The Rampart and Beyond | Age of Umbra Episode 4 Part 1

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Hey there, critters.

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And that should cover it.

Now, let's dive into the adventure.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to tonight's episode of Age of Umbra.

Before we jump into our episode tonight, we do have some announcements to get through.

Liam, you.

It's behind me, isn't it?

Anyway, I got comic news.

Comic news.

Vox Machina Origins Series 1 is now releasing in print for the first time versus digital only as single issues complete with brand new, glossy covers.

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Oh, he's going down for another one.

See where Critical Role's first campaign adventuring party began and ask for it now at your friendly local comic shop.

Awesome.

Thank you, Liam.

And with that,

I believe that concludes our announcements.

So let's go ahead and jump into tonight's episode of

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Umbertouched beast.

Which then snuffed the sacred pyre flame, leaving Desperlock

with only so much time to survive against the horrid dark,

with the threat of an umbral wind some point in the near future.

You are one of two troops sent out in search to confirm on a women a rumor

that blessed branches still might exist unfound and unsparked.

The one that you were told to seek

supposedly lies within the barrow of blind repose,

the tomb of the heretic Saint Evoyar,

in the idle hollows north of the Astra Foundry,

beyond

Amber Reach.

You were granted a map, some provisions, and you trekked out into the wilds of the jungle.

And when those trees began to subside, across the oceanside cliffs, past a raging river of a smashed bridge,

until eventually you stepped onto the beginning of your trek across the sunken rampart.

The massive, crumbling outer wall of what was once the exterior perimeter of Amber Reach.

Now with the rising of the Ashen Sea since the apostasy, the ocean laps angrily against the base of this wall.

And the neighborhood that it once protected now lies deep under the waters.

Pushing on into the night, with little light but your conjured aetherweave flame guiding you forward,

you push into the dark, the burning light of the sacred pyre of your destination, Bokoru, distant but present, a guiding light here in the shadow.

So.

Hearing the sounds of crashing waves below, a faint wind that blows in proximity, and the gentle rainfall that's continued to persist since earlier in the day.

You are waterlogged, you are freezing, and every now and then you catch an errant sound, sourceless, that causes you to jump and continue forward.

Who is leading this trek through the darkness to navigate the somewhat precarious

rampart?

I don't think I have dark vision or anything.

I have dark vision.

August does.

Come on, August.

Do I get a bonus for dark vision or no?

Dark vision just means there isn't a disadvantage to the attempt.

I would like you to make an instinct roll for me to navigate and perceive the

safest path across this rampart at night.

Don't kill us.

I'm going to attempt.

This is a kind of vague experience thing that I have, and this might be a good usage for it, but I feel like I would get some confidence because I absolutely am supposed to be here.

That's your experience?

Yeah.

You can pass it off if you like.

Delightfully vague.

Yeah, you're welcome.

It's more of a social thing.

I just thought I'd try.

Yeah, that's right.

As a social thing, maybe.

In this instance, I say it will not be.

Do you know who I am?

It literally is

because I don't.

Who am I?

All right, here we go.

Especially this door.

I'm supposed to be here.

Eat the sandwich.

I'm supposed to be.

I'm absolutely supposed to be here.

No worries.

What is it?

It's instinct.

Instinct.

That's a crit.

Okay.

Sure is.

Get that.

10 and 10.

Okay, that's 10 and 10.

So great.

So tight.

I'm taking that home and clearing the stress.

That makes life a lot.

We should all get a host.

I feel like you keep taking home.

I agree.

Yeah, a fear

every single time any of you.

Oh, it's not.

Okay, okay, okay.

I'm just saying, we balanced the rules this week.

All right, all right.

Or we'll stick with Alico.

Okay.

Thankfully, this side of the rampart isn't so heavily weathered by the terrible sundering of the land in the wake of the apostasy.

And this initial portion of the rampart's walk is intact.

The occasional, like, fallen, crumbled bit,

the two edges of the massive wall itself keeping that stone bridge between them, where once a hollow interior of this wall allowed the old armies of Amber Reach to move throughout to store things.

And you managed to catch a few areas where the above

stone platforms have tumbled inward, leaving a plummeting hole of 30, 40 feet below into what may be either ocean if it's filled, or just whatever hard stone lies below.

But you peer one, peer a second one, and eventually a large section that has collapsed inward you make note of, and you all manage to maneuver around without issue.

The evening draws on, and three more hours of going across this rampart.

The rain is cold.

The exhaustion sets in a bit.

Do you push on?

Get to town.

Gotta get to town.

Okay.

I would like you to make another instinct roll for me.

Come on, another crit.

Uh,

11 with hope.

Okay.

You gain a hope.

But the rampart begins to grow slightly more precarious the further in you go.

The tide seems to be rising, as it was once a gentle crashing of water becomes heavy waves.

Occasionally, the spray of sea catches your cheek from the left-hand side,

and part of your imagination wanders to imagine this wall being swallowed whole before you can get across.

You don't catch it because you're focused on the path ahead, but the rest of you hear.

getting hungry.

Sorry.

Is that your tummy?

Yeah.

Another sound just like that.

That was kind of behind you.

Another one, also behind you, but almost to the other ear.

That wasn't me.

I think we're being followed.

Can we turn and look?

You turn around, and it is darkness.

You have enough light to see immediately around you for about 15-20 feet.

A little further for you because of your dark vision.

We don't know.

But

that sound sounded like it

was

a few hundred feet, a thousand feet.

You're uncertain the distance, but it was not

immediately nearby.

Should we try and move faster?

I think so.

I think we move faster.

Can we run?

Run!

Run!

It's the dark.

No!

Don't run in the dark.

We're going to definitely move.

I also do have a damage.

Are you moving with haste or are you carefully progressing?

We should move with haste and take the chance because we are carrying a light.

Yes.

I can also.

Yeah.

So.

We're fucking standing out in the dark.

Let's go.

Alright, so...

I'm going to ask for a group roll.

Since you are navigating the dark, you are helming this group roll.

Plus, I want Ashley to die again.

So for this, so you'll roll last.

This is going to be an agility roll across the group.

And because it is raining, the final roll will be made to disadvantage.

Oh, so you subtract a final?

The final roll, I'll subtract a D6 from it.

Can I spend a hope to add a D6 for myself?

Add a hope.

You cannot help yourself.

You cannot help.

Help your allies.

This is

a fourth game.

It does work.

Also

I get advantage to

perceive details within darkness.

Advantage to hide investigator

perceive.

Right.

But this is not slipping on the slick stone as you charge rapidly into the dark.

Fair fair.

So let's go around the rest of you.

Agility rolls, please.

I think I get an advantage on this because of my steady ridgeborne feature.

No.

This is not mountainous territory necessarily.

And I'd say in this instance, because you cannot see in the dark, I will not grant that an advantage.

Okay, great.

Wow,

just stop.

Do we need to just say it out loud?

He's pointing to you.

Just stop.

Five with fear.

Okay, so that's a minus one.

Do we need fear and hope?

Doesn't mean no, you don't gain fear and hope in a group.

Nine.

Only the final one does.

Nine.

Nine.

Minus two.

Seventeen with hope.

Okay.

It's a plus one.

Sixteen.

Okay.

That's a no bonus to your final roll.

Roll an agility check me

Minus oh Matthew fucking Mercer minus six

What did he roll does a crit happen here?

Does that work?

Oh like a critical force

Crit happen look at the confidence mathematically you guys are

busting shit up

Somewhere in the ether

is there's a Dorola going well done well done

I'll remember this.

Can I

just have some of that?

Just a little.

Does one trade just?

Do you want to trade?

Can we trade fear dice?

Yeah, we can trade fear dice.

Yeah, because maybe

that'll happen.

Actually, I'm not going to use your fear.

I'm going to use my other fear dice.

It's all uphill from here.

As you all begin to pick up your pace, rushing through the night's shadow, the majority of you not having much vision beyond what is barely immediately in front of you as August pushes into the dark you slide and slip and there are a few moments where some of you almost begin to lose your footing but your fellow allies reach out and grab your shoulder instead of you as you continue to run

getting louder and louder the flicker of the flame possibly being a beacon drawing something from the shadow in your direction but you continue pushing on you mark out and point out with a as much volume as you feel is absolutely necessary to reach the ears of your allies with the quickness in which you're traveling to mark that hole, mark that gap there.

At a certain point, the wall comes to a stop, and there is a small stone bridge that it crosses to the other half of what looks like another buttressing wall on that side.

And you stop before you all end up humming over the side, kind of like one after another,

pushing into each other.

But you stop it in time, August, and you carefully move across that bridge and continue on to the adjacent wall forward to the next segment of the sunken rampart.

This goes on for another hour or so.

Your lungs are starting to burn.

The heat inside is almost as much as it hurts, it's welcome in comparison to the freezing temperature of your extremities.

And you're about half or so way across the rampart, you hope, from what you recall seeing the distance before the light of day left you.

You can see the flame of Volkoru still ahead.

Is it larger?

It's hard to tell, but you press on.

Louder still.

Should we extinguish the flame and do it in the dark?

And I'm going to just lead in the dark since I can actually.

I do have darkness.

Well, Daisy Jane, hands on shoulders.

All right.

And I'm going to

tie us up again.

This will lessen your pace.

I'm going to push Michelle off the rampart.

I need you

to make an instinct roll, a group roll one more time.

Actually, for this, because they're not able to really help you, because they can't see much in this space this isn't going to be a group roll this is just you rolling and since it's instincts I still can't use my my advantage so he's absolutely supposed to be here

not anymore this doesn't make any sense for that I was I was making I know yeah I know what I know what I was thinking can I spend a hope whoa

two

two is help him look for where we're supposed to be you can spend a hope to give him an advantage if you'd like yeah

may I

yes okay it feels like that would be a good time that's a good time oh you roll the hope

i i was like it was it was almost to go first yeah here we go

two that's okay so two that's uh uh sixteen with with hope sixteen with hope okay so take a hope i'm full

here in the dark without the light guiding you you have sight but the slickness of the rain is slowing you.

And the further you press on, the rampart is crumbling more and more.

Strongest at its base towards the mountains, now whole sections of it have fallen into the ocean, and you hear the splashing of the heavy waves.

The promise of being crushed and lost, drowned or worse beneath the waters that even your sight cannot match.

You cross back over to the initial wall side as another bridge pulls across and a whole segment of the wall has fallen.

You see now a lot of these bridges have been built with newer materials, where whole segments and gaps in this wall have been

reconstructed and reinforced for travelers that wish to traverse this.

And those of you who have traveled to and from Desperlock, pick up and remember traversing these bridges during lighter hours because it's folly to attempt this at night.

you are about two-thirds beyond the rampart as you hear it again

do we also hear anything like like

flapping of wings yes no wings

of swim splashing noises like it's for it's swimming do we hear any other context clues direction

roll an instinct roll for me to see if you can pick up any details beyond just the ever

louder

howling

about fucking time

sorry thank you you're welcome um

19 with hope yeah

finally

yeah all right

you do not hear any wings beating and against the sound of rain splashing against the stone surfaces and the crashing of waves, it is very challenging to make out anything specific.

But you do hear

a heavy impact that seems to be irregular.

And you also hear.

Something's up here now.

Does it sound like two?

You hear two communicating.

You're not quite sure how far they are from you, but they're

as loud as they've ever been.

Clever girl.

I'm going to spend a fear.

Uh-oh.

As you reach

close to where you imagine, there is one stretch of the rampart that for hundreds of feet is just gone.

It is completely washed away, and a long bridge has been built that kind of hangs.

And when the winds blow in particular, it is not safe to traverse.

Thankfully, the wind is not as strong right now.

But you know it's not that far ahead, Snicks.

You can't be that far ahead.

As you begin to recall and about to note this, there is another part of a small bridge that crosses over from one half to the other side of the rampart.

And as you rush up, you catch it just in time, August, along with Brixton, kind of noting what you hear.

That part of the stone bridge has fallen and collapsed.

And you now reach an edge where there is nowhere to go, other than maybe a 25-30-foot gap to the other side.

And you also hear

an impact across the way

of where you were in front of us.

And the ones that we heard before this, do they sound closer than they have before?

Like the closest we've heard the noises?

They're probably somewhere within 150 feet of you now.

How big is this platform that we're on, and is there any it's about 10 to 12 feet wide from side to side?

I can't see across it, but we

you can barely see with what little bit of light is breaking through the occasional clouds.

You can see kind of the outer shape, it's slick with the rain and the reflection on it, kind of giving just the faintest of outlines.

Whatever it is, they already know we're here, but we're trying to get across this chasm.

We also hear as the wind kind of picks up slightly the wet, the wet creaking of heavy iron.

I know what this is.

We're on a foley stage of a movie, a movie editing place.

There's like an elevator or like a chain bridge or something.

We just can't see it.

Do we see any type of like chains affixed to the edge here that drape down?

It's dark, right?

No chains, but as you've been looking down in front of you, it is pitch black except for what little bit of like moonlight occasionally escapes through the clouds.

And you hear the sound.

It's not from below, it's from above.

I'm gonna fly up and you see.

You look over,

you fly up.

Yeah, as you fly up, your head almost hits something above you, and you move out of the way.

And you see, there's a large, and you've seen these before,

you'd forgotten about them in the rush here, but there are large

arcing pieces of metal where

cages hang, human-sized cages.

And as you float up into it,

it's occupied.

And you see

a tiny little person inside staring back at you, their fingers entwined in the cage.

Hello?

Would you like to come to the table?

What?

Oh, really?

Oh, Snap!

Who's this now?

Who is this mystery person?

Who is this person?

in a block of church.

Oh boy.

Oh boy.

What

in a cage?

Laura Bailey, if you would like to describe what August sees soaking wet inside this metal cage hanging above the rampart.

You see in front of you

a very small girl with

pale white skin and pale white hair.

Her dress looks kind of nice, but this tattered.

And she's looking at you very innocently.

Hello?

I have to warn you, it really hasn't been that long since

a

young girl turned into a giant black ooze monster, so I'm going to be a bit careful right now.

I'm not a giant ooze monster.

We'll be the judge of that.

How

what's your name?

I'm Adivia.

What's your name?

Uh, August.

Uh, pleasure.

We both start with A's.

We do.

Why are you in a cage?

Oh.

Well, a very holy man put us in here.

Although I don't think he was very holy.

Oh, my friend!

He's in a cage, too!

Can you let us out?

We're very hungry.

August, who are you talking to up there?

There's a.

Do you have friends?

Yes, technically.

Are you a friend?

You're a light!

What are you doing up there?

Hold on.

That's actually not true.

You've got...

You know, there are monsters around here.

We are well aware.

Do you know how to get across by any chance?

Sure, if you let me out, I'll show you.

They're offering.

They're offering a cage.

You should probably ask why they're in there in the first place.

Well, I d well, apparently a very holy man put them in there.

A holy man?

Well, you said not that holy.

Oh, she's a tiny girl.

Yes.

I am a tiny girl.

If they are considered heretics, then perhaps we should reconsider this.

Well, I'm considered a heretic, technically, so.

We can just leave them.

We can go.

Yeah?

Yes.

Yes.

No.

That's a good idea.

I'm with some.

Please don't.

You haven't eaten in a long time.

We don't have any food.

What do you eat, people?

No.

How did you, how did you get in here?

But mum put us in here.

Hello.

You know, we're

going to have to throw something.

How close is it sounding?

How do we?

You kind of listen and look over, and about 30 feet behind, you see this shape kind of moving out of one of the rampart, kind of half-covered walls.

What looks about the size of a large tiger.

Maybe a bit larger than that, from what you can glance and see,

its body and shoulders seem to be bulbous and almost

like the back of a massive toad.

And a tail whips and cracks into the stone behind.

And the way its head's moving, it looks like it's sniffing in the air.

August, whatever you're gonna do, do it first.

How do we open the cage?

Um,

well,

I think you need a key.

Can you break a look?

What we're about to find out.

Have you seen the bridge?

Yes.

I was on the bridge.

I'm gonna find whatever passes for a lock on this cage.

There is above at the very top of the iron, out of reach to the very apex, there is a massive metal bolt that is pushed through that holds the cage there, and there is an iron lock on it that is latched tight.

It is heavy,

thick iron that is rusted.

Well, this will be amusing.

If you get Screve out, you can probably help you.

He's very good with locks.

Which direction?

Um,

over there.

She notes across the way, the other side of the rampart, where the other secondary growlers are.

You don't even know how far.

About 30, 35 feet.

Oh, I'm all book over there.

You're gonna fly.

You're leaving.

He left us.

No.

You fly off to the other side and see a secondary cage dangling in handy.

There was a growl over there.

you're fine

i'm going to stand next to idol i left and draw my sword the veiled gods are testing us they are and how how far up are the cages uh they're about ten feet above you maybe not a little less than maybe like eight feet above dangling i'm gonna just try to leave reach my arm up then and try to just see how i could maybe try to unhook or help reaching your hand up you can reach the bottom of the cage but it is a solid bottom of a cage you would have to climb up onto it and then break or pull the lock which you could attempt if you want to.

I reach my hand out.

I'll do that.

Oh,

hello.

You interpret.

I'm going to hop up onto, bouncing off of Misty.

I will hop up onto the cage and try to catch myself on it.

Okay, so you leap up.

It's easy enough to do off of her back to catch onto the cage.

And the cage immediately

just swings a bit with momentum.

Oh, boy.

Hi.

Oh, wow.

You're young.

I am young.

What do you look like, I you can't?

I'm a goat man.

Oh, yes.

What do you look like?

I'm a little girl.

Like a human girl?

Okay.

Yeah.

And he asked you already, you're not a dark, shadowy ooze creature?

Nope, just a little girl.

I have a crowbar

that was given to me.

I'm going to try to one hand hang on, one hand jam it in.

I'm going to put my arms out and hold on to him so that he doesn't fall.

Are they?

I should do this.

Your arms, your hands.

Yes, I am very cold and wet.

But don't worry.

Alright, go ahead and make a strength roll for me.

Not my fort.

That would be 18, 17 with fear.

17 with fear.

Where's 19?

You jam it in once and it only gets partway in there.

It rocks a little bit from the momentum.

You pull back and the second time, slam it in, and it gets just enough leverage.

you put your legs back against the side you kind of almost have to let go from where he's kind of wedging himself in there and as you

bank you pull and it snaps the bolt bends and

the cage

lands onto the bottom or onto the top of the the rampart itself and kind of rolls for a few feet

you have to like back out of the way and just in time you want to try to stop help it so it doesn't break you know she so she wouldn't get hurt right and you manage to do so she doesn't get hurt but the process and the expectation of this does mark a stress on you from

the sudden impact of it.

You're stopping the cage there.

Across the way, you have floated up to the secondary cage, and here you see, indeed, another figure is awaiting,

far taller than the first one you saw.

If you wouldn't mind coming to the table,

who's it gonna be?

Who's it gonna be?

It could be anybody.

Got so much stuff.

So much stuff.

So much stuff.

Adelia?

Adelia?

Adela Zim?

Adele Dazim.

Wait, Adelia or Adelia?

Adelia.

Adelia and Adelia

who's come over.

Talison's character?

Yes, August.

August has come over.

Red Robe and Red Rider.

Spider-Man has come over.

Something is standing in the cage, waking in the cage.

Oh, boy.

Adelia!

Screve.

That's my name.

What's yours?

I'm August.

Do you come recommended?

Oh, by home.

Adelia, did you recommend me?

That's awful nice of you.

At this moment,

the cage impacts hard from some sort of unseen force.

As it begins to rock back just out of your vision, you see a monstrous form of some panther or tiger-like entity that has leapt onto the cage itself.

The metal itself is almost bending down from the sheer weight of it and just an inch from your face as it comes by,

you see its jaw kind of open up.

Where the eyes are are just kind of flesh film covered bulbs on the front and a massive kind of red pink snout that is filled with teeth.

Along the back of its shoulders, you can see all manner of heavy fur and spines that protrude from it.

And I'm going to go ahead and pull a map out to show you the...

Streeve grips the bars and pulls close to August's face and says, oh, August, it's a fartine.

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Oh, we got water.

Woo!

Oh, okay.

Perfect.

Look at you guys in there.

So, oh, that's awesome.

That's cool.

Look at a roof and everything.

You have been pulled from this cave.

And there you are.

What a cool man.

Okay, so I'm out of the cage.

You are out of the cage at this point.

As it fell, it kind of broke open.

The front door kind of

swung open.

Look at the white cats.

What the hell?

You are right there traveling to help.

Oh, this is so precarious.

Precarious, which is fun.

You're very big.

And you also just helped kind of get her free and leaked off from that side.

You're keeping up with Brixton.

I'm looking down the rampart.

I'm just going to have one of my wings over

Adelia.

Alright.

Just to protect from the rain.

And here, August,

is where you are currently floating.

Yep, right there.

Or yeah, more or less right next to the cage.

Oh, boy.

What is that?

Is this monstrous creature?

One of two that has been hunting you.

As you've been keeping an eye across the other path, you've been coming from heading this direction towards Volkoru.

This is the one that's been stalking you from the other side.

Oh, boy.

Okay, this will be fun.

So, friends,

who would like to take an action first?

Too close for you.

Yep.

Oh, you throw a bolt beacon.

Throw a bolt beacon?

Yeah.

That's a closer far range.

Far, please.

Yeah, definitely within range.

Go ahead and make a roll for me.

That is 14, 15, 16 on a spellcast roll with magic.

That hits, yeah.

Amazing.

That'll light them up, makes them temporarily vulnerable until the condition is cleared.

And that does...

Nice.

8, 10, 10 points of magic damage.

And that was with hope.

With

hope.

With hope, yes.

Take that hope.

Great.

So 10 points, you said?

Yes.

Alrighty.

So as that beacon slams into that creature as it's like getting it ready to pounce,

kind of backs up for a second.

the like golden white flame that kind of burns around it makes it suddenly a vibrant target in the middle of this shadow, lights up the entirety of the slick stone around it and gives you a very immediate view of everything around.

The water falls down 25, 30 feet into the crashing surf below, where there are all manner of jagged rocks and fallen ruin, and the gap that lies between where you are and where you need to be as both of these beasts begin to slowly collide.

I was squaring up with Idol, and so

Brixton is just gonna run over, sword out.

All right,

yeah, you can travel to get

to close the gap to melee limit.

Haratu, redeem us!

Yes, yes,

17,

18, and 19 with hope.

There you go.

Success, go ahead and roll damage.

Thank the Lord.

Maybe today will be my day.

Okay, that's gonna be eight,

twelve physical damage.

12 physical damage, great.

So it marks two hit points there.

At the end of your turn,

12 physical damage.

I'm actually going to,

seeing it on the edge,

I'm going to spend a hope.

I'm going to add a D6 to that and gore it with my tusks.

So I'm just going to

swing, and then I'm going to basically headbat forward with it.

Yes, I can.

I just have to spend a hope, and I haven't fucking had any

for an additional

lower than

another head point.

It's something.

Great.

I'm going to spend a fear to take the spotlight, even though you had succeeded

to my end there.

You can do that.

Oh, yeah.

Do that.

I just haven't had that.

Illegal.

That is literally one of the things.

Go for it.

It's a running GM.

You can do that.

I've been patient as we kind of got through the rules here, but the GM can spend a fear to jump in.

Wait, wait, all of us should do it at the same time.

One, two, three.

You can do that?

And you can too, as the GM of the band dragon.

As it lights up, all of you kind of look over towards these two creatures and you recognize them because you've run from these types before.

Oh, no.

These are pain beasts.

Oh, no.

Pain beasts.

You've delivered their flesh nuts.

Yes, I have.

Yep, I don't like that.

Isn't everything a pain beast?

But that one that

you've both marked and slashed at angrily going to one, I'm going to spend a fear to remove its condition.

It is no longer temporarily vulnerable.

I know.

But as that one activates, activates, it's going to go ahead and...

Oh, actually, that's a good point of order there.

So you didn't mark two more hit points.

I'm also going to spend a fear to have tied spines protrude towards you, Rixton.

And you take 11 points of physical damage as you strike it with your weapon and the spines cut into your armor and kind of push you to the ground with a burst of pain throughout your entire circulation.

I'm going to spend an armor to reduce it to one.

You got it.

Now, as it's action, it's going to go ahead and I'm going to spend a fear

to use its venomous tail against us.

Four fears this turn.

Yeah, well, this is activation.

No, for sure.

But it's the thing, it's expensive to do my turn out of order.

Does it cost an additional fear to do that?

Inside of us, all there are four ones.

That's going to be 11 to hit you, Brixton?

Yes.

All right.

So, as it rears back, it

flexes its hind legs and its tail, which you just saw whipping in shadow, all of a sudden

arcs overhead, has these two massive, jagged, curved points to it, almost like a scorpion stinger.

It sinks into the back of your shoulders, and you take

13 points of physical damage.

Okay.

That's a bigger strike.

And you are poisoned until you heal a hip point.

Until you heal.

You feel it course through your body, and as you kind of buckle to one knee, you have disadvantage on all action rules while you are poisoned.

I'm gonna once again drop.

Is that if I take damage or I'm just poisoned regardless?

You're just

well, I mean you're poisoned now until you heal it.

I just didn't know if I reduced it down to zero damage, if that would negate that.

No, the poison still goes into your system.

Okay, I will drop another armor.

Well, here I'll tell you what.

Since you're negating the damage,

if you were to negate it entirely,

then I would I would allow that would logically make sense to negate the poison.

I will negate it entirely.

That's what guardians can do.

Because I can spin two to drop it all the way down.

So as it strikes into the back of your armor, you crumble into a ball and let the majority of the plate catch it.

It pierces it and it kind of scratches the top of your neck.

Not enough to actually pierce the flesh.

And you feel the venom kind of like fill the back of the chest plate, but it doesn't inject into your torso.

My orcish sturdiness just...

I just flecks a little and it just like ejects the poison out of my spine.

You got it.

Alright.

How about rawberry?

That's my activation.

Who wants to go?

I would really like to...

Yeah, I was gonna say, we gotta open it.

Please do.

There is a gaunt, gaunt motherfucker inside this cage, all bent up in a pretzel, like I am now, with scraggly white hair,

one side shaved,

wrapped in leather and black cloth strips all over his body, except for a big diamond titty window right here.

A silver ring threaded through the flesh of his chest.

And arms are bare and there are little rings, silver rings in his flesh there as well.

And

he starts banging his hands on the inside of the cage and you see, you see there's like little black gloves or something, but you hear metal hitting metal and he says,

And I

will

use in rapture and make a spellcast roll on the pain beast to draw its attention towards me.

Let's go.

Oh, that's uh 15 with fear.

15 with the fire.

Oh, no, no, no, no!

Alrighty, so that is a success.

Wait, is the ring pierced through your chest or is it threaded, threaded, threaded, threaded.

So you can see metal, skash, metal, metal, skash.

That's cool.

And as he sees it looking like growling, and he just sticks a pinky under and goes,

oh, geez!

The beast is hanging onto the cage there as you're staring at it.

Like,

its face was looking over towards August, who's flying in the air, and you see it was getting ready to leap off the cage towards him.

You begin to clatter and let that kind of magical weave through your words.

And it's head.

I wish they would play with it.

As in Rapture, it just focuses on you entirely.

It blots out everything else.

And it is going to attempt to

pierce its tail through the holes in the cage at you.

I'm going to spend a few minutes to get it.

He's not making it to that.

That's going to be an 18 to hit you.

Oh, that hits me very well.

I will use one of my armor for five seconds.

Let's see what damage you take for.

Oh, yes, yes, yes.

That is going to be ten points of physical damage.

Ten.

Oh,

yes, I will use.

So that would go to major damage, but I I will stick up my arm and the iron claw on one side will take that and rips away some of my armor.

So I will mark an armor and take one of the poison.

Wow, got it.

But you are now poisoned as well.

Until you heal a hip point.

That's in that, and I'm going to go ahead and spend a fear to activate the other pain beast across the way.

That's going to leap over you, Brixton.

and it's going to go ahead and make a sweeping strike against you

idol

that's a natural 20.

that's a crit on you crit on me

it's a crit on you what are you trying to do august uh i'm trying to do a thing that i can maybe make you re-roll uh i'm just trying to find it again uh

yeah it's a it's a wizard thing

Let's see, here it is.

My prayer decks at the beginning of each session.

Luck tender.

Not willing ally.

It's the other one.

Oh, God, I can't find it.

Shit.

If I can't find it.

Would you take it or is it?

It's a thing I have where I can make you re-roll.

I'm just trying to figure out where it is.

God damn it.

Not slumber, not Arcane Barrage, not telepathy.

Don't use it.

I want to take this.

Okay, take it then.

Fuck.

Yeah, at this point, I'm not sure where I'm taking it for.

You can't find it.

Alright, so that's going to be

18 points of physical damage on you.

And I need you to make a strength reaction roll for me.

You got it.

That's true.

Okay, bounce out my hand.

I'm going to burn an armor to drop that down to

minor damage.

Strength reaction roll plus two.

17, 18.

I'm sorry, 18, 19, 20.

Dirty 20 with strength.

Great.

With hope.

With hope.

It's a reaction roll.

That's cool.

It swipes you and you feel your body, the sheer force of its impact, cause you to slide against the slick stone.

It's attempting to sweep you off of the wall.

And you just take your halberd and dig it onto the opposite side of the wall.

Catch yourself and hold on.

The impact, not enough to send you over the edge.

A little help!

That's my activation.

I'm going to open the cage for God's sakes.

It's been driving me insane.

Sorry.

Here we go.

I'm going to fly over to that cage.

I'm going to take my wand, my little sewing needle, get it right into that, into the lock,

and I'm going to cast, I'm going to just put an ice spike right in there.

I'm just going to drop a little tear in there, back up about a couple feet, and then...

So you're attempting to damage the lock enough to break it?

From internally.

Yeah, okay.

I'm going to...

Go ahead and roll for spellcast.

All right, that's just 26 plus 2.

Thank you, Spooky Spider-Man.

That is

18 plus 18 fear.

18 with fear.

Okay, that is enough to break the lock.

So,

the lock shatters, ice kind of

out of it for a second.

The iron holds from the ice, almost like filling the gaps, and it's for a moment holding the cage itself before

the ice shatters and the cage impacts on the edge.

It would tumble off with you in it if the beast wasn't holding onto it and focused on you.

And so, while the cage goes, the beast holds on you with the front of the claws and just clutches and keeps you there.

Um, as the back of the cage

opens on the opposite side, and you step out of it.

Let's see what you got.

Hooray, Screed!

Screw!

Watch their tails, they're a little sticky.

And with that, Screed is freed.

Yay!

Yes, no.

Hashtag free Screed.

I love this, Liam.

I love this for you.

What do you mean?

Alright, since that was with.

I don't know how long the sweater has been.

this beast is immediately going to activate.

Since you're knocked out of the cage, since you're all with fear, or you're all fear to get back to the fire.

It's focused on me.

It is.

It's going to go ahead and attempt to sweep you.

Is that titty die?

Once a day, according to this card, I can mark a stress to make it mark a stress as well.

You can if you want to.

I would like to do that.

Sure enough.

Hurt yourself to hurt it.

Ah.

Nice.

That would be that one there, actually.

Okay, that being.

Can we see what type uh what manner of creature screeve is

screve from best you can tell his distance

human okay okay that he is scrunched down and is sort of mimicking the pain beast's stance on the ground and just wiggling his butt looking at it right

here also

human

14 is a 14 hit you

know it strikes you for 10

13 points of physical damage

as a heavy claw

womps into your shoulder.

And as the claw digs in, it also tries to push you off the side.

So 13 points

hits my severe damage.

Three hit points.

So I will lose even more of the wraps around my gaunt little bony body.

That's two armor down.

I take two hit points of damage.

I need you to make a strength reaction.

And because we have a full table now, we can also put out these little things to know who's taking a turn.

You can put these out here to know who's taking a turn.

That's an 11 with fear.

So it's a reaction roll, so no fear or hope gained, but that is a failure.

God damn it.

You escape from the cage, and just as you get out there and it's focused on you intently, it swats you.

You watch a screve across the way steps free from the cage, curls around, and then just

gets knocked off the edge and into the darkened rain, plummets poisoned down.

Oh, you're poisoned too.

That's gracious.

Spoosh!

Into the water.

A massive column of sea foam and water.

I could just knocked up into the air.

Jack Knight.

Amazing.

No, scream.

Violet will save you.

And I throw my doll after him.

Scream, save Violet.

And scream, goes the swing to retrieve the doll.

I know, I love it.

I'm going to

spin another fear to activate the other pain beast, and then it's going to mark a stress to pounce.

That pain beast on that side is going to leap up into the air

onto the top of the bent iron and pounce downward towards you.

The largest visible threat on that

as much as I can

to sort of

protect the child.

For that, it's going to attack you.

Ooh, it's a natural 19.

This is not an umbra-touched beast, so it is not a crit.

Okay.

But that is still going to be a 21 to hit you.

Yes, it hits.

For that pounce, you take...

That's not too bad.

Seven points of physical damage.

Okay, I'm going to use an armor to take that down.

Okay, and you need to mark a stress as it kind of grapples and pushes you to the ground from its heavy weight and you are kind of knocked and try and pull away your wings kind of pinning into the ground as it's holding you there.

Push them.

Okay.

So that finishes my activation.

Who wants to go next?

You are rearing something.

Just seeing someone fall off a ledge brings back painful memories of

watching a dear friend of mine fall.

Dear dog up.

A deer?

A friend of yours that was a deer?

A dog.

My sweet baby, my womper.

So I'm going to pull out the crossbow, the crossbow, the crowbar and my rope and quickly tie it and latch it onto

the cage if I can.

And

I'm gonna jump after Screave.

Oh.

Okay.

For that, I'm gonna say you can roll agility or finesse, your choice.

Agility, please.

Alright, I'm gonna jump down, try to

find him.

15, 16, 17, 17 with hope.

17 with hope.

You take that hope, and as you latch on and then swing down,

you manage to catch your feet on one of the nearby rocks and just barely kind of step onto this partially collapsed platform where you catch onto a part of it.

You're still holding the rope, and Screve is in the water.

Dove below.

Just as you get there, it's just gone and out of sight.

Who are you?

What was your name again, Screve?

Hello?

Hello?

I'm here to save you.

Screve emerges clutching a rope.

Get down!

Get away from me!

You get a hoof to the jaw real fast,

Holding the waterlogged down.

Take my hand?

Ew.

What?

Ew!

Careful.

And our hands clasp, and you see really rough-looking, jagged, rusty iron claws protruding from the gloves or claws strapped to his hand.

Oh, they're not part of you.

No, they're

a weapon.

Oh, okay, good, good, good.

And so you pull Screave out of the water up onto onto this kind of diagonal, partially collapsed platform with the rope still in your hand.

Okay, because I'm a badass.

Can you climb?

Come on in, the water's fine.

Are there shadows around us?

Oh, there's much shadow.

What little bit of moonlight is coming through is coming from that direction, so there is shadow all around this thing.

You watch as I just sort of go like this with the doll in hand, and I fall backward into a shadow

and suddenly roll out from behind Misty's shadow up on the ramparts

And creep around, and I come.

Very servile Cordelia.

And hold up Violet.

Thank you for saving Screve.

I hate them both.

We're going to throw them in the water.

You ready to play?

Yes, let's play.

Let's play.

All right, who else's activation is it?

It's still your go.

Do you want to play?

I'm going to look at the kitty cat in front of me, and I'm going to unleash a little chaos on it.

Alright, let's go.

Well, that spellcast roll.

Oh,

that's 21 with hope.

Take that, hope, and that is a success.

Roll your damage.

Definitely sleeping in the other room tonight.

And I'm going to

mark a stress

to attack both of the creatures with that roll.

Okay.

The range is for far, correct?

Yes,

you can move the other one as well.

Yay!

Okay, so I'm going to roll my damage, which is.

How do I do this?

I'm going to use both of my chaos points, and that's D tens.

That's con tetra's concrete.

That's a one.

That's a four.

So five,

seven points of damage to both of them.

Seven points to both of them.

So

both of these fire out.

Impact.

You guys watch as this little girl clutching her waterlogged doll.

Describe how you unleash chaos, please.

Oh, I turn Violet around and I hold it up, and from its porcelain eyes, magic shoots out of it.

These purplish crackling bolts

arc out and blast this creature in the face.

And you watch as it kind of withdraws and clutches onto the edge, almost slipping on the rain, its back leg like slipping off of a piece of broken rock.

And another arc spins off across the way

and finds the other pain beast that is currently holding onto the cage that Screve had been freed from.

And as it turns around and releases the cage and gets on its all fours, it takes the blast to the chest and it arcs through

that one's your pet.

He's so far away.

Uh, you two haven't gone in a minute.

Yes.

What would you like to do?

No.

Okay.

Uh, I will, um,

uh,

whoa

um okay, I'm going to um

use my wild flame and I'm going to try to attack the beast right in front of me.

Alright, go for it.

Okay

come on.

Oh, that was so high on my fear die.

Okay, that is 16

with fear.

That is a success with fear.

So go ahead and roll damage for that die.

Right.

I know.

Um

that's too far.

That's eight points of damage.

Eight points of damage.

Um

Misty.

How do you want to do it?

All right, sort of um seeing this young girl and and and this that

um

I am just gonna sort of uh move a little bit in front of the little girl and and and and sort of put my hands out and just let the flames come out.

And also,

I will mark a stress because

the flames for my hand, which I am at full stress now.

So I am now vulnerable.

You are vulnerable.

Yes.

Wait.

I know.

I just realized this.

How did that happen?

I don't know.

I think I've had stress this morning.

It's been a very stressful day already.

All right, so how much damage I think?

That was...

That was eight points of damage.

It gets blasted off.

You watch as the pain beast,

like, flies off and splashes into the water.

You see it tries to scramble up, but is not a strong swimmer as eventually the surf below takes it into darkness.

As you say sorry, the other beast across the way,

is going to go ahead and mark a stress to pounce.

It gets to leap far range.

Is it still enraptured with

the business?

So the enrapture for you lasts for how long?

Temporarily.

Fix on you narrowing the field of vision, drawing out any zombie over.

Okay, so it's just temporarily.

Temporarily.

I'm going to spend a fear to get rid of the Enrapture.

And as so it's going to focus on you as part of that pounce.

So, as it leaps across to come and strike you, to actually roll that properly, that's going to be a 12 to hit.

That hits.

That hits.

Okay.

And then you, from the pounce, take

seven points of physical damage.

Okay, I'm going to use an armor to take that down.

And as part of the pounce, you mark a stress.

Because you are fully stressed, you mark a hit point.

That you cannot reduce with armor.

I've got a couple left.

I'm okay.

Can I at least just move closer to idol so I'm a little bit more in the fray?

It happens real quick.

Yeah, if you'd like to.

So you move up towards Idol here.

Yeah.

What else would you like to do?

Were you going to do anything?

I'm not sure what I got.

Oh, sure.

I was going to say, I got a thing if you're not.

Yeah, I'm going to walk over to the really tall spike that's on the rampart.

I'm just going to put my chin on it now that Adelia and Screve are here.

I'm just going to hit my head.

You guys.

How do you want to do this?

Actually, now that Brixton's right here, I'm going to use

my sparing touch to heal two hit points because you're still poisoned, right?

No, I reduced the damage all the way to take it.

I'm good.

Thank you, though.

Based on how much space there is between Misty and

who is this?

Screve.

Screve.

Can I run between them or is it pretty stacked up there?

Right now, it's pretty crowded.

That whole platform is

up there.

So you'd have to either get to the other side where there's a little bit of platform, but that's going to be

an acrobatic.

I'm going to stay right here.

Brixton will lean over the edge and just go, Snakes!

Snakes!

Do I see Snakes?

You see in the little bit of light that's down there, that rope that you had to kind of fix

is still kind of arcing down and they're clutching it on the lower platform, looking up at you, rain kind of spattering on his shape.

The hand that touched Screve, I'm just kind of washing and then moving on.

Are you okay?

Did you say you have snacks?

No, Snicks is.

I'm gonna.

He's the bravest of all of us.

Hold up a second.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, you've got.

He's our guide.

He's the one who

triumphantly and heroically leapt after your friend.

Did you just say I'm your guy?

Your guide!

Our guide!

Guide, guide!

Anything else you want to do, Germix?

No.

Alright.

I'm just going to

sort of hover my way to, like, just to get close, literally close to that beast.

This fucking nap.

It's bored.

I'm going to try something new.

And I'm going to take the needle, my little needle wand, and I'm going to, instead of using the

point

to

start the thread, I'm actually going to loop it through the little hole at the back.

Tie it up and I'm going to send the needle and thread flying at

at that beast with an arcane barrage that i'm going to spend six hope for six hope oh my let's go

powered up

six hopes

i've never been that hopeful

22 uh 22 points 22 points magical damage that is a severe hit on that pain beast that marks three hit points the needle goes

and then pulls tight as all the all the thread just kind of slices.

You see it like its lower half like slides off.

For a minute, you think it might be dead before it claws catch and it rears back up and kind of holds itself on the edge.

Its head curls back and over, staring at you.

I'm going to spend a fear to activate.

Out of turn.

Survives a GM move, and it's going to go ahead and mark a stress.

You can do that.

And it's going to pounce you.

All right.

For that hit.

Oh, in the air.

Yep.

That's going to be a 20 to hit.

That hits.

Actually, yeah, that hits.

Alright.

So you take

10 points of physical damage.

I'm going to use an armor to mark that to zero.

Okay, mark a stress.

As it leaps in the air, grabs you, and yanks you from the sky into the surf and stones below.

Both you and the beast on impact take damage.

Go ahead and and roll a D8 for me.

Nice.

I'm so excited.

This is great.

Seven.

Seven.

You both take seven physical damage.

Oh, wow.

It marks a hit point.

Can I spend an armor for that as well?

If you want to?

Yay.

If you have it.

I have it.

Take zero.

Alright.

Your armor takes the heavy impact.

You are like basically thrust against one of the jagged rocks, but that new armor that you received barely saves your life.

What you imagine would have been a very messy impact.

But now the beast is pounced on top of you and is like fucking ready to go for the throat.

It is back to you who wants to go.

I'll go.

I skitter across Misty's back.

You feel me crawling on you and I go right back down into the shadow that I came out of and pop up.

And the shadows near...

Are they in the water?

Are they

on a stone right next to the water?

Oh, is there...

I can't see from here.

Is there land nearby?

There is land underneath this ruin.

It's pretty precarious from here.

No, instead, I'm gonna come up from the shadow underneath the pain beast.

Oh, I see.

Okay,

so

I'll come out of that hole in the rock there.

Yeah,

and

I'll spend a stress to do that.

And I'm cloaked, and I'm just going to lunge onto its back and start stabbing.

Let's go.

That is a that's a very roll low roll that's a nine Le Fear

fear is going to fail

as you curl out from the shadow wait.

I'm a human um

When you fail a role that utilizes nope wait one of your experiences is boo motherfucker So this does involve one of my experiences So the roll is up to a ten which probably doesn't save it so just so note yes you spend a hope to add an experience to a role before before you make the roll.

Alright, then I'm fucked.

Yes.

Unfortunately, yes.

So as you leap out of the shadows onto this creature's back,

you realize at this moment that along its back are all manner of these gnarled spines, these long protruded bits of pointed bone.

And as you kind of grab, you feel the pain of it pressing against your chest and it tenses its back and they all extend.

This one is going to.

You know what?

I'm going to say the spines kind of like sink into you, and you pull back right as its tail spins around to strike you from the other side.

I'm going to.

Yep, I'm going to go ahead and spend a fear to use its venomous tail on you again.

That's cocked.

That's going to be 12 to hit you.

Oh, that's right.

You're poisoned, so you do disadvantage, too, right?

His attack roll is heavy.

Oh, it just barely hits you.

Oh, no.

Oh, no!

Duh!

That is gonna be

seven points of physical damage to you from the tail.

You do not take in.

There's no you're already poisoned, so it does not.

So that's major.

I will

use my last bit of armor.

Strikes through all the leather on my back and rips it as it

razors down through and cuts and then jabs into me.

So that brings it down to minor damage.

So you still take a hit point?

So So I still take a hit point.

Yeah, no armor left.

And

August sees me clinging onto the thing's back and the tail goes

and Screams just going

back to you all.

Who wants to go?

I'm close, but

you're related to him, maybe?

Yeah, to

me.

I'll attack him.

It's up to you.

I can go, you can go.

You can go.

Alright, gripping the rope, I'm going to use my

Caprine leap?

What does Capreen even mean?

Anyway, I'm going to leap.

I'm going to goat boy leap over onto the...

Okay, great.

My goat leap.

I'm going to leap onto its back and just come down swinging.

Come on.

Smashing it.

Third howdy-doody do-doo.

Come on, Booberry.

Go ahead and roll your attack.

Okay.

I'm going to spend a hook to give myself advantage.

I can do that.

I'll spend a hook.

I'll spend a hook to give you advantage.

How do you prepare?

Can you?

Well, can I see down and be like, make sure you jump towards the wall.

In the middle is death.

You hear that as you go to leap, and instead of going directly towards you, you leap towards the outer wall and like parkour, run across it, and then leap down weapon ready.

This way, it's more of a down-controlled angle than like a primary leap.

Okay.

Oh my god, a million.

25, but with fear.

Okay, that is a success.

Go ahead and roll damage.

Okay, and I will burn, I will mark a stress to add my kick to this attack.

Alright.

He's gonna kill this thing.

Of course he is.

12.

13.

He is.

13 points of damage.

That marks two hit points on it.

As you sink your weapon deep into its back.

It spins around its face towards you as you're kind of clutching on it.

It tries to shake you off.

You're like, hang on to its spines.

With the kick,

I can shove it away from me.

Yeah?

Would it take other people with it?

Or would I be able to hold on to them?

I'm holding on.

Yeah, I don't know.

Do you want to kick it towards the water?

I would love to kick it towards the water.

Yes.

So with that, you kick it off into the water this way.

good

it's now in the drink

like barely trying to hold and reach out for the rock as you kind of now land on the small platform next to august when a pain beast comes along you must kick it

oh

what did sneaks hit with what was the roll that

that was a 20

super high roll yeah very high roll um but that was the fear that return is to the pain beast as it begins to swim up

climb the edge of the stonework here

and is going to

am i holding on i know it's screve still holding on no he when he kicked it he kicked it off both of you into the water uh it is going to leap back down to where it was and this one is going to

oh man

it's got a lot of targets there but you're the one who just kicked it off so it's gonna come for you yeah an instinct angry uh oh it's gonna be 21 a hit yeah sure all right uh i'm gonna mark a...

No, it's fully stressed out.

So it can't do that pounce.

It's just gonna go ahead and make a claw swipe towards you.

It's gonna be 10 to hit.

It misses.

It misses you.

You watch, it's hurt heavily.

It swings towards you and catches itself, and it's starting to look off, and it's gonna use the rest of its kind of movement to kind of leap up to the top of this wall, and it's starting to turn to escape the fray, realizing that it's turned the tide against it.

It is now your activation.

I skipped my thing last time.

So since I'm up here and I don't have to move, I'll just throw another bolt beacon down there.

Go for it.

That is 11, 12, 13, 14 to hit.

That hits.

With hope.

With hope.

Take the hope and go ahead and roll damage.

That just hits.

That's D8.

2, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.

11 points of magic damage.

Come on.

How do you want to do that?

Yay!

Yeah, I'll just see it jump up and say,

and the bolt beacon will fire out and light it up and just start to burn it from toe up to head.

You catch it in the middle of the air as it leaps towards the wall as you fire off.

It impacts it halfway through the air, and you watch as it kind of folds.

And as opposed to a landing, graceful pounce into a stop, it just tumbles into ash and burns away from divine fire.

And you're all left there

in quiet and silence

with

two

strange figures amongst you.

Goodbye, kitties.

You were great fun.

Violet, all right.

She's a little waterlogged, but she's okay.

Snicks!

Yeah, toss me the rope, I'll help you up.

The rope is attached to the cage.

Plus, I think we're going that way.

We're going

to the other side, and I can grab the edge of the rope and bring it to the other side.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's a great idea.

Okay.

I just jump off the rampart.

We're heading to

Vocoro.

We're going to

Vokoro.

We're headed to Vocoro.

Screve, come up here.

You're too far.

Coming, dear.

One moment.

I'm going to swim this time.

And start to climb my way up, sticking iron claws into stone to help me climb to the top.

We're actually going where Screeve was.

We're going that way.

Which way are we supposed to go?

I jumped off the rampart and into the water.

Oh, you're jumping in the water.

Yeah.

Because we're going to climb up and go over there.

Are you sure it's terrible that way?

Is there another way?

Pretty sure it's terrible.

Another way, where are you going?

To get to the other side?

Well,

sure, you can get to the other side, but what's on the other side that you want to be at?

It's all terrible over there.

Volcoro.

Oh, yes, it's terrible over there.

Why, what's wrong with Volcoro?

Don't you think there's another place you'd want to be?

Well, there is another place we want to be.

Where's that?

It's at the Screaming Forest, because we know that place well.

Well, we're gonna go through there too.

Have you heard of the Barrow of Blind Repose?

That one's new to me.

What is it?

Then it's in the idol hollows.

We're looking.

We're on a sacred mission, you see.

Oh, a sacred mission.

The astral foundry.

North of the Astral Foundry.

Oh, the Astral Foundry, yes, of course.

I know all about it.

Does she know all about it?

Oh, yes, we know all about it.

Do they know all about it?

Go ahead and make a presence roll, and you make an instinct roll.

Okay.

Yes, because you're the one who initiated it.

Okay, so that is with hope.

That is 14 with hope.

Oh, I rolled 13 with fear.

I don't know what you're talking about.

Okay, well,

we're looking for any information we have.

Well, we've got nothing better to do.

Do you like friends?

The road ahead is treacherous.

You've already lost

one little girl.

Well, she was more of like a teenager, to be honest.

How old was she?

She was a little bit of a child.

Was she older than me?

I'm almost a teenager.

She was older than you.

Oh.

Well, I'm better then.

Plus, I'm human.

I don't change into a monster.

I promise.

Are you two, um, brother and sister?

Ew.

That's weird.

No.

Boyfriend and girlfriend?

Ew.

I don't know.

This is Greave.

He's my pet.

I found him in the ruins.

We sort of found each other.

Some out of family bullshit.

Somehow that's significantly less weird.

We're all friends.

Are you all friends?

Do you like new friends?

We love new friends, especially if they can give us a leg up on where it seems you came from.

The Amber Reach.

Yes, but specifically Vokoro.

Oh, yes, it's a town.

There's a lot of trading there.

People are very mean.

They don't like magic.

We would love not to go the way we've just come if we are going through the Screaming Forest.

Do you know another way?

Not good ones.

Wait,

how long have you both known each other?

Did you say

been a little less than a year?

I had just

You're nine?

I'm nine.

So less than a year.

So you met here on the rampart, as Edward.

No.

We're both city kids, so to speak.

Metaphorically, I'm not a kid.

Who locked you in those cages?

Child at heart.

The enlightened.

They're very evil.

The enlightened.

Who are they?

Do we know about the enlightened?

You have no idea.

Cool.

You said they called you heretics?

Well, only because.

Only because we are onto this shit.

I think he was killing people, if we're being honest.

The holy men?

Mm-hmm.

We're from inside.

The Ember Each.

Originally, city rats, sort of, in different ways, similar somehow.

We are not fans of killing people.

Oh, I don't like to kill people either.

I've only done it a couple times, and only when I was really threatened.

That sounds reasonable.

Why were you headed?

What exactly did you do wrong?

Well, it's just been the two of us for a while.

Trying to get by, looking to play.

The Holy Man,

Sanctifar was his name.

Yes, he wanted us to believe

he said.

Although I think he just wanted people to not believe us.

Yes, we went on a bit of a hike out of town

and we went to the water side and there was a big hullabaloo.

There was a big

sermon on the mount, you know, lots of light and razzle-dazzle.

It was really fun.

Quite a show.

That sounds amazing.

And then at night we didn't go to sleep because so often we don't go to sleep, do we?

No.

And we saw Sanctophar

throwing some sacks into the water.

I think they were the people he converted.

We saw them being taken in his show, and then I think he was killing them.

It was sort of like a magic.

So we were going to tell people.

Like

a ritual?

Maybe he was trying to appease the old gods.

He told us he could send us on to them

to join them and be safe from this place.

That's silly.

The gods probably still walk amongst us.

You say so?

Have you seen them?

What do they look like?

We have a reason to believe that they might still have a presence here.

What are the reasons?

We have reasons.

Are you an angel?

Oh, uh,

no.

We had a creature on our tree that looked like you, but it was just a door.

Not like Violet.

It looked like me?

Mm-hmm.

And, um,

what was its purpose?

Decoration.

I feel like

I have some memories.

Because I.

this wasn't my original body.

Oh.

I just.

was pulled into it.

But, um...

I do have memories, and I feel like I might have been a decoration.

Or this body might have been a decoration.

Do you have legs?

I don't think so.

I think I just float.

Can I check?

Do you have legs?

That's interesting.

You were asking about this before.

You were asking before if I if I pooed.

Oh.

She gravels.

I gravel.

Yeah, that's what we've come down.

I do have legs.

Like a deer.

I do have legs.

I mean, there's movement.

Or a goat.

Or a goat.

She cements if she's had tacos.

I'm going to spend a fear.

It's a bit of slurry, if you will.

Wait, what?

I'm so sorry if this is a little bit

forward, but what happened to your parents?

Oh,

well,

father

went off with a silly elf man,

and I didn't see what happened to mother or auntie or my brothers and sisters.

But

I didn't think it was going to be nice,

so that's why I hid.

And you were left all alone, all alone, isn't it quite sad?

But then we found each other

underneath

underneath what?

The city.

Oh,

you just went under and had some fun?

Just found each other.

Wow.

I've been besties' friends ever since.

It sounds like you both have so much fun.

We do.

And this was in Volcoro?

No, no, no.

Do you know what that is?

Yes, I do.

Have you been there?

No, I've only seen it from afar.

I've been there.

Yeah.

He's been everywhere.

I have.

Are you from there?

No, no, I'm not from there, but I've been through it a few times, and

I even had a girlfriend there

once.

Oh, yes.

A real one?

I mean, yes, she's real.

Cool.

I hate to impose, but we are still out in the rain in the middle of the night.

I forgot I jumped off as well.

Oh, fuck.

I'm just going to go.

Yeah, you climbed up on the other side now.

I would love to get more answers, but we really should keep moving before we attract more.

We just need to find a place to sleep.

We have to head to Vokorio.

You see, our

settlement is in grave danger.

What's your settlement?

Desperlock.

Oh.

We haven't been here.

No.

Are there toys?

Yes.

There's some toys.

A few.

Yes, there are.

Well, let's go to Desperlock.

Well,

we have to go the long way around.

We have to go to Vokoro first.

Okay, you see our sacred pyre.

It's

it's been extinguished.

That's the mission that we're on.

Oh dear,

and we need

aid from Vokoro.

It will be fun where we're going.

It's an adventure.

You guys like fun adventures, right?

I love it.

How long have you been in these cages?

Lost track a little bit, longer than a week.

Let's walk and talk.

We're walking and talking.

We're walking and talking.

Do you have any food?

Got some juniper berries and some chestnuts.

Uncooked meat.

Got a little food?

I'll take some.

Alright, here.

It's mostly grass.

Do you have any food?

I've climbed up on the rampart.

I'm getting up on the other side.

I'm just going to leave these motherfuckers.

You're already told me.

We're already.

I assume

we're making our way.

I do have a few like chestnuts.

Do you like chestnuts?

Thank you.

Slowly but surely, you all, with the aid of each other, get to the other side of the rampart walkway and eventually come to the end of this portion of the stone for the final element of this trek.

This part of the sun and ramparts are gone.

Other than the long, swinging bridge that closes that gap.

As you all step across, the wind is just strong enough to where it continuously sways.

The railings, the rope and cable, at times weathered and snapped.

And there are moments where you have to get low

on all four

and push forward for fear of sliding off.

The rain isn't helping either.

But slowly, you push on.

Who is helming this last leg of the journey?

I believe one of our new friends should.

I can't see shit.

Doesn't matter.

Neither can we.

Let's go.

All right.

I will say for you,

this would be a finesse or instinct roll.

But before you roll, this is a group check.

So I like you to choose if it's finesse or instinct for you.

For me, it's finesse.

Alright, I need everybody else to roll finesse for me.

This is a reaction rolls.

No one gains any hope.

Oh, oh, that's a crit.

Oh, me too.

That's great.

Four sixes.

The beast has been summoned.

Plus two.

Two sixes.

I got two nines.

Nice.

Nice.

Double nine.

Fourteen.

Plus one.

A two.

Zero.

Six.

Minus one.

Four.

Roll finesse minus two.

Are crits didn't help?

I rolled.

Yeah, remember.

A twelve of hope.

You take a hope.

That is above the ten you needed to traverse this bridge before it got really, really bad.

Wow.

Huh?

Do we start with a hope?

Is that how it works?

You start with two hopes.

Oh, you do?

Yes.

Fill them up.

So

it is long into the night.

You are both

not just exhausted and spent from the weather and being left in these cages for as long as you have been and having not really eaten or had fresh water to drink other than what rain you could catch for a while, the rest of you just beaten by the recent events the past few days.

You begin to reach the outskirts of the final leg of the returned sunken rampart and you can see the sacred pyre burning close Just as the day begins to light and you realize it's dawn.

You've pushed through the entirety of the night.

The local foliage begins to grow denser and the forest begins to rise to consume this portion beyond the water's edge.

As you step away from the ashen seas and the marsh that claims the majority of this valley, you step into a thick wooded wooded region.

And now you have Vokoru in sight as slowly

the day begins to brighten.

I'm tired.

I scoop you up.

The rain begins to subside, and you can now see the city itself.

Familiar to some who have been before, but for some of you a first time

taking it in.

Vokoru is a multi-tiered city built into one of the grand watchtowers that was once here on the perimeter wall of Amber Reach.

It is a vertical city built of multiple layers and staircases that rise up, and all manner of homesteads are built onto these platforms and around this massive watchtower and along the top of the wall that extends out from it.

And at the very peak of it is where its sacred pyre burns bright,

like a high torch amongst the shadow.

You see dozens, hundreds of people across the multiple layers running about their business.

You begin to get somewhat close, and you can hear the rivers moving by.

A lot of the water that traverses out from the valley and spills into the ashen seas kind of comes through.

You can see small docks built.

There are boats lashed in chains to the side.

And a few folks that have gathered baskets and what look to be bow and arrow over a shoulder, either out in a hunt

or checking the perimeter

I your approach and the first one that sees you

runs off towards the city they don't like people

it's uh you you you two have been here before right they don't like people in the city they're very

they don't open the doors for anybody so

How did you guys get in the last time you were here?

Do

Was there a secret tunnel hole or was it by the front door?

It was more off

on the north side of the city when we came in.

We don't want to go all the way around there.

So we're like at the gates?

We're approaching.

Approaching the gates.

You can hear the distant sound of voices.

Shouting, giving orders to each side.

It's a bustle that is welcome, given the challenge of the past past 24 hours practically of travel.

I would say 18 hours for some of you.

I'm going to like just kind of pull up my

hood and kind of spruce up my vestments a little bit.

Try and look presentable.

About five minutes since that person darted off and have passed, and you've seen other people darting towards the outer side of Bokoru's

reinforced exterior gate,

and you watch as

dozens of soldiers begin to line across the top of the wall rampart that looks down the one part that you can easily see at the base of the rising spire city

two dozen

three dozen and they all line up shoulder to shoulder as you begin to break past the tree line into an open 150 foot break in the forest to the base of the rampart wall in the city itself.

And as you kind of break the tree line,

you hear four or five voices in chorus go, stop, stop, stop.

And you watch as each one of those folk on the rampart

knock arrows and point them in your direction.

We come.

in peace.

We hail from desperate luck.

I am Pyrekeeper Brixton.

Our settlement is in grave need of aid.

We have lost our sacred flame.

Please,

may we speak to your leaders?

The barons.

We need to speak to the barons.

Thank you.

Make a presence action roll for me, please.

This is not my strongest.

I'm gonna spend a hope to

help her by reminding her the barons' names are Trevis and Lotho

And

just some other quick details about the city that she can use.

We seek Trevis and Lotho.

We are friends.

And then...

Hmm.

Hmm.

Can I...

Can I

use...

Sorry.

I'm already helping you.

Can I use my order-borne value?

You are, but I need this to...

You know what?

No, I'll wait.

I'll wait.

Okay.

Oh, you're gonna roll for me.

You can do it.

You can do it.

Doesn't matter me.

Cocked.

Okay.

This is good.

This is good.

16, 17, 18, minus 1.

So 17 with hope.

17 with hope.

Take that hope.

There's a bit of discussion.

And you watch as amongst the ranks, kind of brushing past them,

a ragged-looking male elf,

dark red hair with like two streaks of gray that comb through them.

See, one ear is kind of torn off on one side, just the other pointed ear kind of peeking through.

Scars across his chin.

He has a spear at one side and a golden tarnished breastplate, as well as a rough brown cloak that looks muddied and dirty.

And he steps forward with intention towards you.

You hear from Despalok, you say?

Yes.

And you've lost your pyre.

Yes.

How did this occur?

We tried to save her.

But it was too late.

Unfortunately, she turned and

in the chaos

completely decimated the rest of the pyre keepers and extinguished the flame.

They've taken two steps back and raised a hand, and you watch as all the bows and arrows kind of tense back.

We are not infected.

Please, we have been

traveling tirelessly through the night.

We are assurances do we have that you are not also infected?

It would have shown up already

turns and looks at you,

and the eyes go wide.

You bring

a cursed vessel to our city.

She's not cursed.

I am not cursed.

She is a relic of the old one.

Do not listen to her.

Close your ears.

And you watch as the soldiers kind of like, like the ones that had the arrows not, kind of loosen them and kind of make cloth and wrap it around their head.

They did tell us that you guys should be shifty.

We forgot about that.

I do have because

I am high-blooded.

Did you want to shut the bed some more?

I have advantage on roles

to consort with nobles, negotiate prices, or leverage our reputation to get what we want.

All right.

So, what do you say in your defense, as the entirety of this armed force seems to be shocked as you kind of step from the trees with the rest of your troop as she's speaking, and all react in a fearful and defensive manner?

Please,

our

home will cease to exist if you do not help us today.

We are not infected.

None of us are here to hurt you.

We just seek aid, please.

We know that the barons of Volkoro

value and covet the relics of the olden days.

We have an offering, if you will hear us out.

What are we offering?

Go ahead and roll your presence roll with advantage.

Okay.

I tilt my mouth to Adelia who's over my shoulder and just say, I don't know what's going on, but it's exciting.

I hold that violet and not.

Alright, red roll.

Okay, that's 15

with fear.

Okay.

With advantage?

Oh, I didn't do advantage.

I didn't do advantage.

Wait, advantage is with

a d6.

Just add a d6 to what you roll.

That's right, that's right.

I know.

Okay.

I know.

One.

One.

Sixteen.

Sixteen.

Sixteen.

Okay.

Um.

You hear

a crack of thunder in the northwestern direction from a heavier storm that seems to threaten the deeper valley.

As people kind of turn their head,

some of them kind of look at each other.

It's an omen.

It's an omen, don't trust her.

And the front soldier kind of puts a hand up.

We We have had dealings

with your

crafted type before

and the madness spread to a number of our people.

So this will be to the Baron to decide.

Puts the hand down and the weapons lower slightly.

The tension level has decreased

and the immediacy of their intent to attack you has to seem to have been quelled for the moment.

But he turns and heads back to the rest of the armed soldiers and defenders of Bokoru.

A brief quiet moment passes as you begin to make eye contact in the silence with many of these soldiers, and you see people from all walks of life:

human, elf, dwarf, halfling, and all sorts of other strange,

human-like but shadow-touched folk.

Scarred, sallow, scared.

It's a look money if you recognize.

It's the desperation of the enduring.

And like anyone, they wish to protect what they love and what they care for.

And as you've known at the primitive walls of Desperate Lock, often that means

being careful with who you let past.

It's about then the soldier line breaks

and you see as

an older female elf

herself

beautiful for her age, a bit of like a neck wattle that hangs down below there, piercing green eyes

and her hair curls in

like a dark auburn color.

Her hood is back and she has a mantle beneath a tattered cloak that seems to be very well kept and likely of the old world.

As such, fine filigree is challenging to recreate with the tools and knowledge of the modern times.

You know this to be Baron

Lothoscharis.

We have been notified

that you seek

to join us for rest and trade

under the auspice of a fallen pyre

You walk with a vessel that claims to be free of the umbra's touch

Strange motley of figures indeed

Hi, yes, I've been here before.

I briefly saw you in the past, but

I've delivered and traded with your people before.

There's a fine gentleman who lives here named Minius Ty.

I'm sure he can vouch for me.

Minias Tai has been dead for three weeks.

Yes.

All right.

To erase that,

You can rest at the perimeter of this wall.

You will receive the protection of our guard.

But you're not permitted entry.

We will send traders to represent our interests to barter with you at the perimeter.

With all due respect, bartering is not our primary.

Primary objective here.

We need aid.

Aid and information.

And some food and water.

In food?

That's not the point.

I just said that that's not the primary point.

We need aid.

We're offering you aid.

Safety to rest.

Whatever you can spare to give, we

can give in turn.

But this community stands because

we do not let strangers

waltz into our door.

I guess we'll just take the take the win.

Well, here's

I could wait.

Outside, I am a statue.

It is what I do.

I can wait out here and

then.

I think we're all gonna wait.

We're all gonna wait.

I think that extends to all of us now.

It's okay.

waiting at the gate is better than waiting out in the wilds.

Right?

And you're right, you are a statue.

You could extend your wings, and that's like a little tent.

Yeah.

This troop is under our protection, but they are not to enter the city proper.

Should they take one step?

Kill on sight.

And the baron turns and returns to the inside.

The soldiers

lax a little bit and the intensity of the guard that was set upon the wall at your approach begins to scatter a bit, going about the rest of their patrols.

But still, a solid ten or so of them remain stationed, eyes locked on your troop.

There are a few other armed guards that stay kind of at the base gate and the open, or the door that would open into the interior and the stairs that lead into the many levels of the city

you are given the benefit of

Seeking information seeking goods seeking what you need for your journey through the trade representative that is to be sent

But you have not earned the trust to enter the city itself

Did you say there was foot traffic out here or it's just us?

There is occasional foot traffic hunters

others that head towards the docks.

They keep a wide berth from you all.

But, you know, a number of the people here still have to harvest from the land, whether that be hunter-gathering, fishing on the nearby rivers, or off the ocean shore.

Others seem to be going about whatever business they're doing day to day.

It is still a bustling community.

Do I see anyone wandering around?

It looks a little skeevy.

Game-recognized game, right?

Make an instinct roll for me.

Oh, it's a crit.

Alright.

So you get to clear stress and be in a hope on that one.

You,

you, kind of keeping an eye out

across the folks that are wandering around, the soldiers are all pretty much...

Proximity to the city and proximity to each other means that they're all pretty stoic and intent in their position.

You do see one fisherman who had two fishing rods over his shoulder and a basket, as well as a blade at his side, who was heavily cloaked and saw you guys as you first approached and kind of kept a wide berth, hasn't crept far away and instead kind of circled around and is just hiding in the nearby brush, kind of just watching whatever transpires here.

He doesn't, he looks like he believes he's unnoticed,

but he doesn't leave your vision.

Right.

I'll be back, love.

And I'm gonna wander out to that bush and I'm gonna start to take a leak next to it.

You see, he kind of gets lower and kind of tucks into the brush.

Hello, buddy boy.

Good spot you've got here.

I was gathering acorns.

Mind the splash.

No business, no problem.

Just gathering acorns.

I tried acorns, acorns.

I saw you had a bit of fish on you as well.

Well, trying to get fish, yeah.

Are you trying to get fish?

You don't have any fish on you.

Not early.

I was looking to buy.

I have a little coin for fish.

I have a lot of coin for friends.

You don't buy any chance

know of alternative means of entering the city besides the front door, do you?

I am slyborn and have advantage on roles to negotiate negotiate with criminals, detect lies, or find a safe place to hide.

Make a presence roll for me.

Oh, I got the that's uh really good.

That's twenty-one with hope.

Right, twenty-one with hope.

Take that hope.

Yeah.

He goes

all uh

all due respect.

But

I got contacts.

I could sneak out some special things if you need.

Probably get you a little snap powder if you

like.

And you know snap powder.

Snap powder is a...

It's a fine alternate medicinal substance for a quick fix, a

bit of a

bit of rapid grasp of attention and focus.

I'll take a taste of that.

Let me uh

let me get a few fish for trade and I'll uh see what I can sneak out.

Oh, yeah, would you do me a favor?

Yeah, in addition to the powder, um,

if you have access to any toys,

literally toys

takes him a second to grasp.

Okay.

Okay.

I'm a big fan of ball and cup, but any will do.

Ball and cup.

What a classic.

I just got the DLC for that.

It's just a little bit of a bad thing.

Slowly withdraws out of the bush,

stands up about 10 feet away with

the fishing rod over his shoulder

and just

walks back towards the nearby river, but gives you a wink over the shoulder as he does so.

And I shake it and put it away.

As he returns, the guard watching, you all can take a short rest here while you wait for them to send their trade representative.

And we're going to take a short rest here as we take a quick break.

We'll be back here in a few minutes to pick up from here.

See you in a second.

That's a wrap for part one of this podcast episode.

Part two will land here the Tuesday after this episode at 5 a.m.

Pacific, and we'll pick up this story right where we left left off.

Until next time, keep the umbra at bay, and we'll be back for more of this adventure before you know it.

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