Anthony 0:00
Greetings, adventurers and welcome to the Adventure Incorporated Podcast. I am your Dungeon Master. My name is Anthony Reed. This is episode 51. It is part of the Path of Fire story arc. I want to say a huge thank you to all of our people who came to join us for Adventure March. It was such a blast to get to do this, to give back, to say thank you. We gave out some great prizes on our q&a stream. And if you missed it, it’s still over at Twitch.tv/SRSbiz_network. There’s still the video that will be there for another week or 2. Plus, if you’re a Patron, check your feed because it’s coming. The audio is gonna show up right there on the feed as well if it’s not already, I guess because, you know, I don’t know when I’m going to do it, but it might be between now and now. My now and you’re now. Our nows. Thank you to our Patrons at patreon.com/adventureinc who make our show run smooth, who make the cool things happen, who make the good stuff, the good stuff, and the good times the good times. If it weren’t for the Patrons, all the good times would be fine times, but they’re not they’re good times. Thank you Patrons for supporting the show, for finding value in the show, and saying you know what, I’m going to give a little value back. We super, super appreciate it. And there are other ways you can support the show as well. You can go to our website, you can buy stuff on the shop, you can hit up the discord, hang out and chat with us. You can tell people you know, like, hey, you might dig this. And they might. And then you’ll be like, hey, I knew it. And let’s talk. Let’s be good, good buds. And that’s all on you. You have that option. So- I don’t know what I mean by that. I guess like, you have the option to tell people. Do it. That’s it. You know what, let’s just 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 2:12
She’s a Grimalkin. That’s, uh, but 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 2:22
Skarpin the Cleric.
Belroth 2:25
Should I just try and snipe them from over here?
Skarpin 2:27
Yeah, okay. I did say there was good as dead. I would hate for, you know, to break my word on our first contract with Adventure Incorporated.
Anthony 2:35
Ellori, the Bard.
Ellori 2:37
We would want you to leave this warehouse.
Anthony 2:42
He points behind it. Church!
Ellori 2:44
Oh, sorry. We want you to leave this church.
Anthony 2:48
Deeran, the Wizard.
He say, you no worship Shattered Fang.
Deeran 2:53
Yeah, man he’s like, super wrong. We love Broken Tooth- uh, Shattered Fang, man.
Anthony 2:59
Prepare yourselves, for these are the tales of Adventure Incorporated!
Skarpin 3:06
Did we roll Initiative or did it just say its words and then we ended?
Anthony 3:12
You ended. It said that you weren’t supposed to be there so that’s where we’re going to pick up. If you want to try to talk to the creature you’re welcome to. If you want to try to attack the creature you’re welcome to. You get the sense from the creature that it is preparing to strike so you have a very narrow window to react to this.
Skarpin 3:40
Let’s talk to the creature.
Deeran 3:41
Yeah, obviously.
Belroth 3:44
We just jumped through like a sheet of lava. We gotta negotiate at least a little.
Deeran 3:50
What do you mean, we’re not supposed to be here, man?
Anthony 3:54
It pauses. And it says, what do you mean ‘what do you mean you’re not supposed to be here?’ Does this seem like a place you’re supposed to be?
Deeran 4:08
Deeran looks around at the group and he’s like, yeah, man. We just got sent here to like, be here for a minute to like, use this as just kind of like, you know, real quick get to where we needed to go. So like, well, hey, uh, sorry, um, my name is Deeran.
Ellori 4:25
I’m Ellori.
Belroth 4:26
I’m Belroth.
Skarpin 4:28
Skarpin here.
Deeran 4:30
That’s Freya. Um, who are you?
Anthony 4:32
I am Thoragol, and I will feast on your brains.
Skarpin 4:38
Oh no, you don’t- it’s not as good as one might think, Mr. Thoragol.
Deeran 4:45
Yeah, nice to meet you Thoragol.
Ellori 4:47
We were actually, you know, hoping that maybe we could just leave and and even you know speaking of brains, if you had any information on the Titans, we would we would happily accept that as as a problem parting gift from you.
Anthony 5:03
Allow me to find out what you know, absorb your consciousness into mine. And then you will know all that I know on such things.
Deeran 5:12
Oh man, I did something like that back at school. What are we going to do? Is it, is hallucinogens or is it like, you know, more emotional connection?
Anthony 5:22
He begins to float towards you.
Deeran 5:24
Oh, hallucinogens.
Skarpin 5:27
Deeran, I don’t think it’s, I don’t think it’s one of those drugs.
Anthony 5:35
This is the elemental plane of fire. I have a guardian of this plane set to make sure that incursions do not occur. You are not from here you are from the material plane. And that makes you an incursion.
Ellori 5:54
I’m sorry, I just for a second would like to if you could define the word ‘incursion’ for me. I know you gave kind of an example and I think I can understand it. But I also think this is maybe a good example why you don’t want my brain necessarily.
Skarpin 6:11
We just don’t want any miscommunications.
Ellori 6:13
Yeah, and and I’m not that smart. So if you’re looking for you know, knowledge-
Anthony 6:22
I do not speak language. I speak intention and your brain interprets it. If you heard the word incursion, it is because you know what I mean, and have decided that that is what I have said.
Belroth 6:40
Belroth is fascinated.
Ellori 6:44
I know it’s not the point, but can you define the word incursion for me then?
Belroth 6:48
Do you know what like, do you know the word ‘invader’?
Ellori 6:52
Yeah.
Belroth 6:53
It’s like someone who invades but fancier.
Ellori 6:57
Okay.
Belroth 6:57
Does that work?
Ellori 6:58
Okay, thank you. Yeah, no, that’s good.
Belroth 7:00
Sorry, I’m just absolutely astonished. I’m just amazed at this creature in front of us. We are I think not meant to be here. I think you are correct, but we are searching for something in wish to cause no harm here. We are not looking for any trouble. We are only looking for help on our own material plane.
Anthony 7:26
Your presence causes harm.
Ellori 7:31
Oh, we’re so sorry. We didn’t mean anything.
Deeran 7:33
Yeah, we’ll get right out of here. You just point us the way out and then we’ll leave.
Ellori 7:36
We could have even killed a thing back there.
Anthony 7:38
I will take care of this incursion and then there will be no problem.
Ellori 7:44
I promise we’re taking really good care of your space. You know, like there was a thing in a cave that we could have killed, but we didn’t.
Belroth 7:50
No, we definitely didn’t.
Ellori 7:51
Um, that shows that we’re not doing a harm, you know?
Anthony 7:56
Give me a persuasion check. I guess deception. Give me a deception check.
Deeran 8:02
I mean, we could have killed it.
Anthony 8:05
I don’t know.
Deeran 8:07
Wow.
Ellori 8:08
What about persuasion?
Anthony 8:10
How about deception?
Ellori 8:12
It’s a 17-
Anthony 8:17
I don’t believe Ellori believes we were gonna kill it.
Ellori 8:24
I will take that, but it is a 17.
Anthony 8:30
Okay, let’s see. Okay. I have felt a disturbance among my champions, but I did not feel him fall.
Ellori 8:47
Yeah, that’s true.
Skarpin 8:52
See?
Anthony 8:54
Few can tussle with a beholder and escape. You clearly have great strength within you.
Ellori 9:03
Oh no, no we don’t have that. If you’re like the strength eating kind as well as the brain eating kind, we don’t have that either.
Belroth 9:12
I define my brain as a strength. I feel like I-
Ellori 9:15
Belroth, I don’t think-
Skarpin 9:16
Belroth, you’re not helping.
Anthony 9:17
Leave me him, and I will let the rest of you go.
Belroth 9:20
That doesn’t seem very fair.
Deeran 9:24
I don’t know, man. That’s like, you know-
Skarpin 9:28
We’re making progress here.
Belroth 9:29
We are!
Skarpin 9:29
Yeah, because originally remember he was asking for all 5 of us, and now he only wants one. That’s pretty good.
Belroth 9:34
You know-
Anthony 9:35
I will let 4 of you through my clutches for the one who feels his brain is strong.
Belroth 9:43
I feel like you’ve that you’ve negotiated yourself out of 5 brains.
Ellori 9:47
Belroth!
Deeran 9:47
Belroth, you’re going the wrong way!
Anthony 9:53
Okay. 5 to eat then. I will eat all 5 and none shall leave.
Ellori 9:58
What would it take for you to let us go all 5 of us?
Deeran 10:03
Hey, great question, Ellori.
Belroth 10:04
Great question.
Ellori 10:05
I feel like maybe we could have asked that lava face nicely to let us through and it would have eventually if we got it right so I’m just trying that tactic now.
Deeran 10:15
That’s smart.
Ellori 10:18
Somebody say yes and a while later-
Belroth 10:26
I wish we had that info earlier.
Anthony 10:30
I am not allowed to negotiate with intruders.
Ellori 10:37
Who is your boss, and can we speak to them?
Belroth 10:39
Oh God, no Ellori.
Anthony 10:42
I have been put into this task by the All-Seer who ensures the sanctity of the planes.
Ellori 10:50
Oh no. Can we talk to your boss?
Deeran 10:54
Yeah, that’s crazy. That’s exactly who we’re going to see you.
Anthony 10:57
I’m sorry did you come in here and ask to speak with my manager? I don’t think that’s how this works.
Skarpin 11:04
Well, not initially.
Deeran 11:05
Yeah, not initially. Right. Like initially, we just thought we might run into her.
Ellori 11:10
Yeah, you’re right though. We have to demand it. That usually is more effective.
Deeran 11:16
Does that work?
Ellori 11:17
I demand to speak to your manager! I’ve seen it work.
Anthony 11:20
Well hold on! Hold on! As far as this plane is concerned, I am the manager!
Ellori 11:28
I’m the regional manager!
Deeran 11:31
Look, the manager’s not here right now, okay? Like, I’m the key-holder. So, that puts me like highest on the list of seniority.
Belroth 11:39
Elemental plane 312×5. I am the manager. Listen, we came here, as I said, we we are having a problem on our plane. Demons have come back to the material plane. Something that was sealed away has returned and it threatens to destroy everything. The reason we’re here is because we’re looking for what could hopefully be a solution. We don’t wish anything on this plane harm. We only wish for something to help us not die and be destroyed by an aspect of Destruction.
Anthony 12:17
I have been burned by your kind before and recently after that.
Ellori 12:25
We have been burned by your lava monster.
Deeran 12:28
Yeah, also, I’ve been burned by my kind a lot, man. I get it. Tell me about it. Let’s talk. You know?
Anthony 12:36
The being from your plane who constructed the tower? That being from your plane? Who used this place? Like a throughway? No, that will not hold with me.
Deeran 12:50
Wait, the tower in this plane?
Anthony 12:55
Yes.
Deeran 12:57
Um, well, you’re welcome then.
Anthony 13:02
Go on.
Deeran 13:04
We saw it and we were like, oh, that doesn’t belong here. And so we blew it up.
Skarpin 13:09
Boom. It’s done. It’s gone.
Deeran 13:11
Yeah, like leave no trace.
Anthony 13:12
You destroyed All the towers?
Belroth 13:16
We destroyed-
Deeran 13:17
Yes.
Belroth 13:18
We destroyed-
Deeran 13:20
Deeran says ‘yes’ before Belroth can say anything!
Anthony 13:23
Give me a deception check on that one.
Deeran 13:29
18!
Skarpin 13:30
Yeah!
Anthony 13:33
How did you get around to all of the towers without me noticing your presence in this plane.
Deeran 13:40
And we’ve been here way too long.
Anthony 13:42
You must be very powerful.
Deeran 13:43
Well, like I would say we’re dumb but strong. You know?
Skarpin 13:48
Yeah, that’s a great assessment.
Ellori 13:50
But not too strong.
Skarpin 13:53
And not too dumb. I’m not that dumb.
Anthony 13:56
Belroth!
Deeran 13:56
16.
Anthony 14:03
He narrows his eyes at you, Deeran. He says you are hiding something from me.
Deeran 14:11
Oh Deeran pulls out the basketball.
Anthony 14:15
The now dead crystal?
Deeran 14:18
Yeah. Oh, yeah, sorry.
Anthony 14:22
I guess, I, I guess I meant you’re hiding something relevant to me from me.
Belroth 14:28
Was that not relevant?
Deeran 14:30
This was in one of the towers.
Belroth 14:31
That’s what we were talking about.
Anthony 14:35
Oh, I know nothing of the insides of these towers. I did not construct them. Or their purpose except that I feel weak around them, drained.
Deeran 14:46
Like, you probably feel stronger now, right? You’re welcome. And so like in the interest of like, we did you a favor, maybe now you could do us a favor. Just kind of let us through because like all we got to do is talk to Colliesto and like figure out a- I can’t believe I just said that. That’s so crazy. Sorry! All we got to do is like talk to, talk to Colliesto and like figure out… Um Deeran’s face goes blank and he looks back at the group. Why are we-
Belroth 15:20
We’re looking for a way to deal with the demons-
Deeran 15:23
Well, sure but like specifically this.
Ellori 15:26
Because the Heart of Creation told us to.
Belroth 15:29
And they were the original ones to seal them away so we were seeking for an answer from them but they’re gone now.
Skarpin 15:37
But they have creation magic and we need that in order to deal with the demons.
Deeran 15:43
Oh right. Yeah, so that’s all we’re doing. Deeran looks back at the mind flayer, Thoragol.
Anthony 15:55
Give me a persuasion check. I’d say this is a legit persuasion check.
Deeran 16:04
14?
Anthony 16:12
I do not know what these creatures you speak of are. It is possible the Mother would know more. Unfortunately my ability to get you in contact with the Mother is unworkable at this time.
Ellori 16:34
Oh but she’s your mother though. There’s no, there’s nothing that should keep you from being able to talk to her or getting her here whenever you want. You know my grandma always says that if you ever want to talk to me or your mom all you got to do is close your eyes and hope really hard and we’ll be there for you.
Anthony 16:55
Our calls upon the Mother are not being responded to.
Ellori 17:01
I’m so sorry.
Deeran 17:03
Will like you you can come with us then.
Anthony 17:10
Come with you to your plane?
Deeran 17:13
No just to like wherever we’re going. Like we- so okay, do you feel the pull inside you like, there’s like there’s something drawing us like kind of- and Deeran points in the direction that the pull is like pulling us.
Anthony 17:29
You ARE here with him, the incursion before.
Deeran 17:36
Who?
Anthony 17:39
The one like you from the material plane.
Deeran 17:44
No we got sent here by a gigantic crystal King.
Anthony 17:50
The crystal king of fire?
Deeran 17:52
Yeah.
Anthony 17:53
Yes. I know of this most troubling overlay
Deeran 17:58
Yeah, they told us to just come here this way. And like once we’re in here we’ll, we’ll know where to go to like talk to your mom or whatever.
Belroth 18:06
Or whatever we’re being drawn towards.
Anthony 18:11
There is no path to speak with the All-Seer this way.
Deeran 18:16
I don’t know, man. It says this way.
Anthony 18:20
Yes. What you are being drawn to is a gateway back to your world made by one of your kind left open. It is dangerous magic this person plays with. The longer this gateway stays open the more unstable this connection.
Deeran 18:44
Unstable? What do you mean?
Anthony 18:48
The world is stitched together very carefully. The leylines provide the contact of Fire to your world. Already Fire touches your world in another place. A place where the desert has an underground cavern. And now it is filled with Fire. You know of this place?
Deeran 19:11
Yeah, we were there.
Anthony 19:14
Well, now the leyline has been altered and the touch of Fire upon the world increased.
Deeran 19:24
Yeah, but you said unstable like is it going to get worse?
Anthony 19:30
This increase in the flow of power caused the plane to come apart all together, to merge with your world with the world of the material plane.
Deeran 19:48
That sounds like super bad.
Ellori 19:51
Yeah, that really doesn’t sound like good. I said the same thing as Deeran. I’m sorry.
Anthony 19:57
This is the fault of allowing your kind to travel these lands.
Deeran 20:01
Well, okay, so like, I don’t know, uh- you keep mentioning ‘the one who was here before’ like, we would know who they are and like we don’t.
Anthony 20:12
Do you not?
Skarpin 20:13
No.
Belroth 20:14
No.
Ellori 20:15
No.
Anthony 20:15
Why?
Belroth 20:16
Do you know every single people who look like you?
Skarpin 20:21
Can you please tell us?
Anthony 20:24
He is one of you. He’s one of your people. Figure it out. Ask them.
Deeran 20:32
Deeran looks at Belroth and he’s like, was it you man?
Belroth 20:35
I didn’t do anything. It’s not me. It wasn’t me.
Deeran 20:38
It wasn’t me either.
Ellori 20:39
It wasn’t me.
Deeran 20:40
Skarpin? Skarpin?
Skarpin 20:43
I think it was Archimedes.
Belroth 20:46
Do you mean like specifically like me with the horns or like us?
Anthony 20:52
You. Not us, not of this plane. Of the material plane.
Ellori 20:57
Do you know this person’s name?
Anthony 20:59
Ask people of the material plane? No, I don’t know.
Deeran 21:01
Do you know what they look like?
Anthony 21:03
I tried to take his brain?
Ellori 21:04
Oh, that’s okay.
Anthony 21:05
If I hadn’t taken his brain I would know exactly who he was.
Deeran 21:08
It’s a guy though?
Anthony 21:11
Well, presumably, I’m not very good at identifying that.
Belroth 21:16
You should always ask. It’s not rude or anything.
Anthony 21:21
I need to get better at that.
Deeran 21:25
All right, well, hey, um, if you okay, so if you come with us that way where we’re trying to go like you can point out who the guy was and then like, maybe we could all talk about it like this. You know, like I feel like we’re getting somewhere, man.
Ellori 21:39
I think so too.
Belroth 21:40
And then we could like get what we came here for and then leave and then you just destroy that gate. And that’s it.
Anthony 21:48
If I could destroy the gate I would have destroyed the game.
Deeran 21:52
Yeah, I feel like that would have been done. And then like, we wouldn’t even be here in the first place.
Ellori 21:57
I’m really invested in you getting back in touch with your mom.
Deeran 22:01
Yeah, like that sucks, man.
Anthony 22:04
It has been millennia since I’ve spoken.
Deeran 22:07
That’s too long.
Ellori 22:08
It’s only been like, what what to do like, 2-3 weeks since I’ve talked to my mom and I miss her already.
Anthony 22:15
Wow, braggy.
Deeran 22:22
Honestly, man, it feels like you might fit in with this group.
Ellori 22:26
I’m so sorry, Thoragol. I didn’t mean to offend. I was trying to relate to the situation and, and saying that I really want to help you.
Anthony 22:36
Yeah, feels like it was the opposite, but it’s cool.
Ellori 22:41
I understand.
Deeran 22:43
Hey, um, so like, what about coming with?
Anthony 22:50
I cannot leave this plane. I am bound to it.
Deeran 22:55
Okay, then, what if we help you find who opened this gate like, and then we’ll like, we’ll get it close for you or whatever. Like, especially if it’s gonna ruin all the, like, you know, all the world and stuff.
Ellori 23:18
Yeah, we’ve got a personal investment in this as well.
Deeran 23:20
Yeah. Like I, I like fire man.
Ellori 23:24
I like our world.
Deeran 23:24
Also that.
Belroth 23:25
But I don’t like it so that the whole world is fire.
Deeran 23:28
Yeah, I like the right amount of fire. You know?
Anthony 23:33
I feel like our definitions of the right amount of fire is probably different.
Belroth 23:38
And they should be true. They should be.
Ellori 23:40
Remember you said that, that your intentions might be different than what we hear. So that’s, you know, probably going to be true about a lot of these things that we talked about.
Deeran 23:50
Yeah, it’s like the same way the other way too, you know? Like my intentions and my words don’t always match up because I’m a stupid person. Remember?
Ellori 23:59
Yeah, no brains, no minds to eat.
Anthony 24:02
Here is an offer then.
Deeran 24:05
All right.
Anthony 24:07
I will take you to the gate. You will destroy or disable this gate. And then you may pass through the leyline to the place that it belongs except for him. He points at Belroth.
Ellori 24:25
Question for you.
Belroth 24:26
Well-
Deeran 24:28
Could you show us the gate?
Belroth 24:29
Well, I feel like there’s a- there’s a different question we should have asked first.
Deeran 24:33
Oh.
Skarpin 24:38
Belroth, play it cool.
Belroth 24:39
No, I don’t- Listen, I’m very smart, but I don’t want my brain eaten.
Ellori 24:44
Belroth, you keep-
Belroth 24:47
What? I think it’s okay to be happy when you’re intelligent.
Anthony 24:51
I am a very juicy steak, but I do not wish to be eaten. That’s what I’m hearing.
Belroth 24:56
Just because- yes, yes, correct! That is correct!
Anthony 25:00
I am your favorite food, but I do not wish to be eaten!
Belroth 25:04
Yes, exactly!
Skarpin 25:10
We could assess it and see if we can disable it for you and spend some time there.
Ellori 25:16
Yeah, I have a kind of a small maybe request. Um we’re not a necessarily in gate-fighting shape right now um-
Deeran 25:29
Oh yeah if that gate punches back-
Ellori 25:31
Yeah if that gate you know it’s like a lava wall- um is there any way that now that we have kind of an understanding that we could take a little nap and then go see this gate?
Anthony 25:47
Your presence in this world does damage.
Deeran 25:53
Yeah your world does damage to our presence.
Anthony 26:00
We either have to deal with this problem and send you away or I must kill you to preserve the stability of this plane.
Deeran 26:11
Let’s do the first one.
Ellori 26:12
Yeah.
Deeran 26:13
The second one sounds a real bad for us.
Anthony 26:17
I the game largely indifferent.
Deeran 26:20
Yeah, I figure man so like, let’s do the one that we all like.
Anthony 26:25
I am willing to accommodate this however there is a caveat. I am not sure that I can trust you. How can I be sure that when we see the gate, you do not run? If you run that will cause a problem.
Deeran 26:45
What problem? Why would that- what do you mean?
Skarpin 26:49
No running in here.
Anthony 26:50
Your presence has already done damage.
Skarpin 26:56
There are breakable things and I do not wish them-
Anthony 27:01
Your presence has already done damage. If you simply pass through here with no repercussion and leave the gate active there not only will that damage become exacerbated, but you will have proven out that this can be simply a pathway for your kind. And I am certain you will not be the last.
Deeran 27:24
That makes sense.
Ellori 27:26
You can definitely eat whoever comes here next after us.
Deeran 27:29
Oh, yeah.
Anthony 27:32
Do you promise me this?
Ellori 27:37
I- well-
Deeran 27:39
Yeah, tell him Missions Possible said so.
Ellori 27:43
What if, what if I give you my word that we will do everything we can to dismantle this gate.
Deeran 27:50
And by that she means we will dismantle the gate
Ellori 27:57
Or die trying.
Deeran 28:00
I mean, on a long enough timeline both, right?
Anthony 28:06
I must make assurances.
Ellori 28:09
How about a pinky swear?
Anthony 28:13
He looks down at his tentacley hands and looks back up at you.
Deeran 28:16
It’s the one on the end.
Belroth 28:20
Does he have 5 tentacles?
Anthony 28:23
I will call my champions fourth. They will observe which they are good at. And if you betray our trust, then I will send them through the gate.
Ellori 28:35
Oh, yeah, that would be, that would be bad.
Belroth 28:38
Feels like a good assurance for sure.
Deeran 28:42
Yeah, I still think like-
Ellori 28:44
I still think a pinky swear would have worked.
Deeran 28:46
Yeah, I think a I think a pinky swear is like more common, where we’re from, but like, I understand that, like we’re on your home field. So like you get to make the rules or whatever.
Belroth 28:58
And then when we destroy this, do you have a way of sending us back?
Anthony 29:06
The leyline will still be there. That is the natural point of connection between this reality and your reality which is why fire exists. The gate has been constructed around the leyline and is tearing the ley line open, pulling at the seams of it to increase the flow of power from our plane into yours.
Deeran 29:39
Oh, can we like the huddle up real quick?
Ellori 29:43
Yeah.
Belroth 29:43
Yeah, let’s huddle.
Ellori 29:46
I know you weren’t asking our permission. You are asking-
Anthony 29:51
Hoesn’t seem to respond.
Belroth 29:51
He jumps in the huddle.
Deeran 29:52
I just want to make sure that like it’s, you know, like, there’s there’s 5 of us and like between the 5 of us we’ve got like a quarter of a brain. So like we, you know, like, we don’t do the cool talking thing so like we need, you know, we need to like physical talk.
Belroth 30:09
I feel like we have at least one full brain on the team.
Ellori 30:12
Oh my gosh, Belroth!
Belroth 30:14
I feel like you’re really underselling-
Deeran 30:16
Shut up and huddle!
Ellori 30:23
I’m nervous because I’m not very strong right now.
Skarpin 30:28
So like, okay, he said, if we just like run through the gate, he’ll be really upset, right?
Belroth 30:34
And send his champions. I assume that’s-
Skarpin 30:38
At least a beholder?
Deeran 30:41
Probably. Yeah. But like, what if we also just like can’t destroy the gate?
Ellori 30:49
Here’s what I’m thinking.
Deeran 30:50
Yeah.
Ellori 30:52
It sounds like our world’s gonna get ripped apart if we can’t destroy the gate anyway.
Deeran 30:56
Yeah.
Ellori 30:57
So if we can’t destroy the gate, we’ve got bigger problems.
Deeran 31:03
What I figured like, if we can’t destroy the gate, right, like we can go talk to whoever built the gate. I think Skarpin, you’re probably right, man. It probably was Archimedes, like he seems like he’s in on this.
Skarpin 31:14
Seems like something he would do.
Deeran 31:15
Yeah. And so like, I figure at the very least, like gives us a chance to like, be like, hey, man, you got to take down that gate you built, you know? And like, tell him why and stuff. And then like, well, it would be really bad if like, Thoragol over here like ate Archimedes’ brain. You know what I mean?
Ellori 31:37
The would be awful.
Deeran 31:38
But like, so like, maybe we take back that promise about like, letting me whoever the next person in here is?
Ellori 31:44
Oh, I’ll I’ll I’ll amend that. Yeah.
Deeran 31:46
All right. Cool.
Skarpin 31:48
So we’re gonna try and close it, but if we can’t, we’ll run through and hope that-
Belroth 31:57
What’s the signal in case things are not going well, and we need to run?
Skarpin 32:04
I’ll yell out, run!
Belroth 32:05
That feels clear.
Deeran 32:08
That’s a good signal. That’s a good signal, Skarpin. Yeah. Solid.
Skarpin 32:16
This- you know, we could do anything we put our minds to, right?
Deeran 32:20
Yeah.
Skarpin 32:22
Closing a gate created by the most powerful wizard around.
Deeran 32:26
Yeah. Or like, maybe not talking about how smart we are for like, I don’t know 40 fucking minutes!
Belroth 32:33
Listen, I just-
Deeran 32:36
Just a little bit, man!
Belroth 32:39
I promise to stop talking about how smart I am if you promise that he doesn’t eat my brain.
Skarpin 32:45
Sure, sure.
Ellori 32:46
He wants to eat your brain because-
Skarpin 32:47
We promise.
Belroth 32:49
Well, of course who wouldn’t? If you were gonna eat a brain you’d want to eat my brain.
Skarpin 32:54
Okay, honestly Belroth I would eat your brain. I would eat your fucking brain. Yes, I would.
Belroth 32:59
Thank you!
Deeran 33:03
I’ve always been curious but like, I probably wouldn’t just cuz like it’s a little weird.
Belroth 33:08
It’s okay if your brain curious everyone. Everyone wonders.
Ellori 33:12
Thoragol. I have a quick amendment to make.
Anthony 33:19
Yes?
Ellori 33:20
I have a quick amendment to make.
Anthony 33:24
An amendment?
Ellori 33:25
Yes, I said that you could eat whoever came after us next, right?
Anthony 33:32
Yes, you did promise that.
Ellori 33:35
What if though- just just in case we’re not- because remember I said we’re stupid and weak. What if we can’t destroy the gate, and we have to get help?
Anthony 33:50
Give me a persuasion check.
Ellori 33:52
Yeah, I will do that.
Skarpin 33:54
Oh my goodness please do well.
Ellori 33:55
I will do the hell out of that. Oh, 27!
Anthony 33:58
Yes, thank god. Someone good at that, finally.
Skarpin 34:02
Why is anybody except Ellori talking?
Anthony 34:11
Ellori just needs someone else to step in and lie for her and then she’ll do all of the persuading. If you require help disabling the gateways, then hopefully you can contact that help from here. And if you do, I will allow them to come and aid you.
Ellori 34:38
Ellori looks at Deeran.
Deeran 34:42
Yeah. I mean, I guess like that’s probably as good as we’re gonna get.
Ellori 34:46
Yeah.
Deeran 34:46
So like, you’ll not eat the person that comes to help us destroy the gate if we need it.
Anthony 34:54
Correct.
Deeran 34:55
Perfect.
Ellori 34:56
Okay. I guess let’s let’s do it.
Belroth 35:00
Yeah, we can do this.
Skarpin 35:02
We can do it.
Anthony 35:03
He raises his arms and a bunch of fires burst up behind him. 2 large ones and 4 small ones and as the fire burns for a moment and then dissipates there are 2 beholders behind him. Same, like these fiery beholders like the one that you saw in the cave and then there are 4 other creatures on the ground here. They almost look like Freya. They are large black cat like creatures with the difference being that they have 6 legs instead of 4. And they have 2 large tentacles on their back and a row of fire like a mane of fire around their necks and down their back a little ways. And he says these are my champions that will be providing observation
Belroth 35:53
The hair on Freya is definitely like kind of a little bit like a you know when a cat sees something it’s very clearly trying to be intimidating about but like is scared of and like they kind of like kind of it kind of stands on end a little bit. She’s doing that with those spooky Freyas- fire Freyas, 6 legged fire Freyas.
Skarpin 36:14
TM. TM. TM.
Belroth 36:17
TM. Copyright pending. Please do not steal.
Anthony 36:26
Okay, and he says follow me, and he turns and floats.
Ellori 36:34
Ellori follows.
Skarpin 36:37
Oh my goodness.
Belroth 36:41
So Deeran- we’re talking as we’re walking. Deeran I figured you’d take point on destroying this because I don’t know what we did to that tower, but it just exploded. I kind of- all I remember is just a spear of something impaled me briefly. And I don’t remember really anything else. I’m very tired. So, I feel like you are the most naturally prone to destroying things. So I feel like this is gonna-
Deeran 37:07
Can I tell you a secret Belroth?
Belroth 37:09
Yeah, yeah.
Deeran 37:11
I didn’t do anything to that tower, man. It just exploded on its own.
Ellori 37:16
Um, yep.
Deeran 37:25
So like, I don’t know, man. Oh, I guess we’ll figure it out when we get there.
Belroth 37:31
Sure, sure.
Deeran 37:32
I’m hoping that it’s like a kind of thing where we can like, push it over or like, move a rock out of the way and disrupt the magic. You know what I mean?
Ellori 37:42
Remember to try asking nicely?
Deeran 37:44
Oh, sure.
Belroth 37:46
Do you do still have that giant basketball thing? The big ball?
Deeran 37:50
Yeah, it’s I mean, it’s like, here. Deeran pulls out the like, the now not shiny at all sphere.
Belroth 38:00
If those were sort of helping keep the gate open. Maybe we can sort of disrupt it by trying to absorb energy from the gate into this to sort of like and cause a- I’m trying to say- Rob the player is trying to say short circuit, because I don’t think that’s a phrase Belroth would know.
Deeran 38:25
Yeah, we could, we could draw the power into like, a route that it’s not supposed to go to.
Belroth 38:33
And kind of loop it around and cause a destructive thing.
Deeran 38:37
Yeah, that’s really smart.
Belroth 38:39
Thank you. Thank you. See, this is why he wants to eat my brain.
Deeran 38:42
Yeah, I know why he wants to eat your- god, Belroth.
Skarpin 38:47
That was 90 seconds, Belroth. 90 seconds where you didn’t talk about it.
Anthony 38:57
He leads you deeper into this complex. There’s another wall of lava, a curtain of lava pouring down from above. He waves a hand and it pulls apart and lets you and your group through.
Skarpin 39:12
That’s what it was.
Belroth 39:13
We just had to wave our hand the whole time.
Deeran 39:15
We didn’t even think to say hello.
Belroth 39:17
Yeah, I wish there was some sort of clue nearby that could have told us to do this.
Anthony 39:24
1, 2, 3 walls of lava you go through and they close behind you. So now you know that if you had to escape through here, it would be very difficult. Not impossible, but hard. And he leads you deeper into this space as you continue to go the walls have changed in this place. And now what lines the walls here it’s like a fancy mural lines the walls of what looks like the things that are happening here in the elemental plane of fire. Like you can see a lava snake going through most of the mural. There are scenes out here that looks similar to what you saw when you were out there, including like a cave with the, you know, one of the beholders in it. And now including the towers, the towers are visible on this tapestry along the wall, the mural on the wall as well. The ground beneath your feet has changed into stone tiles that have a long carpet over them. And there are pillars set up here. The place looks more crafted than the cave that you were in before as you move toward the other end of this.
Deeran 40:47
What’s going on in here, man?
Anthony 40:50
This is the starting point of the plane. When this plane was created it was created from this point outward.
Ellori 41:01
Who does your tapestry work.
Anthony 41:05
Ah, the tapestry is how I can monitor this place. It is one of the features that was created as part of this place.
Ellori 41:15
So you do it?
Anthony 41:17
I mean, I don’t, I don’t change the threads of the weave. They reflect what is happening in this place.
Ellori 41:25
Wait it’s a magical tapestry. Oh my gosh, I have to tell my grandma as soon as I get home.
Anthony 41:32
She may not come or I will eat her.
Ellori 41:34
Oh, no, no, no, I would. I would never let her come here.
Belroth 41:41
Unless she was helping us destroy the gate, which you said was okay.
Anthony 41:46
Oh, curses!
Belroth 41:54
I like that he was so mad about that.
Deeran 42:07
Have we seen a room like this before?
Anthony 42:13
No.
Deeran 42:13
Okay, cuz like, I’m trying to remember. There was a, there was a long hallway that we’ve been in. And I couldn’t remember if it was similar to this.
Anthony 42:29
You’ve been in a long hallway like this. You, Mike the player.
Deeran 42:33
Yeah. I know that.
Anthony 42:35
You guys have not right.
Belroth 42:37
TESSA has not. Who could have known. Listen to Season 1. Maybe, maybe not. Maybe.
Deeran 42:47
Yes. No, I know. I know that Many Pennies have.
Anthony 42:51
No, TESSA has not seen this.
Deeran 42:52
I thought, I thought there was something similar in the Agrestal Spirit interactions.
Skarpin 43:00
King of Thieves?
Belroth 43:00
Oh, I was thinking of Tower of Vorai. Like, I was thinking that there was like these long hallways of like, but they were as all blacked out.
Anthony 43:09
No, the Agrestal Spirit you’ve met in the woods.
Deeran 43:12
But it was like magic woods, right? Like it was their magic woods.
Anthony 43:16
Yeah, but there was it was, it was nothing like this.
Deeran 43:19
Okay.
Anthony 43:21
Yeah, okay. It’s hard, you know. Uh, he continues onward. And after a short time, this opens into a larger chamber. And the chamber is positioned such that along the eastern wall of this chamber, or I guess the right hand wall, you know, who knows what orientation we’re looking at here. But on the right hand wall of this chamber, you see a large symbol carved into the stone in the symbol is of a glowing red. The symbol is intentional, certainly, although very rudimentary in its shape, and the way that it is drawn out. It’s not like a really intricate rune. It’s pretty simple. Around that symbol, is lots of other red energies spreading out to what looks to be similar stone construction to the tower that you interacted with before. It is a great big ring all the way around the wall. And it is several blocks that go around the outside. Every 6 blocks is glows with red energy, except for one of the blocks that should be glowing is not. It looks to be about 20 blocks that are glowing or should be glowing around the outside of this ring.
Deeran 44:57
And 19 are?
Anthony 44:59
19 are glowing. One is not.
Ellori 45:03
You’ve got a light out.
Anthony 45:06
That is new. The beholders and the other creatures move to the edge of the room and stare. He says you may begin disabling this ring now.
Ellori 45:23
Okay.
Skarpin 45:27
Do we think that that’s one of the towers.
Belroth 45:29
I think that’s what happened.
Skarpin 45:32
And we could destroy them all.
Belroth 45:35
There’s 19 left.
Skarpin 45:39
What if we get like passage from this nice thing over here. Maybe they could help us transporting us from tower to tower.
Ellori 45:49
Um, what if we try destroying like from the other way like destroying like what if we tried to try to destroy in the stone the light instead of having to travel all over the plane.
Deeran 46:03
Oh that’s smart. That’s so dumb it might just work.
Belroth 46:09
Belroth puts his hand here but not on one of the blocks to see if it’s like emitting heat or anything.
Anthony 46:16
Near one of the glowing blocks or one of the non glowing blocks?
Belroth 46:20
One the glowing and not the one not glowing block.
Anthony 46:29
I like half of you half as much as you deserve-
Belroth 46:33
Only one of the glowing blocks. Not the block-
Skarpin 46:36
Good job, Belroth. He’s finally playing dumb guys.
Deeran 46:41
No, he’s killing it.
Belroth 46:43
I was completely clear. Everyone else didn’t understand. Keep up.
Deeran 46:49
Yeah, yeah, you sure were.
Anthony 46:51
He’s so smart. Oh, I need to eat that brain!
Belroth 46:57
He just wants to see like, cuz I think he witnessed that the fact that like Deeran absorbed the energy of one of them of like the orb right?
Anthony 47:07
Yeah, I see. He’s power hungry. He just wants to see if he can get the power of this block. As you approach the stone, you move your hand toward this glowing stone you can feel that there is a magical force radiating from it. You can feel a vibration in the air around it. I am- I’m going to say you stopped just shy of touching it. If you wish to touch it you can but you know that it is crackling with magical power.
Belroth 47:37
He does not touch it.
Anthony 47:39
Okay.
Deeran 47:42
Would did you get off that, Belroth?
Belroth 47:44
Uh, it’s it’s definitely magic. I mean, it’s obvious- as we expected-
Anthony 47:50
Nevermind, I guess I don’t want his brain.
Belroth 47:49
I’m not done. But, um, I was trying to- I wanted to see if, I wanted to see if the thing that happened earlier with the tower and the giant ball that we have was gonna potentially happen and I didn’t want to like also hurt myself by touching one of these things. So I’m just I’m wondering if the original plan-
Deeran 48:19
Oh, here let me. And Deeran reaches out and touches it.
Ellori 48:22
Oh, Deeran.
Skarpin 48:26
Sympathy pains. Ow, Deeran.
Ellori 48:30
As as he touches it. Ellori is going to sing, ~Send my Mage Hand out in front to keep my real one safe and sound on my arms.~
Anthony 48:43
Deeran I need a dexterity saving throw from you.
Deeran 48:46
Okay. Sev- no, 8, 9. Nailed it.
Skarpin 48:55
Should have kept counting because that wasn’t good enough.
Anthony 48:59
As you reach your hand onto this, the energy sparks back into you. It is not- it’s not the same kind of energy you felt before. This is almost like the reverse of that power before. And it arcs through you. And in this moment you feel internally like you could do something about this bolt of energy that is smashing into you. You could feed it the power that you got out of the orb. And if you do that, you know that it will be gone but you will be protected or you can take the blast and take whatever comes from it.
Deeran 49:36
Thinking about the concept that Belroth and I talked about earlier, do I feel like it might create some sort of feedback loop within the structure of the game.
Anthony 49:49
No. You feel like this arc is coming at you and you can put the power that’s in you to block that from hurting you but it will destroy both in this moment and not feed back into the gate.
Deeran 50:01
Yeah, Deeran is gonna keep his boon and he’s gonna take the hit.
Anthony 50:11
You take 20 damage-
Deeran 50:14
Oh, god!
Anthony 50:14
-from the arc as it tears through you.
Deeran goes down. Deeran is unconscious.
Skarpin 50:22
I got this one.
Ellori 50:26
Oh, sorry, sorry Skarpin I forget you can do this too.
Skarpin 50:31
I was just gonna make sure you didn’t hit his head. Here you go.
Anthony 50:36
Put a pillow under him?
Deeran 50:37
He slides the pillow?
Ellori 50:40
Okay.
Anthony 50:41
You attack him with your Spiritual Weapon. Who’s actually casting the spell?
Ellori 50:49
I guess I am. ~Fights aren’t easy. Wounds can kill, but if I can help it none of them will.~ And so you are going to get 7 hit points.
Anthony 51:10
Is that plus your lute or no?
Ellori 51:13
No. Like plus the moon sickle?
Deeran 51:15
Yeah, yeah.
Ellori 51:16
No.
Deeran 51:17
Okay.
Anthony 51:19
That costs charges baby. Not worth it.
Ellori 51:22
It’s not that you’re not worth it.
Anthony 51:28
You know how much Spellstone we got kicking around? Not much.
Skarpin 51:32
Uh, Elllori has a lot actually.
Anthony 51:37
Compared to the group, yes.
Skarpin 51:42
Deeran, Deeran, are you okay?
Anthony 51:45
Deeran coughs and, like, sits up and he’s like, yeah, um, that thing really hits hard.
Skarpin 51:56
Yeah, I don’t think you did anything either.
Anthony 52:03
Your Mage Hand is floating in front of you, Ellori.
Ellori 52:06
What if I, well, let’s try this and she’s just gonna poke it with our Mage Hand.
Anthony 52:14
Yeah, you move the Mage Hand forward, and as the Mage Hand approaches the stone, you can see that it starts to like fuzz almost like it’s getting absorbed into the glowing stone. It’s like the, the power, the energy, a magical energy is getting drawn in. And like the fingers start to fuzz.
Ellori 52:39
No, give me my hand back!
Anthony 52:41
You pull it away, it pulls away fine and reforms.
Belroth 52:45
The little blocks, how- are they close enough that I could wedge the empty ball that formerly had fire magic in it or fire whatever in it- is it are they close enough that I could wedge it between the 2 of them that it would touch 2 at once?
Anthony 53:03
No cuz there’s 6 non-glowing blocks between each block and it’s I mean it’s a ring it’s a solid ring of stones all the way around the wall.
Deeran 53:15
Um, you guys want to back up?
Ellori 53:18
Yeah.
Deeran 53:21
Deeran like pulls his hand out and he points a finger toward the wall and he is going to like take a lot of steps back as well. And then he fires off a Ray of Frost. The range is 60 feet on this so as far back as I can get.
Anthony 53:42
Yeah, you can get about 60 feet. We’ll say the room is about 60 feet so you’re now like pressed up like-
Skarpin 53:47
Right next to the beholders.
Anthony 53:49
-right up with the monsters.
Deeran 53:50
That’s fine.
Anthony 53:52
They are not attacking right now.
Deeran 53:55
And so yeah, I’d like to fire a Ray of Frost.
Anthony 54:02
Okay.
Deeran 54:04
That is evocation magic and it deals cold damage.
Anthony 54:07
Yep.
Deeran 54:07
And I would like to not change that to fire.
Anthony 54:12
You have 3 choices here that I am going to lay out.
Belroth 54:17
You’re getting all these choices today, Mike.
Deeran 54:19
Right?! And I hate it. And none of them are good. None of them is an ice cream cone.
Anthony 54:26
You are targeting the charged glowing stone right? A glowing stone that is actively glowing.
Deeran 54:37
Yes.
Anthony 54:39
You may target either the one just above the dead stone, one just below the dead stone, or one of the ones not touching the dead stone.
Deeran 54:56
Deeran looks at Belroth as he’s like lining up his shot. He’s like hey, man, between all of us, right, which one of these should I hit? Like if you know if we’re looking at a you know a decision that needs to be made, the least stupid of us should make it.
Belroth 55:28
Oh, I don’t know. I have no idea.
Ellori 55:35
Well, thanks. Eeenie meenie miney moe and Deeran shoots at the bottom like the one just below that is touching.
Anthony 55:50
All right, I’m gonna give you a choice.
Belroth 55:52
Oh my god.
Anthony 55:54
You can make an attack or you can have an ice cream cone and let the mind flayer your brain.
Skarpin 56:02
No, just Belroth’s brain.
Belroth 56:03
Is the send option everyone gets an ice cream cone, but Belroth gets his brain eaten?
Anthony 56:11
No. The second part is that you’ll feel like you’re eating an ice cream cone. He’ll make it pleasant for you as he consumes your brain.
Skarpin 56:18
No the worst way to go.
Deeran 56:19
That is a 17 to hit.
Anthony 56:22
Okay, you fire off your Ray of Cold into that stone. And you watch as it like, pulls the magic into it. The stone begins to glow brighter and brighter and brighter, and then it crackles along the outside, and then it discharges. And when it does, that magic spreads out from it crawling along the outside of the ring. And it is absorbed by the one just below it. And it skips over the one that was already empty and travels into the next one. And from it the there’s a loud ~gong!~ throughout the room and 2 creatures begin to form from the energy that these 2 overcharge stones begin to pull out from that and they form down onto the ground. As they rise up they look like a suit of armor, but they are made of translucent red energy. And they say, tampering with this device is not allowed. And basically they begin to summon forth a barrage of magic. I’m going to need initiatives.
Ellori 57:43
Okay. That was a lot of words. So basically he fired into one of them and it made too much magic. And so it was like a defense system that gave us creatures that are trying to kill us.
Anthony 57:55
Yes.
Belroth 57:56
- That’s from Belroth.
Skarpin 58:01
7.
Ellori 58:04
- Deeran 58:05
15.
Anthony 58:07
Wow. Surprisingly, you still go first. Despite your low rolls, they rolled 3s.
Deeran 58:16
Deeran looks at the mind flayer. He, Thoragol this wasn’t part of the deal, man.
Anthony 58:27
You must disable this gate however that must be. Why do you think I have not done so?
Ellori 58:34
It would be helpful if you could eat these creatures. They look smart.
Deeran 58:39
They have no brains. Can, like your champions take care of it though like super quick, so we can get back to work?
Anthony 58:47
I am not authorized to do so.
Ellori 58:51
From your mom? Your mom hasn’t given you instructions in millennia.
Deeran 58:55
Yeah, we’ll keep it secret like we won’t tell anybody.
Anthony 58:57
Thanks for reminding me, material walker!
Belroth 59:01
Are these creatures floating or like walking or are they like planted on the ground?
Anthony 59:08
They are on the ground. They also don’t appear to be walking. They seem to be like a mimicry of armor. They just slide across the ground.
Belroth 59:16
Perfect, as long as they’re on the ground I don’t care.
Anthony 59:20
They also don’t appear corporeal.
Belroth 59:23
You know, I’ll work with it. Um, Belroth casts Spike Growth underneath their feet, weaving from a little bit of a spell from the little bit of magic he knows even though he’s very smart, and he transforms a 20 foot radius area centered on them into difficult terrain and moving through it people take 2d4 piercing damage. It’s Transmutation magic, if that’s important.
Anthony 59:56
Lava bursts from the ground in this 20 foot radius and bubbles up and then hardens into like obsidian underneath their feet.
Belroth 1:00:12
Cool. That was his turn. And then Freya a bonus action is gonna like-
Anthony 1:00:18
Charges in!
Belroth 1:00:23
She’s gonna ready in action like defend Deeran because he’s very low health so if something comes and attacks she’s gonna she’s gonna make an attack.
Anthony 1:00:34
Okay, Deeran you now have plus 2 AC from Freya defense.
Belroth 1:00:38
I was thinking like an attack of opportunity but that’s even better.
Anthony 1:00:44
Um, cool. Deeran will cast Mage Armor on himself because he hasn’t done that yet. And so he gains 13 plus dex so 14 and then Freya’s 2 is 16.
That’s not 11.
Ellori 1:01:08
Um so Ellori is going to with one hand points at Deeran ~Knowing what you can give this fight is making me want to boost your might. Bear’s endurance makes you better than before.~ So now you have advantage on constitution checks and 2d6 temporary hit points.
Belroth 1:01:30
Oh, that’s nice.
Ellori 1:01:32
Does he roll them or do I?
Anthony 1:01:36
You do.
Ellori 1:01:39
- And then she’s going to with the other arm point at Belroth. ~Believe in all the strength inside you my song support and guide you.~
Belroth 1:01:56
Thank you.
Skarpin 1:02:06
Skarpin casts Spiritual Weapon and hits one of the creatures. 18 to hit.
Anthony 1:02:18
18 hits.
Skarpin 1:02:23
8 damage.
Anthony 1:02:26
Yeah, you smash it with the pillow. The pillow seems to- when you hit it with this like, the tube magics clash and it’s enough to just tear apart the creature.
Skarpin 1:02:40
Dope. Okay, he picks up a rock and throws it up the other creature.
Anthony 1:02:46
Okay, give me a dex attack.
Skarpin 1:02:50
- Minus one dex.
Anthony 1:02:55
You throw the rock. You are certain that it passes right through the creature and clatters to the ground on the other side noted.
Skarpin 1:03:04
Looks looks like we need magic here.
Deeran 1:03:07
Cool. I got it. Next time.
Anthony 1:03:15
What did you do this time?
Deeran 1:03:16
Casts Mage Armor.
Anthony 1:03:18
Oh forgot about Mage Armor. The creatures charge.
Belroth 1:03:31
No damage you say?
Anthony 1:03:40
Yeah, it moves closer but not close enough. Like once it gets within like 30 feet of you it stops right so it’s moved about 30 feet across the room. It looks like it could have kept going but has intentionally stopped in this spot and it raises its arm up and a ball of lightning begins to form at the tips of its fingers and it points at Skarpin and fires off that bolt of lightning. Skarpin I need a dex saving throw.
Skarpin 1:04:16
- Not bad.
Anthony 1:04:21
I mean it sucks that you rolled a 16, but yeah.
Okay, so you do save. You only take half damage. So you take 12 from the lightning bolt that blasts out at you.
Skarpin 1:04:46
He steps forward towards the creature and then casts Toll the Dead. 14.
Anthony 1:05:01
Toll the Dead, they make a wisdom save.
Skarpin 1:05:03
Oh, yeah. Been a while.
Anthony 1:05:07
Then he’s not been damaged but he does not succeed his save.
Skarpin 1:05:15
14 damage.
Anthony 1:05:18
Okay, yeah, you Toll the Dead and you feel that magical energy, just like crush into this creature and just tear it apart.
Skarpin 1:05:30
Hells yeah, that’s how you do it Thoragol.
Anthony 1:05:34
Thoragol nods.
Deeran 1:05:37
Do the 2 cubes that had just like overloaded with energy, do they look different?
Anthony 1:05:48
4 of the cubes are now out, the one you targeted, the one above it, and the 2 that generated the attackers are all now have gone dark. The 3 that you have just made go dark, they have gone dark, but they seem to have the smallest bit of energy still in them like they are recharging.
Deeran 1:06:12
Hey, um, Skarpin, real quick. Will you shoot that one, and I’ll shoot the other one? Like, it’s gonna it’s gonna cause a bunch of stuff to come at us but I feel like we only have a short time.
Skarpin 1:06:23
Okay, all right, on 3.
Anthony 1:06:25
So hold on are you firing at the current- we have top bottom and middle we’ll say. Okay, so middle is anywhere else that you would fire any of the other stones that are you know, touching 2 charged stones.
Deeran 1:06:41
Yes.
Anthony 1:06:41
The top would be one charged stone. Bottom would be one charged stone. I just need to know where you’re firing.
Deeran 1:06:47
Yeah, middle’s right.
Skarpin 1:06:50
Yeah, 2 middles.
Anthony 1:06:52
Okay. You fire off- so what are you firing for a spell, Skarpin?
Skarpin 1:06:58
Toll the Dead.
Anthony 1:06:59
And what are you firing?
Deeran 1:07:01
I’m gonna use Ray of Frost again.
Anthony 1:07:04
Okay, so you both pick a random middle that is not connected.
Deeran 1:07:10
Yeah, we’re trying to get as many of these as possible.
Anthony 1:07:14
Yeah, I hear what you’re trying to do. I’m picking up what you’re putting down. Uh, you fire them off. The energy does the same thing. It overloads in that space. It crackles out to the sides. Those overcharge there in another ~bonk~ that fills the room. And then 4 creatures form. These creatures seem the more ornate in the armor that has appeared. They say, ‘critical failure, critical failure mode. All persecutors must be defeated.’
Ellori 1:07:49
Can I ask question because I feel like I’m just fundamentally misunderstanding the way this room is set up.
Anthony 1:07:57
Okay.
Ellori 1:07:58
I’m going to pop a picture if the discord will open. It won’t.
So like, are they going up? And you keep saying bottom middle, like top bottom middle. So that makes me think they’re going up and around us, but I thought they were going in a ring around the room.
Anthony 1:08:28
Neither. The wall has a ring on the wall.
Ellori 1:08:34
Oh, so I’m just looking at the wall, and it’s just a circle.
Belroth 1:08:37
I also had the same mental image. And then when yeah, I couldn’t touch them. I understood.
Ellori 1:08:47
Like I knew there were 6 in between all of them, but now I know. I understand. Like, we’re looking at a ring.
Deeran 1:08:52
It’s like a mosaic, right?
Anthony 1:08:55
Yeah.
Deeran 1:08:55
Okay.
Anthony 1:08:56
Yeah. Yeah, the ring is on the wall.
Ellori 1:08:58
Okay.
Deeran 1:09:00
He liked the wall. He put a ring on it. Anthony, wasn’t that good?
Anthony 1:09:11
It’s pretty good. I wasn’t expecting it. So, that’s why there can be a top and a bottom. Yep.
Skarpin 1:09:25
They came out of the wall and do we reroll initiative, or are we are we up?
Anthony 1:09:33
I think it’s their turn.
Belroth 1:09:35
So, Deeran and Skarpin. When would Ellori and Belroth be able to go?
Anthony 1:09:42
Sure. Yeah.
Belroth 1:09:43
Okay, fine. Belroth is going to nock an arrow knowing that magic is kind of the important thing, seeing the arrow hitting the rock go through him, and he’s gonna use his bonus action to cast Hail of Thorns. The next time you hit a creature with a ranged attack the spell creates a rain of thorns that sprouts from my ranged weapon, basically just like a lot of magic arrows pop out at the same time. So nock on arrow and makes an attack at the most central one. They’re all in the line I guess. I don’t know. Like how are they arranged?
Anthony 1:10:23
Ah, yeah, yeah, they’re all in a line in front of the door.
Belroth 1:10:27
The one’s next to it if this hits have to make a dex saving throw. 18 plus 8 so 24.
Anthony 1:10:41
Okay, that does I mean in theory hit right? It doesn’t hit because the thing goes through but it does what you want and all these horns spray out.
Belroth 1:10:48
The ones next to them have to make dex saving throws DC 13.
Anthony 1:10:59
Yeah, but they’re in incorporeal armor. So not super dexterous.
I’m gonna have all 3 make a dex saving throw because like, I imagine that you know this, the thorns will also hurt the one in the middle. Right?
Belroth 1:11:14
I think it’s the ones next to it, honestly, because I think it’s-
Anthony 1:11:18
I’m gonna have it be this one also because of reasons, but it doesn’t matter because he passed and the other 2 didn’t. So, rules as written.
Belroth 1:11:32
If they had failed they would take half damage so they take 8 piercing magical piercing damage. It’s conjuration.
Anthony 1:11:48
Yeah, they are all still standing.
Ellori 1:11:56
Um, Ellori is going to put her own hands on her own head and sing ~Fights aren’t easy. Wounds can kill, but if I can help it, none of them will.~ And she’s gonna give herself a little bit of hit points.
Anthony 1:12:16
Great. The 4 creatures, each of them raises a finger toward the other down the line except obviously the ones on the end which don’t. And together they charge a single bolt of lightning. It builds in intensity, and then they fire it off. The lightning seems to dance through the air. So the first attack is going to come at Skarpin again. Skarpin I need you to make a deck saving throw.
Skarpin 1:12:53
- Anthony 1:12:55
Wow. Okay.
Belroth 1:12:57
Hot tonight. Quickly jumps in his shell.
Anthony 1:13:00
So you will still take some damage, but you get the feeling that- so like, as this arc comes in at you, you dodge out of the way of it and it crashes into the stone and it’s still cool. Like still zaps you some. You get the sense that had you failed. It would have arched to someone else. And you have stopped it by succeeding.
Skarpin 1:13:28
Before falling unconscious he says, yeah!
Anthony 1:13:34
You take 9 damage. Yep. Oh, wait, I’m sorry, half I’m sorry. You take 5 damage.
Belroth 1:13:43
Are you unconscious?
Anthony 1:13:45
No, not anymore.
Skarpin 1:13:56
Do they look tired?
Anthony 1:13:58
Do they look tired? They look disappointed.
Skarpin 1:14:00
Okay.
Ellori 1:14:06
Ellori is gonna run over to Skarpin. Um, and at third level. ~Fights aren’t easy. Wounds can kill, but if I can help it, none of them will.~ So, oh it doesn’t- oh, I’m on Charm Person. Sorry. I’m like, why does it not do more healing.
Skarpin 1:14:30
I love you, Ellori.
Anthony 1:14:57
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 on 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 1:15:31
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Transcribed by https://otter.ai