Transcript
The Blade's Edge: Hello, one and all, and welcome back to The Blade's Edge, a D and &D actual play podcast where we are currently running through the deadly module ah Curse of Strahd. As always, up top, I want to ah thank everybody um who is subscribed to our Patreon.
The Blade's Edge: um If you have it, please go ahead and get over there. You can listen to the episodes early ah patreon dot .com slash blades edge um Just a quick shout out to some patreon people um ah Justin Dacken Jay our homie Brandon still sin always cool when the homies come through the patreon um Ashley Connor
Kyle Beams: Yeah, we love that.
The Blade's Edge: We got Ryan Baum, Louis Alamea, Brandon Granada, Dane Copsie, gray haired gamer, Jonesy, Arson, Nazarian, another homie, William Turngrip there. ah Love that. Milena, Casey Winkelman, Zach Zimmer. Thank you guys so much. ah Just to name a few, um head on over there. and We're going to work on doing something specifically for the ah Patreon subscribers soon, whether that be a one shot or something like that. but ah For now, we're going to jump straight back into Barovia. We are short one Trevor, ah one Inabi.
The Blade's Edge: um So, while he he might be joining us, he might now we're so we we don't know yet, but yeah I think that might be it.
Kyle Beams: Well, somebody cast a sleep spell on him, so. Yeah.
The Blade's Edge: We recorded pretty early. on So, before we get into that, let's go around the horn, let's talk about ah who you are, who you're playing, and then we just had a level up. So we'll talk about your new ah things here. Kyle, ge why don't we start with you?
Kyle: Yeah, yeah, yeah Kyle G playing bash blood singer the level 8 now half orca barbarian and and We talked a little bit off -camera um And now I'm feeling indecisive because we got some min maxers um And I am just some guy who doesn't know how to play D and &D, but I took ah The tough feet which um
The Blade's Edge: Yes.
Kyle Beams: Hoo hoo hoo.
Kyle: raises my maximum HP by 16, and whenever I gain a character level after, my HP maximum increases an additional 2 HP. So I now have over 100 HP, um which, you know, if I'm up close and and I'm in the trenches, I gotta to be i got to be tanked out of my mind.
Kyle Beams: Yes.
The Blade's Edge: Love that.
Kyle: However, the boys did bring up a good point of raising my ah Dex, which is a negative one, which would increase my AC, which may have a more of a benefit long term, but who knows.
The Blade's Edge: That'll only increase your AC by one, so no need to get min maxi. I think tough feet is tough.
Kyle Beams: Right.
The Blade's Edge: It's classic.
Kyle Beams: It's a great one.
The Blade's Edge: That's classic barbarian.
Kyle: Yeah.
The Blade's Edge: fi It's great.
Kyle Beams: Hey, I've got that on my paladin, who is sitting at 256 health, level 18.
Kyle: Oh, that's beautiful.
Kyle Beams: Kind of crazy.
Kyle: I love when number go up.
Kyle Beams: I love big number.
The Blade's Edge: The level eight barbarian, your proficiency bonus is still plus three. um For those of you keeping track at home, proficiency bonus is what you'll add to your attack rolls. um And if you're proficient in a skill like intimidation or persuasion, you'll add that number. And that kind of just goes up arbitrarily the same for everybody. So at eighth level, everybody's is a plus three. At the next level, the ninth level, everybody's proficiency bonus will go up to a plus four, which is great.
Kyle: I'll have a plus 11 to hit That's so fine
The Blade's Edge: um Yeah. You so you took ability score improvement to the tough feet. You still have four rage charges. You still have a plus two to your rage damage. Your rage damage also goes up next level to a plus three. um Cool. Kind of a kind of an easy. ah Easy choices for you there, it sounds like.
Kyle: yeah, we're keeping I'm a simple man
The Blade's Edge: Got all that health and as a half work. whenever you reach zero, you pop back up at one once for a long rest, which is.
Kyle: Correct, which I just a quick side note. At the end of that combat yesterday, I was like, oh, my God, this is the end.
The Blade's Edge: Mm hmm.
Kyle: Like, what are we going to do? And we were approaching the last turn like there was a solid chance that you were going to kill me if you attacked me on that turn.
The Blade's Edge: Mm hmm.
Kyle: And I had that sudden realization of like, oh, my God, if he kills me, I don't actually go down. So I don't know if you knew that in that moment, but after you finished your turn, you know, you would have assumed that the combat was over.
The Blade's Edge: Oh yeah.
Kyle: I would have asked like, okay, is that the end of your turn?
The Blade's Edge: Yeah.
Kyle: And it would have been an incredible moment, but Trevor ended up finishing him off.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah. Yeah, I think I think i I always have that in the back of my mind, though. I I try not to medigame for the enemies, you know, like the enemies don't know, you know, depending also on an enemy's intelligence score or their background or whatever.
Kyle: For sure.
The Blade's Edge: I, you know, in this case, a werewolf man who's been living in the woods, ah stealing people and bringing them into Brovia for nigh on You know, over 70 years, because that's how long ago you guys got the original quest.
Kyle: Mm -hmm Yeah
The Blade's Edge: um Yeah, so he wouldn't he wouldn't know that him and his his crew. But yeah, great. Super tanky. um Love that. And then moving along, we've got Monsieur Tommy.
The Blade's Edge: Who are you? Who are you playing? Did you get that level eight?
Vesz'rak: Hey, how's it going? ah Tommy, playing Desan, a wielder of the sun, sword, paladin of Lathander, in parentheses, maybe loath and parentheses. um Yeah, also leveling up here, I decided to put my, decided to go with the ASI, improve my constitution modifier, because I definitely feel like I'm made of a wet paper bag. And,
Vesz'rak: Just trying to stay alive. I feel like I've but just been falling down a lot in this campaign and just really don't want to do that anymore. um Yeah, um I can talk about the spells I added or kind of swapped out or...
The Blade's Edge: yeah Yeah, what did you yeah, what did you swap out?
Vesz'rak: Yeah, so so added some things in, swapping some things around. I picked up Lesser Restoration um for just the boys. um Zone of Truth I always feel like is like good to have. Bane, Darkness comes with Drow. Fine Steed, I haven't used it one time yet. but i I'm trying to find this.
Kyle: Fine steed?
Vesz'rak: I was originally going to use, I was originally going to be like, Oh, I'm going to bring back today.
Kyle Beams: I'm Steve.
The Blade's Edge: Hmm Clam up on my faithful love that
Vesz'rak: She's Dean. They're going to be like my fine steed, but there's never, there's never been a point where I needed to use it. So it's just been staring at me on my spell.
Kyle: That's so funny.
Vesz'rak: Oh man. And, and, uh, yeah, after the last campaign, I was, you know, I got down pretty early and I took blessed warrior. Um, and I was just staring at my spare, the dying can trip as I was down.
Vesz'rak: Um, and I, I couldn't save almost so and needed needed to do some reevaluating, good um, figure out what the heck I'm doing.
Kyle: You need to lock in is what you're saying.
Vesz'rak: Yeah. Yeah, yeah yeah exactly.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah,
Vesz'rak: So, uh,
The Blade's Edge: cons great con also raises your HP every time your con modifier goes up on in even number after 10. Every level you'll gain an additional point of health. um As we know, when, uh, when you level up, like for example, for a paladin, uh, every time you level, it's a D 10 plus your con mod. So we just take the median in this, which a D and D beyond does for us automatically, which is six plus your con mods. And now what's your con at?
Vesz'rak: ah My con is 15 plus 2.
The Blade's Edge: Nice. So you just got it at 15.
Kyle Beams: Ooh!
Vesz'rak: Yep, yep, just barely snuck it in there. And also i I have a lot of concentration spells.
The Blade's Edge: Nice.
Vesz'rak: You know, I have Hunter's Mark, Old Person, Bane, Darkness. um So more con the better, you know, for those saving throws. so
The Blade's Edge: Nice. So now, yeah, now every level, instead of, uh, your, uh, HP going up by, if it was 13 before it would have gone up by seven, every level now, every level is going to go up by eight. And yeah, uh, increases your constitution saving throw, which as you guys know, by now, uh, episode 26 coming into this thing, uh, that is concentration for certain spells, which is, um, Important.
Vesz'rak: Yeah, I just need to need to figure out a way to help support the homies a little bit better and stand toe to toe with Bash on the front line to and't know round us out a little bit more, I think.
The Blade's Edge: Um, I love that. And then Kyle B, we will, we'll revisit your level up experience depending on, uh, how this goes.
Kyle Beams: Hell yeah.
The Blade's Edge: Um, we will.
Kyle Beams: I'm dead yo.
The Blade's Edge: Yes. Last time, as you know, if you're, if you're this far, if you're, if you're popping in on just a random episode 26, I love you. That's your, that you're my kind of person.
Kyle Beams: Hilarious. Yeah.
The Blade's Edge: Um, but, uh, yes, last we left off. um Alma Graves fell in battle, and on that note, we will jump in.
Kyle Beams: Uh, the dead character music? Oh no.
Kyle: RIP bro
The Blade's Edge: cresting through the clouds back in the lands of Barovia, through the mist, over the trees, to a lake. And on that lake sits a small island with a little causeway that connects the island to the mainland.
The Blade's Edge: um
The Blade's Edge: on that causeway you see dead men dead men litter the causeway and wolves blood strewn about in front of a tower a pretty decrepit tower some scaffolding outside ah holes in this tower but the scene is serene the lake is still the bodies on the ground are unmoving It looks like it's a chill afternoon and you see a drag mark, a bloody drag mark to the door of this tower. We enter through that door to an elevator. We go down an elevator, down into the earth. And as we, the viewer arrive,
The Blade's Edge: in this laboratory is is a good word for it. I think a mixed, yeah, it's we're in Dexter's laboratory. um I think as a good word for it with the mix of science and magic, um you see ah a what would be you know a vampire hunter's laboratory.
The Blade's Edge: um We see ah Van Richten in his red coat, three -piece suit, red tie, ah sunglasses on his gray beard. um We see next to him the ah daughter of Esmeralda Davenir, who ah your other characters met Desdrelda Davenir. We see this long black curly hair, um wearing leathers ah armed to the teeth. um Both Desdrelle and Van Richten um holding a ah both of them, they're not holding but they have a symbol on them.
The Blade's Edge: Um, that looks like an eye. Um, like a, like a, a very bold eye, the letter I, um, with a skull in the middle of it and three lines going right through the center. Um, I hope I have explained that well. And then, then for my players, I've just put it at, put it in our discord.
The Blade's Edge: ah Both of them are wearing that symbol around their neck.
Kyle Beams: Oh yeah.
The Blade's Edge: The camera pans through vials. ah weaponry, open books, open tomes to the center of the room, the floor of the room that is illuminated with this almost like bioluminescence baby blue almost teal color from the floor as arcane runes have sparked up at the beginning of this ritual that is taking place.
The Blade's Edge: as Van Richten and Desderalda in sync cast for the party a spell a spell known as speak with dead in front of an altar where the slain and motionless body of Alma Graves, her tiefling form lays there. Van Richten has let you guys know that he has found a way to bring people back in this realm back to life, but it comes with a price and the price could potentially be your soul.
The Blade's Edge: trapped here forever, never able to move on into the afterlife. But he's left that decision up to you guys and Alma as Van Richten and Desdrelda finish their spell. Arcane energy wafts outward. You all um specifically bash and disown. You feel as though you are connected to the weave itself, the lines of magic that connect this world and all the worlds adjacent.
The Blade's Edge: um And you see these these lines of magic connecting you, Bash and you, Dusan, to Alma as Alma takes a breath and the spell takes place.
Kyle Beams: Gasp!
The Blade's Edge: And just for you guys listening, what this spell does is you grant the semblance of life and intelligence to a corpse of your choice, allowing it to answer the questions you pose. must still have a mouth can't be undead. Um, you can only do it once every 10 days on the same corpse. Uh, you can ask the corpse five questions. Um, and then there's some other stuff here, but obviously I'm going to let Kyle take this. So as Alma draws a breath still dead, still in the afterlife bash and to sawn five questions are at your disposal as Vin Ricton and does drill the
The Blade's Edge: both take a knee and bow their heads in reverence. The floor is yours.
Kyle: Um.
Vesz'rak: Oh boy.
Kyle: This is this is intense.
Kyle Beams: umma Alma looks at you with ah with ah soft but wet eyes.
Kyle: Yeah, um Bash. Kind of puts his axe in front of him, um so the axe head is down, and he's kind of just holding on to the handle with both hands um and his lip is kind of quivering as if he's trying to hold back tears. so um And he he speaks up and he says, I spent what felt like a lifetime in a single moment trying to decide what the right thing to do was. And it's pretty easy for me to look back and think that I made the wrong decision as I lost someone dear to me and a friend.
Kyle: But I just have to know whether or not you think I did the right thing.
Kyle Beams: And Alma looks at you, and she's kind of lifted up by her chest, arms kind of floating ethereally by her sides, and looks over at you and says, you followed your heart. That's the only thing I'd ever ask of you. I forgive you, but forgiveness isn't needed.
The Blade's Edge: As Alma says, forgiveness isn't needed and the first of five questions has been asked. You see behind Alma, as she says, forgiveness isn't needed. um You see the apparition of a hand on Alma's shoulder, this ghostly spectral hand of a tiefling man with horns protruding from his head, earrings in each ear.
The Blade's Edge: um his but bearded or braided beard. Her brother Gilman appears behind her ghostly hand on her shoulder as that question is asked.
Kyle: I just say thank you and and take a step back.
Vesz'rak: Yeah. Uh, the son will step forward, um, passing bash and kind of putting a hand on his shoulder.
Vesz'rak: Alma, do you want us to bring you back to life here? The cost is pretty high. You're my soul's already spoken for here and going to be trapped forever, but you have a choice. Do you want to be bound to this?
Vesz'rak: Land forever if we bring you back.
Kyle Beams: Being trapped in this world with my friends isn't the worst fate. But I think I'd like to be free. And I think you can move forward with this in mind.
The Blade's Edge: As she says that, Dassan, I think you um you maybe ah find a sense of relief in that. Somebody else's soul also not being trapped in this realm forever.
The Blade's Edge: um Maybe there's some relief, but there's also some sadness as you realize Dassan Vesrak that you've lost another friend. You see behind her Gilman Graves hand on her shoulder and a hand on Gilman's shoulder. And behind him, you see the visage of your ah former compatriot Roy Halovich dog at his side, Raven on his shoulder.
The Blade's Edge: his hand on Gilman's gilman's hand on Alma. Your second question has been asked.
Vesz'rak: All bash. I got three more questions.
Kyle: Hmm.
Kyle: Alma, is there anything in this world that you wanted to see, wanted to do, wanted to make right, wanted to bring vengeance, anything that you weren't able to do? Because if there is, and we we will see to it that it gets done.
Kyle Beams: When my brother came to Barovia, he was searching for the leader of the werewolves. I believe that we slayed him on this day. His quest, his mission, his revenge is complete. And my mission was just to be an acolyte of Lathander. I think I accomplished all of those things. But peeling back the darkness to make way for the light, that's my one mission for you.
Kyle: I'll dismantle the darkness, little by little.
The Blade's Edge: um As she issues her final request, dismantling the darkness, um you see Alma's body there, Gilman's hands on Alma's shoulder, Roy Halovich's hand on Gilman's shoulder, and a hand on Roy's shoulder that you all recognize. um To you, Bash, it seems like, you know, ah from another lifetime,
The Blade's Edge: and an observer of an observer of an observer, but for you, Dassan, you recognize Valerius Moonstone in the afterlife.
The Blade's Edge: hand on Roy's shoulder, Roy's hand on gilman Gilman's, Gilman's onto Alma.
The Blade's Edge: There are two more questions, but it is up to five. So if you have all the information you need, that is your guy's call.
Vesz'rak: Alma, there's something I need to ask. Is is the light of Lathander as warm as I pray it is? do you Do you think that I could be fast in the light like you are?
Kyle Beams: I always look upon you and I feel that light. You just close yourself off to it. Embrace it. It's yours. And it always has been.
Kyle: Dishon, is there anything else that you would like to ask?
Vesz'rak: ah
Vesz'rak: where Where would you like to be laid to rest Alma?
Kyle Beams: Burn me and return my ashes to wherever everyone else would lie back in the town of Barovia, the graves of my brother, where we were, where technically I i was reborn, isn't a bad option.
The Blade's Edge: The final question answered. You see the familiar. um Maybe you guys remember the graveyard in the town of Barovia, where every night ghosts rise up from the graveyard and lay siege to. Strahd's Tower.
The Blade's Edge: Castle Ravenloft. You guys witnessed that happening, the green ghostly visage every night. um You know where Alma wishes to be buried as the last breath leaves her lips. The compatriots, Gilman's, Roy, Valerius also disappear behind Alma.
The Blade's Edge: And I think for the first time, you guys were looking at Alma, and you saw these ghosts behind. And as they disappear, you realize that behind these ghosts, so like Alma, ah Gilman, Roy, Valerius, behind them, almost in a line, almost like as if it were a conga line, the next in line, you see ah standing against the wall, against the back wall, there's this like, it almost looks like a standing suit of armor.
The Blade's Edge: um that is motionless, but as you as these. ah Visages disappear and you know where Alma wishes to be buried. ah You see this. Sort of machine looking suit of armor on the back wall and as you do. Cow beams. Go ahead and describe to us your new character.
Kyle Beams: um Yeah, you start to see like a light emanating from within this this this um creature and it starts to kind of stir up like ah like an engine starting up. um And you hear a voice that says, oh, spare the tears, darlings, if wallowing brought them back, our dear friend would be right here giving us a standing ovation.
Kyle Beams: um and I begin to walk forward. ah but
Kyle Beams: Over here, looking at Drasdlda and looking over at Von Richton and I'm like, you kept me in hibernation for too long, my boy.
The Blade's Edge: because as him and Dezdriller stand up, he says, ah yes, Mr.
Kyle: Von Richten, who is this?
The Blade's Edge: Bash, Mr. Desan, first and foremost, I want to let you know that Dezdriller is heading towards the village of Barovia and will bring Alma's body to rest with your compatriots Thus to not lay your adventures any further. Speaking of adventures, this here is something I've been working on. He points to the corner and you see like half finished versions of this thing. ah He goes, um, but this is the first
The Blade's Edge: time I have been successful in creating something worthy to show the world, to carry out our mission. This here is style of a dark.
Kyle Beams: Oh Von Richton, you're so consistently dour, I'm starting to wonder if you're hunting vampires or trying to hypnotize them with boredom. Where are the werewolves, the vampires, the ghouls? I yearn for the hunt!
The Blade's Edge: Right. Well, speaking of that, I think he looks at Desdralda who like sort of nods. He says, I think as Desdralda takes Alma back, we shall burn Alma here. There is a uh, shoot in the roof that the flames and smoke can go out to not suffocate us. Desdrelda will take Alma's body back to the town of Barovia, style of a dark here. If it is kosher with, call the lightning, style of a dark here will join you and age you on your journeys.
Kyle Beams: I hear call the lightning and you start to see like a kind of like lightning color glow emanate from within my chest and you hear like a faint whirring. Call the lightning, huh? I like it.
Kyle: um
Kyle: I'm gonna say ah Let's see what that lightning can do first and is there like a stone that I can pick up? Like just laying around is there any like rubble or anything?
The Blade's Edge: Yeah, sure.
Kyle: Want to pick up a stone and I want to throw it into the air Throw it super high up into the air
The Blade's Edge: OK.
The Blade's Edge: Yes, bash throws up ah a a stone table ah into the air. Roll me an athletics check. Let's see how high you throw that table.
Kyle: i say Let's see if you can hit this.
Kyle: Wait, I'm throwing a table?
The Blade's Edge: You're like a stone table.
Kyle: I just wanna throw a rock.
The Blade's Edge: Well, the only thing around you was a stone table.
Kyle: Can I break off an edge of the stone table?
Kyle Beams: Throw the whole thing, my boy!
Vesz'rak: Hold table, hold table, hold table.
Kyle Beams: I'll handle it!
Kyle: now Of course he's gonna hit the table.
Kyle Beams: I've got it, no problem at all!
The Blade's Edge: Yeah. Van recten says, I mean, if you're going to destroy my table, you might as well throw the whole thing.
Kyle: All right, I'm throwing this big, how tall is the room?
The Blade's Edge: and you're It's like a hundred feet underground. You like look up and this elevator took you guys down like a hundred feet underground.
Kyle: Oh.
Kyle: Yeah, I'm trying to like shot, put, throw this thing as high and as hard as I can. I wanna see if you can hit the table.
The Blade's Edge: Totally. Nice. Yeah. Maybe it's a small table. It's a small side table.
Kyle: Okay.
The Blade's Edge: Bedside table.
Kyle: Also, I'm exhausted, so I have disadvantage on this.
The Blade's Edge: The size of a boulder.
The Blade's Edge: Okay.
Kyle: Athletics, you said?
The Blade's Edge: Athletics check.
Kyle: That's gonna be a natural one.
The Blade's Edge: Okay. Um, all right.
Kyle: God damn it!
The Blade's Edge: So what does it still get thrown in the air?
Kyle: hu
The Blade's Edge: It's done nine feet up.
Kyle Beams: Yeah.
The Blade's Edge: So he throws this in the air. Um, style of a doc. He seems like as if he has challenging to see your abilities as he throws it up in the air. What do you do?
Kyle Beams: ah Well, that's not a vampire first and foremost, but I'll play along with your charade and I jump into the air and then disappear briefly reappearing 15 feet above and um I. ah Were just a little bit louder.
Kyle Beams: and then cast the spell Thunder Wave and send the um and the stone table flying against the wall as a massive thunder. ah The sound of thunder emanates from me and blasts it into the wall.
The Blade's Edge: Nice, yeah you do that you jump up 15 feet it only got launched nine feet so you're ah above it, you thunder wave it down. It almost like disintegrates the entire table. And as the dust clears and the rubble clears bash. First of all you've seen you called the lightning and the thunder responded.
The Blade's Edge: But in addition to that, this thunder um has, it sort of like, you know, blows everything away, like all the dust on the ground and stuff. And as the dust clears bash, it blew your clothes off. Bash is standing there naked.
Kyle Beams: Haha, hell yeah.
Vesz'rak: Hog check. Hog check.
Kyle Beams: Uh, yeah, Stahl's like, well, ha what a killer hog you have there, bash.
Kyle: I like quickly cover up and I'm like stumbling to grab my clothes and I was like, it wasn't that cool.
Kyle: It wasn't that cool. When in actuality, I thought it was the coolest fucking thing I've ever seen in my life.
The Blade's Edge: Um, then recton says, I take that as a yes.
Kyle: And I look for my clothes and I pick them up.
The Blade's Edge: And he looks at you and he goes, Mr. The son.
Vesz'rak: All allies are good allies. I am disheartened to add another one to our ranks.
The Blade's Edge: Hmm. Well.
The Blade's Edge: You have many options at your disposal for where you are heading next. I have a recommendation for your next step, which would be to sleep the night here and leave tomorrow. And second, this is not a recommendation but merely information for the party. If you so wish to speak with the werewolves, I know their location. I also know they were not all of the same mind as Kira. There are others
The Blade's Edge: would disagree with Kirill's ways.
Kyle: Like gangs?
The Blade's Edge: There is...
Kyle Beams: Did you say vampire or werewolves?
The Blade's Edge: I did, like I said, Stahl, this is not a recommendation. You guys have plenty on your plate as you want to do, but there is one named Emile.
The Blade's Edge: Emile Torrenescu.
The Blade's Edge: And I know, heal and cure did not see eye to eye.
The Blade's Edge: There is.
Kyle Beams: I want to make their eyes see the floor as they pop from their skull.
The Blade's Edge: Right.
The Blade's Edge: You could, if one cooler heads prevail, maybe after some grieving time has passed, maybe after the three of you show style the world and
Kyle Beams: aha
The Blade's Edge: are able to get some perspective. There might be a conversation to be had if you came here all these years ago, Disan, to stop these werewolf attacks. You've certainly killed the leader of this nefarious pack, but there are others and these others could potentially be your allies.
The Blade's Edge: Seek out Emil Toronescu. Should you head that way at some point? And also seek out Zulika. Zulika at the camp was the wife of Kirill.
The Blade's Edge: But. They did not agree on Kirill's tactics.
Kyle Beams: You just see me scrolling on a notepad that says ah ah targets, and it just has those names.
The Blade's Edge: Nice, like I said, style potential allies, but maybe. The three of you need to show him the world more. Maybe don't make that your first stop.
Kyle Beams: Oh, my dear master, your melancholy is predictable. I assure you, well a little bit of chaos goes a long way.
Vesz'rak: But they might have vital information for us. We're also looking for a young boy named Timothy who might be about 80 years old.
Kyle Beams: Oh, Jimmothy! A splendid name!
Vesz'rak: They can they captured him like 70 ish years ago.
Kyle Beams: My goodness. 70 years someone with a greater name as Jimmothy has been captured? Held? Prisoner? Goodness. Master, how long have I been asleep?
The Blade's Edge: um he says hmm that is a loaded question mr star i what qualifies as sleep you were made and finished about a week ago so either one week or if you consider pre -built as sleep, then a lifetime.
Kyle Beams: Oh, that that's heavy. I'm going to have to think about that.
The Blade's Edge: Well, I will let the four of you get acquainted. There is much work to do. Desdrelda, she says,
The Blade's Edge: Yeah, ila I'm going to leave today. So I'll get the pyre started for Alma.
Vesz'rak: I'd like to stop Desdralda and kind of like grab her hand and be like, I'll do it. Let me light the pyre for Alma. I'd also, ah looking over Von Richton, I'd like to add that to my plate as well. I'd like to bury Alma. I feel like it would be better this way.
The Blade's Edge: Um, he he says, uh, surely you have a much on your plate.
The Blade's Edge: Do you want to bring the ashes to the village of Barovia?
Vesz'rak: It just feels right. I feel like I owe it to her. And I will light the pyre myself and give her her final rights as is. Lithanders will.
The Blade's Edge: Have it your way. Does drama over the next couple of hours gets the pyre set up, which is what she had. She was having to do. I just saw a new helper in this. ah Maybe a knobby helps her as well.
The Blade's Edge: um And as it is complete, um you see Van Richten ah returns from his work standing nearby.
The Blade's Edge: Desdralda takes a couple steps back.
The Blade's Edge: um And they let the the three of you, Dassan, Bashan, and Navi, do the honors.
Kyle: Yeah, before um before it gets lit, I want to just walk up. um And just kind of whisper to myself and say, I'm sorry, and I'll kiss my hand and then place my hand on her forehead.
Kyle: And take a step back.
Vesz'rak: I'll step up to the pyre and um oh i I see Alma has a prayer book and I go to grab it and I open it to a page and I stand with my left hand holding the prayer book and my right hand on the sun sword. And as I light the sun sword, I say,
Vesz'rak: O Lathander, Dawn's first light, you chase away the endless night. With every ray, new hope is born, the world awakens with the morn. Your warmth renews, your colors rise, a spark of life in darkened skies. In golden glow, we find our ways and leave behind the yesterdays. O morning Lord, we praise your name. In your light, all things reclaim. Guide us forth through brightened skies to new beginnings where dawn lies. And I light the pyre.
Kyle: and Beautiful Nice
The Blade's Edge: Um, you light the pyre. The light fills the room. The opening in the roof lets the smoke out. As Alma's body begins to burn just on, I need you to make me a wisdom saving throw.
Vesz'rak: I don't like these. All right, with here we go. Plus five. 17, Brian.
The Blade's Edge: What's your spell save DC?
Vesz'rak: Oh boy, ah it is 13.
The Blade's Edge: Okay. You succeeded. You read this right. Alma's body burns. Light fills this chamber and some time passes. We time lapse the fire burning bright, burning bright to smoldering, to complete, to darkness in this chamber as nighttime falls.
The Blade's Edge: All in this body put into an urn. The ashes of all his body put into an urn. Van Richten heads to bed to throw the heads to bed. You guys have each been given places to sleep.
The Blade's Edge: um
The Blade's Edge: And Nabi heads to bed and. um
The Blade's Edge: The three of you stand the last three before heading to bed. um Desdralda and Van Richten urged the three of you to come up with a plan for tomorrow where you're headed. First, second, what the plan is. um and then and then And then to head to bed after that.
The Blade's Edge: and ah come up Come up with a plan, and then when when you're ready to head to bed, Dassan, I will need to speak to you.
Kyle Beams: um You guys would see you would see me in the corner just sharpening a bunch of stakes and putting them in a quiver on my back.
Vesz'rak: Spooky.
Vesz'rak: ah what what what ah what do you do exactly is is so for what do you do exactly
Kyle Beams: ah Well, I kill I kill vampires and I hunt werewolves almost exclusively.
Vesz'rak: Got it. And, uh, and I kind of like tap your chest. I go, what's with the lightning chest? I mean, ah I love it. Don't get me wrong, but like, what kind of magic is it?
Kyle: It is on brand.
Vesz'rak: It is very, um, put it on a t -shirt.
Kyle Beams: sometimes Sometimes I explode in righteous fury.
Vesz'rak: Uh,
Vesz'rak: Oh my God.
Kyle: Is that healthy?
Kyle Beams: ah Define healthy, my friend.
Kyle: Oh, I guess you don't know what healthy is.
Kyle Beams: haha
Kyle: You're a robot.
Kyle Beams: i can I can infer some things, though. um I would say, for the most part, I'm made of many special things that Von Richten's gathered over the course of his journeys. and Here I am now to go on adventures with you. What's the world like? Tell me.
Vesz'rak: Dark, dreary, rainy.
Kyle: Depressing. Sad.
Kyle Beams: Honestly, if grief were a weapon, you all would be unstoppable.
Vesz'rak: You ever been to Seattle in the winter?
Kyle Beams: Seattle. Seattle. Seattle. Is that... Is there a basketball team named the Supersonics there?
Vesz'rak: A thousand -yard stare, huh? What? Okay.
Kyle Beams: I can tell you what I can do and that's.
The Blade's Edge: every Everybody takes one point of psychic damage and your nose is, your nose is perfectly, yeah.
Kyle Beams: On the mention of, yeah, OK, OK, I'm working it down.
Vesz'rak: yeah Deal, deal.
Kyle Beams: See Seattle Super Sonic's damage, yeah.
Vesz'rak: Yeah, yeah. I think they're in Oklahoma now.
Kyle Beams: um I I I show you guys my arms and I just like move my fingers a little bit and then my left arm turns into a light crossbow. And it pops up from inside it and I'm like.
Kyle: Oh, that's fire.
Kyle Beams: I like to kill werewolves with this. And then I take my right hand and I'm like, and I like to kill other stuff with this. And it's just, a um it just echoes like a bunch of magical energy from my right arm. um And I'm like, hey, ah I'm gonna grab one of those stakes from my back and I put it on top of the magic and I cast the catapult spell.
Vesz'rak: I'm sick.
Kyle Beams: um And object po flies and sticks into the wall.
Vesz'rak: So you were literally built to kill vampires and werewolves.
Kyle Beams: Oh yes, absolutely. That's all I care to do.
Vesz'rak: Where were you 70 odd years ago?
Kyle Beams: You'll have to ask Von Richten. I was just born slash not born.
Vesz'rak: Oh man, we could eat.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah, he's ah and look what you you get the sense that vo Van Richten and Desdrelda, with whatever order they belong to, with that that symbol around their necks, ah they are both vampire hunters, werewolf hunters, ah hunters of the of evil, basically.
Vesz'rak: Van Helsing if you will.
The Blade's Edge: ah Yes, Van Helsing, Van Richten, we're starting to see the connection.
Kyle Beams: Ugh!
The Blade's Edge: Um, and you get the sense that they built, uh, stall the doc.
Kyle: Mmm.
The Blade's Edge: Um, you know, obviously there's, we live in a world with magic, so it's not like he's a robot. You know what I mean? Like, uh, there might be, there are similarities to a robot. There's some science here for sure.
The Blade's Edge: There's some, uh, steam punky science going on with like, uh, like crossbows popping out of arms, but there's some magic that was definitely involved in this as well.
The Blade's Edge: I mean, you guys just spoke to your. your dead friends, you guys.
Kyle Beams: Yeah, my gears are turning and my magic is surging.
The Blade's Edge: um And this could be a good ah ah point as Stalvadoc is showing Desan and Bash what he can do as we sort of zoom out back to the player scape. And we ah here talk about ah for Kyle to let the listeners know and for Kyle to let both of you guys know what it is you're playing.
Kyle Beams: Yeah, so I'm playing Stalvedoc, the Warforged Artificer. um I went with the Artillerist subclass, and so I'll be showing off some sweet cannon action, some cool arcane infusions. My first infusion um that I used is the one that allowed me to teleport 15 feet, boots of the winding path. So as a bonus action, I can teleport up to 15 feet to an unoccupied space I can see. It says I must have occupied that space at some point during the current turn, but we just kind of had fun with it for that one.
Kyle Beams: We'll play it by the rules during combat as per tradition. um But yeah, I'm rocking a ah crossbow, and I've got some kind of magical hum emanating from within my chest. um What happens with that? We will find out over time. um But yeah, I'll be summoning a ah cannon, like a flamethrower, ballista, that kind of stuff, and casting a bunch of sweet spells.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah. So for those of you listening and for our players here, an artificer is, is basically like a master of invention. So they use ingenuity and magic to unlock extraordinary capabilities in objects.
The Blade's Edge: So you see like, uh, so all the doc has, he, as an artificer, he can make certain things magical, like your shield, right? Your shield is infused with some magic.
Kyle Beams: Yep, my shield is infused with the ability to increase my armor class.
Vesz'rak: Yeah, cool.
Kyle Beams: or no it's sorry it Oh, yeah, it does increase my armor, and I can potentially push the attacker away.
The Blade's Edge: Yes, that's the infusion.
Kyle Beams: um Yeah.
The Blade's Edge: The armor class is just from holding a shield. He's got a bunch of that have tools to channel their arcane power. They're sort of a half caster like paladins.
Kyle Beams: And intelligence -based.
The Blade's Edge: The only other intelligence -based class, an artillerist he use specializes in using magic to hurl energy projectiles and explosions on a battlefield. um
Kyle Beams: Yeah, we we rolled stats, um and I'm at a plus one strength, plus one dex, plus two con, plus five to int, plus one to whiz, and plus zero to charisma.
The Blade's Edge: That's pretty good.
Kyle: I am.
Kyle Beams: Sitting at 59 HP, 19 AC, and honestly, I'm ready to hunt some vampires and werewolves.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah, so he can make, ah he can make some stuff, specifically an Eldritch Cannon, which he can flavor that however he'd like. um He can magical tinkering is something that he can do. He's got to be kitted him out with a um a a magical light crossbow that will do special damage to people of this world, especially the main enemies of this world, vampires and werewolves.
Kyle Beams: Mm hmm.
The Blade's Edge: um He's got something in his chest that will let that be seen when it is seen. um But yeah, very fun. Warforged Artificer. ah Great.
The Blade's Edge: Love it. Just so you guys know what you're dealing with, like what you're kind of what your compatriot can and do and stuff.
Kyle Beams: Yeah, and then.
The Blade's Edge: So
Kyle Beams: We'd we'd be chatting and like, by the way, yeah I guess my ah my code name is Stalva Doc, but you guys can just call me Doc for short.
Vesz'rak: That was going to be one of my next questions. Cool. Cool. Cool. Anything. But if you had to put it on like a small name tag, I'll allow it.
Kyle Beams: I would I would prefer to have on the small name tag ah the merciless slayer of all fucking gross creatures, but Doc is acceptable.
Kyle: Okay. Alright.
Kyle Beams: um Also, ah Von Richten, he'll probably do this at some point, but if at any point I become too overwhelming for you, you can always ask to turn down my settings.
Kyle: You know what your settings are at right now?
Kyle Beams: For which specific?
Kyle: um Cockiness.
Kyle Beams: Cockiness.
Kyle Beams: Cockiness is sitting at a solid 85%.
Vesz'rak: What's your humor level?
Kyle Beams: Humor level. people bupo peeppeep ah Sitting at a solid 65%.
Vesz'rak: Yeah, we're going to need to up that for sure.
Kyle Beams: Adjusting to 100 % humor.
Vesz'rak: 100%. OK,
Kyle Beams: Okay, you got it, my man.
Vesz'rak: back down, back down.
Kyle Beams: Okay, okay, okay, we're gonna go adjusting to 85%.
Kyle: Yeah, that'll be a constant.
Vesz'rak: ah god in a check
Kyle: Yes, constant and adjustment.
Vesz'rak: yeah I should imagine that like there's like a panel like that, like flips open on his tummy and it just has like knobs that you can rotate where it's like, it's like humor, bravery, sadness.
Kyle: Yeah.
Kyle Beams: and Seriously, go for it. I'm TARS.
The Blade's Edge: um And then you were next, you were also tasked with coming up with a plan.
Kyle: Yeah.
The Blade's Edge: So this is you guys can do this in game or out of game either way, but just so we are. So I know what you're doing next. What's the plan?
Vesz'rak: All right, I got a list. So we have, Mark it off.
Kyle: So we made it to the ah the tower. Well, some of us.
Vesz'rak: We have wizard ally, Argan Vossholt. ah Wizard Ally was the card for Bash. Argan Vosselt was the card for Anabi. I think our original plan was to go to Lake Zerovich to find the Mad Mage because we knew they were lurking around there. We did a drive -by in our last session. um The Amber Temple was Alma's card. I don't know if that's still in play or not.
Vesz'rak: um
The Blade's Edge: ah Who the card was are not necessarily doesn't matter whose card it was that was your guys is reading No, the cards are meant for you guys as a group
Vesz'rak: Okay, so they're not bound to like individuals then.
Kyle: Yeah.
Vesz'rak: Okay, ah the Windmill with the Hags, ah the Mother Knight, which is the werewolf stuff, Jimmothy, and then ultimately Strahd, which we know from the card reading that he can be found in his father's tomb.
Kyle Beams: Mm.
Kyle Beams: um Can I do a religion check on Mother Night? As Doc.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah, sure. Can your religion check? Put you guys on the map too, so you can see all your stuff.
Kyle Beams: My first role, my first role is a 20.
Kyle: Oh my god.
Kyle Beams: Mother Night, mother of werewolves. Tell me about that.
The Blade's Edge: Nice. um Also, you might be a little hot, Mike -wise. Just a heads up.
Kyle Beams: Oh, OK. Yeah, sure.
The Blade's Edge: Mother Nights, you know, is a mistake. Even with the natural 20, you know that Mother Night is a very mysterious deity that has a lot of influence in the land of Barovia.
The Blade's Edge: Um. It's did whenever you what ah Van Richten maybe programmed into you or let you know when he was building you about this is that Mother Nights generally depicted by werewolves as a feminine figure with a wolf's head. So Mother Night seems to be like a god or something that werewolves specifically worship, ah but not only werewolves.
The Blade's Edge: Um, yeah, sometimes, uh, shown as a feminine figure with a wolf's head, sometimes represented as a hooded figure with downturned wings.
The Blade's Edge: Um, do, do, do.
Kyle Beams: Fascinating. I'll shoot her out of the sky.
The Blade's Edge: Um, and then with a natural 20, uh, yeah, I mean, mother night is, is, is respected and acknowledged by certain inhabitants of Barovia. Um, some people, worst person, people just know who she is. Uh, the presence is most strongly fell between dusk and dawn. Uh, when the, when the moon is out and shining.
The Blade's Edge: ah Prayers don't seem to necessarily be answered, much like most prayers to any God. But um do do what
The Blade's Edge: um
The Blade's Edge: ah Yeah, according to Barov some Barovian lore, Mother Knight was like ah but an actual person originally from ah some of the mythical four cities where she and other ancient gods like the morning lord ah were said to have lived like back in the day, um whether or not this is true or not. um You also you this might be an interesting bit of information to all the doc.
The Blade's Edge: You know that where she's from, where Mother Night is from, the mythical four cities, where other ancient gods like the Morning Lord are from, Lathander, this can be seen and depicted on the megaliths near the old bone grinder.
The Blade's Edge: So ah where the witches live, if you guys recall, there were some stones out front, almost like Stonehenge.
Kyle Beams: Mm hmm.
The Blade's Edge: And that like Stonehenge is like there's a scene on those which depicts Mother Knight and Lathander living in this ancient mythical four cities.
Kyle Beams: Interesting.
The Blade's Edge: Um, ah some folks in Barovia believe that she had turned away and forsaken them and that she had sent Strahd as a punishment for their ancestors misdeeds. Uh, that's just, you know, conjecture but from people. None of that is necessarily true. Uh, there's a lot of what's true, what's not with gods and stuff, but I think with a natural 20, that's what, you know, that's what, you know, the other night.
Kyle Beams: Incredible.
Vesz'rak: Does the natural 20 also tell us if she likes to be referred to as mommy night?
The Blade's Edge: Um, uh, within that, yeah. Romeo Romeo d 100.
Kyle Beams: You roll me a mommy check. Mommy check.
Vesz'rak: Look, look, the people look, the people want to know, look, this isn't Tommy speaking.
Kyle: What what
Vesz'rak: Okay. This is for the general 48.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah. Yeah.
Kyle Beams: 48.
The Blade's Edge: With a 48 does mother and I wanted to be called mommy with a 48 mommy nights.
Vesz'rak: No mommy night. Just you want to be called mommy night.
The Blade's Edge: Right. Right. But below with a below average roll the 48 to below average.
Vesz'rak: ah Again, this is not me asking, okay? This is for the general D and &D community.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah.
Kyle Beams: Yeah.
The Blade's Edge: um
Kyle Beams: Is she off and over six feet tall?
The Blade's Edge: there's
The Blade's Edge: There's only a one way to find out, and it's just to by start doing it with a 48. That's the sense you get.
Vesz'rak: okay yeah got i Got it, got it.
The Blade's Edge: like If there's other communities that call Mother Night Mommy Night, you're they're out they might be out there, but you don't know. So to to find them, you could start that and then maybe find people.
Kyle Beams: Hello fellow mommy enjoyers in Barovia.
Vesz'rak: yeah You know what? I will be the tip of the spear. I am not afraid.
Kyle Beams: I'm the tip of this tree.
Vesz'rak: I am not afraid to stand up for what I believe in.
Kyle Beams: Oh shit. ah
Vesz'rak: Okay, anyway.
Vesz'rak: ah Perfect.
The Blade's Edge: And then you guys have still to come with a plan. So we're still waiting on that.
Vesz'rak: Right. I'll cast my vote. I think we go to Lake Zirovich to find the Mad Mage. I think That's what we originally intended to do. I think we just kind of stick to that. I think if we kind of keep changing plans as stuff pops up, um we're never going to get anywhere.
Kyle: I agree, if you go there.
Kyle Beams: And are there werewolves on the way?
Vesz'rak: I'm sure we could find some.
Kyle: Solid paint.
Kyle Beams: Excellent, fantastic.
Vesz'rak: There might even be some vampires, maybe you some great gremlins, goblins, things that go.
Kyle Beams: Vampires, you say. Ghouls, ghasts, things that go bump in the night.
Vesz'rak: Yeah. Yep. Yep. All those. Exactly. Exactly.
Kyle Beams: Joyous slaughter.
Vesz'rak: we did see ah We did see a guy fishing.
Kyle Beams: ah That is my ultimate target a guy fishing number one kill on sight any guy fishing destroyed immediately He
Vesz'rak: ah Exactly.
Kyle: You he also appear to be dumping a body into the lake.
Kyle Beams: okay, yes, definitely public enemy number one I'm with you guys.
Kyle: One thing is for sure.
Kyle Beams: so Yeah Absolutely not I'm either a a
Kyle: We need to rest before. Do you have to rest at all or sleep or anything like that? You're a robot.
Kyle Beams: whatever you would consider alive, i am I am powered on. And if I get powered off, then I'm powered off.
The Blade's Edge: Yes, you have to take ah six hours in an inactive motionless state rather than sleeping. You appear inert, but it doesn't render you unconscious. You can still see in here, but you are inactive and motionless for six hours.
Kyle Beams: I'll link it.
Kyle: Well, we need to do ah that before we do anything else. Because I am exhausted.
Vesz'rak: yeah we Yeah, we need to take a little snoozer for sure.
The Blade's Edge: Okay. You guys had to bed.
Vesz'rak: Yeah, i'll um I'll make sure to, I don't know how to like ceremoniously do this, Brian, but like how would I collect Alma's ashes?
The Blade's Edge: They're already in an earn. Um, if you've said that you're going to take them with you to eventually bring them back to town of Barovia, they would have just put it in an earn, wrapped the earn up tight so that it can't be, uh, you know, opened in a bag or something.
Vesz'rak: Okay, so they're in and earned. Yeah.
The Blade's Edge: So it's. You know, it's locked. It's sealed.
Vesz'rak: Yeah.
The Blade's Edge: um It's in a ah nice golden urn with the morning lord symbol on one side. And on the other side, ah it says, in loving memory of Alma Graves.
Vesz'rak: So it would fit in like a backpack more so than like around my waist like ah like attached to like my belt or something like that?
The Blade's Edge: Yeah, have you not ever seen an urn before in real life?
Vesz'rak: No, I know. I'm building the picture of what ah like how i'm I'm more
The Blade's Edge: Ha ha.
Kyle Beams: yeah got you good fuckers
Vesz'rak: No, ah guys, I know what it is. Guys, I know.
The Blade's Edge: No, I just, I, I would tell the genuine question is, I mean, we, we had earns for certain family members growing up.
Vesz'rak: No.
The Blade's Edge: So I didn't know if you, if you had ever seen them before, they're pretty big.
Vesz'rak: Yeah, no, I I.
The Blade's Edge: It's like the size of your face. Yeah.
Vesz'rak: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
The Blade's Edge: It's pretty big.
Vesz'rak: um So OK, I'll put it in a backpack. I was more like I was just I'm going to carry this thing, you know.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah. We could say, yeah, I would say it's like, yeah, kind of smaller. It's, you know, maybe smaller than that. If it's yeah actually like put your hand on your chin to handle on the top of your head, that's how big it is.
Kyle Beams: Yeah, got you good, fucker.
Vesz'rak: Yeah, I wasn't sure if they had urns in Barovia, OK. I'll say that, I'll say that much. um Okay.
Kyle Beams: Now they just have a, what are they called from 7 -Eleven, just big Gulp cups.
Vesz'rak: i Yeah. Well, like in my head, I was like, oh, she'll like going to like in like a sack or something, you know, something like not, you know, not like whatever. Okay. So she's in a nerd.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah, backpack, a backpack or a sack or a bag.
Vesz'rak: She's in backpack, backpack. Okay.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah. The earn will go in, but it's, it's locks.
Vesz'rak: Yeah.
The Blade's Edge: It's not going to like open or break or whatever.
Vesz'rak: Got it. Got it.
The Blade's Edge: I'm also not going to make it break if you are a subject to like a AOE spell or something. um Yeah.
Vesz'rak: Which will happen wink wink.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah. Roll a deck save.
Vesz'rak: Okay.
The Blade's Edge: No, I'm just kidding.
Kyle Beams: almost ashes spill all over the place.
Vesz'rak: Yeah.
Kyle Beams: You give some you give some bad guy my ashes and he snorts it like with and or cocaine.
Vesz'rak: ah
The Blade's Edge: Well. Well, bad stuff can happen to the ashes now that you've decided to keep them and not have Desjardins to bring them. So now it is in your charge if they get properly buried or not.
Vesz'rak: Yeah. um
Kyle Beams: I gotta get to my final resting place.
Vesz'rak: OK, just just yeah, I just wanted to button that up. OK, then yeah, i'll I'll head to bed then with the ashes ah securely and in an urge.
The Blade's Edge: OK. You guys all head to bed.
Kyle: Mmhmm.
Vesz'rak: Sleepy time.
The Blade's Edge: Okay. um Desan. As you head to bed, you sit down and you pop open the book that you took from Alma with the
Vesz'rak: it's like It's like a prayer book.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah, with a prayer book. um And you begin to read it. And as you read it. You. See that it says in the deep heart of furthest fairy land, where foot of man has never trodden yet, the enchanted portals of her palace stand and there her sleepless sentinels are set.
The Blade's Edge: You read, you read further down in this in this book. Her palaces are decked with gleaming wings, further down, further down. She wears a robe woven of the July sun, further down, further down in magic rings of green and glistening light, further down, further down because she has woven a web of her bright hair, a tear bright web to catch one's soul. And he beheld her in her beauty, set the snare and seeing laugh and laughing passed out free. Make a con save.
Vesz'rak: Oh man, can't say 23
Kyle Beams: that one
Kyle Beams: Oh, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow.
Vesz'rak: it was awesome. It was so it was so close to peak now
Kyle: Oh.
Kyle Beams: wow
The Blade's Edge: You have a dream where you're, you, you, you fall asleep. You have a dream where you're being exercised. You're on a bed, you're tied up and somebody's exercising you and your chest begins to rip open your rib cage cracks and eight legs start to crawl out of it. As this exorcism continues, you're surrounded by all the friends you've met and this spiders. crawls out and crawls out the sun is shining through the windows, your face you begin to smile as this large spider is crawling out of your chest in your dream you're finally being exercised it's finally happening, you are able to fully commit yourself to the morning Lord as the spider exits your chest, your friends, your family begin to cheer. And one by one, the spider's legs go through each of their heads as their body drops to the ground, it turns back around to you and hugs your face.
Vesz'rak: It's like Alien.
The Blade's Edge: ah You guys wake up the next day, everybody's fully rested.
Kyle: YEAH!
Vesz'rak: It's all just like with bags under his eyes. Oh, no.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah, I, uh, I, I, I gave your, your sermon for Alma as a chance to, for you to have exercised yourself, but you wanted to fail the role and you succeeded.
Vesz'rak: ah why Oh, man.
The Blade's Edge: Uh, it was, it was the wisdom save, not, not the con say, yeah, that's what I asked what your DC was to exercise yourself, but your part of you was not ready to make that happen.
Kyle: Um, Brian, uh, for the long rest, it says that I can recover one level of exhaustion, but I need food and drink.
The Blade's Edge: Yes.
Kyle: Are we at a place?
The Blade's Edge: Oh yeah. Yes. Yes.
Kyle: Okay.
The Blade's Edge: Yes. They have that also check your inventory. Do you have any rations?
Kyle: Uh, I do. Yeah.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah, go ahead and just mark off a rations then. You should have, you should probably have like 10.
Kyle: Beautiful. Yeah. Yeah, I got 10.
The Blade's Edge: You guys have been in a, um, in towns for the most part. So.
Kyle: Oh, I have so much HP.
Kyle Beams: He's full.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah, you guys should all be fully healed, fully rested. um As morning comes, Desdrelda and ah Van Richten await you guys at the door and on your way out, Van Richten says,
The Blade's Edge: Mr. Dassan, Mr. Stahl Vadak, and Mr. Bash, when the time comes and you make your move on Strahd's Castle, Desdrelda and I will be there. You have the full power of the all missed inquisitors at your back.
Vesz'rak: The what serial? The...
The Blade's Edge: ah The missed inquisitors, he goes on to tell you guys, and this is something that you would know as well as Stalvadoc. Maybe you know this is part of your programming.
The Blade's Edge: Um, still up to you. You still have, you are still have your own consciousness and are able to do whatever you'd like. Um, but, um, yeah with the almost inquisitors evil lurks everywhere with our minds. We will unearth it. We will plummet depths and we will annihilate it. With those words, the psychically gifted, uh, priest, all med founded the almost inquisition and order of psionic inquisitors that seek to discover the wickedness hiding in people's souls.
The Blade's Edge: Um, I'm putting that in in the days before this is maybe something he tells you a story.
Kyle Beams: i like it
The Blade's Edge: He tells you guys over breakfast before you head out in the days before count, Strahd von Zarovich became the first vampire, which is what you will learn from him here is that Strahd was the first one.
The Blade's Edge: Strahd before though, that day, Strahd thundered across the lands with a man named Almed.
Kyle Beams: I like it.
The Blade's Edge: Their mission was clear, to destroy the infernal powers that had corrupted the world and to ensure that those powers never rose again. Strahd was a good guy, it sounds like. Strahd, Almed, and their companions hunted fiends, undead, aberrations, other supernatural threats that were tireless foes um of cults like the priests of Osiris. As he says this over breakfast, maybe Inabi looks over um But when Strahd fell into darkness, Olimid was heartbroken at his friend's transformation and changed the Inquisition's mission. Instead of focusing on hunting monsters, it would also hunt the seeds of evil that can corrupt a person.
The Blade's Edge: um
Kyle Beams: Fantastic.
The Blade's Edge: Ulmid and his friends, Cosima, Ansel, and Tristan, organized the Inquisition into three orders, with each one specializing in a specific thing that is not necessarily as important for this.
The Blade's Edge: um to do ah Let's see. um Today, the Inquisition rules mainly in a city of Malataine, a vast city state to the north of Barovia's original site, so outside of the mist, so you guys can't get there from here. ah The Inquisition sends its members throughout the multiverse seeking to thwart the work of malevolent cults, otherworldly horrors, and the malice of mortals.
The Blade's Edge: The zeal of the inquisitors in this work has caused them to be a source of terror in many communities where folks fear that an overzealous inquisitor might be as great a monster as the fiends inquisitor originally hunted. So not necessarily are they seen everywhere. I'll put that a little bit of info in the chat. But it looks like in Barovia. Um. Uh.
The Blade's Edge: In Barovia, the Ole Miss inquisitors that are here are Van Richten and Desdralda. um And obviously the Ole Miss inquisitors are now, you know, friends with the. um Was the Raven guys, what were they called?
Kyle Beams: Shit, I don't remember the name.
Vesz'rak: Who the wait, what was your yeah keepers of the feather.
The Blade's Edge: keepers of the feather.
Kyle Beams: Keepers of the feather, there we go.
Vesz'rak: Yeah
The Blade's Edge: So, you have, yes, the almost inquisitors and the keepers of the feather, ah you know, as you leave ah with, as you leave with almost ashes in the urn, then Richton tells you all about the almost inquisitors.
The Blade's Edge: ah You know that when you finally make your move on Strahd's Castle, not only will the Keepers of the Feather be there to help, but so will Van Richten and Desdralda.
Kyle Beams: Hell yeah.
Kyle: Amazing.
Kyle Beams: um I stand up and I go over to Polk and Abi, who hasn't said anything this entire time that he's been in this room. And I'm like, um why so dour?
Kyle Beams: Even the undead have more pep than you. What's your story, boy?
Trevor: Holy, who are you? Whoa, where am I? Who are you?
The Blade's Edge: And you've, yeah, so Nabi, you met this guy yesterday. This is ah Kyle's new character. This is like a vampire hunter sort of robot thing, but don't think actual robots and mix of science and magic.
Trevor: Yeah, fuck yeah.
The Blade's Edge: Um, and we, the characters have learned that he is playing a warforged artificer. He's shown you guys some of his abilities, artillerists, um, got some magic items on him, got some something magical in his chest.
Trevor: Sick.
The Blade's Edge: We don't know fully what it does yet. Um, and he's going to be accompanying you guys as sort of this, uh, uh, vampire hunter robot with you guys. Uh, but as you guys are leaving, um, essentially you guys have decided that you're going to head to the the lake and search out this ally, this mad mage ally.
The Blade's Edge: um You just heard this whole story about the Ole Miss inquisitors, which is what they are, about how they used to fight the priests of Osiris way back in the day when Strahd was a member of the Ole Miss inquisitors.
The Blade's Edge: um And all this stuff.
Trevor: Oh, shit.
The Blade's Edge: And as you guys head out, stall the stall the dock, the ah robot vampire hunter, aka Doc, comes over and pokes your chest.
Trevor: Hey. Yeah.
Kyle Beams: And tell me, what's your favorite creature to vanquish in all of Barovia?
Trevor: Nice to meet you.
Trevor: ah Right now, probably vampires.
Kyle Beams: I knew I liked you, my boy. Hey, why are we still in here in the tower?
Kyle Beams: There are no vampires, no werewolves, no ghouls here.
Kyle: I'm ready to...
Kyle Beams: Let's be on our way.
Trevor: Let's get out of here.
Kyle: ready to embark.
Vesz'rak: Yeah. Yeah. And I'll be while you were asleep, we were talking about heading back to Lake Zorovich to find, uh, yeah, mad mage guy.
Trevor: Mad mange, dude. Sick. Yeah, let's do it.
The Blade's Edge: Alright, as you guys head out, we will take a step back and we will revisit something that we've done earlier this episode, Trev, which is you level you guys all leveled up. So you guys are level eight.
The Blade's Edge: um What are you taking your level up in this level?
Trevor: Oh, yeah. Took it in wizard. Again, Stained Wizard.
The Blade's Edge: And is this your what level of wizard is this?
Trevor: ah Here, I just got another spell, I think. Hang on.
The Blade's Edge: So what is this your seventh level of wizard?
Trevor: ah Yes.
The Blade's Edge: I see you have one level of something else. The seventh level of wizard means. Yes, you've unlocked fourth level spells.
Trevor: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
The Blade's Edge: Lovely.
The Blade's Edge: um
Kyle Beams: Fantastic.
The Blade's Edge: OK. You guys head out. With the promise from Van Richten and Des Rilda that.
The Blade's Edge: when your assaults on Strahd and his many allies at his castle takes place. Not only will the Keepers of the Feather be with you, but so will the Almas Inquisitors. All right, and I put you guys back on the map here. um You guys, this little token represented by this little lizard over here.
The Blade's Edge: You're on Lake Baratok. You take the elevator up to the ground floor. As you exit, um dead wolves ah ah surround the the the tower, ah dead humans from the fight you guys took place yesterday. ah The carrions feeding on their bodies as you guys head outside, um birds picking them apart.
Kyle Beams: This is the most beautiful thing I've seen in my life. You all did this?
Vesz'rak: Well, it was really a lot of bash and I kind of pat bash on the back.
Kyle: Yeah.
Kyle Beams: Bash. Bash. What a verb. Bash. I loved bash. Smash. Crush. Mame. Yes.
Kyle: Yeah, well, that's what I was named for.
Kyle Beams: Yes. I'm going to like traveling with you.
The Blade's Edge: Um, okay. And where, where to you guys, they can all control that, that token. Go ahead and show them, show me the route. Show me the route, show me the route.
Vesz'rak: ah I feel like we just go back the same way we came like the northern route um back over the bridge.
The Blade's Edge: Heading East through the road.
Vesz'rak: Yeah, heading east and we can either go north at the bridge or head back into Valaki and grab the boats and go across the water. What do you guys what are you guys thinking?
Kyle: that could be a good idea well you know I don't want to assume well I guess I do assume that every place here is dangerous if we're on a boat and some other a person with a boat happens to attack us I will be next to useless
Vesz'rak: We're gonna have some naval combat links. sir of
Kyle Beams: I'll get you on that boat, my boy, no problem. but
Kyle: It's not getting on the boat I'm worried about, it's getting off of it.
Vesz'rak: Anabi, how are you feeling?
Trevor: I mean, I'm down.
Vesz'rak: Like you want to go.
Trevor: We can send it.
Vesz'rak: Do you want to traverse? Do you want to walk around all of Lake Zorovich, which could probably take a day, or do you want to see if we could like grab a boat and just row across?
Trevor: We could try the boat thing. um Walking in is probably the, I would assume slightly say, has any of us been on a boat before?
Kyle: I've never been on a boat.
Trevor: I haven't either.
Vesz'rak: I don't think I've actually ever been on a boat either.
Kyle Beams: I don't really know what a boat is.
Trevor: Yeah, that makes me feel like the boat might be a little more of a risk, which I'm down with. If we want to, I'm cool with it, but, uh, I'm like 60 40 in favor of walking around, but I could absolutely be convinced about it.
Trevor: If we want to try that for the first time as a squat, you know, that's a pretty fair point.
Kyle: Yeah, do we we really want to be out in the open with no cover in case things go wrong after we saw a shiesty looking man dumping unknown goods into the water?
Vesz'rak: We don't even know if he's still there. I mean, that was yesterday, right? I mean, but okay, let's just start, let's just start heading East and we we'll we'll talk about it on the road.
Kyle: Not good to me.
Trevor: Yeah, maybe we walk around and if we get if we're feeling really good about it by the time we get there, if we still need to cross back over, maybe then we look for a boat and try and swim back.
Kyle: That works.
Trevor: I guess all the boats would probably be on this side by the city though, so that might not work. But yeah, let's keep walking them down with that.
The Blade's Edge: OK.
Vesz'rak: Yeah, so it sounds like we're walking by
The Blade's Edge: All right, you guys are walking to the east as you guys do, you look back and you see at the top of the tower through one of the windows, the ghostly vicious visage of Alma of Gilman's of Valyrias of Roy.
The Blade's Edge: Waving at you all, everybody has inspiration.
Kyle: Let's go!
The Blade's Edge: You're each given an inspiration from one of the four dead PCs in this land.
Kyle Beams: Nice. I'm glowing a little bit brighter right now.
The Blade's Edge: um And in addition to that, on your walk, you guys are taking this this northern route, is that correct?
Vesz'rak: Yeah, so once we hit the bridge, instead of going into Valaki, we're going to head north up the river and probably follow the lake all the way around to the northeast.
The Blade's Edge: Love that. Everybody wrote me a D20.
Kyle Beams: Another D20 affirmative.
Vesz'rak: 10 for Dusan.
The Blade's Edge: Okay.
Kyle Beams: Oh, also, Trevor, my first ah my first role was a Nat 20.
Trevor: Nah, let's go.
Kyle Beams: Yeah.
Kyle: I have two 10s and two 16s.
The Blade's Edge: Okay. um It's early in the day. You guys head along the road. It seems like you guys, no perception check required. You are a long rested, Jeff.
The Blade's Edge: um and No perception required. You guys, it's the next day. You're long rested. You head on the road. And the world seems a little quieter. I mean, yesterday you were hearing wolves barking. There was explosions at the tower from the things that you guys were doing. ah The tower shot out a lightning. The caravan exploded. There were wolves barking. There was an attack. There was this along your guys's sort of journey east along the road.
The Blade's Edge: You don't encounter anything. You maybe even look back to where that bundle of clothes was. Nothing there. ah You guys head all the way to the so the bridge. Feel free to move your token over there. Whoever's keeping track of that. And then ah you guys get to the bridge.
The Blade's Edge: um I'll raise you a little something here. ah this This road comes to an X intersection, with branches which branches to the northwest, ah the northeast, the southwest, and the southeast. The lower half of a snapped wooden signpost thrust upwards at an angle near the eastern elbow of the intersection. ah The top half of the sign, featuring arms pointing in four directions, lies in the weeds nearby.
Kyle Beams: Huh?
Kyle: Mmm.
The Blade's Edge: And you can continue on if you'd like. Or you could check that stuff out up to you.
Vesz'rak: I mean, he's just dangling it in front of us. All right, I'll go pick up the sign. I'll go write it. I'll go write the sign.
Trevor: yeah
Vesz'rak: I'll go, I'll go, I'll go correct the sign. Okay.
The Blade's Edge: Cool. Um, you very easily figure out how the top half of the signpost connects the lower half. Uh, once the two parts of the sign are aligned and rejoined, um, you don't really have a way to rejoin them unless you use some rope or something, but the arms indicate that there is a place called Kresge and a place called Sri Lanka pass to the Southwest.
Vesz'rak: Okay.
The Blade's Edge: And, uh, there is Lake Baratok to the Northwest, Volocchi and Ravenloft to the Northeast and Berez to the Southeast is what this sign says.
Vesz'rak: Okay. I did not spell Selenka Pass anywhere near correctly.
The Blade's Edge: That's all right.
Vesz'rak: Tres Selenka Pass.
Kyle: Wait, can you mark on the map where exactly we are right now where we see this?
The Blade's Edge: Yeah, you're right where the token is.
Kyle: ah Okay, perfect.
The Blade's Edge: So right at this, there's, yeah, you've come to a, uh, sort of a, it's right before this bridge.
Vesz'rak: Little wizard token guy.
The Blade's Edge: So see how, see how right here where I'm clicking on the map, there are four ways to go.
Kyle: Yes.
The Blade's Edge: This is where the sign is. And then right in front of the sign is this bridge that would head over into Valaki and the river that heads north into Lake Zarovich, um, Lake Baratok, where you just came from.
The Blade's Edge: Um, yeah, so you're kind of, you're right, you're right. There is where you fix the sign, ah but nothing else happens. And it is the day is yours.
Kyle: Gotcha. I mean, this sign doesn't really help us. We know where we're going.
Vesz'rak: i I can't even read those words.
Kyle Beams: It doesn't say vampires ahead, or werewolves ahead, werewolves in the woods, ghouls in the graveyard, perhaps.
Kyle: the
Kyle: Unfortunately, Doc, it does not.
Kyle: But there will be other signs that we see those things. It's just not gonna be written on this one right here.
Kyle Beams: Excellent. I will have my sensors optimized for that.
Kyle: Let's continue alone.
Vesz'rak: Yeah, let's go north.
Kyle Beams: Sorry, that might be loud.
The Blade's Edge: um As you as you guys head ah north along the sort of edge of the forest up to Lake Czarovitch You get to Lake Czarovitch you you look out to where you saw the guy on the boat the other day Well, it's not currently raining right now.
Kyle: That's fine.
The Blade's Edge: Nobody's out there. You don't see any boats out on the lake um As you look back ah Towards Valaki, you know a couple miles off you see that there are some boats ah that are like, you know ah washed up you know pulled up ashore and ah over at the north end of the blocky.
The Blade's Edge: But as you guys sort of are just going around the lake on the outside, ah sort of outside the forest, but along the edge of the lake, you don't necessarily notice anything crazy.
Trevor: Question, um that boat that we saw the dude in, is there any check we can make to see if that boat is one of the boats docked either at Valaki or if it's on the shore or anywhere else around the lake?
The Blade's Edge: Hmm.
The Blade's Edge: Yes.
The Blade's Edge: You can on the map we're on for everybody listening at home, run a hexagonal map. Each hexagon is a quarter mile. So you can even see them on the map.
The Blade's Edge: So the check that you'd be making for that is one mile to a mile and a half off. So you can see the boats, but to notice that I would, yeah, it would be a DC 25.
Trevor: Oh, okay. Nah, that's all right. That's, that's fuck it. Yeah. Don't even worry about it. That's far as fuck.
The Blade's Edge: So it's possible.
Kyle Beams: Brian, would you say that we're living life one quarter mile at a time?
Trevor: I do have dark vision out there. Yeah.
The Blade's Edge: Quite literally you tell me.
Trevor: nice yeah Just that's the side that was closest.
Kyle: Wait, we're going up the left side?
Trevor: So if we're just trying to get up to the north side somewhere, we were just going to loop up this direction as opposed to like circling all the way around.
Kyle: Oh.
Kyle: Oh, right. Cause the X.
Trevor: Yeah.
Kyle: Yeah. I forgot the X isn't like exactly where, um, this mad mages.
Trevor: you
Trevor: Right, right.
Kyle: Okay. Yeah, that's fine. Yeah. We can go up the left side.
Trevor: Could be.
The Blade's Edge: Okay. You guys are heading up the left side. ah You remember Inabi hearing some wolves, which is what this X was for. As you guys get closer, it doesn't seem to be anything. The day seems to be pretty relaxed and you guys may continue your journey.
Trevor: Yeah, this it this X way over here, this is where the stories were, like the this is a rough idea of where we thought the Mad Mage could be, right? Is that what this X was placed here for?
The Blade's Edge: You guys put that X there, not me.
Trevor: Something?
The Blade's Edge: He is.
Trevor: Squaw, did we put that there?
The Blade's Edge: All you know is that he is, he's in this, he's in this foliage woods for but somewhere there that you guys put that X there to remember.
Trevor: Okay,
Trevor: okay cool, cool, cool.
Vesz'rak: This, yeah, this, this X was for when we heard werewolves up in this general area.
Trevor: I think that was me.
Trevor: Right, right, right. I remember that one. I was thinking about this one over here.
The Blade's Edge: You heard wolves.
Kyle Beams: And then, yeah, that one.
Vesz'rak: Oh, that's what, that's just where we think he might be.
Trevor: I figured the mad, this was just to remember Mad Mage in this area, right?
Vesz'rak: Yeah.
Trevor: Okay. Okay. Six, six, six.
Vesz'rak: Oh, wolves, not werewolves. Sorry. Just regular ass wolves.
Trevor: Cool.
Trevor: Toy.
Kyle Beams: Wolves are okay.
Kyle: and So I say we just keep heading up north and...
Trevor: Oh wait, yeah, we should actually, uh, this is a valid fucking point though, because we did leave some people dipped here. And this is where I heard a meeting going on where they came from, I think. So as we're making our way here, we should probably be on our shit. Just keeping an eye out in case we come across them again.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah, no perception check needed. You don't hear anybody. It doesn't seem like there's anybody still there in the woods.
Trevor: Okay, cool.
Kyle Beams: Can I investigate um just to see if I can find anything that might contradict that?
The Blade's Edge: Sure. You want to head, you'd have to head over to where this X is.
Kyle Beams: Yeah, I would hear you guys were talking about wolves and werewolves out in the woods, yeah.
The Blade's Edge: So the i ah group would have to tell you.
Trevor: Yeah, do want i I'm down to go investigate that area with you, take you over to where I.
Vesz'rak: Yeah, I mean, we're going to be kind of pseudo passing it. I mean, maybe a quarter mile away from it.
Kyle: I imagine if there's some crazy secret meeting going on, they're not going to have be doing it close to the coast where people might be able to see them. So if we stick to the coast, I think we'll be all right.
Kyle Beams: Living things need water nonetheless.
Kyle: Not this water. Well, I guess wolves, yeah.
The Blade's Edge: Um, okay. So yeah, you guys can go ahead and move your token over to that X and let's go ahead and, um, Kyle, Romeo D 12 and Trevor, Romeo D eight cow beams.
Kyle Beams: D12.
Kyle: which Kyle
Trevor: Uh, four for the D eight.
The Blade's Edge: and see guy Since he, Since he wanted.
Kyle Beams: A four for the D12.
Trevor: Wow.
The Blade's Edge: Okay.
Trevor: Other Kyle roll a roll a D something and see if you get a four.
The Blade's Edge: All right.
Trevor: Nice.
Kyle Beams: Ah, would've been cool, would've been cool.
Trevor: Yeah, that was really cool.
Vesz'rak: Close. well
The Blade's Edge: all right um
The Blade's Edge: you Okay. You guys head into the woods. Um, you don't see any wolves. You see maybe some bones on the ground, the remains of some dead animals on the ground, but what you do see off in the distance. So you're in the, you're in a forest. There's trees everywhere. It's a pretty thick forest. So there's not a ton of like, you know, it's not your visibility is skewed, but through the mist in the back of sort sort of at the edge of your vision in the forest.
The Blade's Edge: through the mist comes a skeletal warhorse and
Trevor: whoa Whoa.
Kyle: Well, on your cutting out a little bit.
Trevor: Hey, Brian. Yeah, you want to get, it might be a distance to the mic thing. Possibly.
The Blade's Edge: o
Vesz'rak: Skeletal, Skeletal Warhorse captured Brian.
Trevor: That's better. That's great.
Vesz'rak: He's riding off with him.
Trevor: Yeah.
Kyle Beams: Oh, shoot, it the war horse is here?
Trevor: They got the DM.
Vesz'rak: like yeah
Kyle Beams: Oh, no.
Trevor: So funny.
Kyle Beams: Los Angeles is crazy.
Kyle: um Say something, Brian.
The Blade's Edge: right Hello.
Kyle: OK, yeah.
The Blade's Edge: Through the mist comes a skeletal warhorse and rider, both clad in ruined chain mail.
Trevor: That's better.
The Blade's Edge: ah The skeletal rider holds up a rusted lantern that sheds no light. And he doesn't necessarily seem ah to see you and he looks probably about 120 feet away.
Vesz'rak: Hmm.
Kyle: that doesn't sound too friendly is it looking towards us is he looking like he's looking out to find something
Trevor: Are we crouching into snake?
Vesz'rak: It doesn't sound unfriendly. I mean, maybe he's just a guy on a ride, you know, we don't know.
Kyle Beams: Is that a werewolf or a vampire?
The Blade's Edge: No, he doesn't see you.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah, yes, he's holding up a rusted lantern that you see it shedding no light and it is looking as if, you know, you'd hold up a lantern in the night to see like which way to go.
Trevor: We risking it. Should we try and flag this guy down and see if we can either help him or if he's going to be mean or mad at us?
Vesz'rak: All right, but if one of us dies, I'm going to feel really bad.
Trevor: We don't have to. We also do not have to. We did just go through a fucking traumatic fight.
Kyle: and We definitely don't have to.
Trevor: Yeah, we absolutely do not have to.
Vesz'rak: We definitely could.
Kyle Beams: Violence is always an answer.
Vesz'rak: you tried We could try diplomacy.
Kyle: It's an answer for sure.
Trevor: That's true. Yeah. I mean, I'm, I'm down with what else?
Kyle: So you're let me get this straight, fellas. We are in the middle of the woods. in Fuck Asparovia and you see a skeleton horse holding a lantern that's shedding no light, which could be some ethereal light that kills us instantly within its radius, and you want to go, hey, how's it going?
Kyle Beams: it's it's it's It sounds like that's what you guys wanted to do.
Vesz'rak: kinda
Trevor: I mean, that's not, not what I want to do.
Vesz'rak: Kinda.
Kyle Beams: I don't talk to skeletons.
Kyle: I just wanted to make sure that I - I'm - I'm hearing you correctly.
Trevor: Yeah, you got it.
Vesz'rak: You got the gist.
Trevor: I think you got it. Yeah. But also we don't.
Kyle: I vote no, but also, there's a saying.
Trevor: Okay. That's fine. I figured some, what's to say?
Kyle: Fuck around and find out.
Trevor: True.
Trevor: I'm also down for the things that pose potential danger needing to be unanimous to do something. If you don't feel it, I'm down to, I respect it. We don't have to do that.
Vesz'rak: ah Honestly, man, I think we need to be mad mage minded.
Trevor: Yeah. I like that. I like that.
Vesz'rak: I feel like I'm not saying
Trevor: That's it. Yeah.
The Blade's Edge: I literally I literally was was putting together another map that I didn't have planned while you guys were talking being like, all right, another session.
Trevor: Nice. Wow.
The Blade's Edge: where We just go for the side quest.
Vesz'rak: no, no, no, no, no, no da da no
Kyle: Hey, you said it was there!
Trevor: Yeah. Dangle the carrot.
The Blade's Edge: You went, look, you I specifically told you guys when you were when you were going across you're going go to the forest, I said, you don't notice anything, it's a chill day, no check needed.
Kyle Beams: a
Trevor: Wait, that's no, he's just got a point. He's got a point.
The Blade's Edge: And Kyle Beam said, I want there to be something.
Trevor: That's true.
The Blade's Edge: He said, I want to find something.
Trevor: That's actually completely true.
The Blade's Edge: I want a road investigation check to change that. And so, that's not up to me if you want to change it.
Trevor: That's a very good point.
Kyle: It is you, control!
The Blade's Edge: No, I don't, you control.
Kyle: the
The Blade's Edge: that that That's the misconception.
Kyle Beams: We bring things into the ether, baby.
Kyle: Okay, but if if I look...
The Blade's Edge: you That is, for all of you players out there and all you listeners, the DM does not control the game. The players control the game. If the players tell the DM, I want to find something, and a DM says no, the DM's not doing his job.
Kyle: Fine, it if I...
Vesz'rak: Look.
The Blade's Edge: If your players say, I want to find something, you as the DM, it is your job to find something.
Vesz'rak: Strahd is tearing us apart. We have to stay cohesive.
Trevor: This is what he wants. This is what Strog wants.
Vesz'rak: Yeah, this is what Strahd wants.
The Blade's Edge: You guys, the...
Vesz'rak: This is what Strahd wants.
The Blade's Edge: For those of you keeping track at home, whenever you head off into ah the out into Barovia, you roll a d20 on a roll of something or higher, you don't know. An encounter it appears, which you guys all rolled below that. So no encounter appeared. However, if you specifically seek out an encounter, I roll on the encounter table, which is what your guys' rolls were, a d12 plus a d8, which got you this.
Kyle: But if I look around my room for a check for $1 ,000, it doesn't matter how hard I look, the check isn't gonna be there, even if I look really hard.
The Blade's Edge: Mm.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah.
The Blade's Edge: Totally. Because that's real life.
Trevor: That's true.
Kyle Beams: Don't check your mailbox, dude.
Trevor: We're we're in a we're a game of magical magic -ness.
The Blade's Edge: Right.
Kyle Beams: Don't check your mailbox.
Vesz'rak: Every true object.
Kyle Beams: Yeah.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah. you're And you're in a game of magic that is a so ah collaborative story told by people. it is not D and &D is not a militaristic run. I run the book.
The Blade's Edge: You do what I say. It is why you roll to see where certain magic items are. You roll to see who you encounter, where you encounter. You guys tell me I want to do this. And even if it's not something that's possible to do, hog check, for instance, things of that nature.
Vesz'rak: check
The Blade's Edge: ah It is my job to acquiesce to your desires.
Vesz'rak: and every
The Blade's Edge: So you say, I want to go find something.
Kyle: Alright.
Vesz'rak: every sky
The Blade's Edge: And I say, cool. Then we'll just roll on the random encounter table. And that's why it's a random encounter. It could be there. It could not be there. I don't even know until we roll.
Vesz'rak: schrodinger's encounter
Kyle: Can I make a perception check for a super hot babe?
Vesz'rak: every day we
The Blade's Edge: rome
Vesz'rak: every
Kyle: Just in the forest?
The Blade's Edge: but What you can do is roll me another D12 and another DA, because another thing is about to happen for you giving me shit.
Vesz'rak: every Every side quest we go on where we don't find the mad mage, Strahd wins.
The Blade's Edge: you Me letting you do what you want to do and you give me shit. So let's go ahead and roll me a d12 and a d8 you specifically Nobody else you nobody else.
Kyle: I didn't want to do this. It was Kyle Beams.
The Blade's Edge: I want a d12 and a d8 from you whatever
Kyle: ah
Vesz'rak: Strahd is winning.
Trevor: Hey Kyle, I think, I think what can be in the same breath of the rolling for a thousand dollars, it's kind of also the same way that you could roll as high as you want to cash shadow blade in your room.
Vesz'rak: Strahd is winning the war.
Trevor: It's not going to work, but that's the difference between, you know, D and D in real life.
Kyle: this is This is Kyle Beams wanted to roll.
Trevor: We're in a.
Kyle: ah Why he say fuck me for?
The Blade's Edge: Oh, you're the one giving me shit about a random encounter table.
Trevor: ah Yeah.
Vesz'rak: yeah
The Blade's Edge: yeah Rule number one, rule number one in D and &D, do not give your DM shit.
Kyle Beams: and
The Blade's Edge: The writer absolutely spots you guys immediately.
Trevor: but
Vesz'rak: No!
Kyle Beams: ah yeah Fuck yeah, skeletons.
Kyle: right i
The Blade's Edge: Kyle G, you rolled a one on a D12, a six, that's a seven. In addition to ah this guy, I need you to roll me a D5.
Trevor: But it's so funny.
Vesz'rak: Dude, I imagine, I imagine just Strahd is watching us through a fucking orb and he's like, what the fuck are these guys doing?
Trevor: Yeah.
Kyle: This is, that's, that's the map that we're looking at.
Trevor: Yeah.
Kyle: This is a Strahd's Scrying Pool, actually.
Vesz'rak: Yeah, he's staring at us and he's like, what are these guys doing, man?
The Blade's Edge: Nice.
Trevor: if yeah
The Blade's Edge: um And you see five zombies pop out of the ground around here.
Kyle: Oh my god.
The Blade's Edge: And then what did you roll?
Kyle: Or the one on the D5.
The Blade's Edge: Okay, and then a one pops up out of the ground behind you and everybody roll initiative.
Kyle: Oh my god.
Kyle Beams: Oh yeah.
Vesz'rak: This is what happens. Look, look, tell me what you guys know about the Mad Mage.
Kyle Beams: yeah
Trevor: And maybe diplomacy can still work.
Vesz'rak: God, straw dang it.
Kyle: I rolled seven.
Kyle Beams: Strahdangit.
Trevor: God dang it. That's fucking good.
Kyle Beams: Comedy, man.
The Blade's Edge: All right, this guy notices you guys. And as these zombies pop up out of the ground, he knocks an arrow on his ah bow and Nabi you're up.
Trevor: Oh shit. All right. Bonus action. Belayed singing.
Trevor: Where is it? There it is. Marking that off. Uh, with my action, I'm going to...
The Blade's Edge: Okay.
Trevor: Oh, I can't. Oh, I can't do that either. God damn, that's... I have so many bonus action things. ah Fuck it. I guess I'll just go up to this one behind me.
The Blade's Edge: Yes, this is zombie that has popped out of the ground.
Trevor: And... Hell yeah, I'll just swing, swing twice. See what happens.
The Blade's Edge: ah
Trevor: 11.
The Blade's Edge: 11 does hit a zombie zombies notoriously a very low ACs.
Trevor: Oh, let's go for 11 damage.
Kyle Beams: Fantastic.
The Blade's Edge: Nice.
Trevor: 11, 11.
The Blade's Edge: 1111 as you hit this guy, you do see that he is wearing a pendant and on that pendant is the visage of Strahd von Zarovich.
Trevor: Oh shit.
Vesz'rak: I knew he was watching us through a fucking crystal ball, dude. I knew it.
Trevor: Alright, I know you said he had low AC, but what about 9?
The Blade's Edge: Nine hits.
Trevor: Oh my god, this is the best day ever.
Kyle: Bam.
Trevor: 4, 10 damage.
The Blade's Edge: OK.
The Blade's Edge: 10 points of damage. Slice, slice on this zombie, this Strahd zombie that pops out of the ground. ah You're right up on him. And is that your turn?
Trevor: Hell yeah, uh, yeah, that'll be my turn.
The Blade's Edge: OK. Stall the dock. yeah Let's see it in action.
Kyle Beams: Yeah, you ah you see a nice Warforged smile appear on my face as Carnage is commencing, and I run up to Bash, who saw my lightning attack earlier, and I'm going to um hum and cast Shatter.
The Blade's Edge: Okay. A lot of, a lot of a blade song and some humming.
Trevor: oh Oh my god, that's gross.
The Blade's Edge: You guys are harmonizing.
Kyle Beams: Yeah, we're harmonizing, um and I'm dropping the blade or the ah the Shatter right in between to nearest right here. So it's a 10 -foot radius.
The Blade's Edge: Nice con saves.
Kyle Beams: So it's hitting these two guys. um It is consave DC 16.
The Blade's Edge: All right. The one on the North rules a natural 20 for a 23 and the one on the South rolls a eight.
Kyle Beams: Love it.
Kyle Beams: Eight. OK, so eight fails. They take 14 thunder damage halved on the save.
The Blade's Edge: Nice 14 for the one on the south, seven for the one up top. As that happens, bones and skin and viscera go flying from these zombies.
Kyle Beams: um And then let's see what my bonus actions are. um I don't. Have one. To use right now um and that will be my turn.
The Blade's Edge: OK. OK, magic cast it is now the zombies turns. ah And you guys are sort of staring out at this small lake as it starts to rain. ah Two of them make their way on the right side to you, Desan.
Vesz'rak: Rats.
The Blade's Edge: um This guy's going to have to dash, but he'll get over here. um There will be one attack on each of you and two attacks on Desan.
The Blade's Edge: And one of them will not be able to attack because he has to spend his entire zombie turn shambling over there. um So.
Vesz'rak: Shield up.
The Blade's Edge: Do they get one attack or two? Let's see, these are Strahd zombies. not Ah, they get two.
Vesz'rak: Ah.
The Blade's Edge: These are not normal zombies. These are Strahd zombies, baby.
Kyle Beams: Uh -oh.
Trevor: strong bonies
The Blade's Edge: um
Vesz'rak: I hope I'll learn a lesson from this encounter.
Trevor: Strombonies.
The Blade's Edge: Also, 11 piercing damage and 10 piercing damage. I'm just seeing something very fun on their stat block. I need a knobby. I need you to roll me.
Trevor: Oh, come on, man.
The Blade's Edge: Do, do, do a two d20s.
Trevor: Two D20s coming at you.
The Blade's Edge: Yes.
Trevor: One, two. A three and a nine for 12.
The Blade's Edge: A three to nine on your first swing with your nodachi. You sever one of his legs.
Trevor: Ooh, sick, okay.
The Blade's Edge: um Okay. um You sever one of his legs.
Trevor: I like that.
The Blade's Edge: And I'm going to go ahead and use what is a good thing to represent the leg. I'm going to use this.
The Blade's Edge: All of you at home just use your imagination. He severs a leg and the leg continues to move on its own.
Trevor: Ooh.
The Blade's Edge: ah This is will represent the leg for you guys.
Trevor: Damn. Handsome leg.
Vesz'rak: is
The Blade's Edge: yeah
Kyle Beams: Hell yeah, Mr. Leg.
Vesz'rak: a guard token
Kyle Beams: ra
Trevor: What'd that leg do?
The Blade's Edge: um Okay, the the the leg is out there and then on your second d20 you rolled a
Trevor: Fuck. A three, I think? Or it was a nine and a three.
The Blade's Edge: a nine, ah you sever one of his arms.
Trevor: Okay.
The Blade's Edge: And the arm drops drops right there and is still moving around. um Okay.
Vesz'rak: It's like, this is a guard token.
The Blade's Edge: Now, okay, so ah bash, one's gonna try and bite you and then claw you.
Kyle: Okay.
The Blade's Edge: um That's a 21 for the bite.
Kyle: Yeah.
The Blade's Edge: ah You take two points of piercing damage And then it's it's claws gonna come for you and that is a 14 Okay, and on the claw you take three points of slashing damage bites your neck claws your stomach ah not a ton of damage to sawn and
Kyle: Oh.
Trevor: Damn, you're fucked.
Kyle: Need to beat it.
Vesz'rak: AC 18 baby.
The Blade's Edge: Okay, the bite is going to hit for four points of piercing damage.
Vesz'rak: Rats.
Trevor: That's
Kyle Beams: citizen
The Blade's Edge: And the and the claw attack is going to miss.
Vesz'rak: ah Perfect.
The Blade's Edge: Stall the dock. pretty high AC on you, right?
Kyle Beams: 19.
The Blade's Edge: you're go You have a shield out, and you are a warforged.
Kyle Beams: Yep.
The Blade's Edge: That's a 14 for the bite, and a 17 for the claw. The claw scrapes across your armor, giving you your first battle -worn mark on your on your body.
Trevor: Let's go.
Kyle Beams: Nice.
The Blade's Edge: um Now, one second.
Kyle Beams: And then, Bri, I forgot, I have my Arcane Firearm.
The Blade's Edge: Okay. Yes.
Kyle Beams: um
The Blade's Edge: I just take an action to do or a bonus action.
Kyle Beams: which So the Arcane Firearm is actually something where when I finish a long rest, I can turn a wand, staff, or rod into an Arcane Firearm, and I can use it as my spellcasting focus for my Artificer spells.
Kyle Beams: um So I kind of wanted like to have like a Mega Man arm kind of deal.
The Blade's Edge: Okay. Yeah, I love it.
Kyle Beams: um So it would be an extra D8 on artificer spells like Shatter. We can do it for the next turn or for retroactive.
The Blade's Edge: Cool, that's fine. Yeah, one of them will take an extra eight. The other one will take an extra four. They're both still up. That is all of their design. I only had one attack. use Is that correct?
Vesz'rak: think No, you had two No, I think one of them dashed oh No, then no, yeah another one needs to hit me Yeah, actually
The Blade's Edge: I did two attacks. that Did they both do it? I don't think so. No, no, the one that dashed is the one that's below bash.
The Blade's Edge: and
Kyle Beams: I think one of them's self -immolated.
The Blade's Edge: Misses the bite and misses the claw on you and now in Navi you've severed this guy's arm and his leg They're both on the ground this guy's gonna try and bite you and claw you The foot is gonna try and claw you and the severed arm all of them have disadvantage ah So here is the bites Natural one ah he misses cuz he stumbled he's missing a leg and then his claw natural one and
Trevor: true
Trevor: and go Okay.
Kyle: Bruh.
Trevor: Hell yeah. Nice. Holy shit.
The Blade's Edge: ah He tries to bite tries to claw he falls he's prone so his body's prone. um The arm on the ground disadvantages a nine is trying to like claw at your foot but you just pull your foot back and then the foot ah comes at you with a six and just tries to like, ah like retract and then like kick you from the ground but you took a step back and it missed and it kicked the hand.
Trevor: Nice.
The Blade's Edge: ah They all miss.
Trevor: um pert I was legitimately kind of hoping that the foot was going to hit. Like of all three of them, I kind of wanted the foot to be the one that said I got hit off.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah.
Trevor: That was pretty funny.
The Blade's Edge: ah So more action economy, ah specifically from a specific type of types of damage, do different things to these zombies, ah but nothing happened from them. And Bash, you're up.
Kyle: Yeah, I think I'm gonna rage.
The Blade's Edge: OK.
Kyle: What a bonus action rage.
The Blade's Edge: Bash, wages.
Trevor: Oh, yeah.
Kyle: And then I'm just gonna start, I'm gonna start swinging. Let's see what we got here. I got two on me right now. Yeah, got this guy.
The Blade's Edge: Hmm.
Kyle: um I'm gonna swing at the top one.
The Blade's Edge: Okay.
Kyle: Oh, gonna be a 29 to hit.
Kyle Beams: Twenty -nine!
Trevor: The art.
The Blade's Edge: The zombies AC is eight.
Kyle Beams: My God.
Kyle: and
Kyle Beams: My God, man.
Kyle: Yeah, it's a 1d12 Yeah, i I think that'll do it that's gonna be a 1d12 plus 9 or 14 damage
Trevor: portman
Vesz'rak: Yeah that'll do it.
Trevor: yeah Yeah, that'll do it.
The Blade's Edge: Okay. 14 damage. I need to run me a d20.
The Blade's Edge: 16. You slice one of his arms off of his body and it plops to the ground, but it is still moving.
Kyle: And I'm gonna take another swing at him.
The Blade's Edge: Okay.
Kyle: Another 29.
The Blade's Edge: That hits.
Kyle: 11 damage.
The Blade's Edge: 11 plus five is 16. I need to make a con save the DC is 16. I have a plus three to my role. I fail. So as you slice through this zombie he falls to the ground lifeless and the arm that has been severed stops moving.
Trevor: Let's go nice.
Kyle: Incredible. And then with that, I'm going to roll 2d6
Kyle Beams: Yoge.
Trevor: Hell
Kyle: and add that to my temp HP.
Kyle Beams: Mm -hmm.
The Blade's Edge: Okay.
Trevor: yeah.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah. Temp HP does it stack. So it's seven until you roll again.
Kyle: Right.
The Blade's Edge: If you, if you want to, uh, any movement.
Kyle: Nope.
The Blade's Edge: Okay.
Kyle: Stay put.
Trevor: Nice.
Kyle: That'll be my turn.
The Blade's Edge: Uh, just, just saw on your up.
Vesz'rak: Hello, I'm going to swing at the guy to my southwest.
The Blade's Edge: Okay. Um, and with the sunsword and these guys are undead, so you will do your extra damage.
Vesz'rak: ah Yes, I'm sort out, obviously.
Vesz'rak: ah First attack, giving him a whack. The attendee hit.
The Blade's Edge: That's AC eight.
Vesz'rak: All right.
Kyle Beams: Yeah!
Vesz'rak: Who?
The Blade's Edge: Two handed.
Vesz'rak: Now, one handed, I said my shoe was out.
The Blade's Edge: Okay.
Vesz'rak: Oh, it's not clicking the damage manually rolling. 1d8 plus 5 for 8 damage and then they're undead Shoot how much extra damage I do to undead.
Vesz'rak: Oh, here we go.
Trevor: A million, probably.
Vesz'rak: Oh an extra d8 1d8. I got it. I got a roll 1d8 For 6 that's a for 14 total damage on the guide to my Southwest
The Blade's Edge: Nice.
The Blade's Edge: Love that.
Vesz'rak: It's still up.
The Blade's Edge: Oh yeah, he's still up. First damage that guy's taken, but that's 14 to him.
Vesz'rak: All right, second attack. Here we go.
Vesz'rak: 21. One handed.
The Blade's Edge: That's sunswords slicing through him.
Vesz'rak: 15 plus a d8 plus 5, so 20 damage on the second attack.
The Blade's Edge: So it already added the DA.
Vesz'rak: Oh, OK.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah, but your, so your total one handed damage is 16.
Vesz'rak: Did it?
The Blade's Edge: Yeah. He did 11 radiant plus the five, which is against undead targets. You see that?
Vesz'rak: Oh, yeah it's yeah, I see it.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah.
Vesz'rak: I see what you're talking about.
The Blade's Edge: 16 lucky for you. 16 is the exact amount of hit points he had left.
Kyle Beams: Yeah, buddy.
Vesz'rak: Perfect.
The Blade's Edge: However, I need to make con save, which is 16 plus three 19.
Vesz'rak: but
The Blade's Edge: I have a plus three on this. natural one.
Vesz'rak: Perfect.
Kyle Beams: Yeah.
The Blade's Edge: You slice through this guy like butter your sword it doesn't feel like there's any resistance as you slice this guy in half the two halves of him smoldering as he hits the ground.
Vesz'rak: Perfect. And then I will raise my shield to the two ah zombies in front of me, just bracing.
The Blade's Edge: Okay.
The Blade's Edge: Um, this guy on the other side of the lake, ah the skeleton on the horse with a he had a lantern out there was shedding no light, he hangs the lantern on the side of his horse, takes out his bow, aims his bow across the lake and will shoot once at bash and once at the sun.
Trevor: Well metra...
Vesz'rak: We tried diplomacy. Everyone, we tried diplomacy.
Kyle Beams: We tried diplomacy, yeah.
Trevor: I think we did.
Kyle Beams: We contemplated, we contemplated diplomacy.
Trevor: We just started swinging. in and We thought about it.
Vesz'rak: No, no, no, no.
The Blade's Edge: Uh, at bash a bash nat one, I think I'm about to do something. There's been too many net ones. There's, there's a consequence for this, uh, not one, uh, at bash and an 11 plus four at you just on not gonna do it.
Vesz'rak: Not gonna do it. Nope, not gonna do it.
The Blade's Edge: Okay. Cool. So many net ones have happened. He shoots twice, puts his bow back on his back, picks up his lantern and him and the horse Galibov.
Trevor: Hell yeah, let's go.
Vesz'rak: Hey, who says diplomacy doesn't?
Kyle Beams: He's so embarrassed, he's so but embarrassed.
Trevor: ah yeah That's actually so funny.
Vesz'rak: Who said diplomacy doesn't work out?
Trevor: It's like man, this is bullshit. I'm fucking out of here.
The Blade's Edge: Uh, they, they, they missed twice.
Kyle: But the zombies are still here?
The Blade's Edge: Yeah. The zombies are still here. Um, uh, all right. And Abby, that, that man was searching for something. Uh, noticed you guys thought you were a threat determined to, this is not what I'm searching for off to go search for the thing that I'm searching for.
The Blade's Edge: Uh, and Abby, you're up.
Trevor: Is it not the travelers you are looking for? I will swing again at this zombie right here.
The Blade's Edge: It is, but a flesh wound, one leg, one arm.
Trevor: We'll call it a draw.
The Blade's Edge: Uh, he's prone, I said, cause he rolled two nat ones. So he's on the ground, his face in the ground, trying to push himself up with one arm.
Trevor: Oh yeah, fuck yeah. I'll do you know fuck yeah i'll do green flame blade on this guy.
The Blade's Edge: Okay.
Trevor: ah where my roll
Trevor: 16.
The Blade's Edge: who
Trevor: Let's go. Ooh, for 11.
The Blade's Edge: Plus.
Trevor: plus, where is this, give me that d8, not a lot, plus a fire damage.
Kyle Beams: Mmm.
The Blade's Edge: So for 12 total, nice.
Trevor: ah Yes.
The Blade's Edge: So 12 plus five stretch plus five, 12 plus five is 17. I need to have a DC 17. I need to beat as you kill this guy. We'll see if he stays dead. I have a D 20 plus three here.
Trevor: Oh!
The Blade's Edge: I need to be 17.
The Blade's Edge: Uh, I do not as your, uh, uh, your Nodachi cuts into this guy green flame bursts out over the arm and leg and the zombie, his arm and his leg all go limp.
Trevor: Nice.
Trevor: Hell yeah, let's go um I will go 5 10 15 and swing at this dude in front of the Sun with my second attack 24
The Blade's Edge: Okay.
Kyle Beams: oh yeah
The Blade's Edge: That hits nice and roommate D 20.
Trevor: for eight damage six
The Blade's Edge: All right. A six is, uh, you, you swing at that guy and he tries to roundhouse kick your ah sword out of the air and you slice his leg off and his leg is now next to you.
Kyle Beams: Oh yeah.
Trevor: Hell yeah. Nice.
The Blade's Edge: Okay.
Trevor: Love that. And then, but what do I have for fucking Bionis actions? Can I fucking make a Bionis?
Kyle: Be honest.
Kyle Beams: Might be on this action.
Trevor: Two weapon fighting. Yeah, I'll just make one more swing with my other Nedachi again at this guy.
The Blade's Edge: OK.
Trevor: 14.
The Blade's Edge: Hits.
Trevor: Let's go. And then I think this is, Is this just for two of them fighting the lead? The bonus action one doesn't get the modifier. Is that right?
The Blade's Edge: Yes.
Trevor: Okay. So four damage.
The Blade's Edge: Nice. Four is not enough to roll another d20. You do not slice off another limb with the four, but he takes the damage.
Trevor: Cool.
Trevor: Noice.
The Blade's Edge: And is that your turn?
Trevor: Uh, yeah, that's my turn. I'll hang here.
The Blade's Edge: All right, style of a dock out in the world already slaying zombies Europe.
Kyle Beams: I am absolutely thrilled and my Mega Man arm goes from being kind of blue to the glowing red of the embers of fire and I ah fire off a scorching ray into this guy directly to the southwest of me.
The Blade's Edge: Okay. So it's three rolls, right?
Kyle Beams: Yep, so first one.
The Blade's Edge: Unfortunately, each role is at disadvantage as it is a range spell and he has been five feet of you.
Kyle Beams: Okay, so the first one is going to be an 11 to hit.
The Blade's Edge: 11 hits roll damage.
Kyle Beams: Okay, that's four damage into D8 for my magical.
The Blade's Edge: Okay.
The Blade's Edge: Nice.
Kyle Beams: So that's nine fire.
The Blade's Edge: Uh, okay. Are you shooting all three off? Are you waiting to see what happens with this guy or what are you doing?
Kyle Beams: i'm I'm trying to fire off enough to put him down. um
The Blade's Edge: Okay. Cool. So roll all your damage and then I'll roll my con save with all the damage stacked up.
Kyle Beams: Sure, let me do another at disadvantage.
The Blade's Edge: That's nine.
The Blade's Edge: Hits. Hits. Yeah. So second one hits.
Kyle Beams: OK, so that's a 15.
Kyle Beams: 14 fire damage.
The Blade's Edge: Nice.
Trevor: Fire.
The Blade's Edge: So if that's every single hits with your.
Kyle Beams: It says on to your spells, so I guess maybe it would be our probably need to Google, actually, or make a DM ruling, because then it would be adding 3D8 now that I'm realizing it on top of it, because it's each instance of damage.
Kyle Beams: But the actual thing that it says here, let me let me link it.
The Blade's Edge: All right, when you cast a I'm looking at it when you cat when you finish long rest, when you cast an art artificial spell through the firearm, roll a DA, you get a bonus to one of the spells damage rolls equal to the number rolled.
Kyle Beams: OK, cool. Yeah, there we go. It says one. So yeah, just the first one would have it.
The Blade's Edge: So it takes seven on this. So we're at 17. No, yes, 17 total so far.
Kyle Beams: And then I would just be ah yelling it with pleasure with ah how much fun it is to slay something again.
The Blade's Edge: do Your arm almost shooting out like a little machine gun.
Kyle Beams: Seven more fire damage.
The Blade's Edge: That's seven or 24 total damage on this guy.
Kyle Beams: So.
The Blade's Edge: Plus five is 29. That's the DC I have to hit on my con save. He does not make it. This guy is just shred do do as a zombie falls smoldering still on fire as it hits the ground.
Kyle Beams: That's one for me.
The Blade's Edge: Okay, bonus action movement.
Kyle Beams: ah Movement, I am going to move to the north of Desan. and stare down this guy. And that's my turn.
The Blade's Edge: Okay. All right, it is now the other two remaining zombies turns, one of them will make a bite on you stall the dock and then a claw on you design.
Vesz'rak: shield up
The Blade's Edge: So the bite on you, stall the dock, is going to be a five. He bites. You dodge out of the way. he Bites the air.
Kyle Beams: Ah, ah, ah, not good enough.
The Blade's Edge: Ah.
The Blade's Edge: ah Claw coming at you, Dusan. That's a 13. Scrapes against the shield. This one to the south is going to make his two attacks on you, Anabi. And the severed foot is all at disadvantage.
Trevor: Okay.
The Blade's Edge: ah let's see if we Let's see if we can keep the nat ones going here.
Trevor: Nice.
The Blade's Edge: Uh, he tries to bite you in the six, but it's almost like, uh, like your, like all those scenes in movies when it's like, uh, like the flash or something, just like watching things happen in slow motion, like moving out of the way of things.
Kyle Beams: Ooh.
Trevor: Nice.
Trevor: Oh, yeah. yeah
The Blade's Edge: Very easily. ah The bite misses. The claw misses with a six and then the foot comes at you with a nine um and misses um as this guy's sort of hopping on one foot. A zombie hopping on one foot feels very Shaun of the dead.
Trevor: That's actually really funny. It's like the slow motion, but it's it's just them moving that slow. Like nothing's actually slow motion.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah. Yeah, he's trying to keep his balance so badly that he's like hopping and when he hops to bite he like hops like the wrong way just to keep his balance.
Trevor: That's good.
The Blade's Edge: Pogo stick. Bash, you're up two zombies remain one of them has a foot severed.
Kyle: ah Yeah. um Wait, hold on.
The Blade's Edge: ah Yeah, I'm killing
Kyle: Yeah. 5, 10, 15, 20. I'm just gonna swing. I'm swinging on him.
The Blade's Edge: All right, you're swinging on the the zombie or the severed leg.
Kyle: Uh, which one is which here?
The Blade's Edge: This is the zombie with with a severed leg. This right here represents his severed leg to your south. And then this is a fully intact zombie.
Kyle: Okay, I'm just gonna - I'm gonna swing on the, uh, the zombie with the severed leg. Swing! Oh, so close.
The Blade's Edge: Well,
Kyle: Uh, it's gonna be a 26.
Kyle Beams: Damn.
The Blade's Edge: Nice. I do think you have to go here. You can't move through enemy tokens.
Kyle: I - Wait, I didn't.
The Blade's Edge: Oh, you moved right here and then you went diagonal right there through a knobby space.
Kyle: Yes, correct.
The Blade's Edge: Okay. I see. I see. I see a knobby. You're letting him pop hop on through.
Trevor: Yeah, yeah.
Kyle: Please.
The Blade's Edge: Cool.
Trevor: Sure.
Kyle: Please.
The Blade's Edge: Yeah. 26 hits for 17 damage.
Kyle: For 17 damage.
The Blade's Edge: Plus five is 22. Here's my con save.
The Blade's Edge: No, 19 is not going to do it. ah Your great axe cuts through this guy and as he stops moving the severed foot on the ground with long curling toenails also stops moving.
Kyle: Gross. I'm gonna move up and swing again.
The Blade's Edge: okay
Kyle: Um, hey, Lathander, it's me again. Just wonder if I can get a natural 20, please.
Kyle: 16.
Kyle Beams: Are you there with Andrew? It's me bash. but You wrote a one on the damaged ice.
Kyle: For damage. Turtle.
Kyle Beams: Do you have great weapon master or anything like that where you can reroll damaged ice? I don't remember.
Kyle: Erm.
Kyle Beams: I don't think you took that, but.
Kyle: No, I do have something for when I when I natural 20.
Trevor: Oh, it's a savage attacker.
Kyle Beams: I didn't remember.
Kyle: But I.
Kyle Beams: Ah, that's right, yeah.
Kyle: Yeah. Oh, that's gonna be it.
The Blade's Edge: All right, you yeah, you sink a great ax into the back of this guy's head. It's the first damage he's taken as your great ax comes back. You can see clearly through the back of his head that you have severed the brain in half, but it doesn't seem to matter.
The Blade's Edge: ah But Desan, you guys have this one last zombie cornered at the beginning of the lake.
Vesz'rak: Swinging.
The Blade's Edge: OK, swinging the Sun Sword.
Vesz'rak: Plus eight to hit 15.
The Blade's Edge: Hits.
Vesz'rak: I am one handed obviously.
The Blade's Edge: That's 16 damage, OK? All radiant.
Vesz'rak: And I could, and I could do it again.
The Blade's Edge: jing Okay.
The Blade's Edge: Just don't roll in that one and you'll hit him.
Vesz'rak: Don't say that Brian 12 days.
The Blade's Edge: Uh, that hits for another 16 damage.
Kyle Beams: ah Wow.
The Blade's Edge: Wow. He's swinging. Uh, but 16 plus five is 21.
Vesz'rak: Swinging.
The Blade's Edge: I have a plus three as you I'm still up 18 or higher. Natural 20.
Trevor: Oh, we're a resilient fucking zombie.
Vesz'rak: Ah, come on, Brian. Come on, Brian.
The Blade's Edge: All right. Your second.
Vesz'rak: Bonus bonus action. Kick him into the water.
The Blade's Edge: Sure.
Trevor: Ooh, hell yeah.
The Blade's Edge: yeah Yeah. With a bonus action, give me an unarmed strike.
Vesz'rak: Deal.
The Blade's Edge: Uh, as you slice his head in half with your second attack, but somehow his head, which is sliced from the top of his, of one ear down to like the other side of a chin top half is gone, but he's still standing.
Vesz'rak: Sparta.
Vesz'rak: Dirty 20 for a Spartan kick.
The Blade's Edge: You Spartan kick him. Go ahead and roll me that damage.
Vesz'rak: For.
The Blade's Edge: A four plus five is nine. I have a plus three to my role. Six or higher. Okay.
Vesz'rak: rats.
The Blade's Edge: Uh, you Spartan kick this guy into the water. Uh, he hits the water and then you see his body stand up missing half of his head.
Vesz'rak: That's all I got.
The Blade's Edge: All right. And Nabi.
Trevor: Uh, we'll call it a draw. Should we even keep, what what happens if we just leave this guy?
Vesz'rak: Let me just keep them as a pet.
Trevor: Like, what does he do? We just leave him here.
Vesz'rak: Someone tie a leash around them.
Trevor: I'll just keep, yeah, we moved just slow enough that he could just stay.
Vesz'rak: Someone tie a leash around them.
Kyle Beams: ah Yeah, we're we're playing cod zombies, cod zombies now.
Trevor: We had train him.
Kyle Beams: We got to go unlock some doors and do some Easter egg hunting.
Vesz'rak: Yeah yeah.
Trevor: Uh, all right, I'll jump up over this guy and I'll just take a couple of swings at him.
The Blade's Edge: OK.
Trevor: 10.
The Blade's Edge: Hits.
Trevor: Let's go for seven.
The Blade's Edge: Plus 5 is 12. I have a plus 3. 8. One swing is going to do it.
Trevor: Let's go.
The Blade's Edge: He stands up twice from being felled, but a third time being put down does it.
Trevor: Thea at heart.
Kyle Beams: And I instantly cast a Firebolt at it on the falling turn.
The Blade's Edge: As the zombie hits the water, you guys stand in the middle of the woods in Barovia on a search for the mad mage. You are deep in the woods over here. And we pull back a skeletal rider somewhere off in the woods searching for something. Werewolves somewhere out there. A mad mage still yet to be discovered.
The Blade's Edge: as our group call the Lightning with their new warforged friend, Stahl Vadok. Lick their wounds after this battle, if there even are any, and begin their trek.
The Blade's Edge: We zoom out through the mist.
The Blade's Edge: And we'll see you guys next time.
Kyle Beams: See ya!
The Blade's Edge: Go ahead and and follow us on Patreon at patreon dot .com slash Blaze Edge.
Kyle Beams: Bye!
The Blade's Edge: And we'll see you guys next week. Bye -bye.


