:40
…Sure.

Deeran 12:42
Yeah, Deeran swings his hand back again, once more the bell clanging

Anthony 12:52
He succeeds. You do get the sense that your magic is not as effective against him as you would hope. When he is struck by it, he is struck with full force, but that he is particularly good at avoiding your magic.

Okay, I think we’ve all noticed.

I’m codifying.

Deeran 13:26
So everybody knows I’m less good at killing this guy than the others.

Skarpin 13:35
Yeah, me too, buddy.

Ellori 13:37
I have been pretty not good at killing this guy too. This guy’s been pretty good at killing us though, so…

Deeran 13:47
At least somebody is good at something, man.

Ellori 13:50
Yeah

Skarpin 13:50
It’s a good way to look at it.

Belroth 13:51
If Skarpin kind of put positioned himself in the way, am I able to freely disengage?

Anthony 14:02
I mean, as freely as you would have been able to before.

Belroth 14:05
And not take an attack of opportunity and get disadvantage?

Anthony 14:08
No, no, I mean, he didn’t mechanically get in the way.

Belroth 14:11
That’s what I was asking.

Skarpin 14:15
Never again.

Belroth 14:19
I mean, Belroth is then going to take the disengage action, and kind of like pull out his his sword to create some distance and take a few steps back, batting away whatever comes in, and try to get out of range so that maybe we can get some attack of opportunities if you’ve really frickin hates me. Maybe I can shoot them correctly. That’s it. That’s all I can do.

Anthony 14:48
Well since now he is engaged with Skarpin instead of you- you walked away Scarpin is holding the bag. He shoots some tail spines at Skarpin. He hits with one.

Deeran 15:07
~Gasp~, the vertebrae!

Anthony 15:14
Okay, so you take 8 damage from the spine burying itself in your flesh. The other one clinks off of your shell. Your shell, not your grandmother’s. The creature let’s out another hiss at you guys.

Skarpin let’s out a hiss and then chokes up or the opposite of chokes up on the quarterstaff.

Chokes down.

Skarpin 15:55
Chokes down and just swats up into the air at the creature.

Belroth 16:00
Are you are you batting him?

Anthony 16:05
No, he’s got the shield on his left hand.

He’s doing that thing when you’re chasing a bat out of the house, like with a broom.

Deeran 16:14
It’s pinata style.

Skarpin 16:18
It looks like he’s just basically swatting at a pinata because he rolled a natural 1. Oh thie is fun, weee!

Anthony 16:29
Yeah, I think you bat at it, and it’s pretty strong, so it just backhands the weapon as it comes at him and launches the quarterstaff out of your hands. It drops to the ground behind you. Not far. It’s within reach, but it’s not in your hands anymore.

Belroth 16:52
Belroth now at a much better angle takes a shot at this little creature that’s the normal size of a humanoid sized creature.

Anthony 17:04
This humanoid sized creature.

Deeran 17:06
This tiny pathetic creature.

Anthony 17:04
He’s a little large creature.

Belroth 17:11
14.

Anthony 17:12
A 14-

Belroth 17:14
Wait wait wait, wait, wait don’t say don’t say don’t say don’t say don’t say because I’m going to add Bardic Inspiration.

Ellori 17:20
Yeah!

Belroth 17:22
14, 15, 16, 17

Anthony 17:24
A 14 hits.

Belroth 17:28
Sweet. I’m glad that I know that now.

Anthony 17:37
The sick rub-ins.

Deeran 17:42
Anthony, the quote for this show is going to be you saying sick rub-ins.

Belroth 17:54
11 Okay, piercing damage.

Anthony 17:58
Yeah, you shoot another arrow into the belly of the creature, and it lets out a whail. It’s streng in its wings failing, as it flops to the ground. It tries to take off again kicking dirt and debris, but it fails again and just flops over and is just wheezing on the ground.

Deeran 18:20
It’s crazy, like it was able to fly with the whale in it.

Anthony 18:23
Yeah, it’s a very tiny whale. A very very tiny whale

Belroth 18:28
But a normal human humanoid sized creature.

Anthony 18:31
Yeah, but a tiny whale. Not just tiny for a whale. I want to be clear. Tiny, tiny whale.

Ellori 18:38
Ellori runs and grabs her chakram and just like puts it…like finishes him off.

Anthony 18:49
Okay. Yeah, you roll a critical hit.

Ellori 18:55
Oh, okay.

Anthony 18:57
Roll critical damage.

Ellori 18:59
Great. 7.

Deeran 19:06
Plus your mod.

Ellori 19:08
No, there’s no mod.

Deeran 19:09
Oh.

Ellori 19:11
It’s just that.

Anthony 19:14
You raise the chakram up and just drop it down onto his neck, and slice his head off.

Ellori 19:27
Oh, okay. Oh gosh, I didn’t mean to do that. I guess, Belroth you were going to cut him open anyway?

Belroth 19:34
No, I hate that thing. He like starts to try and like Medicine check to get the barbs out without doing too much damage. Because he says like 2 or 3 in him.

He has 2 in him, yeah. Give me a Medicine check on the barbs.

Little spiny bastard. Medicine check. 13.

Anthony 20:06
Okay, um, you don’t think that you can take the barbs out without taking additional damage. While the barbs are in you, if you take a short rest, you will only get back half your hit points that you would get from a hit die. If you take a long rest with the barbs in you, you will no longer suffer those effects, but the barbs will be permanently in you.

Belroth 20:43
Oh my god.

Deeran 20:47
Hey, Ellori when you said you didn’t mean to do that, like what did you mean to do?

Ellori 20:58
I just meant, I just meant to, I just meant to kill it, but not like violently or aggressively.

Deeran 21:05
I mean…okay.

Ellori 21:06
I went to just like, like, slice it, but then I tripped because I’m so woozy from all this blood that I’m losing. I just kind of, all my full force went into it, and then its head came off. And listen, I just really need to sit down.

Belroth 21:23
I I think we need to regroup a little bit, and then-

Ellori 21:28
I think we need to get out of this jungle!

Belroth 21:30
I agree. Let’s let’s find our way out of here as quickly as we can.

Ellori 21:38
Um, do you think maybe it’s worth building up a shelter with all these jungle things to hide from them and sleep for maybe 10 to 15 hours?

Belroth 21:49
Well, I don’t know because if we’re constantly be assaulted, I think we have to at least take a short rest and then find our way out.

Deeran 21:58
Yeha, man these trees have eyes. They definitely know where we are.

Ellori 22:04
Ok so. sould we just sprint to the end of the forest then.?A

Belroth 22:11
As Rob talking, I’m thinking short rest, then escape.

Ellori 22:17
As Steph, I don’t want to risk an hour sitting here because in 10 minutes we’ve had two attacks.

Belroth 22:24
True.

Deeran 22:24
I would have more fun- as Mike, sorry. As Mike, I would have more fun talking this out as our characters.

Belroth 22:30
Okay. I just wanted to be clear, sorry.

Skarpin 22:36
Deeran, during a short rest, can I use hit dice?

Deeran 22:50
If you want to play some hit dice with me, man, like you could definitely do that next time we get some downtime. For sure, man.

Skarpin 22:58
But not right now?

Belroth 22:59
Is there any sort of song that would increase the rate at which we could rest or anything?

Ellori 23:07
Are you looking at me?

Belroth 23:11
Well, I assume Bards. I don’t know!

Ellori 23:13
I used all my music magic fighting those things.

Belroth 23:16
Oh, boy.

Ellori 23:17
I’ve got nothing left in me.

Deeran 23:19
Yeah, Skarpin, like, you know, as well as I do, man. Whenever we play hit dice. It takes like at least an hour.

Skarpin 23:26
Yeah, no, there’s probably not time for it right now. We should make our way out. Let’s go.

Anthony 23:36
Skarpin you do still have a bardin you as well.

He thinks it looks good.

Deeran 23:46
Honestly, that would not surprise me at all.

Anthony 23:49
He’s a a pretty bony turtle.

Deeran 23:52
We check out this barb. I got in the woods.

Skarpin 23:57
On an adventure, yes!

Belroth 24:02
And I do inform Skarpin that if we leave these barbs in us I don’t think we can get them out much easier. They’re definitely not good for our…well, they’re not good for me, I don’t know how it affects your…condition… per se, but we should get these out, but we need to be do it in a safe place because I think it might hurt.

Anthony 24:30
Yes, it hurts very much. I agree.

Belroth 24:32
I think they might inhibit our healing as well.

Skarpin 24:36
Oh, okay. Okay. Yeah, let’s hurry. Let’s hurry. And Skarpin hurries.

Ellori 24:41
Yeah, Ellori does too.

Belroth 24:42
I try to lead everyone out of the jungle as quickly as I can.

Anthony 24:47
Let me have one more round of Survival checks from everybody.

Ellori 24:53
15

Belroth 24:54

  1. Yeah, just a dirty 20.

Deeran 25:01
7.

Anthony 25:05
So, Deeran is not paying attention. Not very helpful in this regard and everyone has to be like “Deeran, this way” many times.

Deeran 25:13
Alright, man. Jeez. There’s so many eyes on me, man. They’re all looking at me.

Anthony 25:20
The forest gets darker before it gets better, but after about 20 minutes of traveling through the forest here, you do reach the edge of the wood looking down into one of the major cities here on the island of Protection. The city is called Xorillan. Give me an knowledge History check. Belroth, you have advantage.

Deeran 26:01
Fine. 5.

Ellori 26:07
No.

Belroth 26:07
Whoa, I rolled 2 13s. In both universes I know the exact same thing. And History you said? So, I don’t add anything.

Anthony 26:21
Okay. Um, you know that- Sorry, go ahead.

Deeran 26:28
Do you have a zero mod for intelligence.

Belroth 26:34
Oh, no, I don’t, and I actually am trained in it. So, I’m an idiot. So, 16

Anthony 26:42
So yeah, a zero.

Belroth 26:44
I think what I was looking at was Deception. Which is right above where History is on this character sheet.

Ellori 27:00
Honestly though it really does feel like if you have gone to school for long enough that like, you know nothing anymore. I feel like when you’re surrounded by people who are constantly smarter than you- like, if you’re moving up in academia or trying to move up in academia, it legitimately feels like all of a sudden you have a 0. You have a plus 0.

Deeran 27:23
That’s a Dunning Kruger effect, baby. Let’s go.

Skarpin 27:25
Yeah, I’ve never felt dumber.

Belroth 27:28
I’ve worked at three different places, and each time I’ve been like, I guess I get the fundamentals, but I’m relearning everything. Every time.

Anthony 27:39
So 17, is that what you had?

Belroth 27:41
16.

Anthony 27:42
All right, with a 16, what you know about this place, this city here on this island, is that it’s supposedly houses an ancient temple. One that has been protected for a long time, and is the ideal of protection comes from this temple that has been a safe guarded by your people for as long as anyone knows- well beyond recorded history. As you enter this clearing, and you look out over the city that has sprung up around the temple, the temple is at the far southern end of the city, on the edge of the jungle there. The city comes Northward from it. From the temple, a beam of dark energy shoots into the sky. A wave of energy is coming off of that temple pushing through the city, driving people away from it. Many of the people of the city are panicking scrambling, running around in the parts of the city that are not covered by this wave of energy, and they are being harried by creatures not dissimilar to the ones that you are just facing in the forest. They are being attacked by these creatures. There are guards mounting defenses against them. There are people fighting back, and there are a lot of people heading toward the docks trying to get boats away from this island. It looks like the back half of the city is a desolate now.

It’s not great, man.

Belroth 29:43
No.

Anthony 29:45
The ground rumbles again, and you watch another wave of force push off of the temple. When it does that barrier, that bubble pushes about three yards more into the city, absorbing a little bit more of it,

Ellori 30:04
Deeran. I know you got a lot that you’re really smart about, but I’m not sure that shaking is the turtles.

Deeran 30:13
I mean, I’d be pretty pissed if there was a gigantic beam of energy hitting me in the back too, man.

Anthony 30:20
I’m starting to think that this is not turtle related as much as I was hoping.

Ellori 30:31
I was also hoping that this sweater would solve all our problems. She holds up her little bit of grass.

Anthony 30:37
Yes, yes, I think, I think that could have helped. If that was the case we could have handled it. I don’t know. Maybe we need Wesley on this one.

Belroth 30:48
Belroth looking over this, like, clearly, you know, part of his culture being destroyed in front of him. He’s covered in wounds. He has several sharp barbs sticking out of him. He just kind of like sits down and marvels because he’s not quite sure what to do and feels fairly powerless

Anthony 31:22
Belroth, that temple over there, what is it? Is it an evil temple?

Belroth 31:30
I mean, currently, I guess. It gives the island its name. It is meant to be the Temple of Protection. It is meant to protect our people. I don’t think that’s what’s happening right now.

Deeran 31:51
Unless it’s protecting everything inside the bubble, and you know, working real hard to do it. From like, from my own experiences with ritual magic and religious ceremony, can I make any sort of Arcana or Religion check to see if like, I can at least tell what direction this energy is flowing.

Anthony 32:24
Give me an Arcana check.

Deeran 32:27
Alright. A 7.

Anthony 32:34
Out. It’s flowing out. You watched it move outward.

Deeran 32:44
But there’s like a beam shooting into the top of it.

Anthony 32:48
That one you’re not sure about?

Deeran 32:49
Okay.

Anthony 32:50
It’s going up, going down. Hard to say. You just feel like you didn’t really piece this one together too well. You know, let’s say you took a short rest here, right? If this is the choice you make, you could spend the time that you are short resting trying to deduce more about this. And you think there might be more you could figure out given an hour of sitting here thinking about it. In the moment that’s all you know.

Deeran 33:25
Yeah. Hey, guys, um, I don’t know what’s going on down there, but some of y’all look really not good. It feels like we’re at least kind of safe from the forest monsters here, and like, safe from the city monsters down there. Do you think we should take a rest?

Ellori 33:55
Yeah, I think this would be a good time to take a rest.

Belroth 34:00
How exactly were we supposed to get in contact with Wesley again?

Deeran 34:06
He just told us to come fix it.

Ellori 34:08
Yeah, and I think we’re supposed to go back when we’ve fixed it.

Anthony 34:15
Were we supposed to fix it? Or were we supposed to kind of determine if there’s something weird?

Belroth 34:19
I thought we were supposed to determine if there’s something weird unofficially because they can’t come- Why wouldn’t they be able to come to this?

Deeran 34:28
So should we just leave, man?

Belroth 34:30
No.

Deeran 34:31
Like we see there’s a problem here, right?

Belroth 34:34
I just think we need backup, and I’m not sure how to get that. Belroth is like, starting to try to take that long rest and fiddle around with the barbs hopefully. Not going to take it out until he’s got some extra energy inside of him.

Anthony 34:55
So, here’s my question, right. So short rest is coming. If you short rest, and you go to spend hit dice, and the barbs are still in, you’re going to get half back on your hit dice. If you try to remove them, you may take damage. Do you want to try to do that before you short rest or no?

Belroth 35:12
No, I have 2 hit points. I’m going to just us all of my hit dice right now, and then I’m going to try and yank him out.

Deeran 35:25
Yeah, as we’re resting about halfway through the rest, Belroth, Deeran looks at you and says, hey, man, you look like you’re feeling, like halfway better. Maybe, try now?

Belroth 35:40
Let’s see, first of all what I got. So I roll-

Deeran 35:43
So before you roll both of them-

Anthony 35:44
No, no, no, no, no, no. I see what you’re trying to do. No. That’s not how that works. That’s not how any of this works.

Deeran 35:53
I was going to say, roll 1 of them.

Anthony 35:55
Yeah, yeah.

Belroth 35:57
Well, he rolled 10 so he gains 5.

Anthony 36:01
Yes.

Belroth 36:02
And then he pulls out one.

Anthony 36:09
You take four damage, pulling the barb from you.

Belroth 36:14
I can’t take out any more of these. I literally will just die.

Deeran 36:20
I hope you picked the right barb. Which one did you pull out?

Belroth 36:26
Well, they were all in my arm, right? Or there was one of my arm and one of my chest or something?

Anthony 36:32
Yes.

Belroth 36:34
He pulled out the one in his arm expecting the one in his chest to be extremely-

Anthony 36:40
Painful?

Belroth 36:44
And there’s a third one, I believe? There was three.

Anthony 36:47
No, no, you only had to two.

Belroth 36:48
Okay.

Anthony 36:49
He bit you the other two times he hit you.

Belroth 36:50
Right, right, right. I didn’t know if his teeth had barbs. This fucking guy.

Deeran 36:54
I just want Belroth to have to think about where this barb is gonna live inside him for the rest of forever.

Belroth 37:05
No, no, no, no.

Anthony 37:09
Skarpin takes out the one at the base of his neck.

Okay. You take six damage.

That’s exactly what he healed for. Worth it. While he’s contemplating his decisions in life, he wants to do a Religion check on this here magic he’s witnessing.

Okay.

Skarpin 37:38
I’m sure he’s good at this. 15.

Anthony 37:46
Okay. You look at this magic, and you contemplate your religion, your following of the Celestial Host, your connection to Oliander, both the Oliander of old in the more primal state and the Oliander of now. As you are trying to contemplate the Celestial and understand this magic, in relation to that, you can sense nothing except that this magic has to be anathema to everything that the celestial host represents.

Just like in the woods, I have no idea what this is.

Deeran, you spend an hour looking at this and really trying to piece together what is happening here. Through that time and contemplation, you do begin to understand that this beam seems to be coming off of the temple and causing this wave of energy that has been pushing through. Since that time, you have noticed a few people moving around beyond the border of this, but it seems to buffet at them. It seems to push them, and they make their way out of that barrier after a short time after being in there. In some ways it seems to be trying to repel them, but it also seems to be the source of these creatures. You see a few creatures come out of the temple. After spending some time with that you believe that there is likely a center point to this ritual that is happening. And that if you could inside-

Deeran 39:58
I’m telling you man if we can get inside the temple I think we can stop all of this. I don’t know if we need backup. We just got to get in there, man. It’s right there.

Ellori 40:23
You know, my grandma always says if you don’t try, then you’re never gonna win.

Belroth 40:37
Belroth, kind of flicking the spiny barb still in his chest.

Anthony 40:44
Ugh

Belroth 40:47
He’s messing with it. It sucks, but like it’s there.

Ellori 40:51
Ew.

Anthony 40:51
Hurt just a little. Oh yeah!

Deeran 40:56
Give it a little wiggle.

Skarpin 40:57
Twist it

Ellori 40:59
Ew

Belroth 41:00
Bop it!

Deeran 41:01
As you start to like pull it away from the skin you get that like sucking sensation.

Ellori 41:07
Ew, okay, Anthony, you can talk. Whoever- someone-

Belroth 41:10
Belroth pets Freya on the head who looks up at him concerned he just flicked a barb in his chest, and says, well, I don’t know if we have any other options. So, let’s be careful. I don’t think we can just run in there. I certainly can’t. That’s for sure.

Skarpin 41:37
Yeah, I’m pretty close to being not standing. Deeran, do you think if you get you close enough to whatever it is, you’ll know what to do.

Deeran 41:53
He looks down at the pendant hanging around his neck, and he sneers a little bit at it, and then looks up at the group and says, yeah, man, this is why we’re here. I can feel it. This is…this is our destiny.

Skarpin 42:12
Oh, wow. All right, let’s let’s try and avoid fighting anything if we can. If you see some, you know, poor creature be getting mauled by one of those weird amalgamations, I guess we just leave them alone. Just keep going. Skarpin takes a step forward towards the temple.

Ellori 42:40
Okay. So, Ellori is going to say, okay, now that we’re all feeling a little bit better.

Skarpin 42:52
Well.

Ellori 42:55
Now that we’re all a little bit…rested?

Skarpin 43:01
Yeah.

Ellori 43:05
Let me just, uh, everyone sit back down for one second.

Skarpin 43:11
Oh, thank goodness.

Ellori 43:15
And she’s gonna ~sing the song of resting, to regain some of the strength that we lost~. And everyone is going to get an extra five hit points if you used hit dice.

Belroth 43:36
I did!

Anthony 43:41
For this, yes.

Belroth 43:43
Thank goodness.

Anthony 43:44
This is not your body’s- this is Ellori granting you strength, so yes.

Belroth 43:52
Thank you, Anthony.

Anthony 43:55
Are you gonna try to pull that other one out?

Belroth 43:56
No. We’ll cross that road when we cross that road.

Deeran 44:03
Come on chicken.

Skarpin 44:04
Pull it out. Pull it out.

Deeran 44:06
Come on chicken, cross the road. You heard him Anthony.

Anthony 44:11
I heard it. He’s doing it.

Belroth 44:12
No, I’m chicken.

Deeran 44:14
I heard. I heard you’re crossing the road.

Belroth 44:16
I do not wish to get to the other side.

Anthony 44:20
You won’t, don’t worry.

Belroth 44:22
No, I will, the wrong other side. Okay.

Let’s go.

Deeran 44:34
Now can we can we go now?

Ellori 44:37
Yeah, we can go now.

Anthony 44:39
She stopped you for one second. But we all know that it’s going to take at least 10 minutes. Like everyone’s now sitting, and it takes a little while to get back all together again.

Okay, so the four of you make your way down away from the edge of the jungle here toward the city. As you approach the edge of the city, you are seeing that there are still more of these creatures running around harrying people. You watch a group of city guard, about 10 of them, make a stand against some of the over-muscled dretches. They like slash into them, and they kill two dretchs as you guys approach. One of the guards seems to be rather decorated. He is a tiefling with purple skin. He turns to you and he says, civilians, you need to head to the docks. The city is on lockdown.

Belroth 45:50
What’s happening here, sir?

Anthony 45:52
We don’t know. All we know is that this darkness came from the temple and then these creatures came, and they’re tearing the damn city apart. Um,

Ellori 46:02
Ellori is gonna step forward with her hands on her hips, on her like waist. She’s going to say we are here on official Adventure Incorporated business to solve this problem for you.

Anthony 46:14
Thank God, please. You’ve got to solve it, then. It’s, this place- We’re losing here, badly. My people are dying by the droves.

Ellori 46:25
Can you get us protected access to the temple?

Anthony 46:28
He looks at the the beam of energy shooting into the air and the wave of darkness pouring off of it. He says I can take you to the barrier.

Ellori 46:42
That would be good.

Anthony 46:44
All right, men.

As many as you can spare to come help us get there. We need to we need to get there quickly.

All right, men form up around them. We’re going to the barrier.

Ellori 46:55
Ellori is going to look back at everyone and give like a real cheesy like, “Oh my god, it worked!”. That was so cool.

Anthony 47:08
The 4 of you are suddenly surrounded by these 10 guards who begin to push their way forward. Overhead perched on top of one of the buildings is another one of the spine creatures. They all draw bows and begin to fire off arrows as you move

Belroth 47:28
I assist as well, shooting off with them.

Anthony 47:34
Between the 11 of you enough arrows fire off in that direction. The creature takes two or three shots and scurries off somewhere else. It seems like in this area, they are picking off stragglers. They are going for the weak, for the injured. Once this group of, you know, pretty strong soldiers started rolling through these creatures, they run another direction. They seem to be more interested in sowing chaos, then in, you know, a direct fight with this stronger force. So it takes probably about a half hour of travel through the city running from open spaces, and then finding areas that the 14 of you can tuck in and move a little more efficiently until you get to the very edge of the barrier. The ground rumbles, and you watch as that energy pours a little further into the city, a little bit closer. You guys are about 15 feet away from the edge of this barrier now. You can see this dark energy that. It looks like it is swirling very quickly, and the edges of it are right here. You can see things inside the barrier like trash that has been blown up, bits of debris that is just tumbling around in there being buffeted by this energy, like a storm wall.

Ellori 49:12
Skarpin, will you throw one of your flowers through the barrier.

Anthony 49:25
Ugh. Okay. He takes his time selecting one from his shield, one that got damaged from the initial attack that he took. So, he takes one and throws it in to the barrier.

Yeah, you toss it in, and as soon as it touches the edge of that barrier, it’s like it gets pulled off in a direction to the left. It’s just now part of this swirling barrier.

Deeran 49:57
But it doesn’t like-

Ellori 50:00
Burn up?

Deeran 50:01
Yeha, something terrible and horrible happens to it?

Anthony 50:03
Not that you can see, but it it gone also, like in seconds it’s gone because it’s just like pulled away.

Yeah, maybe something heavier. And Skarpin takes a rock, like something substantial and throws that into the barrier.

Okay, yeah, you toss a rock, like a decent sized rock. And it goes in lands on the ground. You can see it slide a little bit to the left as it is buffeted by this energy, but it just sits there.

Skarpin 50:41
Hmm. I feel like we could make it through.

Deeran 50:45
Alright, man, lead the way.

Ellori 50:50
Do you think we should hold hands?

Skarpin 50:53
I think I want to hold on to my shield and my staff-

Belroth 50:55
You can be on the far left side.

Skarpin 50:57
But you can hold my shell, on the left side of my shell.

Deeran 51:03
Deeran puts a hand out.

Ellori 51:05
Ellori holds Deeran’s hand out.

Belroth 51:07
Belroth puts a hand out.

Anthony 51:10
Skarpin leads.

Deeran 51:14
Then, yeah, Deeran grabs Belroth’s hand.

Belroth 51:18
Okay. Should we put our hand on your shoulder?

Ellori 51:25
Ellori puts her hand on his shell, yeah.

Anthony 51:27
Freya is whimpering beside you, Belroth.

Belroth 51:32
He puts his hand on Freya’s head and scratches her.

Ellori 51:36
She’s got a harness

Belroth 51:40
It’ll be okay girl. Everything will be okay. He starts moving forward trying to like support her as you walk.

Anthony 51:51
Skarpin pushes through into the barrier, shield first.

Give me a Constitution saving throw, Skarpin.

Skarpin 52:05

  1. Anthony 52:06
    Okay, as you step into the barrier, you feel like you have been hit by a cart. It is so much force. So much force coming at you from this magical energy that it almost knocks you off your feet at first, but you get your bearings on it. Then you realize it’s not that it is hitting you, it’s that it is wearing at you. It is pulling at you, and you can feel strained and tired fighting against this push. And as you step into this space, it doesn’t get any better. So, I need Constitution saving throws from the rest of you as you entered this space as well.

Belroth 53:11

  1. Nope. Regular 20.

Ellori 53:17
15.

Deeran 53:19
5.

Anthony 53:24
Okay. You step into this place. Belroth, Ellori, you steel yourself against it. Deeran, as it hits you, you feel this wave of…

Deeran 53:51
Exhaustion?

Anthony 53:51
I don’t want to use a loaded term…yet.

Deeran 53:54
Oh, no.

Anthony 54:03
But, sure you feel a wave of exhaustion wash over you. You feel tired to your bones. You feel like taking the next step you are going to be fighting for that step.

Deeran 54:19
Sorry, bones. He steps forward.

Anthony 54:25
This space is clear for you. You don’t see creatures between here and the door. You don’t see other people between here and the door. You don’t even see things between here there, but every step you take, you can feel that weight settle on you, that tiredness push against you. You are being buffeted, constantly. Give me another round of Constitution saving throws as you move closer to this temple.

Belroth 54:57
16

Deeran 55:00
11

Anthony 55:03
Natural 1.

Skarpin, you also begin to feel that tiredness hit you right at your core, and it settles in deeper than you ever would have expected. You feel that exhaustion have lasting effect on you as you walk here as you push toward that door. It looks like you guys made it, maybe a quarter of the way, but you have felt already the difficulty of this task and that it feels like it’s only going to get harder. And you take one point of exhaustion. So, while you have one point of Exhaustion, Skarpin, you have disadvantage on ability checks.

Skarpin 55:59
I’m not feeling well. I don’t know if I can make it.

Anthony 56:06
Now to be fair to you, so that you know, that does not include saving throws.

Skarpin 56:11
Okay.

Anthony 56:11
So when you make a future saving throw, you will not do that a disadvantage.

Deeran 56:16
He’s not going to need to make another saving throw before we get a long rest. I don’t understand why you would mention that.

Anthony 56:28
You guys you’re continuing on, yes?

Belroth 56:31
Do we feel like we can make it, or do we need to try another way?

Skarpin 56:37
How are you feeling? I don’t know if I can go on much longer.

Ellori 56:42
Skarpin ~Believe in all the strength inside you. Let my song support and guide you~. She’s really struggling, but you get an extra d6 to ability checks.

Skarpin 56:59
Ugh, thank you, Ellori.

Ellori 57:00
She had to yell it to get it across there, and it is painful.

Anthony 57:13
The four of you and Freya push deeper in to this place still being buffeted by this energy as it goes along. In fact, it feels like the energy is pushing against you even harder as you move forward. You’re now about halfway to the gates of the temple. I need another round of Constitution saving throws.

Belroth 57:37
Belroth looks at Freya and says, if you don’t think you can make it,I can find you later. We’ll find you if I need to.

Anthony 57:47
The look you get back from Freya is filled with determination. You can see determination.

Belroth 57:54
Such a good girl. She’s such a good girl!

Deeran 58:01
14

Belroth 58:03
Ugh, I’m so inspired, I got 24!

Anthony 58:10
Natural 20

Ellori?

Ellori 58:13
Yeah, 10.

Anthony 58:17
Ellori, you get washed over by this feeling of tiredness. It does not settle into full exhaustion, but like Deeran, you feel that you are on the brink of being unable to move forward without feeling those effects. You continue to push forward, however, and as you do, again, that feeling of of weariness that is buffeted against you is increased again. You’re now three quarters of the way to the front doors of that temple, but I need another round of Constitution saving throws.

Are we seeing any activity that’s suspicious?

Only this giant column of power. The doors are shut, so you don’t know what’s going on inside.

Ellori 59:04
17.

Belroth 59:06
7.

Deeran 59:08
9.

Skarpin 59:09
11.

Anthony 59:12
Ellori, you’re pushing forward. You’re doing all right. Things are feeling good. For Belroth, you’ve reached that point now. You’ve been buffeted enough that you are feeling tired. You’re feeling exhausted, but not like Deeran. Not like Deeran who now finds himself truly exhausted in a way he never has felt before, deep into his core. He is now one level of Exhaustion and certainly not like Skarpin. Skarpin has now reached the second level of Exhaustion. Now, you aren’t moving very fast through here because of all of this anyway, but this exhaustion has reached so far into you, Skarpin, that you now believe you would move half speed if you tried to go somewhere. You just can’t will that much energy out of yourself anymore.

Belroth 1:00:19
Are we trying to just open the door? I don’t know what the plan is when we get there.

Ellori 1:00:25
We turn off the bad magic.

Skarpin 1:00:28
Yes, Deeran can handle it.

Belroth 1:00:30
I got that tattoo. I can use Longstrider to get there faster.

Skarpin 1:00:36
That sounds like a great idea.

Belroth 1:00:39
Does that work for everyone? He’s being buffeted by this wave.

Deeran 1:00:45
Sounds like it works for you, man.

Belroth 1:00:48
He casts Longstrider on himself to try and get ahead of the group to hopefully do something in stop this to stop the rest of the group from experiencing it. And so I gain 10 feet, and I don’t think I can be slowed in any way which is pretty rad.

Anthony 1:01:09
So we’ll say this, you cast Longstrider, and the magic does affect you here enough that you move much more quickly. Through this place, it still feels tiring, but you get to the doors, and you throw them open. The energy out here is still a torrent of buffeting energy, but you can see that just inside the door of this temple that energy does not exist. Like, as you walk in, it is just silence. It’s like as though there is a hard barrier right at the doorway.

Belroth 1:01:45
Belroth takes a rope out of his pouch pouch, and like tries to throw it to the group.

Anthony 1:01:52
As soon as you do that rope goes like careening off to the right.

Belroth 1:01:57
Nevermind!

Anthony 1:02:02
So, for the rest of you, one more set of Constitution saving throws as you make your way to the front gates.

Ellori 1:02:09
Dirty 20

Skarpin 1:02:10
Ugh.

Deeran 1:02:14
Oh no!

Ellori 1:02:16
Mikey add your Bardic Inspiration.

Skarpin 1:02:22
Okay. 5 total. I did not roll a natural 1.

Anthony 1:02:37
Okay. Good.

Skarpin 1:02:45
Yeah, yeah, I’m looking at it- I just googled Exhaustion and the levels of Exhaustion, and ughhh.

Anthony 1:02:52
So, Deeran you do move to the second level of Exhaustion as you make your way up the steps to the front doors of the temple here, and Skarpin you take your third level of Exhaustion, so you now have disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throws.

Skarpin 1:03:12
I’ll get there…

Anthony 1:03:14
You are the last to reach the top of the steps with your reduced movement speed, but all four of you step inside this space and the change, the differential between the space you had just walked through and here is stark. For a moment you can feel the ringing in your ears, how earily silent and different it is in this space.

Nice, got those Walmart level air conditioners blowing at you.

The ground beneath your feet rumbles once again as the energy and you can hear a could feel a crackle in the air around you, as energy fires up off of the top of this building and extends the barrier out just a little bit more. The path ahead of you still seems quiet and empty.

Belroth 1:04:20
Belroth takes out his bow and arrow, knocks an arrow, and starts to slowly move forward cautiously looking to see if someone is causing this.

Anthony 1:04:58
Hey everyone, DM Anthony here, just reminding you that if you’re enjoying the show, tell your friends, tell your family. Let people know word of mouth, and you can support the show at patreon.com/adventureinc. Or you can check out the shop at adventureincpod.com/shop. Make sure you check the show notes and the website for all our social media, including our Discord where you can come and hang out with some great people. We’ll see you there, and until next week, I wish you nothing but critical success.

Adventure Incorporated 1:05:32
Serious Business.

We’re super serious!

Transcribed by https://otter.ai