Knives and Thorns | Critical Role | Campaign 4, Episode 6 Part 1

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Speaker 1 Why hello there! I'm Brennan Lee Mulligan and welcome to campaign four of Critical Roll.

Speaker 1 Thank you for joining us on this journey as we explore Araman, a world of fractured kingdoms, tumultuous rebellion, and sorcery that rises from the graveyard of the gods.

Speaker 1 You're listening to part one of this adventure, with part two arriving this upcoming Tuesday.

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Speaker 1 Start your seven-day free trial today at beacon.tv. Now, without further ado, let's begin this episode of Critical Roll.

Speaker 1 Ashley,

Speaker 1 what was it like outside when Valis was at her happiest?

Speaker 1 there was a lot of light, a lot of sun.

Speaker 1 Valis

Speaker 1 was always outside,

Speaker 1 sunning,

Speaker 1 dancing,

Speaker 1 not a care in the world,

Speaker 1 Freer and lighter than we've seen her.

Speaker 1 The hope of youth. And she hasn't felt the

Speaker 1 loss.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 she just feels lighter and freer.

Speaker 1 Something as light as a ribbon. made of pure silk.
White and red and gold and blue, twining and twining and twining in a dance.

Speaker 1 A massive carved moss-covered pole as your sister Maywin looks at you and goes, one, two, three, one, two, three, under and over and under and over, braiding and braiding and braiding as you dance in this glade, moss under your bare feet.

Speaker 1 And suddenly,

Speaker 1 a small globe of light as your brother

Speaker 1 Arthas,

Speaker 1 bam, just clothesline into your sister, tumbling over her as he catches something thrown from the woodline. And she goes, You Claude, you oath!

Speaker 1 We had the dances tomorrow. The spring ritual is tomorrow.
He catches and says, I want, I want your brother.

Speaker 1 You see, he has golden and green skin that merges up almost into what would look like this sort of bright red hair.

Speaker 1 Your sister is sort of lavender and then bright spring yellow, but you see her face flushes with red as she looks at him and says, Keep your game to the woods where it belongs.

Speaker 1 You see a number of elven youths from the woodline go, sorry, sorry, come on.

Speaker 1 You see, they say, You want to come play with us?

Speaker 2 Yes, I do.

Speaker 1 But I can't. Your brother looks down and says, You could, you know.

Speaker 1 You know the dance well enough,

Speaker 1 Maven.

Speaker 1 Don't Please, just for a little bit.

Speaker 2 She looks at you. I know all of the moves.
I know everything I'm supposed to do.

Speaker 1 Please.

Speaker 1 She looks at you.

Speaker 1 Three, two, one. Grabs the ball from your brother and says, go! Go along!

Speaker 1 Book it!

Speaker 2 Take off, bare feet,

Speaker 2 just so used to running outside, stepping on rocks, just light as air.

Speaker 1 You see that where you run, you and your sister leaving from this ceremony of Salandry, your mother, the goddess of life,

Speaker 1 you wonder if your goddess would be cross at you for abandoning this ritual.

Speaker 1 But looking behind you in your footsteps,

Speaker 1 flowers bloom wherever your feet walk.

Speaker 1 You at the end of play sweat across your brow.

Speaker 1 You see these young elven youths, their hair and skin red and gold and violet and green and purple and every color floral like a forest or a garden in bloom and you look out and see your mother smiling at you as you collapse she brings a silver platter of fruit off in the distance you hear the voice of your father she looks at you your brother

Speaker 1 I'm so tired. And you see that she puts this food in front of you.
Oh,

Speaker 1 this looks delicious.

Speaker 1 Ever ready? You need your energy for tomorrow, so eat up.

Speaker 2 I just pile in just a mess, just taking in the food.

Speaker 1 Juice running down your chin. She looks at you and says...

Speaker 1 touches her temples and you see her eyes go white for a moment

Speaker 1 she smiles

Speaker 1 You're very young,

Speaker 1 but I should probably teach you

Speaker 1 how to remember.

Speaker 1 What will I need to remember for her? She says, I myself am 600 years of age.

Speaker 1 And when a moment is perfect,

Speaker 1 I just like to remember it. And you see, looking at her three children, she smiles, her eyes go white again as she remembers this moment.
With no sleep, it's so important

Speaker 1 to remember.

Speaker 1 And what I would like,

Speaker 1 Velas,

Speaker 1 how many times in your nightly trances have you tried to remember that moment?

Speaker 1 Every single night.

Speaker 1 In your trance,

Speaker 1 you know the threat

Speaker 1 over centuries,

Speaker 1 you can lose moments like that.

Speaker 1 Too many years.

Speaker 1 An arrow flying from a bow must be kept straight if its flight is to last for centuries.

Speaker 1 You can't forget who you are.

Speaker 1 And as you look

Speaker 1 across this

Speaker 1 small, humble room in this inn in the Duval Mar Pass

Speaker 1 You see a shape across from you, staring into the dark.

Speaker 1 Octas.

Speaker 1 Everyone else has gone to bed.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 1 I am.

Speaker 1 I'm not really tired, though.

Speaker 1 I haven't been in a while.

Speaker 1 You can bring yourself back from death. It's extraordinary.

Speaker 1 But you cannot make yourself fall asleep.

Speaker 1 Hamen.

Speaker 1 Do I see that Valis is awake? You do. Hum.

Speaker 1 Sorry if I'm keeping you up.

Speaker 1 No, I.

Speaker 1 It's nice to have company

Speaker 1 I just

Speaker 1 you stopped sleeping

Speaker 1 I I I I I guess I um

Speaker 1 it's

Speaker 1 I just haven't been tired

Speaker 1 or

Speaker 1 I'm always tired

Speaker 1 I don't know which one

Speaker 1 I've always thought

Speaker 1 sleep was a waste of time anyway.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I can.

Speaker 1 I mean,

Speaker 1 I can see how that would

Speaker 1 do you not

Speaker 1 sleep

Speaker 1 not really.

Speaker 1 I sort of

Speaker 1 go elsewhere. Yeah.
I dream. I think about

Speaker 1 time past. Try to remember.

Speaker 1 Okay, that's um

Speaker 1 hopeful, I guess. Are you okay?

Speaker 1 I don't know.

Speaker 1 Nearby, Julian, Tysha, and Aranessa slumber.

Speaker 1 You cannot.

Speaker 1 You don't know if you're okay.

Speaker 1 But at least there's somebody else here

Speaker 1 that cannot rest.

Speaker 1 And we'll we'll return to other adventures in the land of Ariman on tonight's episode of Critical Roll.

Speaker 1 Hello, and thank you for joining us for tonight's Critical Roll Announcement Playhouse.

Speaker 1 Hey guys, Christmas has begun.

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Speaker 1 Thank you, Laura.

Speaker 1 And in case you weren't already aware, the first three episodes of the Mighty Nine premiere on November 19th on Prime Video. That's right.
That's so cute.

Speaker 1 So freaking excited for you all to check this out.

Speaker 1 We're celebrating with a live launch party on Beacon, Twitch, and YouTube at 7 p.m. Pacific, and you're invited.
So please jump on the Discord to chat with us all. next week.

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Speaker 1 There will be giveaways, special themed menus, and more. So please, go to draftouse.com for all the details.
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Speaker 1 We are thrilled to announce our newest project with Penguin Random House, the Mighty Nine Stories Untold, an anthology that includes nine stories that spotlight nine characters whose lives were changed by the Mighty Nine,

Speaker 1 but whose stories have not yet been told.

Speaker 1 This special collection features a foreword written by me and stories by nine contributors. Thank you,

Speaker 1 including Rin Schapecco, Mike Chen, and more. Cover designs by Adrian Bara Lugo.

Speaker 1 And it's releasing in hardcover, e-book, and audiobook on June 23rd. And you can pre-order your copy and get more information at criticalrolebooks.com.

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Speaker 1 Thank you, Allison.

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Speaker 1 But anyway, that concludes our announcements for this. So we're done with the Playhouse.
Back to you.

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Speaker 1 Welcome back to Critical Roll, Campaign 4, here at the Soldier's Table.

Speaker 1 Our soldiers happened to spend last episode finding not a fight, but friendship with

Speaker 1 several wonderful inhabitants of the Kavrosi Mountains north of Dolmakyar, where you headed out. We met the scoundrel Abelang Howell,

Speaker 1 a orcish, dwarfish

Speaker 1 smuggler who was hanging up in a gibbet outside the Black Heron Tavern, not too far outside of town.

Speaker 1 With his, you know, of high spirits, but more to the point of higher altitude, hanging in that cage.

Speaker 1 He had to get the hell out of there, and you guys were happy to help him, both to get someone who might talk out of your hair and also to get some information

Speaker 1 about the fact that Casimir Gavondale, the man responsible for the death of Theazi Fang,

Speaker 1 is making his way north with Taconis guards. It seems that Casimir's betrayal

Speaker 1 may in fact have bought him a life of unimaginable luxury. No good deed goes unpunished, and no betrayal goes unrewarded.

Speaker 1 Making your way instead where you thought it more likely that Sid would have traveled, knowing your brother, you took a risk heading into the Dahopshini wood.

Speaker 1 Given that you couldn't exactly know for sure where his tracks were, you went to the one place that due to Cadogan's skills in the forest, you could move faster than anybody pursuing you.

Speaker 1 Which you might think you're the caboose in this train of Casimir chasing Sid and you guys chasing Casimir, but we all know who's abandoned the Sundered Houses recently, and we all know that doing so probably does not come without some consequences.

Speaker 1 However, on a Nat 20, our friend Thimble was able to discover a Nixie hidden in a spring, Brookmeadow, who asked if you were in grave danger and then said,

Speaker 1 hey,

Speaker 1 are you headed for Hawthorne's Glade? Brookmeadow, being very cautious about your friends, but maybe not so cautious about, you know, doing her job of protecting.

Speaker 1 It's a hard gig. You're protecting Hawthorne's Glade, but you're also trying to find fairies that need Hawthorne's Glade.
That's a hard call to make. Not going to get that right 100% of the time.

Speaker 1 So

Speaker 1 you guys headed deeper into Dehopshani

Speaker 1 and made the call to not risk being caught flat-footed in the forest at night. And as Cadogan heard in his watch the strange moans of the creatures off in the forest, you probably made the right call.

Speaker 1 You also met Olbed Morn,

Speaker 1 a buddy, a gnomish astronomer who was happy to open his gates to you, was a friend of Abelang House, House, who directed you off in that way, who not only kept his telescope pointed skyward, working on behalf of the old path, the trees of the old path to kind of keep tabs on the storm rack, that eternal storm.

Speaker 1 We say eternal. It's been 70 years.
Maybe after 100 it'll go away. Does that feel like it'll happen?

Speaker 1 Alban Morn doesn't think so. Albin Morn thinks it's getting worse.

Speaker 1 But he also is happy to make life a little easier for himself by swinging that telescope around to keep an eye on who's making their way up and down the Kingsway from Timani, where he acknowledged that, yes, he had seen some Crowkeeper wagons moving under the banner of House Taconis up north, and also happened to spy a royal caravan of the King of Timone with three red hounds on a white field headed south along the road towards either the Dvalmar Pass or Dolmakyar.

Speaker 1 After that little bit of information gathering, he was happy to treat you to some porridge and keep you safe for the night

Speaker 1 with his spider climbing goat ready to sound the alarm at any moment and connected

Speaker 1 was happy to work that evening collecting some of his daughter's toys, his daughter's sort of tin soldiers, and was busy working on a sword for Thimble

Speaker 1 and connected with Teor during his watch about the fact that the banner outside of his home, much threadworn over 12 years of

Speaker 1 standing watch over the forest, says Innomish, welcome home.

Speaker 1 And he's tended to it for a long, long time.

Speaker 1 Morning has arrived.

Speaker 1 And you guys

Speaker 1 have

Speaker 1 a little bit more hope than you had heading heading out from Dolmakyar that at least you're on the right trail.

Speaker 1 You know that Sid is at least made it part of the way through the forest, headed north, and you know that it's also good that he's not going to get caught in the immediate future by Casimir.

Speaker 1 But you also know that they're headed to the same location and that Casimir's got the road at his advantage getting through there. You don't know how fast Sid can move on his own through the forest.

Speaker 1 Perhaps he's taking it thoughtfully and carefully, but he certainly didn't find Elbid, and you don't know what you would have done if you hadn't.

Speaker 1 Danger still looms over this forest.

Speaker 1 But it's morning and some bowls of the still

Speaker 1 from the night before, this little cauldron of porridge is heated up.

Speaker 1 This time you see the same sort of porridge is reheated, but with some different dried fruits and nuts sort of added into it to you know freshen the the taste profile from what you had the night before.

Speaker 1 And Olbud says, Morning, morning, one null. Uh Nicholas, for you.
That's right, yes. Or sorry, Wickander.
Wick, yes, yes, is what I prefer to go by. Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Thank you for this.

Speaker 1 It's the same, it's the same again, is it, then?

Speaker 1 Yes, normally one s cauldron of this will do me for the week.

Speaker 1 Cooking for one, it's like you do when you're sort of a hermit, which is never nice to say out loud, but it is what I am.

Speaker 1 Ah.

Speaker 1 Good morning. Good morning.

Speaker 1 I noticed you sitting on the chest of your friend. Are you?

Speaker 1 Very disconcerting.

Speaker 2 It's just something I like to do.

Speaker 2 I don't really want to get into it. It's just like a demon thing.

Speaker 1 Good morning. I didn't introduce myself.

Speaker 2 My name's Tyranny, by the way.

Speaker 1 Thank you for having us.

Speaker 2 And I want to hear more about your wife. I want to know actually what her favorite stuff was.

Speaker 1 Her favorite

Speaker 1 stuff is an object.

Speaker 2 Like anything? Well, no, I don't know. Anything that just like reminds you of her? Anything that she liked? What was, you know, what was she into?

Speaker 1 Go ahead and give me a persuasion check. Oh.

Speaker 1 And I would like you to.

Speaker 2 It's a little early in the morning to bring up trauma, I guess. You can

Speaker 2 ask somebody about their dead wife.

Speaker 1 I would like you to. I'd like you to roll this with disadvantage, if that's okay.
It's too early for that shit. It is too early.
Sorry.

Speaker 1 12 with. That all good girls are

Speaker 2 with 12 plus 7 is my age.

Speaker 1 19.

Speaker 1 You see, he looks and says. Good person.
Looks good.

Speaker 1 Her favorite belongings. Well,

Speaker 1 the house is filled with them,

Speaker 1 but

Speaker 1 only because I've just been using it. And you see that he

Speaker 1 holds up a sort of

Speaker 1 polished ivory with a little bit of like lapis lazuli in it. It looks like a

Speaker 1 nice kitchen knife handle. The knife is small, serrated,

Speaker 1 good good for carving through these like dried fruits to get them into bite-sized chunks.

Speaker 1 You see, this guy's got a lot of, as a father, has a lot of experience carving things into small bite-sized chunks.

Speaker 1 And he says,

Speaker 1 Jasavi was born into a family of some

Speaker 1 heritage from from the old

Speaker 1 city of the stars. She uh

Speaker 1 this knife was one of the few belongings that made it

Speaker 1 before the fall of

Speaker 1 the

Speaker 1 goddess of magic herself.

Speaker 1 But this was one of her favorite belongings, one of the few treasured things that made it.

Speaker 1 And you see that he puts it down and says,

Speaker 1 It's very funny.

Speaker 1 Little

Speaker 1 objects and things that travel with you a long way. It's

Speaker 1 I've talked with some spirits and mystics in my life who I think

Speaker 1 waved away the material

Speaker 1 that that all of these things of the material world are somehow

Speaker 1 not as important as that in us which is eternal.

Speaker 1 But I love this little knife.

Speaker 1 I think it's wonderful.

Speaker 1 I've always felt very strong.

Speaker 1 It looks quite wonderful. I don't know that we need to bring up his.

Speaker 2 It's beautiful. I know.
I just love to hear about it. I'm sorry I made you sad.
Thank you for sharing. I just.

Speaker 1 Thank you. Of course, of course.

Speaker 1 Absolutely.

Speaker 1 Well.

Speaker 2 Are you sad now?

Speaker 2 Did I make you sad by asking that?

Speaker 1 Yes.

Speaker 1 I'm sorry. That's all right.

Speaker 1 Ah, I'm going to go outside. Thank you for the porridge.
Yes.

Speaker 1 I'm going to go do an outside chore.

Speaker 1 He walks away. Give me a perception check with Advantage if you'd be so kind.
Oh, no. Jeez.
Perception?

Speaker 1 With Advantage, all right, all right.

Speaker 1 10

Speaker 1 on that perception check, on a 10 perception check,

Speaker 1 I think that you gaze down at that knife and just see that the handle of that knife looks gorgeous. That knife looks...

Speaker 1 It's just a stunning little artifact.

Speaker 1 What are you looking at? I was just looking at the knife.

Speaker 2 It's just, it's got this like aura to it.

Speaker 1 You know what I mean?

Speaker 2 Like, you can tell it's been imbued with like...

Speaker 1 It's just got like so much power in it. It's just a

Speaker 1 knife. No, it's not just.
It was his wife's favorite possession. Sure, sure.
It's important. We have

Speaker 1 a bigger thing.

Speaker 1 I'm afraid of a fly in front of her face. What are you doing? I don't know.

Speaker 2 I just. Do you see this knife?

Speaker 1 It's...

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 2 I'm like transfixed by it. I don't.

Speaker 1 What? What?

Speaker 2 Why did you ask him about his wife?

Speaker 1 First thing in the morning?

Speaker 2 Is it something you do? I haven't met a lot of demons. Is it something you do?

Speaker 1 I don't know. Do you make people sad? I don't know.
I am.

Speaker 2 I'm just interested. I was interested in hearing about his wife, and now I'm just looking at the knife.
And I...

Speaker 1 Don't take the fucking knife!

Speaker 2 It's all he has!

Speaker 1 You see, that

Speaker 1 as Albed walks back into the room, he turns around and says, well,

Speaker 1 the sun is coming up, and I believe that there are some

Speaker 1 things in order. Thimbrel, if I could borrow you upstairs for a moment,

Speaker 2 As I fly away.

Speaker 1 I'm breathing cute.

Speaker 2 I did that this morning too. Thank you very much.

Speaker 1 He takes you up to the little observatory area where he has a workbench, and you can see that he's been working for a long portion of the night

Speaker 1 and presents one of the Tin soldiers toy swords to you. You see, most of what he's been doing is actually making a small leather scabbard for it and sharpening it.

Speaker 1 Obviously it was a toy, but as he's sharpened it, you notice that there are his workbench is very strange.

Speaker 1 There are, there's a tiny little ceramic white standing cup, almost like an egg cup that has tiny little diamonds, the kinds that you would like, they're almost like grains of sand, they're so small.

Speaker 1 A couple different ink pots with several different shades of like

Speaker 1 five different shades of purple and then five of indigo and five of violet all the way around. And he's gonna walk through the pots and just like pick up all the little things.

Speaker 1 Ah, he says, Yes, yes, these are the

Speaker 1 some of my accoutrements, the bric-a-brac of enchanter. But

Speaker 1 if you would be so kind, and you see that he presents the sword to you um and on these little fingers and it's in its scabbard for your size this is effectively like a great sword it's like

Speaker 1 it's like

Speaker 1 it's like a beast this would look you'd look like a barbarian with this thing on your back

Speaker 1 but it has the the the statistics of a scimitar right um okay okay um so you see that uh uh but he he hands it to you um

Speaker 1 and uh

Speaker 1 it is a

Speaker 1 as you take it,

Speaker 1 the blade is sharp, and you can tell that it's a strong, he's done something to reinforce the metal of it, but it still looks like toy metal in that it is

Speaker 1 way more reflective than steel. It's almost like it looks like it's made out of tinsel.
It's like very bright and glittery.

Speaker 1 Yes, both with the reflection and with

Speaker 1 the stabbing, yes, absolutely.

Speaker 1 You see, he says,

Speaker 1 I have...

Speaker 1 It is

Speaker 1 an enchanted weapon.

Speaker 1 How did you

Speaker 1 enchant it?

Speaker 1 Well, I enchanted it actually quite long ago

Speaker 1 for my daughter Sarabelle. It's her one of her

Speaker 1 warriors swords.

Speaker 1 Small enchant. It's not a powerful

Speaker 1 blade by any means.

Speaker 1 I told her when she was young, if she ever had

Speaker 1 haunts or dreams or nightmares or anything like that, that this sort of, she could keep it under her pillow and it would ward them away. And

Speaker 1 that she could also

Speaker 1 knight any of her little toys with it and they would

Speaker 1 rise to the challenge. And you see, he says, and

Speaker 1 I say much to my surprise in that many of my my enchantments don't tend to stick around very long, but this one stuck. I don't know why, maybe, because

Speaker 1 she believed in it

Speaker 1 so much.

Speaker 1 So,

Speaker 1 in point of fact,

Speaker 1 you see he takes the sword out and says,

Speaker 1 oh, here we are. And you see he takes a small little deer that is sort of like a little plank of wood that's painted.
And instead of its legs, it just has two wheels.

Speaker 1 It has four wheels, like two on the axles that can sort of move around. And you see, he says,

Speaker 1 I dub thee Sir Stagathy.

Speaker 1 Serve well. And you see that the toy

Speaker 1 scoots around on its wheels.

Speaker 1 And he says, Staggathy, go downstairs and make sure everyone's enjoying their porridge. And you see, this, all of you watch a toy stag plonk on wheels down the staircase at his command.

Speaker 1 Oh dear.

Speaker 1 Super divine spides.

Speaker 1 And he sheathes it back.

Speaker 1 In demonstrating this, I have ruined its ability to do that again today. But...

Speaker 2 So I can just bring stuff to life?

Speaker 1 No,

Speaker 1 exclusively toys.

Speaker 1 And it doesn't work.

Speaker 1 It doesn't work on anything, I'd say, much bigger than you, frankly.

Speaker 2 Still really, really cool.

Speaker 1 Of course.

Speaker 1 As I've said, I am not a great. I am not a loy.
I am not one of the great Smiths of this world, but this spell happened to stick. And for that, we can be very grateful.

Speaker 2 Thank you, Ovid. While they're upstairs, I'd like to pocket the knife.

Speaker 1 Hell yeah, give me

Speaker 1 what is happening? Give me you feed yourself with people's stuff.

Speaker 1 What is this?

Speaker 1 Do I or any of us see this? I'm going to be using your passive perception.

Speaker 2 30-20.

Speaker 1 Jesus. That beats all of your passive perceptions.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 1 Um,

Speaker 1 what we see here, uh, ta-da-ta, um,

Speaker 1 you,

Speaker 1 oh god, the handle of that knife feels so warm. There's something so special in this knife.
You can tell.

Speaker 1 Um

Speaker 1 uh

Speaker 1 and uh as you pocket it away, it vanishes. Uh

Speaker 1 as Ulbid comes down with Thimble, he says, Um

Speaker 1 I do have some, uh, for the travels you have ahead, uh, some other uh uh

Speaker 1 help here. I need to stay somewhat armed myself because I do live here alone, but

Speaker 1 if you'd like, I have some perishables that

Speaker 1 maybe won't last another few months. They're sort of at the verge of expiration, so it might be worth passing them on to you, seeing as you're headed into the thick of it.
Danger.

Speaker 1 Into the thick of it.

Speaker 1 Perishables like food.

Speaker 1 Oh, I'm happy to part with some rations for you as well, but I meant more in the object of defense.

Speaker 1 That would be very, very kind.

Speaker 1 You see, he gets a small thing. He opens up a beautiful wooden chest that has a series of painted eggs in it that are these beautiful, some geometrical, some floral,

Speaker 1 some around.

Speaker 1 You see that they have small holes in the top and bottom where the yolk can be blown out to create a hollow egg.

Speaker 1 And you see that

Speaker 1 as he hands them to you, he says, These are chanter's eggs. These three are about to go bad, and you are welcome to have them.

Speaker 1 This is a blue chanter's egg. What does a chanter's egg do? Well, it's an egg where the egg part has been replaced with a song.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 so,

Speaker 1 the blue one, if you and your friends would ever like to

Speaker 1 remain

Speaker 1 unseen,

Speaker 1 simply smash it on the ground. As you take this hollow egg, it rests in your hand, maybe about twice as heavy as a normal egg, even with nothing inside it.

Speaker 1 That's so cool.

Speaker 1 And it's this beautiful, it's beautiful geometric lines around this egg, like triangles and diamonds and rhombuses painted around it, all in different shades of blue.

Speaker 1 Yes, thank you so much. I'm sorry, is it magical?

Speaker 1 Yes,

Speaker 1 quite.

Speaker 1 But

Speaker 1 when I say perishable, I mean that the magic will wear off sooner rather than later.

Speaker 1 And so therefore it will... It is unlikely.
I've had them for over a year. I haven't used them yet.
I have many other traps and defenses. These are sort of a means of last resort.

Speaker 1 I was preparing to make more, and you might in the next month or so have more use of it than I.

Speaker 1 Thank you so much, sir. Of course.
These two as well. You see, he hands off a yellow chanter's egg that you see the lines are sort of curling around it, almost sort of like

Speaker 1 vine or wind. It's a much more like curving, stylized.
You see that they sort of the ends of the vines become like script or letters.

Speaker 1 And you see, he says,

Speaker 1 This one,

Speaker 1 smash it at your feet.

Speaker 1 You and everyone around you will become very sick.

Speaker 1 Oh,

Speaker 1 so who's taking that?

Speaker 1 I suppose I will take the sick egg.

Speaker 1 And he says, and this one. And he takes a beautiful, ornate, multicolored one.
All these different patterns.

Speaker 1 And you see that the patterns, there are lines of geometric shapes, but there are also lines of figures, different like humanoid figures, like holding hands, moving around. A great chanter's egg.

Speaker 1 If you throw this.

Speaker 1 I don't know what's going to happen.

Speaker 1 Absolutely.

Speaker 1 Mystery egg.

Speaker 1 But

Speaker 1 I can guarantee it will be helpful if what you need is for circumstances to change quickly.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 1 All right.

Speaker 1 Oh, I'm

Speaker 1 not one to be trusted with this.

Speaker 1 Tyranny, you should take it. As we always say, the honest path is the best.
Take nothing unoffered, but a gift is radiant. That's so true.

Speaker 1 Lord, how are you so fast with that shit?

Speaker 1 I think you wrote a real button. I don't have a bag.
You really did?

Speaker 1 You don't have a bag. I don't have a bag.
I'm going to hold these eggs for forever. I can hold for you.
I will remember the mystery rainbow eggs. I'll hold the eggs.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 Keep them safe.

Speaker 1 And Alban smiles and says,

Speaker 1 well,

Speaker 1 I'll leave you to finish your breakfast.

Speaker 1 I will be upstairs.

Speaker 1 Time to observe what Storm Rack has been doing throughout the night.

Speaker 1 But feel free to let yourself out and please, if you see Abelang again,

Speaker 1 give him all my rest.

Speaker 2 Hey, Albert, you got a pretty big garden outside. I do.

Speaker 2 It's in need of some tending.

Speaker 1 It's

Speaker 1 it was made to be tended by more people.

Speaker 1 Have you thought about

Speaker 2 a pixie clan?

Speaker 1 A pixie? What?

Speaker 2 You know, I mean, there's so many

Speaker 2 looking for a place to call their own, and

Speaker 2 I mean, my family, we tended the Golden Orchard. I mean, that was our whole thing, you know, we tended the garden.
So

Speaker 1 you could...

Speaker 2 you could have someone.

Speaker 2 They'd keep it safe and you'd keep them safe.

Speaker 2 If I see anyone looking for

Speaker 2 territory, I could send them your way.

Speaker 2 Well,

Speaker 1 the Royces are a house of great sorcerers.

Speaker 1 I'm a...

Speaker 1 I'm an old man whose biggest ally is a goat.

Speaker 1 If you find any pixies

Speaker 1 that are

Speaker 1 that

Speaker 1 have the humility to

Speaker 1 think to wish to

Speaker 1 aid an old fuddy-duddy like myself, then by all means you may

Speaker 1 miss.

Speaker 1 This is a great place.

Speaker 2 Don't sell yourself short.

Speaker 1 It gives my heart great comfort to know that there are many great places, such as this humble hovel.

Speaker 1 Take the offer. You could use the company.

Speaker 1 You see, he smiles and says,

Speaker 1 Well,

Speaker 1 if there are any,

Speaker 1 Madame Thimble, that pass your muster as someone much more well-travelled than I, then by all means, if they are a friend of yours, they are a friend of mine.

Speaker 1 He smiles and heads upstairs, leaving all of you to finish your breakfast.

Speaker 1 Tyranny.

Speaker 1 Can you please eat my porridge for me? I don't think I can.

Speaker 1 I can't eat the same meal twice.

Speaker 1 We should have gotten the truffles, actually.

Speaker 2 That would have been so good.

Speaker 1 Aren't you going to be hungry as we head out? Probably, yes, but I just can't eat the same thing twice. It's just...

Speaker 1 It's not very good.

Speaker 1 The same meal. Anyway, we'll find some stuff, right? There should be a lot of people.
Let's have a little congregation

Speaker 1 really quick to figure out what on earth we're doing.

Speaker 1 I mean,

Speaker 1 as soon as he mentions, like, talking and sitting in down and talking, Cadogan is already bored out of his fucking mind.

Speaker 1 He's just in the other side of the thing and he just starts like like doing like a morning stretching routine, like like work like waking up his body

Speaker 1 and just sort of moving around and he just goes, yeah,

Speaker 1 let's talk, let's talk.

Speaker 1 Not to put it too simply, but

Speaker 1 what are we doing?

Speaker 1 This is to serve as a a bit of a recalibration for us. Are

Speaker 1 things that are chasing us

Speaker 1 just in case we need to diverge at a moment's notice?

Speaker 2 All we know is what his family is doing, and that we are with you all now. And we appreciate your protecting us.
We think that we could help, but also we don't know who anybody is.

Speaker 2 We're looking for your brother.

Speaker 1 I think already this is going to serve. Well, we are not protecting you.
I am protecting him.

Speaker 1 Cadogan is

Speaker 1 on some other shit.

Speaker 1 I know next to nothing about what we're doing.

Speaker 1 Do you know Cadogan?

Speaker 1 Oh, it's

Speaker 1 gotten soft hands.

Speaker 1 Oh, my God.

Speaker 1 It was his character. That was in.
He is so deep.

Speaker 1 The RB is so deep. Why would

Speaker 1 He has quite a firm grip.

Speaker 1 He does.

Speaker 1 Cadogan served with me on the Torn Manor, along with Sid and Casimir. So we all have a knowledge of those that that we seek.

Speaker 1 I was there too. If Thimble was

Speaker 1 a soldier,

Speaker 1 closer to Theazi than any of us.

Speaker 1 You just seem

Speaker 1 small for a soldier, but

Speaker 1 I haven't met many.

Speaker 2 I have a new sword. I could show you what I can do.
Yes.

Speaker 1 Could you?

Speaker 1 I think we should. I think last time she said that, she wanted to cut someone's balls off so we might have to do it.
I can't do it now. I can tell you.
I know, but don't demonstration. So

Speaker 2 we're trying to find your brother. Yes.
And

Speaker 2 so you have a little background about us because we're sharing information.

Speaker 2 There is a bit of heat on Wick here.

Speaker 1 Thank you so much for getting me out of the city. And

Speaker 2 disobeyed. He disobeyed his family by

Speaker 2 going against the orders to execute Theazi, as you know.

Speaker 2 And now has done that for a second time with you.

Speaker 2 And we don't know what his family is going to do. I work for him.

Speaker 1 I'm under a contract.

Speaker 2 I would love, by the way, a contract that if I don't

Speaker 2 fulfill, I get yanked back to the pit. And I don't want to do that.

Speaker 1 The pit.

Speaker 2 The pit is where I come from.

Speaker 2 Sticks. Would love to be actually out here with you guys.

Speaker 2 We don't know what your family is going to do once this little ruse that we have started up of us being out on the out on the streets and

Speaker 2 punishing people. I don't know.
I made up a lie.

Speaker 1 I feel safer now that we're here. I could stay here while you go off and

Speaker 1 that's a good question. What's your stake in this? I understand why.
You know, you would do what you're doing, but why'd you betray your family?

Speaker 1 I mean, keep it brief. Sure, sure, sure.

Speaker 1 The TLDR is.

Speaker 1 They were sort of.

Speaker 1 TLDR was an ancient Elden disease.

Speaker 1 I am TLDR. TLDR, spelled just as it sounds.
Gave the shortest speeches of any.

Speaker 1 We're going to fight! Let's go!

Speaker 1 I don't know what my family's

Speaker 1 up to, but there seems to be some rot among the Hale of Ars. Yeah, you think?

Speaker 1 Yes, and they were responsible for Theazi's demise, but but possibly working with this um Casimir person or instructing him or in league with him? I don't know, but I'd like to find out where the rot

Speaker 1 I guess how far the rot spreads in my family.

Speaker 1 The Candescent Creed, it's meant goodness and right for years, but

Speaker 1 I feel like

Speaker 1 maybe they're not the greatest of people, and

Speaker 1 maybe they could be salvaged. Maybe they could be shown the the wrongness of their ways, and and I could correct things, and and

Speaker 1 um

Speaker 2 maybe they'll all rot.

Speaker 2 Did you say the Halivars were working with the Tacones?

Speaker 1 I don't I don't know. I don't know who they were working with, but it it appears that

Speaker 1 my grandmother had some hand in Thiazi's assassination and um

Speaker 1 well I don't know to whom she gave the orders or

Speaker 1 I need to know more and that's that's partially why I'm traveling with you

Speaker 1 um but also

Speaker 1 I feel like there's good to be done out there.

Speaker 1 If we can find the people who did this wrong to your friends and

Speaker 1 Maybe...

Speaker 1 Maybe that will put us on the path to

Speaker 1 redemption.

Speaker 1 Do you have

Speaker 1 siblings? Are there more children besides you? I do. I have two.
Yes, two siblings. An older sister who...

Speaker 1 Well, she doesn't like me very much.

Speaker 1 And a younger brother who...

Speaker 1 I'm worried about. He hasn't been sort of

Speaker 1 brought into the fold yet and

Speaker 1 we saw this horrible monster creature that seems to be

Speaker 1 maybe the source of my power and um what kind of monster

Speaker 1 you know more about monster

Speaker 1 yeah an angel chained up in the gd basement

Speaker 1 and

Speaker 2 uh i am just want to say wick i'm really proud of you for saying that because

Speaker 1 I think

Speaker 2 my guy here has

Speaker 2 learned some things about his family that he is very much still processing.

Speaker 1 And you have a change of angels.

Speaker 1 His family.

Speaker 2 This was something that was brand new. In fact, pretty immediately, right before we met you, we learned this.

Speaker 2 And so everything, there's a lot of moving parts in terms of next steps, but what is for sure is, is, yes, he has siblings, aka backups.

Speaker 2 And

Speaker 2 Wake is set to be the next Scion. So he still technically has some sway

Speaker 2 in and out the world. And we would like to keep it that way so that we don't die and I don't get yanked back to the pit before I get a chance to figure out what...
Oh, you're not a scion anymore.

Speaker 1 Because you're on the run. Because you betrayed him? No, he's not on the run.
He's... I don't know.
I don't know anymore. You stuck your neck out.

Speaker 2 I don't know if you're on the run.

Speaker 1 I'm on the run, yes.

Speaker 1 But I don't know if they're actually chasing me. Maybe they maybe they think I'm just uh on on holiday.
Where did they think you were going?

Speaker 2 When you left? What what did you do? What was the last thing you were supposed to do?

Speaker 1 I was supposed to go

Speaker 1 make sure the tail was dead. And you said that your story is that you're out punishing people on the road.
You.

Speaker 2 I guess. That's what that's what we told

Speaker 2 the guy up in the the gibbet. Uh I think the only way that our story clears is if

Speaker 2 you guys are generous enough to say that you are working with the Cantessan Creed as we go out and about and convert people and have

Speaker 2 why would you convert people to your family they have an angel chained up in the basement nobody knows that but me I think yeah but

Speaker 1 what I don't understand this is a this is a fair point though look they are horrible people but the ability to disguise ourselves amongst one of the most powerful families around here could prove advantageous if your cover is not blown.

Speaker 2 We just need to find out some time before Wick decides what he wants to do about his family.

Speaker 2 I don't really have a dog in this fight. I've got a limited time here unless I figure out some things about myself.

Speaker 2 I

Speaker 2 will do whatever my contract is to him. I'll do whatever he wants.

Speaker 2 But it would be so great to not have him executed immediately.

Speaker 2 And also, he has money and he has sway. So I think that we maybe can help

Speaker 2 if we get our story straight and don't act like complete fucking morons.

Speaker 1 I don't like the language.

Speaker 2 I know, sorry, you don't like swearing.

Speaker 1 But everything else she said was fine. I am also not opposed to this, but Wick,

Speaker 1 if your family decides they don't need you because you have betrayed them and because you have siblings, and if we are confronted with a decision in which you have to decide if it's your family or your

Speaker 1 idealism,

Speaker 1 are you prepared to make that decision? Oh, definitely not.

Speaker 1 I, um,

Speaker 1 yeah, that seems really hard.

Speaker 1 Um,

Speaker 1 but I, um,

Speaker 1 I'd like to think that I could try.

Speaker 1 Um

Speaker 1 and if you need me to play a part,

Speaker 1 Hal, do you know Hal? You know Hal, you all know Hal. He was giving me um elocution lessons and also

Speaker 1 he was teaching me about

Speaker 1 acting a little bit. Okay.

Speaker 1 And I'd love to sort of play the part of whatever you need me to be.

Speaker 1 So you are going to submerge yourself in this um

Speaker 1 brutalist, candescent creed role. If you need me to, yes, I will.

Speaker 1 I

Speaker 1 find acting just so interesting. I mean, you get to lie, but it's it's okay, you know?

Speaker 1 Right.

Speaker 1 I don't like the way you're smiling. I don't dare.
What if you're doing it now?

Speaker 1 Acting? Yeah.

Speaker 1 Oh, you think that maybe I'm

Speaker 1 deceiving you with my cunning wit and silver tongue? Oh my god.

Speaker 1 My daughter.

Speaker 1 Um,

Speaker 1 Cadogan and I

Speaker 1 have a score to settle and I need to find my brother.

Speaker 1 Theazi's murder is something I think we all

Speaker 1 are charged with uncovering. But

Speaker 1 your family concerns me, and I am forever grateful that you put your necks out to save mine.

Speaker 1 I just didn't want you to slip my throat in the night hey i think it's pretty brave that you told your family to off

Speaker 1 i don't

Speaker 1 yeah you did in so many words he did

Speaker 2 i just sort of left in the dead of night without telling anyone but no but you you showed up at the azi's funeral which they hated they hated that you got a little slap on the wrist from mama and

Speaker 2 and then also us going and saving Teor. I mean,

Speaker 2 it's gonna take a minute. There's a whole crisis of faith thing happening here, but we're here now and we don't want anybody else to get killed, right?

Speaker 1 That's no all on the same page about that. No, no, no one else gets killed.
No, no one and if we can if we can manage it, I would prefer if no one gets harmed in any way.

Speaker 1 Can we is that our

Speaker 2 no Casimir's gonna die?

Speaker 1 I'm gonna kill whoever the fuck I want. Okay.
Well we could just arrest arrest Casimir and

Speaker 1 turn him into

Speaker 1 also we're going to have to put our trust in those that

Speaker 1 in the wilds is what Katekin does.

Speaker 1 And if we find ourselves against your family or the Candescent Creed, we will rely on you for cues. Or everyone dies.
Or your family dies.

Speaker 1 Oh, and to be completely clear, every minute we waste talking right here is just leagues that our quarry gets from us. So oh, we should.

Speaker 1 Um, but wait, um, I'll go figure it out first, sure.

Speaker 1 Young little one, I just turned it.

Speaker 2 I think she's also a normal. I think she's an adult, too.

Speaker 1 I think she's so much older than you. Oh, is that uh uh

Speaker 1 are you you were The Azi's f friend

Speaker 1 person

Speaker 1 and

Speaker 1 are you just in this for revenge then?

Speaker 1 Yeah,

Speaker 1 I don't um

Speaker 1 I don't have anywhere else to go really

Speaker 1 not since

Speaker 1 no so um

Speaker 1 Yeah, a minute for revenge

Speaker 1 what happens after you

Speaker 1 achieved your revenge?

Speaker 1 Worry too much. Why are we thinking that far ahead? After we'll not even do the first part of that, I mean, revenge is sort of fueled by darkness and shadow.
Oh, is it super powerful, though?

Speaker 1 It can really like send you straight to your what you're looking for.

Speaker 2 Let's save the proselytizing to

Speaker 2 the correct audience. I think that you just said something really important, which is that you have nowhere else to go, and we have that in common.

Speaker 1 Cool, cool. One thing that bothers me, though, your brother.

Speaker 1 Her part doesn't match up for me.

Speaker 1 He said he's mixed up in this somehow.

Speaker 2 or Sid was part of the rescue plan.

Speaker 1 Yeah, but he he fucked it up, right?

Speaker 1 Well,

Speaker 1 according to uh, what's this fuck at the crows?

Speaker 2 Sid found out.

Speaker 2 Sid found out of Casimir's betrayal, and uh

Speaker 2 yeah, Casimir came after him. Oh,

Speaker 1 I missed some of the stuff earlier in the city. I wasn't quite picking up on everything.
Yeah, okay, you were drunk, so you put a that find a point on it. Yeah,

Speaker 1 But I think he also smelled, sniffed out that things were afoot and had to flee. Yeah.

Speaker 1 So,

Speaker 1 what do we do if we do find your brother?

Speaker 1 We have one more on our team, and I think he would also be heavily invested in speaking with Casimir.

Speaker 1 Anyway,

Speaker 1 we shall.

Speaker 2 Yeah, we trust you guys to lead the way.

Speaker 1 We'll

Speaker 2 do our best.

Speaker 1 Are you a good talented fighter?

Speaker 1 I can't believe it. I can fight evil with

Speaker 1 Albin comes downstairs.

Speaker 2 Can I take Sir Stagathy?

Speaker 1 Just.

Speaker 1 Oh!

Speaker 1 Give me a persuasion check.

Speaker 1 Give us all your shit.

Speaker 1 Um.

Speaker 1 Uh, 19?

Speaker 1 You see, he says, Sir Stagathy, of course, of course. You see, he says,

Speaker 1 he says, Sir Stagathy, we'll accompany you on your noble quest, as is fitting for a knight and a toy and a deer.

Speaker 1 You see, he

Speaker 1 just looks at him, sort of smiling, and goes,

Speaker 1 He,

Speaker 1 Staggathy, I would, there are certain toys that I would be very unwilling to part with, but the truth is, Staggathy had fallen out of the rotation even sort of early on, so I think he may

Speaker 1 well

Speaker 1 appreciate a little bit of time in the sun. I got better at making wheels as time went on, and so Staggathy, you know, was an early attempt.
I love him, but I will miss him very much.

Speaker 1 That's a good deal.

Speaker 1 Teyor, can you put him in your bag?

Speaker 1 Yes, in my bag.

Speaker 1 You just carry everything in your armpits. Keep your business to do.

Speaker 1 With that, I think you guys have concluded your business. Albed wishes you a fond farewell and says,

Speaker 1 well, travel safely. I don't know what business brings you north, and perhaps it's better if I don't.

Speaker 1 I am perhaps a little bit too open-hearted to be involved in criminality as I am, but very few people come by here other than druids and the odd smuggler.

Speaker 1 So if I see anything, I will not mention that you pass this way unless you would like me to.

Speaker 1 I'll keep in mums the word. Save travels, and I would get moving.
The sun's still far to the east, but that forest has a way of turning people around, especially as you get deeper into it.

Speaker 1 So keep on your guard.

Speaker 2 Thank you, Elvid. Hey, for just Avi.

Speaker 2 You...

Speaker 1 He turns around and says what religion are you guys a part of again

Speaker 1 never mind thank you for your goodness and your generosity and you got it i hope that someone close to you it gets brought up and

Speaker 1 um

Speaker 1 before breakfast

Speaker 1 um

Speaker 1 he

Speaker 1 heads off um

Speaker 1 uh uh and you guys make your way out of here um

Speaker 1 as you descend the mountain uh roll a luck check for me let me know if you get a luck check 11 or higher let me know if you get an 11 or higher

Speaker 1 18 18

Speaker 1 as you get

Speaker 1 sort of farther down the mountain uh walking as you are um

Speaker 1 you

Speaker 1 feel

Speaker 1 something like a

Speaker 1 smell of

Speaker 1 sulfur and iron, and there's a smell of something powerful. Your heart starts beating in that way where your like pulse is quickening.

Speaker 1 That happens before you're about to do something reckless, before you're about to tell someone how you really feel, or punch them in the throat.

Speaker 1 Your heart picks up, and you feel a warmth in your satchel around that knife.

Speaker 1 I'll hang back from the group for a little bit and just walk a little more slowly and take it out and give it a peep. As you touch it, you look into the steel of the blade and you see a reflection.

Speaker 1 Red mist curls off your claws, infusing into the blade as it does. And you look down and see in the reflection of the steel, Albed.

Speaker 1 turning the house upside down looking for the knife and you see he goes no no no no no i can't lose anything else

Speaker 1 as he

Speaker 1 gets down, and

Speaker 1 you feel something

Speaker 1 so

Speaker 1 powerful close within you as this kitchen knife becomes

Speaker 1 a magical object.

Speaker 1 I need you guys to know that I wrote, is Brennan setting me up to steal the knife? Yes, or no. I'm circling yes.

Speaker 1 I'm circling yes. Oh, girl.

Speaker 1 Oh, my God.

Speaker 1 You just look, and there is a,

Speaker 1 and you just

Speaker 1 feel

Speaker 1 that I think you move back to some memory

Speaker 1 of existing for the very first time.

Speaker 1 agony cruelty

Speaker 1 enmity

Speaker 1 feeling

Speaker 1 your siblings nearby

Speaker 1 and a voice saying

Speaker 1 suffering is your domain

Speaker 1 you will wear many faces

Speaker 1 a face can change

Speaker 1 a soul remains the same

Speaker 1 forever.

Speaker 1 And you look at the face of suffering on that gnomish man's visage as

Speaker 1 the light fades, and you are looking into your own rectangular pupils in that knife's blade.

Speaker 1 Hey, Wick!

Speaker 1 Uh, yes, can you come here for a sec? Sure, sure. I took the knife.

Speaker 1 No,

Speaker 2 you swear. I don't know what, I don't know why

Speaker 2 I did it.

Speaker 2 I don't know why he was so nice. And I know that everything that you have said is very much about not stealing, but I took it and I think that it's really important.

Speaker 2 And I don't know what's happening, but I think it has something to do with

Speaker 2 who I am. And.

Speaker 1 It's called guilt. It's fine.

Speaker 1 You must repent and pray, and

Speaker 1 it will pass. Okay, I'll repent.

Speaker 1 Unless we've been traveling, what, a half day now? Friends, do you should we could we go back real quick? A half day? Are we really that far away? You rolled an 18 on the luck check.

Speaker 1 I think you've traveled about 45 minutes down the mountainside.

Speaker 1 Catching the survival checks.

Speaker 1 Oh, yeah, sure. I hate

Speaker 1 15. 15.

Speaker 1 As you suddenly hear talk about going back, 45 minutes is not that far away.

Speaker 1 Adding an hour and a half to this trek through woods to a place that you're going to have to look for once you even get within a stone's throw of it is

Speaker 1 not

Speaker 1 maybe you wouldn't classify it as dangerous but it's certainly not safe

Speaker 1 has tierney revealed to all of us at this point now that she had just wake okay just the conversation got a little bit louder as you talked about going back up and mountain we could go back you could fall too far behind uh one second, everyone.

Speaker 1 Hold on, hold on.

Speaker 2 Please, I'm asking you as my friend. Please don't tell them.

Speaker 2 You want to go back?

Speaker 1 Maybe.

Speaker 1 One second. He's hungry.

Speaker 1 You should have had your porridge. I'm sorry.

Speaker 1 To leave something important.

Speaker 1 No.

Speaker 2 I took the knife.

Speaker 2 I took it.

Speaker 2 I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
I don't know.

Speaker 2 I don't know why, but something is happening to me. And I don't know what you...

Speaker 2 I don't know what you know about demons.

Speaker 2 Not much. Not much.
Okay.

Speaker 2 Ancient archetypal energy. They're not bad.
They're not just bad, but they...

Speaker 1 No, I'm not evil.

Speaker 2 I'm not evil. I'm not evil.
I promise I'm not. I don't want to cause pain.

Speaker 1 I'm not. I'm just working on the evil thing.

Speaker 2 Please don't think I'm bad. It's all right.

Speaker 1 If you all wouldn't mind, we'll simply go back. No, no.
Apologize. Turn in the knife.
I'm going to whistle. And wait a few seconds.
And Wolfrick's just going to come out of the

Speaker 1 brush.

Speaker 1 You take that fucking knife from that old man.

Speaker 2 Did you take that? Yes, I did. I'm telling you, I did.

Speaker 1 Give it to me. Do you want it or not? Can I?

Speaker 2 I want it. Give it to me.

Speaker 1 Can I say something? No. You give me that fucking knife.

Speaker 1 Well, there's again no need for

Speaker 1 swearing. Give it to me.
Tyranny.

Speaker 2 I'm going to give you this knife.

Speaker 2 And I'm also going to tell you something about myself.

Speaker 1 I don't care. Give me the knife.

Speaker 2 Okay, you can have the knife.

Speaker 1 Put it in my hand.

Speaker 2 I put it in his hand.

Speaker 1 I will just be clear. If my acting isn't clear enough, Cadogan is fucking

Speaker 2 livid at what just happened. I understand.

Speaker 2 I am not... I am not bad.

Speaker 2 I have an archetype that I have to fulfill. My siblings have.
I'm the only one that hasn't.

Speaker 2 And I think that that is a key to it because I am not going to be free to do what I want in the world, which, by the way, isn't hurt people.

Speaker 1 Wait, wait, I'm sorry.

Speaker 1 The knife is key to it? What are you talking about?

Speaker 2 Something happened. Something happened.

Speaker 2 I had a vision. I

Speaker 2 don't know. I don't know what's going on with me, but I know that demons all are representative of one

Speaker 2 ancient archetype, something that has been around for a long time, okay?

Speaker 2 So far, I'm just having a nice time with my friend, but I'm sorry.

Speaker 1 How often does this happen to you?

Speaker 2 It's never happened.

Speaker 1 This is the first time.

Speaker 2 This is the first time this has happened.

Speaker 1 Did you feel out of your own control? Yes.

Speaker 2 You just had to take it. I don't know what came over me.
I like him. I like Alfred.
He was so nice.

Speaker 1 Cadigan is just sketching a little note. It's very short on a small piece of paper.
And he's going to wrap it around the knife.

Speaker 1 What?

Speaker 2 I'm so proud of you.

Speaker 1 I'm a wild man.

Speaker 1 I'm not afraid of you.

Speaker 1 Oh my god, what a morning. And uh, well, Wolfrick has a little pouch in his armor, and he puts it in the pouch.

Speaker 1 Take it to the old man.

Speaker 1 He's gone, and uh, I'm gonna uh, Cadogan just stands up, and he's no longer angry,

Speaker 1 and he just says,

Speaker 1 I understand what you are,

Speaker 1 but your actions are your actions.

Speaker 1 That's it.

Speaker 1 I'm gonna keep on marching, and Wolfrick is gonna go shooting back.

Speaker 1 See?

Speaker 1 All better.

Speaker 2 I have a feeling it's gonna be a lot worse.

Speaker 1 What makes you say that? You said this was the first time.

Speaker 2 I mean,

Speaker 1 was it like being in a dream where you could see yourself, but you weren't in control of what was happening? I only ask because if it happens again, it's not just you and Wick that is in danger.

Speaker 1 You compromise all of us.

Speaker 2 I don't want to put anybody in danger what i know is that

Speaker 2 it was sort of a

Speaker 2 it was sort of like a like a feeling inside me that i would like explode if i didn't take it and i don't steal stuff i'm not like i haven't needed to steal stuff i've been very much like

Speaker 2 cozy and comfy i don't i don't need to do any of that but i i mean stealing stuff is not inherently bad What I'm saying.

Speaker 1 It's wrong. But don't take from somebody who has nothing.

Speaker 2 I don't know. I'm sorry.
I

Speaker 2 think that

Speaker 2 whatever came over me, this probably won't be the last time it happened. And maybe we can give a signal.
Maybe I can just say, like,

Speaker 1 that's a terrible signal. Let's just

Speaker 2 go, I'll make sure

Speaker 2 to stab you.

Speaker 2 Just to stop it. Don't stab me.
just I mean we got we got two big guys and a and a normal size guy I'm pretty big um

Speaker 2 I will as be as honest as I can if something is is happening like that

Speaker 1 This is growth. This is excellent.

Speaker 1 You you came clean about something and now it's being undone and everything's gonna be fine your intent is heard I think what will matter is what happens the next time you encounter this

Speaker 1 Oh, God,

Speaker 1 I found that whenever you have

Speaker 1 washing again at this point.

Speaker 2 Do you think we just killed Alvin?

Speaker 1 No. What? The blade? You're blue.
The blade is cursed now and Alvin's gonna die.

Speaker 1 With the knife or the blade? The knife!

Speaker 1 The knife!

Speaker 1 No!

Speaker 1 Oh.

Speaker 1 Red tendrils and shit. Tierney, when I find myself having a desire,

Speaker 1 a want for something.

Speaker 1 I like to push it down. I like to sort of bury it, hide it deep within.

Speaker 1 That always works for me. So maybe try that next time.

Speaker 2 I know that's what you do.

Speaker 1 I'd love an insight check from Tyranny, and then I'd like our survival checks. You are no longer rolling with advantage.

Speaker 1 Oh. Yeah.
That's the sucky part. Insight?

Speaker 1 Insight.

Speaker 1 Natural 20. Natural 20.
Very nice. Night.
19.

Speaker 1 19. Hell yes.
Blood's gonna come out.

Speaker 1 On a nat 20,

Speaker 1 and you rolled a 19, right?

Speaker 1 On a nat 20,

Speaker 1 thimble,

Speaker 1 this sword on your back, going through these woods, the woods are.

Speaker 1 The woods are, I love, that was scene was awesome. You guys are great.
It was so good. It was so good.
I screamed out every yellow.

Speaker 1 Robbie likes to see yell at women and break.

Speaker 1 That's just what he does.

Speaker 1 That's Robbie. That's not the character.
That's how I've always known it.

Speaker 1 What I'll say is this. On a Nat 20 survival thimble,

Speaker 1 the woods come to life around you. You begin to head deeper into the Dehopshini where you see

Speaker 1 something

Speaker 1 pulsing in the

Speaker 1 life force of the forest itself. You can start to feel it.
The gates to fairy closed so long ago, but there were a few things that were powerful enough that came over that,

Speaker 1 like

Speaker 1 in the way that a picture of the sun can still contain some feeling of its warmth.

Speaker 1 There are certain parts of the world that still have enough of that residual energy left that feels like fairy is still connected to this world.

Speaker 1 The golden orchard. And somewhere in Dahopshini, something must be strong enough because you begin to see in bright daylight there are a couple orchids sitting like pools in the alpine rainforest.

Speaker 1 And this is high enough altitude that you don't typically see like lots of colorful plants around here. But a couple of massive purple orchids begin to open up.

Speaker 1 That a little bit of light comes from the water

Speaker 1 in the center of their petals. You begin to see that the forest here is truly healthy and well.

Speaker 1 On that 19 survival check, and you saw census on a 20 as well, healthy forests smell like life and death.

Speaker 1 There is

Speaker 1 both. For something to be truly thriving, there has to be enough healthy soil.
And what is healthy soil made out of? Rot, vegetation.

Speaker 1 The forest creating a cycle of life and death and rebirth over and over and over again. But I think you can smell

Speaker 1 death not far off.

Speaker 1 You see that there's a place where a massive tree, the trees now are getting truly high enough here that this is a place that they would like harvest the masts of ships if they could get wagons and saws up this high and how crazy the altitude is here.

Speaker 1 One of these mighty giants of the forest fell some decades decades ago, and where it did, you see that the moss on it has grown up into all these pools. You see

Speaker 1 different, like rainbow-colored iridescent moths

Speaker 1 flying all throughout the pools of water on the moss here.

Speaker 1 And you look up and see, like, where did this tree fall down? And you see some other fallen trees, and you realize looking at the mountain range,

Speaker 1 there is some rubble or scoring along the mountain range.

Speaker 1 Perhaps 70 years ago, a god did battle in this place.

Speaker 1 Moving deeper through the forest, notice

Speaker 2 Thimble's fairy dust, her light trailing behind her is a little bit brighter, a little bit more pink and orange and purple around her as opposed to the usual like golden yellow.

Speaker 1 On a nat 20, I'm gonna give you something extra here, but I want you to pick between whether your attention

Speaker 1 is focused

Speaker 1 all

Speaker 1 around, and specifically, like thinking about Wolfrick trailing behind you and thinking about the forest around you, or whether your sight is dedicated ahead at what you are looking for.

Speaker 2 I'm going to say that I was looking ahead because I imagine Cadogan was

Speaker 2 doing the whole thing.

Speaker 1 Incredible. So, on that nap 20, you will not be surprised as we we roll initiative.

Speaker 1 Wait, what? We got to say somebody's life!

Speaker 1 Oh no.

Speaker 1 Oh boy.

Speaker 1 Oh wait a minute.

Speaker 1 Is there a map coming out?

Speaker 1 There's a map. There's a bucket.

Speaker 1 Oh, but that was your only weapon. That's what you get?

Speaker 1 That's what you get for telling the truth.

Speaker 1 For being honest.

Speaker 1 Oh, shit.

Speaker 1 Oh, shit.

Speaker 1 Ooh, look at the flowers.

Speaker 1 Beautiful. Here we go.
Bada boom. Slide.
We're going to slowly swim.

Speaker 1 Slip it into the slime. Yes, here we go.
Great. Perfect.

Speaker 1 Okay. Pretty.

Speaker 1 So I'm going to need everybody here to roll initiative for me. Do I roll with advantage because I'm not surprised or I just roll? You roll straight.

Speaker 1 The four of you are going to roll with disadvantaged initiative.

Speaker 2 Can I just say this morning I cast mage armor on myself?

Speaker 1 You absolutely can.

Speaker 1 Disadvantage.

Speaker 2 So, wait, the stats on that blade

Speaker 2 that it's just like a regular scimitar?

Speaker 1 I will give it to you right now. I'm going to let you equip it.

Speaker 1 You have not yet attuned to it, which means that, but also, he already used its little animation ability today.

Speaker 1 You will have to attune to it to get its extra magical stuff, but it is a plus-one scimitar. So, I will equip that with you right now.
Oh, great.

Speaker 1 Bada boom.

Speaker 1 Here we go. Oh, man.
Oh, man. Oh, man.
Oh, here we go. Here we go.
Here we go.

Speaker 1 Soldiers and a soldier.

Speaker 1 I do have

Speaker 2 a weapon that I have to summon. I have a ceremonial candescent creed

Speaker 1 sword that I think is not going to do shit yet.

Speaker 1 That's a hell. You're going to be great.

Speaker 2 We're going to have a great time.

Speaker 1 I don't even know what we're an initiative against. The fauna.

Speaker 1 Yeah. These bitchin'.
These bitching

Speaker 1 plants. Is that a sword?

Speaker 1 Look at the difference between like the bright stuff.

Speaker 1 And this happened relatively soon after sending Wolfrick on his way back to

Speaker 1 this did not happen relatively soon. I'm gonna need you to give me a survival check for Wolfrick.
For Wolfrick, yeah, thank you. All right.

Speaker 1 15. 15.
Okay, Wolfrick has not caught up to you yet, which is not a testament to him being in trouble, is a testament to how fluently you have navigated this forest.

Speaker 1 In other words, your pace, even for a wolf with a 90-minute loss and has just been

Speaker 1 that you guys are tearing through the woods, it is

Speaker 1 probably

Speaker 1 this would have, you were expecting to get there just in the nick of time. It's still early afternoon

Speaker 1 and you've already made it. You've been surging through the woods at top speed.

Speaker 1 The woods seem to, by the way, as Thimble approaches, like taking the lead, places where you're like going to have to hack through those vines. Oh, I guess I was wrong.
They seem to have parted.

Speaker 1 Like, it seems to be they're just

Speaker 1 moving through the woods very, very quickly.

Speaker 1 You have that weapon equipped now? Yes.

Speaker 1 Multipass. He knows it's a multi-pass.

Speaker 1 Let's go ahead. I'm going to go ahead and get us started here.
What did we roll? Tayor? Tayor, 14. And then you're rolling disadvantage, correct? Yes.
Great. Thimble, what did we get? Ooh,

Speaker 1 12. 12, got it.
Tyranny, what did we get?

Speaker 2 14 plus 2.

Speaker 1 16. Hell yeah.
Wick, what did we get? 5.

Speaker 1 Cattingum, what we get? I rolled a 20 and then a 3 for a total of 7.

Speaker 1 Oh, you were rolling a disadvantage? Right? No.

Speaker 2 Oh, everybody else was except for you.

Speaker 1 Oh, I see.

Speaker 1 Tyranny. Oh, no.

Speaker 1 Tyranny. Tayor.
Thimble.

Speaker 1 Oh, you're a five. He's a something.

Speaker 1 Wick is a five. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Disadvantaged. Rough.
Yeah. Who's after Tyranny? Tayor.
Tyranny, Tayor, Thimble, Cat, Wick. Thank you.

Speaker 1 Awesome.

Speaker 1 Triple T is up top. Hey, open up the table.
Hey, you guys see before you this forest. Approaching you is a tall plinth of stone

Speaker 1 writing. Approaching us? Or sorry, you approaching

Speaker 1 stepping forward.

Speaker 1 Excuse me.

Speaker 1 One side. One side on a hiking trail.

Speaker 1 Excuse me.

Speaker 1 Cadogan. Here we go.
Oh, my God.

Speaker 1 Here.

Speaker 1 Teo.

Speaker 1 Let's go.

Speaker 1 Whoa.

Speaker 1 Fimblow.

Speaker 1 Look at that. Not children.
Ton of

Speaker 1 tyranny.

Speaker 1 Baby.

Speaker 1 Oh, my God.

Speaker 1 And we

Speaker 1 go.

Speaker 1 Official guys. How about

Speaker 1 that? She matched my nails.

Speaker 1 Oh, my God.

Speaker 1 I'm a lot bigger than I thought I'd be.

Speaker 1 Woo!

Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah. She's even got little.

Speaker 1 Are we coming from near the opposite? You're approaching this direction. Go ahead and give me your marching order right around here.
Katie was up front.

Speaker 1 I thought I was in in the front. Oh, you were in front of the front.

Speaker 1 You were activating it.

Speaker 1 Oh, God.

Speaker 1 Where would you like it to go? I don't know.

Speaker 2 Right about there.

Speaker 1 You need one of those cracks.

Speaker 1 I'm going to be under, like, yeah, right there. And you're flying, so we'll call you like 10 feet off the ground, more or less.
Yeah. Cool.
Praisey, that's facecy, that's face, but.

Speaker 1 Hey, what is your fly speed? If you're small,

Speaker 1 small speed, is it reduced? Well, it's. Can you still do 30 feet?

Speaker 1 You know what's funny? It shows you walking speed. It's like a little distance distance.

Speaker 1 Right near him. But would the 30 feet be proportional to your size?

Speaker 2 Well, I was also just giving cat.

Speaker 1 No, I'm just. Maybe a minute.

Speaker 1 Oh, that was 40. Yeah, rather.
As before. Yeah.
Okay. That was 90 minutes ago.

Speaker 1 Is this the first that map?

Speaker 1 No, this is not. For us.
There's another one. For us, it is.
For us, it is. Because it happened in four.
My page is not right.

Speaker 1 And earlier than that. I'm thinking in Flight's past.
And earlier than that. But I know that's not.
30. Yeah, you're walking.
You're on the bench.

Speaker 1 Incredible. So you guys are spreading out catigans in the back over here.

Speaker 1 As we unfold. I'm wishing it was full front now, but

Speaker 1 you see approaching

Speaker 1 on that 20, you're the only person who's unsurprised.

Speaker 1 Everyone else is walking in thimble pulling ahead. You see this plinth ahead of you.

Speaker 1 You recognize this as a Fae boundary stone.

Speaker 1 It's basically like a

Speaker 1 Sylvan protection. There's a certain degree of writing on it.

Speaker 1 I don't know if you're proficient in arcana or if you would know like offhand, even for, even though this is fairy,

Speaker 1 you speak sylvan. So the sylvan you can see, you just recognize the sylvan glyph for warning and go, oops.

Speaker 1 And as you approach,

Speaker 1 you see in this flower right ahead, it lights up extra bright as iridescent in sort of white light transitioning to purple.

Speaker 1 you see another pixie bursts out of the flower and goes, fear not, sister!

Speaker 1 And is going to cast sleep on

Speaker 1 Tyranny and Wick. Oh, no, no.

Speaker 1 I'm going to need

Speaker 1 a lovely day in the forest.

Speaker 1 Oh, look!

Speaker 1 Some sort of obelisk up ahead or

Speaker 1 stone of some sort.

Speaker 1 I think everyone's mad at me.

Speaker 1 I'm going to need a wisdom saving throw from tyranny and witch.

Speaker 1 Yeah, it's happening. It's happening.
It's really happening. It's really happening.
We are in combat.

Speaker 1 Seven. 16.

Speaker 1 Seven. Incredible.

Speaker 1 So,

Speaker 1 as this pixie erupts out of the flower, she flies about 20 feet into the air and

Speaker 1 this glob of like pollen and dust whips out and boom hits right in between the two of you you get a full breath of it wick and go unconscious

Speaker 1 unconscious

Speaker 1 asleep

Speaker 1 yes

Speaker 1 you are you have the

Speaker 1 I think he fainted

Speaker 1 right now

Speaker 1 he just crumpled like a silk ribbon yeah right now you have actually you're not fully asleep but you're falling asleep you have incapacitated your limbs are heavy

Speaker 1 the smell of of honeysuckle fills your nostrils it smells so good the moss is so soft you gotta lie down

Speaker 1 what's happening i just see a little nappy feeling like a handkerchief

Speaker 1 um tyranny you are next to act my friend i'm not sleepy you are not sleepy did you see the thing that

Speaker 1 did

Speaker 1 she's she's about 20 feet up in the air over she's like hovering on top of this tree right here. Okay.
Well, first, Tierney goes, hey, Thimble, that thing made Wick sleepy, and he's tired now.

Speaker 1 Right?

Speaker 1 I don't know, that one. Yeah, this is what we do.

Speaker 1 Well,

Speaker 2 can you tell him to wake him up?

Speaker 1 I'll try.

Speaker 1 Okay,

Speaker 2 I kick Wick.

Speaker 1 All right.

Speaker 1 Incredible. Good.
Go ahead and give me the tack roll. You can hold it back.

Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah. Roll two deathish.

Speaker 2 Two and an 11.

Speaker 1 Two, a two. An arm strike.
An iron strike. That's down.

Speaker 1 Plus three. So 14 to hit.

Speaker 1 14. My AC is 12.

Speaker 1 Great. What is your strength modifier?

Speaker 1 Did you say 12? Uh-huh.

Speaker 1 Plus one. Plus one.
Uh,

Speaker 1 Wick, you take two points of damage as a hoof kicks you hard in the ribs

Speaker 1 and you wake up. The spell is

Speaker 1 you passed out. It's just one of those urges that you've had.
No, no, please don't hold that against me.

Speaker 1 Okay, you're up. Uh, that is your action.
Any movement or bonuses?

Speaker 2 I'd like to, um,

Speaker 2 I'd like to summon my packed weapon, which is my demon claws.

Speaker 1 Hell yes.

Speaker 1 Awesome.

Speaker 1 You get your claws erupt out of you.

Speaker 1 And you hear

Speaker 1 coming from over on the other side of the ridge, you hear

Speaker 1 demons approach!

Speaker 1 Fuck!

Speaker 1 You hear

Speaker 1 as a swarm of sprites come straight for you.

Speaker 1 Avoid sprites.

Speaker 1 Wiki wiki. One.
Wiki wiki.

Speaker 1 Two.

Speaker 1 Three.

Speaker 1 They say, repel the invaders of Hawthorne's Glade.

Speaker 1 You see,

Speaker 1 and they are going to take attacks on Tyranny.

Speaker 1 They're going to roll three attacks in a row as they sort of strafe you with these small little, you know, short bows. Each of them are only a few inches tall.

Speaker 1 One of them gets a nat 20.

Speaker 1 And so right in the throat, you get a tiny little area. You take three points of damage.
Literally, this? Yes, literally that. BAM!

Speaker 1 You take three points of damage.

Speaker 1 Are you immune to the charmed condition?

Speaker 2 Ooh, where would I find that out?

Speaker 1 It would be in your

Speaker 1 defenses. Nope.

Speaker 1 These tiny little sprites who all look picture tiny dragonfly when they're wearing like bark armor, they have like little wood chip shields.

Speaker 1 You see they have like war paint made of different colored mud, like a sort of white clay mud and a sort of blue blueberry streak on the other face.

Speaker 1 Little sort of short haircuts. They all look like kind of lost boy little dragonfly wood chips.

Speaker 1 And you see that one of them hits you in the throat. You are immediately looking at the most delightful little creature who flies up and goes, Hawthorne's Glade's a myth.
You don't believe that. Yeah!

Speaker 1 You are under the charmed condition. A charmed creature can't attack the charmer or target the charmer with harmful abilities or magical effects.
Okay, that's all I got.

Speaker 1 Teor, that is going to be your turn. Oh my god.

Speaker 1 I'll shout out to Thimble: Do you know who these people are?

Speaker 1 Hawthorne's Glade, soldiers. Okay, that doesn't mean anything.

Speaker 1 I will...

Speaker 1 I'm going to run forward 35 feet.

Speaker 1 50, 20, 25, 30, 35, and just get up under this tree so I can see both. I'm not going to look at the sprites.
I'm going to target that first

Speaker 1 yeah that was up on the tree and I'm going to use guiding bolt

Speaker 1 you want to be friendly he fights things that's what he does he's a lion man. Yeah, yeah.
I'm sending a guiding bolt towards that thing before another swarm of pixies comes out.

Speaker 1 I will roll. Sprites.
Sorry. Sprites.
My bad.

Speaker 1 Is

Speaker 1 17 to hit?

Speaker 1 17 is a hit. Is a hit on guiding bolt.
Okay, 46.

Speaker 1 My first guiding bolt, guys. Here we go.
10. Immediate kill.

Speaker 1 7.

Speaker 1 17 points of radiant damage, and the next hit against it has advantage.

Speaker 1 No.

Speaker 1 You see, as the guiding bolt

Speaker 1 moves out from you,

Speaker 1 you see that

Speaker 1 this pixie turns to look at you, leaping up, and turns and sees the light coming and goes,

Speaker 1 light,

Speaker 1 gets hit by it, flies back, is not killed, but you do see is immediately knocked unconscious. You did not do more than double her hit points.

Speaker 1 But this giant smile crosses on her face as she looks at you with a look of recognition. Boom.
As she flops into the tree, boom,

Speaker 1 and sort of tumbles to the ground,

Speaker 1 hitting the ground. She suffers her first failed death savings row.

Speaker 1 Tayor, that is your action.

Speaker 1 Any bonus actions from you? Oh, that's a great question. Yep, I'm totally ready for all of these questions.

Speaker 1 I am absolutely going to...

Speaker 1 No,

Speaker 1 I'm good here. How are you?

Speaker 1 I'm great. Great.
As you look,

Speaker 1 as you hit this pixie, you hear a voice go, Honey Circle!

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 walking out from the rocks, you've seen some delightful little fairies of the realm of Halloween you've not seen any of the sort of darker fairies. Coming out from under the rocks, you see

Speaker 1 a man who's got a normal-sized head on a body about the size of a doll. So, like a human head on a body about that big.

Speaker 1 And he walks out. His cap is the brightest red thing you've ever seen.
And it is dripping blood down into white, bushy mustache and beard. I'll give you this guy to take a look at.
What?

Speaker 1 He kind of looks like a former PC of yours. I'm not going to lie.

Speaker 1 He's got a huge size, oh my god.

Speaker 1 What the hell?

Speaker 1 He walked.

Speaker 1 Was he hit by something? That guy?

Speaker 1 No. He's just bleaching his face.
He was calling out honeysuckles now. He called out the name of the pixie who just fell.
You see, he looks at you and goes,

Speaker 1 I'm not a nice fairy. And he starts to thunder forward.

Speaker 1 The forest shakes as every one of his boots hits the ground, and you can see that his boots are clad in cold iron.

Speaker 1 What he fucks. He surges forward to close with you.

Speaker 1 He's going to use his speed and then dash forward. I'm going to need a dexterity saving throw from you.

Speaker 1 That is

Speaker 1 12.

Speaker 1 That is not going to do it, my friend.

Speaker 1 He deals

Speaker 1 16.

Speaker 1 He deals 20 points of damage as he leaps up, kicks you in the chest, and you fly back 20 feet and go prone. What the hell? Wow.
As he goes up, and he goes, I'm going to die, McCamp with your blood!

Speaker 1 What is happening? Oh my god. You'll not destroy Hawthorne's clay today.

Speaker 1 I kill people every day!

Speaker 1 I kill them every day!

Speaker 1 What's happening?

Speaker 1 Honeysuckle is beloved.

Speaker 1 I said I was down the wrong path.

Speaker 1 Thimble, that is your turn.

Speaker 1 No!

Speaker 1 Save us!

Speaker 1 Cousins, cousins, cousins! They're friendly!

Speaker 1 Okay, you are going to make this persuasion check with disadvantage.

Speaker 1 But the wolf's back, so you get regular.

Speaker 1 Wait,

Speaker 1 I'm immediately after her. Can I do something to aid her in this at all? Get naked.
Is it possible that if my next turn, if I see us pausing on combat?

Speaker 1 If you want to, I will say, because you guys have your initiative right on top of each other, you guys can act together. So you just screamed, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Speaker 1 Bewildered Katigan goes, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. And I'm going to sprint toward honeysuckle and as fast as I can and just go

Speaker 1 and use spare the dying on her. Oh, okay.

Speaker 1 This use of spare the now we're going to see here.

Speaker 1 Hell yeah, 30 feet full speed. I got 15 feet on spare the dying, I think.
Okay.

Speaker 1 So we're going to, I'm going to see here if you can, if we can close distance and you're not affected by difficult terrain because you're a ranger, right? 5, 10, 15, 20, 25,

Speaker 1 30.

Speaker 1 And then I have 15 feet for spare the dying. I'm going to do 30 rate.
Hold on one second. Bada boom.

Speaker 1 I didn't see where she fell.

Speaker 1 She was on top of that tree, right? She missed the shot.

Speaker 1 I can see her thing.

Speaker 2 Oh, she's far?

Speaker 1 She's far. I thought she was.
She's five feet short.

Speaker 1 Please.

Speaker 1 Sorry, I didn't stand you up.

Speaker 1 You are, I cannot believe this, exactly 15 feet away

Speaker 1 from where she is lying right now. Not movement-wise, because the elevation, but for spell range, you are exactly within spell range for spare the dying.

Speaker 1 You move from having disadvantaged to having advantage.

Speaker 1 Okay,

Speaker 2 so I'm rolling a persuasion.

Speaker 1 You're rolling persuasion to

Speaker 1 halt combat is going to be a difficulty. I'll call that because damage has already happened.

Speaker 1 Because damage has already happened, I am going to say that

Speaker 1 a DC-15 is necessary for them to continue to hear you out, but it will not stop combat from unfolding. DC-20 stops combat immediately.
On a DC-25,

Speaker 1 you will actually get them to

Speaker 1 move into like we've made a mistake. So, 15 is necessary just for a conversation to happen.

Speaker 1 13.

Speaker 1 13. Got it.
That's a nine, not a 19, that's a 10.

Speaker 2 Yeah, that's a 10.

Speaker 1 Yeah, 13. On a 13,

Speaker 1 you call out. If anyone has any other PC creep they want to throw in here, of any other abilities or adding inspirations or anything else like that, you let me know.

Speaker 2 I'm charmed, so I can't.

Speaker 2 I don't see anything as a threat, right?

Speaker 2 I'm just, I'm just doping around.

Speaker 1 These sprites have charmed you, but not necessarily anything else in this moment. Okay.

Speaker 1 As you call out cousins, cousins,

Speaker 1 you're looking around at this moment. Yeah, I think you're charmed by the sprites in front of you.

Speaker 1 Any bonus actions from Thimble or Cadogan here?

Speaker 2 That was a full action.

Speaker 1 I'll say it's not your full action. If you want, like, I'll allow that to be a bonus action persuasion check.
We've had Spare the Dying here.

Speaker 1 Yeah, that's my only play.

Speaker 2 Can I use...

Speaker 2 The flowers around here, they're like big and open.

Speaker 1 Yes.

Speaker 2 I don't know what they do, but can I use druid craft to make them like light up? You know what? To try to catch their attention, to catch the fairy's attention?

Speaker 1 Go for it. But we have something here.
I have a question for you. No, no,

Speaker 1 did I notice, you said one of the fairies was infatuated with the light, correct? Yeah.

Speaker 1 As I see her,

Speaker 1 if I'm allowed to go out of turn,

Speaker 1 as I see her sort of going,

Speaker 1 trying to gin up some light,

Speaker 1 I can do, I think it's called celestial revelation. Okay.

Speaker 1 So

Speaker 1 the tattoos on my face and in fact my entire body start to glow with an angelic divine shine and I become a being of light

Speaker 1 just emanating from me.

Speaker 1 And I'll try to step up underneath Thimble flying, I guess.

Speaker 2 Sure. And maybe that happens at the same time that I make this flower light up at the same time so it like creates a bloom of magic.

Speaker 1 Light will save us. It always does.
I love this.

Speaker 1 If you are, if so I'll say this, you're casting druid craft you're coming to do that

Speaker 1 and it is in our it is in our initiative order it is in our order it is in your initiative order that is true

Speaker 1 I'll say yeah categories jumps for spare the dying you're jumping for this you got a 13 on your persuasion

Speaker 1 I'm gonna go ahead and say that if you're using your turn to create this order of light and you're using druidcraft means you're doing these non-violent things I'm gonna allow us to add

Speaker 1 to that role,

Speaker 1 to that persuasion role.

Speaker 1 On your turn, thimble, if you're using your full action, do that, I want you to add a D4. You start at a 13, meaning a two or higher on a D4 will get you to that 15.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 Sam

Speaker 1 can add to it on his turn as well. Okay, cool.

Speaker 1 Why does it hate me?

Speaker 1 That is a one.

Speaker 1 That's a one.

Speaker 1 That was one.

Speaker 1 All right, listen.

Speaker 1 I love that. Druidcraft, boom.
The flowers alight. There are creatures that go on initiative before you, but you can still, I will still allow you to add to that persuasion roll.

Speaker 1 Maybe you will roll so high.

Speaker 1 I'm sorry, I'm rolling a persuasion roll. But we're going to do it on your turn.
Oh, so it's not your turn yet. That's fine.
Catigana Test Bear of the Dying.

Speaker 1 Thimble, you reveal yourself as a pixie of this, connected with the magic of this forest.

Speaker 1 I'm going to say

Speaker 1 we have

Speaker 1 Cadigan has surged forward.

Speaker 1 Tyranny has been charmed.

Speaker 1 Taor

Speaker 1 has been kicked prone.

Speaker 1 Stepping out from over here, you see a

Speaker 1 beautiful, brightly colored

Speaker 1 fungal man, this giant mushroom, steps forward

Speaker 1 and looks down. I'm going to need a Constitution Saving Throw from Teor.
Yes, Constitution Saving Throw

Speaker 1 19. 19.

Speaker 1 This figure overhead looks down and says,

Speaker 1 Warbringer,

Speaker 1 this is a place of rest.

Speaker 1 And just spores cover your face. This guy's not super quick on the draw, so you like cover your snout before any spores get in there.
Just

Speaker 1 as an avalanche of fungal spores just get barfed on you.

Speaker 1 Forget barfed on.

Speaker 1 Surging forward towards you, you guys see another massive plant shape begin to

Speaker 1 begin to stumble forward,

Speaker 1 charging. It closes with Wick and Tyranny, but is not able to attack.
It has a slower movement speed. But you see, this thing looks massive and tough, thorny vines growing out of it.

Speaker 1 And the last to act before Wick

Speaker 1 emerging

Speaker 1 from one of the trees here,

Speaker 1 towering over. She has almost a chariot of moving thorn vines under her, of like briars.
So you see, it's like her legs are almost,

Speaker 1 it is a chariot made of vines roiling underneath her that are also bearing her aloft. Like a tank's tracks.
Like a tank's tracks. Just

Speaker 1 as she looks out and says,

Speaker 1 Those who come to my blade bearing weapons seldom leave to tell the tale. She looks at you and says,

Speaker 1 Are these folk under your protection?

Speaker 1 Your whimpered, yeah,

Speaker 1 will have to depend on what Wick Hale of Art does next.

Speaker 1 You cast this ability. What is this ability that you cast to? This light that you cast to? Oh, well, this,

Speaker 1 canonically,

Speaker 1 it emits inner radiance from my entire body.

Speaker 1 It causes damage to those within 10 feet of me. So actually, technically, it would hurt you.

Speaker 1 But that's kind of all it does. It makes things bright and it hurts things around me.

Speaker 1 It turns me into a light being. Wick, do you believe that the purpose of the light is to hurt those around you? Absolutely not.
The light is to guide us to a better tomorrow.

Speaker 1 I will allow you to make one of two checks here. You can make a persuasion check if you feel so inclined to continue to like move this sort of in the right direction.

Speaker 1 Or if you'd like, that persuasion check

Speaker 1 will sort of like build off of

Speaker 1 what Cadogan and Thimble have started doing. Or you can make a religion check in this moment if you'd like to see if the light is capable of doing something different.

Speaker 1 So it's up to you.

Speaker 1 One of these is probably the more reliable, and the other is more of a...

Speaker 1 As you're reaching for the light, you've only ever been told that this power can hurt people.

Speaker 1 And maybe it can do something different.

Speaker 1 It's up to you.

Speaker 1 I am having a crisis of faith,

Speaker 1 as she said,

Speaker 1 which I think would mean that I would seek a religious answer. I don't know what my religion can do at this point, whether it can harm or heal.
And so

Speaker 1 I will seek a religious answer to this. Awesome.
What do you add to your religion? Just a three. Just a three.

Speaker 1 We're going to do the same thing here. We're looking for a difficulty.
I will say the difficulties move down now where 15 will be the third player character in a row taking nonviolent action.

Speaker 1 So a 15, a 10 will continue the conversation, a 15 will stop combat, a 20 will actually

Speaker 1 get them to heed you in this moment. And just so I know, is the one who just stepped out at the end there sort of the leader? Has a leader presented themselves? This person referred to my Glade.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 2 And she's got a tank. Yeah, she's like...

Speaker 1 She's got some thorny tanks. She's got a thorny tank.
Is she a hottie?

Speaker 1 Is she a bad mama?

Speaker 1 If possible, I will step forward, a light emitting from me, and all of my tattoos just shining

Speaker 1 with

Speaker 1 radiance. I'll hold up my cane, which is also sort of emitting

Speaker 1 radiance. And I do I get to take an action on this or I'm just I'm just speaking with words.
What is using this light-based ability?

Speaker 1 You are going to see if you're your religion check is effectively, can you make this gift do something it's not supposed to do? All right.

Speaker 1 Great. I will.

Speaker 1 I'll tell you right now. Sure.

Speaker 1 This role is very momentous.

Speaker 1 This is a momentous role about how the future of this battle and therefore this adventure.

Speaker 2 And your religion.

Speaker 1 And your religion. I can only fall on my relationship.

Speaker 1 Do you have any like.

Speaker 1 I feel like you fall on it. Some money? Yeah,

Speaker 1 I throw money at it. No.

Speaker 1 I must go to my faith and to my teachings,

Speaker 1 the spectral codex, law of echo. What you radiate returns.
Anger, envy, cruelty all emit dim waves, but what you beam, you become. So I will mutter that

Speaker 1 as I walk forward and try to please her with my

Speaker 1 it's 21. Oh!

Speaker 1 You reach deep within

Speaker 1 yourself.

Speaker 1 You're summoning the light. As you repeat these words

Speaker 1 on that high religion check, the words come to you so easily.

Speaker 1 And you were taught these words by your mother.

Speaker 1 We haven't even met your mother. I have.

Speaker 1 You didn't say goodbye.

Speaker 1 Is there...

Speaker 1 Your grandmother, the Photarch, told you that she never liked your mother.

Speaker 1 And didn't she say that you've been repeating these words

Speaker 1 that in some way you know are a lie?

Speaker 1 So what can they mean on a 21?

Speaker 1 Well, I think they mean

Speaker 1 that

Speaker 1 the messenger

Speaker 1 might have been a liar in my grandmother, but the message contained within the words

Speaker 1 is right.

Speaker 1 That following the light can guide us to goodness.

Speaker 1 Young boy.

Speaker 1 Sad, worried, frightened. Some play yard incident, the cruelties of of young children, and your mother kneeling down.

Speaker 1 Iris,

Speaker 1 who believed so deeply in the creed, wiping the tears from your face and saying,

Speaker 1 You don't have to meet darkness with darkness. What you beam, you become.

Speaker 1 And you're my little beam.

Speaker 1 And all of you look behind you as, oh,

Speaker 1 this clearing is filled with light

Speaker 1 uh you feel your druid craft spell escape from your own magic as the flowers

Speaker 1 each grow each of these flowers begins to grow as the light feeds into it this

Speaker 1 uh shambling mound directly in front of you a plant-based creature of almost no like it doesn't really have any intelligence other than like defend you know like that's sort of it's it's thing it is filled with light Um, the shambling mound before you grows to about 20 feet in height as its roots stretch into the ground.

Speaker 1 And as Hawthorne, this dryad, you see that even her,

Speaker 1 the magic coming from her hands is made even stronger as the light fills this place.

Speaker 1 Uh, Tyranny, you look to your side and see, made of pure luminescence, a pair of wings spreads from Wick's back.

Speaker 1 The god of the sun was killed 70 years ago.

Speaker 1 But the sun still shines. Forms break.
Titles change, but truth remains forever.

Speaker 1 The shambling mound before you, that can barely understand what it is here to defend, turns to you and goes,

Speaker 1 and that's where we're going to take our break.

Speaker 1 You just became

Speaker 1 a big deal. $30.

Speaker 1 You did it. Oh, my goodness.

Speaker 1 Well, yeah.

Speaker 1 Oh, my God.

Speaker 1 That was a big risk. You went to your skill that had a plus three and not a plus, whatever your persuasion is.
It's plus six. Plus six.
Wow. We got a reward of risk, folks.
We got a reward of risk.

Speaker 1 Wow. Holy shit.
And we'll reward all of you at home with the rest of this episode after this short intermission.

Speaker 1 And that's where we'll leave our story for now. Part two of this episode of Campaign 4 drops this Tuesday.
Thanks for listening, and we'll see you soon for more Critical Role.